Sunday, April 26, 2015

Tinubu’ll destroy himself – Babatope

In this interview with TUNDE ODESOLA, a member, Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, comments on the recently concluded general elections


What’s your view of the 2015 general elections?


All I can say is to wish Nigerians well. But I am not an enthusiast of the elections because I believe that they were mismanaged, especially the presidential election. It was computed by some diabolical forces to reenact a Hausa/Fulani oligarchy in Nigeria. I am not going to talk much about this now. I am going to talk about it in about one or two months’ time because I don’t want to be seen as disrupting what has been done so far in terms of ensuring peace and smooth transfer of power from the Peoples Democratic Party to the All Progressives Congress.


For example, what has the card readers got to do with our elections? Prof. Attahiru Jega said it was in line with recent technology. Which technology? The card readers were apparently used to manipulate the elections. There was also underage voting in the North and nothing was done by Jega.


But there were violence and allegations of electoral manipulations in Akwa Ibom and Rivers states where the PDP won in a curious landslide.


Are you going to compare that with the 1.999 million votes recorded in Kano State for Buhari? Kano State is a politically turbulent state. The people there are politically enlightened. I have been there before in those days of the Unity Party of Nigeria. In those days when Chief Obafemi Awolowo visited Kano, we were always greeted by a mammoth crowd but we never deceived ourselves because we knew that the ‘talakawas’ in Kano dictate the pace. The PDP was in the state before the APC.


But President Goodluck Jonathan lost in Aso Rock polling unit; does this not reflect a general rejection by the masses?


In the natural course of events, we in the PDP have put in 16 years in government and we must, naturally, attract the attention of the masses. But I don’t see it as an act against Jonathan. Jonathan is a good president for Nigeria and he remains so until May 29. He is a young man and he ruled Nigeria with the fear of God and not a single person went into exile during his administration. Not a single person was murdered when he was in government. You will see what will happen and very soon we will see deaths of individuals. It has started happening. The REC of Kano, wife and two children were roasted to death. I don’t know the reason why that happened. No matter what it is, it is a bad omen.


But the deaths of the Kano REC and his family happened during the Jonathan presidency. More so, Buhari won in Kano. So, is it unlikely the REC would be killed by the APC.


But it happened during the election of Buhari. I have heard it advanced; I am not a law enforcement officer or an intelligence office but I had heard that the REC had protested that the figures that came out from Kano State did not emanate from his office. Somebody burnt the house of the REC. Yet there was not a mark of burning on the bodies of the man, his wife and his two children.


It is believed that they were suffocated by the fume.


Were they suffocated in the burning house? If they were suffocated in the burning house, their bodies would have been burnt to ashes.


You are an apostle of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who in his lifetime tried to get the Yoruba into the mainstream of national politics. What do you think would be Awo’s point of view about where the Yoruba are in national politics today?


Papa was playing politics the way any decent person and nationalist will play politics. His Yoruba people knew him when he was Premier of Western Nigeria. They knew he performed well. Papa has never advanced the argument that the Yoruba must be left out of government. I have always quarreled with my colleagues in the PDP who are saying that, even when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo was president. I don’t believe in the mainstream nonsense. So, nobody ascribed any tribal feelings to Awolowo when he was propagating his ambitions. He had supporters all over the country. So, the Yoruba who are in the APC will now be part of government. I wish them the best of luck because at the end of the day, the Yoruba will be free to judge them if they have performed or not. It is not a question of mainstream or no mainstream, it is a question of popular participation in a government that belongs to Nigerians.


I asked that question against the backdrop of the fact that the leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, is touted as the new leader of the Yoruba, having helped in getting the Yoruba nation in mainstream national politics.


Was it Tinubu that did it? I know Bola very well. I always tell people, when I got married in 1972, Bola Tinubu contributed 10 pounds to my bachelor eve. I know him very well in terms of his politics of rigidity and stubbornness but he will destroy himself if he says he is Yoruba leader. Who made him leader? His party went into the contest. One, he played a key role in it, good for him. But to say he is Yoruba leader, honestly, I will not wish him evil but success but he should never in his lifetime make the mistake of saying that he is Yoruba leader. In 1951 when Papa Awolowo became the leader of the Action Group, he didn’t force himself on the party, it was people like Papa Maja, Doherty that said you young man, you have done very well as the general secretary of the party, go ahead and provide leadership and Papa provided leadership. But if Bola Tinubu will glorify on this election and call himself Yoruba leader, I wish him well. He is younger than me, so he should not fool himself nor join that charade to say he is Yoruba leader. Yoruba people respect maturity, age and experience and they know who their leaders are.


