Bravo, Nigeria's Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission for concluding that there will be no pension for all the military adventurists whose lackluster inept regimes caused Nigeria's stunted growth since her independence in 1960. Your basis and reasons were well founded and Icheoku applauds you for the courage brought to bear on this very important statement on the illegality of military intervention in politics! Also it will serve as a lesson to all other would-be military adventurists that their place is in the barracks and not in government. Yakubu Gowon, Muhammadu Buhari, Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida and Abdulsalam Abubarkar are brigands who do not deserve any compensation for having imposed themselves on Nigeria willy-nilly and collectively for so many years. A decision cannot be more goal-directed and productive than this. If this is what it takes to finally and permanently put the excesses of the militar
y in Nigeria in check, so be it and Icheoku gives it 100% support and approval.
y in Nigeria in check, so be it and Icheoku gives it 100% support and approval.The RMAFC chairman, Alhaji Hamman Tukur, is a brave and courageous Nigerian and Nigerians should applaud this decision into-to. Also these juntas have their primary military constituency to draw pension from, according to the chairman's reasoning and this is equally a very sound conclusion. To this Icheoku says, Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo should also be denied any pension and gratuities for plunging Nigeria to the lowest ebb of existence and for his dishonourable, atrocious signing of Bakassi away to the Cameroons. Olusegun Obasanjo is a very bad man - a devil's incarnate!
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Christy 'Apena' Essien-Igbokwe , the wife of Jegede Shokoya of the New Masquerade and Nigeria's lady of songs is dead; she was 51years old. Although her family claimed that "brief Illness" killed her like so many Nigerians; Icheoku retorts that it was most likely AKwa Ibom voodoo and remote control that was used to arrest her. It is on record that she had fallen out with the governor of her native Akwa Ibiom State and have been having a relentless war for political turf with the governor? So who knows whether she was sacrificed to Ekpe cult or even Alusi-Okija as an offal; afterall African science is still very much alive and portent. May her soul rest in peace.
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Obasanjo's Presidency Debased Yoruba Nation, By Cleric
ReplyDeleteGbenga Sodeinde, Reporter, Ado Ekiti
The eight-year tenure of former President Olusegun Obasanjo has been described as an era that debased the Yoruba nation.
As a result of this, the much-touted administrative competence of the ethnic group has been eroded.
This was the contention of an Anglican cleric, Rev. Deji Alabi, who asserted that the reign of terror under the leadership of Obasanjo has eroded the confidence reposed in the Yoruba to govern the country.
The man of God lamented that the Obasanjo's administration had further impoverished Nigerians and made governance messier, saying a lot of misrule and tyranny characterised the dispensation.
According to him, the reign of terror perpetrated during the former General's administration, was unequalled in the democratic history of the nation, declaring that Obasanjo ruled with the highest level of rascality.
Making the declaration in Ijan-Ekiti, Ekiti State, during the 2nd anniversary of the slain governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Ayodeji Daramola, the cleric chided the former President for his abysmal failure in office, and lamented that rather than for Obasanjo to concentrate on how to build the country, he was busy turning himself into political octopus, that places premium on obeisance.
He asserted that immense decadence permeated the polity during Obasanjo's reign, while calling on all politicians to be wary of their actions, as posterity would judge them.
Bakassi handover
ReplyDeleteCameroonians shed tears of joy as Nigeria let go Bakassi
By BONIFACE NZAMA and BASSEY BASSEY, Calabar
Friday, August 15, 2008
Cameroonian Deputy Prime Minister, Ahmodou Alli (2nd right) watches as a foreign observer is being guided to sign the hand over instrument by Nigeria’s Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa (left from rear), his Cameroonian counterpart, Professor Maurice Kamto (2nd left with glasses) and UN representative Sir Kiren Prendergast (centre with blue shirt) during the signing of the hand-over instrument of Bakassi to Cameroon in Calabar on Thursday.
Photo: AFP
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Members of the Cameroonian delegation to the final withdrawal of Nigerian authority from Bakassi shed tears of joy on Thursday, as their country assumed full control of the peninsula.
Not a few of the Nigerian natives of the oil-rich island also shed tears for a different reason: The loss of their ancestral homeland.
The final phase of the implementation of the October 10, 2002 judgment of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which took place at the Peregrino Lodge in Calabar, Cross River State, marked the complete ceding over of the peninsula to the Republic of Cameroon.
