Beware of 'hot' love

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on February 21, 2010 at 1:06pm

Beware of 'hot' love

Kemi ashefon.

SENI, 35, is heartbroken. But that was not her state a few months back. "Then, I was excited to have got a mate after many years of searching," recalls Seni. "Dehinde came and proposed to me. He had seen my picture on my friend's laptop in his office and decided to call. By the time we went on our third date, he told me he was single, was searching and was ready to get married within six months.

Live-in lovers, live-in trouble

"That was what I needed to hear. Promptly, I started telling everyone who cared to listen that I was getting married. Dehinde was not talkative about it, but smiled whenever I told a friend or relative about our wedding plans. He said our honeymoon was going to be in the Caribbean and I would have to stay abroad and have our baby when I got pregnant.

"Though he had an old car he was using, he was expecting a contract worth billions of naira and would change his and mine. Little wonder, I quickly gave in to his suggestion that we sold my car, got a house and used a part for furniture. I was in love and all that he suggested were accepted.

"I sold my car, which was worth N1.2m at N700, 000. I sold my jewellery and my shares for the new set of furniture he desired and to buy him a brand new car. I was happy doing all this because I wanted a home and a husband. I was happier when our wedding invitation cards were out and eventually, we got married.

"I settled down to my new life, only to discover I was the third wife he would be marrying in seven years. Two other women had kids for him, but later divorced him due to his womanising ways. He confessed these to me when I discovered some strange text messages in his phone and some receipts of school fees he paid.

"He had five kids. After a year, he stopped coming home and was said to be dating another lady. It was a terrible year for me: two miscarriages, lost my job due to negligence, was broke and had to run back to my sisters for help. Just two months ago, I heard he was married again. I'm back to my single state and so scared to date again."

Seni was not the only victim. Mike, 32, met Meg at a party. "I was 32 and my mother wanted me to get married," he says. "Not that I was desperate, but I wanted to get it over with marriage and children so that I could face my career. Meg was 22, looked innocent and was an undergraduate.

"I fell head over heels in love with her and took up her educational expenses. I was shocked recently when she decided to call off the relationship. She confessed to me that she was seeing another guy, where she was having her internship.

"Though she confessed to have loved me, her other excuses were that we quarrelled a lot on the phone and she could not cope with the distance (I was in Abuja; she in Lagos) because she believed in regular physical contact. She confessed to have slept with the guy and left me with no assurance of coming back because she said the guy in Lagos was fun to be with.

"I was shattered and I stopped calling her. But she had not stopped calling me. She spent more than five minutes talking to me, but she didn't talk about the broken relationship and sometimes, she sent platonic text messages. Really, I don't know why she called me. Knowing that I loved her, she knew I would readily accept her back, but why would Meg play on my emotions? Do I stop her from calling me or not?"

With Bitrus, 33, and Beatrice 26, everything came in a rush and they did all things with the speed of light. Bitrus says, "I was posted to Abuja on official duties and while trying to settle down, I met Beatrice, who was a civil servant," recalls Bitrus. "She was young and she helped me with whatever I went to do at the ministry.

"Because she spoke my language fluently, we became friends and I knew my way round the city, courtesy of her. Suddenly, we became lovers and neither wooed nor spoke to her on marriage, but I thought I was in love. I didn't have any time with other women because she was all over me. At work, she called, before I closed, she would have arrived and made sure we went home together.

"She packed her things to my place and assumed the role of a wife without any of our parents knowing. I couldn't travel to anywhere but was always with her. She put a check on who I called, who called me and went through my text messages. But I have discovered that she would run after men, close late from work and abandon me at home. She would feign pregnancies and after three months, would declare she had miscarriages. I have fallen in love with her and would not think of leaving her."

FREE Midnight calls cost me my marriage –Woman monster

Posted by Akin Osunlaja WebLagosian on February 21, 2010 at 1:13pm

By Chioma Igbokwe

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Visualize a scenario where you are fast asleep beside your partner and at 2.00am, the ring tone of your phone disturbs your sleep. With your eyes heavy with sleep after a hectic day and retiring to bed just an hour earlier you pick the call only to hear the voice of a stranger you never met.

The voice is that of the opposite sex. You try to fix a face or incident to it but cannot. While you battle with ‘I can’t remember who you are’ interjection, he/she insists loudly that you gave him/her appointment to call you because you would be sleeping alone in your room.

He/she further puts you on the spot that you had always talked at such hours in the past and you are merely pretending not to know the caller. Your spouse at last takes the caller for real and counts you a liar who deliberately put up denial to save face. Problems arise from there and at last the relationship crashes.

To you, this is just a conjecture. But to many Nigerians, it is real life drama that changed the course of their lives and happiness. Despite the gains of free midnight calls offered subscribers by GSM operators, many Nigerians have such adverse stories to tell about free midnight calls that became a monster to them. To such persons who have suffered the negative impact, the free calls are not worth the trouble and the effects they inculcate.

“It has caused more harm than good to the society, the individual and families”, said a respondent who fumes at the hazards. Before the promo started any child who is awake till 1.00am must be a student who is seriously preparing for his or her forthcoming examinations. Then with the dilapidated state of the power sector, such a person would risk the effect of candle to the eyes and burn it for hours just to ensure that he/she graduates with a good grade.

But today the reverse is the case, at 12.am on the dot, children and adults, especially the singles embark on compulsory vigil just to tap into the gains of free calls that enable them talk sense and nonsense endlessly. A phone user who cannot spend three hours in a church or mosque for vigil will have his eyes wide open because of midnight call till morning. Some use the opportunity to engage on conference calls where families would seize the opportunity to chat.

Others use it as an avenue to engage in fraudulent act while most use the period to woo and toast ladies or men, even the married. Saturday Sun found that such clandestine raunchy calls are laden with romance and deep frolic that go beyond the ordinary level. And there is no need to emphasise that these midnight call have shattered and destroyed marriages and other relationships.

One of such victims of free romantic midnight calls is Jide Adesanya who lamented that it was midnight call that crashed his marriage, which he had been managing to stabilise. “I am a divorcee today because of midnight call. I was battling to save my marriage, which was on the brink of collapse because of a mistake I made in the past.

I had promised my wife that it would not repeat itself, till one night that I had convinced my wife to spend the night in my room. The grave mistake I made was not to switch off my phone. At 1.00am, with my wife in my arms my phone rang. Blood of Jesus, I pleaded hoping that my wife did not hear. I was about to switch off the phone when she asked me to answer the call, as it could be an emergency.

Could you believe that it was a voice of a woman who claimed to know me? I tried my best to pretend it was a mistake. Only for the idiot to call back insisting that I used to be her lover.

Even when I told her that I am a married man she insisted that we could always handle the affair the way we had always done. My wife got mad and that was it. Till date, I have not seen this woman who I have been begging to come help me clear the crisis that broke my marriage. Today, my marriage is over but what I do is to arrest anyone that dares call my number at night.”

Mr. Paully Onyeka blamed midnight free calls for his children’s poor attitude to reading at night and thereby performing poorly in school. “The advent of GSM has caused more harm than good especially among our children. The problem is not the midnight call but the fact that these phones are accessible. If you decide not to buy a phone for your child, one way or another, they will raise money and buy one.

I am not saying that it is not good that these products are cheap and affordable all I am hammering on is that it they have caused more bad than good to Nigerians. I was shocked one day when I woke up at 3.00am and heard voices. I quickly grabbed my cutlass and moved towards the direction of the noise only to discover that it was from my 13-year-old son. He was making a call at that unholy hour. This is a boy that has been performing badly in school, instead of reading he spends his time making irrelevant calls. How can this boy stay awake in class when lectures are on? No wonder the, performance of our children is dwindling by the day. I suggest that free midnight call should be abolished. If they want to subsidise, let them reflect it on our tariff.”

Nnenna, a journalist decided to find out who and how on earth a crippled man was able to get her number and wake her up at 2.00am. “At 2.00am, my phone rang, my husband who was by my side woke me up to pick the call. Scared that there might be an emergency, I picked the call.”

She was disappointed and relieved when he discovered that it was an unknown person.

How did you get my number? she queried and the caller, a man confessed that he asked God to ensure that whoever owns this number would turn out to be a friend. Nnenna explained that she is married and lying beside her husband. The caller who identified himself as Steve encouraged her that their relationship would be the perfect one since he was also married. He told her that the only way to control it was for her to learn to sleep in her own room.

With the consent of her husband, Nnenna decided to follow up the matter by conceding to the man’s request. They agreed that Steve should call her every Friday at 4.30am to help her wake up and receive the call. In the course of their discussion Nnenna sought to know why he chose to call an individual who he had not met. Steve’s excuse was that he has never been lucky with women. Ladies always abandon him because of his looks and the fact that he has no money. His wife, Steve lamented left him and followed another man. He decided to embark on such calls to try his luck if he would be able to get one who will agree to befriend him.’’

According to Chika Agina, a banker, midnight call is meant for irresponsible men and women who have no value for their health, thereby use the opportunity to shop for trouble. “I do not make midnight calls and would not take it lightly with anyone who calls me at such an ungodly hour. Irresponsible men or women use it as an avenue to toast the opposite sex. Any man who toasts a woman through free call is a beggar. Initially, when the promo started, I was one of those who stayed awake till 5am, just to chat with friends who wanted to. But gradually it started telling on my health.

As a banker, I had terrible errors in my job, I slept while counting money and I paid dearly for over paying people. It has no gain and I wish that it would be abolished so that people will value every call they make since they are paying for it.” Taiwo Oluwadare, student makes free night calls strictly to save cost and the night is a very peaceful time to discuss at length without fear of anyone eavesdropping.

I make night calls to save cost and also to be in relaxed mood to talk as tortuous moment in the day may not let me attend to some people especially my friends and relatives. No unknown person has called me in the night but it has cost me a dearest girlfriend. That night, I received the call and the person said I should guess who was calling, but unfortunately I mistook the person for an old girlfriend. That made my girl part ways with me bluffing my apology.

Although Chigoziem Ehirim, businessman, admits that the promo saves costs, he however warned that Nigeria is not strong enough to cope with the after effect on their health. “I make midnight calls because, its saves money. The disadvantage is that it takes your sleep away and the next day you become stressed up. Because of the effect on my health, I stopped the habit. Despite the economic benefit, I would want it to be banned. You receive all kinds of useless calls from people who are out to ruin your life. People abuse free things and this free midnight call is one of them. The habitual callers have ruined homes, the children no longer read their books or study because they spend their leisure time on phones.”

Tayo 14, is rather happy with free night calls. To people of his age bracket, it is the only source of communication since their parents would not afford to buy credit for them. “It is very good, since my parents will never buy credit for me, I wake up at night and call my friends. MTN is doing that promo for the sake of children who do not have the money to buy credit. We can talk for hours and when it is about 4.00am, you go to sleep so that you can function the next day.” A nurse, Chikezie Okezie, could not hide his face in shame as he voiced out that he makes midnight call frequently although it is not healthy.

