1) Preamble: The Delta State governorship re-run election held on Thursday, January 6, 2011. On Monday, January 3, 2011, three days before the polls the Election Project of the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) issued its special pre-election report entitled: “DELTA RE-RUN ELECTION; GLOOM CLOAKS THE BIG HEART”. In this special post-election edition, CEHRD focuses on election preparations, observation, violence, fraud around the process, turnout, results etc. On Thursday, January 6, 2011 re-run election in Delta State was held.
CEHRD deployed monitors into every nook and cranny of the state. CEHRD had monitors in the 25 local government areas of the state, although we had a fair representation, yet did not have monitors in the 3, 625 polling units in Delta State. Beyond we had supervisors who were roving around and linking up with the various non-partisan monitors deployed in remote areas. A million thanks to the Nigerian office of the Stakeholder Democracy Network (SDN) who funded CEHRD to do the monitoring of the Delta re-run election.
CEHRD is an independent, non-partisan, non-political, non-religious, non-profit making organization, incorporated under the relevant laws in Nigeria. This report is the outcome of our monitoring of the re-run governorship election. Beyond our monitors, reports, we corroborated the various incident reports sent to us with those of other NGOs observers, security officials, politicians, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), etc. CEHRD takes responsibility for this report. This report would have been released the same day after the election was concluded but for the time the team took to meticulously verify reported incidents. CEHRD is not interested in who wins the re-run election, but insists on the correct things to be done. This is our commitment and passion towards building democracy and its values in Nigeria and beyond.
2) Trust Violated
Dr. Ogbudu Gabriel Ada, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Delta State while addressing a press conference at INEC headquarters in Asaba on Saturday, January 1, 2011 declared that there was no going back on Delta State re-run election. He claimed, “We have an update register that would help us conduct a free and fair election”. He noted that the issue of late arrival of materials and personnel to the polling stations had been adequately taken care of. Again the Delta REC was quoted to have declared that accreditation of prospective voters will start from 9:00am to 12.00pm, that after that, voting would start. For the sake of this report, CEHRD just wants to reinforce the above statement. It was quoted in the last edition.
CEHRD monitors reported about late commencement of accreditation. By 11.00am accreditation and voting materials were seeing in heaps at the Eseriphe Primary School in the Otor-Iwhreko community in the Ughelli North Local Government Area where INEC had converted into its temporary election centre. This was so, because on the eve of the re-run election, the INEC office in the Iwhreko community in the area was razed down by unknown persons. Obviously, at unit 8 on Christ Street in the Eku community in the Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, accreditation was conducted by 1:21pm. Such complaints of delay in accreditation not to mention that of voting were received across the state.
Apart from massive accreditation delays, there were huge problems of poor logistics arrangement on the part of INEC. In Uvwie Local Government Area, the bus that distributed the election materials to the wards was provided by the council which is run by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Also, at Ughelli North there were inadequate cars to convey the materials to their respective destinations; rickety commercial buses were arranged on an ad-hoc basis. Though, some members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) which INEC used as ad-hoc staff demonstrated some encouraging level of patriotic, neutrality and honesty, still some were not; which raised the suspicion that they must have been bribed by desperate politicians. They were posted to remote areas with literally no security (two or three unarmed policemen at units) at the mercy of rampaging armed thugs.
During the election there was a rhetoric ban on movement of people except for those on essential election duty; however, there were a lot of young people and others driving cars, motor bikes crazily around. Technically speaking, due process was not followed on accreditation in so many places. In some places, the frightened youth corp members who were drafted from neighboring states, as stated above, were at the mercy of the voters who had turned out in large numbers. They were not accredited, but they were just allowed to vote. This was the scenario in ward 9, unit 4 and 3, Ward 8, unit 6 and 7. Most of the helpless corps members were manipulated and threatened during this process by madcap politicians.
3) One Man, Many Votes
In the case of Delta State re-run election, the mantra “ONE MAN, ONE VOTE” was set aside; it was “ONE MAN, MANY VOTES”. Results declared by INEC were not what we saw in the field. The voters register was not followed. The result declared is questionable. There were confirmed reports of Electoral Officers (EO) at the various local government areas below, giving out ballot papers, but retained some. This was reported in the following local government areas; Sapele, Warri North, Warri South-West, Aniocha, Ika South, Patani, Bomadi and Udu. CEHRD monitors in these areas reported as follows.
