Amazing Rare All-White Animals.

Check out these pictures of rare white animals. While some of them were born as albinos, others like the white giraffe I blogged about here some weeks ago, are the way they are as a result of a genetic mutation.

The odd one out of this group is the elephant which only appears white due to dried white clay residue on his skin following a bath at a watering hole. It would be awesome to see an actual white elephant though, that would bring the proverb about the "white elephant in the room" to live, wouldn't it? :)

Happy viewing.

A white squirrel. 

A rare white kingfisher bird.

An albino lemur hitches a ride on his mum's back. :)

How gorgeous os this white baby American alligator? :)

Remember Omo the white giraffe? :)

This is a 4-month-old albino wallaby. 

A Three-Day-Weekend Is Needed!

Good morning dearest blog visitors. How did your weekend go? Mine was pretty cool but too short, I did get some much needed rest but are weekends ever truly enough to get adequate rest especially when you have to pack in a party or two, visits, church/mosque attendance and what have you? Oh well, I will just have to wait until a president comes in one day and extends weekends to at least three days. Hehehehehe, please allow me revel in my fantasies. 

So here we are again, a brand new week filled with hope, positivity, achievements, milestones, handwork, smiles, pockets of stress, laughs, traffic, and so on. Have you been prolonging or procrastinating certain things in your life? There's no better time like the present to grab the bull by the horns and go for it. Do not let the thoughts or projections of others hinder your goals, but stay focused and aim to achieve them with your targets clearly in mind.

What is the one thing you would do positively different this week?

Do have a splendid week ahead and keep being #AllHeartsAlways.

#DearBuki: The Corper Seduced Me, I Must Tell My Wife!

Hello dear blog readers, how has your day been? I have started a column tagged #DearBuki where you can send whatever issues weighing on your minds and I would do my best to proffer solutions to them by giving my opinion and showing other perspectives to them. I do a lot of these guidance and counselling offline so I felt the need to bring it on my blog. Do send me an email on bukiotuyemi@gmail.com and we will put heads together. Check out the other posts here.

As they say, a problem shared, is a problem half solved................ :)

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Dear Buki,

I'm in a mess. I have been married for five years and not once have I cheated on my wife until a few weeks ago. There's this pretty young corner at my office who got very friendly with me and even though I tried so hard to to resist her charm, I eventually succumbed to her green lights. I feel wracked with guilt at what I have done and what is even worse is the fact that I did not use a condom with her. I did not plan to have sex with her and even though she said she had some condoms at her place, she refused to let me use them on her and I was too far gone with lust to back out. 

I have tactfully avoided her since the incident and also avoided my wife in the bedroom too. I feel so guilty that I can't even eat well nor concentrate at work and at home. My wife is kind but very independent and I honestly don't know how she would react to this. I don't know what to do Buki. Please help me, I wrote in because I know you won't judge me and I trust your counsel. 

Thank you.

Philandering Phillip 

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Dear Philip,

I would be factual with you but non-judgemental. It's a pity that you have gotten yourself into this avoidable mess. You had the option of telling your wife about the corper when the flirtations began  so she could help you out, but you did not. You had the choice of not going over to her place knowing the attraction you nursed, but you went anyway. You had the opportunity to resist the moment you realised there was no condom, but you carried on. You brought this upon yourself Philip,but it's ok. We are all human and we make errors in decisions. 

I only highlighted the above for others to see the signs and know when to stop.

I feel you are truly sorry and contrite about your dilemma and ordinarily I might have said what your wife doesn't know won't hurt her if this was a one-off, but you strike me as someone who cannot live with the guilt. Therefore, I would first advise you to go see a doctor and run tests to be sure you are infection-free before having a sit-down with your wife.

If your results comes back clean, I would advise you sit her down and confess to her, making her see that it was a one-off error that would never occur again. It is better for her to hear it from you than for her to figure it out by herself, not that this would take away the pain and hurt your betrayal would have caused upon the revelation.

You must find a way to make things right in your marriage, no matter how she takes the news. You have every day for the rest of your life to prove to her that you love her totally and are not a repertorial cheat. You have a lot of work to do in rebuilding her trust in you, because she would be devastated by this indiscretion of yours and might never recover from the betrayal.  

