A foreigner suspected to be a Dutch man and three Nigerians were recently killed at different locations in the violent oil rich Rivers state of Nigeria.
The Nigerian police reported Sunday, that the Dutch man was shot and killed in front of his house in Port Harcourt in spite of the dusk to dawn curfew and daily military patrol in the state capital. But, the Nigerian police described the murder as a revenge attack, because, the killers left a note on his corpse. The note said they had given him 50,000 dollars (35,000 euros) to import cars from Europe but that he had neither returned the money nor supplied the cars. Felix Ogbaudu, police chief of the southern oil-rich Rivers state told the AFP news agency.

In another tragic incident last Thursday, armed robbers in a high-speed boat killed three passengers on another boat in the Bonny lagoon in Rivers state after robbing them of their money and other valuable possessions. Eyewitnesses said that, one of the unfortunate passengers recognized a member of the gang of armed robbers and they killed him and two other passengers to prevent them from disclosing their identities to the police.

Rampaging cultists and militants have besieged Rivers state since July and over 200 people have been killed in violent confrontations between rival gangsters and attacks on oil companies.. A special military task force of the Nigerian Armed Forces had to take over the law enforcement operations when the Nigerian police failed to secure lives and property in the oil city of Port Harcourt.

Recurrent violent attacks and kidnappings of foreign oil workers and some local targets have jeopardized the safety and security of both the multinational oil companies and their host communities since the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) employed armed gangs to rig elections and overpower the opposing parties. The well armed militants and bandits have forced Shell, Chevron, and other oil majors to shut down during emergencies and reduced oil export by a quarter.

The Historical Genesis of The Niger Delta Crisis

The Niger Delta militants are not the cause of the breakdown of law and order and widespread lawlessness, banditry, and sea piracy in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. They are equally the victims of the crisis as well as the agents-provocateurs of the original perpetrators of the crisis.

As far back as 1884, Nana Olomu, an Itsekiri chieftain was appointed “Governor” by the ruling imperial British colonial authorities to control the Eastern Niger Delta region after they have exiled the great Jaja of Opobo to the crown colony of Calabar. Nana Olomu terrorized the Urhobos kingdom with weapons supplied by the British. Nana Olomu assaulted and abducted Oraka of Okpara Waterside. But later, Nana Olomu fell out of favour with the British and they sent him on exile to the Gold Coast of Ghana in 1894.

The Itsekiris wanted their king to be referred to as the “Olu of Warri” in their great quest to usurp and wrest the royal title from the Urhobos whose kings have always been crowned as the Olu of Warri.
Ethnic rivalries between the Urhobos and Itsekiris over leadership was fuelled by the British whose divide and rule policies caused blood-letting ethnic conflicts among the Urhobos, Itsekiris, Isons and the other tribes in the country and the British fished in the troubled waters in the Niger Delta.

Boundary disputes over farmlands and waterways have always been the most common cause of inter-tribal wars and even wars across international boundaries such as the protracted boundary dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon over the Bakassi Peninsula. But what has made the Niger Delta crisis to deteriorate is the greed for resource control of the crude oil since the Royal Dutch Shell struck oil in the village of Oloibiri in 1956.

The illegal oil bunkerers joined in the oil rush, every senior military officer posted to the Eastern, and Western zones became stakeholders and shareholders. They employed and armed thugs to protect their illegal bunkering and the thugs joined to vandalize oil pipelines, siphon crude oil and smuggled truckloads of the oil to their black market as their criminal employers sold the stolen barges of oil to foreign oil smugglers offshore, in the Bight of Bonny and beyond.

The military regimes from 1979 to 1999 were all implicated in the illegal bunkering of crude oil and illegal sales of oil concessions. And if the truth must be told, the military administrators in Nigeria from 1979 to 1999 should arraigned and prosecuted for their engagements in illegal oil bunkering and illegal sales of oil blocks in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Recommended reading: “Leadership and the Development of the Urhobo Nation” by Prof. Andrew G. Onokerhoraye. Published in The Guardian of Nigeria on July 18, 2003.

