Boycott BA

From Nigeria Village Square

British Airways removes 136 Nigerians from Flight

On the 27th of March 2008 at about 12:30pm, I boarded the British Airways flight BA75 and I went straight to seat 53C.

On getting to my seat, there were noises from an individual being forcibly restrained but who was not visible because some police officers and some plain clothes people held him down. The noise continued for more than 20 minutes and I was concerned because the individual was screaming in agony and shouting in pidgin English “I go die” meaning, I will die. I pleaded with the officers not to kill him and my exact words were “please don’t kill him”.
The British Airways staff said that the officers were doing their jobs and that nothing was going to happen. The noise became louder and other passengers started getting concerned and were complaining especially about their safety. The situation continued for another 15 minutes after I got on.

Eventually, a member of the cabin crew announced that the passenger was going to be removed and the passenger was removed from the plane and we all thought that was the end of the situation.
Five minutes later, two members of the cabin crew arrived with about 4 police officers and told me to get off the plane. I asked what the matter was and they said that I was not going to travel with the airline because the cabin crew thought I had been disruptive by questioning the noise being caused by the person that was removed. I pleaded with them that I was going for my brother’s wedding and that I had all his stuff with me.

I was dragged out of the plane as if I was resisting arrest. As we got to the corridor that linked the plane with the terminal building, I was slammed against the wall and made to sit on the floor. I was still pleading with them telling them that they had completely misunderstood me and that I was only complaining about the situation regarding the disturbances caused by the deportee they were trying to restrain and subdue. I was on the floor for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Another passenger was brought to the corridor as well and he was also pleading with the officers.

I was later put in the back of the police van at about 1:50pm and I was locked up there for about an hour or more still handcuffed. I was formally arrested approximately 2:30pm and my rights were read to me. Before the arrest in the van, I managed to reach for my pocket and brought out my mobile phone. I made some phone calls to my wife, sister and a friend while the low battery sign was on because I was all alone and still handcuffed.

I was later driven to the police station where I was formally checked in. I was in police custody for almost 8 hours and later released on bail after the interview with the duty solicitor and the detectives. I had £473.00 on me which was seized as well as £90.00 sent to my mother in-law from my sister in-law and £1,050.00 given to me by my cousin who is a doctor for the upkeep of his parents in Nigeria. All the money together was £1,613.00.

I was told that I would appear in a magistrate court to prove the money was not meant for crime or proceeds of crime. The officer told me that they will like to see traceability and that I needed my payslips and bank account detailing my payments and withdrawals as well as my cousin’s payments and withdrawals.

I was released but without the money. I made my way to terminal 4 and arrived there at about 12:30am but the British Airways kiosks were closed. I was directed to the staff room and told them that I wanted to rebook my trip to Lagos. A lady told me to give her my ticket and she stated that British Airways has banned me from travelling with them indefinitely and that only the managers can use their discretions because I was a ‘disruptive passenger’.
I requested for my 2 piece luggage and she told me that the section will be opened later at about 5:30am and I will be escorted in to collect them. I slept on the chair and waited till about 5:30am and attempted to rebook my ticket but was told that British Airways refused to take me. I decided to go and pick up my stuff and I was told that my luggage were missing. I was handed a form with reference number LONBA90924.

At this point, I became totally stranded because I could not leave without my luggage because it contained my brother’s wedding suit, shirts and accessories.

I was on the phone with my wife and she wanted to book an alternative flight that departs at 10:15am so that I could make it for the wedding. This was not possible because British Airways refused to disclose where my luggages were and did not remove my luggage from the flight when they called the police to arrest me.

On Monday 31st of March, I appeared at the Magistrate court but was told that a decision was made about the £1,613.00 that was seized from me. The police had been granted a further 90 days to hold on to the money pending their investigation. I was given the officer’s details . He requested 12 months bank statements and 6 months payslip to prove that the £473.00 that belongs to me was not proceeds of crime and also requested that the £1,050.00 that was given to me by my cousin for his parents should also be traced to my cousin’s 12 months bank statement and 6 months payslip. DC Webster has promised to write me detailing these requests.

Still on Monday 31st of March 4 days after I was taken off the plane, I made extra efforts to find out the whereabouts of my 2 piece luggage (LONBA90924), because they have not been sent to my address as promised by calling the lost baggage section at 13:44hrs and spoke to a man called Neil who said that, it is difficult for them to trace my bags and that there is a strong possibility that they might be in Lagos. He suggested that I should call back in 24 hours.