The choice to reveal your indiscretion is up to you though. you could keep mum about it and ensure it NEVER happens again or you could open up to her. It depends on her personality and how she feels about infidelity. It is a deal breaker for some women and if she's that sort of woman, then you best keep mum and try your best to move on from this.

I wish you all the best Philip. Thanks for writing in.

Buki O.

#MusicIsEverything - Eva Cassidy - Songbird

Happy new week everyone. Here's one song I utterly love and find so beautiful, it's Songbird by Eva Cassidy. The blend of her voice and the guitar strings are so effortlessly heavenly. 

Enjoy.

Lyrics.

                                                                    "Songbird"

For you, there'll be no crying
For you, the sun will be shining
'Cause I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright
I know it's right

And the songbirds keep singing like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before

To you, I would give the world
To you, I'd never be cold
'Cause I feel that when I'm with you
It's alright
I know it's right

And the songbirds keep singing like they know the score
And I love you, I love you, I love you
Like never before
Like never before
Like never before

How Metuh Tore Statement Sheet In Which He Mentioned Jonathan’s Name – EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Friday amended the charge of destruction of document against Olisa Metuh, the Peoples Democratic Party National Publicity Secretary. The charge was amended at the resumption of the proceeding by EFCC’s Counsel, Sylvanus Tahir, at an FCT High Court presided over by Justice Ishaq Bello. Tahir said the third-count of mischief contravened Section 326 punishable under Section 327 of the Penal Code.

Testifying in the case, an EFCC witness, Junaid Said, told the court that Metuh tore the commission’s document. Said, a Special Task Force Team member of the EFCC, led in evidence by Tahir, said the team received a petition in January 2016. He said the petition was from the office of the National Security Adviser, which alleged that the office, transferred N400 million to Destra Investment Limited, a company owned by Metuh, when retired Colonel Sambo Dasuki was the NSA. The EFCC witness said investigations revealed that the transfer was done without any contract approval. He said the team visited the residence of Metuh at Prince and Princess Estate, Abuja on January 5 and invited him to the commission. Said told the court that Metuh honoured the invitation and was interrogated by Ibrahim Musa, Michael Wetkas, Bello Umar, David Nkpe, Bello Adama and Eucharia Ibrahim. 

The EFCC witness said the defendant volunteered a statement to the commission. He added: “My Lord, when he concluded writing his statement, which was on four sheets of the EFCC statement form, I collected the statement and read over it, I then handed the statement over to my superiors – Musa and Wetkas. When I was handing over the statement, the defendant said he was surprised that he had written that much and that he felt he had given too much information. Because of the comment, I was worried. I gave him the statement sheets one after the other for endorsement. Said said Metuh endorsed the first and second sheet, but tore the third sheet. The witness told the court that the third sheet was where Metuh disclosed that he received the money for the activities of the Peoples Democratic Party political, to settle his personal needs and made reference to former President Goodluck Jonathan". 

He added: “My lord, he suddenly tore the statement sheet into pieces. In great shock and surprise, I stood up I asked him why he did what he did. He said he did that because he was no longer willing to give the information on that statement sheet. I then requested the pieces of the statement, he declined and attempted to put them in his pocket. I then cautioned him and told him to respect himself. He insisted that he was going to dispose of the torn sheet. I persuaded him to handover the sheet and brought one plain paper before him. He poured the pieces on the plain sheet. My other colleagues were there looking at us in surprise as well. He further tore them into pieces, saying only in the movies would this be recovered. I poured the pieces in the commission’s transparent polythene bag for exhibit and made entry of the incident into the EFCC’s incident duty station diary as well as EFCC’s pocket notebook". Later in the day, he requested to make additional statement, which he made, wrote his name and signed, but declined to make any other statement on the torn paper". 

The EFCC’s incident duty station diary, EFCC’s pocket notebook and the tore pieces were tendered and admitted as exhibits. Said admitted under cross examination by Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), Metuh’s

Counsel, that the issue of the tore sheet was not written in his statement. Ikpeazu demanded for the witness statement, but the prosecuting counsel gave him a photocopy of the statement. Tahir said the defendants should have served him with notice to produce the document. Justice Bello said the matter could no longer proceed without the original copy of the witness statement. He said: “Documents must meet the status as required by the law. There must be a certified copy of your documents. It is a healthy practice to produce the documents in your custody, especially in a criminal trial.” 