Who then is Yoruba leader?


That term is not proper and not in vogue now. Yoruba leader to do what? The Yoruba have many ways to defend their interests. They don’t need any one to come out and say he is a leader. Papa Awolowo never said he was Yoruba leader. In all occasions when Papa had led, people ascribed leadership to him. Even people in the opposition such as Chief Richard Akinjide said let Papa Awolowo lead the Yoruba. But so the Yoruba have many ways to fight for their interest because you cannot cheat the Yoruba and get away with it. If you do that you are going to smash yourself to pieces. We don’t need this kind of Yoruba leader.


President Goodluck Jonathan said he was caged in the last six years?


To rule Nigeria is not easy. As the father of all, he represents the interest of all Nigerians. In that place, he would only know what was brought to him. I think that was what he meant. Buhari is coming to power now, so I wish him good health. President Jonathan was speaking the truth. He was caged for many years.


What do you foresee of Buhari and Obasanjo relationship?


Many of them who are jumping up and down now will know better when Buhari must have finished dealing with them. Buhari is a Fulani man from Daura. The northern agenda to get rid of southern leadership started in the 2011 elections. Obasanjo had his reasons. He supported Jonathan to succeed Yar’Adua and he was the same person that said Jonathan should go. As an individual, he has his rights. I am told he has been given three ministerial slots. It could be more than that, so let him go ahead but it does not stop Obasanjo tomorrow to take his biro to wipe Buhari clean and clear but the difference is that when he is fighting Buhari, he will be fighting a different kind of opponent. Buhari is a Fulani; I keep on saying that and they are very rugged and tactical in their approach to power. It is going to be an interesting fight but it is going to come. We in the PDP are waiting because we are returning to power in 2019 and luckily for us, we are going to bring out a candidate from the North to face Buhari. Some in the APC have been deceiving themselves that Buhari is not going to run for a second term. They say he’s going to do a term and I laugh at them. If God gives Buhari strength and power and I wish him that, he is going to run for a second term and we will pitch a Hausa/Fulani against him.


Won’t that mean that you are going to ditch the South-South and President Goodluck Jonathan?


I know President Jonathan will not contest. I know that because when people were saying he should not contest in 2015, many of us said no, he must contest. But in 2019, Jonathan would not contest. He is a gentleman and I have said it that after he leaves office, I will visit him at Otuoke to greet him and if he has a place for me, I will sleep there. He has been a very wonderful president. He has left a record that is worthy of emulation. Jonathan will not contest again even if the South-South leaders say so.


Can you put the relationship between Awolowo and Buhari in proper perspective?


Buhari didn’t imprison Papa Awolowo. What he did was that he got all the associates of Awolowo arrested and caged. I spent 21 months in Buhari’s prison. All he did to Baba was a kind of subtle surrounding of Awolowo’s residence with soldiers. He stationed them in Shagamu but the soldiers were moving to Ikenne to virtually terrorise Awo. Papa was told to be reporting to the police station. Mama HID Awolowo accompanied papa to the station. A few days later, papa’s house in Ikenne was searched and the military announced that they got a master plan for Lagos State in papa’s house.


What’s your opinion on the sacking of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba?


I don’t know why he was sacked. Look at the crisis in Ekiti State, for example. He was the custodian of the security situation of the country. Look at what is happening in Ekiti. A group of APC parliamentary charlatans broke open the doors of the Assembly and started announcing funny things. Governor Ayo Fayose has proved to the world that he is control and that his people are with him.


Even with the seven minority lawmakers of the PDP impeaching the substantive Speaker who has 18 members in his support?


