FMR PRESIDENT OBASANJA-_WHY I ALLOWED ABACHA TO ARREST ME

Former President Obasanjo has disclosed reasons why he allowed former head of state, Sani Abacha to arrest him in March 1995 for allegedly conspiring abroad against the Abacha regime, despite many opportunities to escape and accept an offer of political asylum by the US.

Leadership  reports

Obasanjo was among the opposition lights that were against the regime of the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, who ordered their arrest, trials and sentences but spared their lives due to international pressure. Abacha was the most senior military officer in the illegal contraption called Interim National Government led by Chief Ernest Shonekan after the military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, was forced to resign over the historic annulment of the June 12 June, 1993 election won by Moshood Abiola, who later died in the military gulag.

In his newest controversial memoir, ‘My Watch’, he narrated his opposition to the Abacha regime which led him to the formation of National Unity Organisation which he intended to use to force Abacha to quit power.

According to his narrative, Obasanjo had been meeting with some leading politicians and non-politicians in every part of the country on the need to free the country from the jackboot of Abacha whom he said, “was so much below average as an officer that no serious attention was paid to him until he was made to announce the coup.

“I was not in doubt that Abacha would attempt to silence me. This was clear from his apparent ambition for life presidency of Nigeria in insatiable appetite for corruption; his looting directly from the Central Bank; his need to silence everyone that could oppose him in any form; his actions towards my close friends and associates and his close surveillance of me by his security both within and outside Nigeria.”

Obasanjo recalled how during his visit to Kenya for the funeral of the father of the opposition leader, Raila Odinga, where the Nigerian Embassy officials wrote a report indicting him, stating that “since Odinga was in opposition to the government of Kenya when he died, I had gone to Kenya to create problems for the Kenyan government by supporting the opposition, and the Nigerian government should restrain me from causing great problems between Nigeria and Kenya.”

Narrating further, Obasanjo said,

“Rumours about Abacha taking action against me started to spread and ring louder and louder. I had no fear because I had done nothing to cause me fear or anxiety. I was about my life and my business unperturbed.”

Source: Leadership

WHAT NIGERIAN-AMERICAN SINGER ' JIDENNA' REALLY MEANS WHEN HE REFERS TO HIMSELF AS A CLASSIC MAN

An interesting interview with the Nigerian-American singer about the substance behind his style. Interview by Deidre Dyer for thethefader.com. Enjoy below...

Have you always been keen on suits?
There have been different moments in my life when I was really into them. Some of the earliest pictures I have are of me in a suit in Nigeria, when I was like five or six years old, with my father. He used to wear three-piece suits and walk with a cane.

Did he wear that every day?
Yeah, every day. But in that day and age, he had bell bottoms. He would walk around with a three-piece suit and he would have a red cap on with a white feather signifying his rank as a chief. My style definitely stems from him, first and foremost.
I grew up designing my own clothes. In Nigeria, everyone makes their own clothes. It's not a big deal to make bespoke suiting, it's just a way of life. I would hire tailors from Nigeria or Ghana. Some of the best tailors in the world are from Dakar.

And what about shirting? That's a very specific collar that you're wearing.

Yeah, all the collars that I wear are in the style of the 1800s.
 

Why that era? I was studying the Jim Crow era and 1865, beyond that Antebellum south. I wanted to know what the freedmen that fought in the Civil War looked like right after the war was over. The freed slaves that went to Nova Scotia or went up north and started settlements—what did those men and women look like? I was fascinated by that. I wanted to have a collar that was very specific to the old Jim Crow, and this was one of them. Some people call it the club collar, or a double round collar.

It seems that in all the aspects of your style, the influence of history is present. Each piece is clearly referencing a specific time. Is a suit a history lesson for you?
That's a great question. For me, I wear a suit because I need to remember what's happened before me. I wear what I want every day. Our generation is super individualistic and that's cool, but it only gets you so far—you need people. We’re social beings and I need to know and remember where I came from.
The suit is actually easy to wear every day. I just gotta switch out my shirt, switch the colors, switch the tie, and then it's a brand new fit. To me, it is the fashion of the times. I just have to remember that every day so I know what I'm fighting for. To me, that’s what my style represents.