Bello adjourned the case till March 16 for continuation.

"Buhari Behind My Ordeal" - Dasuki Tells Court

A former National Security Adviser, retired Colonel Sambo Mohamed Dasuki, opened up at an Abuja High Court on Friday, alleging that President Muhammadu Buhari was behind his unlawful arrest and detention without trial since December 29, 2015. Dasuki spoke through his counsel, Joseph Daudu (SAN). He claimed that President Buhari instigated his detention unjustly against the bail granted him by three different courts through his (Buhari) comment on a Presidential Media Chat in December 2015. 

In a further and better affidavit filed in support of his application at the court, the ex-NSA claimed that the President betrayed the emotion during the Presidential Media Chat when he openly told Nigerians that he (Dasuki) and Nnamdi Kanu could not be allowed on bail because they would jump bail. Dasuki claimed he had been held incommunicado since his re-arrest. He therefore asked Justice Peter Affen to prohibit his further trial until the Federal Government purged itself of the contempt of court, which prevented him from filing effective defence because of his continued detention by the Department of State Services without having access to his lawyers. The defendant exhibited several newspaper cuttings in support of his motion to stop his trial, adding that the newspaper publications were the comments of President Buhari during the Presidential Media Chat to the effect that he (Dasuki) and Nnamdi Kanu should not be allowed to go home even if granted bail by any court and that the publications have not been refuted by the Presidency. 

Daudu, who led a retinue of lawyers on behalf of his client, urged Justice Affen to enforce his order, which granted bail to Dasuki, adding that justice is for all parties in any court action. Daudu also stated that the claim that Dasuki was been held by the DSS and not the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission cannot hold water because the Federal Government is the complainant in the charge against Dasuki and that both the DSS and EFCC are agents of the Federal Government. However in opposing the application, the counsel to the Federal Government. Rotimi Jacob (SAN), informed Justice Affen that the charge against Dasuki was at the instance of the EFCC and not the DSS. Jacob denied that the Federal Government disobeyed the court on the ground that on December 29, 2015 when the bail conditions were perfected, Dasuki was released by the prison authority at Kuje but was however rearrested by another government agency.

Jacob asked the court not to grant Dasuki’s application because the DSS that rearrested him was not a party to the charges against him before Justice Affen who granted him the bail. On the newspaper publications, Jacob claimed that they were not tenable before the court because they have not been certified as required by law.

After listening to parties, Justice Affen fixed March 4, 2016 to give ruling on the application.

Justice For Shawn Essien.

I came across this case a few days back and I have been in touch with the mother. It is a very clear case of injustice, medical negligence and malpractice and I sincerely hope heads will roll for these avoidable errors. While it might not bring Shawn back, it just might help others from becoming victims while deterring other nefarious people from toying with the lives of others. 

Please help me share this story and let's get #JusticeForShawnEssien

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The past 2 months has been traumatic for me and my family. I still don't know how I got the strength to type this. I hope and pray the law will take its course.

Good Day, My name is Lillian Obiageli Essien and I believe this is the right medium to report a certain Dr Vitalis the Chief Medical Director and owner of DE VITAL CARE HOSPITAL,Babalola bus stop in Ilogbo, Ojo local govt area of Lagos State. 

On the 9th of December 2015, I took my 2years 5months old son to the above named hospital for treatment. My child had been restless all night and had woken up weak and with a bit of yellowness I his eyes. We hurriedly left the house very early in the morning and got to the hospital a few minutes past 7am. They inserted a cannula  took his blood and put him on iv fluid immediately the blood had been taken. I asked the Dr why the iv was given and what drugs were being injected into the iv, since the results of the tests weren't out yet, and my son wasn't stooling or vomiting either.  He murmured B-complex and walked away.  

About an hour later, the said doctor walks back into the room and I asked  him if the test results were out and what the results of the tests were, he said he would be back and walked out again. He kept coming in and going back out of the room without telling me what the results were.  This got me very worried. I started to feel something was horribly wrong with my son, and that was why he didn't want to tell me what the results were. The next time he came into the room my son was, I told him I demand to know what the test results were and he said it was acute malaria and his PCV was 18% and that he MIGHT be needing a blood transfusion.

