What My Husband Told Me Before His Death – Turai Yar’Adua

Hajiya Turai Umaru Musa Yar’adua has revealed how her husband, former President Umaru Musa Yar’adua once told her that his relatives would quarrel with her after his death as they would think he had left so much money.

The former first lady who spoke at a memorial lecture in honour of the late president in Katsina at the weekend, also said “the late Yar’adua was not a materialist leader who believed in accumulating wealth. In fact, he shunned material things as his slogan was service to humanity.
“There was a time he said to me that ‘Turai, I pity you because when I die you will have quarrels with my relatives because they will think I have so much money in my possession”, she said.
She said the situation in Nigeria would have been better had the late president survived his ailment because he was a “focused, committed and determined leader”.
“Although my husband was sick for a long time he did his very best for Nigeria. Also as governor of Katsina State, he did his best for the state; he is an honest man who believed in service”, she said.
Extolling his virtues as a leader, Turai said the late President would not give out contract without having the money to pay for it.
“There was a time I approached him that people are complaining that the government was slow. But he said to me people can say whatever they like but I will not give out contract if I have no money to pay.
“The late Umaru was a kind of leader that would go out and monitor projects. I could recall when I used to join him to supervise the projects at Umaru Musa ‘Yar’adua University, Turai ‘Yar’adua Hospital and the roads,” she said.

This Is Why Oprah Winfrey Never Had Children

While Oprah Winfrey undoubtedly has a killer career, the media mogul has made many sacrifices in her personal life, one of those being motherhood.
During a sit-down interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 59-year-old star, opened up about her decision to forego having children while admitting she doesn’t regret her choice.
“If I had kids, my kids would hate me.
“They would have ended up on the equivalent of the Oprah show talking about me; because something in my life would have had to suffer and it would’ve probably been them,” she said.
Winfrey also admitted she’s never found the idea of parenthood particularly appealing even when she was a little girl and always had different dreams than her peers.
“Gayle King, Winfrey’s best friend and now a mother of two was the kind of kid who, in seventh grade Home Ec class, was writing down her name and the names of her children,” she recalled.
“While she was having those kind of daydreams, I was having daydreams about how I could be Martin Luther King.”
While Winfrey may not have children of her own, the former talk show host dedicates a great deal of time to the students attending the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, the school which she opened in 2007 and to which she has contributed more than $100 million.

Letter To Jonathan: Show Proof That I’m Being Used To Run Killer Squad Or Keep Quiet, Al-Mustapha To Obasanjo

Former Chief Security Officer to late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, Major Hamza Al-Mustapha on Thursday challenged former President Olusegun Obasanjo to provide evidence on his claims that President Goodluck Jonathan influenced the Appeal Court judgment which discharged and acquitted him of the murder of Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.

Al-Mustapha, who is currently overseas, also denied the former president’s allegation that he was being used by President Jonathan to run a killer squad the same way he allegedly operated the famous X-Squad during the late military dictator’s regime to eliminate political opponents.
Information Nigeria reports that in his December 2 letter to the President titled ‘Before it is too late’, Mr. Obasanjo had alleged that Mr. Jonathan interfered with the court process to set an unnamed murderer free, and organised a presidential reception for him.
Apparently, the former president was referring to Al-Mustapha, who was freed by the Court of Appeal in July over the murder of the late Kudirat Abiola.
But Al-Mustapha, who spoke through his counsel Barrister Olalekan Ojo yesterday, dared Mr. Obasanjo to produce evidence to back up his weighty allegations in the said letter.
Obasanjo had written: “Presidential assistance for a murderer to evade justice and presidential delegation to welcome him home can only be in bad taste generally but particularly to the family of his victim.
“Assisting criminals to evade justice cannot be part of the job of the presidency. Or, as it is viewed in some quarters, is he being recruited to do for you what he had done for Abacha in the past? Hopefully, he should have learned his lesson. Let us continue to watch”, he wrote in an 18-page letter that has now gone viral.
In his reaction, Ojo told Daily Trust: “To the best of my knowledge, President Jonathan never organised or sponsored any welcome rally to Al-Mustapha after his release”.
Al-Mustapha had been incarcerated for 14 years before he was acquitted by the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal, after being sentenced to death by a Lagos High Court.
Ojo said, “The impression (of Obasanjo’s letter) is that the Court of Appeal caved into pressure from President Jonathan, to that extent, the comment is disturbing, worrisome and unwarranted.

“The judiciary should be left alone and not be dragged into politics. The Justices of the Court of Appeal in Lagos that sat over the case are jurists of impeccable character and it is not fair for anybody, no matter how well-placed, to attack the integrity of these judges. We challenge Obasanjo to produce evidence of such interference to make it available to the public”.
He added: “My client was discharged and acquitted on the merit of his appeal. Majority of those who commented on the judgment expressed satisfaction. It is most unfortunate that a person like OBJ could accuse the President of using his exalted office for such a sinister and morally reprehensible thing. It must be stated that if OBJ has any issue to settle with the President, he should not drag Al Mustapha into it”.
Speaking specifically on the allegation that Al-Mustapha is being used by Jonathan to run a hit squad, Ojo said that the accusation was a pointer to the enormous hatred Obasanjo had for Al-Mustapha.
“At no time has he been involved in any such thing. It is totally false. Al-Mustapha is earnestly committed to the promotion of peace and harmony in Nigeria. It is most unfair that such an allegation should be made against him. It is an attempt to give a dog a bad name to hang him. When Al-Mustapha returns (from abroad) he will make a fuller response”, Ojo said.