Eventually, one week and one day later, my bags were brought to me at home. One was badly damaged and the other was intact. British Airways delibrately made sure I missed the wedding because if they were kicking me off their flight, they would have removed my bags from the flight. They were all there when the police officers made me to sit on the floor and heard me pleading to allow me fly for my brother's wedding. I could have made either KLM or Virgin Nigeria the following Friday morning.

I will not want to believe that the authorities involved in the situation deliberately or cleverly punished me unnecessarily out of frustration for not being able to restrain or subdue a deportee or that I as a fee paying passenger was accused of affray with violence when I was voicing my concerns about the disturbances caused by the deportees. I never mentioned any abusive or swear words neither was I physically threatening anyone.

My luggage mysteriously was lost and I have been banned on all British Airways flights without a chance to say my part of the story to redeem myself. 135 passengers were asked to leave the flight because they expressed displeasure regarding the disturbances caused by the deportees and the officers trying to restrain him. My ticket was even refused to be endorsed by BA to enable me to fly with another airline. I need full compensation of my loss and also a letter of apology from British Airways.

Regards

Ayodeji Omotade

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News Report as reported by The Mirror

The Petition - Nigerians boycott British Airways
My Previous Experience with BA - Complaints about foreign airlines flying to Nigeria

The things that irritate..

The way everyone automatically assumes all black people support Barack Obama

The prevalence of low quality "African stations" on Sky Digital, is it too much to ask for just one good quality station that actually broadcasts in digital? By the time BEN and AIT gets round to broadcasting in HD, the technology will be obsolete..

The way every naija assumes the following;
1. Everyone loves football (i don't hate it, i just find it incredibly boring)
2. Everyone is religious (don't even get me started on this issue..)
3. Everyone is impressed by cars (it's just a thing that gets me from A to B, i don't need prayers and congratulatory messages when i buy a new one. I doubt if anyone will offer prayers if i bought a bike)

The pop ups on Nigeria world, the site is gradually turning into a porn site with all the pop ups and pop unders, the damn site even crashed my pop up killer application.
I know the site has to make money but there are better ways of doing this.

Naijas who give their kids ridiculous names, it's bad enough that we give our kids English names but do we have to give them names like 'Marvellous' ??

People who refer to African ethnic groups as 'tribes', we don't have fucking tribes, we have ethnic groups. No one refers to the English or the Irish as tribes so why should anyone call the Hausas, Yorubas or the Ibos, tribes ??

Naija 'Coconuts', dumb asses who think because they've finally got a British passport they are no longer naijas, behaving as if 'know be naija dem born them', you see them all the time at the Nigerian High Commission, feigning ignorance about everything Naija, some going to the ridiculous extent of getting a visa to visit Naija, instead of using or applying for a Nigerian passport (and yes Naija allows dual nationality, IBB promulgated the decree in 1992)

Working class Brits whining about immigration, if you got off the fucking dole, the Poles won't come here to take 'your job'.

'Yoofs' on the bus, who play music on their mobiles without using their headphones.

The way the media still goes on about Princess Diana, conspiracy or not? who cares?, she is dead. Her kids have moved on, even her ex husband has married the 'horse' he was having an affair with while married to her, why can't everyone else get over it and let the poor woman rest in peace.

The TV licence, yes i pay for it but if the BNP promised to abolish the damn thing, I WILL vote for them..

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Comical stories of the week

Catholic Church takes over in Anambra State
http://naijanet.com/news/source/2008/apr/8/1000.html

It is now illegal to encourage the use of condoms in southeast Nigeria's Anambra State. The state government has also banned the advocacy and distribution of other forms of contraceptives including IUDs (intrauterine device) and any other "un-natural" birth control.
--

Snakes in A Jail (The new Nollywood version of 'Snakes on a Plane')
http://allafrica.com/stories/200804090250.html

THE Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), yesterday raised alarm over an alleged plot to poison its detained leader, Henry Okah (using snakes)
SNIP
The specie of snake found in Henry Okah's dungeon has been identified. The one killed today is the most poisonous. It is called 'Gobe da nisa'; meaning "tomorrow is too far" in the Hausa language of northern Nigeria. If the snake bites tonight, the victim must die before the next day.

