THE GEOFFREY YOU NEED TO KNOW!

Buhari’s choice of Geoffrey Onyeama as Foreign Affairs seems perfect owing to the latter’s impressive profile.

According to reliable sources,  Onyeama was included in the second ministerial  list b because he is friends with President Muhammadu Buhari’s Chief of Staff Abba Kyari.Both attended Cambridge University in the 1980s and have been close friends ever since.

Not much is known about this Cambridge don but we have been able to source for the 7 key things you would like to know about him.

1.He was born February 2, 1956

2.He graduated in political science from Columbia University in New York in 1977, and also has degrees in law from the London School of Economics and from Cambridge University.

3.Between 1986 and 1996, Onyeama, a qualified barrister in Britain and Nigeria, was an intellectual property specialist who has worked extensively with the United Nations on development in Africa.

4.He has held various international positions at World Intellectual Property Organisation(WIPO) where he rose from Program Officer to become Deputy Director General amongst others.

5.He is married with three children.

6. He can speak English, French, German and Ibo

7.He is the fourth son of Charles Dadi Onyeama, who was Nigeria’s first ever judge at the International Court of Justice at the Hague.  ##Copied 

What is life that one should glory about it? Just imagine what cancer has reduced Deziane Allison-Madueke to. Quite sad!

SEE WHAT MRS BUHARI AND MRS OSINBAJO DID AT ENUGU

NOW THAT DIEZANI IS REALLY SICK! #On The Trail of Madame Diezani

Fellow Nigerians, let me tell you about my James Bond stunts in this season of the sensational SPECTRE movie. Yes. The news of the arrest of former strong woman of Nigeria’s Petroleum Ministry, Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke in London had hit the airwaves like thunderbolt. No member of President Goodluck Jonathan’s government held the nation spellbound like Madame Diezani. Controversy dogged her every step just as she spawned loads of salacious gossip. She is a newsmaker per excellence. For starters, Madame Diezani is a paragon of beauty. She’s also very simple but chic and elegant in dressing and appearance. At 54, she would give our much younger ladies a run for their money in the prettiness stakes. She is intelligent to boot and boasts a decent academic pedigree. She is that hot and even her most vociferous critics agree that she combines brains with beauty. Add to that is her marriage to retired Rear Admiral Allison Amaechina Madueke, a former Chief of Naval Staff which boosted her national and political profile. The only problem was the almost unanimous belief that she had abused her privileged position and appurtenances of office in the discharge of her ministerial duties. It was reported that billions of dollars literally disappeared under her watch. She was under intense heat and scrutiny throughout her reign but seemed unrattled and unfazed by the deluge of dirt splashed at her from every direction. She stayed invincible and definitely unshakeable to the end. Her firm grip on the President was palpable. It was a subject of discussions everywhere. There were rumours of constant clashes with the former First Lady, Dame Patience Faka Jonathan. No one really knew the true story. Mrs Alison Madueke did not help matters by studiously ignoring the lurid pictures painted of her. She rarely granted interviews and when she did, hardly responded to the monumental gist from unrelenting talebearers. I always wished to have a one-on-one interview with our own Alice in Wonderland or Cleopatra, if you like. Such is the nature of gargantuan fables around this mythical lady. She is the dream of every celebrity reporter. A nice interview and some photo-shoot as icing would be no mean achievement. There are few women in her mould anywhere at any time. I had studied her trajectory to determine what makes her tick. She was born with silver spoon to the family of Chief Frederick Abiye and Mrs Beatrice Oyete Agama in the garden city of Port Harcourt and grew up in the Shell Camp where she schooled and learnt to speak both English and Dutch. She wasn’t a regular kid like most of us. The way her life was suddenly disrupted at Shell Camp she says would later inform her philosophy during her time as Petroleum Minister. Her family was unceremoniously evicted from the Shell Camp because her father dared to question the promotion process of Nigerians by Shell. She believes that Nigerians must occupy and enjoy the resources God has blessed us with and accordingly she sought to empower Nigerians as a principle, she claims. The young Miss Agama studied Architecture in England and then at the renowned Howard University in the United States where she graduated. She later obtained an MBA from Cambridge University. She worked at Shell, following in her father’s footsteps, and rose to become its first female Director. The first part of her life story ends there. The second part begins with her stint in the