Thursday, 8 August 2013

The Bitter Truth About The Igbos – Femi Fani-Kayode

Permit me to make my second and final contribution to the raging debate about Lagos, who owns it and the seemingly endless tensions that exist between the igbo and the yoruba.
It is amazing how one or two of the numerous nationalities that make up Nigeria secretly wish that they were yoruba and consistently lay claim to Lagos as being partly theirs. Have they forgotten where they came from? I have never heard of a yoruba wanting to give the impression to the world that he is an igbo, an ijaw, an efik or a hausa-fulani or claiming that he is a co-owner of Port Harcourt, Enugu, Calabar, Kano or Kaduna. Yet more often than not some of those that are not of yoruba extraction but that have lived in Lagos for some part of their lives have tried to claim that they are bona fide Lagosians and honorary members of the yoruba race. Clearly it is time for us to answer the nationality question. These matters have to be settled once and for all.
Lagos and the south west are the land and the patrimony of the yoruba and we will not allow anyone, no matter how fond of them we may be, to take it away from us or share it with us in the name of ”being nice”, ”patriotism”, ”one Nigeria” or anything else. The day that the yoruba are allowed to lay claim to exactly the same rights and privilages that the indegenous people in non-yoruba states and zones enjoy and the day they can operate freely and become commissioners and governors in the Niger Delta states, the north, the Middle Belt and the south-east we may reconsider our position. But up until then we shall not do so. Lagos is not a ”no-man’s land” but the land and heritage of the yoruba people. Others should not try to claim what is not theirs.
I am not involved in this debate for fun or for political gain and I am not participating in it to play politics but rather to speak the truth, to present the relevant historical facts to those that wish to learn and to educate the uninformed. That is why I write without fear or favour and that is why I intend to be thoroughly candid and brutally frank in this essay. And I am not too concerned or worried about what anyone may think or how they may feel about what I am about to say because I am a servant of truth and the truth must be told no matter how bitter it is and no matter whose ox is gored. That truth is as follows.
The yoruba, more than any other nationality in this country in the last 100 years, have been far too accomodating and tolerant when it comes to their relationship with other nationalities in this country and this is often done to their own detriment. That is why some of our igbo brothers and sisters can make some of the sort of asinine remarks and contributions that a few of them have been making in this debate both in the print media and in numerous social media portals and networks ever since Governor Fashola ”deported” 19 igbo destitutes back to Anambra state. In the last 80 years the igbo have been shown more generosity, accomodation, warmth and kindness and given more opportunities and leverage by the yoruba than they have been offered by ANY other ethnic group in Nigeria. This is a historical fact. The yoruba do not have any resentment for the igbo and we have allowed them to do in our land and our territory what they have never allowed us to do in theirs. This has been so for 80 long years and it is something that we are very proud of.
As I said elsewhere recently, to be accomodating and generous is a mark of civilisation and it comes easily to people that once had empires. The reason why many of our people take strong exception to the apparant outrage of the igbo over this ”deportation” issue and the provocative comments of my friend and brother Chief Orji Uzor Kalu when he described Lagos as being a ”no man’s land” is because the igbo have not only taken us for granted but they have also taken liberty for licence.
We cannot be expected to tolerate or accept that sort of irreverant and unintelligent rubbish simply because we still happen to believe in ”one Nigeria” and we will not sacrifice our rights or prostitute our principles on the alter of that ”one Nigeria”. Whether Nigeria is one or not, what is ours is ours and no-one should test our resolve or make any mistake about that. ”One Nigeria” yes but no-one should spit in our faces or covet our land, our treasure, our success, our history, our virtues, our being and our heritage and attempt to claim those for themselves simply because we took them in on a rainy day. It is that same attitude of ”we own everything”, ”we must have everything” and ”we must control everything” that the igbo settlers manifested in the northern region in the late 50′s and early and mid-60′s that got them into so much trouble up there with the hausa fulani and that eventually led to the terrible pogroms where almost one hundred thousand of them were killed in just a few days.
Again it is that same attitude that they manifested in Lagos and the Western Region in the late ’30′s and the early and mid-40′s that alienated the yoruba from them, that led to the establishment of the Action Group in April, 1951 and that resulted in the narrow defeat of Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe in the Western Regional elections of December, 1951. As a matter of fact they were the ones that FIRST introduced tribalism into southern politics in 1945 with the unsavoury comments of Mr. Charles Dadi Onyeama who was a member of the Central Legislative Council representing Enugu and who said at the Igbo State Union address that ”the domination of Nigeria and Africa by the igbo is only a matter of time”. This single comment made in that explosive and historic speech did more damage to southern Nigerian unity than any other in the entire history of our country and everything changed from that moment on.
