with the way yar adua is handling naija delta crisis and teacher's strike, i am begining to think our belove NIGERIA is without a HEAD.


imagine he even travel to Uk when so many strike is on in the country, in 23 days time there will be media blackout because RATTAWU is going on Indefinite strike.

May be obasanjo is better afterall at least he will say something not keep quite like yar adua.


what do you think?

You can't continue to compare between two evils and use that as a means of selection. That is just . . . . . . . . . Obasanjo's government squandered the huge potential of the country and Yaradua so far does not seem to have any idea whatsoever or any vision for that matter. Why do you feel we have to pick between any of them? Is this not the reason why the country keeps on recycling trash? Is that going to be the basis of selection next election? Because if it is for everyone then i am beginning to think the forsaken second coming of IBB isn't so improbable.

Nigeria is without leaders.
Everyone is leading himself/herself while trying so much not to be caught at the wrong end of the law.
So who cares?
It has been like that for the past 8 years and person never kpeme

We cannot blame Yardua for not doing well or being slow,he did not prepare for that exalted position before OBJ selected him.I have said it in a thread that i cannot assess Baba-go-slow now until after 2 years in office.I must confess this regime lacks vision.

iloveu:

with the way yar adua is handling naija delta crisis and teacher's strike, i am begining to think our belove NIGERIA is without a HEAD.


imagine he even travel to Uk when so many strike is on in the country, in 23 days time there will be media blackout because RATTAWU is going on Indefinite strike.

May be obasanjo is better afterall at least he will say something not keep quite like yar adua.


what do you think?

yar adua is just too slow to action
well about choosing between obj and yar adua i think its like asking me to choose btw d devil n d deep sea.  cos i don;t seem to understand the syst of govt that was practised in obj's regime and that is still being practised in yar adua's regime.   abeg my dear 12 and dozen na the same thing, even neck and throat na still d same thing.

Even Obama and McCain are starting to send messages to Americans that the problems on the ground will not be completely solved in the next 4 years. And Americans are already preparing themselves mentally and financially to give their full support to the next president regardless of what happens in the next 4 years.

Now, this is a sign of a complete society that understands what it takes to restore things back to normal in their country; unlike Nigerians that seem to cry for everything and anything, even if Jesus happens to be their president.

Questions:
What exactly do you expect from this man (Yar'Adua) after just 13.5 months in office?
Do you truly understand the uniqueness of the challenges Yar'Adua is up against?

Any sensible and well informed individual wouldn't expect all these problems to just go away within few months. It takes time, dedication and intelligence.

Again, we are targeting the wrong fellow as usual; Yar'Adual is not the problem.
Yar'Adua in my book still represents one of a kind in many ways; and I think he's doing a great job despite the horrible circumstances OBJ and HOLLY Ribadu left behind for him.

Furthermore, I think Nigerians in general will appreciate him more as soon as he starts stealing Government funds and may be illegally killing 2 or 3 citizens for interfering with his personal/ administration agendas (also known as home made treason).

In short, Nigerians do not know what they want.
In fact, I now support OBJ to come back for another term. It is clear that we do not deserve anything decent.

Big B1:

unlike Nigerians that seem to cry for everything and anything, even if Jesus happens to be their president.

Questions:
What exactly do you expect from this man (Yar'Adua) after just 13.5 months in office?
Do you truly understand the uniqueness of the challenges Yar'Adua is up against?

Any sensible and well informed individual wouldn't expect all these problems to just go away within few months. It takes time, dedication and intelligence.

Again, we are targeting the wrong fellow as usual; Yar'Adual is not the problem.
Yar'Adua in my book still represents one of a kind in many ways; and I think he's doing a great job despite the horrible circumstances OBJ and HOLLY Ribadu left behind for him.

Furthermore, I think Nigerians in general will appreciate him more as soon as he starts stealing Government funds and may be illegally killing 2 or 3 citizens for interfering with his personal/ administration agendas (also known as home made treason).

In short, Nigerians do not know what they want.
In fact, I now support OBJ to come back for another term. It is clear that we do not deserve anything decent.

