I was listening to a news commentary this morning and someone said this ‘the kind of President Nigeria needs is not the kind of President the politicians want’. How apt!
I believe one of the reasons we are still where we are is the kind of politicians we have. We have them both as active politicians and inactive politicians. The active ones are the ones we hear of running political offices or vying for offices. The inactive ones are those in our corporate world who sponsor the active ones through their resources and lobbying.
These politicians are the ark enemies of this nation. Yes there are a few good ones among them, but they are like one in every one million. What impact can they have?

Keen followers of politics in Nigeria know that when elections are around the corner, a lot of intrigues and drama begin to take place. Political parties throw banter at one another and trading of criticisms get stronger. All of these are expected.

However, one thing that is not expected is the abuse and deliberate desecration of a constitutional position. You cannot withdraw the aides of the Speaker of the House of Representatives (No 4 Citizen of the nation) all because he cross-carpeted and expect calm to reign. If you have an issue with the way he cross-carpeted, deal with it in the normal way. Take him to court. But do not make a mess of the Office of the Speaker. It is sacrilegious!

Must we always wash our dirty linen in the open? Cant we play politics maturely? That Office is not about Hon. Tambuwal, it is about Nigeria. Do not repeat Amechi’s saga at the National level. Not only will posterity judge you, we will judge you at the polling booths.

I have heard some quarters said President Jonathan has performed and done well in the last four years considering the facts on ground. I have also heard some quarters condemning him that he has been the worst President Nigeria ever had. We all have our different opinions and we are entitled to our opinions.

But may I ask you friends, what is your own view of President G.E.J? Does he deserve a second term?

Is the creation of 18 New States our priority? If 36 Governors haven’t been able to effectively utilise and show result for the monthly allocation, how would 54 Governors be able to do it?

Ekiti Gubernatorial has come and gone. Though the victor and vanquished have emerged, political pundits are still wondering what went wrong for the incumbent governor. It is not even now and then you see an incumbent losing to another.
Picking the lessons in this election is therefore necessary for both aspiring politicians and sitting politicians. Here are a few lessons to be learnt.
One, the electorate do not necessarily like a reformer. Especially when it is an electorate that is largely uninformed, the populist will always have his way over the reformer. The electorate in Ekiti spoke clearly that they are not interested in the beautiful reforms of Gov. Fayemi. They would rather follow Fayose.
Two, a leader can only succeed to the extent to which he is able to strike a balance between his vision and the desires of the followership. No matter how beautiful the leader’s vision is, if the followership feels that its interest will be jeopardize, such leadership will meet with frustration. Fayemi dared the status quo, constructed new roads, challenged the old teachers to upgrade their qualifications, but the people of Ekiti felt he wasn’t taken care of their own interest and they voted him out.
Three, no matter how good you are or how successful you have become as a leader, don’t take your followers for granted. Reach out to them by every means possible. They can make or break you. Billboard campaign can only take you far. House to house campaign always endears the leader to the people. Get involved in the grunt work.
Four, our democracy is still a young one. In another clime and under a different democratic dispensation, Fayemi would have won a second term. In matured democracy, politics of ideology always win over ‘Amala politics ‘. But this is not necessarily so in a growing democracy like ours. You must mix your ideology with some Amala. ‘A little to the people and a little to the party’ is more like it.
Five, don’t rely on the strength of your political party. People sometimes vote for the personality and not the party. Other times too, people vote for the party regardless of the personality. Jonathan won last Presidential election based on personal appeal built up from the ‘boy with no shoe’ story. He didn’t win because he belonged to PDP.
Finally, to the people of Ekiti, I wish you the best as you await the inauguration of the second coming of Fayose. I pray your decision augurs well for your State.

Again, I say we are the architect of our woes as a nation. Our institutions (traditional, religious and educational) continue to celebrate, encourage and reward corruption and we keep hoping that things will get better. Nay, far from it. Any society that celebrates corrupt practices is self-destructive.
See another evil under the heavens, Stella Oduah, former aviation minister who was embroiled in corruption, has been given a chieftancy title by some chiefs in Anambra. We can’t record any progress at this trend.

