sElection 2007(50 days(state)/57 days(federal) to go)
part of a series of blog entries on the Nigerian elections in April 2007.
I thought i might as well join the whole 'last 100 days of Obj's regime' bandwagon, as of today i think there's roughly 96 days left.
The feeling is quite similar to IBB's last days back in 93, when everybody couldn't wait for him to go and then he pulled a fast one on Nigerians and left them with Abacha. No one knows what Obj has up his sleeves, he has already described the April elections as a do or die affair... (Actually this was taken out of context but what did he expect) .
Anyway me i don't know why people are making noise and comparing Obj to Abacha, methinks that is so unfair to Abacha....
anywaaay sha
By may 29, Obj would have ruled naija for 11 years (1976 - 1979, 1999 - 2007), making him the longest serving leader in naija's turbulent history. Lets hope his likes never rule the country again..
Meanwhile his deputy was in town talking about Naija's DemoCrazy...
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Atiku at Chatham House
Abubakar Atiku was at Chatham house on wednesday to give a speech on the 'Challenges for Nigeria after the election'.
Unfortunately i couldn't attend the event, it would have been a great place to practice how to throw rotten eggs.
here's the transcript of the speech he gave yesterday
http://www.chathamhouse.org.uk/pdf/meeting_transcripts/200207abubakar.pdf
I take it he has a great speech writer but he still has not said much about the allegations of corruption made against him. If he is really interested in "attacking corruption head-on" he should start by showing evidence of where he got the money to start his American style university - ABTI and where he got the funds to buy the multimillion-dollar mansion in Potomac Maryland in 2000.
In the speech Atiku claims
"I have been humbled by the ravages of debilitating poverty and I know what it means to go hungry.
I have diligently served my country in the public sector for over 20 years before successfully venturing into private business and professional politics. I have over 20 years of cognate experience as a tested and committed democrat and politician, the last 8 years of which I have served as Vice-President of our country sometimes, even, under the most harrowing and trying of circumstances."
"the ravages of debilitating poverty"
really, this is from a guy who paid $1.7 million for a house in the US.
Anyway it's pointless talking about Atiku, its not as if he can even contest to be the next president
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
No hablo espanol
No hablo espanol (i don't speak spanish)
followed closely by habla usted ingles (do you speak english) seems to be the only sentences i've said since we got to spain. I guess we have the brits to thank for creating a situation where you travel to a foreign country and expect them to speak English.
Little Britain
No visit to the costa del sol is complete without a trip to Gibraltar (nicknamed little britain) a british crown colony seized from the spaniards over 300 years ago.
You can tell the spaniards are still pissed about it as you have to go through "delays" at passport control to get into the colony.
Pic: The Rock of Gibraltar (seen from La linea)
The place is so small that the main road into the colony crosses over the airport runway (the road has to be closed whenever a plane lands)But i digress, after hearing the full history of Gibraltar you kind of feel sorry for the spaniards but then you realise that spain has done the same thing to Morocco.
Ceuta and Melilla are two spanish enclaves on the African continent and its pretty obvious they are part of Morocco (abi spain reach Africa??)
Pic: Airport runway (seen from the top of the Rock)
Sunday, February 04, 2007
6 months after
Yeah its been 6 months since i took on the 'responsibility' of taking care of another human being (i.e my son; Ijebuman jr). I promised myself that i wasn't going to be one of those parents who goes around showing off pictures of their kids but i just can't help myself LOL
I have to admit that i wasn't too "keen" on having kids. Mrs ijebuman was well aware of this but took a "risk" and still hooked up with me, hoping she could change my mind somewhere down the line. I eventually gave in because of the whole 'biological clock thing' and the 'hints' i was getting in bed ; - )
The whole idea of getting married and then having kids not too long afterwards, just never appealed to me. I do love kids but i think everyone has a certain time in their lives when they want them and age has nothing to do with it.. (and science has managed to solve the whole 'biological clock thing' as i was reading somewhere about a 67 year old woman having kids)
But i digress
That was an era i'll like to call BIA (before I-j Arrived). In the current era (AIA) our lives revolve around the whims of I-j.
Not that i'm complaining about anything especially now that he is out of our bed : - ) (see co-sleeping)
Becoming a father has been fun and sometimes it has been overwhelming, like the other day when i had just settled down to watch my favourite show on tv, prison break.
I-j quickly realising that he was not getting my full attention, decided to put on a show of his own, unfortunately wifey was not around so there was no escape this time..
It constantly amazes me the amount of noise a baby can make, I-j could hardly make a sound when he was born, now he can literally bring the house down when he "cries"
So I-j starts crying (actually he is screaming) and i'm wondering to myself what the neighbours must be thinking (probably, what in the world is he doing to that kid ??) i know he is not hungry as i had just fed him, it's not heartburn, i had checked his nappy and he wasn't sleepy.
I had checked all the obvious things and yet he wouldn't stop crying
and then his mum returns and he is all 'smiles' as if nothing happened.
its official he is a "mummy's boy" how can i ever compete against that...
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vamos ir a españa
which could obviously mean something else but i hope it means 'we're off to spain'.