Big B1 to answer your question it is not a matter of what yar adua have done within the 13.5 month of his administration but how he have tackle the problem that arises within the  13.5 month of his gorverment. No body in Nigeria is expecting him to perform magic and transform nigeria into diamond city within the four years of his administration but we do expect him to lay the foundation and leadership example on which everybody can build on. tell me how our dear president is doing that .

is it by declaring war on militant?  for heaven sake our primary and secondary education have been in stand still for 3 good weeks how did Mr. president respond to that by travelling out of the country even as the media treatning to go on strike, tell me of any head whose house is on fire and goes on for visitation.

i am not for any reason against yar adua in person, infact i can swear he will make a wonderful husband and father to his family  what i do not like is the childish leadership style he is showing. maybe he would have make a very good vice president. you talk about obama, can you compare obama speech to our president speech, immposible obama speak with passion with desire, you can see it in his face, it shows in his action, it make people ready to follow him to the grave. but our own presdent clearly shows that he himself do not believe in his own speeches, he posses no leadership quality. that is why he did not know how to handle all these problems, he was not prepare for them, he has no option but to run away to the uk thinking by the time he is back the problem would have reduce

what our near collapsing country need now is a man of strong will not a timid man, we need a man who is bold not a shy man, we need a man who can motivate the people to do impossible things a man like Lincon, Hilter. A man who have vision not agenda. a man who will give the people hope, A man who is nor afraid, a man who is daring. our country Nigeria lack leaders with vision, if the leader lack vision what can the follower do. nothing you will say but i will say much.

The first solution to problem is to recognise the problem then will think of solution. so let all of us as nigerian accept the fact that we do not have a leader. then we can focus on how to get ahead without a leader don't tell me it is impossible, if other country have not do it that does not mean NIGERIAN can not do it. we are Nigeria, the survival blood is in us, we can make things happen. i am not advocating for impeachment but what i am saying is that the country Nigeria is made up of Me and you call \NIGERIAN. so if Nigeria fall it means Nigerians fall, it mean me and you fall.

let begin to look  into the future and say positive about Nigeria, bless her do not curse her, if you say Naija is bad it will continue to be bad because the voice of man is the voice of God. so brethen forget about all  our leaders and do things in the right way where ever you find your self.

Richguys:

Big B1 to answer your question it is not a matter of what yar adua have done within the 13.5 month of his administration but how he have tackle the problem that arises within the 13.5 month of his gorverment. No body in Nigeria is expecting him to perform magic and transform nigeria into diamond city within the four years of his administration but we do expect him to lay the foundation and leadership example on which everybody can build on. tell me how our dear president is doing that .

is it by declaring war on militant? for heaven sake our primary and secondary education have been in stand still for 3 good weeks how did Mr. president respond to that by travelling out of the country even as the media treatning to go on strike, tell me of any head whose house is on fire and goes on for visitation.

i am not for any reason against yar adua in person, infact i can swear he will make a wonderful husband and father to his family what i do not like is the childish leadership style he is showing. maybe he would have make a very good vice president. you talk about obama, can you compare obama speech to our president speech, immposible obama speak with passion with desire, you can see it in his face, it shows in his action, it make people ready to follow him to the grave. but our own presdent clearly shows that he himself do not believe in his own speeches, he posses no leadership quality. that is why he did not know how to handle all these problems, he was not prepare for them, he has no option but to run away to the uk thinking by the time he is back the problem would have reduce

what our near collapsing country need now is a man of strong will not a timid man, we need a man who is bold not a shy man, we need a man who can motivate the people to do impossible things a man like Lincon, Hilter. A man who have vision not agenda. a man who will give the people hope, A man who is nor afraid, a man who is daring. our country Nigeria lack leaders with vision, if the leader lack vision what can the follower do. nothing you will say but i will say much.