Dear Americans,

"Enlighten the people, generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like spirits at the dawn of day."

~ Thomas Jefferson

Who are the terrorists?

What engenders terrorism?

Watching the CNN is no good therapy for a troubled soul. Because the breaking news of suicide bombings and lunatics going on rampage to shoot and kill innocent school children and college students only worsen the nightmares. But I cannot be lamenting over the reign of terror in the Middle East and forget that terror also torments us in Nigeria.

My revolutionary kinsmen in the Niger Delta have been branded terrorists as well.

This happened when they threatened to blow up all the oil and gas refineries and tankers. They made breaking news on CNN.

They were branded terrorists and to make the label justified, the news mentioned their leader who is an Islamic convert, Alhaji Moajid Asari Dokubo. But, the CNN did not report when the Nigerian government sent armed forces to terrorize the villages in the Niger Delta and houses were razed, people were killed and women were raped.

I was once a refugee child in Nigeria. So, I can relate with the agonies from my own experience. And I have a grown up cousin who is a product of a Nigerian soldier raping one of my aunts. She is black and beautiful. Her mother is now dead. And we don't mention the circumstances of her birth. And we also don't mention how her mother died. Her husband beat her to death.

Most people don't understand it when I lament about all these issues.

They are not fiction.

Before the Cookie Crumbles

Let me tell you my story.

The story of my agony.

Even as my spirit grumbles.

I have warned of the looming dangers of civil disobedience in Nigeria. Because, I have been on location in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where I have witnessed the lawlessness of the Federal Government of Nigeria in the persistent violations of the fundamental human rights of the people of the Niger Delta region.

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief. Olusegun Obasanjo has no respect for the Rule of Law and also indulges in corrupt practices while pretending to combat corruption. The President has so many proxies fronting for him and his corrupt political party, the so-called Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the largest political party in Africa and also the most corrupt. The PDP is more despotic than democratic and the hallmarks of the PDP are Nepotism, Thuggery, Misadministration, Misappropriation, Bribery and Corruption in all the sectors of the government. And the criminal agents and proxies of the ruling party continue in their corrupt practices with impunity. While their chieftain goes about in the masquerade of Anti-Corruption. But, the international community is not fooled by such hypocrisy and the gullibility of the majority of the citizens of Nigeria who are mostly the poor masses without any form of empowerment to challenge the corrupt ruling party. The tragic occurrences of politically motivated assassinations and riots since 1999 to date have made the international community to question the legitimacy of the ruling party and to doubt the credibility of the Nigerian government.

The international community knows most of the corrupt Nigerian State governors with foreign bank accounts in America and Europe and the various foreign investments procured with stolen money from Nigeria. And they have been using these misappropriated funds to purchase real estate in exclusive High Brow locations in the UK, US and other parts of the world. They also use proxies to buy up Lions Shares in various banks in Nigeria.

I have had the opportunities of direct and indirect relationships with many of these corrupt rulers of Nigeria from 1987 to date. So, I have been following their trail for years. I don't know any of the so called Nigerian billionaires that could be innocent of corruption, because all of them are government contractors and none of the major government contractors in Nigeria is innocent of the crimes of bribery and corruption in Nigeria. Including all the Telecom operators and their multinational collaborators and the multinational oil and gas companies and their Nigerian collaborators. If they were in China or Japan, they would have been arrested and convicted. But, in Nigeria, they are the lords of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. A conference of Criminals in power and the President of Nigeria is their Chairman.

The President is also the leading extortionist and also the Minister of Tourism and Petroleum resources among other questionable positions. He has his fingers dipped and soiled in so many pies in Nigeria. And he continues with shameless effrontery and debauchery.

Investigations have shown that the government has failed to serve the best interests of the majority of Nigerians and only serves the interest of the corrupt oligarchy controlling the reins of political power in Nigeria.