It’s a pity. I don’t know what to say. I want to warn the APC. I was born in Ekiti and my father spent many years there. Nobody has come out to raise the issue of propriety or impropriety of sacking the Speaker. It’s because the APC did not put its house in order and that is why you have the elements doing that.


But Fayose has been supporting the seven PDP lawmakers, denying the 19 lawmakers in the majority their allowance?


That is not correct. I don’t know the point of that but I will not give my money to my enemy to destroy me. I will not do that. Fayose is right and many PDP members are also with Fayose. They said they want to impeach Fayose. I want to advise the APC to be very careful because if they are not, they might destroy themselves. You have driven us to the wall and when we have no more place to go, we will fight back. Fayose and Mimiko are the only governors of the PDP left in the South-West and you are creating problems upon problems. This is why we are supporting Fayose.


APC accuses Jonathan of ‘last-minute dubious activities’

The All Progressives Congress has debilitated to probe the active administration  of President Goodluck Jonathan over some “spur of the moment questionable exercises” in front of the May 29 handover.


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The gathering charged that the active administration  had been plundering the country’s assets, briskly enrolling into general society administration and privatisatising key budgetary organizations.


The APC, in an announcement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday, said such activities would have serious repercussions after May 29.


It said separated from media reports of such peculiarities, the party had gotten dependable data from individuals from general society about a few questionable activities by key authorities of the cordial Jonathan administration.

Check out Photos Of President Goodluck Jonathan's Otueke's Luxury Island Villa Home



After May 29, President Goodluck Jonathan will leave the Aso Villa. PUNCH’s Simon Utebor was at the President’s Otuoke, Bayelsa State-nation home where he is required to resign to. The air around the sprawling bequest, he says, is amazingly cool. Glancing around, the response to this rapidly day breaks on him. The domain is inverse a river, and the moving breeze continues impending.

I'll Probe NNPC Missing $20 Billion -President-elect Buhari

President-elect Gen.Muhammadu Buhari has gaven a hint of how his government will kick start its fight against corruption  disclosing he will probe  the alleged missing $20 billion from the  Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation  (NNPC).
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Speaking when a delegation of Adamawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC)paid him a congratulatory visit at his campaign headquarters in Abuja Buhari declared that his government will revisit the matter.

He regretted that  the outgoing  government of President Goodluck Jonathan did not give the issue the seriousness it deserved when the former governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and incumbent Emir of Kano, Sanisu Lamido Sanusi brought the matter to the attention of the government .


Rather than investigate the allegation , Buhari said the government hurriedly removed Sanusi as CBN boss .


The President elect spoke to his visitors in Hausa language. Giving a clear message on the direction his government will go, Buhari cautioned that  his administration will not condone stealing of public funds meant to provide jobs for the teeming jobless Nigerian youth.

He said though some government officials are said to be returning money to government, he is not moved by the gesture.


He said “I heard that some people have started returning money; I will not believe it until I go and see for myself.


“Imagine a situation where the former CBN governor who by God ‘s grace would later become the  Emir of Kano raised an  issue of missing billions of money, not in Naira but in Dollars, $20 billion.


“What happened, instead of investigating to know whether it was true that the money was missing or not, they simply found a reason to remove him. So these are the issues we are talking about.


“This issue is not over yet. Once we assume office, we would order order a fresh probe on the matter. We would not allow people to steal money meant for Nigerians to buy shares and stash away in foreign lands”.


On his campaign promises, the APC candidate reiterated that his administration will do  everything to address insecurity in the country.


Gen Buhari accused the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of playing politics with security agencies especially the military . According to him,the implication of that was that the military was getting weaker and ineffective by each year.


The President elect who served as a military head of state between December 31,1983 and August 1985 recalled the lofty feats achieved by the Nigerian Army in foreign lands. He wondered why it had been very difficult for it to curb the menace of Boko Haram in the northeast to the extent that some 14 local government areas would be lost to the insurgents.


Describing Boko Haram as a terrorist organisation , he stated that it had become obvious that the sect was not religious oriented but pure terrorism against the nation and the people.


He said “I thank God for  your visit. From what he (leader of delegation) has made, this problem of Boko Haram, we thank God it is now evident that this is not a religious problem it is purely terrorism.


