Tuesday, October 31, 2006
The Rail Project : Issues Arising
Nigeria yesterday signed an $8 billion contract with CCECC, a Chinese firm to " design, construct and maintain " a new rail system in the country.I have some questions though.Is this not the same company that was contracted to do the same job(maybe under the name "revitalise") under Abacha( ???Abdulsalami???).Was this company contracted because their country granted Nigeria a $2.5 billion loan most of which will go into the rail project anyway?. Is this not going to be another white elephant project? Why did the current administration wait this long (till its about leaving power) to embark on such a huge project..just like the National Integrated Power Project! I hope this is not just another avenue to siphon money out of the nation's purse, especially now that the elections are drawing nearer and funds are needed to prosecute a successful campaign.Honestly, i look forward to a realisation of the ideals of the project...because now that airplanes are dropping out of the sky like pigeon poops, there is a real chance that a fast and efficient rail system can be a refreshing alternative to air travel.Forgive my pessimism if you feel am a pessimist.Am not.Am a realist!
Monday, October 30, 2006
Another Sad Day!
Its another sad day for the country.I oftentimes wonder whether these sad times will ever end.Will we have to live with preventable calamities till Christ comes?If its not a sad day for democracy, it will be a sad day for journalism, or for free speech, or for our sports( this is usually after our team loses due to haphazard preparations),or for the judiciary (this is becoming frequent these days)or for our aviation industry.I could go on.... A close look at all the sad days shows that they are simply avoidable. If only those that are meant to do their jobs simply do just that...their jobs.Airbus and the European avaition industry had to phase out the Concorde just because of one crash.The American immigration system had to undergo strident changes just because of one terrorist attack.Prime Ministers and Presidents had had to resign just because of a slight mistake that many a Nigerian would gleefully shout at his rooftop "its not my fault".If an airline keeps on killing people via crashes, i say let it be grounded until it puts its acts right.If we have to kill the indigenious aviation industry because its a demand that they will run on new planes, then i say let us kill it.
How many places in the world do planes crash because they were struck by lightening? How many? Na our weather bad pass? What about the English, Chinese and South Asia weather patterns? Do we have tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones and what have you here? Sometimes i just kneel down and thank God that we dont because had it been we had these system, virtually all our tragedies would be ascribed to them.Sometime ago,grieving mothers were bruatlly molested on the streets of Lagos for protesting about the incessant crashes.Its just as if they were Prophets...Prophets of Doom.This is one crash too many.I am tired in the heart and my heart really goes out to the families of the victims.I cant even think of the fact that the late Sultan was coming from an Education parley called by Baba.He died for our good!Sunday’s crash came barely 42 days after a military aircraft on its way to Obudu, Cross River State had crashed in Benue State, killing 13 military topshots, including 10 Army generals. It is Nigeria’s fourth fatal crash in barely 12 months since Bellview crash of October 22, 2005 in which 117 passengers and crew lost their lives. On December, 10 last year, a Sosoliso flight from Abuja to Port Harcourt crashed, killing 108 persons.
Let those that have the responsibility to act, act.And fast too!Enough of these excuses! Enough of these cutting corners! Enough of these sad days!
How many places in the world do planes crash because they were struck by lightening? How many? Na our weather bad pass? What about the English, Chinese and South Asia weather patterns? Do we have tornadoes, hurricanes, cyclones and what have you here? Sometimes i just kneel down and thank God that we dont because had it been we had these system, virtually all our tragedies would be ascribed to them.Sometime ago,grieving mothers were bruatlly molested on the streets of Lagos for protesting about the incessant crashes.Its just as if they were Prophets...Prophets of Doom.This is one crash too many.I am tired in the heart and my heart really goes out to the families of the victims.I cant even think of the fact that the late Sultan was coming from an Education parley called by Baba.He died for our good!Sunday’s crash came barely 42 days after a military aircraft on its way to Obudu, Cross River State had crashed in Benue State, killing 13 military topshots, including 10 Army generals. It is Nigeria’s fourth fatal crash in barely 12 months since Bellview crash of October 22, 2005 in which 117 passengers and crew lost their lives. On December, 10 last year, a Sosoliso flight from Abuja to Port Harcourt crashed, killing 108 persons.