UNBELIEVABLE: prof Hafiz ‘Saka’ Oyetoro Turns Down President Jonathan’s Appointment Offer

prof Hafiz Oyetoro also known as Simply Saka has turned down the appointment given to him by his excellence, President Goodluck Jonathan as one of his ministers

Saka is said not to be happy with Mr President because he has not improved the lives of many Nigerians who really needed the help, but rather than helping the needs, Nigerian government is adding to those who are absolutely living better.
Though, this act is very rare in this nation. According to Saka’s tweet on his twitter account last September 14th
“Please ignore any rumour of me being made a minister. Yes, president GEJ called me and I declined for personal reasons”.
This tweet was retweeted by a Lagos based stand up comedian, Omobaba that same day.

Obasanjo’s ‘satanic’ letter

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s damning letter to President Goodluck Jonathan must rank as the most narcissistic (and the narcissism of our rulers is legendary) action of any Nigerian ruler in recent times.

In the 18-page diatribe, Obasanjo took President Jonathan to task for his handling of corruption, insecurity, and the crisis in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party among other issues.

Like most Nigerians, the former president expressed deep concern about the tragic consequences of the current crisis. Unlike most Nigerians, however, Obasanjo has had two glorious opportunities to help turn around the fortune of Nigeria and he squandered both. Of course, it is easy to say we should focus on the message rather than the messenger. But this is one instance in which the messenger can’t be divorced from the message.

Obasanjo’s letter dated December 2, 2013, and titled, “Before it is too late” had all the telltale signs of a deeply troubled man. Rather than writing this particular letter, Obasanjo should have atoned for his many crimes against Nigeria and Nigerians.

It was bad enough that his eight years as president were a tragedy; to have imposed Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan on the nation as a farewell gift is unpardonable. Perhaps, it was payback for the trenchant opposition to his third term agenda.

In his warped thinking, Obasanjo must have reasoned that his only option was to foist on Nigerians the very worst amongst us; people so inept and incapable that after a while we’ll be hankering after him. Looking back now, that theory has worked well as Nigerians now look with nostalgia at the Obasanjo era.

All the things Obasanjo said about President Jonathan and his administration may be true. But we can say the same and even more about the two Obasanjo’s administrations, 1976-1979 and 1999-2007. Obasanjo seems to have forgotten too soon his squabble with his deputy, Atiku Abubakar, that made a nonsense of governance, the political assassinations (including that of Bola Ige, his Attorney-General of the Federation and minister of justice) during his macabre rule, the massacres in Odi and Zaki Biam. The less said about corruption (who could forget the wholesale pillage of our patrimony in the name of privatisation) the better. Obasanjo laid the foundations on which President Jonathan is building and consolidating. He is acting out the Peoples Democratic Party’s playbook.

Obasanjo’s latest intervention is no doubt anchored on the politics of 2015. In his messianic posturing, he feels he has a divine right to determine or at least have a say on who emerges as president in the 2015 election, an election that may sound the death knell of Nigeria if we go by the postulations of Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, Junaid Mohammed and Farouk Adamu Aliyu for whom the election is a “do-or-die” affair, à la Obasanjo.

A few months ago, rather than participating in activities marking Democracy Day (May 29) that he and his military collaborators foisted on us, Obasanjo was in Jigawa State as guest of Governor Sule Lamido. He literally made a case for Lamido as the next president of Nigeria, the same Lamido whose two sons have been accused by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of laundering billions of Jigawa State funds through companies allegedly owned by the governor.

That is the problem with Nigeria: the Feeling of entitlement which the likes of Obasanjo and Ibrahim Babangida survive on. Obasanjo should realise that his “ethnic balancing” theory is not the solution to “strengthening the unity and stability of Nigeria.”

In the postscript to his letter, Obasanjo referenced Generals  Ibrahim  Babangida  and  Abdulsalami  Abubakar as those “who on  a  number  of  occasions  in  recent  times,  have  shared  with  me  their agonising  thoughts,  concerns  and  expressions  on  most  of  the  issues  I  have raised  in  this  letter  concerning  the  situation  and  future  of  our  country.” This simply, and amply too, shows that Nigeria and we (the 99 per cent who ought to decide the future of the country) are in a big trouble. It’s like asking cats to help improve the conditions of rats.

Suddenly, President Jonathan has become the alibi of a ruling class fearful of its imminent implosion. Earlier in the week, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, who superintends over a house that reeks of corruption accused President Jonathan of paying lip service to the fight against corruption.

Many Nigerians know the problems of the country, and if the likes of Obasanjo and Babangida will allow, perhaps they can seriously begin the long and arduous task of fixing the mess created by these rulers.

Obasanjo has outlived his usefulness, if ever anyone found him useful. Now that he has confirmed that the man he imposed on the country is not fit to rule, we shouldn’t grant him the opportunity to decide the person to replace him. It is time we the people rose in unison to decide that.

Let no one be in doubt where I stand on the PDP, the Jonathan administration and our so-called democracy: To reecho Karl Maiaer, “This house has fallen.” There is no amount of letter writing or patchwork that can fix it.

Obasanjo should know that the train has left the station; that the problem he and his cohorts caused can’t be solved by letter writing but by a complete restructuring of the country.

Obasanjo, Babangida and company have lost all moral right to dictate how to define the new Nigeria we envisage.

OMG: See What Actress, Mercy Johnson Has Turned Into (PHOTOS)

Mercy Johnson is no doubt a talented actress no wonder she’s got so many fans.

The mother of one who has been busy since her return from maternity recently released some photos from the set of 3 different movies she is currently shooting.
Mercy Johnson-Okojie turns ‘Abacha Seller’ in one of her upcoming movies.

is Christmas season is indeed a busy period for Nollywood actress Mercy Johnson.

We can’t wait to see what she has in store for her fans.

Find Out That One Thing Ice Prince Doesn’t Like

Popular Nigerian rapper, Panshak Zamani, better known by his stage name Ice Prince, has revealed what he hates the most.
 
