Green-White-Green(The Good, the bad and the ugly)

BLOOD BATH IN EDO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY AS SPEAKER IS IMPEACHED
The Edo State House of Assembly was yesterday thrown into a rowdy session as some lawmakers purportedly impeached the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Zakawanu Garuba.
Trouble started when Garuba adjourned plenary till today in spite of the impending point of observation raised by Bright Omokhodion (Esan West constituency).

The failure of the Speaker to recognize Omokhodion resulted in hot argument and the seizure of the House mace by the Action Congress (AC) members. It later led to a free-for-all and tear gas and axes were used freely by the lawmakers.
Three AC members - Minority Whip Phillip Shaibu, Johnson Oghuma (Etsako Central constituency) and Kabiru Ajoto (Akoko-Edo 1) - were injured in the brawl.

At this stage, the Speaker was whisked away by his security aides.
After the exit of the speaker, 12 members of the AC and Omokhodion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who eventually defected to AC bringing the total number of the lawmakers to 13, reconvened and impeached Garuba and his deputy, Levis Aigbogun.

The 13 lawmakers appointed Peter Usman Aliu of the AC (Etsako East) as speaker protempore.
Moving the motion for Garuba and Aigbogun’s impeachment, the former minority leader of the House, Paul Ohonbamu (Egor), said the action was sequel to allegations of fraud and financial impropriety among others levelled against the two.

Ohonbamu also moved a motion for an indefinite suspension of the former Majority Leader of the House, Frank Okiye (Esan North East 1), and Blessing Agbebakun (Owan West) for bringing arms into the assembly.
According to him, “In line with the constitution of this House, we have obtained the 16 members’ signatures calling for the suspension of the speaker and his deputy due to some allegations of fraud, financial impropriety among others. And you know in line with the constitution, the speaker and his deputy cannot be judges in their own cases and accordingly they have left. And I therefore moved that we nominate a speaker protempore in the person of Peter Usman Aliu to take over the proceedings for the time being.”

The speaker protempore, Aliu, after taking the oath of office, constituted a three-man panel to investigate the allegations levelled against the impeached speaker and his deputy.
The panel has Ohonbamu as chairman, Johnson Oghuma (Etsako Central and Esan West), and Omokhodion as members. The panel has seven days to submit its reports.

They also resolved that the impeached speaker, Garuba; his deputy, Aigbogun; Okiye; and Agbebaku should not to be seen within the premises of the House throughout the period the investigation lasts.
Reacting to his impeachment, Garuba in a press briefing in his office said he remained the speaker of the House as the petition was not signed by two-thirds of the lawmakers as required by the 1999 constitution.

He said: “I believe we all live in a civilized society and not in an uncivilized state of nature, where it is survival of the fittest. The constitution and the rules of our House provided for the removal of the speaker, deputy speaker and other offices of the House.
“This can only be done by two-thirds of members of the House which will therefore be 16 out of the 24 members of the House. We have present with me in my office 11 members. It therefore means they can never have 16 since those 11 present with me here said they were never part of what they claimed to have done. The miracle about their activities is that not a single person saw their petition.”

He said nobody saw the petition which they claimed was signed by two-thirds, adding that by virtue of provision of rule 38, he had adjourned plenary indefinitely as only he could reconvene the house.
Garuba, however, declared the seat of Omokhodion, the only PDP member who participated in the purported impeachment, vacant on the ground that he had defected to the AC in accordance with section 109 subsection 2 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Accordingly, I have done a letter to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a by-election into the seat of the honourable member representing Esan-West constituency,” he said.
He noted that in line with the provisions of section 109 subsection 2 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a letter had been dispatched to Omokhodion informing him of his decision and what the constitution says on such matter.
However, in another press briefing, the Speaker protempore, Aliu, accused Garuba of arrogating to himself the power he does not possess.

Referring to the defection of Omokhodion from PDP to AC, Aliu said a member is free to change his party and that the speaker has no power to suspend or declare the seat of any member vacant.
He said 16 members who constitute two-thirds signed the petition of impeachment of the speaker and his deputy.

“We have suspended and impeached Zakawanu” he said, adding that Okiye, Aigbogun and Agbebaku were also suspended from the House indefinitely.
He therefore requested Garuba to return all House property in his possession to the Assembly, saying that all the suspended members would forfeit their salaries for the period of their suspension in accordance with the House rules.

NA NAIJA (Random photos and thoughts)

Look at this: Turai Yar'adua and daughters back in the 80's. These photos are no longer anywhere in Aso Rock.

NIGERIA'S PRESIDENT, UMARU MUSA YAR'ADUA TO HAND OVER POWER SOON- AIDE

Nigerian President Umaru Yar'Adua will write to the Senate soon in response to calls for him to hand over to his deputy after an absence of more than two months, a presidential aide said on Thursday.