No amount of irresponsible posturing and hypocrisy can fool the international community, because they are well informed that we have No Confidence in the government of Nigeria.

How can you trust a President that habours one of the most notorious war criminals in the world named Charles Taylor, the wanted warlord from Liberia whom we know has fraudulent business relationships with some highly placed Nigerians who have decided to grant him safe refuge in Nigeria.

This present Nigerian government is even worse than the worst military government in the history of Nigeria.

The collapse of the public schools in Nigeria and the terrible state of the medical facilities and deplorable services have made the majority of the people to feel depressed and irresponsible. Because the indignities of poverty have reduced the value of human life in Nigeria with the falling standards of modern education, health care, civil service and governance.

The government is not a democracy, but an oligarchy controlled my private contractors and their multinational collaborators that are exploiting both the mineral resources and human resources in Nigeria for their own selfish aggrandizement and bourgeois establishment.

I have to speak the truth and damn the wrath of the enemies of human progress.
I reject the corruption of democracy and governance in Nigeria. And I reject the perpetrators of the evils plaguing Nigeria. The sooner they leave the corridors of power, the better Nigerians would be.

Where there is no justice, there will be no peace.

In the Western world, they say that ignorance is bliss

But in Africa we say ignorance kills.

The majority of the employees of the Royal Dutch Shell Overseas are more interested in collecting their fat salaries than in social responsibility in the host communities. And the corrupt kleptocratic governments of the host communities have made matters worse by plundering the natural resources of the host communities and squandering the revenue allocations and accruing profits from crude oil and gas exports since when the Royal Dutch Shell first struck its commercial oil well in Nigeria in 1956, at Olobiri now in Bayelsa State in the Niger Delta region to date.

The ignorance of these facts and mercantile conspiracy by the multinational oil companies and corrupt governments in underdeveloped oil producing countries have only aggravated the critical conflicts of interests over the years and these abuse and misuse of power and control of natural resources have been most pronounced in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

When I approached Tell Shell with my honest to God daily reports of the bloody conflicts of the terrorist militias on rampage in Port Harcourt, Yenogua and Warri in 2004 and proposed the production of a feature documentary film Winds of Fire, Winds of Change: New Dawn in the Niger Delta, Tell Shell was cordially receptive to the highly laudable and beneficial public enlightenment project to address the persistent problems of the host communities from the grassroots and Yaabari.was communicating with me until the Smart Alecs at Shell thought they had better and wiser ideas.

Then, when the ruling government tricked and arrested and detained Asari Dokubo over his confrontational outbursts in the Nigerian Press, I told them that they must release him or there would be breakdown of law and order in the Niger Delta, they all ignored me and thought they had the upper hand since they have captured Asari Dokubo.

I am a non-violent Christian pacifist and I have been talking to my hot-headed brothers in the Niger Delta to address our grievances and agitations in peace and cooperation with Shell and the other multinational oil companies operating in our communities. And Asari Dokubo was very cooperative until the ignorant, arrogant and inefficient authorities of the Nigerian government arrested him and detained him and arraigned him on ambiguous and erroneous charges of treasonable felony along with some leaders of the other secessionist movements of the micro nations of the Odua Peoples' Congress (OPC) and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSO. But the government later released the leaders of the OPC and still detained Asari Dokubo and MASSOB Leader Barrister Ralph Uwazuruike and his comrades who are all from the South of Nigeria. Whereas the Yoruba President of Nigeria let go the Yoruba leaders of the OPC. Showing his nepotism and partiality in his persistent violations of the Rule of Law.

I am here living on Bonny Island and I know that we have more than NDPVF and MEND. There is the Niger Delta Revolution Army (NDRA) that is even more lethal than NDPVF and MEND. And the NDRA is waiting in the wings to swing into action whenever the emergency demands such an expediency in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.

The solution to the catastrophic problem in the volatile Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been addressed in this letter.

Ignorance kills.