 
The rapper took to social media, twitter to answer questions from his numerous fans.
He was asked by one of his fans with twitter handle name @ik_osakioduwa, what’s the one thing he doesn’t enjoy.
This is what he replied:
“I don’t enjoy long phone calls”.
Now you know that Ice prince hates long phone conversation.

Top 8 Signs You Are Pregnant

Wondering if you might be pregnant? Early signs of pregnancy vary, but there are a few that most women experience — usually before the pregnancy test is positive. We rounded up the eight most common signs to help you answer the question.

1. Sore br**sts
Are the girls feeling swollen and sore? Are they getting more attention than usual? Better bust out the pee stick — you may be pregnant.
Sore br**sts are often one of the first signs of pregnancy. Hormonal changes cause an increase in blood flow as the chest tissue changes and prepares for breastfeeding. As early as four to six weeks into your pregnancy, your br**sts may begin to feel tingly and tender. Make sure you get a comfy and supportive bra because over the next few months — those bad boys may just grow a size or two. You will most likely feel less tender after the first trimester passes, as your body adjusts to the wave of hormones.
2. Morning sickness
Anyone who has experienced “morning sickness” knows that it is not restricted to the morning at all, but can strike at any time of the day (or night). It is not uncommon to suddenly be nauseated by certain smells or tastes, especially when you are newly pregnant. Morning sickness is not a given, and a lucky few never experience nausea at all while pregnant.
Caused by the dramatic increase in hormones during the first trimester of pregnancy, some women stop feeling nauseous around 12 weeks. Others, however, continue to feel nauseated throughout their entire pregnancy. If this happens to you, consult with your physician about medications to help control the nausea so that you don’t become dehydrated or lose too much weight.
3. Fatigue
Have you been incredibly tired lately — so tired you feel it in your bones? Fatigue is a common first sign of pregnancy. Many women describe early-pregnancy fatigue as the most extremely tired feeling they have ever experienced. It isn’t known for certain what causes the extreme fatigue, but it could be related to increased progesterone levels.
“Exhaustion is typically worst during the first trimester of pregnancy.”
Exhaustion is typically worst during the first trimester of pregnancy. You may feel revived and more energetic during your second trimester, but find your fatigue returning as you near the end of your third trimester. You will want to nap as much as possible now because after the baby arrives, you may never nap again. Or at least not for the next 18 years.
4. Hunger
Strangely enough, nausea and hunger often go hand-in-hand during pregnancy. During the time when you aren’t feeling nauseous over the smell of certain foods, you are probably eating your weight in some food item that you’ve become obsessed with over the last few weeks — like barbecue potato chips, mint-chip ice cream or the traditional pickles.
While it is OK to give in to some of your pregnancy cravings, make sure that you don’t go overboard and decide to live on pita chips and grapes for the next nine months just because they are the only thing that doesn’t make your stomach flip. Try to follow a balanced diet and stay away from any foods that are unsafe for pregnant women.
5. Frequent urination
Have you been spending more time in the restroom than in any other room of your house? When you are newly pregnant, you may find yourself visiting a restroom more often. Get used to it — as your uterus expands and pushes on your bladder, fluids in your body increase and cause the kidneys to work overtime. As your baby grows, expect some tiny limbs to put a bit of pressure on your bladder too, which doesn’t help.
6. Moodiness
Moody much? Did you just threaten to divorce your husband because he wanted to watch Deadliest Catch while you wanted to watch The Bachelorette? Don’t worry. Moodiness is completely normal during pregnancy thanks to the dramatic hormonal shifts your body is undergoing. Each woman experiences these hormonal changes differently. You may feel extreme mood shifts in either direction, or be more anxious or depressed.
7. Missed period
A missed menstrual cycle is usually a good indication that you might be pregnant, but it can also be deceiving. Some women do not menstruate regularly, or may not keep accurate track of when they last menstruated. If your periods are irregular or vary between spotting and heavy flow, you may experience other early signs of pregnancy well before you realize you have missed a period.
Some women experience a bit of spotting during implantation, which occurs very close to the time that your regular menstrual period would have occurred. If you think you might be pregnant, make sure to take a pregnancy test just to be safe before engaging in any activities that would be dangerous for your baby.
8. Pregnancy test
Your tender br**sts and nausea may already have you convinced that you are pregnant, but make sure to visit your obstetrician or midwife for a pregnancy test. Home pregnancy tests — despite what they claim — are not always accurately able to confirm pregnancy before you have missed your period. If you take an early home test and it comes back negative, try again a week later. It is always important to get your pregnancy confirmed by a medical professional and begin monitoring that brand new bundle of joy.
sheknows

SHOCKING DETAILS: How Male Nurse defiled Patient 5 Times In One Night

A male nurse in Utah has been arrested after an unidentified woman went to the police and accused him of defiling and threatening to kill her.
 
The man was arrested on Monday after the woman revealed her alleged ordeal that happened in April to the police.
According to report, the 37-year-old woman was a surgery patient staying the night at Uintah Basin Medical Center in Roosevelt, where Shumway worked, to recover.
Shumway entered her room during the night and allegedly sexually assaulted the woman five times in the course of the evening.
The nurse was said to have given her medication before placing her hand on an automatic morphine injector to activate it and after pumping her with morphine, he allegedly lifted up the woman’s hospital gown and began fondling her multiple times in the night. He then forced her to touch him inappropriately and made her engage in s*xual acts.
According to the woman, she was trying to say, ‘No, please,’ but her pleas fell on deaf ears. She also tried searching for a nurse call button to get help, but was unable to find it.
On his fourth visit into her room, Shumway allegedly threatened t o put her under cardiac arrest with a syringe he showed her, if she ever told anyone about the incident. On his final visit, he allegedly tried strangling the victim.
“Each time she would whimper or cry, (he) would tighten his grip on her neck,” investigators wrote.
After going for counselling, the victim was asked by her therapist to report the matter to the police.
The accused was booked into Duchesne County jail with a bail set at $500,000.
He now faces a long list of felony charges, including object r*pe and forcible sodomy, three counts of forcible s*xual abuse, and three counts of witness tampering. Shumway has also been charged with making threats of violence, a misdemeanor.
Shumway voluntarily surrendered his nursing license on Tuesday.

