Featured Articles and Top News
May 26, 2008

• The failures of our leaders past...
  by Frisky Larr
  Each time I hear the passage in our national anthem: “The labor of our heroes past shall never be in vain…”, I always wish the author of that poem-turn-song had a clue what was to become of Nigerian leaders, roughly two to three decades after the poem was selected to be our national anthem. I wish he had written “The failures of our leaders past…” NigerianNews Special

 

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• Okosuns Succumbs To Cancer, Dies At 61
  This last Saturday, death through cancer snatched Sonny Okosuns away in America at the age of 61, cruelly doing so in a country he had toured with his musical band in the 1970s and 80s, where he made good money, and lodged in the best hotels, going by his own account. Daily Independent
   

• NASS Clerk, Arab, In Forgery Scandal
  A new dust of document forgery has just been kicked in the National Assembly, Daily Independent
   

• FG to review el-Rufai's last minute land allocations
  MINISTER of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, is set  to review the 620 plot allocations made by his immediate predecessor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, on May 28, 2007, a day to the end of the Obasanjo administration. Vanguard
   

• Sonny Okosuns dies at 61
  MUSICIAN turned evangelist, Sonny Okosuns, died Saturday in Howard Hospital, Washington, D.C, losing a long running battle against cancer of the colon. He was 61 Vanguard
   

• Sylva, Wammako win Bayelsa, Sokoto re-run guber polls
  PEOPLE’S Democratic Party (PDP's) candidates in Saturday’s governorship re-run election in Bayelsa State, Chief Timipre Sylva; and Sokoto State, Alhaji Aliyu Wammako, have been confirmed winners of the elections. Vanguard
   

• Matrimonial confession: I take responsibility for Iyabo Obasanjo’s mess – Husband
  DR. Oluwafolajimi Akeem Bello, chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Electoral Reform Group and enstranged husband of Senator Iyabo Obasanjo – Bello, was in Nigeria, last  week,  during which he visited his wife, the senator, while in detention  at Maitama Police Station  on the order of an Abuja  High Court. Vanguard
   

• Nigerians groan as blackout takes over - We’ve not witnessed light in 3 weeks in Lagos - Taiwo Alimi; N1,500 spent daily to buy fuel for generator
  THE current power situation across the country is now a source of great worry to Nigerians as incessant power outages have...Tribune
   

• 39 bridges may collapse in Lagos - Experts
  IF the report of some experts from Denmark is anything to go by on the state of bridges in Lagos State, then, there is cause to worry Tribune
   

• Sunny Okosuns, popular musician, dies of diabetes
  RENOWNED evangelist and gospel musician, Evangelist Sunny Okosuns, is dead. He died in a United States hospital...Tribune
   

• PDP wins Sokoto, Bayelsa re-run gov polls
  FORMER governor of Sokoto State, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, has been declared winner of the governorship re-run election held in the state on Saturday. Also, Chief Timipre Sylva has emerged winner of the re-run governorship election in Bayelsa State. Wamakko...Tribune
   

• Julius Berger Named in Bribe-for-Contract Scandal
  Nigeria’s embarrassing reputation as a haven of bribe-for-contract scandals is set to be further damaged with the new revelations coming from Germany ThisDay
   

• Nigeria’s Debt Stock Now N2.681tr
  Nigeria is currently carrying a total debt burden of N2.681 trillion, the Debt Management Office (DMO) has said ThisDay
   

• Sylva, Wamakko Win Re-run Elections
  The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday announced the ousted governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, the winner of last Saturday’s re-run governorship election in the state ThisDay
   

• Okosuns Loses Battle with Colon Cancer
  A dark cloud fell on the landscape of Nigerian music and popular culture at the weekend with the death of Sonny Okosuns, one of the country’s icons who established himself as a credible ambassador of the arts in his lifetime ThisDay
   

• Senate Disowns Turaki over Tenure Extension
  The Senate yesterday disowned former Governor of Jigawa State and member of the National Assembly Joint Committee on Constitution Review (JCCR), Senator Saminu Turaki, over his call for extension of tenure of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua ThisDay
   
• Obasanjo Remembers Handover, Says Nigerians too Negative
  As the nation marks the anniversary of the current crop of leaders, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo hosted a service in celebration of his one year after office, expressing regrets that “Nigerians focus too much on negative things”. ThisDay
   
• Wamakko wins in Sokoto * Sylva re-elected in Bayelsa
  Two ousted governors of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] bounced back to their seats yesterday after governorship re-run elections held on Saturday, with Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko declared winner by a landslide margin in Sok... Daily Trust
   
• INEC declares Sokoto re-run election a success
  The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has described last Saturday’s re-run election in Sokoto as t...Daily Trust

 

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• Food Import Bill Of Poor Countries To Hit $169b -FAO
  The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)has said the food import bill of the Low Income Food Deficit Countries (LIFDCs)is expected to reach $169 billion in 2008, 40 per cent more than in 2007. Daily Independent
   