I have been traumatized to the point of becoming a suicide bomber in the Niger Delta. To blow myself up with all the oil and gas refineries and gas plants. And put an end to the nightmares. Because, these oil and gas resources have done us more harm than good. Thousands have been killed in pipeline explosions, tribal wars over oil wells and government forces going on rampage in our villages over illegal oil bunkering. So, I was fed up. But, I have not done so, because of the fear of God. And to believe in the hope I have in my faith in God. Hoping for divine intervention. Otherwise, it would have happened. So, I am a victim of terrorism. This is my story and this is my agony..

I am now a peacemaker simply for the same reasons mentioned above.

War makes the crisis worse. So, let us make peace from the living room to the street. But, this seems like an elusive dream, because the weapons of war are still being manufactured and we are the guinea pigs of their experiments.

The violent acts of terrorism on the streets of New York and in Soweto claim over 11,000 lives every year.

The UN should have insisted on making peace between America and Iraq and we would have been saved from the horrors we watch everyday on our TV screens and computer monitors.

The innocent men and women would have been saved the horrible death of beheadings.

Yet the UN is running helter-skelter over Uzbekistan and Sudan?

When, worst massacres happened in Nigeria in several villages in the Niger Delta only last year. And the Nigerian government and her Western Masters covered up the crimes from the eyes of the world press? There were over 10,000 refugees in Nigeria last year. And there are still hundreds who are wandering without any roof over their heads in Nigeria. They have become emergency refugees in their own country. And some people want me to close my eyes and stick my forefingers into my ears and shut my mouth? But, I can still hear the echoes of the blood of the innocent victims of the evil tyrants crying out for justice like the blood of Abel.

Should I accept such double standards and hypocrisies? And clap my hands for the US and NATO and the UN?

I would rather commit suicide than be silent and watch the innocent writhe in the torment of tyranny.

May God help us to be more honest, just and sincere to ourselves in love, peace and unity.

Who Can Put Out The Greek Fire in the Niger Delta?

What happened last Sunday in Port Harcourt sent millions of the residents into hiding in fear and trembling as unidentified gunmen went on rampage in the oil city and when the gunsmoke cleared, over 20 people were found dead from gunshots. The so called Task Force of the Operation Restore Hope of the Nigerian Armed Forces failed to show up to protect precious lives and properties and the Nigerian Police Force had no courage to face the daring gunmen as they caused mayhem in Port Hharcourt.

The people know the government cannot protect them. Because, the newly inaugurated government of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is even at the mercy of the various armed groups roaming the state.

The recently released Asari Dokubo, the leader of the Niger Delta People Volunteer Force (NDPVF is still trying to regain the leadership he lost when he was arrested and detained since September 2005 to June 2007. Many waters have passed under the Niger Bridge whilst he was in detention for treasonable felony. New leaders have taken over the reins of power in control of the lawless militant groups in the Niger Delta. The leading group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has threatened to end their truce Tuesday July 3, 2007, and resume their violent attacks on multinational oil companies operating in the region, because the new administration of the ruling PDP seems to be as unrepentant as the last administration.

The Niger Delta crisis will continue until the criminals in power stop pouring more fuel in the flames of crude oil politics.

I saw the headlines on the transition of Sembène Ousmane (January 1, 1923 — June 9, 2007) on Saturday June 9, 2007. He died after a protracted illness. But I have delayed reporting it, because such a great man deserves a full report on his successful life.

Sembène Ousmane was a legend in Senegal and the rest of Africa. He was a great writer, but he was more recognised for his classic films.

Sembène Ousmane began filmmaking when he was nearly 40 in the 1960s, because he knew that movies would make more impact on the larger populations of Africans than writings, since the majority of Africans cannot read and African oral literature would be more appreciated in motion pictures.

Sembène Ousmane's first feature "Black Girl" (1965), is still regarded as the first African film.
He made other films such as "Mandabi" ("The Money Order," 1968), "Emitai" (1972), "Xala" (1974), rated as his best film and one of the classics of the African cinema, "Guelwaar" (1993) and "Faat-Kine" (2001).