“I said it earlier, all the religions we practice both Islam and Christianity do not support terrorism. So, to go and kill people either in the mosque or in a church, market, motor park or to go and slaughter children in school anyone who commits such a crime either does not know what Allahuakbar (God is great) means or does not believe in it this is terrorism. It is our hope that God gives us the power to end this.


“Because of the (Boko Haram crisis) Some of our fellow Nigerians from the North East don’t know where their parents are. Some don’t know where their children are, there houses have been burnt, their cities like Bama, Michika, Mubi Madagali and the rest of them.


“Some have built houses outside and when trouble starts they don’t even bother to their bags, they take a ride on Achaba (commercial motorcycle) and they flee Nigeria and leave us with the crisis, God help us. I hope those of you who have been elected as members of the legislature: the Senate and the House of Representatives at the Federal and State levels you will work with us.


“I urge you to be patient and ensure that anything that will benefit our nation receives your support. We will try our possible best and ensure that we repair hospitals, schools, roads and ensure that we get drugs in our hospitals, books and other equipment.


“The 16 years of the PDP has further impoverished the people, it was the PDP, not the APP, not the CPC, not the APC.


“The three things we in the APC will give priority to are the issues of Security, the economy and the war against corruption. These are three things that affect all the states in Nigeria.

No Peace for Yemen: Foreign Minister Rejects Peace Talks

An attempt to find peace in Yemen shattered after Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen rejected a call for peace talks issued by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

 Yemen

Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen rejected a call for peace talks issued by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh, pointing out that the Saudi-led military operation against Houthi militia will continue, Reuters said.

The foreign minister said during a conference in London:

“These calls are unacceptable after all of the destruction Ali Abdullah Saleh has caused. There can be no place for Saleh in any future political talks.”

Earlier, fighters, loyal to former president Saleh, asked all Yemenis to have a political dialogue and find a working solution to end the bloody conflict in the war-torn country.

Saleh was the president of Yemen between 1990 and 2012, when he stepped down and ceded power to his deputy Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, who then became the new president of the country.In January, Houthi opposition forces seized the capital Sanaa and forced Hadi to step down. The ex-president asked the Arab League for military support.

On March 19, the Saudi-led coalition of Arab nations started airstrikes against the Houthi positions in Yemen. The United Nations estimates that more than 1,000 people have lost their lives in Yemen since the start of the military campaignю


Music VIDEO: M. anifest – Forget Dem

Ghanaian rapper – M.anifest debuts the visuals to his recently released single – Forget Dem, the impressive flick was directed by Garth Von Glehn for Film Fam.


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Music VIDEO: George Nathaniel ft. J. Martins & Phyno – Ticket 2 Love

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Listen to new Music Video: Timaya – Gbagam ft Phyno & Deettii

One of the stand out tunes off Timaya’s Epiphany album – Gbagam featuring Phynoand Deetti gets a befitting visuals, the video was directed by the well versed Clarence Peters.
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Enjoy!

New photos of Mercy Johnson's son, Henry


Sweet boy.


See another pic bellow.


The Jagaban has Begged Me for Forgiveness — Bode George

Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Chief Bode George in a new interview with ENIOLA AKINKUOTU, said this about his feud with APC national leader, Bola Tinubu:


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  • You once said if Tinubu finds his way into national government, you will go on exile. Now that he has, when will you start packing your bags?

There is nothing he can do to me. I am not afraid of him and he knows that but I am now 70 and most of my children are abroad. My little girl is also abroad. I will spend more time there doing my memoirs because if I am here, I will be dealing with too many things. The book will include my 16 years of politics in Lagos and my youthful experiences.


  • You and Tinubu are believed to be archenemies but a member of your party, Buruji Kashamu, has described him as a role model for Yoruba and the architect of modern Nigeria. How do you see Tinubu now?

One little boy who just delved into politics said I am a mole of Bola Tinubu. He must have woken on the wrong side of his bed. Bola and I are not enemies; we are in two different parties with different ideologies. His concept of operation is at variance with mine. We are not enemies; we did not grow up together. I even went to his village in Iragbiji to campaign for our party in Osun State. I met his Oba there and they even showed me his primary school. One of his friends with whom he lived in Ibadan was my classmate at the University of Lagos.