Let those that have the responsibility to act, act.And fast too!Enough of these excuses! Enough of these cutting corners! Enough of these sad days!
Friday, October 27, 2006
People Impeachin' People!
Another case of people impeaching people in Anambra's House of Assembly.Its now 10 impeaching 14.Wow.Nigerian democrazy na wa!Abeg i no get their time again.These politicians and their ways sef!
Monday, October 23, 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
The Quest and The Question!
I had wanted to continue from where i stopped as regards the happenings in Ekiti and other states in Nigeria, but my senses have been benumbed by the pace of events in the past week.Somehow, my opinions seems to have been overtaken too..so i will just sit back, post a poem i wrote on a day i was thinking about the futility of all these....and visit blogs! But before i leave, i would want to ask this question!
Should we accept the foisting of illegalities as typified by the blatant disregard for the constitution each time a governor is impeached just because we are fed of with the corruption of our public officials?Think about it and tell me what your opinion is.
Its a pity those Chelseans won....Sad,Sad day for Barcelona! But i believe they would get their pound of flesh from Chelsea at the Nou Camp...Think about this piece of poetry..
RIGHTEOUSNESS
What gains our righteousness?
If the sound of death's toll
Confirm not the redemption of our soul
But rather our life's uselessness
If we pretend to be
Then confess not our dark deeds
And sow not good seeds
Then our filthiness we do not see
'Tis the liason in the dark alley
Or that silent little deceit
That calls for retribution's visit
And exposes our life's folly
What gains our righteousness?
If we tarry for the Coming
On a bright celestial morning
And then be found wanting for holiness?
Endi
Port Harcourt
July 2006
Should we accept the foisting of illegalities as typified by the blatant disregard for the constitution each time a governor is impeached just because we are fed of with the corruption of our public officials?Think about it and tell me what your opinion is.
Its a pity those Chelseans won....Sad,Sad day for Barcelona! But i believe they would get their pound of flesh from Chelsea at the Nou Camp...Think about this piece of poetry..
RIGHTEOUSNESS
What gains our righteousness?
If the sound of death's toll
Confirm not the redemption of our soul
But rather our life's uselessness
If we pretend to be
Then confess not our dark deeds
And sow not good seeds
Then our filthiness we do not see
'Tis the liason in the dark alley
Or that silent little deceit
That calls for retribution's visit
And exposes our life's folly
What gains our righteousness?
If we tarry for the Coming
On a bright celestial morning
And then be found wanting for holiness?
Endi
Port Harcourt
July 2006
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Mr Ban and other Tales!
Why? why?? why??? was the question that kept on invading my mind two mornings ago just after i heard the news.This is a blog i had wanted to keep for more personal purposes,..u know the usual "girl-boy-jilt-breakup-makeup-bus-incident-story-rest o' the-shit" stuff. But here i am again dabbling into politics once again.Even after swearing to myself i wasnt gonna visit this turf again! And this is what roped me into the show once more...
Just a few days ago, the Ekiti State House Of Assembly impeached the Governor on mostly corruption charges....Oops, i have to run for the Chelsea vs Barca match...Mission? Enjoy a fine match and watch the Chelseans cry! That would make my night....I'll continue with my take on the Ekiti and Plateau saga when i come online again.
Just an offline to Mr Ban Ki Moon, the new UN Sec Gen...Please Mr Moon, as you go about trying fighting HIV/AIDS, wars, famine,diseases, nuke-totting-dictators, spur-of-the-moment-invaders of territories,religious i-no-greeisms, etc....Please we in Africa see, and cherish our Moon.Its light comes to us via a smog free sky.Pleaseee Mr Ban Ki-Moon, dont Ban the Moon!
Just a few days ago, the Ekiti State House Of Assembly impeached the Governor on mostly corruption charges....Oops, i have to run for the Chelsea vs Barca match...Mission? Enjoy a fine match and watch the Chelseans cry! That would make my night....I'll continue with my take on the Ekiti and Plateau saga when i come online again.
Just an offline to Mr Ban Ki Moon, the new UN Sec Gen...Please Mr Moon, as you go about trying fighting HIV/AIDS, wars, famine,diseases, nuke-totting-dictators, spur-of-the-moment-invaders of territories,religious i-no-greeisms, etc....Please we in Africa see, and cherish our Moon.Its light comes to us via a smog free sky.Pleaseee Mr Ban Ki-Moon, dont Ban the Moon!