The first solution to problem is to recognise the problem then will think of solution. so let all of us as nigerian accept the fact that we do not have a leader. then we can focus on how to get ahead without a leader don't tell me it is impossible, if other country have not do that does not mean NIGERIAN can not do it. we are Nigeria, the survival blood is in us, we can make things happen. i am not advocating for impeachment but what i am saying is that the country Nigeria is made up of Me and you call \NIGERIAN. so if Nigeria fall it means Nigerians fall, it mean me and you fall.

let begin to look into the future and say positive about Nigeria, bless her do not curse her, if you say Naija is bad it will continue to be bad because the voice of man is the voice of God. so brethen forget about all our leaders and do things in the right way where ever you find your self.

@ Richguys

Good points.

On the other hand, the man called Yaradua cannot implement certain policy without the full backing of the National Assembly. We all know how long it took them (National Assembly) to ratify the budget into law all in the name of modification , [size=5pt]so they say[/size]. My point is, for smooth sailing of our economy; there has to be full cooperation between all the three tiers of government with the interest of the masses at heart. I am of the opinion that our policy makers are not consenting to most of Yaradua policies, because those policies does not address their interests. If these activities persist, then the country will never move forward.

time will be the judge. As for now, I reserve my comments

naijaway:

time will be the judge. As for now, I reserve my comments

I am sorry but this is a moronic approach when it comes to the fact that this is not new in Nigeria. Don't you think that it is high time we did things differently?? I am going to guess you said the same exact thing during the last administration and we all know how that one turned out. Do you sincerely believe that sitting back, waiting this time around would  not confirm us FOOLS? Come on!! !What sort of attitude is this?? Why not demand he do something instead of saying things like TIME WILL BE JUDGE,  Time does not work MAGIC ,  YOU make that happen of your own. The longer we sit with arms folded, the longer we continue to go in the same cycle. Can't you say that it is up to us to make things move?

courage89:


@ Richguys

Good points.

On the other hand, the man called Yaradua cannot implement certain policy without the full backing of the National Assembly. We all know how long it took them (National Assembly) to ratify the budget into law all in the name of modification , [size=5pt]so they say[/size]. My point is, for smooth sailing of our economy; there has to be full cooperation between all the three tiers of government with the interest of the masses at heart. I am of the opinion that our policy makers are not consenting to most of Yaradua policies, because those policies does not address their interests. If these activities persist, then the country will never move forward.

@Courage, before you jump to blame the National Assembly on this one, I think you should get a better understanding of why it actually dragged on for as long as it did.

Kobojunkie:

@Courage, before you jump to blame the National Assembly on this one, I think you should get a better understanding of why it actually dragged on for as long as it did.

since you seem to have a "better understanding of why it actually dragged on for as long as it did", please pass it on, we'd like to know.

Talking about the National Assembly when i look at them i truly feel some of them really want to make changes but the problem is they do not not how?.

Reason not thier fault because they are not supose to be thier, election malpratice brought them there. we need exceptional briliant people there. people with high level of intelliengence not just ordinary people like the present one. i don't blame them, they want to make chages but they do not know how because they are not inteligence so they sponsor bills that is irrelevant to our dear country.[ Nudity Bill, Genrator Bill dis is insane to Nigeria at this Moment.} My message is simple forget about them and do your part to bring Nigeria to Greater height.

Can anything good come out of Nigerian leadership, and even the follower-ship?

You guys should give me a break, Yaradua as a father, husband and friend may be a very good man, but when it comes to being the president of Nigeria; he's a lost course, a minus one out of 144 million Nigerians.

Shame on these guys.

The whole structure of nigerian society is messed up,almost everybody think the same,targeting and plundering the national cake,nobody wants to give but just taking.

Yaradua as a person according to his profile is a man of my heart,very simple and down to earth,but as part of that present system with out any revolutionary moves and agenda as regards sincerely turning the system inside out,he is doom.

By now almost all the politicians and corrupt officials should be in jail,for acts of sabotage and crime against humanity,locked up for eternity,true american style of locking up,locked up for real.

i  think it is time we really face the truth in as much as our leader are bad the folower are also bad, from the follower the leaders are selected. let leave the leaders alone and start making positive contribution to our nation. we only blame the leader and neglect our part, is it the president that instruct police to misbehave on the highway, are they not nigerian, is the president that offer bribe for contract, corruption in the Nigeria start from the smallest Nigeria. you can only climb mountain from down not up so lets attack corruption from down.