Back to life

I'm back!!! Not that i went anywhere... it has just been an extremely busy month for me because i was off sick for a while.
anyhoo it's back to my usual cynical self, unfortunately i missed a few funny news stories doing the rounds last month;

Two "Visions" disagree over Yardy’s fate
http://www.tribune.com.ng/23032008/news/news3.html

Lagos state Reps Launch new 419 scheme
http://www.obamanigeria.org/#?w=nigevents&id=1

There's something fishy going on
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7306601.stm
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BA, where is my Fucking bag?
was the question one of my friends was asking a few days ago as British Airways new Heathrow terminal T5, went into melt down.
It seems the whole thing has turned into another British cock-up, makes you wonder how the brits managed to colonise the rest of us? ; )

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The Great 'Black' hype
I was hoping i wasn't going to make any comments on the two US democratic party presidential hopefuls till one of them was out of the race. Is it just me or is there anyone out there equally as bored with the current media hysteria over everything Obama, the whole race is gradually turning into an episode of American idol..

I must have missed something, but when did Obama go from being Mixed race to black? if he lived in Kenya i doubt anyone there will regard him as black (in most of Africa mixed race people are regarded as White). In race conscious America, Obama is black only because one of his parents is black, and now the media has turned him into the Great 'black' hype.

A Pyrrhic Victory for Nigeria

Pyrrhic
from Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, who defeated Roman armies at Asculum, 280 B.C.E., but at such cost to his own troops that he was unable to follow up and attack Rome itself, and is said to have remarked, "one more such victory and we are lost."


Forget all the legal technicalities or 'jagba jantis' as my peeps will say, spewed by the Presidential tribunal judges to justify their decision, we all know no 'real' elections took place last year. I suppose the dilemma facing the judges is the implication of annulling 'elections that never happened'.
Anyone who loves Naija will shudder at the thought of INEC (currently headed by a delusional Maurice Iwu) organising another major election. One doubts if they could successfully organise an 'owambe' party.

T.I.N (This is Naija)
Considering the number of election results cancelled, you would think Maurice Iwu and other top officials of INEC would have done us all a favour and resigned, but ahem.. this is naija now, where the concept of responsibility is as alien as regular power supply from PHCN.
So I'm not surprised that INEC, according to news reports, is now "basking in the euphoria of Tuesday's dismissal of the two major petitions against the last April presidential elections".

According to INEC's chief spokesman, Mr. Phillip Umeadi
"INEC has consistently held that the outcome of the 2007 presidential election reflected the intent of Nigerian voters. The firm and consistent assertion by the commission on the outcome of the election derived from an advantaged insight as well as an impartial and unsentimental analysis of the election,"
{snip}
"By the ruling of the Court of Appeal in the Presidential Election Petitions, more so the unanimous verdict of the eminent judges, INEC has been vindicated in the outcome of the 2007 presidential election."

http://allafrica.com/stories/200802280006.html

Excuse me while I go outside and throw up (I'm bullshit intolerant)

but i digress
I found it extremely difficult to support the tribunal's verdict because of its implications, in order to keep the peace, we've all acquiesced to an illegal act, the same thing will probably happen in 2011 and beyond.
There's a funny igbo proverb i heard recently which translates as; "since the hunters have learnt to shoot without missing, the birds have learnt to fly without perching."
We were lucky this time because the main combatants are from the same part of the country. The next time this sort of thing happens, the aggrieved party may choose to by pass the courts and settle the matter Kenya style.

Meanwhile
Some have suggested that this victory will be the much needed tonic Yardy needs to become 'Super' Yardy as opposed to 'Alhaji Go Slow', 'Yawn'Adua', Learner Driver, Yar 'Asleep etc
Somehow i doubt it...

Pyrrhic Victory

Yardy "wins"
A Nigerian tribunal has dismissed both opposition petitions asking that President Umaru Yar'Adua's election last year be annulled.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7263534.stm

No suprises there, the result was as expected.
I guess it's the lesser of two evils, annulling the presidential election will have taken us into uncharted territory, and we all know "uncharted territory" in Africa is an extremely dangerous place.

And another one down, Another one bites the dust
David Mark, President of the senate, and Abia state governor, Theodore Orji have had their elections annulled by the election tribunals.
Unless the appeal court reverses the verdicts it's 'Asta la vista' to the £6 million man (Mark) and Orji, the Lord of the rings oops sorry shrine.

And in the Bizarre world of African politics:
Odinga In Nigeria, Meets Obasanjo (for what????)
Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga arrived in Nigeria yesterday (friday) on a mission to find a lasting solution to the lingering political crisis in his country.

Odinga who arrived at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos at about 10.55am in a chartered Cessna jet, rode in a convoy to Ota, Ogun State to see former President Olusegun Obasanjo, whom he described as a personal friend.
http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/

Whats that popular saying? show me your friend....