Initially, he thought I hated him so much and convolutedly conspired to use a judge to put me in prison. Whatever you sow, you will reap. The Supreme Court said the judgment was a conjecture which means it never existed. They did not know they were helping me to go and rediscover myself. Of course it was painful.


We later met at the Adamasingba Stadium Ibadan, at the burial of my good friend, Alao Arisekola. The Governor of Oyo State, Abiola Ajimobi, who is a younger brother of mine, sprang up and said, ‘Why are you and Tinubu not greeting each other?’ and I said Bola is on a different planet from mine. Oba Otudeko was also there and he said, ‘today at the burial of our mutual friend, Arisekola, we should end our hostility’ and I told them that he was involved in the conspiracy to lock me up. They called Bola, he shook my hand and said he was sorry. It was in public. Since then, if we meet in public, we greet each other but our concepts of politics are different.


For me, there is no enmity, just differences in political approaches. For me, democracy is about the people, service and the majority of the people choosing who will lead them. His own concept is imperial. He decides who should go to sleep and who gets what. Now, there is Gen. Buhari. If I remember the kind of person he is and the Bourdillon dictator, I wish them the best of luck.


  • Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd) has a reputation of being an incorruptible person. Do you think he can clean up the system?

The new government hurriedly put themselves together. They have no taproot; no culture. All they are after is power. On May 29, they will have the power. When I listened to Gen. Buhari’s economic postulation, I laughed. The world is in the 21st century. No one is talking about establishing Nigerian Airways or automatically turning a naira into a dollar.


He said he would look into all the governors that have used their state Houses of Assembly to approve stupendous benefits for themselves. He said he would cancel it. But this is not a military government. My oga will now know what it means to deal with a National Assembly and their idiosyncrasies, state governors, political parties and their idiosyncrasies. I know Buhari to be a man that does not want any stain on his public posture. But when I was young, my mother used to say, ‘show me your friends and I will tell you who you are.’ Let my oga show me his friends and I will tell him who he is. Let him start to clean his own household because it is filthy.


I am from this state and I have been involved in politics since 1998. Bola Tinubu and I have settled our quarrel but facts are facts. Friendship is different. If I still see him, I will tell him to his face. His acquisitive tendencies know no bounds. He decided to bring (Akin) Ambode to manipulate the system and throw a lot of funds around. Where is the growth in Lagos?


  • Are you saying Asiwaju Bola Tinubu can stop Buhari from doing well?

Are they not in the same party? Who calls himself the national leader of the party? If Tinubu says let’s go South and Buhari says lets go East, what happens? You cannot have two captains on a ship. I told you the APC has no taproot but it is just an experimental party.


I know Buhari will not want to contaminate himself but what of those who have fast hands in the tillers? We are waiting for him to announce his cabinet. Four years is a short time in the life of a nation. He is almost 73 and he should fear nothing. All he needs to do is to leave a good name behind.

Pics: Asha Mandela carries19 feet long Dreadlocks

Guys, meet Asha Zulu Mandela, a 50 year old business person who gladly rocks 19 feet long dreadlocks.


As indicated by Asha, she has been developing the hair which she calls her baby for a long time now. Also, doesn’t encounter any cerebral pain, spinal pain or inconvenience at all from carrying it. In 2008 she had the longest locks on the planet. You like? See more pics bellow.

Xenophobic: SA govt expresses dismay over Nigerian govts recall of her ambassadors

SA government has released a press statement communicating their dismay over Nigerian government’s choice to recall her envoys taking after Xenophobic assaults in SA.
South-African-Protest

In an announcement discharged by the South African government’s Department of International Relations and Co-operations, SA government portrayed the choice as a lamentable and deplorable step, including that just Nigeria has taken such a choice since the xenophobic assaults started.

GMB (supposedly) reads riot act to family members

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Asari Dokubo shares photos of himself & his children!

The ex-Niger Delta activist imparted photographs of himself to the majority of his children. – That would be 12 of them. At the same time, I uncertainty its from same lady.




He imparted his beautiful family photographs on his Facebook page.


See more pics bellow.