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
The Man "Sunday Adelaja"!
I heard it in the news, i read it in the blogs, he's everywhere, he's in Ukraine,he's changing the way they think,worship, live and the way they see God.Some call him rabble-rousing, demon-possessed,charlatan and derogatetrily call his young and dynamic female worshippers "boobs shakers".But i tell you, he is one hell of a Nigerian.And i am proud of him...even if (God forbid) he is using the Revd. King style (which i dont think he is)..i am still proud of him.Sunday Adelaja made my week. For being the real Nigerian who conquers against all the odds, who is never inhibited by prejudice and stereotypes.But they are here again..the hawks and this is what they are saying about him.Read about him...
"KIEV, Ukraine -- Pastor Sunday Adelaja, a Nigerian preacher, understands why some in Ukraine are suspicious of him.
He's black in a nation where racism is blatant, Pentecostal in a country considered the cradle of Russian Orthodoxy, and a foreigner whose lively, conversational preaching style -- punctuated by pompom girls and electric keyboards -- stands out from the subdued, centuries-old practices of Ukraine's traditional faiths.
But the 39-year-old preacher laughs at critics who suspect black magic, hypnotism, brainwashing and even hallucinogenic drugs explain the hundreds of bopping, clapping white worshippers who fill his converted sports hall every Sunday.
By delivering a you-can-do-it message of hope and redemption -- along with such direct help as free meals and addiction counseling -- The Embassy of The Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations church has ballooned from a ministry for society's troubled into this ex-Soviet republic's first true megachurch, claiming a membership of 25,000 people.
The church, informally called God's Embassy, boasts a TV ministry and plans for a $15 million church stadium, and aims to reach 5 million people -- 10 percent of Ukraine's population -- with its message of salvation.
Adelja's church has dispatched missionaries to Western Europe and the United States, and is eying China. Kiev's new mayor, Leonid Chernovetsky, is a member. Many analysts credit the church's get-out-the-vote efforts with his surprise win in March over a two-term incumbent and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko.
"I knew it would grow, I just never knew it would grow to this extent . . . in a way it is unexplainable," said Adelaja, who came to the then-Soviet Union to study journalism but was inspired by a dream to establish a church.
Adelaja's church is part of a Pentecostal movement that has flourished in Ukraine, which has been more politically and culturally open to new faiths than some of its other ex-Soviet neighbors, even as the dominant Orthodox faith has looked on warily.
Ukraine has long been an important religious center. Legend says the Apostle Andrew traveled the Kiev hills overlooking the Dnieper River, planting a cross and prophesying that someday, churches would be sprinkled over the landscape. Some 900 years later, a Slavic prince marched the population into the water to baptize them into the Christian faith.
While the Russian Orthodox Church made its base in Moscow, more than half of its registered churches were in Ukraine, including its most sacred monastery. But after the Soviet Union's breakup, the Orthodox church in Ukraine splintered, weakening its influence.
"I don't think there is the assumption that because you live in Ukraine, you must go to a particular Orthodox church . . . that makes it very different from Russia," said Felix Corley, editor of Forum 18, a group that promotes religious freedom. "Orthodoxy is very pluralistic in Ukraine. There is not one dominant church overshadowing everybody else."
That has given other faiths more confidence, and Ukrainians more choice.
The non-governmental Religious Information Service of Ukraine estimated that some 60 percent of Ukrainians still identify with one of the Orthodox churches, and Protestant churches account for less than 1 million believers.
But the Pentecostals' increased visibility has the traditional faiths nervous. Patriarch Filaret, who heads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate, said he had written a letter to the new mayor "expressing fear that this sect will only become stronger with his election."
At Adelaja's church, the mainly young congregants come early for the three-hour service to mill around tables set up in the back that offer everything from specialized training programs to legal counsel.
Men whose knuckles are stamped with prison tattoos brush shoulders with young Ukrainians such as Anna Chizhebska who came with her husband and two children looking for an anchor amid the increasing materialism of Ukrainian society.
