Vision 2020 down the drain

Yar'Adua's vision in logjam.



Apapa - Oshodi road in disgraceful condition

Lesson on Oath taking

Political Quote

In the way (African) politics is being conducted today there is little, if any, room for empathy and self-reflection. Criticism is perceived as personal rather than institutional. Blame is laid on circumstances beyond one's own control or on an enemy -real or perceived- that is responsible for anything gone wrong. Much political energy is devoted to defeating opponents. Politics, therefore, is typically a zero-sum game and conflicts abound.

- Goran Hyden, African Politics in Comparative Perspestive, pg 233.

Sunday

Excellent report about how Nobody knows how much oil we sell.

Sunday School

Reuben Abati on When Will Nigeria Ever Make It?

There is nothing more exasperating, living in Nigeria, studying Nigeria, and analysing Nigeria, and being Nigerian, than the realization that our lives have become one long piece of monotonous repetition of failures and uncertainties. We celebrate our capacity to manage the crisis in our lives, the optimism that is derived from our religiousity and our capacity like tragic heroes, to suffer and endure, but for a nation that seeks to make progress, the biggest challenge remains the development challenge. We seem rooted in one spot, gyrating on our axis, and nothing, absolutely nothing appears to work.

Abati is best when he is not writing platonic dialogues.


Meanwhile Nigerian pilgrimages to arabland discovered that no place holy like home.

OF the 181 countries that participated in the 2007 Hajj operations that ended a few days ago in Saudi Arabia, only Nigeria had a separate camp, as departure point for airlifting of pilgrims back home.

Disbelief and disappointment etched boldly on the faces of the third batch of pilgrims from Lagos State as they arrived at the King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah on Tuesday night.

They discovered that only Nigerians were being attended to at what looked like an abandoned place hurriedly prepared for the operation.

However, investigation, especially from the regular guests to the Holy Land, revealed that the port of arrival used to be the same spot for departure for all pilgrims.

In fact, nationals from other countries such as Togo, Benin Republic, Ghana and Senegal departed from where they arrived for the hajj operations. But not so for the Nigerians.

Continuing, the irrelevant and incompetent Oyo state government wasted N17.5 million building statue of an unknown soldier in place of Awolowo's statue destroyed by Ladoja and Adedibu's thugs back in 2003. No one is amused. From the News editorial:

The revelation that the statue was constructed at a whopping cost of N17.5 million is quite ridiculous, annoying and leaves much to be desired. It is an eloquent testimony to the fact that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is a party given to wastefulness and corrupt tendencies. Alao-Akala’s action has been condemned by prominent citizens. Lam Adesina described it as sacrilegious and regretted that anti-democratic forces had taken over the reins of the Oyo State government. His predecessor, Alhaji Ladoja, said the step taken by the governor showed his low level of reasoning and mentality regarding democratic norms.

And Rivers state government take over Ateke Tom’s properties here

RIVERS State government yesterday moved to cut Tom Ateke to size when Governor Rotimi Amaechi said that the militant leader’s properties would be converted to government’s use.

And to give effect to the move, the governor directed the state ministry of health to move into the Evil Forest, an area considered to be Ateke’s base in Okochiri, Okrika, and build a health centre for the use of the people there.

Amaechi, who spoke, yesterday, in Port-Harcourt, pointed out that his administration would not relent on its onslaught against militants and cultists in Rivers State.

Explaining that his administration had a responsibility to protect lives and properties, he urged residents of the state to ignore text messages and newspaper reports of plan to invade the state by unknown gunmen.

Ambiguity And Illegality : The Ribadu Case

We Nigerians are ambiguous lots. Our leaders far more. They have mastered the language of ambiguity. This gives flexibility to their manipulations. Their illegal manipulations. These in turns absolve them of responsibility. In Nigeria with our leaders the bulk stop everywhere and at nowhere. This vagueness is the bane of governance in our dear nation when no one, even the president, is not responsible for anything.


The case of Mr. Nuhu Ribadu's illegal removal as head of EFCC is typical. Isn't Mr. Ribadu on fixed tenure? Can the Inspector General of police send people on course at random, subject to his whims and caprices, or is it based on rule and procedure already set out? Is this course a requisite to head EFCC? Isn't the President the only one legally capable of removing Mr. Ribadu from office? And even he (the President) must have judicious justification to do so? There are many many questions of these nature which no one is answering and the press with their sensational reportings that warp reality are not to be rely on.

Ordinarily, removing Mr. Ribadu should not become a controversial issue if that is what the government decide. However the removal is cloaked and ambiguous. Lacking straightforwardness. This leads to speculations, distrust and suspicion which undermine the political process. Ambiguity is so much embedded in our governance that it is used even when it serve no purpose other than cloud more the already clouded political perspective. Mr. Yar'Adua should know that as the president he is perfectly within the law to remove any appointed public officer he deemed fit but he need not hide behind his finger when doing so.

Happy New Year

Happy new year to all. Wishing all the best in 2008.

I hope there will be more blogging this year.

obasanjo tell story