“I make free night call but I have to sacrifice the next day with serious headache. It saves cost but has its own disadvantage. I suggest it should be banned as, it will curtail the abuse by children who will prefer to talk throughout the night and sleep during the day. I am preparing for JAMB and you can’t believe that if I decide to do midnight call I will not blink an eye, but once I pick up my book, I will doze off. It’s terrible but still saves cost.”

Lagos: Brother marries sister in desperate bid to secure UK visa

Posted by Akin Osunlaja WebLagosian on February 21, 2010 at 1:15pm

Lagos: Brother marries sister in desperate bid to secure UK visa
By Chioma Igbokwe

Saturday, February 20, 2010
It could be described as a taboo for siblings to marry one another, but Anthonia and Victor in desperate bid to secure UK visa decided to be known and addressed as husband and wife. On the fateful day, January 28, 2008, Anthonia dressed in a flowing white gown, marched to the Ojo marriage registry with Victor to be joined as husband and wife. This was done in a bid to convince the British High Commission to grant them a visiting visa since they can never meet the criteria needed to secure such visa.

Anthonia and Victor
antoNvictor%5B1%5D.gif

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With the aid of a naval officer, (Kayode Olaniyan) they were able to secure forged documents, which portrayed them as highly placed individuals in Nigeria. The expectation was that the forged document would guarantee them a visiting visa, and they applied to spend two weeks in UK.

To further convince the BHC, they went along with their wedding photograph, especially where they were cementing their ‘marriage’ with a kiss. Bubble however bust on February 16 when the British High Commission that was not aware the ‘couple’ is related by blood discovered that the bank statement presented was slightly altered. They alerted the police at the Special Fraud Unit, Ikoyi who in turn dispatched an officer to stand by for any possible arrest.

Unknown to them that their game was up, the BHC invited the ‘couple’ for a final interview, where they would be issued a visa. They were careful to ensure that they appeared in uniformed attire so that the difference would not be spotted. Passersby commended their choice of spouse as they looked alike. In the visa section, holding each other closely they stepped into the interview room. The man meant to interview them enquired if they had a swell time on Sunday being Valentine. They were still waiting for their Visa to be issued when the police arrested them for forgery. They were arrested alongside the visa racketeer, Kayode Olaniyan who is alleged to have forged the entire document used for the act.

The PRO SFU, CSP Akan, explained that when Victor discovered that the game was up, he shouted that the man (Kayode) who gave them the document was waiting outside to collect the balance as soon as they collect their approved visa. Unknown to Kayode, the game was up; he was arrested where he was waiting for the balance as soon as the deal clicks. In the course of interrogation, ready to vomit all the illegal things, they have done, Victor confessed that Anthonia was not his wife but his blood sister.

Victor told Saturday Sun that he was tired of struggling to survive in Nigeria that was why he quickly grabbed the opportunity when Kayode promised to assist them to travel out. “He gave us instances of people who he had travelled as ‘couple’. He requested that we should pay N900,000 for the deal but we ended up paying N180,000 with the promise to pay up as soon as the visa is granted.

“He promised that it was easier for couple to be granted visa so we quickly bought the idea to pose as couple. Part of the criteria was to get married, he arranged and we paid at the Ojo marriage registry. He also got some document which shows that I am a marine engineer, working in a company where I am paid more N300,000 monthly. I am an OND student of Lagos State Polytechnic where I am studying Banking and Finance.

I am not a marine engineer and do not have an account in WEMA Bank. I have never attended Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Victoria Island. My real names are Ayeye Victor Adejobi. My younger sister who posed as my wife is Antonia Ayeye. Nebelisa is not my father’s name at all. Kayode gave us the surname ‘Nebelisa’ and instructed that we should obtain the passport. He took us to Ado Ekiti where we obtained the passport in the name of ‘Nebelisa’.”

When asked how he felt, kissing his sister, Victor said: “ It was disgusting but then I had no choice. I felt very bad knowing that it is an abomination, but because we wanted results, we had to comply. Take a look at the picture it will show that I was not comfortable with what I was doing.” Anthonia saw herself as an actress that was why she was very comfortable when it was time to kiss the bride.

On why she decided to embark on such mission, Anthonia explained that she did it to better her life and would not hesitate do whatever it took to get to the promised land. “I am a stylist and my office is located at Onobotubon Street, off Asho Street, Benin. Victor is my blood brother from the same father and mother. We were introduced to Kayode by a family friend who claimed that he has assisted a lot of people to secure UK visa.”

She explained that: “one of the ways to perfect the plan was to marry my brother, Victor. I saw that as a mere act, since I know that I am not married to my brother in real life. As agreed he took us to the marriage registry at Ojo, Lagos, to get married. At the end we were issued a marriage certificate. To perfect the business, he said we are to pay N900,000, but we managed to drop N180,000 as part payment. I am single and still searching ”

Their rip-off games man, Olaniyan, was not satisfied with his pay in the Navy and he chose to go into visa racketeering to add to his monthly salary. With his experience in the Navy, he was able to reproduce documents used to facilitate his clients’ visa requests, which depict the applicants as having military background.

Kayode who lives at No. 42 Olajumoke Street, Ikotun, Lagos, claimed that he joined the Nigerian Navy in 2005, and still works in the Navy. He explained that he knew his clients “through a family friend of mine, Tunde who told me that they were desperate to travel out of the country. I was the one who arranged for the forged marine documents and marine certificate of competency.

I brought the sample and it was reproduced just like the original document. I then hired the services of a good forger, Isaac, who brought the bank statement, sales receipt and the other documents that were presented. I asked them to pay, N900,000 to process the document which they agreed to but I only collected N180,000 based on the agreement that I would receive the balance at the end of the business. I would have collected the remaining sum today if the visa was issued.”

To the amazement of the British High Commission, Victor presented a document showing that he is working at the Durba Shipping (DNL). He also furnished the Commission with an internal memo approving 30 days annual leave, payment slip indicating a monthly salary of N310,000, letter of employment showing that he was employed as 2nd Engineer with effect from May 12, 2003 and a letter of introduction from the company. Victor further gave the Commission a certificate of Federal College of Fisheries and Marine Technology, Victoria Island Lagos.

Anthonia, the hair stylist on her part appeared before the interview panel claiming that she is CEO/Chairman of the Emmanuel Sidah Ventures. She presented an introduction letter of herself as the owner of the company. Also in her custody was a document from the Corporate Affairs Commission showing when the business was registered. This document was a certificate to authenticate the registration of the business.

Turai's Plot Her secret emails to El Rufai revealed

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on February 21, 2010 at 1:30pm

Turai’s consummate power play...Her secret emails, others facts

In the period between December 15, 2009 and January 17, 2010, the ailing President’s wife, Turai Yar‘Adua, was aggressively engaged in an intricate power manoeuvre to rally support for her

husband; reaching out and offering carrots to those previously classified

as ‘enemies’ of the administration; and building new allies with the sole purpose of keeping the seat of power safe. From her new base in Saudi Arabia, where she manages her husband’s health, fresh facts emerging from email
exchanges made exclusively available to NEXTonSunday, reveal the
fascinating web of the power machinery organized around Mrs Yar‘Adua
who, as the perfect Amazon, is emerging as perhaps the most politically
shrewd, even if desperate, ‘First Lady’ in the history of Nigerian presidency.

While Nigeria’s President, Umaru Yar’Adua lay critically ill in King Faisal hospital in
far away Saudi Arabia, throw the country into confusion over the
leadership vacuum, to Turai Yar’Adua the President, was surreptitiously
orchestrating an elaborate power scheme and was, in effect running the
affairs of the country. Fresh
evidence, obtained exclusively by Next, shows a ground plan in which
Mrs Yar’Adua, assisted by some politically connected Northerners,
curbed the power of the Executive Council of the Federation and tried
to curry the favour of loyalists and foes alike in an effort the
family’s hold on power. For more than 2 months, the group- the
‘‘cabal’’- succeeded in warding off all efforts to fill the leadership
vacuum and thereby frustrated constitutional processes. It is not clear
whether Mrs. Yar’Adua was protecting the interests of her ailing
husband; indeed, it appears that she may have more interested in
holding on to the influence that her current position afforded her.

Spanning a period of about five weeks from December 15, 2009, series of email
show the lively discourse that took place between Mrs. Yar’Adua,
members of the executive council, legislators, presidential aides, some
prominent Northern elites. Events took a dramatic turn when in late
December, she went beyond her loyalists and reached out to a well
antagonist, Nasir, el-rufai, the former minister of the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT). Analysts believe that this may have been an attempt on
her part to garner support of the politically strong Northerners while
also bridging the gap between loyalists and rivals. Mrs. Yar’Adua’s
says otherwise.

‘‘Nasir Wallahitallahi duk yadda ka dauka bah aka bane (Nasir, by God,
honestly, it s not what you think) I just want to help you out,’’ the
first lady said in an email to Mr. el-rufai on January 14, 2010.

Seeking Power

While the nation simmered and accusations and counter accusations flew across groups, the parliament and the Presidency, Mrs Yar’Adua was subtly making plans on how to retain power. According
to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the 80 day delay in
handing over Presidential powers to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan was engineered by the first lady’s to solidify her power in the light of her husband’s dwindling health.

‘‘This whole thing was about power. You must remember that she had the hope
that if her husband became incapacitated, she would be made the Vice
President,’’ our source said.

Having been assured of the loyalty of her husband’s cronies, Mrs. Yar’Adua took the next step to woo her antagonists.

‘‘It is all about power. She was trying to gather friend and to neutralize
enemies. Because she wanted to be made the VP, she felt that if she
could win over enemies, then they would not oppose her ambitions,’’
another source said,When
contacted by Next, Mr. el-Rufai, who is currently exiled in Dubai and
has been in the fore front of asking for the President’s resignation,
said he did not know what sort of help Mrs. Yar’Adua wanted to offer
him.

‘‘I did not have a clue what help she was offering. I did not care and I
did not think that she was in a position to help me,’’ the former
minister, said.

A subsequent email sent by the first lady to the former minister of
however gives a clue on what Mrs. Yar’Adua hoped to offer Mr el-rufai
in return for his support.‘‘Amma
nayi maka Alkawari ba wani wanda ya isa ya kara wata Magana Akanka (but
I make you a promise that no one will ever again complicate your
situation) if I remain the firs(t) lady,’’ Mrs. Yar’Adua promised in an
email sent to Mr el-Rufai on January 18, 2010. She may have been
referring to the eight-count charge, brought against the former
minister by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Last year, on Wednesday , May 6, 2009, the EFCC charged Mr. El-Rufai to
Court on charges including abuse of office, and followed this upnby
declaring him wanted on account of his failure to appear to appear
before the Courts. Mr el-rufai insists that he did no wrong and that he
was being persecuted by those whose toes he had steeped on while he was
the FCT Minister.