To make matters worse, in July 1948 Chief Nnamdi Azikiwe made his own openly tribal and incendiary speech, again at the Igbo State Union, in which he spoke about the ”god of the igbo” eventually giving them the leadership of Nigeria and Africa. These careless and provocative words cost him dearly and put a nail in the coffin of the NCNC in the Western Region from that moment on. This was despite the fact that that same NCNC, which was easily the largest and most powerful political party in Nigeria at the time, had been founded and established by a great and illustrious son of the yoruba by the name of Mr. Herbert Macauly. Macauly, like most of the yoruba in his day, saw no tribe and he happily handed the leadership of the party over to Azikiwe, an igbo man, in 1945 when he was on his dying bed. How much more can the yoruba do than that when it comes to being blind to tribe? Can there be any greater evidence of our total lack of racial prejudice and tribal sentiments than that? If the NCNC had been founded and established by an igbo man would he have handed the whole thing over to a yoruba on his death bed? I doubt it very much.
Again when northern military officers mutineed, effected their ”revenge coup” and went to kill the igbo military Head of State, General Aguiyi-Ironsi on July 29th 1966 in the old Western Region, his host, the yoruba Col. Fajuyi (who was military Governor of the Western Region at the time), insisted that they would have to kill him first before taking Aguiyi-Ironsi’s life and the northern officers (led by Major T.Y. Danjuma as he then was) promptly obliged him by slaughtering him before killing Aguiyi-Ironsi. How many igbos know about that and how many times in our history have they made such sacrifices for the yoruba? Would Aguiyi-Ironsi, or any other igbo officer, have stood for Fajuyi, or any other yoruba officer, and sacrificed his life for him in the same way that Fajuyi did had the roles been reversed? I doubt it very much.
Yet instead of being grateful the igbo continuously run us down, blame us for all their woes, envy our educational advantages and resent us deeply for our ability to excel in the professions and commerce. Unlike them we were never traders but we were (and still are) industrialists and when it comes to the professions we were producing lawyers, doctors, accountants and university graduates at least three generations before they ever did. That is the bitter truth and they have been trying to catch up with us ever since. For example the first yoruba lawyer Christopher Alexander Sapara Williams was called to the English Bar in 1879 whilst the first igbo lawyer, Sir Louis Mbanefo, was called to the English bar in 1937. Again the first yoruba medical practitioner, Dr. Nathaniel King, graduated in 1875 from the University of Edinburgh whilst the first igbo medical practitioner, Dr. Akannu Ibiam, graduated from another Scottish University in 1935.
Yet despite all this and all that they have been through over the years and despite their terrible experiences in the civil war we are witnessing that same attitude of ”we must control all”, ”we must own all” and ”we must have all” rearing its ugly head again today when it comes to their attitude to the issue of the deportations from Lagos state and when you consider the comments of the Orji Kalu’s of this world about the igbo supposedly ”owning Lagos” with the yoruba and supposedly ”generating 55 per cent of the state’s revenue”. It is most insulting. And I must say that it is wrong and unfair for anyone to lay the blame for the perenniel suspicion and underlying tensions that lie between the two nationalities on the yoruba because that is far from the truth.
We are not the problem, they are. Pray tell me, in the whole of Nigeria who treated the igbo better than the yoruba after the civil war and who gave them somewhere to run to where they could regain all their ”abandoned property” and feel at home again? Who encouraged them to return to Lagos and the west and who saved the jobs that they held before the civil war for them to come back to when the war ended? No other tribe or nationality did all that for them in the country- only the yoruba did so. And the people of the old Mid-West and the Eastern minorities (who make up the zone that is collectively known as the ”south-south’ today) have always viewed them with suspicion, have always feared them and have always resented them deeply.
From the foregoing any objective observer can tell that we the yoruba have always played our part when it comes to accomodating others. This is particularly so when it comes to the igbo who we have always had a soft spot for and who we have always regarded as brothers and sisters. It is time that those ”others” also play their part by acquiring a little more humility, by knowing and accepting their place in the scheme of things and by desisting from giving the impression that they own our territory or that they made us what we are.
Now let us look at a few historical facts and one or two more igbo ”firsts’ that many may not be familiar with to butress the point. The igbo people were the FIRST to carry out a failed coup on the night of Jan 15th, 1966 under the leadership of Major Emmanuel Ifejuna, Major Chukuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, Major Christian Anuforo, Capt. Ben Gbulie, Major Timothy Onwatuegwu, Major Donatus Okafor, Capt. Ude, Capt. Emmanuel Nwobosi, Captain Udeaja, Lt. Okafor, Lt. Okocha, Lt. Anyafulu, Lt. Okaka, Lt. Ezedigbo, Lt. Amunchenwa, Lt. Nwokedi, 2nd Lt. J.C. Ojukwu, 2nd Lt. Ngwuluka, 2nd Lt. Ejiofor, 2nd Lt. Egbikor, 2nd Lt. Igweze, 2nd Lt. Onyefuru, 2nd Lt. Nwokocha, 2nd Lt. Azubuogu and 2nd Lt. Nweke in which they drew FIRST blood and openly slaughtered and butchered leadiing politicians and army officers from EVERY single zone in the country except their own. I should also mention that even though this was clearly an igbo coup there was one yoruba officer who was amongst the ringleaders by the name of Major Adewale Ademoyega.