The 58-year-old leader has not been seen in public since he left on November 23 for Saudi Arabia to be treated for a heart condition. His failure to transfer power has brought Africa's most populous nation to the brink of a constitutional crisis.



The Senate said last week Yar'Adua should formally notify parliament of his absence, a step which would mean Vice President Goodluck Jonathan could take over as acting president.



Former heads of state and lawmakers, the Nigerian Bar Association and the opposition have all made similar calls, some of them through the courts.



Should Yar'Adua inform the Senate that he is temporarily unable to hold office, Jonathan would take over as acting president until such time as he writes again to the contrary.



Aji declined to say when the letter would be sent but promised there would be "no time lag". He said only Yar'Adua's doctors would decide when the president could return to Nigeria.

THE NIGERIAN PROFILE

MODE9

Just as the MC’s name suggests, he is arguably Nigeria’s top 9 hip hop artiste, scoring with punch lines and out of naija lyrics. No wonder he is popularly called the super lyricist. Mode9 has truly been representing. He takes hip hop to another level. When hip hop was dying slowly he single headedly revived it, many thanks to his SWAT root brothers too. It was hard for hip hop to be accepted and match the other musical genres in Nigeria, so to sell or be popular, one needed to rap in pidgin English. Eedris [with the many words you never hear] and Rugged man were the beloved rappers then. Ruggedman was my favourite rapper then, I especially liked his big thing, peace or war. The real war however came when Mode9 arrived on the scene. He had been cooking hip hop underground. He dropped earth shaking tracks like Elbow Room, Formidable, etc from the Pentium IX mix tape.

Mode9 was fearless and introduced real hip hop to Nigeria. He raps in not just good, but intelligent English. Many thanks to his strong academic background. A good mathematician, thus nicknamed the ‘mathematical shege’ and ‘Mode9’- his stage name which he did not look up in a dictionary because he was into music, but which a girl called him after resolving a mathematical puzzle at Bida Poly, back in the days when artistes currently on the scene dropped out from high school just to make kpangolo beats.

Give it up for Mode9, because if he had not opened the door of real hip hop, artistes like M.I, Naeto C, Ikechukwu, etc would probably be rapping in Igbo or pidgin…or never even attempted music. If Martin Luther King never fought, a certain Barack Obama would have never become president of The United States of America. Mode9 fought and opened the door for other youngsters. He does not do rap the American way, he does it more than the American way. No wonder the American rap legend, Jay-Z could not help but email Mode9 after hearing his rap.

A few guys though, never get down with Mode9, but the simple truth really is that they never get to understand the philosophy of the man’s rap. It is just too advance for them. He plays with words, like he invented them, drops punch lines that are more deadly than Mike Tyson’s punches.

Mode9 will forever be appreciated because he’s one man that trampled on where others were afraid to. He is one man that gave Nigerian Hip hop a face and makes the world look at it. He changed the game. Thanks Modo, you’re a true Nigerian that deserves to be recognized for your work. I personally respect your intellect.

9 thumbs up for Mode9……peace out!

SADE

At once you are caught in her sonorous voice, her graceful figure [nearly a svelte] and unique music. I first knew Sade when I watched one of her stage performances on local TV. I was told that the madam performing on stage is Nigerian, and I was like ‘WOW’, We dey represent. I can recall she was on her usual outfit that makes her look like a water goddess [mind you, not mami-water].

I do not know if I am more enthralled in her music or her beauty. Which one? This is to show that she is a complete package. Shade has excelled musically, give it up for her. She is a testimony of Nigeria’s abundant talent [forget oil, we are richer in human resources]

Shade recorded world class hits like Smooth operator, The sweetest taboo, No ordinary love, By your side etc. she is the female version of Michael Jackson [No kidding about this]. At once her music pierces deep into your spirit, dropping something in there. Of this am sure. After listening to her music for the first time, I got so interested in her.

Sade was born in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Her middle name, Folasade, means honor confers your crown. Her parents, Bisi Adu, a Nigerian lecturer in economics of Yoruba background, and Anne Hayes, an English district nurse, who had met in London, married in 1955 and moved to Nigeria.Later, when the marriage ran into difficulties, Anne Hayes returned to England, taking four-month-old Sade and her older brother Banji to live with her parents. When Sade was 11, she moved to near Clacton-on-Sea with her mother, and after completing school, she moved to London and studied at the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design.
While at college, she joined a soul band, Pride, in which she sang backing vocals.Her solo performances of the song Smooth Operator attracted the attention of record companies and in 1983, she signed a solo deal with Epic Records taking three members of the band, Stuart Matthewman, Andrew Hale and Paul Denman, with her. Sade and her band produced the first of a string of hit albums, the debut album Diamond Life, in 1984, and have subsequently sold over 50 million albums. She is the most successful solo female artist in British history. JESUS!
Sade truly represents. Thumbs up for you ma’am