There is corruption right from primary school, or is it the president that instruted cheating in school, why should parent pay to get their child good grade, why should parent lobby for admission for children, admission is suppose to be on merit, within a family there is corruption  .

We should start to reject some statement about us as a nigerian, white men told us that curruption is our way of life, and we accepted it, don't we know that once a lie is repeat often and often it becomes the truth, why should you ever say Nigeria is bad, can you imagine americans saying that to their country or japan, china, uk this people say good think about themselves. that is why they receive good things in life. what the mind believe in that it work towards, so if you keep repeating that Nigeria is bad, the mind believe that and unconciously you will begin to do things that will make nigeria bad. yaradua may not be a good leader but he is definitly not our problem. the problem is our self, let change our mindset as a nation.

Believe  nigeria is good and good things will begin to happen, when you say to your friend Nigeria is corrupt we can never have a good leader why do you expect good leaders. don't you know the voice of Men is the voice of God. let stop washing our dirty linen in public the world is making fun of us. if we do not know. every country have problems, ability to manage them is what is important, did you ever see CNN, BBC showing rich men in Africa, No instead they show the HUNGRY face in africa as if there is no poverty in the Uk, Usa. they show our worst and show their own best. and what do we do about it  ?

So it begins with you my brother, do things in the right way and campaign among your friends, co-worker, church member, associate, customers, co-drinker, co-smoker, co-fornicator, for things to be done in the right way and we will see  changes. out of 140million people, if 40 million is doing things in the right way we can now influence our leaders.


MAKE SURE YOU THINK ABOUT THIS

@BigB1 i am at a complete loss why you continue to insist that Yaradua is doing work given the "special circumstances" as you claim. What work? Please just name something. Why do we keep making excuses for rubbish? What lengths do we have to go to before we see the truth? I really need to know of something, a project, anything that this administration has actually ventured on because when people say Yaradua needs time to reverse what the previous administrations had done you will be forgiven for thinking he was actually working to change things but the point is the president does not seem to be doing anything, so how does he then get a pass mark? What exactly are we marking? If this is supposed to be good leadership then Nigeria is doomed. Please when people want to praise something, at least give a reason so that others can see with their eyes and see where you are coming from. @BigB1 you are making it seem as if the choices are a leader that steals money or does nothing and sorry but i don't see any choice there at all and don't think any of those should be seen as acceptable.

It is very easy to blame the "late start" on the passing of the budget but to be honest that is if you assume that all the president can do needs the budget to be passed. Is that really true though? A president that sends people into jubilation whenever he opens his mouth because he hardly says anything. Communication is a very important aspect of government so i don't see how people begin to see such silence as a charm. No one is expecting him to be a loud mouth, but at least communicate whatever vision he has so that the country can begin to see what direction it is going. It is basically like a ship without a captain.
I am probably being too hard i guess and it is not my intention, so to get to the point, what is it that Yaradua is doing that you seem to see that is worth praising?

for Mr President, i reserve my comments!!!

cola:

since you seem to have a "better understanding of why it actually dragged on for as long as it did", please pass it on, we'd like to know.

Yar adua needed it tweaked a couple of times. So the delay was not necessary all the fault of the House here.

Nigeria: External Reserves Drop to $59 Billion as Interest Rate Rises Further in June - Moneymart

Vanguard (Lagos)

21 July 2008
Posted to the web 21 July 2008

Babajide Komolafe
Lagos

Reflecting the impact of the fall in crude prices in recent times and the crises in the Niger-Delta on the nation's foreign exchange earnings, external reserves, which had been rising for more than a year, fell by 4.64 per cent to $59.35 billion in the month of June, even as cost of funds in the inter-bank money market rose further during the month.

Meanwhile, the economy moved closer to double digit inflation as inflation rate rose further to 9.7 per cent in the month of May.


Money Market Association of Nigeria (MMAN), the umbrella body of banks' treasurers disclosed this in its monthly economic and financial report for the month of June released last week.