It was a very bloody night indeed. Amongst those killed were the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, the Premier of the Western Region, Chief S.L. Akintola, the Premier of the Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Federal Minister of Finance, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, Brigadier Zakari Maimalari, Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun, Colonel Ralph Shodeinde, Lt . Colonel James Yakubu Pam, Lt. Colonel Abogo Largema and numerous others. They did not just kill these reverred and respected leaders but in some cases they mocked, tortured and maimed them before doing so, took pictures of their dead and mutilated bodies and killed their wives and children as well. For weeks after these horrific acts were carried out the igbo people rejoiced and celebrated them in the streets and markets of the north, openly displaying pictures and posters of the Saurdana’s mutilated body with Nzeogwu’s boot on his neck, loudly playing a famous and deeply offensive anti-northern song in which northerners were compared to goats and listening to it on their radios, jubilating that they had brought an end to what they described as ”northern rule and islamic domination” and openly boasting that they themselves would now ”rule Nigeria forever”. Though the first coup failed the matter did not end there.
The very next day after the Jan.15th mutiny and butchery had failed and did not result in Ifejuna taking power in Lagos, the igbo people set their ”plan B” in motion and they were the FIRST to carry out a successful coup in Nigeria just one day later on Jan. 17th 1966. This was when the igbo Major-General J.T,U. Aguiyi-Ironsi (who was Supreme Commander of the Nigerian Army and who had inexplicably and suspiciously not been murdered by the young igbo officers in their violent mutiny and killing spree the night before) in collusion with the igbo Acting President Nwafor Orizu and the entire igbo political leadership of that day, invited the remnants of Sir Tafawa Balewa’s cabinet to a closed door meeting, threatened their lives and took power from them at the point of a gun.
Aguiyi-Ironsi did not just ask them to give him power but he took it from them by force by telling them that he could not guarantee their safety if they refused to do so. Meanwhile Orizu point blank refused to do his duty as Acting President and swear in Zana Bukar Dipcharimma as the Acting Prime Minster when the members of the cabinet and the British Ambassador (who was also at the meeting) implored him to do so since by that time there was a power vacuum because the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, had gone missing and had probably been murdered. It was in these very suspicious circumstances and as a consequence of this murky and deep-seated igbo conspiaracy that General Aguiyi-Ironsi came to power. Amongst those that were present at that famous ”meeting” that are still alive today are Alhaji Maitama Sule, Chief Richard Akinjide and President Shehu Shagari who were all Ministers in Balewa’s cabinet . Those that doubt the veracity of my account of this meeting would do well to ask any of them exactly what transpired during that encounter.
Yet the seeming success of the conspiracy was short-lived. Only six months later, on July 29th 1966, General Aguiyi-Ironsi and no less than 300 igbo army officers reaped the consequences of their actions and plot when they were all slaughtered in just one night during the northern officers revenge coup which was led by Lt. Colonel Murtala Mohammed, Major Abba Kyari, Captain Martins Adamu, Major T.Y. Danjuma, Major Musa Usman, Captain Joseph Garba, Captain Shittu Alao, Captain Baba Usman, Captain Gibson S.Jalo and Captain Shehu Musa Yar’adua as they then were. Lt. Colonel Yakubu Gowon was put in power by this group after that and a few weeks later between September 29th 1966 and the middle of October of that same year approximately 50,000 igbo civilians were attacked and slaughtered in a series of horrendous pogroms in the north by violent northern mobs as a reprisal for the killing of the northern leaders, including Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Saurdana of Sokoto, by Major Nzeogwu, Major Ifejuna and other junior igbo officers on the night of Jan. 15th 1966. Please note that despite the fact that a number of yoruba leaders were killed on that night as well no igbo civilians were massacred anywhere in the west by mobs in reprisal killings throughout that period.
The igbos understandably left the north in droves after those terrible pogroms and fled back to the east from whence they came. And perhaps that would have been the end of ithe story but for the fact that they also declared secession and sought to dismember Nigeria. They then made their biggest mistake of all by provoking a full scale military conflict with Nigeria when they launched a vicious and unprovoked attack against the rest of the south attacking and conscripting the eastern minorities , storming the Mid-West and attempting to enter yorubaland through Ore to capture it. Thankfully they were stopped in their tracks by the gallant efforts and courageous fighting skills of the Third Marine Commando (which was primarily a yoruba force and which was under the command of the great Colonel Benjamin Adekunle, ‘the Black Scorpion’), prevented from entering the west, driven out of the Mid-West, pushed back into the East, defeated in battle after battle and were eventually brought down to their knees and forced to surrender to the Federal forces in Enugu.