A nurse came in and put in another  IV fluid.  I asked her what it was and she said saline. The doctor came in and met the nurse and I talking and explained that the saline will wash away the yellowness from my son's eyes. My son became very restless when the 2nd iv fluid got half way and it seemed like he was trying hard to breathe. I asked the 3 nurses that came into the room if they had a nebulizer but they all didn't seem to know what a nebulizer was. They said I shouldn't be scared that it's the malaria parasites that is making him so restless. They kept assuring me that by the next morning, he will be just fine. 

Immediately the 2nd IV finished, the Dr came in and asked the nurse to insert a 3rd IV.  By this time I noticed my son's belly seemed like it was filled with water and his arms and feet were double its size. I called the Dr and he came in and said I should stop worrying that as long as my son was passing out urine, he was OK.  He kept assuring me my child will be just fine. The 3rd IV finished and they put in a 4th. My son seemed to be finding it so hard to breathe. The Dr came in again and I asked him exactly what all the iv fluid was for.  That my child wasn't stooling neither was he vomitting that I don't think he needs anymore IV fluid.  I asked him if all the IV fluid wasn't diluting my son's 18% blood, since all the fluid is flowing through my son's veins . He retorted "Ahn Ahn! Are you a medical personnel!? The drip cannot dilute your son's blood!" He left the room immediately and less than a minute later a nurse came in and said the Dr asked her to take out the IV. My father in-law was with me in at least 14 hours out the 16 hours Shawn spent in that hospital. They continually reassured us Shawn would be just fine and all he was experiencing was a passing phase. That his body was only fighting the malaria parasites.

At about 10.33pm, the Dr came into the room and I said "Dr please help me. My baby isn't getting any better" and he replied "madam pray to God to help you!". He said he has decided to transfer my son and he wrote a referral letter for me to take my son to another hospital. My son had started gasping and his eyes seemed to have gone right into its sockets and looking even more yellow. We got into the Isolo general hospital, at past 12midnight.  The Dr on call seemed shocked after reading the referral letter. I remember him murmuring "what kind of stupid Dr administered this medication on a child". He immediately put my son on oxygen and my son passed away in my arms after about 2 minutes.

2 weeks later I got a call from a certain Dr Vitalis. He said he was the owner and medical director of the hospital where my son was treated.  And that he was calling to apologize for the incompetence of his staff, which led to my son's demise. He asked if I could send my address, so that he can come and apologize face to face and pay condolence. He came over a few days later, with a member of his staff called Jerry. According to Dr Vitalis, on the day I brought my son to his hospital, he had a court case in Ijebu-Ode and left a certain doctor in charge.  The doctor in charge had to go for Shiloh 2015 (Winners Chapel Church convention/crusade) and invited a Dr friend of his, to come and take his place in Dr Vitalis's hospital. According to Dr Vitalis, the Dr who treated my son wasn't a doctor in his hospital.  He was just a friend to the doctor that was meant to be on call.  

Dr Vitalis went ahead to explain to us (my mother, my husband and I)  how a nurse had called him to explain the situation at the hospital and how it was him whom ordered that my son should be transferred to another hospital, because he didn't want my son to pass away in his hospital. According to him, with the explanations the nurse who called him gave, he knew his staff had 'messed' up, and it was 'too late'. Dr Vitalis promised to bring the Dr who attended to my son to come and 'apologize'  for his mistakes. My husband asked him what the doctor's name was and he claimed he didn't know. That when he came back from ijebu-ode and heard the entire story of what happened he 'beat the hell out' of the doctor and asked him never to come close to his hospital. He never brought the Dr to apologize.

This Dr Vitalis was unwilling to give out his surname he insisted he will like to be called just 'Dr Vitalis'. He point blank refused to disclose his surname but I did my own little investigation and found him on facebook as Vitalis Nwikwu Mezie. I also found a certain news on the internet regarding medical malpractice and a certain Dr Vitalis. I do not know if it's the same Dr Vitalis that is being referred to, however I have posted the link below http://thenationonlineng.net/police-arrest-two-fake-medical-doctors/. This Dr Vitalis Mezie does  not 'appear' as a medical doctor.  I understand that doctors do not have a certain 'lookS',  but his mannerisms and spoken words are very dodgy and suspicious . I have strong doubts that Dr Vitalis is a licensed medical Dr and his hospital is registered.  