According the report, "external reserves witnessed a drop to $59.35bn towards the end of June, representing a decline of 4.64% from $62.239bn obtained in May 2008. Comparing the figure to its corresponding month last year, 2007, reserves was at $42.74bn in the month of June, and ended the year at $52.25bn. The drop may prevail as it is powered by Nigeria crude oil prices, which supply to the global market is unfortunately being threatened by militant activities in the Niger-Delta Region.

"Inflation rate was yet on the upward swing in the month, as National Bureau of Statistics put May 2008 rate on year-on-year basis, at 9.7%, the highest rate in the last one year. It represented 150 basis points rise against the 8.2 % obtained in the month of April 2008.

The level of corresponding rates for both April and May 2007 showed lower rates in year-on-year basis of 4.2% and 4.6% respectively, and month-on-month were at 6.5% and 6.0%. The 12-month average for May 2008 went up to 6.5% against 6.1% obtained in April 2008. The observed rise in inflationary rate was occasioned by general rise in the prices of some food items, household goods and diesel."

Nigeria Interbank Offered Rates were upwardly skewed, as Inter-bank market witnessed high rates in the month of June. Throughout the month, rates averagely hovered around double digits. However, rates within the range band of Call and 7-Day experienced significant drop in the mid and tail end of the month, averaging 9.8819% due to injection of FAAC and Excess Crude fund. Month-on-month average indicated relatively high rates for June compared to the month of May. Rates responded correlatively to the contractional outcomes of the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) meeting pronouncement, increasing the MPR (Monetary Policy Rate) with 25 basis points from 10.0% to 10.25%, and movement in the direct Monetary Policy instrument of Cash Reserve Ratio from 3% to 4% mandatory. This action was boosted at the Open Market Operation activities of CBN.

However, the rising rates doused with injection of N440.57bn allocated from FAAC account shared in June and N569.79bn excess crude oil fund. Paradoxically, the upward movement in rates in the month did not impact the secondary market as expected, as Treasury Bills rates hovered round 9.00% as against the average of 6.62% recorded for May 2008.

Rates in the Open Buy Back market were upwardly inclined in the month of June, when compared to May 2008. The average rates for June were 9.4702% and 9.3651% for banks and discount houses respectively. Compared to May 2008 - 8.6256% and 8.4563% indicated 84 basis points and 90 basis point rise for banks and discount houses.

Deposit and lending rates: Savings rate maintained its stability at average rate of 3.5272% for the third month running, as lending rates continued an upward movement, with yet another marginal increment in the month of June. The average normal lending rate for the month was 17.6364%, against 17.5539% recorded in May, while Prime lending rate also rose up to 17.5238% against 17.4792% obtainable in May. This could be attributed to the tightening in rates experienced in the month, occasioned by increase in both MPR and CRR.

Foreign exchange market: CBN, through its Trade and Exchange Department sold dollar to the tune of $779,894,404.74m in the month of June, compared to $594,200,446.40m and $88,500,000m sold in April and May 2008 respectively. It indicated 31.25% increase in foreign exchange sold in the preceding month, and 781.2% increase over the April 2008 sale. It is the highest so far sold, since the beginning of the year. The volume was occasioned partially by the implementation of the Budget, and importation of goods that are dollar-dependent. In the corresponding month in 2007, a total $1,372,973,054.87billion was sold at the auction market.

Naira's strong performance against the dollar at the official market was felt in the Inter-bank market in the month of June. It ended the month on an average rate of N117.7856/$ and N117.8356/$ for Bid and Offer; representing 0.036% appreciation in value at both ends. Month-on-month average in the Inter-bank showed a stronger performance in June compared to May 2008. While the dollar had an appreciative rate/value against the naira in May, averaging N117.8282/$ and N117.8782/$ for Bid and Offer, it dipped in the month of June, as the naira gained value with average rate of N117.7856/$ and N117.8356/$ for Bid and Offer. Meanwhile, at both the official and Inter-bank markets, the premium between the naira and dollar is still below 1.00%, a disincentive for sharp practices."

