A Funny Ladder of Corruption

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Adeola Aderounmu

I have my reservations about International Organisations like Transparency International AND Amnestry International and their mode of operations, still I think they are trying a little bit reminding us of the some of the things that have made this world a devil’s hive: Corruption by government and lack of respect for the rights of all.

So here we are again in Nigeria! I have written somewhere that Nigeria is the most corrupt country in the world. I have not changed my mind on that position. The reasons were also mentioned in that article which has been published on this blog and on the Nigeria Village Square. I stand by what I wrote then and when I’m affirming now that Nigeria is (probably) the most corrupt country in the world.

If a man like Obasanjo and another one like Babangida can be freemen in Nigeria where more than 90m people are suffereing as a result of looting and stealing under these two men, then it is not true that Nigeria has made any progress in combating corruption. All the looters under the last dispensation are walking free. There is yet no proper dispensation of justice in the criminal investigation of politicians.One by one, they all bought they were out or they were never prosecuted at all. The Iboris, the Kalus, The Obasanjos, The Atikus and all the other thieves in Nigeria.

Look at the excitment on the face of Farida Waziri, EFCC Boss, when meeting with Doris Basle the Transparency International representative in Africa and Mid-East. Nigeris is happy to be ranked 121st which is a climb-up from the previous 148th position. What difference does this make? More people have probably suffered in Nigeria under the period in review than in the year before. So what is the need to move up a silly ladder just to inflict more suffering on a growing number of people?

The situation is probably not going to change in Nigeria until democracy or another form of workable government takes root in Nigeria. So far, what we have is gangsters taking hold of power at all cost. The present governmenr headed by Yar Adua is a reaffirmation of the gangsterism in government. This man will not have the guts or liver to fight corruption because he was not elected, like the others before him anyway. He was made president by Obasanjo, how then can he or his government give a fair investigation into the government of Obasanjo.

Even his own 8 years in Katsina, Yar Adua could not turn around the health department and that is why he is running to Germany and Saudi Arabia to seek solutions to his health problems.

Corruption beget corruption, that should be the motto on Nigeria’s coat of arm.

Soon, Nigerians are going to be presented with another opportunity to steer the course of the country. They must know that a free and fair election is the first cure for corruption. In it lies the ability of the system to rid away with corrupt persons and institutions. In it lies the voices of the weak, the poor and the masses whose contributions will come to represent the only way forward. Not succumbing or giving in to the threats of the wicked and the rogues in power will be the only way to the emancipation of the people and the realisations of their aspirations to build a sane society where the rights of all will be recognised. A sane society where one can live without fear or panic and with the confidence that the future can deliver what today promises.

The Police should not be Violators of human rights

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Adeola Aderounmu

One of the news from Nigeria this week is that the Nigerian Police are the number one violators of human rights in Nigeria. The news is not shocking or surprising in any way. Nigerians know what the police put them though daily especially on the road where their presence is more of a threat than succour.

I will not waste my time writing about the many ways that the police have vioated human rights in Nigeria. This is because the actions or inactions of the police is a reflection of the governance. The government is sick! If anything is working fine in Nigeria, it will be due to the committment or ingenuity of the individuals making it to work. It is not yet an attribute of governance that certain things work perfectly.

There is a quick need for social re-orientation that governance means selfless service and not a means to acquire ill wealth. The Police are one of the several institutions in Nigeria that need “help”. Like many of us, they are not well paid and the conditions under which they operate is very disheartening. A typical Police station in Nigeria is smelly, dirty, disorganised and lacking in modern sophistication.

A Police Reform Fund was instituted under Obasanjo but the money went to a member of his family. Was it his brother in law? That is the problem with Nigeria! We have the desire to do something but we never implement them. Someone thought that rather than reform the police, he would loot the funds made for the purpose. Someone else is going to do the same if we start another fund. Do you know why? Because thieves always get away in Nigeria. I mean people who steal funds meant for public utility.

There are recommedations flying around the air on how to reform the police and make it work but who cares about that? There are also information under the relevant section of the constitution as to the roles of the Police, so this will not be a forum to tell anyone what the police should be doing. Since the Police do not know what to do, how to do, and perhaps some of them not even knowing their functions, they have decided to acquire the number one position of the human rights violators in Nigeria.

Beware of this Scammer!

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By Adeola Aderounmu

There is a scammer who’s been going around defrauding women around the world especially Canadian women.

His aliases are as follows:
Reuben Yusuph, Lucky Mike, Ajibola Reuben Yusuph, and Williams Bab Rice. There is a possibility that he has other names.

His telephone number is most likely: 2347028751653 which means that he is probably resident in Nigeria. He has also been collecting money by WESTERN UNION with this name: Ajayi Olayinka Adedayo which may probably be his real names or the names he had on an identity card/international passport that is tenable at a bank.