As I write this I am extra conscious of the fact that my life will also be subjected to both private and public scrutiny in life and in death. Posterity will judge me as it will judge all men. No one is exempted from the judgement of posterity. None. We will all report at the throne of judgement of posterity besides the Great Judgement before our Maker after death.
I have therefore resolved to strive to do such things, say such things, act in such manners and provide leadership in whatever position I find myself in such a way that when I leave this side of the divide, people will not squirm at the mention of my name. Such that youths across the nation will not throw party at the announcement of my passage into the world beyond. Such that my name will evoke sweet memories, it will evoke prayers of peace in death, it will evoke eulogies and praises such as Dora Akunyili’s name.
“Veni Vidi Vici”. She came. She saw. She conquered. As the nation mourns the passing away, not death, because her place in the words of Sabella Abidde “among the living is assured”. She lives on. This is a big indictment on all leaders either in public or private enclave who have made a mess of service. On all those who are currently mishandling the nation’s resources and also encouraging wanton and reckless corruption, shame on you. Dora lives on. For every eulogy she gets, it is a curse for you unless you amend your ways.
In the same manner we are praising Dora today, we will curse you in death such that even death will reject your soul. You will find no peace in death. For all of you who have conspired to ruin this nation, posterity is waiting to judge you and I can assure you, your verdict is known. Your kins men and women would wish they were never connected to you in any way. Your name will cause people to spit and hiss in anger.
Dora’s passing away is another opportunity for you to check your ways and carry out a fresh self appraisal. You should ask yourself this question, ‘What will people say about me in death?’ Or for those who do not care about their names after death (because there are many such whose consciences have been seared and have become totally insensitive), the questions should be ‘How will my family fare after my death?’. ‘Will my name attract favour to them or cause them to be treated like a leper?’ Ponder on these questions and make amends where necessary.
Posterity awaits all of us, just as posterity has started judging Prof. Dora Akunyili.
Rest on ‘best among women’ Truly many daughters excel, but you have excelled them all. Your place among the living is assured.

Military takeover in Thailand. Despite the appeal and global acceptance for democracy and disdain for military government, the military in Thailand still summoned courage to do what needed to be done. Whether their stay will be long or short, no one knows for now, only time will tell. Any government mismanaging her economy and thinking the days of military are over should have a rethink. Nobody can tolerate gross ineptitude and large scale corruption for long. No one.

Do you think social media’s benefits outweigh the downsides? Read the story below and let us discuss

Beware!! Badoo love: How kidnappers lure men into their graves with online dates

Posted: 19 Apr 2014 06:44 AM PDT

Found this report on Saturday Sun about how a gang use dating website Badoo to lure men to lonely places where they rob and sometimes kill them. Find the full report below…

Members of a five-man gang of kidnappers, including a lady, have given a gory detail of how they lure men through a popular online dating website known as Badoo to a lonely spot where they attack and rob them of their valuables while the unfortunate ones will be strangled.

The suspects, Micheal Eneji, his brother, Emmanuel Eneji, Chukwu Chibueze, Gift Princess, and Lekia Emmaden Isaac, were apprehended by the Rivers State police command  days after the family of one of their latest victims, Shola Olaseinde reported the victim missing. Continue…

He was later found in a decomposing state in a bush, close to a deserted pipeline area at Eleme, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Few metres away, was also the decomposed body of another victim, who was later identified as Mr. Progress Benin Disi, a staffer of Shell Oil servicing company whose family had also reported missing since March 7, 2014.

On their arrest, the state Commissioner of Police, Tunde Ogunsakin told Saturday Sun that the command acted on the complaint by the family of one of their victims, Shola Olaseinde who got missing on March 26, 2014.

“When his family waited for him and could not reach him, they lodged a complaint and I instructed the officer in charge of anti-kidnapping, CSP Akan to hunt for the missing father and husband.
“Through intelligence gathering, we were able to arrest the gang of four men and a lady. They led us to Ebubu, Eleme, Rivers State, at an abandoned shell pipeline borrow pit where the corpse of Shola was lying in a decomposed state. Few metres away was also the decomposed body of another victim, Mr. Progress Benin Disi, a staffer of Shell Oil servicing company.”

Explaining the gang’s modus operandi, CP Ogunsakin said: “Normally they pose as women on most of these dating sites. As soon as they lure their victim, they would arrange a meeting. The lady’s duty is to meet with the men who are normally very rich. As soon as they get them, she will lure them to a secluded place and alert members of their gang. They will overpower the individual and tie the person up while they withdraw money from his account through ATM.

“I hope that Nigerians will learn a lesson from this and realise that in as much as great and useful information can be got on net, it is also an avenue for fraud.”

At the police station, the leader of the gang, Michael Eneji, a 27-year-old footballer confessed to the crime and said that his gang didn’t know that the late Shola would not be able to escape from the forest after dispossessing him of his valuables.