Battling blogger's block

We all get it from time to time, fellow bloggers will know what i'm talking about, the dreaded 'blogger's block'. I have had it for the past few weeks. There's just been so much happening offline, meaning i'm spending less time online.

Reversal of a reversal
I wanted to blog about the 'reversal' of the Nitel sale but then i reversed my decision to blog about it when the whole thing was reversed again.
Is anyone sensing a pattern to the way this government works - go slow, reverse, forward then reverse again. It's official, Yardy IS a learner driver.
Still
Not much has been happening in Naija lately, as in stuff that gets my blood boiling or the positive stuff that gets you thinking about the future, a future where our kids grow up in the land of their ancestors as opposed to the land of their oppressors.

But i digress
Next tuesday Yardy will find out if he will remain in Aso rock. Now, unless you're Buhari or his other deluded partner - Atiku, Its clearly a no-brainer, Yardy (or Yawn'Adua as i like to call him) will still be in Aso rock next week.
Mr "Due process" has been learning a few tricks from his master, Obj (Anyone remember that nice move from Obj, when he suddenly declared a public holiday to delay the Supreme Court ruling on whether Atiku could take part the elections).
Yardy's move has been far more subtle.
Anyway, far from me to cast aspersions on the "integrity" of our President, but i did find it strange that the Chairman of the Presidential Elections Tribunals, Justice James Ogebe was nominated as a Supreme Court judge a few days ago.
Really makes you wonder if the rumours of bribery attempts are true.

100 Worst Nigerians
There is a thread running on NVS where contributors are asked to nominate the worst Nigerians, so far it seems Obj, Abacha and IBB are running neck in neck for the top spot.
May the worst man win.

Just in,
Man found guilty of model's death
A man has been found guilty of murdering teenage model Sally Anne Bowman outside her home. The 18-year-old's body was found next to a skip in Croydon, south London, in September 2005.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7254628.stm

There are times i wish the UK government will bring back the death penalty, this case has gripped the local press (and recently the National press) in my neck of the woods.
It seems the jury did not buy his defence of not knowing his victim was dead until after he stopped having sex with her corpse.

Holiday blues

We returned from the Canaries last week and i'm so not happy to be back. The press is full of all sorts of doom and gloom stories; global recession, credit crunch, house price crash blah blah blah
right now i wish i was back in Lanzarote sipping sangria, without a care in the world..

it's only a game...
Shame in defeat for Nigeria

I know i'm not a football fan so i can't possibly understand the pain of Naija losing to Ghana (as i've been told by fans of the round thing kicked around by 22 'overpaid' adults) but i do understand one thing, just like any other thing in life, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose.
So lets be happy for Ghana, hopefully some other team will beat them at the finals...

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Sacre Bleu

Kenya: Country Learnt Vote Rigging From Nigeria - Human Rights Watch

Washington's failure to condemn the rigging of Nigeria's election a year ago left the impression in Nairobi that vote fraud would be tolerated, a leading human rights group charged on Friday.
"Nigeria's leader came to power in a violent and fraudulent vote, yet he's been accepted on the international stage," Kenneth Roth, director of New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "It's no wonder Kenya's president felt able to rig his re-election."

Na wah o, it's bad enough that our dear ex president - Obj (''father'' of modern Nigeria and much more - which may or may not include his own "grand children" lol) was not invited to pray and talk some sense to Kibaki and Odinga.
If Kibaki had sought advise from Obj prior to the election, Obj would have given him a few pointers on how to rig the election and avoid the current wahala.

methinks the Kenyan Army too needs a lesson from Naija on what to do when politicians throw their toys out of the pram.

view from Timanfaya

Timanfaya (fire mountain) National Park in Lanzarote, Canary island

something out of Jerry Springer

Poor Obj, since leaving power, its been one scandal or the other. Even Nollywood couldn't make up the current one doing the rounds. It takes a lot to shock me, but i'm stunned at the 'allegations' made by Obj's son - Gbenga Obasanjo

Either Gbenga Obasanjo has completely lost the plot or there is some crazy shit happening in that family..
Meanwhile who knew we had 'armchair psychologists' in naija, check out their anaylsis of the whole affair

Recommended reading
42 years ago (January 15 1966), Nigeria's first attempt at democracy ended with the violent overthrow of the government of Sir Tafawa Balewa. Six months later, there was another coup carried out by mainly Northern soldiers. These two events eventually led to the Nigerian civil war
check out Nowa Omoigui's excellent article on the events of 1966
Northern Nigerian Military Counter-Rebellion July, 1966

I'm outta here...
Out of the UK that is, till the end of the month
we're off to sunny Lanzarote..