The igbo and their Biafra fought Nigeria and killed Nigerians for 3 hard years in that brutal civil war in which over one million courageous, loyal and faithful sons and daughters of the Federal Republic lost their lives at the war front trying to stop Biafra from seceeding from the federaration, from taking our land and from taking the minority groups of the Mid-Western Region and Eastern Region and our newly-discovered oil with them. Yet despite our massive casualties and the monuemental loss of life that the Federal side suffered (a total of 2 million died on both sides) the igbo people were welcomed back into Nigeria after the war with open arms.
Yet it was only in yorubaland and especially in Lagos that they were given all their ”abandoned property” back and welcomed back as brothers and sisters without any reservations or suspicions whatsoever. Everywhere else in the country for many years they were denied, deprived, shunned, attacked, killed, discriminated against and humiliated but never in the southwest or Lagos. It is the igbo people more than any other that have complained about marginalisation in Nigeria, forgetting that there is no other country in the world in which there was a major civil war and yet only 10 years after that war ended the losing side produced the Vice President for the whole country in a democratic election in 1979 in the distinguished person of Vice President Alex Ekwueme.
Some have described my submissions in this debate as being ”inflammatory” and have claimed that I am ”not a true progressive” for making them. I reject these labels and I wonder whether those people that conjured them up described the comments of my dear friend and brother Chief Orji Kalu as “inflammatory” and whether they labelled him as ”not being a true progressive” when he erroneously claimed that the igbo generated 55 per cent of the revenue and owned 55 per cent of businesses in Lagos and that they are effectively the owners of the state. Unlike most of those that are attempting to label me and brand me as a tribalist I know the history of Lagos and the yoruba very well.
We will not let anyone poison the minds of our yoruba youth or dispossess them of their heritage by keeping silent when we witness the irresponsible and dishonest propagation of the most desperate and despicable form of historical revisionism that some igbo leaders are suddenly churning out. If anyone thinks that they can intimidate us into keeping quite when their leaders say such things then they will have the biggest shocker of their lives. We shall not be silenced and they shall not pass. Lagos and the yoruba generally have much stronger historical, cultural and trading ties with the bini, the itsekiri, the uruhobo, the isoko, the hausa-fulani, the tapas, the nupes and the ijaws than they do with the igbo. The input of those other major ethnic groups to the development of Lagos and their stake in her is far greater than that of the igbo. Whether anyone wishes to accept it or not that is the bitter truth.
We will not let anyone distort history and we will not keep silent when we hear the irresponsible and disrespectful effusions of those that seek to substitute truth with falsehood. When it comes to Lagos it is time that everyone respected themselves and knew their place. The igbo particularly should display a much higher degree of respect and gratitude to those who were gracious enough to accept them in their land as equals when things were very difficult for them and who treated them with love, respect and kindness after the civil war when hardly anyone else was prepared to do so.
We the yoruba have accomodated others in Lagos and throughout the south west and we have let them live in peace for the last 100 years. As a matter of fact we have been glad to do so because as far as we are concerned that is one of the hallmarks of civilisation- the ability to accomodate other faiths, other cultures, other races and other nationalities and to create an equitable and just racial melting pot where equal opportunities are available to all. It is a great and noble virtue to be open and tolerant but that does not mean that we are fools and it does not mean that we do not know who we are, where we are coming from, what is ours and what our heritage is. The fact that we have allowed others to thrive and settle in our land and share it with us does not mean that we have stopped owning that land. The suggestion that Lagos is a ”no-man’s land’ and that the igbo or any other nationality outside the yoruba generate up to 55 per cent of it’s revenue or business is absolutely absurd and frankly it has no basis in reality or rationality. It is not only a dirty lie but it is also very insulting.
Guests, no matter how welcome, esteemed, cherished and valued they are, cannot become the owners of the house no matter how comfortable they are made to feel within it. Those guests will always be guests. Lagos belongs to the yoruba and to the yoruba alone. ALL others that reside there are guests, though some guests are far closer to us than others. The igbos are the least close, the most distant and the least familiar with our customs and our ways. They ought to be the last to be claiming our heritage and coveting our land and neither can they claim to have made any real input to our glaring success. For them to think otherwise is nothing but delusion.