government of Nigeria where she managed several important ministries including Mines, Works and Transport and finally Petroleum, the chicken that lays the golden eggs. Once she got the juiciest portfolio in the land she was transformed from an Angel to being labelled a femme fatale, a nomenclature that has stuck to her like flies to palmwine. Political opponents of President Jonathan blamed her for all the sins of omission and commission of that Government and she really never was able to keep her head under the parapet. This is why she is in hot demand by reporters, local and international, alike. Anything about Madame Diezani makes news and goes viral. We met only once at a public function hosted by Alhaji Aliko Dangote in Abuja. We spoke very briefly and she was going to give me her telephone contact but a personal aide intervened and promised to send it to me but never did. So I missed interviewing her. I had loads of satanic questions to ask her and was unsure of how she would have reacted, with calm or fury, but I would have thoroughly enjoyed that auspicious moment as I am sure would have been my readers. Anyway, the dream never materialised. I simply shrugged my shoulders and moved on. After the demise of the Jonathan government, I assumed it was goodbye to a good story but man proposes and God disposes. I was sitting quietly at home when the news of Mrs Alison-Madueke’s arrest exploded like a bomb. Social media instantly caught fire. We were regaled with tales of how she was captured at home by the London Metropolitan Police for money laundering running into atrocious and unimaginable sums of cash. Some reports said she was planning to buy a property worth billions of pounds in London and even gave a famous address. Those who know London fairly well immediately doubted the veracity of such claims but anything is believable in this season of anomie. We were later informed by the National Crime Agency (NCA) that arrested her, that only £27,000 pounds was recovered and that she had been released on bail. Then came reports that the energetic EFCC in Nigeria had also invaded her home in Abuja and we imagined this invasion must have been well choreographed and perfectly co-ordinated by the governments of Nigeria and Britain only for NCA to tell us this wasn’t so. My interest in speaking to Madame Diezani by all means was re-ignited. I was greatly saddened by the dearth of investigative journalism in our clime. I remembered with nostalgia our days at Concord Press of Nigeria, owned by the late Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola. I had a flashback to the Weekend Concord days when that paper broke all records by publishing endless scoops and I earned repeated accolades from my Editor, and boss for life, Mr Mike Awoyinfa, for the manner I gained incredible access to very important personalities and topical news. My dream is for Nigerian media to return to those halcyon days and it is not too difficult to achieve. What it takes is for us to have credible journalists who can manage stories responsibly without using media power to terrorise or witch-hunt anyone no matter their personal views or political ideology. A seasoned journalist knows that facts are sacred! Proper investigative reporters have access to even terrorists and rabid insurgents for this reason. However in Nigeria, we tend to reflect our prejudices in the stories we write. Such bias should be reserved for opinions and editorial pages. Back to Mrs Alison-Madueke, the more I read the conflicting and contradictory reports the more I wished someone could penetrate the seemingly impregnable wall erected by our leaders to get the news behind the news. There were reports that Madame Diezani was battling with the much dreaded breast cancer. Not a few said she was merely pretending in order to escape justice. I wondered aloud how nice it would be to find a journalist who could be trusted with this massive story and bring us face to face with one of Africa’s biggest newsmakers. About the same period, I was spending sometime seeking treatment for cataracts in London and this gave me the opportunity to investigate the Diezani conundrum myself. I made calls to several credible sources including a close lawyer friend who has a solid reputation in such matters. First, I confirmed that, contrary to the belief that she was feigning her illness, she was actually receiving treatment for a most chronic and aggressive form of breast cancer. She had undergone surgery and chemotherapy on several occasions and was being prepared for radiotherapy. Indeed, she had slipped into both natural and induced coma which lasted five days on July 28, as steroids she was receiving had inadvertently raised her sugar level abysmally. Her doctors declared her condition a near-miss. All my sources said it would be unfair and unthinkable for a reporter to invade her privacy in that state. I believed the world deserves to hear from her, for good or for bad, and so never gave up my dream of getting exclusive access to