Real or Fake: ANGEL Appears In A Nigerian Church?!?

I came across this on the internet this morning and decided to share.
The above photos was allegedly taken in the Redeemed Christian Church of God Church in Ebute Meta, Lagos.
According to the church member who took the photo, the blurry image above the band members is an apparition of an angel.
Hmmm…………abeg help me ooh, what do you guys think?

RAUNCHY PHOTOS: Tonto Dikeh Pointing A Gun At Her Privates

Beautiful nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh sure knows how to make herself happy.
The actress shared some bedroom photos.
Check them out below:

Boko Haram Desperately Looking For New Members, Kills Nine Travellers

Outlawed Islamist sect Boko Haram has resorted to forcing young people to join its fold as the recent military crackdown on the sect has led to death of several members, the military disclosed yesterday.
Spokesman of the 7 Division, Nigerian Army, Col Muhammadu Dole, told journalists in Maiduguri that the terrorists were now moving around villages and other highways to abduct and forcibly recruit innocent people to replace those killed by troops.
The insurgents, also for the second time in 72 hours, yesterday attacked travellers on the Maiduguri-Biu highway, killing nine of them.
Just last Monday, some travellers were attacked on the same road while three drivers were abducted by the insurgents, after burning their two orange-laden vehicles.
The Borno highways have become a hunting ground for the notorious sect in recent times as scores of passengers have been waylaid and killed. The most notorious of the highways is the Maiduguri-Damboa-Biu Road, which records daily attack on motorists by the militia group.
It was gathered yesterday that many motorists had to make an urgent U-turn when the sect seized control of the now notorious Maiduguri- Damboa- Biu Road.
Some of those compelled to make a forced retreat, told journalists in Maiduguri that the bodies of nine passengers were seen on the highway with their throats slashed.

Presidency, Atiku remember Yar’Adua

The Presidency and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar have paid tributes to the late Nigerian soldier and politician, Umar Musa Yar’ Adua.

When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was military head of state from 1976 until 1979, Yar’ Adua was his deputy. He was also the elder brother of former President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The Presidency,  through the Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on New Media, Reno Omokri, wrote on Twitter that the elder Yar’Adua was “in similar mould” with te late anti-apartheid leader, Nelson Mandela.

“As we mourn Nelson Mandela, let us spare a prayer for the memory of a man in similar mould, Shehu Musa Yar’adua, who died 16 years ago today,” the Presidency wrote.

Also, Atiku described him as his mentor and hero of Nigeria’s democracy.

“Tafida (Yar’Adua) gave his life for the cause of democracy. He taught me to fight for Nigeria, even if I had to go alone. He was my personal hero.

“I remember when I was under great pressure to support constitutional changes to elongate our tenure. Tafida’s words gave me courage to fight. My unwavering belief in democracy and one Nigeria was strengthened by the time I spent working with Shehu Musa Yar’Adua,” Atiku wrote on Twitter

‘Facebook three times more popular than Twitter’

Research finds 45 per cent list Facebook among their three most frequently visited apps, while just 13 per cent say the same for Twitter

Facebook is more than three times as popular as Twitter on mobile and a host of other apps, according to a survey.

Of smartphone buyers asked to name the three most frequently used apps on their mobile phones, 45 per cent said Facebook, while 13 per cent said Twitter and 11 per cent said Candy Crush Saga, the popular mobile game.

The survey of 500 phones buyers in the US between June and September of this year shows that Facebook is unchallenged as the leading app on smartphones, according to the company which conducted the research.

Mike Levin, co-founder of Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP), said: “Facebook just dominates mobile phones, in terms of most frequent use, not just downloads.

“For most other apps, including some well-known ones like YouTube and Pandora, fewer than 10 per cent of phone buyers included them among the most frequently used”.

Fani-Kayode asks Jonathan to answer Obasanjo’s allegations

 
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has said the end of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration has come based on the letter written to the President by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Obasanjo had, in a letter, dated December 2, accused Jonathan of taking actions calculated at destroying Nigeria, by fanning the embers of ethnicity, encouraging corruption and also training and arming a killer squad.
Fani-Kayode on Thursday said, “OBJ has finally closed GEJ’s chapter with his letter. Jonathan is finished- mark my words. Abati should shut up and let his boss speak for himself on this one.
“The Ebora Owu has spoken and the issues that he has raised are too serious to be ignored or to be responded to with amateurish and cheeky insults and slurs from a mere staff of the Presidency.
“The President should find the courage to personally answer the charges and address the message rather than get his aides to attack the messenger. As Baba said, Jonathan is ‘bleeding Nigeria to death’. It is time for change.
“God used Obasanjo to put Jonathan in power and, by His grace, He will use that same Obasanjo to remove him.”

Obasanjo bombs Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan is under  a fresh attack . This time, it  is a stinker  from a former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

 The Balogun of Owu, Abeokuta, did not make an impromptu speech at a public forum, he took his time to pen what he felt to be Jonathan’s  failings.

In  an 18-page  letter to  the President, Obasanjo  accused  him, among other things, of  not honouring his words  and  taking actions calculated at destroying Nigeria.

The  letter dated December 2, 2013 and titled, “Before it is too late”  became public  knowledge on Wednesday. Only on Monday, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, said Jonathan was paying lip service to  the anti-corruption campaign  in the country.

In the letter, Obasanjo accused the President of  pursuing “ selfish personal and political interests based on advise from his “self-centred aides.”