Boko Haram Was Online with Al Qaeda During ‘Conference Call’ Intercepted by the U.S.A.

Boko Haram leaders were among participants in an extensive “conference call” organised by Al Qaeda to plan massive terrorist attacks. This fact was reported on August 7, 2013, when more details of the interception by the U.S. intelligence became available.

The data obtained from the ‘conference’ triggered the closure of 20 American embassies, including four from sub-Saharan Africa countries, namely, Rwanda, Burundi, Mauritius, and Madagascar.
Officials, according to initial media reports, said the decision was taken after communications between al Qaeda leader, Egyptian-born, Ayman Zawahiri, and the group’s leader in Yemen, Nasser al-Wuhayshi, were intercepted last week. From other sources it has been gathered that the discussion between the two al Qaeda leaders was in a conference call that included the leaders or representatives of al Qaeda and its affiliates, who called through a presumably secure network, from different locations.
Three anonymous American operatives reported of more than 20 al Qaeda operatives were on the call.
“Al Qaeda members included representatives or leaders from Nigeria’s Boko Haram, the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda in Iraq, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and more obscure al Qaeda affiliates such as the Uzbekistan branch,” the report said. “Also on the call were representatives of aspiring al Qaeda affiliates such as al Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula, according to a U.S. intelligence official.” “This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom,” another intelligence officer concluded.
The report, widely sourced by other U.S. media on Wednesday, reflected the global reaches of Boko Haram as the Nigerian government struggles back home to contain the deadly group that has massacred thousands of civilians.
Again, while Boko Haram appears on the U.S. list, the notorious Somali terror group, Al Shabaab, which operates on the horn of Africa, was not mentioned, potentially, a measure of Boko Haram’s strategic importance in the global terror network.
Also during the meeting, the various al Qaeda leaders discussed in vague terms plans for a pending attack and mentioned that a team or teams were already in place for such an attack. For some leading members of Congress, the revelation that al Qaeda’s leadership in Pakistan is actively managing and directing the operations of several affiliates directly refutes the Obama administration’s repeated assertion that the leadership of the core of the group has been decimated by American drone strikes and special operations forces while the affiliate groups have been strengthened.




Church To Punish Members For Participating In ‘Idolatrous Ceremonies’

The Anglican Diocese of Ohaji/Egbema in Ohaji/Egbema Local Government Area of Imo state said it would sanction members found participating in wake-keep, ‘Owu Okorosha’ festival or any other idolatrous ceremonies. The church announced the resolution at the end of its 3rd Session and 1st Synod of the Diocese held at St.Thomas Church, Ohoba-Ohaji, Imo. The resolution is contained in a 13-point Communiqué jointly signed by the Bishop of the Diocese, Rt. Rev. Collins Oparaojiaku and the Deputy Registrar, Mr Noel Chukwukadibia. It condemned what it called the “indiscriminate practise of idolatrous act” in some parts of the diocese and the ‘eight days merriment’ practised by its members prior to a burial ceremony. The church, therefore, recommended a service of songs between 4p.m. and 7p.m. for the family of any of its bereaved members before burial. It called on the State Government to have a rethink in its plan to relocate any of the Faculty of study from Imo State Polytechnic Umuagwu, Ohaji. It said no faculty should be moved to any other local government or political zone in the state because it would send wrong signals and impression on the diocese.

Anglican priests at the Synod Opening 2013
Anglican priests at the Synod Opening 2013
It drew the attention of government to the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) which had yet to accredit some of the courses run by the institution. The church, however, commended President Goodluck Jonathan on the declaration of state of emergency in three states in the North to check the Boko Haram insurgency. The communiqué also urged the President to involve alternative energy supply sources such as coal and wind to boast energy supply options in the country. [NAN]

Funeral Upon Funeral: Suicide Bomber Blows 29 People at Funeral

A suicide bomber killed at least 29 people and wounded 15 others, targeting the funeral of a Pakistani police officer assassinated earlier on Thursday, an official said.

The attack took place at the police headquarters in the troubled southwestern city of Quetta, Pakistan where officers gathered to pay their respects to a colleague who had been shot dead only hours before.
The suicide bomber struck before Muslim faithful in Pakistan are due to break their daily fast for the last time in the holy month of Ramadan, to be followed by the Eid al-Fitr holiday on Friday.
“At least eight police officers have been killed. It was a suicide attack,” said police officer Selim Shehwani, warning that the death toll could rise further.
He confirmed that Fayaz Sumbal, a deputy inspector general of police and one of the most senior officers in the city, was among those killed.
An AFP reporter saw five dead bodies in a hospital morgue.
Doctor Syed Sarwar Shah said the dead included four policemen and a son of the imam of the mosque at police headquarters.
Police officer Rahim Khan told AFP that another three senior officers had also been killed.
“We are collecting more details. We have declared an emergency,” he said.
Policeman Mohammad Hafiz spoke of his horror after the explosion.
“I was inside the mosque and we were lining up for the funeral prayers when a big blast took place. I came out and saw injured and dead bodies lying on the ground,” Hafiz told reporters.
“I have no words to explain what I’ve seen. It was horrible.”
The blast capped a bloody Ramadan in Pakistan, where at least 11 attacks have killed more than 90 people during the month.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Quetta is on the frontline of violence blamed on Islamist militants, sectarian killers targeting the Shiite Muslim minority and a separatist insurgency waged by Baluch rebels.