Random Ms V

Hideously White BBC

According to the Daily Mail the BBC is more "hideously white" than ever, after it was revealed that the number of black executives has dropped to the lowest in years. The BBC is planning to "fast-track" young ethnic staff to senior positions, which has led to accusations of positive discrimination.

This is such a bad idea, any black person working at the beeb unlucky enough to be "fast-tracked" into a senior position will find themselves hated by those below them and patronised by senior management.

This is another example of 'political correctness' gone mad. All ethnic minorities want, is a level playing field, we don't need to be patronised and fast-tracked into positions, so senior management can hit their ethnic quotas.

If the bbc feels guilty about ignoring ethnic minorities it should start with it's tv schedules. There are hardly any black shows (Crimewatch does not count ; - )) on the main BBC channels.
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Chris Rock rocks the house















"Is America ready for a black president? Is America ready for a woman president? We should be - we've just had a retarded one" - Chris Rock At the Hammersmith Apollo

One of my favourite stand up comedians, Chris Rock performed at the Hammersmith Apollo last night. It was one hell of a show, haven't laughed so hard in a long time.
If you're a fan of black stand up comedy, you should definitely go see him. Most shows are sold out but they might add some more dates due to demand.

ijebuman's 2007 awards

Its that time again to look back on the previous year and identify the characters who made their mark on the Nigerian political scene. Here are ijebuman's personal awards to those who made 2007 an interesting year..

roll drums


The "Forrest Gump" award for the most retarded statement goes to INEC Chairman Maurice Iwu. Iwu described the April 2007 elections (AKA Naija's worst elections ever) as "a success that would be remembered for generations" (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6582891.stm)
No doubt the 'Selection' will be remembered but not as a success.

Iwu also wins the "David Blane" award for creating the 'magical' illusion called the April 2007 elections. Iwu shares this special award with former president - Obasanjo.

The "Mr Bean" award goes to the Attorney general of the federation - Michael Aondoakaa. According to the BBC, Nigeria's attorney-general has blocked efforts to recover millions of dollars looted by former Nigerian officials (especially in the James Ibori case)

Apparently Aondoakaa was not impressed that the brits did not show him the respect he deserves as a SAN (Senior Asshole of Nigeria), as the request for assistance was not personally signed by the home secretary, in a newspaper interview he whined that "A state counsel will send a request to me, not even his Home Secretary, and you want me to sign. No! Are you considering the bigger image of Nigeria?" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7113216.stm)

ijebuman wonders what image this idiot is talking about, would that be our image as one of the most corrupt countries in the world.
Aondoakaa also wins the "Johnnie Cochran" delusion award for services to the destruction of the legal process in Nigeria.

The "Return of the Jedi" award goes to Peter Obi for reclaiming his position as governor of Anambra state. Obi won the 2003 elections but Dr Chris Ngige was declared the winner.
Chris Ngige's victory was later overturned by the Court of Appeal in March 2006 and Obi was sworn in as governor but impeached five months later.
In February 2007 he won again at the court of appeal and was re-instated but then had to leave office at the end of May 2007. Obi returned to the courts again to argue that his term started in 2006, the supreme court of Nigeria agreed.

The force is defintely strong in Obi..

The "MJ (Michael Jackson)" award' goes to Obj, Just like Michael, Obj started well then he turned 'Bad' and 'Dangerous' and now we hope he is History...

The "Irreplaceable (to the left)" award goes to ex speaker of the House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh for thinking she was irreplaceable as speaker.
She thought because she had the support of her Godfather (Obj) she could hang on and weather the storm, unfortunately her fellow honourables did not feel the same way and she was forced to resign at the end of october 2007.
Etteh also wins the Good riddance award.

This year's "I'll do anything to meet a celebrity" award (the "celebrity" in this case is a 'lame duck' American President) goes to our current president, Yawn'Adua for telling George Bush on his recent visit to the white house "This is a moment that I'll never forget in my life" (see when Yardy met George)
defintely a cringeworthy moment..
Yardy also wins the 'Invisible man' award for services to invisibility.