I will like the Medical Association to please investigate this man and his hospital, to avoid more lives being lost to either carelessness, negligence or a forged medical license/certificate,and also to avoid any human being passing through  the emotional pain and trauma I am currently passing through due to the death of my only son.

Thank you.

Lillian Obiageli Essien 

HumourThursday

Apologies for being MIA yesterday, my days are getting busier with my new roles at work but I will not abandon my precious blog nor my readers, ever. So fear not but know that whenever I don't post at all, it is because I have not gotten the chance to. I will find a way to balance everything out such that one aspect of my life does not suffer for the others. :)

I came across this wickedly humorous picture below and I thought to share. Some people and their entitlement-mentality sha. LOL

Buhari Appoints Visually Challenged Man As Special Assistant.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a visually impaired man, Dr. Samuel Inalegwu Ode Ankeli, as his Senior Special Assistant with responsibility for his dealings with persons living with disability. Ankeli headed the Directorate of Persons With Disability at the Buhari/Osinbajo All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign headquarters, the first of any such department in a political party in Nigeria. He led a team that successfully mobilized a large number of the more than 24 million disabled persons in the country to support the APC candidate and his running mate in the 2015 presidential election campaign. 

Ankeli hails from Benue State. He went to school in Giwa, near Zaria and Kaduna, before reading veterinary medicine at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He worked with the Benue State Government before quitting to give time to his activist role in the promotion of the wellbeing of the blind and people with all kinds of disability. He leads a very active religious and sporting life. He is married and has children.

Protesters Storm National Assembly, Ask Saraki To Resign

Protesters in their hundreds on Tuesday besieged the National Assembly in protest against the planned suspension of Senator Kabiru Marafa over alleged unguided statements against the Senate and the President of the Senate, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

Saraki is currently facing trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal over alleged failure to declare his assets. The group, Open Society Coalition, demanded for the immediate resignation of the Senate president in order for him to focus on his trial at the CCT. 

The group had banners with various inscriptions at the entrance of the National Assembly such as: "Suspend Saraki, not Marafa", "Stop suspending members, leave the Senate and face CCT", "Democracy survives in inclusiveness, not in suspending people of different opinions", "National Assembly, centre of Democracy not Fascist centre".

President Buhari On Official Trip To Saudi Arabia

President Buhari is presently on an official visit to Saudi Arabia and he met with the King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud,earlier today. He is currently in Saudi Arabia to discuss the critical issue of the falling price of crude oil and also to seek investors for Nigeria. 

PhotoCredit: @ladibalo

Daylight Robbery By Our Institutions

A few days ago, Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria's Minister of Finance was at a press briefing to report on the findings of auditors on different boards in Nigeria. She claimed an examination body in Nigeria was complicit and while trying to give the estimated figures, she made an arithmetic blunder by adding up 6 billion Naira and 16 billion Naira to get a total of 24 billion Naira which had been misappropriated by the examination body. Several shallow Nigerians went off on her, screaming to high heavens about the incompetence of a Minister of Finance who couldn't do simply additions. They, very conveniently, dodged the crux of the matter which led up to the calculations.

According to her, this examination body was given 6 billion Naira by the government and they made a revenue of 16 billion Naira from numerous avenues YET they only remitted 3 million Naira as profit. The more I think about this brazen show of corruption and theft, the angrier I get. Obviously, a few perverse few had shared and squandered over 15 billion Naira which could have been used to develop Nigeria as a whole or even just develop the Educational sector.

As if that was not infuriating enough, I came across the letters above yesterday and I just saw red at the thought that some selfish people just stopped some young adults from having the chance of a lifetime. Edubox, a Nigerian company wrote to the West African Examination Council (WAEC) about wanting to reward the most outstanding students in the May/June examinations and requested for the names of these students from each state in Nigeria in which the examinations were held. It took WAEC a WHOLE MONTH to reply shabbily, demanding for the sum of N1,850,000 as the cost of processing the required data. I have never heard of such preposterous hogwash occurring elsewhere in the world. 

If we don't celebrate and encourage outstanding students, who will? 

These letters suddenly puts the accusations from the Minister of Finance into perspective. How long shall we continue to be our own enemies in Nigeria?