This scammer may be resident at room 11b in a certain Hotel called Paragon Hotel. It is very possible that the scammer is actually not staying at the hotel.

However the Paragon Hotel in Lagos is at this address:
Paragon Hotel: Address: 24/26 Sanya Street, Aguda, Surulere, Lagos
Phone: +234 1 833615, 848634, 848802

None of these information are actually indicative that the perpetrator is Nigerian or resident in Nigeria. In the scam world, anything is possible!

I have it on good authority that this scammer succeeded in duping gullible women from Canada but I don’t know if he is still on the rampage possibly operating under other names.

Here is a report from one of the women who had been a victim:

To whom it may concern,

I am a Canadian that would like to know if you have ever heard of a man in Nigeria that would have a scam going on contacting woman, on sites like FaceBook and others stating that there are other that Nigerians.

He starts by contacting you in a very friendly way in getting you to be very open with him and then that day come that he would ask you for money…

For some reason or another, we have here many names but it seems to be the same person, same picture and he has many e-mail addresses, and phone numbers.

For us to reach him but it all come down to making up stories that he needs money for …….

I would like you to be aware of this… . we are more than 20 woman that have spoken to this man and we all got the same story I believe that he does not work alone, he says he is in spain, working for a Architec co. and that he lives in the States, you can see his profile explaining it all.

Some of us have reason to believe that this man is a fraud just trying to get Money. I have caught him under so many names and stories that were lies, I just want to know if there is a way to find out more about this scam .

I do know that your country is in need of many new structure and that your people suffer but taken from us is this way does not make things any better for you, and the innocent get punished for what the bad ones do…

Kathleen Lariviere

___________________________________-
I feel sorry for these women but again, it takes a greedy person to make a scammer succeed. That is my own personal opinion. If someone ask you for money and promise to give you more money later, common sense dictate that that is simply fraud. It is so unfortunate that victims of fraud always fail to see this and they are so blinded by the promise of earning millions of dollars from nowhere!

Anyway, I hope that all those who are interested in avoiding being defrauded or those who are not sure if a business proposal is true or false will learn a lesson from this. Don’t do business someone who is promising you money by asking you to send a few dollars first.

The fraudster will always come back asking for more and more and before you know it you would have sent thousands of dollars. Scammer keep promising and keep asking for little amount at a time but these little amounts add up at the end of the day.

The fraudster is probably using the pictures of innocent people. I think that the pictures that go with his scam mails have nothing to do with his real person.

I have not succeeded in putting up the images that this guy is using to defraud people but I have it on my FACEBOOK AT THIS LINK

Possibly fake images of the scammer

NIGERIA, Not Missing The Point!

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Adeola Aderounmu.

It will be very instructive not to miss the points about the situation of things in Nigeria. There is no doubt that Nigeria is a very beautiful country (by nature) and a very wonderful geographical entity. There is no doubt that Nigerians are beautiful, hardworking and kind. However it is in this same Nigeria that you have beasts and lunatics who have used the instruments of governance and power to sentence millions of Nigerians to a life of perpetual poverty and agony. It is in this same beautiful Nigeria that you have some of the worst attributes of a democratic nation.

Those who govern in Nigeria are exceedingly rich. They are so rich that they could provide for their 14th unborn generation. They are so rich that they could stash away billions of dollars in foreign accounts and when they die, the money is lost to these useless oversea hypocritic countries. They tell us now that Nigeria is so corrupt that she occupies the 121st position on the ladder of corruption. How corrupt then is the United Kingdom, the United States and all these funny isolated islands who accept money from Nigerian thieves? Nonsense!

Indeed corruption is very rampant around the world but to different degrees and dimensions. It is such in Nigeria that while the public officers are getting richer and more insane, they do so at the expense of two things: the people and the negligence of public service. No administration in Nigeria has admitted to being a corrupt one and that is ridiculous. The point is that each administration is afraid to prosecute the previous one because they all have the same evil intention and that is to steal and loot from what they called the national cake. This is the monumental tragedy that has befallen Nigeria since independence. This is the biggest tragedy that has plagued Nigeria which has made it possible for the common man to live a fulfilling life.

It is made worse because of the influence of mistrust, tribalism, nepotism and extreme but inadmissible hatred for one another. There is a lot of pretense in the air and self preservation is the only law in Nigeria public service. The principle of me, myself and I is the most functional element in Nigeria military or political governments. The result is that an individual who is in public service becomes the only means to alleviate himself, his acquaintances, friends and families from the shackles of poverty and penury.