"I think a lot of people are searching right now," she said. Her husband, Serhiy, added: "Everyone is seeking peace, a sense of how to live." Both pledged to return.
The gregarious Adelaja, who addresses the congregants in accented Russian, pushes the audience to interact with him, trying to break through their customary wariness about revealing too much of themselves. Adelaja said he is trying to teach the congregants that religion "can be used to solve problems in their daily lives."
"In many ways, it is simple common sense," said Konstantyn Permylenko, as he quietly read a Bible in a corner of the sports hall while other members huddled in small groups, their hands laid on one another in prayer.
Despite his popularity, skeptics continue to question Adelaja.
He's been accused of using the church as a moneymaking venture and investigated by a medical commission to ensure that he wasn't claiming to be performing medical miracles on stage.
So when Kiev's Mayor Chernovetsky recently invited the Orthodox patriarch -- rather than Adelaja -- to bless the city government buildings, the Nigerian pastor shrugged off the snub.
"Kiev is the motherland of the Orthodox church, it is a cultural thing to be Orthodox and people feel it is a disgrace and insult to have a Protestant mayor who goes to a black man's church," he said. "If you are a white politician, you have to cool that down . . . but let me tell you, he'll be here on Sundays."
Chernovetsky was.
Now tell me what you think of him!CLICK HERE
to read more about him
"KIEV, Ukraine -- Pastor Sunday Adelaja, a Nigerian preacher, understands why some in Ukraine are suspicious of him.
He's black in a nation where racism is blatant, Pentecostal in a country considered the cradle of Russian Orthodoxy, and a foreigner whose lively, conversational preaching style -- punctuated by pompom girls and electric keyboards -- stands out from the subdued, centuries-old practices of Ukraine's traditional faiths.
But the 39-year-old preacher laughs at critics who suspect black magic, hypnotism, brainwashing and even hallucinogenic drugs explain the hundreds of bopping, clapping white worshippers who fill his converted sports hall every Sunday.
By delivering a you-can-do-it message of hope and redemption -- along with such direct help as free meals and addiction counseling -- The Embassy of The Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations church has ballooned from a ministry for society's troubled into this ex-Soviet republic's first true megachurch, claiming a membership of 25,000 people.
The church, informally called God's Embassy, boasts a TV ministry and plans for a $15 million church stadium, and aims to reach 5 million people -- 10 percent of Ukraine's population -- with its message of salvation.
Adelja's church has dispatched missionaries to Western Europe and the United States, and is eying China. Kiev's new mayor, Leonid Chernovetsky, is a member. Many analysts credit the church's get-out-the-vote efforts with his surprise win in March over a two-term incumbent and former heavyweight boxing champion Vitali Klitschko.
"I knew it would grow, I just never knew it would grow to this extent . . . in a way it is unexplainable," said Adelaja, who came to the then-Soviet Union to study journalism but was inspired by a dream to establish a church.
Adelaja's church is part of a Pentecostal movement that has flourished in Ukraine, which has been more politically and culturally open to new faiths than some of its other ex-Soviet neighbors, even as the dominant Orthodox faith has looked on warily.
Ukraine has long been an important religious center. Legend says the Apostle Andrew traveled the Kiev hills overlooking the Dnieper River, planting a cross and prophesying that someday, churches would be sprinkled over the landscape. Some 900 years later, a Slavic prince marched the population into the water to baptize them into the Christian faith.
While the Russian Orthodox Church made its base in Moscow, more than half of its registered churches were in Ukraine, including its most sacred monastery. But after the Soviet Union's breakup, the Orthodox church in Ukraine splintered, weakening its influence.
"I don't think there is the assumption that because you live in Ukraine, you must go to a particular Orthodox church . . . that makes it very different from Russia," said Felix Corley, editor of Forum 18, a group that promotes religious freedom. "Orthodoxy is very pluralistic in Ukraine. There is not one dominant church overshadowing everybody else."
That has given other faiths more confidence, and Ukrainians more choice.
The non-governmental Religious Information Service of Ukraine estimated that some 60 percent of Ukrainians still identify with one of the Orthodox churches, and Protestant churches account for less than 1 million believers.
But the Pentecostals' increased visibility has the traditional faiths nervous. Patriarch Filaret, who heads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate, said he had written a letter to the new mayor "expressing fear that this sect will only become stronger with his election."