450 Children Died Of Malnutrition In Borno IDP Camps In 2015

The Borno State Emergency Management Agency said on Sunday that about 450 children died of malnutrition in 28 Internally Displaced Persons camps in the state in 2015. The Executive Director of the Board, Dr. Sule Mele, disclosed this in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital. Mele said the victims were aged between one and five years. He said more than 209,577 children have been screened for various illnesses, including malnutrition, malaria, diarrhoea and vomiting.

According to him, about 6,444 severe cases of malnutrition were recorded in the camps, 25,511 have mild to moderate symptoms, while 177,622 among them were not malnourished. Mele attributed the large number of malnutrition to lack of access to highly nutritious foods in the camps. He said, “Poor feeding practices such as inadequate breastfeeding, offering the wrong foods and not ensuring that the child gets enough nutritious food also contribute to malnutrition. The food that is mostly served in the camps is always adult in nature, which affects the health, growth and physical development of the children. Even if the children get enough to eat, they will become malnourished if the food they eat does not provide the proper amounts of micro-nutrients, vitamins and minerals to meet daily nutritional requirements. The children should at least be fed with an enriched groundnut pap, crayfish, periwinkles, millet, soya beans, moi-moi, fishes, pap, and a whole lot of others. The effects of inadequate nutrition and malnutrition include stunting and recurrent infections or chronic diseases. Poor nutrition in terms of foods and feeding behaviours, especially during the first two years of life, can lead to low immunity, significant illness, late development and death”.

However, Mele said the state government is partnering with an NGO, Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition, in treating children with severe acute malnutrition in the camps. He urged the Federal Government to adopt the US Special Supplemental Nutrition Programme for Women, Infants and Children, for healthcare and nutrition to enable proper supplementary feeding for the kids in IDP camps.

Police Inspector, Village Head And Two Others Electrocuted

Fear gripped the people in Jatau area of Maitumbi, near FM Station, Minna, the Niger State capital, as a Police Inspector Abubakar Gani, the village head of Jatau, Alhaji Saidu Shehu, his son, Gombo, and one other person were on Sunday, electrocuted. According to investigation, the incident occurred at around 3:48am.

Two houses were burnt down after a spark from high tension cables that passed through the house came crashing on it. An eyewitness report have it that the police was on a rescue mission after it received a distress call on the incident. Gani was said to be the Inspector Crime attached at Maitumbi Police Station. 

According to source, the village head (Mai-Angwa) and one of his sons, Gombo, were the first victims. Later, Gombo’a friend, who attempted to save him before the arrival of the police, was also electrocuted. The Niger State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Bala Elkana, said three persons were killed in the incident, including an Inspector, while two houses got burnt from the spark from the high vtension cable. Elkana said the corpses were deposited at the General Hospital, Minna on Sunday, while investigation into the major cause was ongoing.

As at the time of filing this report, the deceased have been buried.

Getting Rid Of Jonathan Was My Toughest Task"" - Jagaban Bola Tinubu

Former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has reaffirmed his commitment to the deepening of democracy in Nigeria even as he explained why he has spent his adult life and resources to fight for the  enthronement of good governance in the country. “My role as a politician is the determination to democratize my country, indivisible commitment to democratic values. I am not a thoroughbred politician having come from a corporate background. But I believe in strategy; and strategy to win is that of every politician. We can be politically sensitive and come up with the fact that you want to be a good politician but no boxer steps into the ring to lose. No investor would want to invest to lose; otherwise, you can carry your money and throw it to the Lagoon. You are there to win. How do you plan that strategy to win and to come on top? That is where I always like to specialize. Then, there are elements of diabolical perversion in the political process particularly in the maintenance of status quo. Mine is to challenge the status quo if it is perverted. How do I challenge it?” 