The consequence is the elaborate mind game that determine who survives and who suffers in Nigeria. Those who survive on their own are in a way the extraordinary people who stumble on the required space and function that allowed their relevance to be explored as it should have been normally. They are few and mostly intellectuals. You will find this category of people across all strata of the Nigerian society. All over the world, people in this category are used to keep the society in good shape and function. In Nigeria, they are usually hidden and silent.
There is a growing branch of the Nigerian society who are the opportunists as mentioned earlier who get rich because of the relationship that they have to power or to someone in power. There is nothing wrong with have this connection or influence but the mechanism that runs it is based on a corrupt system, a winner takes it all attitude and a mentality that focuses on self or just a few in the best situation.

We have failed to realize that the society is supposed to be built on fair play and equal opportunities. We stopped rewarding merits and excellence while promoting one useless concept called federal character. We promote violence and aggression. We, in general, promote evil over good and vices over virtues. So in essence we miss the point about the real situation of things once we get our hands on what we want. The me , myself and I attitude promotes a mentality of the survival of the fittest whereas the resources dictate otherwise. Nigeria is running a system that is defiant to the stipulations of nature and natural laws.

For example, the people of Nigeria have no business being poor. It is very unfortunate that more than 90m Nigerians are poor and cannot by themselves determine what they want to eat or how they want to eat. They cannot even determine how they want to live! It is extremely shameful that Western Union is going from Europe and America to Nigeria. Under natural laws, it should be the other way round. Nigerians are supposed to be the richest in the world not only as country but as individuals. Unfortunately, only a few Nigerians have ganged up to be in this “richest category”. It should have been everyone.

Indeed there will always be poor people everywhere but that the poor outnumbered the rich in Nigeria is catastrophic in economic evaluation. How is that possible? It is possible because as mentioned earlier, there are people who can provide for their nth generation while the living are starving. There are monies scattered all over the world in foreign banks and foreign economies and these have no real value or use to Nigerians who are alive. There are people living in Nigeria with monies that they would never be able to earn if they lived up to a million years. Yet they have this money and the state and people cannot take from them. It’s shocking and amazing!

I cannot understand why the poor cannot rise against the government in Nigeria. I mean it is a game of number, more than 90m against the others. What are we talking about? I am guilty of not fighting against the evil in my society they way I should when I was living in Nigeria. I tried a little though and I thought I did my best.

Ordinary Nigerians are so focused on religion and other things that they forget how life should be. Some people have never experienced how a good life feels like. The society is so fractionated that some people tell you stories that I call “make believe”. Those who think they are fortunate or even smart to be doing well invariably always forget what they see and those they encounter on the streets everyday.

I have written about Nigeria in many ways and from many angles and my message is the same: it is possible for all Nigerians to live a good life. But so far, there is no indication that that hope will be realized soon.

The government is in business as usual, reshuffle the cabinet and let other thieves come and steal their own part of the national cake. The politicians will never be prosecuted or they will never be made to refund the money they stole. No one is talking to Babangida anymore. He is permanently above the law. This man stole money that some African countries don’t even have! Obasanjo just messed up the power sector, he will never have to account for that! From 1960 to 2007, Nigeria continues to promote idiocy and madness in government and public service. I cannot stop saying that mad men are ruling in children! I have no other explanation for the unbelievable status of Nigeria in the comity of nations.

Everyone is public service must be good, accountable, prosecutable and intellectually functional if the society and country must move forward. Unfortunately, Only a few men are good but their efforts cannot cover 150m people. It doesn’t work that way especially when these good people are not even in public service. You must be crazy to survive Nigeria’s kind of democracy.

Nigeria is my country of birth. I’m still proud to be a Nigerian. It’s the pride of the black nation but I would really love to see my continue make real progress, not abstract or imaginary progresses. I look forward to the tangible things that can make life worth living in Nigeria.

Constant power supply, Good roads, modern and affordable health care (so the president does not fool around the world), good educational system (so the useless ministers will not be sending their children abroad), clean water and beautiful (affordable) houses and everything that promote merit over tribalism and mediocre. Nigerians abroad want to come back home. They need a place to call their real homes: This is the dream! I

Rest in Peace Yinka Craig

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Adeola Aderounmu

Here is the Family statement from Yinka Craig dot org

FAMILY STATEMENT.

It is with a heavy heart, and joy at God’s perfect will that I announce the passing on to Glory of my father, teacher, mentor and friend, Mr. Olayinka Babasanya Craig, who went to be with the Lord at 6.00am this morning at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

He was a pioneer radio and television broadcaster, sports journalist extraordinaire and a national icon.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Kehinde Craig, his sons, Mr. Olayinka Craig and Dr. Olamide Craig and his “one and only” Miss Temilola Craig.

Dr. David Olamide Craig
for and on behalf of the family

____________________________________________________________________________

Olamide,

I am really sorry about this sad news. Even though I have not seen you for about 10 years, My heart is with you and the rest of the family at this moment. May the LORD strengthen you and everyone at this time and always.

May the gentle soul of Yinka Craig rest in peace. He will be missed.