He also alleged that the President had  failed  to deliver on his promises to Nigerians and to  curb insurgency and corruption in the country.

 “Nigeria is bleeding and the hemorrhage must be stopped,” an obviously angry Obasanjo lamented. He went ahead to declare that  “Jonathan had betrayed God and   Nigerians,” who voted him into power.

Obasanjo further alleged that Jonathan  had not only   placed more than  1, 000 Nigerians on a political watchlist,   he had  succeeded in destroying  the ruling  Peoples Democratic Party and  polarised Nigeria  along regional and religious lines.

He also said the President was involved in anti-party activities.

• PDP crises and Jonathan’s personal agenda

He said the President was using the PDP  National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, to cause the lingering crises in the party.

Obasanjo said, “Let me start with the leadership of the ruling party. Many of us were puzzled over what was going on in the party. Most party members blamed the national chairman. I understand that some in the Presidency tried to create the impression that some of us were to blame.

“The situation became clear only when the national chairman spoke out that he never did anything or acted in any way without the approval or concurrence of the party leader (Jonathan) and that where the party leader disapproved, he made correction or amendment, that we realised most actions were those of the chairman but the motivation and direction were those of the leader.

“It would be unfair to continue to level full blames on the chairman for all that goes wrong with the party. The chairman is playing the tune dictated by the paymaster (Jonathan). But the paymaster is acting for a definitive purpose for which deceit and deception seem to be the major ingredients.”

Obasanjo stated that Jonathan’s  failure to keep his promise not to seek a second term   had also worsened the crises in the PDP.

“Up till two months ago, Mr. President, you told me that you have not told anybody that you would contest in 2015. I quickly pointed out to you that the signs and the measures on the ground do not tally with your statement. You said the same to one other person who shared his observation with me. And only a fool would believe that statement you made to me judging by what is going on. I must say it is not ingenious. You may wish to pursue a more credible and more honourable path.”

He added that  before the 2011 general  elections,   the President told  some governors and  the PDP     stakeholders, including himself,   that he would not seek reelection.

He   specifically mentioned  Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam,  as having  told him that Jonathan accepted not to run for Presidency in 2015.

The former head of  state said,  “ He (Suswam)  told  me  that  you  had  accepted  a one-term Presidency to allow for  ease of getting support across  the board in the  North.    I decided  to cross-check with  you.    You  did  not  hesitate to confirm to me that you are a strong believer in a one-term of six  years for the  President  and  that  by  the  time  you  have  used  the  unexpired  time  of your  predecessor  and  the  four  years  of  your  first  term,  you  would  have almost used up to six years and you would not need any more term or time.”

According to the former Nigerian leader, Jonathan’s failure    to keep the  promise had made him appear like a  man without honour.

Obasanjo told the President that it would be  “fatally morally flawed” for  him  to contest in 2015.

He wrote,  “As a leader, two things you must cherish and hold dear among others are trust and honour both of which are important ingredients of character. I will want to see anyone in the office of the Presidency as a man or woman who can be trusted, a person of honour in his words and character.”

The former President accused Jonathan of  supporting the candidates of opposition parties in governorship elections in Lagos, Ondo, Edo and Anambra states  and causing disagreements between  party members.

He said, “Maybe you also need to know that many party members feel disappointed in the double game you were alleged to play in support of party governorship candidates in some states where you surreptitiously supported non-PDP candidates against PDP candidates in exchange for promise or act of those non-PDP governors supporting you for your election in the past or for the one that you are yet to formally declare.”

He claimed that a former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola  Tinubu “was nocturnally brought to Abuja to strike a deal for support “ for Jonathan’s  personal election at the expense of the  PDP  and its governorship candidate.

 “If you as leader of the party cannot be seen to be loyal to the PDP in support of the candidates of the party and the interests of such party candidates have to be sacrificed on the altar of your personal and political interest, then good luck to the party and I will also say as I have had occasions to say in the past, good luck to Goodluck,” he said in the letter.

• Insecurity/Boko Haram

Noting   that the President had not been able  to tackle the remote  causes of insurgency in the country, Obasanjo again advised him  to adopt “a carrot and stick approach”  to stem  the problem.

He stated  that “conventional military actions based on standard phases of military operations alone will not permanently and effectively deal with the issue of Boko Haram.”

• Factionalism/clannishness

 Obasanjo also  took on Jonathan for being clannish and wondered why he had not quietened some Ijaw leaders who  publicly  attack those opposed to  his leadership style.

The former President said,  “For you to allow yourself to be ‘possessed’, so to say, to the exclusion of most of the rest of Nigerians as an ‘Ijaw man’ is a mistake that should never have been allowed to happen.

“Yes, you have to be born in one part of Nigeria to be Nigerian if not naturalised but the Nigerian President must be above ethnic factionalism. And those who prop you up as of, and for ‘Ijaw nation’ are not your friends genuinely, not friends of Nigeria nor friends of  the ‘Ijaw nation’ they tout about.

“To allow or tacitly encourage people of ‘Ijaw nation’ to throw insults on other Nigerians from other parts of the country and threaten fire and brimstone to protect your interest as an Ijaw man is myopic and your not openly quieting them is even more unfortunate.”

• Political watchlist

Obasanjo also  alleged that the President had  not only  placed more than  1, 000 Nigerians on a political watch list, he had encouraged the  “training of  snipers and other armed personnel secretly and clandestinely.”

He added that  weapons  were being purchased   them   for political purposes and training given to them  where Abacha trained his killers.

The former President  wondered why the Presidency was providing assistance for “a murderer” to evade justice.

He said, “Presidential assistance for a murderer to evade justice and presidential delegation to welcome him home can only be in bad taste generally but particularly to the family of his victim.

“Assisting criminals to evade justice cannot be part of the job of the presidency. Or, as it is viewed in some quarters, is he being recruited to do for you what he had done for Abacha in the past? Hopefully, he should have learned his lesson. Let us continue to watch.”