• Total Seals Nigeria's First Oil, Gas Industry Funding Deal
  The first of Nigeria's alternative funding schemes initiated by the Federal Government, in conjunction with multinational oil exploration and production (E&P) operators in the nation's oil and gas industry has taken off. Daily Independent

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• Amaechi vs. Omehia: And the Reasoning please?
  Anyone who read our article on the Amaechi vs. Omehia titled The Supreme Court: Supreme in all things but Remedy! will in no doubt notice that our bone of contention with the Supreme Court was never about the conclusion they reached. Our problem has always been the remedy they fashioned to compensate the winning side in this case, Amaechi. NigerianNews Editorial
   

• Happy New Year and Welcome 2008!
  January 01, 2008
  NigerianNews takes this opportunity to felicitate with everyone as the year 2008 rolls in. Indeed, Nigeria is a country which God has bestowed with enough resilience to weather any storm! 2007 was such a turbulent year which some would have either wished it never existed or certain events never occurred. All the same, all our experience is supposed to strengthen us with sufficient energy so that we can witness the fulfillment of things yet to be revealed to us as a Nation by the Almighty God. NigerianNews Editorial
   

• Removal of Ribadu: The Triumph of Aondoakaa and his Ruse of Law
  December 31, 2007
  While the plot was being hatched, those who now cry foul on the removal of Nuhu Ribadu were busy celebrating the demise of the previous government. While the celebration went on, the evil geniuses in our midst were busy perfecting their next move of their escape from Alcatraz! NigerianNews Editorial
   

• The Supreme Court: Supreme in all things but Remedy!
  October 29, 2007
  We must first congratulate this Supreme Court for they have done it again! We congratulate you for your consistent inconsistencies. We congratulate you for consistently turning the face of logic upside down to the applause of those who should know better. If your inconsistencies are not embarrassing, we would  have also congratulated you on your undemocratic imposition of Rotimi Amaechi who was never voted for by the people of Rivers State. This is a first in the annals of representative democracy!! NigerianNews Editorial
  
  More editorial Opinions

• Tunde Adenodi's Current Column
  
  The Oil Windfall this time Around
  by Tunde Adenodi.
  May 18, 2008
  The Bush family has done some good for Nigeria in the last 20-odd years. Not because they wanted to; but because they had to, if they must do some good for themselves. Father and son are into oil and Dick Cheney, their surrogate. Of course, Nigeria swims in oil; probably even chokes with oil! And Nigeria has the best oil, sulfur free and more amenable to the basic procedure of separating the different components called fractional distillation. NigerianNews Special
  
  The Barack Obama Phenomenon
  by Tunde Adenodi.
  March 18, 2008
  Shirley Chisholm, a New York House of Representative member in the 70’s blazed the trail. Then, Jesse Jackson, the fire-brand president of the rainbow coalition in the 80’s. Revd. Al Sharpton took the baton, along with the Abacha friend - Carol Mosley-Brown ( I did not say girl-friend) in 2004. NigerianNews Special  | Read more articles by Adenodi
   

• Frisky Larr's Current Column
  
  Our Nation is doomed! At least for now!
  by Frisky Larr
  May 19, 2008
  I lift my hand in solemn vow, never again to talk or write, read or smell any such stimulus as may have to do with the word Obasanjo. I swear to appease and adore my readers and all admirers alike, who are nauseated by my failure to jump aboard the bandwagon (of a Vodka-go… or was it a Merry-go-round?) to unleash hate and anger no matter how imbalanced. NigerianNews Special
  
  Defending the Obasanjos? Hell, No! But no turning logic on its head!
  by Frisky Larr
  April 29, 2008
  These days, there are issues a public commentator cannot shy away from as a matter of choice. Indeed, when specific issues pervade the air and fill the news media with some intoxicating frenzy in the assurance of positive public sentiments, no onlooker can shy away. One very angry commentator remarked lately that virtually every newspaper relies on Obasanjo-bashing these days to sell amongst its readership. NigerianNews Special | Read more articles by Larr
   

• Kay Soyemi's Current Column
  
  Ribadu's removal: Not in the Interest of the General Public
  by Kay Soyemi
  December 29, 2007
  Keeping abreast of news and development back home takes some dedication and a hardiness of the soul and certain immunity to the shocking revelations that comes out of the political establishment and the fourth realm.  NigerianNews Special | Read more articles by Soyemi
   

• Atsar Terver's Current Column
  ECHOES:Commentary on burning public issues
  
  Memo To Mrs. Farida Mzamber Waziri
  by Atsar Terver
  May 21, 2008
  This is to convey my unreserved congratulations to you on your recent appointment to the office of the Chair(wo)man of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. It is an expression of confidence by the government of President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua in your ability to shoulder the onerous task of piloting the affairs of the anti-corruption agency. It is also by extension a vote of confidence in the capability of women to deliver on integrity even in the face of isolated cases of some public women falling short of moral expectations in recent times. NigerianNews Special
  
