Of Jonathan and The E- Presidency.

By Olusesan Ogunyooye (@sesansoulmate)

An eye that will last a life time does not emit cataract at infancy – Yoruba Proverb

I simply don’t understand this noise about the absence of Mr. President and his ‘diplomatic’ duties at Rio, Brazil. Why should anyone care about his where about? Why do we make Mr. President feel we miss him? We do not, at least I don’t: except the condolence messages came a little late and I certainly miss the rage that runs through me when he makes those unintelligible statements; knowing well that he knows he does not mean the promises.   

Seriously, Nigerians should not be those who border about Jonathan’s where about. It should be his cohorts. His presence at home makes no significant difference, except that the condolence messages may be spot on. So who cares if he begins a world tour from Brazil?

The End of The End

Abstract:  This is an article I read late last year. Never mind the currency, just look at the dialectics and situate with with the current Nigerian context. Something has to be done, and done fast!  

By Femi Adesina

 Nigeria has had many beginnings of the end. The 1966 pogrom. The Biafran Civil War, which lasted for three years. Religious and ethnic riots across the country. The crises that attended the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election. OPC/Hausa clashes, in Sagamu, in Lagos. Endless Jos killings. Retaliatory bloodletting. Sharia riots. The Niger Delta uprising. Many more. No country ever lived more dangerously. But somehow, we always manage to pull back from the brink, before the final, fatal crash. We have been like a cat with nine lives.

 We tempt fate sorely, and get away with it. But now, we seem to have used up all our luck, and we’re on borrowed time. Daily Sun columnist, Okey Ndibe, says, “Nigeria is a dying idea.” But I say the situation is worse. Nigeria is a dead idea. In a manner of speaking, Nigeria is dead, all that is left is to sing the Nunc Dimittis. 

Nigeria had been dying for long, but last Sunday, it took its last breath. America had predicted the eventuality for 2015. But it came last Christmas Day, ironically on a Sunday, the day of resurrection.

The Next Phase of Boko Haram Terrorism – Wole Soyinka

Boko Haram is completely political. But with the toxic element of religion infused into it, it gives them the leg to ally with international terrorist bodies based on religion, who are only too happy to be of assistance.

Let me begin by reminding everyone that Boko Haram has a very long history, whether you describe Boko Haram as an army of the discontent, or even as some people grotesquely try to suggest, “revolutionaries,” or you describe them as, legitimately, this time, as marginalised or feeling marginalised.

Shall We Now Not beg for our lives? (2)

By: Olusesan Ogunyooye (@sesansoulmate)

I struggle each day to agree that this nation is a not failed state. I hate to think our democracy is “A Clueless Government; run by Boko Haram, for the poor people”. I sorrow at the thought that Nigeria; the ‘giant’ of Africa, now appears big for nothing in global perspective. I cannot but agree that life in this country is now brutish, nasty and short; and the only hope is Ola Rotimi’s “Hope of the Living Dead”? 

Yoruba says; “if your mother’s concubine is powerful than your father, you must call him daddy”. This is the ugly reality in Nigeria today. If Boko Haram is bigger, powerful and more ambitious than our government; then, shall we now not beg for our lives?

Today, Nigerians are like the proverbial monkey who strives not to be shamed; and once we are disgraced; we should strive not to die. If we strive not to be shamed as a people, and Boko Haram has made us dance naked in the market: shall we now beg not to die?

For me, all hopes that this government will save us are lost, all their options are exhausted and the government is ran, de facto, from the jungles of the northern states. If you think I’m cynical, have you heard the president speak lately? Did you hear him resolve to Psalm 91 as the panacea out of this national harvest of death? I am not against prayers, but I know even King David, the Psalmist, did not write Psalm 91 as a miraculous wand of protection.

NATIONAL WAR MUSEUM: Lest We Forget

Air Force Outside Gallery: Relic of one of the air crafts during the war. Below it is the famous Biafran Baby, according to the curator, that 'bird' almost changed the course of the war in favour of Biafra.