The Middle man

Serving as the channel for the initial correspondence between the two parties
was Baba Adams. Mr Adams, a Nigerian who serves as the director of
Research and Assessment at the North central University,
Prescott Arizona, presented himself as the middle man trying to
establish contact between the first lady and different parties. In one
of the messages sent on December 24, 2009, Mr. Adams in an email to the
President, via the first lady, appealed to him to cede power between to
his deputy. Mr Adams copied several parties in the Mil including
members of the Executive Council of the Federation, some legislators,
aides of the President, and some prominent Northerners. Mr Adams copied
Sultan of Sokoto; Buba Marwa, a former military Governor and current
Ambassador to South Africa; Mohammed Abba Aji, the Presidential adviser
on Presidential matters; David Mark, the Senate President; Taminu Yakubu, the President’s economic adviser; Babatunde Osotimehin, the Minister for health and a close ally of the Mrs Yar’Adua; Michael Aondoakaa, former Attorney General; and Ojo Maduekwe,
the Foriegn Affairs Minister among others. It is unclear what Mr Adams’
relationship is with these people but a legislator who was copied in
the email, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, a House of Representatives member, denied having a personal knowledge of Mr Adams while also denying a personal relationship with the first family.

‘‘I have no idea of what you are talking about. If you are talking of my role as a parliamentarian, and a member of Action Congress, no problem. But in terms of personal relationship, none at all. I met Yar’Adua once as Governor of Katsina State, when some House of Representatives members were on a visit to Katsina. Perhaps Mrs. Yar’Adua might recognize me as a member of the parliament, and a former NTA staff she
probably sees on TV sometimes. My stand was very simple: handover to
your deputy.

I believe Mr Adam copies his mail to some senators and members, as he normally
does,’’ Mrs. Dabiri-Erewa said to NEXT. Mr Adams’ next step soon after
that email was to take steps to link up Mr. el-rufai with the Mrs.
Yar’Adua.

‘‘I just got an email from Her Excellency Hajia Turai Yar’Adua, the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from Saudi Arabia. She wants to speak to you by telephone-so please can you email me your
best contact phone number. With all due respect to you and the First
Lady, we would appreciate if you will keep the communication
confidential to avoid any unnecessary altercations,’’ Mr Adams said in
an email dated December 26 2009. Thus began the correspondence between the former and the first lady.

‘‘Maganar taimakon da kike cewa za ki yi mani, nag ode amma ban a bukatar
taimakon wani dan Adam, domin na kai kara wurin Allah, Subhanahu wa
ta’ala (As for the assistance that you want to render to me, thank you
very much, but I do not need help from any human being because I have
left everything in the hands of Allah, Subhanahu wa ta’ala),’’ was the
final response sent by Mr el-Rufai to the first lady in an email,
dated January 16, 2010. Mr. Adams did not respond to email enquiry on
his motivation for the various mails sent to the different parties.

Neutralizing enemies

Mrs. Yar’Adua’s quest for power led her to seek reconciliation with those
who had hitherto fallen out of favor with her family. Mr el-Rufai was
just one of many. According to acknowledgeable sources, the aim of the
reconciliation exercise was for the sole purpose of neutralizing
opposition by renewing friendships which had long gone sour. Others who
Mrs Yar’Adua reportedly approached were Ahmed Muazu, the former
Governor of Bauchi State; Alhaji Attahiru Bafarawa, former Governor of Sokoto State; Atiku Abubakar, former Vice-President; and Ibrahim Babangida
former military President. ‘‘Initially, these people were her friends
but the relations between them deteriorated,’’ sources said.

3-Point Agenda: How Jonathan runs Nigeria • Power, Niger Delta, Electoral Reform top priorities

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on February 21, 2010 at 1:40pm

How Jonathan runs Nigeria • Power, Niger Delta, Electoral Reform top priorities (3-Point Agenda)
By Emmanuel Aziken, Abuja
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Cover Stories Feb 20, 2010

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan
Goodluck-Jonathan-21%5B1%5D.jpg

* The weight on Yar’Adua, Jonathan relationship

* Gags aides, N-Delta Elders

* Reduces Yar’Adua’s 7-Point Agenda to 3

* The Abiola connection

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan is set to confound political pundits and jobbers with a resolve not to contest next year’s presidential elections, associates of the Acting President have told Saturday Vanguard.

Jonathan, the first Acting President in the nation’s Fourth Republic, it has been learnt, is poised to leave a history that will differentiate his legacy from that of many of his predecessors after May 2011.

The Acting President, according to associates, has set power, Niger Delta and electoral reform at the top of a sub-set of an agenda derived from the seven point- agenda inherited from President Umaru Yar‘Adua.

Giving an insight into how Jonathan’s is running the country, one of his associates who spoke to Saturday Vanguard on the basis of confidentiality said:

”He is a highly consultative person and you need to see this in how he responded to the crisis in Jos. Besides the strict instructions to the security agencies to restore normalcy on the Plateau, he has also had many consultative meetings with Plateau stakeholders that have greatly helped in defusing the tension and reducing mutual suspicion among the people,” one source said of the meetings that were held without media exposure.

One notable effort by Jonathan in addressing the Jos crisis was his decision not to set up another panel of enquiry on the most recent crisis.

“He said that there were many panels of enquiry that were established in the past on crises in Jos since 1994 and he pledged that this would be the last one and one of his directives was that the reports by past panels should be implemented.”

It was thus not surprising that the reports of some of those panels are now being released, it was noted.

Also indicative of the direction of the Jonathan presidency, according to his associates, was his attitude towards the recent Anambra gubernatorial election and the re-run election for the Etsako Central Constituency seat in the Edo State House of Assembly.

Remarkably, Etsako Central is the home base of his Principal Private Secretary, Chief Mike Oghiadome, who served as deputy to Governor Lucky Igbinedion between 1999 and 2007.

“In both elections, he called the Inspector General of Police to ensure that there is no security incident and he vowed that the will of the people must prevail.”

“Etsako was indeed a test case for anyone watching the resoluteness of Jonathan as he did not mind the interest of Oghiadome.”

In both Etsako Central and Anambra, Jonathan’s dominant Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lost and without much security incidents.

His consultative approach it was learnt is, nevertheless, time stretching.

Jonathan, it was learnt, wakes up around 5 a.m. in the morning and between 6.30 a.m. and 7.00 a.m. he attends the daily morning devotion that holds in the chapel within his Akinola Aguda residence within the Presidential Villa. From there, he commences a daily routine of presidential activities that many times stretch up to 11.00 p.m. and sometimes when he takes files and memoranda home for further action.

Jonathan, according to one of his associates, is also determined to remain faithful to his boss, President Yar‘Adua in the belief that the more than two months stalemate that affected the governance of the country was deliberately stoked without the President’s knowledge.

In exonerating President Yar‘Adua, the associates point to the political background of the President’s family. “The Yar‘Adua family has paid its dues to Nigeria and have also paid the cost and don’t forget that the President’s elder brother died in prison on account of his inclination to democracy,” the associate said in reference to the suspicious death in Abakaliki prison of Gen. Shehu Musa Yar‘Adua, the former Army General who later became a thorn to the military dictatorship of Gen. Sani Abacha.

Noting the bond between Jonathan and President Yar‘Adua and how the kitchen cabinet repeatedly sought to damage that relationship, one insider disclosed how President Yar‘Adua gave Jonathan the task of filling board appointments in the nation’s parastatals.

That job, it was learnt, was subsequently subverted by some elements within the kitchen cabinet.

Besides, it was also disclosed that when President Yar‘Adua wanted to go on leave last year, that he wrote a letter to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives informing them in fulfillment of section 145 of the constitution. That constitutional requirement was meant to transfer power to Jonathan as Acting President.

The letter, Saturday Vanguard was intercepted by elements within the kitchen cabinet who instructed the National Assembly Adviser, Senator Mohammed Abba Aji not to deliver it.

“Their argument was that Obasanjo didn’t do it. But they also said that it could set up a dangerous pattern that could cost the President much politically.”

”The President was told that the National Assembly could refuse to acknowledge his letter when he tells them that he is back,” one source privy to the development disclosed.

Remarkably, associates of then VP who spoke on condition of anonymity revealed Dr. Jonathan’s abiding loyalty to President Umaru Yar‘Adua, even as they absolved the ailing President from the perceived disdain poured on him by elements within the President’s kitchen cabinet.

Besides drawing a scene of efforts made by the kitchen cabinet to break the initial bond of comradeship that trailed and followed President Yar‘Adua and Dr. Jonathan in their first days in office, the associates disclosed how Dr. Jonathan bound his immediate staff not to talk on the issues of the President’s illness and the transmission of a letter to the National Assembly on his medical vacation.

Following the President’s medical evacuation and the brouhaha that followed, Dr. Jonathan it was learnt, instilled dread into his aides when he told them that their mobile telephones were being monitored and warned them not to discuss or insinuate anything that would bring disharmony within the presidency.

Besides his aides, the VP, it was learnt through one of his trusted aides, also mobilized political leaders from the South-South not to see the issues affecting the transmission or lack of transmission of a letter of medical vacation to the National Assembly as his issue or a South-South issue.

“Abiola’s mistake was that his June 12 mandate was reduced by some people from a national issue to a South West issue, and those around him learnt from and so when this issue started, the first thing he did was to help silent opinion leaders from the South-South.

”The issue of transmitting a letter or not is not a South-South issue. It is a national and constitutional issue which he, from the beginning, determined not to see as a personal issue or from the prism of a South-South issue,” a long standing associate of the Acting President confided.

ASSASINATION: Former EFCC investigator, Danjuma Mohammed, assassinated

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on February 21, 2010 at 2:00pm

A former top investigator with the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC), Danjuma Mohammed, was shot dead today in the
Gwarimpa area of Abuja by assassins who invaded his home. Mohammed, a
Deputy Superintendent of Police who worked as an investigator with the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), was a close associate of the
exiled former EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu.

He was also one of the first casualties of the power play in the EFCC when Mrs. Farida Waziri took
over the reigns of the commission three years ago. Along with Ibrahim
Magu and several other experienced investigators at the EFCC, Mohammed
was sent back to the police by Mrs. Waziri..

But Saharareporters sources said the FIRS found Mohammed to be a
valuable tool and had recruited him to engage in investigating and
prosecuting tax defaulters. He reportedly met stiff resistance in the
department handling the job in the FIRS before he undertook its
reorganization.

Mohammed's assassination would be the second against financial crimes
investigators. In November 2009, Abubakar Umar, a lawyer and special
assistant to Ahmeed Al Mustapha, registrar of the Corporate Affairs
Commission (CAC), was found brutally assassinated and burned in his car
in Abuja. Abubakar had been trailed by unknown assailants after he left
work. He was abducted, shot to death, and set ablaze. His badly burnt
body was found near Utako Market in the opposite direction of his
residence in Maitama. Before he was killed, Abuabakar had had some
disagreements with the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives,
Usman Bayero Nafada, over land ownership.