  Weep No More Gani
  by Atsar Terver
  May 15, 2008
  In our contemporary African society when an elder, especially a man begins to weep publicly, for whatever reason, it calls for serious concern. Whatever it is that would make a man to break down and weep in public must be distasteful. Now if the person crying is a small-livered old man in the corner of the city, one may be forgiven for giving not more than a passing glance at it; but when the crier is man of stature, then something must be seriously wrong and we need to ponder. NigerianNews Special | Read more articles by Terver
   

• Dotun Oyeniyi
  
  IYABO OBASANJO-BELLO: AN HONOURABLE LAWMAKER AS A FUGITIVE LAWBREAKER.
  by Dotun Oyeniyi
  April 28, 2008
  Running away from justice should normally not be an issue for endless debates.  All criminals like to evade justice.  However when the fugitive happens to be an ‘Honourable Lawmaker’ of a nation, the probing sensibility of the masses will be greatly aroused. NigerianNews Special
  
  FREEDOM FOR LT-COLONEL ISHAYA BAMAIYI: MUCH ADO ABOUT NIGERIA JUDICIAL SYSTEM
  by Dotun Oyeniyi
  No.  I am not making a mistake.  I mean Lieutenant-Colonel Ishaya Bamaiyi and not Lieutenant-General Ishaya Bamaiyi.  This is because I sincerely think that Nigeria should extend the attempted ‘decimalisation’ of the Naira, propounded by the CBN governor, Charles Soludo to our military ranks.  Soludo, we would recall, attempted to slash the value of the naira by one-tenth or so, so that if you had N1000 in the bank, it becomes N100, this according to him was because the naira is overvalued.  That novel proposition has now been rested on the presidency’s instruction. NigerianNews Special | Read more articles by Oyeniyi
   

• PROFESSOR MAURICE IWU’S REMOVAL FROM INEC IS LONG OVER DUE.
  by Joseph Ifeanyi Chikunie
  April 24, 2008
  There is a maxim, which says that “rich people know how to insult people”. There is no place where this holds true than on Nigerian roads. The type of disdainful and earth-shaking insults hauled at other motorists by such rich men and women are mind boggling. Some of them now carry horse whips like pens, which they use to whip their fellow road-users into line. NigerianNews Special
  
  THE CALL FOR THE PASSAGE OF THE FOI BILL IS A MOST PATRIOTIC ONE
  by Joseph Ifeanyi Chikunie
  April 14, 2008
  It is now very glaring that there are certain hideous forces behind the non-passage of the Freedom of Information bill sent to our honourables long time ago. NigerianNews Special
  
  Other Special Columns

• AN INTERVIEW WITH CHIEF OJO MADUEKWE, THE EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER IN PRESIDENT UMARU MUSA YAR’ADUA’S CABINET
  
  Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ojo Maduekwe, was recently in the United States as a participant in the 'Nigeria Meets The World Conference' organized by ThisDay, and the United Nations General Assembly session. He spoke exclusively with NNews at the New York Millennium Plaza. NigerianNews Interview

• MORMON CHURCH KEEPING ITS RACIST PAST SECRET FROM AFRICAN MORMONS
  by Darrick T. Evenson
  May 15, 2008
  Today there are about 200,000 Mormons in the countries of Ghana and Nigeria. All but perhaps 2,000 of them are natives of those countries. The rest are mostly white missionaries. You can recognize them because they dress in suits, often ride bikes, and white shirts and dark ties with black name-tags saying "Elder" or "Sister" and "The Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints". These are Mormon missionaries. I was one myself many years ago. NigerianNews Guest Column
   
• MY DREAMS AND HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR WORLD
  by Ogungbade Oyeyemi
  A journey of thousand miles will begin with a single step. Life is an empty dream. Dream is something having great beauty or charm. Dream means a vision of fantasy. It means a picture existing only in the mind. A focused man should, will and must definitely have a dream. The dream must not be an ordinary one, but for the future. NigerianNews Guest Column
   
• The 'wasted generation' syndrome
  by Sesan Bello
  A mere weepy-mushy statement, some will say, but the truth, it is. A very bitter pill to shove down the throat, by those concerned and of course, one that takes only the fearless to swallow. This is how I view Danjuma’s recent proclamation that the generation to which he belongs had failed and ‘should quit the stage for the younger generation.’ NigerianNews Guest Column
   
• Can Good Governance Bestow Legitimacy on Yar’Adua’s Government?
  by Onye Nnodim
  On Tuesday the 26^th of February 2008, the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal in Nigeria ruled in favor of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. It upheld the results of the 2007 presidential election in Nigeria, which brought Yar’Adua to power. The election was widely criticized by the European Union and international observers as fundamentally flawed in various respects. Today, the international observers are gone and the European Union is comfortably silent.  NigerianNews Guest Column
   
• Five Years of No Pensions to Retired Teachers
  by Onye Nnodim
  This is not one of my academic scribbles, but rather a lamentation about the state of retired school teachers in Imo state and perhaps, in other parts of Nigeria. It’s a matter that requires immediate attention, what the late Martin Luther King categorized as the “urgency of now”. I will be brief. NigerianNews Guest Column