Eid-el-Fitri: Jonathan, Northern Leaders, Fashola, Others Preach Peace, Unity, Love

As millions of Nigerian Muslims join their counterparts across the world to celebrate the Eid-el-Fitri, several leaders have asked Muslims and Nigerians to celebrate the festival with love and unity.
The festival marks the end of the Ramadan fast and is celebrated by Muslims worldwide. In his Sallah message to Nigerians, President Goodluck Jonathan said he joins Muslims “and all other patriotic citizens in the pious expectation that God Almighty will hearken to the supplications of the faithful and bless Nigeria even more abundantly with peace, political stability and national prosperity”.
In a statement by his spokesperson, Reuben Abati, the president said, “As they celebrate Eid-el-Fitri and the end of Ramadan, the President urges Nigerians to continue to support the present Administration in every possible way to ensure that the country continues to make steady progress towards the successful implementation of its agenda for positive national transformation.”
In their Sallah message, governors of Nigeria’s northern states enjoined Muslims to sustain the ideals of the month of Ramadan beyond the Ramadan period. In the message by the Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum, Babangida Aliyu, the governors urged Muslims to remain steadfast in the worship of Allah and to follow the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad-SAW as they did during the month of Ramadan.
They asked Muslims to continue to uphold the ideals of piety, patience, tolerance, perseverance, humility and self denial which were observed vigorously during the month of Ramadan. The Kaduna State Governor, Muktar Yero, called on Muslims to uphold the spirit of brotherhood of mankind as enjoined by Allah in the Quran through promoting peace, unity and progress in the entire Globe.
In a release signed by his spokesperson, Ahmed Maiyaki, Mr. Yero stated that “Islam is indeed a religion of peace and the true essence of the religion is to unite the entire mankind in love and harmony”. “We must all continue to pray and work hard towards building a peaceful, united and prosperous Nigeria,” he said. In his message, the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, urged peace, love and unity among Nigerians, saying everyone must join hands to repair the fabric of love and oneness that binds us together.
The governor said, “The month of Ramadan is intended to teach us how to live good and compassionate lives. It is a month of sacrifice, abstinence and above all, love. In that respect, I encourage us to be our neighbour’s keeper. Look out for your neighbour in the firm belief that he too will look out for you”.
“As we celebrate Eid-el-fitr, which marks the end of the Ramadan fast, I urge everyone, regardless of our religious beliefs, to continue to keep the peace and to live in unity with one another,” Mr. Fashola added. In his message, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, urged Nigerians to promote attributes that would unite the country during this period of Eid-El-Fitr celebration.
“The same way we all remembered the less fortunate and those afflicted by poverty and disease during Ramadan, I implore us to carry over those attributes to our engagements after Ramadan. “Only by so doing can we truly say we have imbibed the teachings of the Holy month into our everyday lives,” the speaker said. In his message, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, urged Muslims to embrace virtues of peace.
“At this critical stage of national transformation, please continue to pray for peace, end to security challenges and for growth and development to be accelerated in Nigeria,” he said. The Senate President, David Mark, in his message, asked Nigerians to promote peace and unity. “The Almighty God did not make mistake by putting different ethnics and religious groups together to form a one united nation call Nigeria.
“It is therefore incumbent on all of us to work toward the peace and unity that would engender progress in the country,” Mr. Mark said. In her greetings, the Minister of State for Abuja, Olajumoke Akinjide, urged Nigerians to remain fervent in prayers for the unity and peaceful co-existence of the country. “As we celebrate, we must be ready to make sacrifices for the good of the country and join hands with the Federal Government in the efforts to make the country great. “We must also continue to show genuine love and respect for one another and reflect on the ideals of unity, cohesion and mutual understanding as well as be humane to the less privileged members of the society,” she said.
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/42951.html

Bayelsa State’s Governor Dickson In Questionable $44.1million Fishery Projects

Bayelsa State governor Seriake Dickson shocked his audience today when he admitted to making payment to two foreign firms for a project that he said were still being negotiated.


The governor said this when responding to a question by a reporter concerning the value of the alleged contract.
He thereby preceded to present the payment instruments for 80 per cent of the contract but declined to say the actual value of the contract and just merely said that the government was making a 30 per cent and 50 per cent payment to the two contractors.
Curiously the heavily-indebted state is still servicing a commercial agricultural loan and sundry bond obligations undertaken by his predecessor, Gov. Timprie Sylva.
Responding to the question on the contract sum denominated in dollars, Dickson committed blunders as he said that he was still looking at the figures with a view to arriving at the final figures.
In a lengthy and convoluted explanation, the governor failed to give reasons for making such a princely upfront payment for a contract that is still being negotiated.
Bayelsa governors are notorious for using projects to siphon public funds, then abandoning them. President Goodluck Jonathan, for instance, commenced a multi-billion hotel project in Yenagoa that is still in the “abandoned” category.
Silva also awarded many phantom projects across sectors where contractors got upfront payments and simply abandoned the site.
READ MORE:  http://news.naij.com/42957.html

Goodluck Jonathan's Congratulations to Nigerian Muslims

As we mark the end of Ramadan, I want to seize this opportunity to felicitate with my Muslim brothers and sisters and the Islamic ummah for successfully accomplishing one of the acts that comprise the Five Pillars of Islam, fasting.
From close encounters with the leading lights of the ummah during this season, I observed firsthand the piety and increased spirituality that the Ramadan fast inspired in believers and I am most delighted that the lessons and discipline attained from the exercise would be of immense benefit to our nation.
I thank you all for your prayers and intercession for Nigeria and I urge all Nigerians to draw lessons from the glorious Ramadan that will stay with us all year long until, God willing, we meet again for Ramadan in 2014. Ramadan Kareem.
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4 Soldiers, 2 Policemen Killed in B’Haram Ambush

Suspected members of the violent Islamic sect, Boko Haram, on Tuesday stormed a roadblock mounted by the Joint Military Task Force in Yobe State and killed four soldiers and two policemen.