Going down memory lane on how he fought several political battles, Tinubu said his first litmus test was the 1999 governorship election in Lagos when he had to contend with a lot of forces to emerge governor of the nation’s economic capital. According to him “When we came back in 1999 and the political space was opened, we had our political party, the Alliance for Democracy (AD), the platform where I contested. The perversion started with the so-called delegates’ election. How can I want a free and fair election if I subscribe to the delegates’ election where you buy people like chickens and apples and you pay them off? I said let the Lagos people determine through the political party structure who and who they wanted. I created a process to eliminate that delegates’ election system and we won. We won the debate and we now have direct primaries in all the local governments. Those who have followed politics here know that it was a tough battle between Funsho Williams of blessed memory and myself. I won 17 local governments out of 20 and in two of them, there were no elections. They chewed the results in my local government, Ikeja. Lagos Mainland was the stronghold of late Funsho Williams and Ikorodu too with Ogunlewe and co. But we challenged the status quo because it was evident that I won that election no matter whatever story any­ body tells you. I still have that record. It is there. Then I was determined to form a government that is professionally and intellectually balanced to be a model for other states. It is very easy for people to forget.” 

Speaking on some of the high-points of his political struggle, the APC leader said he would never forget what happened in 2003 when he survived, as the only South West governor, an intricate political assault launched by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. His words “The high was when I survived as the only governor and one man standing on the platform of the AD in the South West after the 2003 governorship election. In leadership and political battles, you must be able to recognize

the talent of your opponent. Don’t ever underestimate your opponent particularly a personality like former President Obasanjo. First, he is not just an Army General for nothing; they call their overall fatigue uniform, camouflage. What does that mean? Deception! They are trained in strategy, deception and tactics to defeat the enemy. If you underestimate them, you do that at your own peril. If you now recognize that quality in them, you know how to play the game with them. There are some aspects of it that I cannot discuss here; they are my own weapons tomorrow. When I started a journey of a tree that can make a forest, the game is first of all, survive. I made it clear that everybody should know that this friendship is laced with poison. I kept the warning to everybody very loud. How can you trust a man whose uniform is camouflage? How can I believe that he is my political friend when I am in the opposition? No, draw the battle line.” 

He however conceded that ousting an incumbent President in the 2015 general elections was his most difficult battle ever. President Jonathan’s battle was the toughest. When you are fighting the incumbent, it is tough. You had the challenge of terrorism; you had a class that is divided and a nation that was almost moving from its focus of religious tolerance and diversity to religious division. You had a system that had been corrupted beyond anybody’s imagination. People were being bombarded with money in Lagos. But you have to forget personal temptation. He added that engaging former President Obasanjo on the political field was equally another herculean task for him. Obasanjo, during his time disobeyed court order on the disbursement of money for local governments in Lagos.

Lagos University Student's Party Ends In Tragedy!

Three students of the Lagos State University have been arrested in connection with the death of a female student at a party held in a hotel. The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, who also disclosed this, said some students of the university organized a party at Treasure Babar Hotel, Ojo, where two female students were allegedly poisoned. 

According to Owoseni, the two female students later collapsed and they were taken to a nearby hospital. One died at the hospital. Owoseni said: “The two female students drank what they called ‘Magic movement vaudka’, a mixture of a local herbal drink Origin and Smirnoff Ice. The incident led to students’ restiveness in the area. The arrested students are helping the police in their investigation. Somebody organised that party, somebody served the drinks, someone must be held responsible".

An Unlawful Arrest Leads To A Miscarriage After 10-Years Of Waiting.

The Independent Service Delivery Monitoring Group has appealed to the Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, to intervene in an alleged case of brutality meted out to Adegbite Damilola by officers of Oyo State Police Command. The ISDM Executive Director, Chima  Amadi, while briefing newsmen on Friday in Abuja, alleged that Damilola lost her first pregnancy after 10 years of marriage due to police brutality. Amadi also appealed to the National Human Rights Commission to ensure that the victim got justice. He said the incident occurred on August 11, 2015 at Akobo Police Station, Ibadan. He said: “The actions of the police at all stages breached legally established procedures for arrest and detention. The police breached the legal requirement that a person to be arrested must be promptly informed of his or her offence. The police also violated the victim’s constitutional right not to be treated in a manner that degrades her human dignity. By subjecting her to such malevolent treatment, the police already presumed her guilty and began to mete out punishment to her.” Amadi said going by the reason which the police later gave for their unlawful arrest and maltreatment of the victim, her offence could not be anything more than malicious damage.