Treasury Bills: As part of her liquidity management process, a total of N182.56b of Treasury bills was sold at the Primary Market Auction (PMA) as against N215.6b in May by CBN, representing 12.54% decrease in volume; with average stop rates of 10.75%, 9.53% and 9.20% for 91 days, 182 days and 364 days respectively in the month of June. Total amount underwritten by MMDs (money market dealers) was N1.53bn as against N65.8bn in the month May. Repayment for the month was N60.36bn from N90.1bn in May, while net withdrawal dropped to N122.19bn as against N140.5bn in May.

Central Bank, through the 2-Way Quote sold N80.0b with an average stop rate of 9.33% for tenors ranging from 90 days to 244 days compared to N42.0bn sold in May. Repayment was N275.66bn for the month of June against N344bn for May, while net withdrawal was N65.0bn as against N42.0bn in May. Also in the month, there was Reverse REPO on both sides of the market; N 50.0bn was injected, and at the same time, N20.0bn withdrawn through Reverse REPO. Comparatively, month-on-month, there was a total net withdrawal of N187.19bn from the economy in the month of June as against N182.5bn in the month of May, representing an increase of 2.56 per cent.

FGN bonds: The month of June witnessed, through the (Debt Management Office), the sale of FGN bonds in two issue of N30bn 5- years tenor and N 20bn of 10-year tenor. Both issue were re-opening, with bid rate ranging between 9.45% - 12.50% for the 5-year and 9.90 - 12 .75% for the 10-year. The issue rate was 9.45%. and 10.70% respectively."

We haven't moved an inch from where Obj left us men, Yar' Adua ain't it he's not a president he's a figure head! Nothing is heard from him, we just 'siddon dey look' according to late Bola Ige.

Nigeria does'nt need a siddon look president, especially with the current events in the country you and i know that. I advise that he sits up and take charge of situation(s) i.e the Niger Delta case, it's a force that is strong enough to crack Nigeria.

I think Nigeria needs visionary leaders and not missionary leaders. Nigeria is a big country with alot of problems, she also needs healthy leaders too but not sick people who travel each day to Germany for treatment.
We have just wasted a year plus and we are saying its not yet time i think i prefer OBJ than this slow man called "hearer and doer" i think may be is becos of his war with OBJ. Below is extrated from the Nation: http://www.nationaldailyngr.com/cover4.htm/



Obasanjo's empire under siege

• EFCC targets cronies • Loyalists losing party grip • BOT chair going…

From CHUKS EHIRIM,Abuja



DAGGER smiles, that perhaps best describes the present state of relationship between President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and his predecessor Chief Olusegun Obasanjo whose political empire is currently under siege.

Facts available to the National Daily indicate that certainly the elder statesman who literarily damned the consequence and hand-picked his successor is not a happy Nigerian today. His cronies are now an endangered species and their grip on party slippery.

The Ota chicken farmer, for several months now, has been emboweled in silent “war” with Yar'Adua.
Worrisome are the unfolding phases in the “war” that has indirectly claimed many of the political juggernauts of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) extraction who are loyal to Obasanjo, while several others have been lined up for annihilation.

Facts available to National Daily show that there is dagger in Yar'Adua's smile, though publicly he paints the picture of a loyal friend of his predecessor.

Yar'Adua may not be directly involved in the war against the retired army general, but a close presidency source said that those dealing with Obasanjo, have the president's approval for their actions.
One of such Yar'Adua's foot soldiers is said to be the National Chairman of PDP, Prince Vincent Eze Ogbulafor, whose brief is to dismantle Obasanjo's political structures across the country.

The PDP chairman, sources said, has embraced the assignment with a Catholic devotion. Consequently, in states where the Governors are Obasanjo's loyalists, Ogbulafor has barred them from having firm control of the PDP machinery.

One such State is Edo where the party has effectively been handed over to Obasanjo's arch rival in a power struggle within the PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, to the detriment of Governor Osarhiemen Osunbor. Osunbor is suspected to be an Obasanjo loyalist.