Police claim they are looking into this case, but such proclamations in past assassinations have amounted to nothing.

RELATED ASSASSINATION:

The family of late Abuabakar Abba Umar is offering N10m to anyone who provides information leading to the arrest of his killers. Abuabakar Abba Umar until his
death was an Assistant Director and the Special Assistant to the
registrar general at the Corporate Affairs Commission Abuja. Mr Umar
was also a board member of the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission.

He was trailed by trailed by his assailants on 11th November 2009 who
shot him and burnt him in his Toyota Camry car. An autopsy carried out
at the National Hospital Abuja revealed a bullet wound in his skull.
Initially, the police believed that it was accident. However, after the
autopsy report was released, some suspects were arrested but no
breakthrough was made in finding his killers. .

The family of the later Umar is offering the N10m in an effort to
assist the law enforcement agencies in apprehending his killers. Anyone
with useful information should contact the

mobile number: 0706 7868 334 or email abuabba67@yahoo.co.uk

Nigerian Buys London Gatwick Airport !

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on February 17, 2010 at 4:32am

This is good news for Nigeria, good news indeed. Not a “419″ deal. Nothing close to it. This was an international transaction, a business deal which a Nigerian led and succeeded.
I can announce to you today, if you haven’t heard already, that anytime you travel through Gatwick Airport, always remember with pride that it is owned by a Nigerian.

Bayo Ogunlesi

The new owner of one of the world’s most recognised airport – Gatwick – is Adebayo Ogunlesi.

Bayo, as he is fondly called, 56, is the chairman and managing partner, Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), an independent investment fund based in New York City with worldwide stake in infrastructure assets.

According to report, Bayo, the son of an 86-year old professor of medicine has presided over a great number of sweet deals that made him the envy of his peers abroad even if his forays into the brisk world multi-billion dollars deals are barely talked about in Nigeria, his home country.

GIP will be investing through Ivy Bidco Limited, a limited liability company registered in England, established for the purpose of making the acquisition. Bidco will pay cash consideration of £1,455 million for the entire share capital of Gatwick Airport Limited on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

Bayo says the acquisition of Gatwick is a landmark deal for GIP and adds another quality asset to his firm’s rapidly expanding portfolio. He said, “we see significant scope to apply both our strong operational focus and our knowledge of the airports sector to make Gatwick an airport of choice.”

In an exclusive interview on Sky television with Jeff Randall, Bayo Ogunlesi, said he is going “to make Gatwick a truly first class experience”. However he cautioned it would take “somewhere between 12 and 18 months” before passengers started noticing a difference at the airport.
GIP agreed a £1.51bn deal with Gatwick’s current operator BAA last week, which represented a “good price”, Mr Ogunlesi said.

The fund, which invests in the energy, transport and waste sectors, has already spent over £1bn so far this year, encouraged by falling asset prices. Mr Ogunlesi said the UK’s strong regulatory framework and attractive assets made “Britain a wonderful place to invest”.

“We love Britain,” Mr Ogunlesi added.

The sale of Gatwick to GIP, which is subject to approval by the European Union, is due to be completed by the end of the year.

The airport is currently run by BAA, which posted a pre-tax loss of over £780m in the first nine months of the year.

The airport operator said it lost £225m on Gatwick after being forced to sell the airport by the Competition Commission.

So you wondered why Bayo hadn’t brought his skills to play in Nigeria. But did you notice what Bayo said? He said “We love Britain”, not because of anything but the STRONG REGULATORY FRAMEWORK. Period.

Bayo’s Bio

Adebayo Ogunlesi, called ‘Bayo, by family and friends, was born in Nigeria in 1953, the son of the first Nigerian-born professor of medicine to earn tenure at a medical school in his own country. Ogunlesi went to England in the 1970s to study philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree with honors. He was accepted by Harvard Law School as one of three foreign students in his class, even though the school did not usually admit students who had been born and educated outside the United States at the time. At Harvard, Ogunlesi and W. Randy Eaddy became the first two editors of African descent to serve together on the prestigious Harvard Law Review .

Ogunlesi also enrolled at the Harvard Business School at the same time that he was studying law. Although he did not intend to pursue a business career, he thought that courses in finance would help him overcome his fear of numbers. He finished his MBA program in 1978 and earned his law degree magna cum laude in 1979. Ogunlesi then served as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall from 1980 to 1983. He was the first non-American ever to clerk at the nation’s highest court.

In 1983 Ogunlesi became an associate of the prestigious New York law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore after having worked for the firm as an intern. He had been practicing law for only nine months, however, when he was called by First Boston, an investment bank. The bank was helping the Nigerian government finance a $6 billion liquefied natural gas project. Its contact in Nigeria was a personal friend of Ogunlesi. The bankers at First Boston asked Cravath, Swaine if they could borrow Ogunlesi for three months to facilitate the deal.

MOVING TO FIRST BOSTON

Three months at the investment bank turned into 20 years. Ogunlesi’s superiors at First Boston were pleased with his work and offered him a permanent position even though his homeland was in turmoil. He told the New York Times on one occasion, & Six months after I got here, there was a coup in Nigeria, the government got tossed out and my friend almost went to jail (March 14, 2002). He rose through the ranks at First Boston from associate to head of the project-finance group. Ogunlesi spent much of his time traveling through countries regarded as emerging markets, where he brokered deals among lenders, governments, and firms developing such large projects as oil refineries, natural gas plants, and mines. The lenders recovered their investments from the proceeds of the projects funded.

Ogunlesi was soon promoted to managing director of the project-finance group at First Boston. Over time his team absorbed several others, including the power, oil and gas, and chemicals groups. In 1993, this amalgamated unit was officially renamed the “Global Energy Group, but was informally dubbed -The Bayosphere. Known for his competitive spirit, Ogunlesi installed a foosball table in his office and had his name painted on one of the goalies; his way of saying that he was taking on the competition.

KEY PROMOTION

In 1997 First Boston was acquired by the Credit Suisse Group and renamed Credit Suisse First Boston, or CSFB. Ogunlesi became the head of the new firm’s global investment banking division in 2002 at the age of 48. At that time global investment banking was one of CSFB’s most influential divisions, employing 1,200 bankers and managing $2.8 billion in assets. Ogunlesi was also given seats on the bank’s board of directors and its powerful 15-member operating committee. The chief executive of CSFB, John J. Mack, praised the new appointee in a press release. ‘Bayo Ogunlesi is a banker of powerful intellect, integrity and innovation. He has a broad global perspective and keen understanding of complex financial transactions. Our clients worldwide have benefited greatly from his strategic insight’s (February 20, 2002). Another colleague put it more simply,He’s the smartest guy in the room ( New York Times , March 14, 2002).

Other accolades quickly followed the news of Ogunlesi’s appointment. Time magazine named Ogunlesi to its 2002 Global Influentials list of the 15 most-promising young executives, while Fortune ranked him as the Seventh Most Powerful Black Executive in the United States.

Ogunlesi’s first task after his promotion was to cut costs in the investment banking division, which had lost nearly $1 billion the previous year. The division was overstaffed as well as ineffective. Ogunlesi furloughed 300 bankers and 50 managing directors in the first few weeks of his new job. He also asked the remaining staff to accept pay cuts and reduce expenses. His economy measures showed some success when the bank’s revenues in the following quarter increased by 25 percent.

NEW CHALLENGES

The early years of the twenty-first century brought more difficult challenges. First, a bear market that started in 2000 made new financing difficult to find. Next, off-balance-sheet financing lost public favor when the energy company Enron abused the technique in order to hide its debts and risky investments, which contributed to its collapse in the winter of 2001. Still another scandal erupted in 2002, when some analysts at CSFB and other large brokerage firms were accused of openly giving some stocks a buy rating while secretly telling their larger clients to steer clear of them. CSFB and nine other firms eventually paid out $1.4 billion in 2003 to settle the charges without admitting guilt. Ogunlesi told New Zealand’s Dominion Post that new rules had been enacted to create a very clear separation between equity market research and investment banking functions. Those rule changes would limit future conflicts of interest and help restore confidence in broker recommendations.

In addition to Ogunlesi’s work at CSFB, he served as cochair of the Global Economic Forum’s 2003 Africa Economic Summit and as an informal adviser to the former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo. Ogunlesi also raised funds for education and African charities (Black Herald – September 9, 2007)

ECOWAS leaders elect Jonathan as Chairman

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on February 17, 2010 at 7:54pm

ECOWAS leaders elect Jonathan as Chairman

Acting President Goodluck Jonathan was on Tuesday elected as the Chairman of ECOWAS.

Mr. Jonathan in his acceptance speech, expressed gratitude for the action, saying that Nigeria's re-election re-affirmed ECOWAS faith and confidence in the country, in spite of the circumstances facing it.

jpeg&STREAMOID=nPDHs5ofY1j$wewMZ1jx7C6SYeqqxXXqBcOgKOfTXxQGj46rxtfCAgBYzgKOI89OwLkdkNm4NaK1iliY4aRX7GEabxkeoo57KN3LcI4Be79xyJSXHeyn6i9C8rc3E0xoX_kuXYWCUJRqviwH8FNPwULIcdFM9zupuYHBJc2ySZk-

``Let me therefore, reassure you that Nigerians remain strong and unwavering in their belief in the west african institution, peace, unity and progress.

``I wish to assure of Nigeria's continued commitment to work with the body for the advancement of our common dreams to sustain the regional belief, democracy and development.

``These are the challenges we face and we must confront them as we strive to meet our hopes and aspirations of our people,'' he said.

Mr. Jonathan said in each of these challenges, the region had made some tremendous progress, adding that more needed to be accomplished.

``We must not relent in making our sub-region an oasis of peace and tranquility. Under Nigeria's leadership, we must continue to work for peace and tranquility,''
he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that under the ECOWAS chairmanship, countries are allowed to seek for a second term.

Nigeria would be the fifth among such countries that held the chairmanship position for two terms.

Other countries include Mali under President Alpha
Konare; Ghana, led by President John Kuffour; Niger, led by President Tandja and Burkina Faso, under President Blaise Compaore.

Meanwhile, James Victor Gbeho, Special Adviser to Ghanaian President Attah Mills, was also elected as the President of the ECOWAS Commission.