Do you consider style a form of resistance?
I think all style is a form of resistance. If you work in a corporate office and you wear a certain type of suit, especially as a woman, you're resisting the outside. Like, I am here. I don't work at McDonald's. I don't work on the street. I work in this office. I'm resisting that life. When I was a boy, I was sagging my pants like everyone else. Some boys become men and continue to sag their pants because that's their form of rebellion. Like ‘I don't want to wear a suit. I don't want to dress up. I don't want to pull up my pants. This is who I am, I'm resisting against that world, and I don't want to live that life.’ So, absolutely—I think everybody resists some other culture when they dress.

There was an interesting vignette in your video for “Classic Man” where you and your suited crew are walking down the block, and you come across two or three guys who are being stopped by the cops. Why was that a crucial scene to include in your video?
There's a lot of anger against police officers, especially in African American and Latino communities, and there has been for a long time. I have that anger, too. I'm very very critical of what this country has done with policing. But I do believe that there are good policemen and women. I wanted to make sure that I portrayed an interaction that I hope to see in these communities. I wanted to show a cooperative exchange, one that's not snitching and not deadly. 

I'm sure your time working at the MLK institute was very influential. Who are some of the other influential figures that helped you kind of come to this understanding of the world?
Madame C.J. Walker, Elon Musk, Young Thug, Hillary Clinton, Ghandi and Hitler. I’ve been studying people that were not ordinary, for better or for worse. In Hitler's case for worse and actually, to some degree, Ghandi too— because his opinions of black South Africans were not positive. But women like Madame CJ Walker, the first millionaire, she was unafraid to go out there. She was brilliant and had a brilliant business model. 

What about Young Thug has been so influential?
I think a lot of people try to be someone else, and Young Thug really is who he is. I love his melodies, how he dresses, how he carries himself. The others ones I look at them for their leadership qualities. I look up to Elon Musk for his social entrepreneurship. Hillary is top general, man. Whether or not you like her, women have the very very difficult task of answering the question, 'Do you have to be a bitch to be in power.' When I hear all of these comments about Hillary, it upsets me because it's like, 'yeah she's a bitch...' and I'm like, yo, she's just a leader. You don't have to agree with her, but she's not a bitch. She's just a powerful woman. 

Given your view of style as a means of protest, where does the music come in for you?
Music is the means. In the same way that Marley believed that he would create peace on the earth by spreading reggae music, I believe that these values of human connection and of intimacy are super, super interwoven into "Classic Man" and every record that I put out. That message will be in everybody's earbuds, and therefore it will change the minds, the hearts, and the souls of all human beings around the world. I do believe swank music is the next frontier.

US BASED LADY ACUSES SINGER TIMAYA OF RAPE...AND OFCOURSE SHE HAS STRONG EVIDENCES AGAINST HIM

My attention was just drawn to an instagram page opened yesterday by an Atlanta based lady, who is accusing popular Nigerian singer Timaya of rape. The anonymous lady shared chats between herself and a person she claims is Timaya, she also shared voice recordings from their phone conversations. The last thing I want to do is ruin a career but if a lady cries rape, the media has a duty to at least hear her out but bear in mind that these are all allegations. Before posting the voice recordings, I played it to a few entertainers who confirmed that it's truly Timaya's voice, but at no point did he directly admit to rape...though he was begging the lady for forgiveness.

I will definitely reach out to Timaya for his own side of the story. For now, read the chats and listen to the voice recordings after the cut...

Culled from;lindaikejiblogspot

UNITED STATE SENATOR CALLS NIGERIAN SOLDIERS MURDERERS AND RAPISTS

While in the US, president Buhari criticized the Leahy Law - a U.S. human rights law that prohibits the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign military units that violate human rights. Reacting, the sponsor of the Law, US Senator Patrick Leahy (the law is named after him) said Buhari is misguided in his criticism as the law, which has so far stopped the US govt from assisting Nigeria in the war against Boko Haram, can't be blamed for the atrocities committed by the 'murderers and rapists in the Nigerian military'.

“It is well-documented by the State Department and by respected human rights organisations that Nigerian army personnel have, for many years, engaged in a pattern and practice of gross violations of human rights against the Nigerian people and others, including summary executions of prisoners, indiscriminate attacks against civilians, torture, forced disappearances and rape.
Rarely have the perpetrators been prosecuted or punished. This abusive conduct not only violates the laws of war, it creates fear and loathing among the Nigerian people whose support is necessary to defeat a terrorist group like Boko HaramPresident Buhari ignores the undisputed fact that most Nigerian army units have been approved, under the Leahy Law, for U.S. training and equipment.