He won prizes at the Venice Film Festival in 1968 (for "Mandabi") and 1988 (for "Camp de Thiaroye"), and at Cannes in 2004 (for "Moolaade"). He was a founder, in 1969 of FESPACO, the biennial festival of film and television held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Read the full report.
http://forum.nigeriantimesinternational.com/index.php?topic=1337.0

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and Vice President Goodluck Jonathan were university lecturers before dumping their academic gowns for Nigerian politics. And millions of their old boys expect the best things to begin to happen to Nigerian education, because of these two former academics that are now in power. That is why they are not surprised that President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua is going to end the three months old strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The pragmatic measures of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua ended the last nationwide workers strike and he is employing the same pragmatic approach to end the protracted ASUU strike.

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua knows the cause of disagreement between the government and Nigerian university lecturers, because he had been through similar trials and tribulations of Nigerian academics in the past. And it would be unfortunate if he fails to end their plight.

The terrible state of Nigerian universities can be traced to the ignorance of previous leaders who misappropriated the revenue allocations meant for the sustainable development of higher institutions in Nigeria and neglected the welfare of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Nigerian universities have been relegated to bottom of the accredited universities in the world. No Nigerian university is even rated among the best 1, 000 universities in the world. And only one Nigerian university ranked among the top 50 universities in Africa at the 44th position.
Nigerian administrators neglected Nigerian universities, sent their children to the best colleges and universities in America and the UK, and then misappropriated revenues to establish private universities. But none of their private universities made the list of the best universities in the world in the latest global rankings. And the best private university, the Christian Covenant University is at the bottom of the rungs in Africa at the 98th Position..

The Nigerian Tribune reported on June 17, 2007, that many stakeholders are calling for the
"De-unionization of university lecturers as a way of saving the nation’s ivory towers from incessant strike actions.” But the leadership of ASUU disagreed that strike actions have stymied the advancement of Nigerian academic institutions.

“I think we should ask ourselves this pertinent question. Do we want to produce graduates for the sake of doing so or we want to produce quality graduates? In the latest ranking of world universities, no Nigerian university made the list of the first 1,000 in the world. This is because of the rot in the system. The government should address the issue and rid the system of the rot. Proscribing ASUU will not solve the problem,” said Dr. Suleiman Kano, ASUU President.

“It is very disappointing that some people are saying that university lecturers be de-unionized. We are not fighting for our comfort; we are fighting for an improved society. This is a country where the government itself says we need 47,000 university lecturers, now we have 16,000. What are we doing about getting the balance? Good students do not want to join academic staff, they prefer to work elsewhere. Many medical students do not get to see, let alone use, the equipment they will need when they start practice. What kind of graduates are we producing?” Dr. Suleiman told the Nigerian Tribune.

The ASUU strike is in the best interest of Nigerian education.

President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and the ASUU President, Dr. Suleiman Kano are both well educated to address the academic crisis and save Nigerian universities from total collapse.

By Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima
The Publisher/Editor-in-Chief
Nigerian Times International
http://www.nigeriantimesinternational.com

Nigeria: Nationwide Strike Challenges the Legitimacy of New President

The new administration of President Omar Yar’Adua of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is now at the mercy of the trade unions as the nationwide strike against hikes in the prices of petroleum products and Value Added Tax (VAT) enters the third day Friday. The government has already conceded to suspend the increase of VAT, but has not reverted to the old price of N65 per litre of gasoline. And the leadership of the striking trade unions has insisted on the old price of N65 per litre. The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar and President of the Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Peter Esele, said the industrial action would continue until the Federal Government reverts pump price of petrol from N75 to N65.

The NLC and TUC have won the support of the majority of the population. And they issued a joint press statement to commend Nigerians for the high level of compliance, mass support, and participation across the 36 states and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

"In particular, we commend the peaceful conduct of workers and other members of the public during the strike, pickets and other protest activities in various parts of the Country.
We also commend the manifest civility demonstrated by the Police in the ongoing general strike/mass protests. This is a marked departure from the excessive high-handedness, which Police had displayed in the past.