TOP 100 Universities in AFRICA

Posted by 9jabook.com on February 17, 2010 at 8:08pm

CONTINENT RANK	UNIVERSITY	COUNTRY	WORLD RANK	SIZE	VISIBILITY	RICH FILES	SCHOLAR

1	University of Cape Town		317	322	343	293	451

2	University of Pretoria		531	457	1,046	721	63

3	Stellenbosch University		549	732	971	414	229

4	University of the Witwatersrand		688	1,536	969	646	222

5	Rhodes University		997	1,396	1,258	1,276	567

6	University of Kwazulu Natal		1,014	1,217	1,507	926	681

7	University of the Western Cape		1,032	1,133	1,394	1,072	805

8	University of South Africa		1,290	1,080	2,386	2,291	144

9	Cairo University		1,387	1,592	1,384	2,077	1,421

10	American University in Cairo		1,614	1,642	1,662	1,464	2,554

11	Ain Shams University		1,713	5,145	1,886	3,085	372

12	University of the Free State		2,095	2,399	3,844	1,561	1,035

13	University of Johannesburg		2,179	3,378	4,451	1,929	407

14	Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University		2,300	3,245	1,785	3,173	3,341

15	Makerere University		2,685	1,829	5,020	3,937	907

16	Université Cheikh Anta Diop de Dakar		2,828	2,774	2,860	3,958	3,318

17	North West University		3,023	6,980	3,826	4,640	845

18	Mansoura University		3,100	3,128	4,980	2,445	2,176

19	Al Akhawayn University Ifrane		3,416	4,057	4,131	2,484	3,909

20	Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology		3,527	3,108	5,132	9,712	726

21	University of Namibia		3,562	2,665	5,150	4,334	2,579

22	Strathmore University Nairobi		3,623	4,605	3,509	5,288	3,401

23	University of Zimbabwe		3,694	4,284	4,909	5,076	1,993

24	University of Dar Es Salaam		3,750	3,530	4,204	4,487	3,834

25	Université Cadi Ayyad		3,781	4,284	4,109	2,678	5,547

26	Université Abou Bekr Belkaid Tlemcen		3,782	3,916	5,149	3,106	3,381

27	University of Mauritius		3,792	4,284	4,681	3,381	3,661

28	University of Nairobi		3,897	3,136	4,679	4,363	4,104

29	Cape Peninsula University of Technology		3,954	6,108	5,511	4,478	1,807

30	Addis Ababa University		4,022	4,921	5,477	7,714	1,268

31	Durban University of Technology		4,050	5,123	6,677	5,784	978

32	University of Botswana		4,148	6,785	4,690	5,667	2,207

33	École Mohammadia d'Ingénieurs		4,256	5,142	4,963	3,459	4,505

34	Arab Academy for Science & Technology and Maritime Transport		4,288	8,380	3,754	4,891	3,637

35	National University of Rwanda		4,310	4,181	3,452	8,533	4,795

36	Assiut University		4,335	4,653	7,829	3,240	1,904

37	Polytechnic of Namibia		4,480	4,665	5,678	4,607	3,651

38	Université Senghor d'Alexandrie		4,538	11,223	1,935	6,506	6,984

39	German University in Cairo		4,586	6,021	7,032	3,150	2,694

40	University of Ghana		4,627	3,371	3,516	8,448	7,515

41	Faculté des Sciences Rabat		4,691	7,277	8,162	3,131	1,509

42	Zagazig University		4,746	5,400	6,673	4,049	3,132

43	Universidade Eduardo Mondlane		4,860	7,281	4,235	7,342	3,828

44	Université Mohammed Premier Oujda*		4,900	5,948	6,405	2,926	4,788

45	University of Khartoum		4,941	4,622	6,002	6,213	3,688

46	Helwan University		4,978	4,057	4,946	4,962	8,001

47	Université Abdelmalek Essaadi*		5,313	7,069	5,109	6,621	4,531

48	Université de Ouagadougou		5,371	7,456	4,740	6,224	5,475

49	Mauritius Institute of Education		5,539	8,800	3,268	7,919	8,563

50	Sudan University of Science & Technology		5,550	4,566	9,673	2,804	3,433

51	Université de Batna		5,598	6,838	7,318	4,717	3,686

52	Tshwane University of Technology		5,662	6,769	6,403	3,988	6,261

53	Université Mentouri de Constantine		5,715	6,820	8,187	5,339	2,715

54	Université Virtuelle de Tunis		5,809	7,324	5,887	5,251	6,154

55	University of Ilorin		5,846	6,589	10,553	3,955	1,629

56	University of Zululand		5,882	8,540	8,255	5,553	2,160

57	Alexandria University		5,883	6,408	5,708	6,113	7,086

58	Central University College		5,946	12,546	2,642	7,834	9,750

59	Université Mohammed V Souissi		5,983	4,803	7,423	4,547	6,984

60	University of Malawi		6,114	9,048	6,901	6,947	3,056

61	Obafemi Awolowo University		6,265	7,114	7,303	6,511	4,249

62	University of Fort Hare		6,302	5,571	6,437	5,867	8,563

63	University of Ibadan		6,396	6,654	4,762	9,009	9,750

64	Université M'Hamed Bougara de Boumerdes		6,472	6,602	8,900	4,185	4,739

65	Université Ferhat Abbas Setif		6,509	9,149	7,224	7,523	3,168

66	Egerton University		6,548	8,205	6,553	5,379	6,825

67	University of Zambia		6,769	9,806	3,835	11,726	8,563

68	Université Djillali Liabes		6,784	6,904	7,607	5,249	7,086

69	Université d'Alger		6,792	7,264	6,327	6,512	8,563

70	University of Tanta		6,851	7,988	7,078	5,285	7,515

71	Al Azhar Al-Sharif Islamic Research Academy		6,854	6,568	5,800	8,364	9,750

72	Université Saad Dahlab Blida		6,924	9,601	5,818	7,008	7,252

73	Université Abdelhamid Ibn Badis Mostaganem		6,928	8,061	7,159	9,646	4,043

74	University of Jos		7,000	8,087	8,889	6,737	3,440

75	College of Medicine University of Malawi		7,108	9,480	10,137	7,071	1,697

76	Kenyatta University		7,189	8,026	8,054	6,061	5,852

77	École du Patrimoine Africain		7,190	9,761	4,851	9,222	9,750

78	Université des Sciences et de la Technologie Houari Boumediene		7,217	6,391	7,380	7,929	7,631

79	University of Lagos		7,246	6,625	10,014	7,880	2,948

80	École Supérieure des Communications de Tunis		7,274	9,878	9,649	6,740	2,368

81	Nile University		7,323	5,261	8,830	7,507	6,042

82	Sokoine University of Agriculture		7,337	9,728	5,756	8,583	8,001

83	Moi University		7,352	8,675	6,534	6,410	9,750

84	Institut National des Postes et Telecommunications Maroc		7,385	8,955	7,966	7,520	4,664

85	Université Hassan II Ain-Chock		7,424	6,113	8,057	5,932	9,750

86	British University in Egypt		7,445	7,502	11,368	4,366	3,089

87	South Valley University		7,476	6,462	9,769	4,149	7,086

88	Mogadishu University		7,498	13,007	2,828	15,764	9,750

89	Université des Sciences et de la Technologie d'Oran Mohamed Boudiaf		7,509	7,822	9,014	4,929	6,624

90	Vaal University of Technology		7,520	6,394	8,914	6,200	6,825

91	Université Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah Fes		7,537	6,426	7,620	7,018	9,750

92	Suez Canal University*		7,605	6,914	6,986	8,484	9,750

93	Université de Nouakchott		7,666	10,081	6,054	7,550	9,750

94	Minufiya University		7,689	8,308	8,466	5,229	8,001

95	Central University of Technology		7,846	6,301	8,657	7,104	8,563

96	Université Mohammed V Agdal		7,850	9,048	6,878	7,506	9,750

97	Ashesi University*		7,906	8,386	7,870	9,727	5,815

98	Université d'Oran		7,934	10,378	7,473	6,576	7,515

99	Monash University South Africa		8,027	8,169	7,365	8,140	9,750

100	Université Mohamed Khider Biskra		8,043	9,833	6,972	7,297	9,750

Universities 1 to 100 of 100

http://www.webometrics.info/top100_continent.asp?cont=africa

I made $500m from oil block, but didn’t know how to spend it — Danjuma

Posted by SULE BELLO on February 18, 2010 at 12:18am

I made $500m from oil block, but didn’t know how to spend it — DanjumaBy Olusola Fabiyi, Abuja, Published: Thursday, 18 Feb 2010A former Minister of Defence, Lt.-Gen Theophilus Danjuma, shocked his audience at a consultative meeting his Foundation and some Non-Governmental Organisations had in Abuja on Wednesday when he narrated how he made $500m from an oil business, and was in a fix on how to spend it.The chief executives of the NGOs at the meeting could not believe their ears after hearing Danjuma’s narration.The former Chief of Army Staff said the $500m, came as his profit from the total of $1bn he had realised from selling an oil block, which was allocated to him 12 years ago.About $500m had been used to settle some pressing personal issues, pay his staff, and tax to the government.He recalled that the story started 12 years ago when he was allocated an oil block by the regime of late Gen. Sani Abacha.He said that the oil block which was in Port Harcourt, River State, however, took him about 10 years before his company first struck oil. Luckily for him, by this time, the price of oil had soared in the international market.He said this made him to sell the block because he knew that “whatever goes up must come down,” stressing that the deal fetched him $1bn.He also said that he was left with ‘just’ $500m after he had taken care of the essentials of life.He said that he was not sure whether the money would be secured in the bank. Still, he said that he contemplated saving the money for his children. Yet, a second thought, told him this was not the wisest thing to do as his children might fight over it after his death. So, what would he do with the money?“It was at this junction I decided to establish a foundation which I have committed $100m to. Before I ventured into the business, I told the participants how I retired early from the army.“I retired at an early age of 41 from the army; it was also because I got to the top early and after that, I started shipping business and became reasonably rich.”Danjuma wondered what he would be doing with an extra $500m at the age of 72, saying, “I decided to set up a foundation and endow it with my fund. This is because the Nigerian government no matter how noble its intentions cannot address these challenges on its own.“In fact, in all developed countries, the implementation of social projects is never the sole responsibility of government; there are often strong collaborations as well as the private sector.”

Toyota Nigeria commences recall of cars

Posted by 9jabook.com on February 18, 2010 at 2:54am

Toyota (Nigeria) Limited has said there would be a reassurance check in Nigeria on three of its car models affected in the car defect and recall all over the world. jpeg&STREAMOID=QH6Z1_5EAz0rBc7C0EN06y6SYeqqxXXqBcOgKOfTXxQ$OkDhAnfYHBjN87jlkOxWnW_PgxgftuECOcfJwS6Jtlp$r8Fy$6AAZ9zyPuHJ25T7a9GKDSxsGxtpmxP0VAUyHL6IDcZHtmM2t7xO$FHdJG95dFi6y2Uma3vSsvPpVyo-

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At a press briefing in Lagos on Wednesday, Toyota said it has received directives from Toyota Motor Corporation's to carry out a reassurance check on three of the model. Chandrasheker Thampy, the Managing Director TNL, apologised for the panic, concern and inconvenience the news of the global recall had caused their customers.

"The company is making a reassurance call to inform its customers that there is no cause to panic as the problem is very much not likely to occur with Toyota models in the country.

The three models are Toyota RAV4, Toyota Avensis 2.0 and a few sub models of the corollas.

TMC has been making recalls of some of its car model with faulty accelerator pedal which makes the brakes falter on slippery or frozen roads.