We're taking a tour around the south of spain from malaga to algeciras and hopefully to morocco if we have enough time.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Top Ten signs the "elections" will not be free and fair
sElection 2007(72 days(state)/79 days(federal) to go)
part of a series of blog entries on the Nigerian elections in April 2007.
1. The INEC chairman - "Prof." Maurice Iwu (according to saharareporters) has a fake degree.
If anything obj has learnt from IBB's june 12 experience just in case the "wrong" candidate wins, by ensuring the head of the electoral commission is someone whose integrity is already compromised.
2. INEC is not an "independent" body. Even the commission's head of legal services agrees and has called for urgent constitutional amendments regarding the electoral laws to ensure credible elections in future
http://allafrica.com/stories/200702010434.html
3. The discovery of six voter registration machines in the Ibadan home of Alhaji Lamidu Adedibu (political Godfather in Oyo state)
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to this report
Three officials of the docked Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and two others who were caught while allegedly engaged in illegal duties at the home of Dr. Saka Balogun, Chief of Staff to the PDP gubernatorial aspirant in Oyo State
4. Frequent reports of misapplication and diversion of INEC registration machines by elements working in concert with crooked INEC officials
5. Voter registration issues. If INEC can't conduct a successful voter registration exercise how is it expected to conduct a 'free and fair' election?
6. The Niger Delta, Oyo state and Anambra State.
I don't envy the INEC resident commissioners in these areas, i'll be extremely surprised if anything close to an election occurs in any of these places.
7. The government has created a larger pool of potential thugs for politicians.
Knowing how volatile the situation could be during elections, rather than employing more policemen (or providing more training and funds to the existing force), the presidency has decided it wants to reduce the police force by 25,000 (now reduced to 10,365 after the IG pleaded that it could affect security for the forthcoming general elections.)
its anyone's guess what the sacked policemen will end up doing..
8. Obj swears in new Chief Justice (Idris Kutigi)
Nothing unusual about this as the existing CJ just retired. But the process was fast tracked and he was actually sworn in before he was confirmed by the senate.
According to reports
The Senate yesterday declined to screen Justice Idris Kutigi for the post of the Chief Justice of Nigeria following the failure of the presidency to present his Code of Conduct form and security report.
But then later on, according to this report
“The senate yesterday decided to fast track action on Kutigi's screening by inviting him before the whole senate committee rather than before a standing committee.
In the senate, President of the Senate Ken Nnamani said there was no need to waste time on the confirmation and suggested that the whole Senate considers the nomination.
This was unanimously approved"
Considering the role the judiciary plays after the elections when the "loser" always goes to court to challenge the election results, you would think that the process of appointing the head of the supreme court would be as transparent as possible.
I suppose Obj wants to ensure all bases are covered...
9. Yar' adua is already moving his stuff into Aso rock.
ok i admit i made this up but considering he now uses obj's spokesman who knows what other "stuff" he uses at Aso rock.
10. The major candidates are not exactly an inspiring bunch and you'll probably have to bribe the average nigerian to vote for any of them.
-----------------------------------------------------
The three "Kings" (Yar'Adua, Atiku and Buhari)
Lets start with Yar'Adua
from saharareporters
According to Godwin Daboh, PDP chieftain and a staunch supporter of the Katsina-born presidential candidate, Describes him as a man of integrity and the most prudent governor in Nigeria.
“There is no governor I have visited that has given me less than N1 million. When I visited Yar’Adua in 2004, he gave me N200,000 even though we have been friends since his days as lecturer,”
and for that he gets to be a presidential candidate??? now i understand why Nigerians say "Na God go help us for dis Kuntri"
What about "born again" democrat Atiku?
in a recent interview with saharareporters
Interviewer: If you’re asked to say what are the three major things wrong with Nigeria today, what would you say they are?
Atiku: Pause, pause, three major things?
Interviewer: Yeah?
Atiku: I think I would like to see an end to this pretension with Nigerian leaders; people should be honest with Nigerians particular with the Nigerians.
Secondly I would like to see a more democratically open Nigeria. In other words, I mean openness of the space, democratically.
Interviewer: But you just told me that it was an open society; everyone was free to do whatever it is they like?
Atiku: No! Open up to a level. When I say better open I mean better than it is now? Yeah, better then it is now. And then of course the unity of Nigerians.
It seems he did not understand the question or he just doesn't have a clue. If you think this answer was bad then you haven't read the full interview here:
http://www.saharareporters.com/di001.php?diid=33
The guy is a complete retard....
And finally Buhari,
Yeah we all know he is disciplined, against corruption blah blah blah
But that was military Buhari, Civilian Buhari will end up impeached if he doesn't play ball with the rest of the ANPP gang.
But we all know Buhari will play ball (as in business as usual, in sucking Nigeria PLC dry) ijebuman still remembers the case of the Emir and the 53 suitcases full of naira notes during the naira switch over and of course who can forget the case of Alhaji Alhaji (Perm sec in the finance ministry) who had a large amount of foreign exchange stolen from him in Austria (he also had many foreign accounts). Did Buhari do anything despite promulgating a decree against the keeping of foreign accounts by civil servants???