At Adelaja's church, the mainly young congregants come early for the three-hour service to mill around tables set up in the back that offer everything from specialized training programs to legal counsel.
Men whose knuckles are stamped with prison tattoos brush shoulders with young Ukrainians such as Anna Chizhebska who came with her husband and two children looking for an anchor amid the increasing materialism of Ukrainian society.
"I think a lot of people are searching right now," she said. Her husband, Serhiy, added: "Everyone is seeking peace, a sense of how to live." Both pledged to return.
The gregarious Adelaja, who addresses the congregants in accented Russian, pushes the audience to interact with him, trying to break through their customary wariness about revealing too much of themselves. Adelaja said he is trying to teach the congregants that religion "can be used to solve problems in their daily lives."
"In many ways, it is simple common sense," said Konstantyn Permylenko, as he quietly read a Bible in a corner of the sports hall while other members huddled in small groups, their hands laid on one another in prayer.
Despite his popularity, skeptics continue to question Adelaja.
He's been accused of using the church as a moneymaking venture and investigated by a medical commission to ensure that he wasn't claiming to be performing medical miracles on stage.
So when Kiev's Mayor Chernovetsky recently invited the Orthodox patriarch -- rather than Adelaja -- to bless the city government buildings, the Nigerian pastor shrugged off the snub.
"Kiev is the motherland of the Orthodox church, it is a cultural thing to be Orthodox and people feel it is a disgrace and insult to have a Protestant mayor who goes to a black man's church," he said. "If you are a white politician, you have to cool that down . . . but let me tell you, he'll be here on Sundays."
Chernovetsky was.
Now tell me what you think of him!
to read more about him
Monday, October 09, 2006
Uncle Sam's Korea
Let them all have it!The powerful nations of the world are getting more reckless by the second..Little Bush's attack on Saddam's Country clearly illustrates that".I say his country because of the politico-cultural peculiarities of the Arab World..(strong dictatorial leadership or even monarchy).China,(hitherto subtle) is threatening the Zambians with hell just because an oppostion leader said he will curb Chinese excesses in the corruption ridden country.France destroyed the Air Force of Cote d'Ivoire just because a couple of their soldiers were killed in the Ivorien conflict.Russian is busy flexing its muscles in the Caucuses and threatening to spit fire at its neigbours (Georgia,Ukraine etc) if the stray too far from it line....the list goes on and on.If Nuclear capability is the deterent, then let them have it!.Honestly, i believe the acquiring of the Nuke by other formerly not-too-important-countries has made the World "Big Leaders" much tolerant...Had Nigeria had a Nuke or even a ballistic missile, Uncle Sam's warships wont be right there at our backyard.. just in case we misbehave (they say because we are of "strategic interest" to them.As a deterent, let us have them...they give meaning to the word "Diplomacy" because when these weapons are not there, its moreless "Bullycracy".If Uncle Sam is afraid of death, why manufacture death in the first place? As a toy to use in scare errant youths into obeisance? Or as a device for use in taming mankind...Whatever the aim was..it backfired, North Korea has it now and others will have it,its just a mtter of time...I will be back...Got to go now.
Do it, do it well!
Yesterday i witnessed something that left me dumbfounded and almost hopeless.I was at the venue of a bank Aptitude Test.What i saw was a shame and a disgrace!.To cut a long story short, the number of people invited for the test was way too much and there wasnt sufficient space for them.In the struggle that ensued when the hall was opened, a lot of people fainted....it was just terrible.Abeg, make we try to dey make things proper.Long tale cut short!
Friday, October 06, 2006
Night of the Long Knives
I am a pessimist when it comes to Nigerian politicians and their gimmicks! And somehow i believe the EFCC is an integral part of Baba's government which of course is run by politicians.And somehow, if you accuse me of being pessimistic ( though not incurably ) about the EFCC, then you are on a safe road.But i tell you, its like we are approaching the "Night of the long Knives" or is it "Days of the long Knives"...Days when the serpents will not know their ilk...days when the elephants will quarell and fight and we the grass will not suffer( infact we will be better off for it...And days when the politicians will wash their dirty linen in public with gusto...in a bid to undo and outdo each other...days when "i only ate so-so-and-so billions" instead of "my hands are clean" will be the norm.