"This reassurance recall is a means of checking for any possibility of the defect being faced in other parts of the world, but we doubt we will be having any," said Michael Ade-Ojo, the company's chairman in Nigeria.

No extra charge

Mr. Ade-Ojo said the exercises will also be free of charge for cars bought from the accredited dealers, while "Toyota brands imported into the country through other means will also be attended to after we have attended to our own but it would be with a fee," he said.

Mr. Thampy explained that the problem is synonymous with the cold region where they have to put on the car heater during winter leading to a wear and tear on the sliding surface of the accelerator.

In the last week of January this year, TMC announced its intention to recall certain models of Toyota vehicles in American, European and Chinese markets in order to inspect and fix a likely problem that would have arisen.

Mr. Ade-Ojo said the lateness in addressing the issue was due to the fact that they believe there will be no occurrence of the problem, but TMC wants the company to be doubly sure that is why the check is going to take place.

Mr. Ade - Ojo further said that the company had not met to discuss the recall with the government since the beginning of the recall process all over the world.

This is contrary to the response from the Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in an earlier story in NEXT that it had a meeting with the minister of state for Commerce and Industry, Humphrey Abbah, and all automobile importers and assemblers in Nigeria, and part of the outcome was that the Toyota cars that are being recalled were not in Nigeria yet.

LAGBUS ATTACKED by MObile Policemen

Posted by 9jabook.com on February 18, 2010 at 3:09am

A convoy of mobile police officers, on Wednesday, assaulted passengers in the Lagos State Asset Management bus transit popularly called ‘LAGBUS' with tear gas leaving a driver and some passengers injured.

According to an eye witness, the LAGBUS with serial number 241 and license number XS584 AAA was driving out of the Ikorodu Bus Station when its path was barred by a three-vehicle convoy of mobile police officers moving on the wrong side of traffic. jpeg&STREAMOID=uVH4P$y53CUtgDPwU1UmeS6SYeqqxXXqBcOgKOfTXxQerx_My0WQwrn71vR7jMvFnW_PgxgftuECOcfJwS6Jtlp$r8Fy$6AAZ9zyPuHJ25T7a9GKDSxsGxtpmxP0VAUyHL6IDcZHtmM2t7xO$FHdJG95dFi6y2Uma3vSsvPpVyo-

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Drama ensued when the captain of the LAGBUS, Mr. Peace, was ordered to drive backwards so that the police convoy could proceed.

Witnesses said the driver was unable to comply because other buses where lined up behind him. This enraged the officers and one of them opened a canister of tear gas and threw it directly into the driver's face and subsequently into the vehicle. At this point, commuters panicked and fled for their lives with some inhaling tear gas in the process.

"The bus had already loaded and wanted to come out. Those mobile police followed one way and blocked the bus. So about four or five police officers came down to meet the driver and told him to move back," said an eyewitness, Usman Abiodun a LAGBUS driver. "Another bus (my bus) was behind my captain's (peace's) bus, so there was no chance for him to go back. Before everybody knew a thing, they had sprayed tear gas inside the bus. It poured on the captain's face and another woman sitting behind the driver. All passengers ran away from the bus. The captain has not opened his opened his eyes. Peace's eyes are swollen. We had to carry him to Alausa but he still has not opened his eyes."

Abuse of law

Though two traffic cops and some road safety officers were in front of the bus station when the incident happened, the mobile police officers went unchallenged.

Attempts to speak to the traffic officers on duty proved abortive as they fled the scene immediately after the incident.

NETWORK SECURITY TIPS How to use Google Webmaster tools to help protect your site

Posted by technology on February 18, 2010 at 3:48am

I often use a search engine to explore and review my clients' websites and check if anything is untoward. The other weekI came across a report on one client's site that was obviously intendedfor internal consumption only. I immediately rang my client to warnthem. They explained that the report had been posted to the publicwebsite instead of the internal intranet by mistake and they'd removedit as soon as the error was discovered. Obviously they were quitealarmed that I could still access it more than a week later.

This is a great example of the all-consuming nature of Web searches, Google searches in particular. Google takes a snapshot of each page itssearch crawlers examine and caches it as a backup. It's also theversion used to judge if a page is a good match for a query. Myclient's report was only on the Web for about three hours and yet acopy of it ended up stored in Google's cache and was still availablefor anyone to read. The fact that sensitive information that getscrawled can remain in the public domain means data classification andcontent change processes are vital to prevent this type of data leakagefrom occurring.

Unfortunately, private or sensitive business information makes its way onto the public Internet all too often. In this tip, we'll discussreasons why this happens, and some strategies to help enterprises keepprivate or sensitive data off the Web.

Problems that can cause website information leaks

The incident noted above gave me the opportunity to address with my client some specific information security problems that led to thereport being posted on its website. The first problem was that theorganization didn't properly classify its data and documents.Implementing a system of data classification and clearly labellingdocuments with that classification would make such an incident far lesslikely.

The Android Who Cried Wolf

Posted by technology on February 16, 2010 at 7:56pm

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Currently, Google has one of the more interesting problems I’ve ever seen. While I’d never tell anyone to slow down their pace of innovation, with Android, I can’t help but wonder if Google might have to do just that — because it’s seriously starting to trip over itself.

This week’s Mobile World Congress is highlighting this exact problem. Yesterday, we saw not one, but two new sexy Android phones announced just by HTC alone. HTC, you may recall, is the manufacturer of the Nexus One, the Android phone that Google felt so comfortable with, it decided to sell itself. Now, just over a month later, at least one of these new phones, the Desire, is simply abetter version of the Nexus One. Consumers must be getting whiplash at this point.

Leading up to the Nexus One launch, I wondered if Google was just eating its own dogfood (as it said) or its own children. After all, the Nexus One was launching just weeks after the Droid, Verizon’s Android phone that was being marketed as the best Android out there. (And yes, an “iPhone killer“.) Plenty of Droid owners were pissed off that they had just laid down their money (and locked themselves into a carrier contract) for a phone that was being upstaged just a few weeks later by Google itself. But now the problem is already getting much worse.

It’s not just Google that is upstaging other barely-released Android phones now, it’s the other Open Handset partners, like HTC, doing it on their own. And while it’s great for consumers to have choices, the problem is that consumers must also now deal with the fear that anything they buy will be upstaged by something better in just a few weeks. Why would I buy a Nexus One if I can get the HTC Desire? And why would I buy an HTC Desire when it will just get upstaged by another new Android device shortly after? And so on…

It some ways, it’s similar to a problem Apple has long had. With iPods in particular, for a while there, Apple was pushing out new ones so quickly that those who bought the last one would groan about the pace of updates. But again, it’s much worse with these phones because (at least in the U.S.) consumers are buying them tied to multi-year contracts that are expensive to get out of. So even if you didn’t mind shelling out another few hundred dollars for the new hardware, you’d also have to pay another few hundred dollar fee for the right to do so.

And there’s another card Apple is better at playing: silence. While the HTC Desire doesn’t yet have a U.S. release date (it will be in Asia in April, and other countries probably soon after that), by pre-announcing it, it already makes it seem like people would be crazy to buy a Nexus One right now. Apple is good at keeping silent until they actually release a product (the iPad is an exception here, but it’s a completely new entry), so they can squeeze a few final sales out of the old products that will soon be obsolete. Sure, if you follow Apple closely, you can usually read the tealeaves and know not to buy a new piece of Apple hardware around a certain time. But most people don’t care enough to read that deeply into rumors, so they happily buy right away. But it’s different when companies are out there touting their own bright new shiny objects that make the old objects in their class much less shiny.

Sure, this isn’t all Google’s fault since it open-sourced Android and created the OHA to let other partners do whatever they want. And again, yes, it’s great to have options. And sure, some of the Android phones compliment each other quite nicely — as in, some have physical keyboards, and some don’t. But plenty of them are simply better versions of recently released Android phones. And while sales of Android phones are gaining momentum (60,000 handsets a day now), I can’t help but wonder if we already have a “too many cooks in the kitchen” problem with Android. One that is only going to get worse with time.

At least with the iPhone, we know that only Apple is going to upstage older versions — and that it will do so once a year.

Here’s all I know about Android: if I were in the market for one of these phones right now, I would need a Xanax.

David Beckham: ‘Wayne Rooney is one of the best goalscorers anywhere. He’s proving that’

Posted by Choochoo Sports Book on February 16, 2010 at 11:16am

When David Beckham arrived in Italy for what, at the time, seemed a novelty excursion some 14 months ago, he received a text message from an old friend. It consisted of just seven words: “David Beckham. Manchester United. Real Madrid. Milan.” The point was being made that, long after he stopped being a footballer, he would have a unique legacy: he has belonged to the three most glamorous clubs from what, in the span of his playing career, have been the three most celebrated leagues. images?q=tbn:NtJfBvwu1KhAUM:%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href= http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/rap_sheet/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/david_beckham1_300_400.jpg">

So storied is the life of David Beckham that there is plenty to insert in between the Manchester chapter, the Madrid episode and the coda in Milan; there are debates to rehearse about the ratio of skill to hard-sell that motivated those who have employed him; arguments to hold about the greatness of the actual sides he played in at each of those clubs. But the sequence United-Real-AC gives Beckham a great deal of pride, not just because it reflects professional peaks set across so sustained a time, but because it also shows a sportsman with the dedication to see out and deliver a grand plan.

What he had never quite planned for, he admits, was the moment when the distinguished line of fabled club names had a kink in it, a meeting of the threads, as it does on Tuesday, when Milan face his “ex” — his most loved ex. “You know, I’ve never had to do this before, play against one of my old teams,” says Beckham, struck by the curiosity of that fact. In Madrid, he used to look forward to Uefa draw ceremonies at least twice a season, and the strong possibility that the names Real and Manchester United would be paired and he would be obliged to stand in a line and shake hands before kick-off with Gary Neville, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and perhaps Roy Keane as they filed past him wearing red while he wore white.

As Beckham spent a third and then a fourth season as a Madrid footballer, always in the Champions League, the chance of playing against United became more probability than possibility. It never happened. Once he joined Milan for the second half of the 2008-9 campaign, his adventures abroad were restricted to the Uefa Cup. When Milan did meet Madrid in the senior competition last autumn, Beckham was at the other end of his transatlantic commute, seeing out his obligations to Los Angeles Galaxy in America.

And so, 15 years and two months after Beckham made his Champions League debut for United, it is United he faces on his Champions League debut for Milan. The occasion will have an extra drumroll and crash of cymbals because it is Milan’s 100th match in the European Cup to be played at their San Siro site.

As Beckham spoke on Friday evening, it was clear that if he was preparing to put on the professional blinkers to safeguard against a confusion of emotions, those around him were readying themselves for an occasion of gravitas. His children, who have continued their schooling in the US while dad does his five-month stint in Italy, have come over. His head coach at Milan, Leonardo, spoke of “a very special moment in David’s life. For any player to play in the Champions League against an old club is special, but for David it is particularly.”