Nigeria’s most talked about woman. My tenacity paid off two nights ago as I came face to face with Mrs Alison-Madueke at a secret location in London. My bosom friend had called to say someone had mentioned to her that I was critically on her case. Madame Diezani had wondered why a known and certified critic of the Jonathan Administration would want to interview her but was told that despite my opposition to their regime I remained one of the most objective writers in Nigeria. She told my female contact that she reads Pendulum and was impressed at the level of maturity often displayed even when she disagreed with my views. However, Madame Diezani was particularly worried that even in the throes of a most debilitating ailment, she was still being virulently attacked by her fellow citizens. I told my source that without being judgmental, I think she should understand that many Nigerians believe she and the government she served had brought untold hardship upon the generality of Nigerians especially through the mismanagement of the main source of revenue in our country. She may know better than the rest of us but it is up to her to tell her story. Those who will believe are waiting to hear while those who won’t may never subscribe to her defence. What is important is for her to purge her soul and where necessary offer sincere apologies and penitence. I was stunned when I got a call from my contact: “are you available to meet Mrs Diezani Alison-Madueke on Thursday evening at a private location in London?” I don’t know how many reporters would miss such humongous opportunity. My response was an instant, yes. I was told the location would be communicated to me one hour to the appointed time. That was fine by me. The only one I could trust to drive me on such a mission was my wife accompanied by her younger sister. We got to the venue almost dead on time and scanned the vicinity. Having read too many James Hadley Chase novels in my school days, I expected to see some unobtrusive bodyguards around if I looked well. I imagined I was right when I saw a dark stocky man in suit prancing about furtively and restlessly. I pressed a buzzer as instructed and the main door swung open. I approached one of the elevators as directed and headed to a particular apartment where my contact opened the door even before I knocked, and ushered me in. I didn’t see my interviewee but only a fair lady, who looked vaguely familiar. I took a comfortable position and waited with bated breath. I was undergoing a stream of consciousness at supersonic speed. Where is Madame Diezani? Will she meet me or chicken out? Would she open up or just whet my appetite for nothing? How will I ask my satanic questions and in what order? What can I do to make her relax and pour out her heart? Can she trust anyone with her story in her present condition and state of mind? I was in this interior monologue when Madame Diezani herself sauntered in. I stood up to greet her as she stretched out her hand. “My name is Diezani, the most misunderstood and abused Nigerian…” I didn’t know whether to say yes or no. I was perturbed and disturbed. The Diezani before me was not the ebullient woman I used to see on television and in newspapers. Her head had become a Sahara desert of sorts almost totally bald with a sprinkle of freshly growing hair all grey. She requested to sit on a classroom chair as her back was hurting badly and she could not sit so low. Wow, what a terrible time she must be having, I almost screamed out but cautioned myself. Sitting across from me was a woman who was a shadow of herself, almost like an apparition or ghost. I’m sure she saw the horror in my face. I knew I had to tread gingerly so as not to ignite trouble. I expressed sympathy about her battle with cancer. I told her I was one of the doubting Thomases and wished her God’s mercy and miracle having seen her shocking state. She summarised how her ordeal started and that moment when her worst nightmare was diagnosed. As she spoke she belched and gasped intermittently, a by-product of the aggressive treatment she’s been receiving. I was visibly worried at a point thinking she may end up in an ambulance if care was not taken. The other lady I met earlier soon came out from wherever and insisted we must stop but Madame Diezani was just getting into the flow of our chit-chat. We were told to round up in five minutes by this chaperone. I fired shots at her in staccato fashion and raced through my questions. I wanted to cover enough grounds before she returns to hospital after this weekend. I asked about Jonathan, Chris Aire, Kola Aluko and others linked to her in business transactions and otherwise. She said as much as she possibly could in the little time available and promised to say more later. The fair lady soon returned to stop our session. I would have been atrociously wicked to ask for more time though I felt she was in the mood to talk. She stood up delicately and she and the two ladies with her disappeared into the cold night... Source : Dele Momodu.