Obasanjo did not  give the  name of the   but he  was apparently  referring to  the  former  Chief  Security Officer to   Abacha,  Hamza Al-Mustapha.

• Corruption

Obasanjo  called on Jonathan to take at least, “one effective corrective action against high corruption which seems to stink all around you in your government.”

He mentioned the  recent allegation that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation failed to remit billions of dollars in proceeds of crude oil sales to the federation account.

“This allegation will not fly away by non-action, cover-up, denial or bribing possible investigators,” he  told the President.

He added,  “Please deal with this allegation transparently and let the truth be known.

“The dramatis personae in this allegation and who they are working for will one day be public knowledge.

“Those who know are watching if the National Assembly will not be accomplice in the heinous crime and naked grand corruption.

 “As  head  of  government,  the  buck  of  the  performance  and non-performance  stops  on  your  table  and  let  nobody  tell  you  anything  to the  contrary.    Corruption  has  reached  the  level  of impunity.    It  is  also  necessary  to  be  mindful  that  corruption  and  injustice are fertile breeding grounds for terrorism and political instability.”

He also told Jonathan to do the right things because God and Nigerians would hold him responsible for “whatever happens and fails to happen in the country.”

“I have had opportunity, in recent times to interact closely with you and I have come to the conclusion painfully or happily that if you can shun yourself to a great extent of personal and political interests and dwell more on the national interest and also draw the line between advice from selfish and self-centered aides and advice from those who in the interest of the nation may not tell you what you will want to hear,” Obasanjo said.

The former President told  Jonathan that  nothing, at this stage of his life, would prevent him from standing up for whatever he considered  to be in the best interest of Nigeria, Africa and the world.

He added that  he was ready for whatever reaction  the  letter would provoke from the Presidency.

He  said, “Knowing what happens around you,  most of which you know of and condone or deny, this letter will provoke a cacophony from hired and unhired attackers but I will maintain my serenity because by this letter, I have done my duty to you as I have always done, to your government, to the  PDP, and to our country, Nigeria.

“I have passed the stage of being flattered, intimidated, threatened, frightened, induced or bought… Death is the end of all human beings and may it come when God wills it to come.

“The harassment of my relations and friends and innuendos that are coming from the government security apparatus on whether they belong to New PDP or supporters of defected governors and which are possibly authorised or are  the  work  of  overzealous  aides  and  those  reading  your  lips  to  act  in  your interest will be counter-productive.

“It is abuse of security apparatus. Such abuse took place  last  in  the time of  Abacha.    Lies and untruths  about me emanating from the Presidency is too absurd to contemplate.    Saying that I recommended a wanted criminal by United Kingdom  and United States  authorities to you or your aides to supplant legitimately elected PDP leader in the South-West is not only unwise  and  crude  but  also  disingenuous.    It is a clear indication of how unscrupulous and unethical the Presidency can go to pursue your personal and political interest.

The former Nigerian leader  urged the President to share the contents of his letter with former Heads of State, Generals Abdulsalami Abubakar and Gen. Ibrahim Babangida as well as a former Vice-President Alex Ekwueme and ex-Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma.

He told Jonathan that  he should do so because  Abubakar and Babangida     had shared the concerns he raised in the letter with him (Obasanjo).

Obasanjo said, “I crave your indulgence to share the contents of this letter, in the first instance, with Generals Babangida and Abubakar, who, on a number of occasions in recent times, have shared with me their agonising thoughts, concerns and expressions on most of the issues I have raised in this letter concerning the situation and future of our country. I also crave your indulgence to share the contents with Gen. Danjuma and Ekwueme, whose concerns for and commitments to the good of Nigeria have been known to be strong.”

Initial fear that the letter did not emanate from Obasanjo was  doused by  his Chief of Staff, Deacon Victor Durodola, who confirmed its authenticity to one of our correspondents.

Durodola said the elder statesman decided to write Jonathan despite their perceived close rapport.

“The reasons are already stated in the letter, including where Baba (Obasanjo) said the last letter he wrote was not even acknowledged; so, the reasons are there, about 10 of them. So, he wrote the letter.”

He also confirmed that Obasanjo left South- Africa on Tuesday after the memorial service for the former South African President, Nelson Mandela.

But the   Presidency   described the allegations  by  Obasanjo as “most reckless, baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous.”

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, who confirmed  receipt of the letter by the Presidency,   added that it was “highly unbecoming, mischievous and provocative” that it    (letter)  was  deliberately leaked to the mass media in an effort to impugn the integrity of the President.

The presidential spokesman   said  in a statement that  Jonathan, at the appropriate time, would offer a full personal response to the allegations.

The statement reads, “We have noted the publication on several websites today (Wesnesday) of a letter recently written by Chief Obasanjo to President  Jonathan.

“The Presidency acknowledges that it has indeed received the said letter from Chief Obasanjo.

“We however find it highly unbecoming, mischievous and provocative that a letter written by a former Head of State and respected elder statesman to President Jonathan  has been deliberately leaked to the mass media in a deplorable effort to impugn the integrity of the President and denigrate his commitment to giving Nigeria the best possible leadership.

“While many patriotic, objective and well-meaning Nigerians have already condemned the leaked letter as self-serving, hypocritical, malicious, indecent, and very disrespectful of the highest office in the land, President Jonathan has directed that none of his aides or any government official should join issues with Chief Obasanjo over it.

“The President himself will, at the appropriate time, offer a full personal response to the most reckless, baseless, unjustifiable and indecorous charges levied against him and his administration by the former Head of State.”

The PDP, in a statement by Tukur  also  called on  Obasanjo to tread with caution. It said the letter was  a direct assault on the person of Jonathan.