"We also condemn the reported deployment of officers and men of the Army and Navy to operate fuel depots and other purely civil infrastructures for which they have no mandate.

"Over all, the NLC and TUC remain disappointed by the apparent indifference of the Federal Government to the popular wishes of the people by returning the price of petrol to N65 per litre.

"In this regard, we wish to remind President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua that the generality of Nigerians expect him to muster the will to return the price of petrol to N65 per litre, as he had in respect of kerosene and diesel.

"We again call on President Yar'Adua to live up to his promise to be a listening President and a servant-leader, who would provide succor and comfort to a people. By implication, these commitments obviously mean a lot to a people battered by eight years of punitive neo-liberal reforms.

"President Yar'Adua's silence and failure to return the price to N65 is capable of being construed as a repudiation of his promised commitment to be a listening and compassionate President and a servant of the people.

"Consequently, silence and indifference to the popular demand for a return of the price of petrol to N65 as was done to other products is not in consonance with the above commitments.

"As the strike reaches its third day tomorrow, (today) Friday, June 22, 2007, the NLC, TUC and the Joint Action forum (JAF) would continue to provide leadership for the peaceful conduct of the action. All offices, filling stations, schools, markets, business premises etc will remain closed. Sensitive utilities like water and electricity may be completely shut down.

"In furtherance of our commitment to patriotism and stability of the polity, we remain open to meaningful and result-oriented dialogue."

The government has accused the NLC and civil rights groups of politicizing the issues raised over the hikes in the pump price of fuel, VAT and workers welfare. Because, the NLC and allied bodies publicly rejected the controversial results of the last presidential election and refused to support the inauguration of the new government of the brazenly corrupt ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of Nigeria.

The disputes over the hikes in the VAT and pump price of gasoline products were caused by the last President, the unpopular Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who had increased VAT and the pump price of petrol without following the due process. And with only a week to the end of his administration, he quickly sold off the Kaduna and Port Harcourt refineries to two of his cronies and sold other priced government assets to his proxies and political supporters. But the troubles of the new President, Alhaji Omar Yar’Adua started when he decided to continue with the unpopular political and economic legacies of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Voice Of America reported Friday, that Mr. Bernard Ugbi, the Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria National Union of Petroleum and Gas Workers warned that things could get far worse by Friday.
“We just hope that the government will see reason with labor and come to terms with the demands of labor. But if not, it is escalating, and it would be so difficult if it enters into the weekend because right now all filling stations all over the country are being shut down. It then means that the whole streets will be empty. And even the banks are being closed down. And so, these are the effects that will come if the government does not come to terms with labor. In fact, you have the National Union of Electricity Employees. They are the ones that handle electricity. You have the amalgamated workers’ union who are handling water areas. So all those areas, they will shut down,” Ugbi said in an interview with the VOA.

The nationwide strike has crippled business activities as public schools, public offices, banks, and most private businesses have been closed. Some public taxis and transport buses are still running with some local and international flights. But many flights have been postponed or cancelled. Economists say Nigeria will be losing about N50.5-billion daily until the strike ends.

I am going to post my news articles and features on the last elections in Nigeria, religious conflicts and other affairs.

Nigeria: Mass Protests Against Marred Elections On May Day

Tue, 2007-05-01 08:04.

But international observers said that even Zimbabwe had better elections than Nigeria. So, the international community will be on tenterhooks as Nigerian masses march out Tuesday, to protest against the massively rigged elections of last April.

Today May 1, 2007, the Coalition of Opposition Political Parties (COPP), civil liberties groups, and labour unions in Nigeria will march on the streets to protest against the massively rigged April polls. But the police chiefs have warned them not to have any political rally or march anywhere in Nigeria.