Gonori is about 50 kilometres away from Damaturu, the state capital.
The insurgents, numbering about 20, were said to have caught their victims unawares while they were relaxing at about 7pm. The attackers were said to have carried AK47 guns.
A security source who briefed our correspondents said, “Some people suspected to be Boko Haram members opened fire at a JTF roadblock and killed six security operatives on duty.
“Those who died include four soldiers and two policemen; some other soldiers who sustained gunshot wounds have been moved to the hospital.
“The suspected Boko Haram members might have been monitoring the roadblock and opened fire when they noticed that the soldiers were more relaxed; the attack took place in the evening.”
A top security personnel at the Defence Headquarters on Wednesday confirmed the incident on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.
The source said members of the Special Forces were still engaged in a gunfight in Yobe over the incident till late on Wednesday.
The Special Forces is an amalgam of security operatives raised to confront insurgents in the troubled North-East when the Federal Government declared a state of emergency in Yobo, Borno and Adamawa states a few months ago.
Security operatives on the trail of insurgents believed to be in possession of dynamites in Potiskum had shut down the town for a house-to-house search operation on Tuesday.
There was also the fear in security circles that the insurgents could use the explosives hijacked last week from Rick Rock Quarry, operated by a Pakistani in the Gulani Local Government Area of the state, to wreak havoc during the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.
Spokesman for the JTF, Captain Eli Lazarus, reportedly said that the JTF decided to impose a 24-hour curfew on Potiskum in response to an intelligence report that the insurgents were planning attacks in the city with effect from Monday.
A source who confided in our correspondents on Wednesday said that the JTF had temporarily shut down the MTN communication in Yobe State in order to confront the development though the communication facilities had since been restored in the evening of Tuesday.
Efforts to get the Director of Defence Information, Brig. Chris Olukolade, to comment on the Yobe attack did not succeed as repeated calls to his mobile phone were not answered.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday admitted that members of Boko Haram took his government by surprise with their terror tactics.
Jonathan who spoke at the breaking of Ramadan fast with Muslim members of the Diplomatic Corps in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, regretted that the attacks being unleashed on Nigerians by the sect members had led to the killing of children, security agents and many other innocent persons.
He said, “In Nigeria, the security challenge we face is all too well-known. The activities of the Boko Haram sect, especially their tactics of terror, took us all by surprise.
“The mindless attacks of this group have led to the loss of innocent lives of children, law enforcement agents and other innocent citizens.
“However, it is significant to note that with commitment and fervent prayers to God by all who profess their faith in the supreme creator, we have achieved significant success in containing the menace of the sect.”
The President expressed the hope that the Ramadan season had imbued the peoples of the world with compassion and forgiveness to enable them to surmount the challenges of global conflicts and wars.
He urged the Muslim diplomats to always pray for Allah to intervene and help address the various challenges confronting all nations, especially nations facing civil strife, political instability and financial crisis.
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Female Singer Donna Diva Gets 2013 Audi A6 As Birthday Gift

Fast rising songstress, Donna Adja, popularly known as Donna Diva, has added another wonder on wheels to her fleet of cars.
The lady stunned friends and well- wishers recently when she appeared in the ash-colour Audi car at a party.Klieg Light learnt that the car was a birthday gift for the petite lady who has been doing well in music in recent times. But for her ‘Gaga’ video, which was recently banned by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Donna Diva’s profile would have increased tremendously.
She recently held a birthday celebration, which started at Metro Park, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, then went on to Road Runners, after which she celebrated at Sheraton Hotel poolside. Obviously, Donna Diva has come to stay in the music industry.
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Sallah Tragedy: Auto Accidents Took Lives of 12