Alamieyeseigha: The End of An Era

Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, the first elected governor of Bayelsa state, did not die a
happy man. He suffered multiple tragedies in his last days on earth and, on Saturday, went to his
grave abruptly, apparently with a broken heart.
In October 2014, the man once known as the “governor-general of the Ijaw nation” flew to Dubai,
United Arab Emirates, to retrieve the corpse of Oyamieyifa, one of his sons who died under
controversial circumstances. No father wants to bury his child, and not even under such a cloud.
Tonbra, his other son, broke up with his wife of seven months, Chikodi Stella Ononiwu, early 2015
in controversial circumstances after a dream wedding which was the talk of the town. That might
have been of little worry to Alamieyeseigha, who had to also watch his wife, Margret, suffer so much
pain as a result of bad health.
TheCable also understands that she is currently undergoing treatment for a life-threatening ailment.
And in a most dramatic twist of fate, the British government recently requested his extradition to
face trial for alleged money laundering, according to reports.
In September 2005, the UK’s Metropolitan police had detained him after finding about £1 million cash
on him, and another £1.8 million in cash and accounts. He was subsequently charged with money
laundering but he jumped bail after allegedly disguising as a woman, an allegation he denied.
A family source told TheCable about how the former governor received the news of the plans to
extradite him to the UK.
“He was devastated over the plans to take him back to UK for trials. He told family members that he
has suffered enough of the judicial processes and humiliation,” the source said.
A few days later, he fell into a coma. He never recovered. He died on Saturday from cardiac arrest
at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, the Bayelsa state government said.
JONATHAN STOOD SOLIDLY BY HIM
Alamieyeseigha, a retired air force officer, used to enjoy a cult-like status among his people and his
travails in the UK did not deny him of that. Loyalty is rare to find in the Nigerian political terrain
but DSP, as his supporters called him, got that even from Goodluck Jonathan, his two-time deputy
who would later become vice-president and president of Nigeria.
Unlike the average politician who would capitalise on the misfortune of his superior to launch himself
into power, Jonathan stood by Alamieyeseigha until he was impeached on December 9, 2005.
In a chat with journalists shortly after he took over the reins of government in Bayelsa, Jonathan
said: “You all know how I have been loyal to him from the beginning until this sad event made me
succeed him.”
In his last known interview before he died, Alamieyeseigha commented on what made him choose
Jonathan as a partner.
“I wanted a deputy governor who had high level of intelligence and stable character like Jonathan,”
he told Vanguard .
“I also needed an establishment person and somebody who was not too ambitious that if I was out, he
could stand in for me and could run the state. I needed somebody, who would not attempt to cause
trouble if I travelled out of the state so that I could sleep well.”
And that was exactly what Jonathan did.
THE CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM
In July, 2007, Alamieyeseigha was sentenced to two years in prison and many of his assets were
ordered to be forfeited to the Bayelsa state government.
He was discovered to have owned real estate in London worth £10 million. In December 2009, the
federal government hired a British law firm to help dispose of four expensive property acquired by
Alamieyeseigha in London.
In 2012, the US Department of Justice announced that it had executed an asset forfeiture order on
$401,931 in a Massachusetts brokerage fund, traceable to Alamieyeseigha. The allegations of
corruption against him were mind-boggling, arousing fury when Jonathan as president of the country,
pardoned him in March 2013.
HE FORGAVE OBASANJO, HIS NEMESIS
Alamieyeseigha believed former President Olusegun Obasanjo masterminded his trial and ruined him
politically because he opposed Obasanjo’s rumoured third term agenda.
He spoke on his encounters with the former president, saying he had forgiven him.
He said : “I cannot be living in the past because it does not help. It pains quite well but again, if it
was not permitted by God, it would not have happened. And for me to be alive, I thank God.
Sometimes when I reflect on where I am coming from, I even at times ask why I am still alive, having
passed through what I have passed through. It reminds me of Psalm 23, somebody passing through the
valley of the shadow of death. I passed through it several times. For me to be alive, I do not need to
have anything in mind.
“I have been at a very close quarters with Obasanjo twice. The first encounter was at the Katsina
Airport during the wedding of the daughter of late President Yar’Adua. I did not even know that he
was in the VIP lounge. I wanted to use the rest room and here was Obasanjo directly sitting inside. I
was even scared because he almost passed out.
“I held his hand and he said DSP what have I done to deserve a handshake from you? There were
other people; Kenny Martins and one of his political friends present. I said I was shaking him for two
reasons. One was because of the Almighty God who created us. Number two is that tradition demands
that we should welcome our visitors. Then Kenny got up and said, great leader, great leader and he
came to hug me.
“The second encounter was when I was going to Dubai and if Obasanjo had known that I was in that
aircraft, he would not have entered but I was already seated. We were very few in the aircraft.
Because of fear, Obasanjo saw me and hysterically called me ‘Fayose, Fayose’ and I told him that I
was not ‘Fayose.’ I said former president, Olusegun Mathew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo, you are a devil
incarnate. I said when we were small, our lesson teachers always talked about this devil and this devil
and I never knew that the devil is a human being. I told him that you are a direct descendant of the
devil. I told him that if you talk, I will throw you out of this aircraft.
“I knew of truth that he did not sleep throughout the flight. The only thing he said was DSP, is it
only you that entered prison. I too entered prison. He said you entered prison and I entered prison.
He kept quiet and I left. But I have forgiven him.”
DICKSON WILL SURELY MISS HIM
One of those who would suffer from the demise of the ex-governor is Governor Seriake Dickson, who
is standing for another election, in less than two months.
The deceased was actively involved in the re-election campaign of Dickson.
Responding to the news of the death , Dickson described Alamieyeseigha “a rare gem”, saying his
demise “is a very painful and monumental loss to the entire Ijaw nation, which he has always stood
firm for in all its ramifications”.
Born on November 16, 1952, Alamieyeseigha was governor of Bayelsa state from May 29, 1999 to
December 9, 2005 when he was impeached.