The "Foot in mouth" award goes to a fellow blogger and the son of the former president, Dare Obasanjo for describing some poor sod that works for his dad as a 'servant'.
The resultant furore in the naija blogosphere created a lot of ''bad belle'' for Dare forcing him to restrict access to the pictures (after promising that he wouldn't do it lol)
You can still catch a glimpse of Obj's 'famous servant' here
http://naijaman.cfmxdeveloper.co.uk/diary/2007/04/objs-cribs.html
http://grandioseparlor.com/2007/04/a-presidential-servant/


see last year's ijebuman's 2006 awards

Happy Holidays

"A new year is unfolding – like a blossom with petals curled tightly concealing the beauty within.” - anon

To all who frequent my blog, I wish you a belated merry xmas and a wonderful 2008

when Yardy met George

"This is a moment that I'll never forget in my life" - Yardy

Seems like our president was a bit starstuck when he met George Bush last week.
What sort of President goes to the White house and says "This is a moment that I'll never forget in my life"
Someone give this guy some backbone, I felt like puking at the sight of Yardy behaving like some giggling schoolgirl on a first date. Ok i know the election that got him to power was flawed and he desperately needs US support, however for the time being he is still the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, not the president of some banana republic that relies on US aid.

If anything with China playing an increasing role in Africa and our large reserves of oil, America needs us now more than we need her.

Which brings me to the controversy over Africom (the United States Africa Command) . Last week there were reports that Yardy had agreed to work with the U.S to establish Africom

According to The Punch (December 14), Yar'adua told journalists inside the Oval Office of the White House at the end of his meeting with Bush, that Nigeria "will partner with AFRICOM not only in Nigeria but also on the continent to actualize the peace and security initiatives which is an initiative to help standby forces in each of the regional groupings in Africa."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712190278.html

Here's the transcript of his speech on the white house website

We have discussed security issues and the security within Nigeria, itself, within the Niger Delta region and within the Gulf of Guinea. And we have also discussed security issues -- peace and security on the African continent. And we shall partner with (inaudible) to assist not only Nigeria, but also the African continent to actualize its peace and security (inaudible) initiative, which is an initiative to help standby forces of brigade-size in each of the regional economic groupings within the African continent.

Now I'm no conspiracy theorist but it seems strange that the part where Yardy probably mentioned "Africom" is the "inaudible" part (as in the part of his speech that was not clearly understood so was not transcribed).

Lost in Translation??
Meanwhile Yardy rather than go on NTA, FRCN or VON went on the "Hausa Service of the VOA" to deny he agreed to Africom.
in a subsequent interview with the Hausa Service of the VOA, the president denied he had accepted Africom. "I did not," he said, "accept Africom in my discussions with Bush. I asked for assistance and told Bush that we have our plans to establish bases for African countries. We asked for training on weapons and training to establish our bases to be managed by our people."
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712190278.html

Yardy, in keeping with the tradition of other northern leaders who have ruled Nigeria, says one thing to the rest of the country but says the opposite on the Hausa service of the BBC or VOA for northern consumption.

So was it really a faux pas??
methinks instead of keeping his eye on the ball, he was staring dreamy eyed into George Bush's eyes as if he was on a bloody date.

Random Ms IV

So the whole missing data scandal finally hit home when i got a letter of apology from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC). According to the letter "The missing data includes you and your children's names and date of birth, bank account details..."

The letter ends with an assurance that "The copy of the data is still likely to be on Government property. The police are now conducting a search, there is no evidence that it is in the possession of anyone else."

The latest news is that HMRC is now offering a reward of £20,000 for information leading to the recovery of the data discs.
Really...
Have they checked on ebay? - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/11/21/hmarc_ebay_auction/

On a serious note, experts claim the loss of the two CDs containing 25m records including names, addresses and bank details is the UK's, and probably the world's, largest ever data loss.


GB's Crises
You don't have to be an economist to know that UK Plc is in for a bumpy ride next year when the effects of falling property prices, high fuel prices and the impact of the global credit crunch start to bite. Tony Blair must be pleased he handed over to Gordon Brown (GB) before the shit hit the fan.

Since GB became PM its been one fiasco after the other, from the Labour party funding row to the Northern rock crises, and now we hear NR staff will get a bonus and a one off xmas payment.
how nice, i wonder if that is coming out of the £25bn of taxpayers' money...
but i digress
I almost feel sorry for GB, but hey he wanted the job and he was prepared to take Blair down if he had stayed on (why is Tony Blair stepping down).
I can just imagine how Tony feels now. I think the Germans have a word for it, schadenfreude...