Its brown rusted roofs, punctuated by few corrugated aluminium roofs, are washed each morning by the rain of dews. The ray of sun that sweeps the city at midday wrings wild fragrances from its towering bushes. And at night, the castanet music of the crickets, the croaking symphony of the frogs and the beautiful glimmers from the fire-flies lull its inhabitants to sleep. This is Ebite –Amafor, the countryside in Umuahia, Abia state that houses the National War Museum.

If you were not around during the civil war, you might never be able to imagine the horrendous effects of a war that tore the fabrics of this nation to shreds. This is because those who wrote it in the textbooks and those telling the stories can hardly capture the true picture with mere words.

The closest attempt to represent the Nigeria’s Civil War in print is the work of the award-winning Chimanmanda Adiche in her Half of a Yellow Sun. But the poor reading culture has damaging impact on Adiche’s efforts to document history in fiction. Hence, we all forget in a hurry.

OPERATION FEED THE EMPEROR

I am the highest paid Nigerian in public office
Yet you must feed me.
Feed me
Feed my dogs
Feed the fishes in my Village 
Wet my grass
And pay for my concubines.

I have sucked your blood with the straw of your vein
I have eaten your flesh like cassava bread
I have fed your bones to the dogs that live in this rock. 

I ride on elephant
You walk on bare foot.
I sleep on water bed
You have no roof over your head.

Yet you must feed me
I am the emperor of this land
A czar
Commander in Thief of the Corrupt forces
I am a cabal. 

Yet you must feed me
Feed me for doing nothing
Feed me for mortgaging your future
Feed me for killing this land.

You either feed me or I *Boko Harass you! 

Tukur, Oyinlola’s power tussle divides PDP

All is not well within the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party as the   Chairman of the party, Dr. Bamaga Tukur, and  Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, are  reportedly on warpath.

Our correspondent learnt  that  Oyinlola, in some memos, accused some Tukur’s aides  of working against  the party.

BRIBERY SCANDAL: 'MY Image was Doctored' - Lawan

Hon. Farouk Lawan

CHAIRMAN of the House of  Representatives Committee on the probe of fuel subsidy mismanagement, Mr. Farouk Lawan, said on Sunday that the video purportedly showing him receiving a bribe from an oil marketer was  doctored.

The Lawan committee, which discovered that subsidy thieves had stolen N1.7trn from government coffers as a direct consequence of malpractices in the oil sector, had been embroiled in bribery scandal since last week.

Fuel Subsidy Probe: How I Bribed Law Makers, By Otedola

Femi Otedola

 The full details of the $3 million bribery scandal involving members of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on the Fuel Subsidy probe were revealed yesterday, as one of the major actors in the scandal has opened up on what transpired.

In an exclusive interview with THISDAY, chairman, Zenon Petroleum & Gas Ltd, Mr. Femi Otedola, who hitherto was suspected of being behind the $3 million bribery scandal, blew the lid on what transpired and how chairman of the ad-hoc committee, Hon. Farouk Lawan, and the secretary of the committee, Mr. Boniface Emenalo, had collected $620,000 from him in a sting operation masterminded by the security agencies.

DANA Crash Probe: Trust Me, Jonathan Begs Nigerians

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday urged Nigerians to trust him, saying that firm decisions would be taken over the Dana Air plane crash in Lagos on Sunday, just as he set up a 10-man presidential administrative and technical committee to investigate the remote cause of the crash which claimed over 200 lives.

President Jonathan said he had directed that the fullest possible investigation be conducted into the remote and immediate causes of the Dana crash.

London 2012 Olympics to Stream Live on YouTube.

 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that it will live stream the London 2012 Olympic Games in 64 territories on the IOC’s channel on YouTube http://youtube.com/olympic.

During the Olympics Games (July 27 to August 12), sports fans in these 64 territories across Asia and Africa will be able to enjoy live coverage of the events as well as highlight clips on this digital platform — free-of-charge. Viewers from these territories will be able to watch the streams on the IOC’s YouTube channel, accessible online or Internet enabled devices like smart devices/mobile phones and other YouTube-enabled devices.