Buhari may be rigid but he'll definitely play ball when the chips are down
part of a series of blog entries on the Nigerian elections in April 2007.
1. The INEC chairman - "Prof." Maurice Iwu (according to saharareporters) has a fake degree.
If anything obj has learnt from IBB's june 12 experience just in case the "wrong" candidate wins, by ensuring the head of the electoral commission is someone whose integrity is already compromised.
2. INEC is not an "independent" body. Even the commission's head of legal services agrees and has called for urgent constitutional amendments regarding the electoral laws to ensure credible elections in future
http://allafrica.com/stories/200702010434.html
3. The discovery of six voter registration machines in the Ibadan home of Alhaji Lamidu Adedibu (political Godfather in Oyo state)
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, according to this report
Three officials of the docked Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and two others who were caught while allegedly engaged in illegal duties at the home of Dr. Saka Balogun, Chief of Staff to the PDP gubernatorial aspirant in Oyo State
4. Frequent reports of misapplication and diversion of INEC registration machines by elements working in concert with crooked INEC officials
5. Voter registration issues. If INEC can't conduct a successful voter registration exercise how is it expected to conduct a 'free and fair' election?
6. The Niger Delta, Oyo state and Anambra State.
I don't envy the INEC resident commissioners in these areas, i'll be extremely surprised if anything close to an election occurs in any of these places.
7. The government has created a larger pool of potential thugs for politicians.
Knowing how volatile the situation could be during elections, rather than employing more policemen (or providing more training and funds to the existing force), the presidency has decided it wants to reduce the police force by 25,000 (now reduced to 10,365 after the IG pleaded that it could affect security for the forthcoming general elections.)
its anyone's guess what the sacked policemen will end up doing..
8. Obj swears in new Chief Justice (Idris Kutigi)
Nothing unusual about this as the existing CJ just retired. But the process was fast tracked and he was actually sworn in before he was confirmed by the senate.
According to reports
The Senate yesterday declined to screen Justice Idris Kutigi for the post of the Chief Justice of Nigeria following the failure of the presidency to present his Code of Conduct form and security report.
But then later on, according to this report
“The senate yesterday decided to fast track action on Kutigi's screening by inviting him before the whole senate committee rather than before a standing committee.
In the senate, President of the Senate Ken Nnamani said there was no need to waste time on the confirmation and suggested that the whole Senate considers the nomination.
This was unanimously approved"
Considering the role the judiciary plays after the elections when the "loser" always goes to court to challenge the election results, you would think that the process of appointing the head of the supreme court would be as transparent as possible.
I suppose Obj wants to ensure all bases are covered...
9. Yar' adua is already moving his stuff into Aso rock.
ok i admit i made this up but considering he now uses obj's spokesman who knows what other "stuff" he uses at Aso rock.
10. The major candidates are not exactly an inspiring bunch and you'll probably have to bribe the average nigerian to vote for any of them.
-----------------------------------------------------
The three "Kings" (Yar'Adua, Atiku and Buhari)
Lets start with Yar'Adua
from saharareporters
According to Godwin Daboh, PDP chieftain and a staunch supporter of the Katsina-born presidential candidate, Describes him as a man of integrity and the most prudent governor in Nigeria.
“There is no governor I have visited that has given me less than N1 million. When I visited Yar’Adua in 2004, he gave me N200,000 even though we have been friends since his days as lecturer,”
and for that he gets to be a presidential candidate??? now i understand why Nigerians say "Na God go help us for dis Kuntri"
What about "born again" democrat Atiku?
in a recent interview with saharareporters
Interviewer: If you’re asked to say what are the three major things wrong with Nigeria today, what would you say they are?
Atiku: Pause, pause, three major things?
Interviewer: Yeah?
Atiku: I think I would like to see an end to this pretension with Nigerian leaders; people should be honest with Nigerians particular with the Nigerians.
Secondly I would like to see a more democratically open Nigeria. In other words, I mean openness of the space, democratically.
Interviewer: But you just told me that it was an open society; everyone was free to do whatever it is they like?
Atiku: No! Open up to a level. When I say better open I mean better than it is now? Yeah, better then it is now. And then of course the unity of Nigerians.
It seems he did not understand the question or he just doesn't have a clue. If you think this answer was bad then you haven't read the full interview here:
http://www.saharareporters.com/di001.php?diid=33
The guy is a complete retard....
And finally Buhari,
Yeah we all know he is disciplined, against corruption blah blah blah
But that was military Buhari, Civilian Buhari will end up impeached if he doesn't play ball with the rest of the ANPP gang.
But we all know Buhari will play ball (as in business as usual, in sucking Nigeria PLC dry) ijebuman still remembers the case of the Emir and the 53 suitcases full of naira notes during the naira switch over and of course who can forget the case of Alhaji Alhaji (Perm sec in the finance ministry) who had a large amount of foreign exchange stolen from him in Austria (he also had many foreign accounts). Did Buhari do anything despite promulgating a decree against the keeping of foreign accounts by civil servants???
Buhari may be rigid but he'll definitely play ball when the chips are down
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