Yawn'Adua

Its been six months since Yardy was sworn in as president and it seems he spends most of his time sleeping in Aso rock. Apart from a few policy reversals and a couple of statements about the rule of law, i can't think of anything else he has done in the past six months.
It seems he prefers to react to events, rather than taking the initiative. Who gives a rat's ass if he obeys court injunctions? (unlike Obj), thats not an achievement, it should be the norm in any true democracy.

It's a typical Nigerian trait to get carried away by the 'populist' actions of a new government. Reversing the policies of a previous government has always been the easiest way to win acceptance in naija. You don't need to formulate policies of your own, just reverse all the decisions of the previous government and everyone will hail you as the best thing to happen to Nigeria.

The true test of Yardy will be when he stops riding on Obj's coattails and formulates his own policies or when he has to deal with a major crises.

The Religion Delusion
I've just finished reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, depending on your views of religion, you'll either love it or hate it. I loved it, so you can pretty much tell what my views are on religion.
Meanwhile, i stumbled on this excellent article on NVS - 'God to His Children: There is No God'
As usual the reaction from the respondents (mostly Nigerian) was not exactly surprising..

random musings III

I swear i haven't stopped blogging i've just been distracted by events at work, the great big company i work for has recently merged with a bigger company and everyone is trying to adjust to the new political climate.

30 years and another boom
The whole oil price thing is doing my head in, especially when i have to buy diesel at £1 a litre (70p of that pound goes to the tax man as fuel duty and VAT).
Oil is currently trading at about $100, the last time oil was at similar levels was during the 70s, which is the period known in Nigeria as the 'Oil boom'. 30 years later and it seems history is repeating itself, except Naija has been so battered by the repercussions of that 'oil boom', that this time around it has hardly made much difference to most Nigerians unless you're lucky enough to be among the 1 percent of the population that continues to feed fat on the proceeds of our resources.

a feeling of deja vu
I found this report interesting - Nigeria sues over child smokers
According to BBC news
"The government is seeking an injunction compelling the companies to stop the marketing, distribution and sale of cigarettes to minors. It says that products sold by the companies are addictive and hazardous to public health."

But back in 2001
British American Tobacco (BAT) cash round reaches Nigeria

BAT is to invest $150m in Nigeria building a factory making internationally-recognised cigarette brands, and developing the country's tobacco farms. The investment was welcomed by Nigerian Industry Minister Kola Jamodu as a signal that Nigeria was "on track". "Substantial flows of investment are returning once more to Nigeria," he said.

makes you wonder what other "Substantial flows of investment" the government has signed up to. You'll think that in this day and age our government will understand the concept of no 'free lunch' or the fact that when it comes to Africa, western multinationals are only interested in exploiting the resources or taking advantage of the weak laws and no regulation.

Another one bites the dust..

Clearly a 'breeze' of change is blowing across naija, I don't want to get too carried away that's why i did not call it a "wind of change", but anyway sha breeze dey blow small small and so far the main casualties are Etteh (madam speaker finally threw in the towel when the pressure became unbearable - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7069654.stm) and her deputy, the governor of Rivers state - Celestine Omehia, Yardy's In law and Kebbi state governor - Usman Dakingari, Kogi state governor - Ibrahim Idris and Anambra state governor - Andy Uba (who was governor for only two weeks. ouch).

so who's next? i bet the following are having sleepless nights:
The six million £££pound man - David Mark
Adedibu's protege and governor of Oyo state - Alao Akala
The governor of Edo state - Oserheimen Osunbor
And the governors of Ekiti, Ondo, Osun, Enugu, Imo and Abia states. (see Anxiety grips governors)

who knows this 'breeze' might even turn into a category 5 hurricane and sweep Yardy himself...

a slightly delayed reaction

to the HRW report.
The report (see previous post) makes sobering reading and leaves one with not much optimism about the future of the country. The government as usual will dismiss the report and accuse the organisation of trying to portray the country in a negative light.

denial of denial
We may choose to deny the issues raised in the report but our international partners, creditors, risk analysts etc will be taking a critical look at the report and will use it to access the circumstances in which they will do business with the country.

Meanwhile, no one seems to have noticed that the country has now moved up 10 places since last year to 17 on the failed list index (2007), above countries like Sierra Leone (23) and Liberia (27), (which is quite ironic considering the role our troops played in bringing 'peace' to the two countries).