Yesterday, at the very end of Ramadan (Eid-el-Fitri) at least 10 people died yesterday while 24 others were injured in multiple accidents along major roads leading to Gusau, Zamfara State capital. At the same time two people were killed in another crash in Ogun State.
The first accident occurred along Bungudu-Maru Road in Zamfara as a result of head-on collision involving Golf and Toyota cars where seven people died instantly, others sustained serious injuries.
The second crash occurred along Damba, a few kilometres to the state capital where nine passengers of a vehicle were injured while a housewife, Malama Rabi from Biyabiki village in Tsafe Local Government Area died on the spot.
According to a source, 19 passangers who were travelling in a bus along Maru town were involved in an accident. Two people lost their lives with several others sustaining serious injuries. All the victims of the multiple accidents were on their way to meet up with the sallah celebration in their various towns and villages.
The bodies have been deposited at the Federal Medical Centre, Gusau, while those injured were at various nearest hospitals. Spokesman of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Zamfara State command, Garba Lawal, confirmed the death of 10 people.
The FRSC spokesman attributed the accidents to over-speeding and dangerous overtaking by drivers.
Meanwhile, two people were killed while 12 others, including a pregnant woman, were injured during a fatal auto crash when two vehicles collided at Iperin area of Ijebu-Ode/Ibadan Road on Tuesday.
The vehicles, a Toyota Serena bus marked SMK 760 AP and a Mercedes Benz lorry with registration number XV 353 MUS. The bus which took off from Ijebu-Ode was heading towards Ibadan before its front tyre bust, causing the driver to lose control.
He had a head-on collision with the on-coming Mercedes Benz lorry
The driver and the passenger in front of the bus died immediately while passers- by rescued 16 other passengers in the two vehicles. They were taken to both Ijebu-Ode General Hospital and Roona Private Hospital in the town.
One of the survivors, Rebecca John, said four members of her family were travelling to Ibadan to attend the convention of the Gospel Faith Mission International (GOFAMINT) when the accident occurred. Though weak, she said the victims were members of GOFAMINT in the Waterside area of the state.
The Chief Medical Director, Ijebu-Ode General Hospital, Dr. Wellington Ogunsanya, confirmed the accident.
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PHOTOS: Beyonce Goes For The Short Hair After On Stage Accident

R&B Singer and Buisness mogul Beyonce yesterday on social media app instagramm unveiled her new pixie look to the amazement of her millions of fans.

She ditched her trademark long weaves for an edgy short pixie crop. She had recently been involved in an on stage accident in late july when her long hair got stuck in an electric fan as she performed "Halo" on stage in Montreal. Whatever it is, it looks great on her.
Beyonce's hair stuck in an electric fan on stage last month. Members of her crew rushed to help her while Beyonce kept singing without missing a beat.
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Happy Birthday To Hafiz Oyetoro [Saka] As He Clocks 50

The funny man who knows how to crack our ribs and get paid heavily for doing so has just hit the golden age of 50 and I hear he is putting together a party to celebrate the big day and his success thus far.

The case of Mr Hafiz Oyetoro is a classical example of the saying that who God has blessed let no man curse as it was indeed a tough journey for him to the top. Things were so bad for him back in the day that the first woman he wanted to marry rejected him.
But today the story is different! Naijalatestnews.Com observes that he is ok and now has a name that is a force to reckon with in the industry. And we wish him more and more success in the days ahead.

The 5 Donts Of Men’s Underwear You Should Read!!!

There are things that are just a NO, NO!, although most men see it as normal. For instance, some man believe that since their underwear cannot be seen, they can go about wearing a dirty one!!! Whoop!! That is not healthy, guys! And for the married men, the more your underwear is clean, the more your wife wants to pull it off, you know what I mean! *winks*
Therefore, let every man read carefully the donts of men’s underwear listed below…..

1. Don’t go commando
‘Freeballin’, ‘Letting loose’, ‘Living large’ – Call it what you want, but opting out of undergarments is never acceptable. Sure, a cool breeze down there would be more than welcome on a sizzling hot summer day. But the risk of raising the flagpole in public is just too high — not to mention the gnarly nether-region germs you would be rubbing directly on to your clothing.

2. Don’t wear man-panties
The high-cut, hip-hugging bikini brief was created to up the ante in s*x appeal. Oddly enough, it can do just the opposite. Men’s underwear should always look like it was made for a man. If you have to wonder, keep on shopping. And yes, this rule applies to everyone, everyone of the men out there.

3. Don’t tolerate stains
Underwear isn’t limited to a discussion about briefs and boxers; it includes beaters and T-shirts too. Sporting either of those with a gruesome golden pit is enough to turn a stomach or two. The yellowish tinge comes from the urea in sweat, the same waste product found in urine. Sadly, getting your T-shirts white again is nearly impossible. Chalk it up to an active lifestyle or overly enthusiastic sweat glands and buy some new white undershirts at the first sign of discoloration.
4. Don’t wear boxers under trousers
Boxer shorts have their rightful place in your underclothing collection. They’re great for sleeping, and if you’re partial to putting a little more swing in your step, boxers are fine with jeans. But during the 9-to-5 grind, stuffing a bulky, baggy boxer short into finely tailored trousers is far from flattering. Suiting up calls for more refined undergarments, ones that don’t require an extra tuck or tug.

5. Don’t show off your underwear
Designer drawers came to life around the same time Marky Mark decided it was cool to drop trou with Calvins. Well, you aren’t Mr. Wahlberg and this isn’t 1991. Conceal your tighty whities (or similarly distinguished boxers) and let them show when it really counts: behind closed doors.