In her narration, Damilola said on August 11, 2015, a female police officer from Akobo Police Station came to arrest her in her Ibadan residence. She said she requested to know why she was being arrested and the police woman left and came back with a re-enforcement. Damilola said on arrival at the police station, she was told she resisted arrest and would be locked up. She said: “I sought to call my husband but the officers got infuriated and started beating me. I was kicked in the stomach and I started bleeding and was dragged into a cell". Damilola said she fainted in the cell and was taken to a hospital where she was confirmed to have lost her pregnancy. Damilola said that she later learnt that a

report of removal of a signboard in her neighbourhood was brought to the station, of which the complainant absolved her of involvement. She said two of her neighbours were later identified by the complainant as those who removed the said signboard. She said she was driven in police car from the hospital in the guise of going for settlement only to be taken to a Magistrates’ Court.

She said she was charged with Assault on a Police Officer, adding that it took the intervention of a lawyer who sympathised with her before she was granted bail. ISDMG demanded that a public apology be tendered to the couple, among other things. The group said: “That reasonable compensation be paid to the victim; seeing that no amount of money can bring back the couple’s lost child after ten years of waiting. That adequate punishment be meted out to the officers involved, and the information should also be made public. That the criminal charge brought against the victim be withdrawn by the police. We urge the inspector-general of police to also use this to demonstrate his commitment to wiping out abuse of power and brutality in the police. We urge that the Executive Secretary, NHRC, intervene in the matter and personally pursue this case to a logical conclusion by ensuring that justice is manifestly done". 

Amadi said the police brutality was unwarranted and unjustifiable and called for appropriate disciplinary measures. He said the Oyo State Commissioner of Police had held meetings with the parties involved to facilitate the resolution of the case. When contacted for comments, DSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, the Police Public Relations Officer, Oyo State Police Command, said the CP had ordered an investigation into the matter. “I can assure you that the victim will get justice".

Court Grants EFCC Request To Seize Tompolo's Properties

Justice Ibrahim Buba of the Federal High Court, Lagos on Friday granted the request of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to seize all properties of former Niger Delta militant, Government Ekpemupolo, popularly known as Tompolo, who has been declared wanted by the Commission following his refusal to heed court summons to answer to fraud charges. At the resuming hearing, prosecuting counsel, Festus Keyamo, informed the court of the warrant of arrest issued in respect of Tompolo.

Keyamo said despite the warrant of arrest and efforts of security agencies, the suspect has not been found. Keyamo then brought an ex-parte motion to authorise the EFCC to attach and seize property belonging to Government Ekpemupolo pending his arrest or appearance before the court. The properties are: No. 1 Chief Agbamu Close, DDPA Extension, Effurun, Delta State; Mieka Dive Limited and Mieka Dive Training Institute Limited situated at No. 77, Lioth Street, ODPA Ugborikoko, Uvwie Local Government Area, Delta State; Muhaabix Global Services Limited; a River Crew Change Boat named MUHA -15; the property known as “Tompolo Dockyard”, by the end of Enerhen Road, Effurun; the property known as “Tompolo Yard”, at the end of Chevron Clinic Road, next to Next Oil, Edjeba, Warri; the Diving School at Kurutie, at Escravos River; the property know as “Tompolo House” at Oporaza Town, opposite the Palace and any other moveable and immoveable property discovered by the EFCC, belonging to the 1st accused person. 

Keyamo asked the court to separate the charge so that the matter can proceed as the 1st accused person has remained elusive. Tompolo was billed to be arraigned by the EFCC alongside a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Patrick Akpobolokemi, and eight others on a 40-count charge for alleged conspiracy and diversion of over N34 billion belonging to NIMASA.

While Akpobolokemi and others appeared in court, Tompolo failed to do so, forcing the court to issue a warrant for his arrest. Justice Buba granted the request of the prosecution to separate the charge and fixed March 22 for the arraignment of the nine other suspects. The court also granted the EFCC the power to auction all his properties after three months if he fail to appear before the court.

Toyeen's ThotVille: #WomenIAdmire

This is a blog repost from a friend's blog. She's been featured on my blog several times in the past and has finally taken the leap of setting up her own blog. You should go over there and see for yourselves. She's absolutely amazing and she thinks I am too, lol. :)

Enjoy the post she dedicated to me in the link below.

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Toyeen's ThotVille: #WomenIAdmire: Hey wonderful people of the Ville. How has been your day? Let me talk like those our fellowship sisters way back in Uni. Hahahha. Today ...