Back in 2005, when CIA's long-term forecast for Africa suggested Nigeria could become a failed state in a couple of years, there was widespread condemnation. Obj (in his usual arrogant way) described the authors as "prophets of doom". He went on to say "If our detractors cannot see our far-reaching reforms, our fight against waste and corruption, the new culture of service delivery that is gradually emerging, the various political reforms... then they must have some dubious or diabolical benchmarks for measuring efforts"

Well thanks to Obj and the 'exceptional legacy' he left behind, the nightmare of a failed Nigeria is a likelihood today...

Criminal Politics - a report by HRW

Human Rights Watch has released an extensive report on the political situation in Nigeria,
called Criminal Politics: Violence, “Godfathers” and Corruption in Nigeria
click here for the Pdf version


Highlights from the report:

in Yardy's state (and this was while he was still governor)
Direct State Sponsorship of Thugs in Katsina:
In at least one Nigerian state, Katsina, the state government paid money directly to
gangs of youth who were accused of carrying out widespread political violence in
return for those payments.
Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua served as Governor of Katsina State for eight years until being elected president in April 2007. According to former state government officials, civil society activists and PDP Youth members, his administration used state government money to maintain several thousand “PDP Youth” on a regular monthly stipend of N5000 ($38).

One former state government official told Human Rights Watch that this PDP youth organization was essentially a perversion of an initiative to empower unemployed youth in the state:

"Before 2003 the idea was brought at a Government House meeting to establish
television viewing centers in all of the wards. Some of us vehemently opposed this
on the basis that this was not an acceptable legacy to bequeath on the youth. [We]
suggested computer training centers. The idea was accepted but [later] this thing
suddenly became, “Let’s give them a N5000 allowance.” [These youth] have since
become a reservoir of thugs."
-----------------------------------
Akala suggests new career for Adedibu

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Christopher Alao Akala at his
campaign office in Ibadan two months prior to his election as Governor of Oyo State.
Human Rights Watch asked Alao-Akala to explain his relationship with Chief Adedibu
as well as Adedibu’s role in the politics of Oyo State:

"For God’s sake, this man is an old man, you cannot reform him, you can only manage him. This man has been in politics since politics began in Nigeria. Can you just wish him away like that? If you go to his house you will see pictures of all the past leaders he has worked with…

Chief Adedibu has sponsored everybody—everybody who is who and who in Oyo state politics has passed through that place.

This man belongs to an old school of thought. If, for example, he asked me, Mr. Governor, I want you to kill this one tomorrow I would say, “Yes, sir.” Then I would go back the following day and say, “Why do you want us to kill that man?”
Then I will provide another solution— we will not kill him, let us bring him to order. If he asked me for N100, I will say, “Yes, sir.” But then the next day, I will say, “Baba, I am sorry, I
don’t have the N100, here is N20 for you to manage.”
That is only an example.

I will recommend Baba [Adedibu] as a lecturer at the University [of
Ibadan] to teach, to lecture students about practical politics."

----------------------------
The Uba-Ngige's "Agreement"
The following are excerpts from a Human Rights Watch interview with Anambra State
political “godfather” Chris Uba at his Enugu residence in February 2007:

"I have been in politics from 1999 and even before, but 2003 is the time I produced a Governor for the State. Since that 2003 I have been handling the party—the PDP—and we have been doing well and we did not have any problem in the party.

When he [Ngige] became Governor he started playing funny. That is where we disagree, we signed before he became governor. We said that I am going to produce [appoint] six to seven Commissioners. He is going to produce [some] because he is governor already. I am going to produce more; he is going to produce lesser…

I spent a lot of money to put him there but I never asked him for my money back. Ngige was trying to be smart, trying to run the government on his own.…
The problem is Ngige being a politician who did not invest one naira, not even one kobo, wanted to run away with everything and not even share one appointment.

That is why he heaped this blackmail upon me…I cannot tell him to give me N3 billion because I know that he does not have it! The allocation to Anambra in one month is not up to N3 billion!
I am supposed to bring the Commissioner for Finance, this man who funded the campaign is supposed to be Commissioner of Works, I said, look, you signed it, and not under duress.

The problem is the immunity the governors are having, everything they are having, you spend your money to bring them into power and they say “Go to hell.”
It should be just like, you invest in a bank and then you have power to make some decisions because of your controlling shares. But he blackmails you and pays the press to go say all sorts of bad things about you and put it in the internet."

In the annex of the report is a copy of the "agreement" between Chris Uba (Godfather) and the former governor of Anambra state, Chris Ngige.

Che

Che Guevara

June 14, 1928 – October 9, 1967

A great revolution in just one single individual will help achieve a change in the destiny of a society and, further, will enable a change in the destiny of humankind.” - Daisaku Ikeda