TheCable.

Breaking News: First Governor of Bayelsa state Alamieyeseigha is dead!

Chief Alamieyeseigha reportedly died of cardiac arrest at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, after slipping into coma two days ago and was placed on life support.

The Bayelsa State Commissioner for Information, Esueme Dan-Kikili, who confirmed the death to Channels Television, said that the death of the former governor was a great loss to the Ijaw ethnic group.

There were reports during the week that the British Government was determined to resurrect an outstanding case of money laundering against the former governor and had requested for his extradition to London.

Alamieyeseigha, who was facing money laundering charges, jumped bail and returned to Nigeria and has since then refused to answer summons for trial to continue.

According to his Wikipedia page, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was born on November 16, 1952 in Amassoma, Ogboin North Local Government Area, Bayelsa State and had his secondary school education at the Bishop Dimeari Grammar School, Yenagoa.

He joined the Nigerian Defence Academy as a Cadet Officer in 1974, and was enlisted in the Nigerian Air Force, where he served in the department of Logistics and Supply.

Before retiring from the Air Force in 1992 as a Squadron Leader, he had served in Enugu, Markurdi, Kaduna and Ikeja.

He became the Sole Administrator of Pabod Supplies Port Harcourt and later Head of Budget, Planning, Research and Development of the National Fertiliser Company (NAFCON).

Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was Governor of Bayelsa State in Nigeria from May 29, 1999 to December 9, 2005. He was  impeached on allegations of corruption.
Source: Channels Tv.