The international community is already traumatized by the spate of attacks and kidnappings of foreign oil workers in the Niger Delta and thousands of them have fled Nigeria in fear. And they would not want to witness anymore-violent threats to their commercial interests and welfare in Nigeria. Any outbreak of violence in Nigeria ironically, has adverse affects on America and Britain, because of their huge investments in the country and Nigerians fleeing from crisis often end up as illegal immigrants in the US and the U.K. Nigeria is the fifth largest oil supplier to the US and second largest supplier of liquefied natural gas in the world That is why America and most Western European countries have been rather complacent in their criticisms of the violent April elections. And Britain has been the most hypocritical by condemning the stage-managed elections in Zimbabwe, because of the tyranny of President Robert Mugabe, but compromising in her response to the widely criticized flawed elections in Nigeria. But international observers said that even Zimbabwe had better elections than Nigeria. So, the international community will be on tenterhooks as Nigerian masses march out Tuesday, to protest against the massively rigged elections of last April.

Many leaders of the opposition parties met last Monday and resolved to go ahead with the mass protests on May Day, but they said the political protests would be peaceful.

Nigeria: Asari Dokubo Halts Kidnappings, But FG Fails To Halt Nationwide Strike

The Nigerian government and the multinational oil companies sighed with relief as the released Niger Delta freedom fighter,Asari Dokubo halts kidnappings and terrorist attacks in the Niger Delta. But the newly established government of President Omar Yar'Adua fails to halt the nationwide strike by the trade unions under the umbrella of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).

It is unfortunate for a newly inaugurated government to be threatened by a nationwide industrial strike.

The new government of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) continues to prove that the common welfare of the majority of the population is not important to the ruling class. Because, the hike in the pump price of fuel, the increase in the VAT and poor wages have confirmed that the government is not concerned about the welfare of the poor masses, but to continue the exploitation and extortion of the Nigerian labourers.

The success of the strike shows that the majority of the citizens of Nigeria will not support any plutucracy or oligarchy, whether civilian or military.

The ruling class must not be allowed to continue the exploitation of Nigerian labourers in the public or private sector. Therefore, I am in total support of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) in the general industrial strike to save Nigeria from the iron hands in velvet gloves.

Nigerian Female Bloggers Are Making Waves in the Blogosphere!

Suddenly more Nigerian babes and ladies are blogging and making the Nigerian blogosphere sizzling with hot posts. And they are attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors.

Most of their blogs are what I call scuttlebutt blogs or daily social gist and tidbits blogs. And Bella Naija leads the pack, followed by Linda Ikeji and company. Adaure is still in a world of her own, because she is like the Oprah Winfrey of the Nigerian blogosphere in her subject matters. Queen Ebong and others are still exciting and thrilling.

The most profiled Nigerian female blogger still remains Sokari Ekine of Black Looks.. And Funmi Iyanda would be more enlightened if she spends some quality time with Sokari.

There are Nigerian female bloggers as young as 11.

There are over 400 Nigerian bloggers and quite a small number for a nation of over 140 million people. Even South Africa and Kenya have more bloggers than Nigeria. There are over 5 million Nigerians in America, UK, and other developed countries with more advanced Internet services, but only an insignificant number of them are blogging. The professionals among them do not have websites like the American and European professionals. Even lawyers, medical doctors, and engineers are blogging in the developed countries while the Nigerian professionals are missing in action. Why? Some sources said most Nigerians in developed countries are actually illegal immigrants who prefer to avoid public exposure, lest the immigration authorities would discover them and none of them wants to be deported.

I want to see more Nigerians blogging, even if they are gossip blogs, they would be worth visiting and reading 24/7.

You can monitor and evaluate Nigerian blogs on Nigerian Weblog Ring and Nigerian Blogs Aggregator.

N.B:
The author is the most prolific and most popular Nigerian writing online with over 5 websites and over 24 blogs. He is the author of four books, a member of Online News Association (ONA), Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle (CLSC) and many other associations and organisations. He is the founder of Citizen Journalists Association of Nigeria (CJAN), Publisher/Editor of Nigerian Times International and President/CEO of King of Kings Books International