It added, “ For such a statement against the person of the national chairman of the PDP, to come from Chief Obasanjo, a former head of state  and President is most unfortunate.

“For him to insinuate that the President is using the national chairman to cause multiple problems for the party doesn’t in any way portray him as a true democrat.

“Obasanjo’s letter  is certainly an attack on the personal integrity and credibility of  Tukur.”

PDP names Azikiwe, Jonathan in ‘Mandela of Nigeria’ list

The Peoples Democratic Party stirred up yet another controversy online after it said President Goodluck Jonathan could be regarded as the “Mandela of Nigeria”.

Although the party initially declared the first President of Nigeria, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, as the “Mandela of Nigeria,” it went on to say that Jonathan follows the late nationalist ‘closely’ in order of ranking.

A close observation shows that Jonathan topped the list of living past and present Nigerian leaders, which is posted on the PDP Facebook page.

The ruling party said its judgement was based on the result of online votes by its loyal Facebook followers numbering about 26, 500.

In a message posted on its Facebook page, the PDP noted that the outcome of the voting process, which lasted 24 hours, was “decidedly” transparent.

“Great fans, after 24 hours of voting, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe is decidedly – by the strength of your vote – the ‘Mandela of Nigeria’. He is followed closely by Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,” the message reads.

The party ranked the first Premier of the Northern Region, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello; the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo; former President Olusegun Obasanjo and ex-Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth positions, respectively, on the same list.

The late President Umar Yar’Adua; the late Prof. Chinua Achebe; former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, came next in the seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth positions, respectively.

However, many Nigerians practically invaded the party’s Facebook page to register their displeasure with the PDP over the list.

While many of the protesters noted that the country lacked real leaders that can be compared with Nelson Mandela, others said Jonathan could not have emerged as the runner-up in any transparent ranking. They accused the PDP of manipulating the voting process as against the opinion of a truly representative proportion of the populace.

A cross section of those angered by the ranking also accused the party of using the death of Mandela as a tool for self-promotion.

A visitor to the PDP Facebook page, Imoh Okon, urged the party not to soil the image of the departed South African leader with its deceitful ‘Mandela of Nigeria’ project.

“Mandela fought to restore human integrity. In your (PDP) case, what is your goal? Is it tribalism or regional relevance or party supremacy? The least honour you could give Madiba is to keep his name away from this deceit. The PDP can surely do better than this by getting right thinking minds to maintain this page with some sensible packaging,” he wrote.

Another respondent, Bello Kolawole, described the list in its current form  as the “joke of the century”.

Kolawole said it was unfortunate that eminent Nigerians like the late human rights lawyer, Chief Gani Fawehinmi and the late environmental activist, Ken Saro Wiwa, could be pushed aside in preference for the President.

“This must be the joke of the century. Nobody made Mandela a hero. His goodwill and struggle for the emancipation of his people wrote his name in world’s history books. We do not have his likes in Nigeria,” he said.

Obviously irritated, Ibrahim Abdullah wrote, “The online poll must have been rigged as a tradition of the PDP. I stand to remain the last Nigerian to believe Goodluck Jonathan is Nigeria’s Nelson Mandela. This is impersonation, nothing more!”

Summing up the opinion of dozens of other people who lambasted the PDP for the ranking, Eghweree Ovie said, “None of the so-called leaders have made sacrifices for Nigeria, compared to what they have benefited from Nigeria.

“The PDP should please stop this nonsense analysis or comparison. Nigeria does not have Mandela or his like. What we have are the name that you just listed. Imagine you adding Goodluck Jonathan to the list. Even the Ijaw won’t consider him as their Mandela. The Mandela of Nigeria are the citizens who forgive those embezzling the public funds.”

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Winning the Nobel didn’t affect my writing— WOLE SOYINKA