The PDP National leadership, three weeks ago, invited the two Edo warring factions to Abuja, where a decision that the Anenih group would produce the party's chairman and other leading members of Executive, was imposed on the governor's camp led by retired Brigadier-General Samuel Ogbemudia.
Osunber has since dragged Ogbulafor to court over the issue.
Similar fate has befallen former governors of Anambra and Enugu States, respectively, Andy Uba and Chimaroke Nnamani.

Both governors who are core supporters of Obasanjo, have lost their usual firm grip on state PDP. The recent report of the South-East Action Committee set up by the party, to reconcile its aggrieved members in the zone was used to weaken their hold on the party machinery. Unconfirmed information has it that Andy Ubah who was Obasanjo's special assistant on domestic matters, is currently under security surveillance.
Other former governors who were loyal to Obasanjo now under security watch include Dr. Peter Odili ( Rivers State ) and Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa State), the sources said.

The past few weeks, have witnessed a massive crackdown on some former ministers considered to be Obasanjo's cronies.

Professor Babalola Borishade and Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, both former Aviation Ministers are currently being probed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over the alleged mismanagement of N19.5 billion intervention fund released by the government of Obasanjo, to secure the nation's airspace.

The two former ministers face the embarrassment of their lives when they honoured the invitation of the Senate Committee probing how the said money was utilized only to be arrested by EFCC operatives inside the premises of the National Assembly.

The sources said other ministers who may likely face similar ordeal soon include the two former female ministers of finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala and Mrs. Nenadi Usman.

In the party cadres, the former Deputy National Chairman (South) of the PDP, Navy Commodore Olabode George, is also said to be under close marking.

George who presided over the affairs of the board of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), has, of late, been sleeping with one eye open as the presidency is said to have ordered the EFCC to re-open the probe of the parastatal's accounts during his tenure.

It could be recalled that the former EFCC Chairman, Nuhu Ribadu, was in the process of unearthing the massive scam in NPA under George's leadership, when he suddenly developed cold feet, probably after being cautioned by Obasanjo.

Now it appears that the day of reckoning is back for the retired naval officer seen by the presidency as one of the arrow-heads of the Obasanjo-era.

Professor Adenike Grange and Gabriel Aduku, two ministers who served in the current government, have already been consumed by the brewing “war” between Obasanjo and Yar'Adua. The two ministers, currently being prosecuted by the EFCC, are said to have ignored the president's directive that unspent budgetary allocation to ministries, departments and agencies, be returned to the national treasury at the end of last year.

Like the Biblical greedy couple, Ananias and Saphira, the ministers kept back N300 million of Health Ministry's left over fund and have since been paying heavily for it. Grange was said to have been hand-picked and made minister by Obasanjo.

Mrs. Diezani Allison Madueke who withdrew N30.9 billion from the Transport Ministry's vault within four days, including a public holiday, December 26, 2007, to beat the presidential directive, has not been invited by the EFCC, perhaps because she is not a loyalist of the Ota farmer, sources said.

Also, an in-law of Obasanjo, Chief Kenny Martins, who allegedly used his link with the former leader to make a fortune through the Police Equipment Fund (PEF), is facing a N50 billion fraud charge by EFCC, in court.
Despite the casualty level so far, a highly placed source within the Presidency at the weekend told National Daily that the “war” is barely at the shadow boxing stage and will get messier in the weeks ahead.

The source stressed that Obasanjo has lost relevance in Yar'Adua government as nobody wants to hear about him any longer.

“The man is completely finished. Nobody wants to hear about him in government circle any longer. If I were Obasanjo, I will just stay away, I will not want to interfere with the government”, said the source.
He however added that Obasanjo is finding it difficult to steer clear of government because of the atrocities he committed in office.

“He wants protection. If he had done well while in office, he would not be having problems today. Look at (South Africa's former president Nelson) Mandela, the way he is being celebrated the world-over. It cannot be the same with Obasanjo who engaged in wanton abuse of office while he was President,” the source said.

He added that the fight to render Obasanjo powerless is being waged gradually. For those who think that the former president would be stripped of his position as the Chairman of the PDP's Board of Trustees (BOT), the source said that may not be the case.