In his words: “When I couldn’t afford to pay my school fees, I decided to go into love dating scam. I dwell mainly on Badoo chat that most Nigerian men visit regularly. I surf the net and select pictures of black models and impersonate them. As soon as they see this picture, some will send a message and I will reply. They will ask for my number and I will give them. I also have a Tecno phone that has a special voice prompt that allows a man to sound like a woman.

Once I establish a contact, I will go to the next step which is to convince them that I will satisfy their sexual urge.

“Pretending to be a big girl, I will tell them to meet me at a Conoil petrol station, before the trailer park along Eleme road while one of my boys, Chibueze will go there and meet them as my domestic servant and direct them to my house. To convince them to come, I will claim that I live in one of the estates alone and it will be safer to meet there so that they will not be caught.

“In their car, Chibueze will tell them to drive towards a deserted place where we will lay ambush. Dressed in police uniform, we will stop them and demand to know what they are doing in such a deserted place. We will overpower them and tie their hands and legs while we take their valuables, including their ATM cards.

“Two of us will go to the bank and withdraw money from their account through their ATM. If there is no money in the account, we will loosen the rope and disappear. This will enable the person to untie himself and go home.”

According to Eneji, they have fleeced so many men before they were arrested. “I never knew that Mr. Disi and Shola did not escape till I was arrested.  I can only recall that both of them had so much money in their accounts, so we decided to keep them for some days to enable us to withdraw enough money from their accounts”, he added.

On how he lured their latest victim, the suspect said: “Shola showed interest in having an affair with the lady he saw on my Badoo display picture. He demanded to see her, so I told him that I am free around 7pm and he told me that it was the perfect time to hang out.

“At about that time, he drove to the spot with his driver and Chibueze, who was on ground, joined him. He directed them to the spot and we took over the car, tied him and the driver up. He did not have much cash with him unlike the others. When we got to the bank, I realised that he had about N4.5 million in his account. Blindfolded, we took him further into the bush and decided to keep him there for some days to enable us to empty that account while the driver must have escaped from the initial spot where he was tied. Few days later, we were arrested. I never knew that he did not escape alive,” Eneji narrated.

Continuing, he said: “The second victim, Mr Disu was not my contract. It was Elijah the leader of another group that contracted me to help execute the job. I became interested when he told me that the maga (the late Disu) works with Shell company. All I did was to lure him to visit by promising him good sex.

 I do not know if they killed him because of the huge amount that was found in his account. The truth is that we do not kill, but rob them of their valuables.  We will sell the car, withdraw as much as we can from their ATM and disappear. We know that such crime might not be reported because the man will not tell his family or the police why he was robbed to protect his image. It is unfortunate that they died; we left them there still breathing. The only difference is that we did not loosen the rope so that they can easily escape.”

On the role of the lady in their midst, Eneji said: “She is my fiancée and I normally use her to further convince our target to assume that we are real. If the target insists that I should come and see him, I will send my girl to go and meet him.  She will be the one that will lure them to the spot where we can take over.”

He also revealed that he is known in Badoo as Cindy and Empress. “Once you search for beautiful models on Google search, you will have so many options. If you want so many toasters, select the ones that expose their breasts. I am terribly sorry that these men died in the process. We found out that it is easier to collect money in exchange for sex.

“I dropped out of school because my rich relatives refused to help my mother to train us. I can only get money from them if I send a woman to go and seduce them. I am terribly sorry.”
Another suspect, Lekia Emmaden Isaac, corroborating Eneji’s story, said that it was his duty to tie victims up. “We have done that severally and when we return, we will realise that they have gone back. I did not kill Mr Shola; all I did was to tighten him up very well so that he will not escape immediately. I was shocked when I heard that he was found dead. It is possible that snake attacked him since he was kept in a deserted area.”

Yet another suspect, Chibueze, 17, who acted as Eneji’s domestic servant, said his duty was just to take the victim to the spot where he will be attacked. “I did not participate in the main robbery; all I did was to take the suspect to the point where he will be robbed. To convince the victim that I am not part of the set-up, they will also beat me up and I will run away. After the operation, they will give me my own share of the loot.”

The only girl in their midst, Gift Princess claimed that her service was only needed if there is need to see the man in question or speak with him further on phone. “During Shola saga, he called requesting that I should direct him. I then told him that my domestic servant will wait for him at the agreed spot. He later called back complaining that he was not comfortable with the route that they passed through. Unfortunately, he was already at the spot and my fiancée, Eneji and others took over from there. I was only helping my husband to raise enough money to pay my bride price,” Gift confessed.