Leonardo was stressing that this was not just a case of an itinerant professional playing against a former club. Beckham is not a peripatetic Nicolas Anelka or Christian Vieri, he is a Manchester United fan, several of whose contemporaries never left Old Trafford. Beckham still sometimes suggests that he would have been equally happy, in the summer of 2003, had he stayed there rather than joining Madrid.

Will there be a knot in his stomach, a lump in his throat on Tuesday? “Obviously there will be emotions,” he says, “but I don’t think it will be a problem. I’ve played in many big games. There has been so much talk about me going back to Manchester United in the second leg, because it will be my first time playing for a club there in seven years. But this tie is not just about me playing against United, it’s about AC Milan. It’s about two great clubs coming together, and that’s what makes it such a big game, for the teams, for the fans.”

There are plenty of grounds for trepidation besides his own butterflies. “United are just on fire at the moment, which means it’s going to very tough for us.” It goes without saying that Beckham — “I love to watch every United game where possible” — has as precise a gauge of United’s form as anybody at Milan, and the same understanding of where the principal menace comes from: Wayne Rooney.

Beckham, a close witness to Ronaldinho’s recent revival in form, has no hesitation in likening Rooney to the Brazilian in his best form. He sees a Rooney liberated this season, operating at the sharpest point of the attack. “I have always thought,” says Beckham of his England colleague, “that Wayne is one of the best goalscorers in football anywhere. He’s proving that. He’s at a great club and doing what he does best, which is scoring goals. United are playing so well for him, too.” Not least Ryan Giggs, whose absence with injury seems a genuine source of personal regret for his former colleague. “It’s a big shame Giggsy’s out. To have played on the same field as Giggsy, but against him for once, would have been really nice for me. Hopefully he’ll be fixed up soon and maybe he’ll make the second leg.” images?q=tbn:ib67OKW5GLWOiM:%3Ca%20rel%3Dnofollow%20href= http://www.sportsagentblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/david_beckham_victoria_beckham_boob.jpg">

As for his own fitness, Beckham, 34, is happy with progress since reaching Italy and with his capacity for taking his season all the way into July, as part of the England World Cup squad. Fabio Capello is expected at San Siro as an observer on Tuesday and the understanding between the England manager and Beckham is that the player needs to show sufficient stamina and competitiveness with Milan to earn his ticket to South Africa. Major League Soccer was not a convincing platform for Capello. Milan is.

“My fitness is good, really good,” insists Beckham. “Obviously being back at Milan and working hard with the medical regime they have here has been great. To be part of an England squad, you have to be playing at the top level. You have to be playing with top players and be at the top of your fitness.” And his form? “Good,” he replies. Up and down, say the Italian media, ranging from a beaming 7.5 out of 10 from Tuttosport for his showing on his first game back, to a grumpy 4.5 from Corriere dello Sport for the Milan derby three weeks ago.

Leonardo, appointed head coach last summer, appears pleased to have Beckham back at Milan. “He arrived in December, he already knew everything he needed to, knew the atmosphere, most of the team, and how we play,” says Leonardo. “All of that’s not been a problem for him.”

Of the new teammates, the strikers were especially welcoming. Marco Boriello, who spent most of last season injured, has already profited from Beckham’s crossing. The Dutch international Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, signed last August but more out of the first XI than in it so far, hopes the combination of his alertness in the penalty box and the Englishman’s passing might prove fruitful. “He’s got a real eye for the assist,” Huntelaar thought immediately. “He’s always looking for the strikers and to swing the ball in, in front of you. It’s nice to play as a striker with him there and with Ronaldinho on the other side.”

“I got a great welcome from everybody, fans and players,” says Beckham. But there was one significant change from the last Milan dressing room he had been a member of. “Obviously Paolo Maldini’s retired and a couple of other characters have gone who were here last time. But the team is similar. There’s a great spirit within the club and that’s definitely not changed. We’re just as strong. When we play well, we’re a very good team.” The “when” is heavily weighed. He acknowledges that Milan have had a horribly inconsistent month.

January started superbly as Beckham seemed to have brought his Golden Balls knack with him into the new year: Milan had finished 2009 with just three points from their past three games. Beckham went straight into the starting line-up and they won the next three matches, racking up 12 goals, including a 3-0 win away at Juventus.

Then came the derby with Inter, a 2-0 defeat, and two subsequent draws, the second of which, against Bologna, Beckham watched entirely from the bench. Is he frustrated at being left out of the XI? “No,” he replies, “because I’ve always said when I came to the club, I never expect to start any games here.”

His return to action in Friday’s 3-2 win over Udinese, albeit as a substitute, suggests he will have a senior role on Tuesday. “We needed that win after the past couple of games,” he says, “and we needed also to get players fit again, like Alex Pato, with the United matches coming up. Both are going to be tough, but I’m looking forward to it.”

FIFTH TIME LUCKY FOR UNITED?

Manchester United have a score to settle with Milan. The teams have met in four previous two-legged European ties — three of them at the semi-final stage — and Milan triumphed each time, twice going on to win the trophy — in 1969 and 2007.

May 1958 European Cup semi-final: Man Utd 2 Milan 1, Milan 4 Man Utd 0.

April/May 1969 European Cup semi-final: Milan 2 Man Utd 0, Man Utd 1 Milan 0.

Feb/Mar 2005 Champions League, 2nd rd: Man Utd 0 Milan 1, Milan 1 Man Utd 0.

Apr/May 2007 Champions League semi-final: Man Utd 3 Milan 2, Milan 3 Man Utd 0.

Valentine Day tragedy: Ex-AIT reporter murdered

Posted by Jane Okinedo on February 16, 2010 at 11:46am

A day of love and sharing turned tragic yesterday as a former reporter with African Independent Television (AIT) , Mr. Efenji Efenji, was hacked to death by suspected assailants.

The tragic event happened at a popular outdoor joint: Corteland Garden and Bar, Karu, an outskirt of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, when a group of about 15 machete and axe-wielding youths attacked him and leaving him to bleed to death.

Efenji's relative, simply known as Innocent , alongside his wife and their nine-month-old baby boy as well as his own wife and baby had gone out in the spirit of the day to relax and share moments together.

Innocent disclosed that at a time in the garden, the whole place became rowdy with bottles being broken by some youths and they had to relocate to somewhere else in the area.

He said no sooner had they relocated to a corner in the garden before they found out that the deceased was not with them.

He said frantic efforts were quickly made to locate his whereabouts, but later saw him being cudgeled and cutlassed by over 15 hoodlums.

Innocent said he attacked the armed youths but was floored while the late Efenji was calling on him not to allow them kill him.

A visibly pained and angry Innocent said it was when he was down that the police arrived and arrested him despite his protestations that he was a relative of somebody that was attacked and that the police should accompany him to look for the whereabouts’ of the mortally wounded Efenji.

Despite his appeals, Innocent lamented that police did not heed as he was bundled off together with the manager of the Corteland Garden to the Karu Divisional Police Station at about 11: 00pm.

“I am angry with the police. Perhaps my brother Efenji would still be alive today if they had listened to me. No! They just hurled me into their van, removed my belt and locked me up. What sort of police do we have?, ” he asked rhetorically.

According to him, he later learnt that Efenji had scaled the barbed wire behind the garden despite being bloodied and collapsed a few meters from the Karu market apparently from loss of blood where his body was later found at about 4: 00 am upon a call from family members that were frantically looking for him.

When THISDAY visited the Corteland Garden, blood stains were on a trail leading to where the late journalist managed to scale the barbed wire fence to escape his assailants.

All attempts to get workers at the garden to comment on the tragic occurrence of February 14 proved abortive as none of them was willing to provide an insight to what happened that fateful night.

At the Karu Police station, the Area Commander of Abuja Metro, Mr. Sunday Odukoya who rushed ro the police station when he heard the unfortunate incident, said the police would brief the press when they have concluded investigation into the matter, disclosing that the manager of the garden and two suspects have been taken into custody.

Is Obama romancing Ibrahim Babangida? By okey ndibe

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on February 16, 2010 at 11:53am

Last Wednesday, February 10, the Barack Obama administration made a move that’s likely to hurt its credibility among Nigerians. Johnnie Carson, the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, and Robin Sanders, the US Ambassador to Nigeria, traveled to Minna to confer with former Nigerian dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, at his hilltop mansion. That visit was, I suggest, a serious diplomatic gaffe – and one unworthy of the Obama administration.

That neither the American diplomats nor Babangida disclosed the subject of the meeting compounded the gravity of the misstep. For one, it raised speculation that the US government wanted to signal its tacit support for Babangida’s run for the presidency in next year’s elections. At the very least, the parley suggested that Obama’s team regards the retired general as an instrument for solving Nigeria’s myriad, and deep, political crises.

Either goal represents a serious lapse in judgment on the part of the Obama administration.

It would appear that Babangida covets the Nigerian presidency. Four years ago, he and his cohorts orchestrated what was tagged Project 007, implying that the former military head of state considered himself a shoo-in as President Olusegun Obasanjo’s successor. Nigerians, for understandable reasons, were disquieted by the prospect of another IBB presidency. Many heaved a sigh of relief when Obasanjo, for reasons hard to fathom, foiled Babangida’s ambition.

There’s no question: Babangida is one of the most enigmatic figures to have emerged in Nigerian politics. I have always found the man intriguing, but in a sad, even tragic sort of way. In 1986, on the first anniversary of the man’s rule, I wrote a column in the (now defunct) African Guardian in which I likened Babangida’s political style to the dribbling wizardry of Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona. That name, Maradona, stuck on Babangida and has become one of his more famous monikers. Evil genius, I understand, is a tag Babangida adopted. My argument, in baptizing IBB with Maradona in 1986, was that, while the soccer player dribbles in order to create scoring opportunities, Babangida dribbled as an end in itself. There was little or no sense of purpose to his statecraft.

In 1993, Babangida lost power in one of his costly, purposeless gambles. His annulment of the June 12 election, an act of supreme perfidy, precipitated his own political downfall. In characteristic fashion, he euphemized his fall from power as a decision to “step aside.”

Babangida introduced a structural adjustment program (SAP). The economy policy, as the propaganda went, was meant to endow Nigerians with the benefits of a free market economy. When Nigerians complained that the ostensible gains were elusive, Babangida counseled patience. But he and his cohorts were far from willing to be patient. As SAP sapped Nigeria’s poor and widened the blanket of misery, Babangida and his closest friends acquired mansions, private jets, and fat bank accounts. When he was done, IBB boasted a 50-room mansion and dizzying wealth.

Such a man has no business seeking to return to his country’s seat of power. Some of his acolytes have said that Babangida’s mission is to correct the mistakes he made the first time. Remediation is a nice concept, but he need not become president to make amends.

One hopes that the Obama who went to Accra and spoke eloquently about Nigeria’s leadership crisis has not permitted himself to be led into the contradiction of prescribing IBB as the answer. Or even as a factor in finding the answer to Nigeria’s quagmire.