Nobel laureate, Professor. Wole Soyinka, is not somebody you meet every time, not to talk of interviewing. But at one of the programmes of the just concluded Ake Art and Books Festival held at June 12 Cultural centre, Kuto, Abeokuta, tagged In the Shadow of memory: An audience with Wole Soyinka, afforded four undergraduates the opportunity to meet him and ask questions on his muse, activism, religious views, the Pyrates Confraternity and others. Vanguard Art was there too. Excerpts:
What kept you going during your 22- month incarceration during the Civil War and how were you able to write under such condition?
It took a while before I was able to smuggle in books. That was at a later stage, after I managed to corrupt my jailer. At the beginning I wrote on the ink pad, sheets of cigarette packs and at some stage, toilet paper. I didn’t eat much so I didn’t need too much toilet paper (laughs), so I wrote on them. Later on I was able to smuggle in some books; I was able to read and write in between the lines with the ink I had manufactured. That way I kept my sanity.
Did winning the Nobel Prize influence your writing?
I don’t think that winning the Nobel Prize affected my writing in any way. When I say that, I don’t mean it’s normal. For instance, somebody after he won the Nobel decided he’s not going to write anymore. It disturbed me in the beginning for the simple reason that you have to respond to all kinds of invitations. It was a nuisance at the beginning but I learnt to manage it and subsequently, I got used to writing more in (air)planes than I normally do in my sanctuary. So all it did was that it affected me in terms of my working methods but I don’t think for a moment it affected the intensity of what I wrote.
In the 1994 fight against military rule, how did you survive?
I had to take a most unusual route to exile which I felt was most undignifying. It wasn’t the first time I would ride on a motorcycle, as a rider and as a passenger but in this particular instance, I had to go through the bush, being lashed by branches at night. I felt that it wasn’t something that should be happening at my age during that period.
Having said that, … many people don’t understand my relationship with the military. The first thing that happens is that military rulers actually have no tails between their legs. (Normal just one head, two arms ) and many of them do think. And I should say some of them are even writers.
I have had a very easy relationship with the military from my student days and as some of you know from my biography I actually enrolled in the university’s officer corps because I thought it would be possible to go to South Africa and liberate South Africa so I never had any problem with the military. The problem is when they try to go outside their role and not only go outside their role as if they are gods and even goddesses because some female officers behave worse to civilians than male officers. Others retain their humanity. And don’t forget that this was a period when military rule was a way of life. Civilians would come out depending on who got in, have their expectations and hope. People would come out and applaud … but the moment they say, as happened with Buhari for instance, the moment they say we don’t even want anybody to discuss return to civilian rule, they become enemy number one, straight away I engage them.    There are others who say we are just here to correct some anomalies and we will return to civilian rule by so so date and when that date is approaching, they find an excuse to delay. They say we haven’t got rid of all the money bags, give us a little more time. I get suspicious and all collaborations stops.
The continent and even the outside world accepted that military rule is a corrective arm of humanity. Well, I’m sorry but in most cases they very badly let us down. So it’s been a roller coaster kind of a relation but the moment there is a sadistic regime like Sani Abacha’s, the man whose record was known even when he was in the Army, then you know from the very beginning it’s war.
A youth actually posed the question that it may be time to invite the military back, may not have the worst memories of military rule.
A message for the youths to remind them why that’s not a good idea. Listen, if you want to have the military back, military rule or dictatorial rule of any kind, it’s really re-colonisation. That’s the first thing to remember. Military rule, dictatorship in any form, deserves no sense of moral superiority. Two, external colonial rule. You are denied of your volition, you are deprived of your civic dignity. One way or the other, you are under colonial rule. Yes, there was a time when indeed the civilians were exceedingly dictatorial, which means you have to treat the civilian government as no better than a dictatorial rule. What we have learnt from our experimentation with military rule is that they are just as corrupt, incontinent, unreliable, treacherous towards civilian existence as the very worst civilian rule.
Enlighten us on the Confraternity you set up while in school, its mission and vision. How has the society taken it?
This is a question I am always very delighted to be asked; can’t believe that the media conflates two words: cultism and fraternity.
College fraternity is a time honoured tradition. It exists virtually all over the world where there are tertiary institutions. In Germany, in Britain, college fraternity is a time honoured tradition… Many presidents of the United States belonged to fraternities in their universities and many of them attend reunions where they come with their wife and children and donate to their alma mater. They are part and parcel of university culture.
When the Pyrates were formed, I was one of the founding members, fraternities for at least two decades, didn’t have one negative word against them. But of course, society being what it is, fraternities became corrupted. They turned fraternities to somewhere where you can exercise macho instincts and bully the rest of society. Of course they were thrown out or else they were never admitted in the first instance which was our idea of the original fraternity. So they went out and set up their own organisations which were also called fraternities but which soon showed exactly what they were.
The Bucanneers, that was the first to break out. The Eiye Society, The Vikings and even today you have Daughters of Jezebel. The women who one acknowledges for gender struggles, equality and all that, unfortunately, this is one area which they never should have attempted to be equal. Daughters of Jezebel in some of the colleges today are the most vicious; more vicious than their male counterparts.
Then outside society, which also includes politicians, who wanted to recruit students into their own absolute decadent conduct began to seduce with money, cars. These ‘fraternities’ turned them to outright killers, glorified thugs. So instead of having youth divisions of political parties in the tertiary institutions, what evolved were thug societies.  So the ‘fraternities’ became killers, they became corrupt, gang rapists, acid throwers etc and I can say categorically that you can never find a member of the original Pyrates Confraternity in these criminal and anti social activities. To mention —  the Ife killings and how the culprits were flown abroad by their parents, children of the elites. They are the ones with total immunity, privileged — those who are supposed to be rotting in jail.
Cultists drink unbelievable potions. The only negative thing I can confidently tell you about Pyrates Confraternity, sometimes they get drunk (laughter). But they don’t molest you when they are drunk. They get drunk when they are ‘sailing’, they fall asleep totally drunk until the sun beats them where they are lying in the open.
You use a lot of Yoruba mythology in your works, has there been any negative reaction to the cultural aspect of your work?
This is a result of Western or Eastern orientations. Christians or Muslims think that they have the ultimate key to the kingdom of heaven and that if you don’t follow either scriptures, you are forever damaged.
This is my world, my created environment; the myths of my society. Christians and Muslims must accept this, that they also exist in mythical worlds but the thing is that they would not accept. Who would tell me that the angels and the saints of either Islam or Christianity are not mythological figures? Prove to me that they are not before you ask me to prove to you that mine are not decent, respectable and even creatively enabling mythological figures. So let all of us stick to our mythology. Don’t try and denigrate mine because if you do then I will denigrate yours. My myth does not require me to turn the other cheek and stop claiming knowledge of absolute truth. Stop saying there is only one way, path to the god-head. All religions are equal.
Liquor and collarless shirt
I’m against liquor; completely against liquor. Wine is not liquor (Laughter from audience). Even a good brandy is not liquor; single malt whiskey is not liquor, palm wine is not liquor. All the rest is liquor. Right from when I was a child — I started reading from an unbelievably early age — and it’s the same with medicine. I discovered very early, today people are talking about traditional medicine, acupuncture, since I was little I knew the medicinal values of palm wine (component of red wine), What the doctors are talking about I knew since I was three, intuitively. I recommend red wine for everybody.
Anything that is not liquor, I think hurts the productive system. Wine is excellent…what corrodes the body for me is water. I can’t imagine anybody being creative with orange juice, pineapple juice and all that. I can’t imagine it. It’s very difficult.
Collarless shirt
I think it was as a result of my abandonment of ties. I felt restricted by ties. Why on earth should somebody put a rope around my neck and at the same time they don’t like being hanged. Does it make sense to you?
Once I abandoned ties, the next thing was what was that tie doing around my neck. Nothing mysterious about it; straightforward practicality.