We seem to be appraoching these time due to the activities of the EFCC.Kudos to you.Just like i said in my poem, let them run into the antholes( a supposedly uncomfortable place)..we will pursue them and of course catch them..let them wait and see.The night's just coming...Starting from Bayelsa, Ekiti, Plateau....we are counting.Let the politicians meet..after all they've been meeting... Embattled Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, seems to be sinking deeper into despair as three of his aides were on Wednesday arrested by the police over killings in the state.
Also, Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Chief Friday Aderemi, says that nothing would stop the removal of the governor from office.
This is coming at a time the national headquarters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has scheduled a meeting on Thursday to determine the fate of Fayose, who headed for the court to stop his impeachment.. Let them meet....
We seem to be appraoching these time due to the activities of the EFCC.Kudos to you.Just like i said in my poem, let them run into the antholes( a supposedly uncomfortable place)..we will pursue them and of course catch them..let them wait and see.The night's just coming...Starting from Bayelsa, Ekiti, Plateau....we are counting.Let the politicians meet..after all they've been meeting... Embattled Ekiti State governor, Mr. Ayo Fayose, seems to be sinking deeper into despair as three of his aides were on Wednesday arrested by the police over killings in the state.
Also, Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Chief Friday Aderemi, says that nothing would stop the removal of the governor from office.
This is coming at a time the national headquarters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has scheduled a meeting on Thursday to determine the fate of Fayose, who headed for the court to stop his impeachment.. Let them meet....
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Revival
REVIVAL
Hearts hugging hearts, we revive
The still damp essence of our beings
We cling to each other,together now
Our joys in copulation, mating, fertile
Our agonies writhing, dying slowly
These agonies writhe, dying....
As if in the stranglehold
Of the spirited Mbele dance
We dymystify the now tepid myths
Of the Ajonkwu spirits, daring them
To untie the bonding knot, if they can
Untie these bonding knots....
Tied in thick emotions we live
Not in limbs already lost
In shimmies to break away, free
Of our sophistries of deception
Fumes of pleasures ephemeral, all these
Fumes of pleasures ephemearal....
Appendages we lost, you still lost
Ururo, we are coming to claim ours
From the tormentors that have held them
With the long withered breast of the witch
We will take ours, even when you flee
We will catch you, hide in the anthole and see....
Endi
Port Harcourt
April 2006
This poem is dedicated to all who sowed and did not reap.Sow again..you will reap!
Hearts hugging hearts, we revive
The still damp essence of our beings
We cling to each other,together now
Our joys in copulation, mating, fertile
Our agonies writhing, dying slowly
These agonies writhe, dying....
As if in the stranglehold
Of the spirited Mbele dance
We dymystify the now tepid myths
Of the Ajonkwu spirits, daring them
To untie the bonding knot, if they can
Untie these bonding knots....
Tied in thick emotions we live
Not in limbs already lost
In shimmies to break away, free
Of our sophistries of deception
Fumes of pleasures ephemeral, all these
Fumes of pleasures ephemearal....
Appendages we lost, you still lost
Ururo, we are coming to claim ours
From the tormentors that have held them
With the long withered breast of the witch
We will take ours, even when you flee
We will catch you, hide in the anthole and see....
Endi
Port Harcourt
April 2006
This poem is dedicated to all who sowed and did not reap.Sow again..you will reap!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
This Circle of Ignorance...
This is a story that just broke out some hours ago....Ordinarily, i ought not to comment on it, but i guess am just "over-pissed" off.Well, read the story first..Some 16 oil workers were released today.The workers were the second group of a total of 25 men to be released after being seized in a raid two days ago.
All worked for a sub-contractor of Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell. A spokesman said no ransom had been paid for their release.
Oil workers are regularly abducted in Nigeria by gangs saying they want a bigger share of oil revenues.
In a separate incident on Tuesday evening, five foreign oil workers were seized during a rare raid on a residential compound operated by ExxonMobil.
Two Nigerian security guards were killed when the gang stormed the compound in Akwa Ibom state in the eastern Delta.
No ransom
A spokesman for Shell said that no money had been paid to secure the release of the 25 hostages seized on Monday.