Group petitions Ugwuanyi over alleged sharp practices in Enugu schools

A non-governmental organisation, the Anti Corruption
Awareness Organisation Nigeria (ACAO), has sent a strong-
worded petition to the Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi
Ugwuanyi, over alleged fraudulent activities in the
management of public secondary schools in the state, by the
Post Primary School Management Board (PPSMB).
The group is also accusing the immediate past PPSMB of
ripping off parents, students and promoting mediocrity in the
system, stressing that this was responsible for the poor
performance recorded by students of public secondary schools
in the state and contributes immensely to the loss of interest
by members of the public in public schools.
In the petition dated July 23rd, 2015 and entitled, “Save
Education System in Enugu State,” the organisation
specifically alleged bribe-for-juicy posting of schools’
principals; fraudulent use of scratch cards; imposition of
levies and extortion of students by school heads, under the
watch of the immediate past Permanent Secretary of PPSMB,
Mrs. Josephine U. Onyia.
Sources at the PPSMB told The Guardian, however that since
the PPSMB was dissolved about a year ago, it was yet to be
reconstituted.
Since then, however, activities of the agency had been run by
permanent secretaries. Mrs. Onyia, was however redeployed
to the Water Resources Ministry recently, and replaced by
Mrs. Favour Ngozika Ugwuanyi. Ugwuanyi held her maiden
briefing with the staff of the agency penultimate week.
The
petition signed by the organisation’s Director of Intelligence,
Mr. Chijioke Attah, State Legal Team Leader, Chuka Machie
and Josephat Omeke, and obtained by The Guardian, detailed
how the immediate past board, in connivance with some school
heads, constituted set backs to the promotion of quality
education at secondary schools in the state and urged the
governor to probe PPSMB activities in order to save public
secondary schools.
The organisation stated that its findings were based on
investigations it conducted recently in public secondary schools
in the six educational zones of the state, comprising Agbani,
Awgu, Enugu, Nsukka, Obollo Afor and Udi.
They NGO wrote: “Verifiable evidence has revealed that there
is decay and massive fraud at the PPSMB, and that many
school principals are being exploited steadily by the PPSMB in
connivance with the permanent secretaries. They charge
N250, 000, N300, 000 and more (depending on the students’
population), to post principals to a heavily populated school in
Enugu State.
“To post (transfer) a principal to a school and allow him/she
remain there, the principal has to continue to pay
gratifications, else another one that bids higher bidder will be
sent to replace the principal. These actions are taken at will
in most of the schools visited in Awgu, Agbani, Enugu,
Nsukka, Obollo Afor and Udi in the course of this
investigation.”
The petition cited the case of one of the newly retired
principals who was transferred from Community Secondary
School, Mbulu Owo, to the CSS Amagunze, which has a high
students population, after he allegedly paid over N300, 000 to
the board.
“The then principal of CSS Amagunze, who was replaced had
protested that he should be allowed to exhaust his three-year
minimum tenure in the school, having worked hard to build
the place. He was ignored because he could not afford the
kind of money paid by his successor,” it added.
Criticising the sale of scratch cards to students to check and
obtain their promotion examination’s result as being
“untimely,” the outfit said from its investigations, “Over 85
per cent of schools in rural areas have no computer studios,
and
no access to cyber/Internet cafés in their various localities.”
“Secondly, the fraud associated with the scratch card is bad.
The real cost of the scratch card as ascertained from the
producers, “Bronzebit Consult Ltd,’ with office at N0. 142
Zik Avenue, Uwani, Enugu is N150. 00.
“It was also discovered that the former Commissioner for
Education, Prof. Uche Okoro, approved an astronomical cost of
N800.00 per students for the scratch card, thereby
defrauding every student in government-owned secondary
schools in the state the sum of N650.00
“To add insult to injury, some principal of schools capitalised
on the foundation of the fraudulent action to increase the
cost of the scratch card from N800 to N1, 500 per student.”
The petition cited Idaw River Girls Secondary School,
Awkunanaw, Metropolitan Girls Secondary School, Ogui, City
Girls Secondary School as some schools, where the scratch
cards were being sold at abysmally high rate by the
authorities so as “to cover cost of transportation to where it
would be deposited into the designated account of the board
in charge.”
According to the organisation, registering of students for the
Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in public
secondary schools is another avenue where the students are
exploited heavily as there are no uniform rates, so principals
charge as much as they wish.
When confronted with these allegations, Mrs. Onyia, told The
Guardian that as a civil servant, she could not speak to the
press without authorization, adding that the petitioners
“wrote to the governor and I am entitled to respond to the
governor if called upon to do so. But making allegations on
extortions and what have you and supplying phone numbers
may not prove that they have enough evidence. So I am really
not interested until I am called upon or asked to respond to
the issues in their petition.”
Also contacted, incumbent Permanent Secretary at the
agency, Mrs. Favour Ugwuanyi, denied knowledge of the
petition saying she would not comment on the allegations
raised.
“I am a new Permanent Secretary in this agency. I have not
received officially, copies of the petition being referred to. I
cannot comment on what I know nothing about,” she said.