The ceremony, which started at about 11:47 a.m. was attended by the representative of the United Nations Secretary General and Chairman, Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission, Mr. Said Djinnit, chairman of the follow up committee for the implementation of the Green Tree Agreement, Sir Kieran Prendergast, delegations from France, Britain, Germany, Japan and other countries.
The ceremony initially billed for Abana was rescheduled to hold in Calabar following security concerns.
The Cameroonian delegation thanked the Nigerian government for respecting the Green Tree Agreement, signed by the two countries to give effect to the ICJ judgment.
Professor Maurice Kamto, leader of the delegation to the follow-up committee on the implementation of the Green Tree Agreement, expressed the gratitude as the two countries signed the handover instrument, marking the final withdrawal of the Nigerian administration and transfer of authority in the peninsula to the Republic of Cameroon.
In his speech, the minister delegate to the vice prime minister of Cameroon said the ceremony was a testimony to the determination of both countries to move beyond the past and respect the rule of international law.
Professor Kamto said the final withdrawal and handing over of Bakassi to Cameroon was a milestone that would strengthen the bond between the two countries.
“Bakassi will not be abandoned. The United Nations has promised to assist the displaced people. We shall embrace them and make them part of us,” he said.
He said the relationship between the two countries was being strengthened by the final handover and that his country would abide by all the conditions in the Green Tree Agreement.
Leader of the Nigerian delegation, who is also the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mike Aondoakaa (SAN) described the ceremony as painful, but said it was important to complete the implementation of the International Court of Justice judgment, by relinquishing control of the oil-rich peninsula to Cameroon.
The Minister for Justice said: “As painful as it is, we have a responsibility to keep our commitment to the international community, promote international peace and cooperation, and advance the cause of African brotherhood and good neighbourliness among countries of the continent.”
Although he described the occasion as painful, the leader of the Nigerian delegation said the gains of the action which was in pursuit of international peace, outweighed the losses in territory, ancestral homes and other emotions too numerous to mention.
On the fate of the natives of the peninsula, the Attorney General urged the Cameroonian government to put in place an arrangement that would accommodate the feelings of the people, and fully integrate all Nigerians who might elect to remain in their ancestral homes on the peninsula.
In line with the provisions of the Green Tree Agreement, he said: “They (Nigerians in Bakassi) are entitled to every right and privilege as citizen of Cameroon,” since special arrangement should be made for their assimilation and protection of their fundamental rights.
To that end, he charged the follow-up committee and the Nigerian–Cameroon Mixed Commission to continue to monitor and ensure that the people were fully integrated into the Cameroonian system.
Cross River State Acting Governor, Mr. Francis Adah, noting the feelings of the people, told them that Article 3 of the Green Tree Agreement provided that Cameroon would not force Nigerian nationals living in the Bakassi Peninsula to leave the zone or to change their nationality.
He said the agreement also stipulated that their property would be protected as well as their customary land rights.
The Federal Government, he said, would protect Nigerians to ensure that their rights were not abused.
“With globalization of most activities in the world today, physical boundaries and borders should no longer constitute barriers to free interaction amongst various peoples, which is why we strongly urge Nigerians in Bakassi to engage in legitimate commercial activities with their Cameroonian counterparts,” Mr. Adah said.
He said the international community would assist by not just providing funds, but by helping in other ways to re-assure the displaced people that they remained accepted members of the world community.
“Even with the support of the Federal Government, we cannot do too much for these people who have to start their lives anew for no fault of theirs,” he said.
Several Nigerians who were at the ceremony, including the Bakassi Paramount Ruler and youths of the area, said the withdrawal undermined their right to self-determination, saying they only accepted the decision of the international community in good faith.
After the speeches Nigerian Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa and the leader of the Cameroonian delegation, Professor Kamto signed the handover documents. Flags of the two countries were also exchanged.
Group hails RMAFC for excluding IBB, others from pension roll
ReplyDeleteBy Agency reporter
Published: Friday, 22 Aug 2008
The International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law on Wednesday commended the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission for excluding General Ibrahim Babangida and other past military heads of state from the list of those to benefit from the statutory pensions scheme.
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Gen. Ibrahim Babangida
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the group, Mr. Emeka Umeagbalasi, said the exclusion of those that got into public by unconstitutional methods would serve as a lesson to future usurpers of public office.
Umeagbalasi also commended RMAFC’s insistence that bogus benefits smuggled into the Entitlements Act by the National Assembly for former legislators were not acceptable.
“The action of the National Assembly is despicable, selfish, materialistic, inflationary and sectional. The decision of former President Olusegun Obasanjo not to sign the bill on the advice of RMAFC is in order,” he said.