Industry sources say oil companies frequently strike clandestine ransom deals to free their employees.
The men were taken when a group of about 70 militants attacked a convoy of boats supplying oil fields operated by Shell in Rivers state.
At least ten soldiers were killed during the raid.
The BBC's Alex Last says the line between criminal gangs and political militants in Nigeria is often blurred.
Last month, President Olusegun Obasanjo promised strong action to curb armed groups in the Niger Delta.
But our correspondent says the incidents highlights the continued vulnerability of the oil industry, despite government pledges to crackdown on armed groups in the Delta.
He says oil companies are bracing themselves for further violence in the Delta as competing politicians try to use the armed groups to secure victory in next year's elections.
Now i was like asking myself...whats the purpose? The point has already been made...the point being that "we can attack u whenever we want to" but then these militants has continued to kidnap those that came to "invest" in the country, those that created the same oil industry we all want to work in, those that are meant to provide the famed transfer of technology...etc.Come to thinkm of it...those guys(expatriates) are not our problem, neither are they the source of our problems.The source of our problem lies in the trajedy that has played itself out in Bayelsa State,in the National Assembly, between Baba Iyabo and his Deputy,...that is currently playing itself out in Ekiti State and that which has been the bane of our existence.Need i tell u the name of the Monster? It starts with a C! ...Ok, you dont know(probably because you've been out of the country for ages)..its CORRUPTION.
The day thse militants redirect their anger against the Governors that have looted their collective heritage,that has connived with the Lords Of Abuja to rape and pillage the land...thats the days i will take off this facecap for them..(Sorry u cant see it).And until that day comes...Bros, these things wey we dey do no just dey pay...Make we just stop these kidnappings and killing of our fellow Naijas in the military....Please, if we wan fight,quarell, anger,beg,agitate, take it to those selected (elected) to take the blame and do the job..i don talk finish.
All worked for a sub-contractor of Anglo-Dutch oil giant, Shell. A spokesman said no ransom had been paid for their release.
Oil workers are regularly abducted in Nigeria by gangs saying they want a bigger share of oil revenues.
In a separate incident on Tuesday evening, five foreign oil workers were seized during a rare raid on a residential compound operated by ExxonMobil.
Two Nigerian security guards were killed when the gang stormed the compound in Akwa Ibom state in the eastern Delta.
No ransom
A spokesman for Shell said that no money had been paid to secure the release of the 25 hostages seized on Monday.
Industry sources say oil companies frequently strike clandestine ransom deals to free their employees.
The men were taken when a group of about 70 militants attacked a convoy of boats supplying oil fields operated by Shell in Rivers state.
At least ten soldiers were killed during the raid.
The BBC's Alex Last says the line between criminal gangs and political militants in Nigeria is often blurred.
Last month, President Olusegun Obasanjo promised strong action to curb armed groups in the Niger Delta.
But our correspondent says the incidents highlights the continued vulnerability of the oil industry, despite government pledges to crackdown on armed groups in the Delta.
He says oil companies are bracing themselves for further violence in the Delta as competing politicians try to use the armed groups to secure victory in next year's elections.
Now i was like asking myself...whats the purpose? The point has already been made...the point being that "we can attack u whenever we want to" but then these militants has continued to kidnap those that came to "invest" in the country, those that created the same oil industry we all want to work in, those that are meant to provide the famed transfer of technology...etc.Come to thinkm of it...those guys(expatriates) are not our problem, neither are they the source of our problems.The source of our problem lies in the trajedy that has played itself out in Bayelsa State,in the National Assembly, between Baba Iyabo and his Deputy,...that is currently playing itself out in Ekiti State and that which has been the bane of our existence.Need i tell u the name of the Monster? It starts with a C! ...Ok, you dont know(probably because you've been out of the country for ages)..its CORRUPTION.
The day thse militants redirect their anger against the Governors that have looted their collective heritage,that has connived with the Lords Of Abuja to rape and pillage the land...thats the days i will take off this facecap for them..(Sorry u cant see it).And until that day comes...Bros, these things wey we dey do no just dey pay...Make we just stop these kidnappings and killing of our fellow Naijas in the military....Please, if we wan fight,quarell, anger,beg,agitate, take it to those selected (elected) to take the blame and do the job..i don talk finish.
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