DANA CRASH: The Unusual Love Story A Couple

 

 

One of the most tragic stories from the ill-fated flight Dana Air 992 that crashed in Lagos on Sunday revolves around Maimuna Anyene, a Connecticut-based Nigerian woman, who died along with her husband, sister, her four kids, two cousins and her mother, Mrs. Mijindadi.

Ms. Anyene, who is being mourned by friends, relatives and colleagues around the world, was described by several sources as having a boisterous laughter, a happy spirit and an infectiously cheerful disposition.

One of the late woman’s spirits closest friends captured her spirits. “When Maimuna laughed, she was always loud, joyful, and even crazy in the good sense. She laughed spontaneously and excitedly. It was a full-of-life kind of laughter that seemed to come from deep within her belly. She laughed without inhibitions. She was pretty and had cute dimples that made her round face memorable.”

3 Days of National Mourning, Flag Flying at Half Mast ... So, What?

Flags at the Presidential Villa yesterday. Photo: NAN

     “The death that kills one’s peer is only being proverbial to one” – Yoruba Proverb

By: Olusesan Ogunyooye (@sesansoulmate)

I most certainly value human lives. I most definitely understand that the grieve of the bereaved is better imagined than experience. My heart still breaks, it still bleeds at the thought of beautiful lives, promising future; the dreams of fellow Nigerians (and some expatriates) that were avoidably aborted on the flight to death last Sunday. The sight of the scenes still cuts my heart so poignantly.

But forgive me if this sounds callous and inhuman to you: I done no mourning! Even though I saw several flags at half mast; in my mind, I hoist them to fly full mast like every other day. Yes! Please tell the president I rebelled in my mind.

History of Air Crashed In Nigeria - DANA Crash was a Disaster waiting to Happen

This is not the first time an air mishap has claimed a large number of people. The history of air mishaps in Nigeria shows that:

1.       November 20, 1969 – Nigeria Airways BAC VC10 crashes on landing killing 87 on board.

2.       January 22, 1973 – Royal Jordanian Airlines flight 707 carrying 171 Nigerian Muslims returning from Mecca and 5 crewmen died in crash in Kano, Nigeria.

3.       March 1, 1978 – Nigeria Airways F28-1000 crashes in Kano killing 16.

LAGOS PLANE CRASH CLAIMS NNPC SPOKES MAN.

 
The Dana Air line crash may have claimed NNPC Spokes Man Dr. Levi Ajuonuma and Director of Mainstream Bank, Shehu Sa'ad; information reaching this blog has said.


A plane carrying 150 passengers and six crew members crashed into a building in Lagos on Sunday, the head of Civil Aviation Authority told AFP, adding that he fears none had survived.
Although a reliable source told said 156 persons were killed, authorities Put the casualty level at 153.
 
"It was a Dana (airline) flight out of (the capital) Abuja to Lagos with about 153 people on board," Harold Demuren said. "I don't believe there are any survivors."
Lagos State police spokesman Joseph Jaiyeoba told AFP the plane went down in the Iju neighbourhood on the mainland of the city, where most of the city's population is concentrated. The crash happened near the airport.

A spokesman for Nigerian airline Dana confirmed one of its planes had crashed but could not immediately provide further details.
"I can confirm that one of our planes crashed today on the outskirts of Lagos," Tony Usidamen told AFP.
"We lost communication with the aircraft. We are going to issue an official statement."
Lagos, the largest city in Africa's most populous nation

Unilag Olodo Vs ASS HOLE ROCK Fisher Man: Who will be the MALU?

By: Olusesan Ogunyooye (@sesansoulmate)

The fact that I renamed you guys MALU doesn’t warrant you all act like animals. You are constituting nuisance and rubbishing our image in the international circle. I paid heavily with the tax payers’ money to appear on Vogue Magazine just last month.

With due respect sir, we are not cows. Cows would have swallowed your bitter pill hook, line and sinker. OccupyUnilag!

Ha ha ha! The only place where human beings live is in this rock. That is why we don’t die like cows when Boko Haram strikes. All of you outside the rock act like cows and die like cows. That’s why I have to treat you like cows. Did you forget how I sent your brothers in uniform after you in January when you refuse to leave the streets? How I told you it is N97 or I’ll send Boko Haram after you?