Obama must guard against the Bill Clinton error. Even though former President Clinton is popular in Nigeria, many Nigerians are still appalled by his bizarre statement, in the heydays of Sani Abacha’s self-succession plan, that the US was open to recognizing the bespectacled dictator if he won an election. That statement came at a time when any neophyte knew that Abacha didn’t plan to hold a credible election.

In making such a public show of coddling Babangida, the Obama administration risked being perceived as wishing to forestall the ongoing mobilization of a progressive force to serve as a viable alternative to the grubby, visionless elements who have steered Nigeria to perilous waters.

If Washington doesn’t want to see a cataclysm befall Nigeria, with horrible consequences for Nigerians and the international community, then it must rethink its seeming courtship of the Babangidas of Nigeria.

Jonathan’s burden

After the disingenuous maneuver that made him “acting president,” Goodluck Jonathan appears in danger of wasting his opportunity to lead – and also wasting Nigerians’ time.

Since his investiture, Jonathan’s calendar has been taken up with courtesy visits by former heads of state as well various delegations, including so-called traditional rulers.

One hopes that he understands the gravity of the burden he must discharge, if he is to be worth his hire. If he fancies that he and Nigerians have time for some ceremonial interlude, then he hardly grasps the depths of Nigeria’s desperation.

Jonathan had better make a polite but firm statement asking those who wish to pay a visit to hold off. He ought to tell the horde of professional well-wishers that he has a job to do for long-suffering Nigerians, and that he needs to get to it with alacrity.

Nigerians did not agitate all over the world these past two months against Umaru Yar’Adua’s facile idea of offshore governance so that Jonathan could take over and host an endless stream of “royal fathers” pledging their loyalty and support. No, Nigerians wanted somebody to take up the full-time job of fixing their rutted roads, improving power supply, solving the problem of fuel shortage, combating sectarian violence and its concomitant high casualty, and sending bills to the National Assembly to address a plethora of issues, from electoral reform through job creation to adequate funding for education and health.

Nigerians know as much as Jonathan that the hangers-on who profited from Yar’Adua’s moribund “presidency” do not wish him well. They are, it is safe to assume, regrouping even now to torpedo his “acting presidency.” But Jonathan’s handlers must tell him that the way to silence these foes is not by looking over his shoulder or even by garnering a long register of big-name supporters. His safest bet is to set to roll up his sleeves and apply himself to the task of working to change the lot of the generality of Nigerians.

In doing so, he must recognize his own limitations. One, he doesn’t have a lot of time; better, then, to get cracking immediately. Two, it’s unrealistic, even counterproductive, to take on a long menu of challenges at once. He should focus on a few critical sectors that are likely to have widespread impact. His wife’s arrests several years ago on corruption charges are already serious deficits. He should both rein in his wife’s materialistic impulses and steer clear of any impeachable conduct himself.

Above all, Jonathan ought to take a hard, honest look at himself. If he doesn’t have the mettle to work for Nigerians, he should avert a looming personal and national disaster by relinquishing the crown of “acting president.”Is Obama romancing Ibrahim Babangida? By okey ndibe

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Nitel Sold as New generation telecoms acquires NITEL

Posted by Jane Okinedo on February 16, 2010 at 11:44am

A consortium involving China Unicom bid $2.5 billion on Tuesday for the former state telecoms monopoly in Nigeria, one of the world's fastest growing markets, the privatization body said.

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The National Council on Privatization said New Generation Telecommunications Ltd. had become the preferred bidder for Nitel, which Nigeria has struggled to sell since liberalization in 2001 made it uncompetitive against rivals.

The privatization body said the consortium included China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited, Minerva Group of Dubai and local company GiCell Wireless Limited. Their precise holdings in the consortium were not immediately available.

China, Africa's biggest trading partner, has invested billions of dollars in the continent in recent years, going far beyond its initial emphasis on mineral extraction.

Nigeria invited expressions of interest in July for a minimum of a 75 percent stake in the Nitel conglomerate or a stake in one or several of its components, including mobile arm MTEL, the South Atlantic Terminal underwater cable (SAT-3) and its domestic fixed line network.

After the bid is approved by the privatization council, the group will have 10 days to pay 30 percent of the purchase price and a further 50 days to pay the rest. The reserve bidder was Omen International Ltd (BVI) with a bid of $956 million.

"We will pay within the stipulated time. We did not make a hypothetical offer," said Abubakar Usman from New Generation.

South Africa's MTN was among the bidders, but only for a stake in the SAT-3 underwater cable.

Nigeria has overtaken South Africa to become the biggest telecoms market in Africa.

But the government has struggled to sell the firm mainly because of the shambolic state of its fixed line infrastructure.

Its fixed lines have fallen to less than 100,000 from five times that number in 2001 and MTEL subscribers have dropped to a few thousand from over 1 million.

Nigeria ended Nitel's monopoly in 2001 and tried to sell it the same year. But preferred bidders failed to pay the $1.3 billion price tag by the deadline, leaving it in state hands.

Local conglomerate Transcorp later bought a majority state in the firm but the government took back control last June, citing a lack of investment and unpaid debts.

Nigeria came close to selling Nitel in late 2005 to Egypt's Orascom Telecom, but the government rejected the $257 million offer as too low.

Is your friend a John Terry ? then watch out !

Posted by 9jabook.com webmadam on February 16, 2010 at 4:54am

A British dating website revealed on Tuesday that half of the unfaithful men it polled for a survey on affairs admitted to having a fling with a friend's wife or girlfriend. The poll conducted by British internet dating company www.benaughty.com showed that of the

more than 5,000 men it surveyed who admitted to being unfaithful, a staggering 46.9 percent said they had had a fling with a friend's wife or girlfriend.

"It's a remarkable figure and well above what we would have thought," benaughty.com Marketing Manager Sean Wood said in a statement.

"Attractions develop very easily between men and women who see each other often, in the same circles. And it is often easier to be together without arousing any suspicions."

The survey was conducted amid a frenzy of tabloid newspaper reporting on former England soccer captain John Terry.

Terry was stripped of the captaincy after allegations in the British media that he had had an extra-marital affair with the former girlfriend of England team mate Wayne Bridge, who was a club mate of his at Chelsea before joining Manchester City last year.

Between February 5 and 14, a total of 5,512 men looking for discreet relationships were asked three questions:

Have you ever had a relationship with your friend's wife or partner?

Yes: 46.9 percent No: 53.1 percent.

Did you get caught?

Yes: 7.84 percent No: 92.16 percent

Did you confess?

Yes: 8.25 percent No: 91.75 percent.

Akunyili rejects Aondoakaa’s explanation • Gives 7 days ultimatum or court action

Posted by Paul "EFCC" Hawk Adams on February 14, 2010 at 8:30pm

You are messing with the Wrong Female !

Minister of Information and Communications, Prof Dora Akunyili, has rejected the explanation offered by Minister of Special Duties, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa, over the latter’s statement about her considered to be libellous.

Prof Dora Akunyili

advertisement: Systemini Technologies Internet Consultants www.systemini.net info@systemini.net

A letter written by KOP Odidika, principal partner of Sower & Messuarius Solicitors, dated February 11, 2010, said that Aondoakaa’s explanation on the statement he made about Akunyili “begged the issue.”

The letter said that by saying, “what she is trying to do is self-seeking: let her go and confront herself with what happened in NAFDAC,” Aondoakaa obviously libelled Akunyili.

It said that ever since Aondoakaa made the statement, Akunyili has been inundated with telephone calls from people who think that there was something she did wrong when she was director general of the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

Akunyili’s lawyers, therefore, demanded a clear apology from Aondoakaa, within seven days, to be published prominently in the media.

They said failure to do this would leave them with no alternative than to press charges against Aondoakaa. The letter, entitled: “Libellous publication against Prof Dora N. Akunyili,” reads: “We are the solicitors to Prof Dora N. Akunyili, on whose behalf and instruction we write to you in connection with the above subject matter. It is our instruction that you issued a statement, which was published on Monday the 8th of February 2010 in a widely circulating national newspaper, The Nation, wherein you said, inter alia: “Bringing the memo to Federal Executive Council is just to make herself an angel.

She wants to be seen as populist. Whatever she wants from it is still personal. None of the FEC members has disrespect to the Vice-President. As far as we are concerned, the VP is our leader and he is leading us. What she is trying to do is self-seeking: let her go and confront herself with what happened in NAFDAC”.

“Our client has been inundated with telephone calls and personal enquiries from numerous people about your said statement concerning the implication that she did something wrong while she was the Director General of NAFDAC. She duly informed you of these enquiries and demanded, by her letter to you, dated February 8, 2010, that you confirm the authenticity of the authorship of the statement and if confirmed to supply full particulars of your allegations of her misdeeds in NAFDAC to which you alluded.

“By your letter of February 9, 2010 addressed to our client, you admitted making the statement but most disingenuously tried to put a spin on an otherwise clear and unambiguous statement that has only one interpretation, to wit: that our client committed some untoward acts while at the helm of affairs in NAFDAC.

“There is no doubt that as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, you are presumed to be conversant with not only legal matters but with English Language as well. Whilst one can concede your privilege to use any language, no matter how crude and unbecoming of a lawyer and public servant, in your private home and office, same should be tempered and civilized when describing and referring to another person.

“More regrettable is the fact that your libellous publication was against our client whose integrity has been unimpeachable. Her tenure at NAFDAC can accurately be described as the golden years of that establishment as no other head, whether prior to, or subsequent to her appointment, has achieved so much as to even merit comparison with her.

“Our client, therefore, finds it totally unacceptable that her peers and generality of Nigerians have begun to question her integrity and now consider her a disreputable person because of the statement you made. Your said letter of February 9, 2010, therefore, begs the issue.

“We hereby demand that you issue a clear apology to our client and cause the said apology to be published prominently in the media, including The Nation newspaper. Please take notice that unless this demand is met within seven days from the date hereof we shall commence legal proceedings, against you to compel obedience and seek financial compensation for the injury done to our client’s reputation.”

It will be recalled that Aondoakaa, in letter dated February 9, 2010 to Akunyili, said although he was misquoted, his statement was a compliment. His letter to Akunyili said: I wish to draw your attention to the above subject matter conveyed to me by your letter dated 8th February 2010.

“While much of the quoted words in your letter can rightly be ascribed to me, the impact of the last sentence to the effect that “…Let her go and confront herself with what happened in NAFDAC” was meant to be in the positive but was wrongly presented in the negative.

“The correct impact of the above words that the Hon Minister had already earned a reputation for herself while at NAFDAC and needs not seek to do more by embarking on the present course of action to the detriment of a resolution already adopted unanimously by members of the FEC.

“Accept the assurances of my highest regards and consideration.”

Turai’s consummate power play...Her secret emails, others facts

ECOWAS leaders elect Jonathan as Chairman

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