“Because of Yar'Adua's insistence on due process and rule of law, the BOT members will be allowed to serve out their tenure which is less than one year from now.
Obasanjo will just remain a figure-head BOT Chairman. He will not be allowed to have any influence in government. You just wait and see,” he said.

Another way of curbing Obasanjo's influence both in the government and the polity, is YarAdua's plan to drop ministers in his cabinet suspected to be close or loyal to the former president, the source said.
However, Obasanjo is not relenting. The old brave soldier is said to be fighting back. He is part of those said to be lobbying and praying that the Supreme Court annuls the April 21, 2007 presidential election that enthroned Yar’Adua.

When the crisis in the Edo State Chapter of PDP broke out, Obasanjo tried to use his position as the BOT chairman, to influence decision in favour of Osunbor but failed.

A source at the PDP National Secretariat, told the National Daily, that the former president had asked the party leadership to stay action on the matter but the National Working Committee (NWC) of PDP, led by Ogbulafor did not only reject his request, it went ahead and handed the party structure over to Anenih.
Obasanjo's close associates have been complaining aloud that the man who ruled Nigeria for eight years, with iron fist, is being subtly disgraced on all fronts .

They said that Obasanjo's recent invitation to appear before the House of Representatives Committee that probed the Power Sector, as well as his subpoena by Jos Federal High Court over the Henry Okah's trial, are schemes by forces loyal to Yar'Adua to publicly ridicule the strongman.

Both Borishade and Fani-Kayode dropped similar hints last week after they were granted bail from nine days in EFCC detention. They alleged that their arrests, detention and trial were politically motivated.
They may not be playing to the gallery after all. Though the Court granted both men bail last Monday, they still remained under lock and key days after.

A source close to Fani-Kayode told National Daily last Tuesday that the Abuja Chief Magistrate Court that granted him bail on Monday could not formalize it when both men met the conditions as the chief magistrate was not available.

A source alleged that very highly placed persons in government such as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Babagana Kingibe, are behind the current ordeals of Borishade and Fani-Kayode.
The source also alleged that the Magistrate was tongue lashed for granting both men bail, saying that that could have been the reason for his absence from court last Tuesday.

But a good proportion of Nigerians regard Fani Kayode and Borishade as being unnecessarily alarmist. Farouk Umar, Secretary General of the Kaduna- based Non Governmental Organization (NGO, told National Daily that both men should not be taken seriously.

“I suspected that they would come up with that insinuation. It is typical of Nigerian politicians. Whenever they fail, they will resort to ethnic cleavage”, Umar said. “Was it not the same Femi Fani-Kayode who was in the habit of abusing every other Nigerian who disagreed with Obasanjo?” He said.

He said that “it was the same thing with Borishade who took his brother working at the PDP National Secretariat and made him a director in FAAN”.

For Alhaji Yahaya Ezemuo Ndu, National Chairman of African Renaissance Party (ARP), talks about Obasanjo, Yar'Adua feud are just ferry-tales.

“PDP under Obasanjo or Yar'Adua can best be described as Alibaba and the 40 thieves. Whether there is in-fighting or not, it is difficult to distinguish between the wheat and the chaff in the whole mixture”, said Ndu.
He added that “the difference between Obasanjo and Yar'Adua, is simply their faces and perhaps their styles of doing evil. Essentially they represent the same interest”.

Ndu stated further, that “when normally, pick-pockets want to operate, they create a make believe conflict among themselves to deceive the passers by who are their targeted victims.”

He said that “Obasanjo and Yar'Adua are simply trying to create a make-believe conflict to divert the attention of Nigerians so that they can continue to loot the country's resources.”

“All the thieves identified in Obasanjo's government are receiving full protection from Yar'Adua. All the votes stolen under Obasanjo are being consolidated under Yar'Adua. Anybody who is in doubt, should take a look at what is happening in Adamawa State”, Ndu said, adding that “only a revolution can save Nigeria.”

i think he sucks

@ columbus71

i knew it will come to this

shame on this people.