Only those particular units against which there is credible evidence of the most heinous crimes are ineligible for U.S. aid. And even those units can again become eligible if the Nigerian Government takes effective steps to bring the responsible individuals to justice. I strongly agree with President Buhari about the need to defeat Boko Haram, and I have supported tens of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to Nigeria for that purpose. But rather than suggest that the United States is at fault for not funding murderers and rapists in the Nigerian military, he should face up to his own responsibility to effectively counter Boko Haram. He should direct his attention to the Nigerian military, and the Nigerian courts, and clean up the units implicated in such atrocities.” He said

HULK HORGAN SACKED BY THE WWE FOR HIS RACIST N-WORD RANT

The WWE is cutting all ties with wrestling legend 61 year old Hulk Hogan after finding out about him angrily using the n-word to describe someone who was dating his daughter.

WWE fired Hogan after learning of a transcript of comments made on his sex tape.

Hogan is in the middle of a lawsuit over the tape released by Gawker and the n-word remarks are expected to come out once the trial begins later this year.

The transcripts of Hogan's sex tape likely stem from his ongoing lawsuit with Gawker, which published an excerpt of the tape in 2012. Hogan is suing Gawker for $100 million for allegedly invading his privacy by publishing it.

The WWE released a statement Friday morning saying, 

"WWE terminated its contract with Terry Bollea (aka Hulk Hogan). WWE is committed to embracing and celebrating individuals from all backgrounds as demonstrated by the diversity of our employees, performers and fans worldwide."

In the weak sex tape, Hogan was discussing his daughter Brooke's music career. He repeatedly used the n-word while talking about an African-American guy she was dating.

The WWE has since scrubbed all mentions of Hogan's name from its website. Hogan is also no longer listed as one of the judges on the Tough Enough TV show or present on the WWE Hall of Fame page. All merchandise has been removed from WWEShop.com.

Shortly after the contents of the tape became public, Hogan admitted that the tape, recorded in 2007, was real and said his words were 'offensive' and 'unacceptable'. 

According to Radar, the audio features him complaining about his daughter Brooke, 27, who was trying to launch a music career.

He said that 'a black billionaire guy' had offered to bankroll her, then speculated about her sex life'.

Hogan told Clem: 'I don't know if Brooke was f**king the black guy's son... I mean, I don't have double standards.

'I mean, I am a racist, to a point, f**king n****rs. But then when it comes to nice people and s**t, and whatever.'

He continued: 'I mean, I'd rather if she was going to f**k some n****r, I'd rather have her marry an 8-foot-tall n****r worth a hundred million dollars! Like a basketball player!

'I guess we're all a little racist. F***king n****r.'

In a statement to People, Hogan has apologized for his comments, saying: 

"Eight years ago I used offensive language during a conversation. It was unacceptable for me to have used that offensive language; there is no excuse for it; and I apologize for having done it."

"This is not who I am," the statement continues. "I believe very strongly that every person in the world is important and should not be treated differently based on race, gender, orientation, religious beliefs or otherwise. I am disappointed with myself that I used language that is offensive and inconsistent with my own beliefs."

 

Hogan also issued a cryptic response on Twitter in the immediate wake of initial reports.

DRUNK AIRLINE PASSENGER TIED AFTER GETTING AGGRESIVE

Why get high or get drunk if you can't handle it,an unruly Russian airline passenger was punched, kicked and hogtied by fellow passengers after getting drunk and abusive on a flight from Hong Kong.
After the Siberian Airlines flight took off on its way to Vladivostok in Russia, the passenger reportedly behaved inappropriately, threatening and insulting the flight attendants.

A video posted on YouTube shows when other passengers jumped into action to restrain him with seat belts and tape, which was where the passenger remained for the duration of the flight.

Local police detained the man when the flight landed.

This is a short clip of the beating..

This a longer version of it.

 
Source: RIA Vostok Media.

PRESIDENT OBAMA'S GRANDMOTHER ARRIVES IN NAIROBI TO RECEIVE HIM INTO THE COUNTRY

Mama Sarah as she is popularly called is in Nairobi to await the arrival of her grandson, the president of the United States of America...More photos after the cut...

Photo credit: Nairobi News