In Ujevwu community along Delta Clinic Road in the Udu Local Government Area, home of Prof. Amos Utouma, the ex-deputy governor to Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, and his ruling mate was crowded by, over 200 thugs and security officials especially mobile policemen at about 8. 00am. CEHRD could not unravel what they were doing. But, CEHRD observed that there was no voting throughout Ujevwu and its neighboring wards. Yet, results were announced. In Bowen and Persu wards in the Warri SouthLocal Government Area all the materials were taken by PDP thugs who were armed with AK47s, barretta pistols and daggers. They hijacked the materials and took them to Alders Town Primary School. Two agents of Chief Great Ogboru of the Democratic People’s Party (DPP) who protested verbally were beaten and injured with daggers. This is an Itsekiri community. Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, deposed governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) hails from the ethnic Itsekiri group. At Chief Ajudua’s estate in Ibuso community in the Oshmili North Local Government Area, of Delta State, where agents of the PDP were thump printing while the corps members were doing accreditation exercise. Illah wards, units 2, 3 and 5 in the same Oshimili North Local Government Area, PDP agents were seen offering one thousand naira (N1, 000) about ($7) to voters. Some residents confronted them, and this resulted into commotion.
Violence erupted at Agaga layout Area of Uvwie Local Government Area over the way and manner election materials were shared at about 10.45am. The DPP agents accused PDP of diverting the materials. The DPP supporters threw stones at the bus carrying election materials to other units. Warri/Effurun Road by JFM spot was barricaded by youths armed with planks. They were identified as DPP supporters. Three boys (one 16 and other two 17) were identified. This is a recruitment of juveniles into electoral violence. This should be discouraged for the heath of the society. At about 11.14am, a CEHRD roving supervisor received a call on his mobile phone about the inadequate security arrangement and hijacking of ballot boxes by PDP thugs. CEHRD confirmed that at Olodi Primary School in the Okumagba ward 11, unit 3 only six police officers without guns were drafted to cover the 16 units that make up the Okumagba area in the Warri South Local Government Area.
At ward 6, Arhagha community hall in Arhagba-Okpe Local Government Area, a CEHRD team supervising its monitor ran into about 15 thugs led by a local Chief with beads all over his neck, some bare-bodied and bare-footed, shooting closer to the hall where election was taking place. Few minutes after a group of mobilized youths numbering about thirty had trooped there to vote. They were identified as DPP supporters put up counter-offensive, but with planks, broken bottles. The armed PDP thugs ran away and normalcy was restored. The police officer drafted there initially ran away when the PDP thugs started shooting. A visibly frightened police officer there, Mr. Osademe Monday who witnessed the drama too, confirmed to CEHRD. CEHRD was reliably informed that accreditation went on peacefully and voting commenced, however, when the PDP poll agents there saw that DPP was wining they started making calls on their phones, and brought in the thugs to cause violence. Mr. Ilori Oluwashegun Abiodun, an NYSC INEC ad-hoc staff at unit 4 at Arhagba community hall spoke to CEHRD.
At around 1.25pm, Community Road unit 14, 15, 16 and 17 in Sapele in the Sapele Local Government Area heavily armed PDP thugs brandishing AK47 riffles and dynamites stormed the area shortly after accreditation and chased away all the DPP agents. The agents of Chief Augustine Ovie Omo-Agege of the Republican Party of Nigeria (RPN) were also chased away. Mr. Obus Omoyere, a 28-year-old prospective voter was wounded with broken bottles. He was bleeding profusely on his left hand when CEHRD supervisor visited the area. CEHRD monitors there narrowly escaped being hurt. The NYSC ad-hoc staff scampered for dear lives too.
In unit 9, under ward 9 in Okusajere, unit 15 (Egbewor compound) in Amukpe, Old Road, the PDP armed thugs did the same thing. Aggrieved villagers who refused to vote lamented to CEHRD. “We want peace, if election will bring problems please tell them we don’t want election again” a 76-year-old Madam Mary Onomakpo told CEHRD in her native Urohobo dialect. Above is the translated version.
In Okoruvie Primary School along Reclamation Road, Sapele Hon. P.D.O. Akpeki, a new commissioner in the government of the PDP was said to have witnessed voting there, but when he saw that DPP was winning, he made some phone calls and PDP armed thugs appeared suddenly and seized the area. They took away all the voting materials and never returned. CEHRD roving supervisory team arrived there while the shooting by PDP thugs was on. They saw a team of the State Security Service (SSS), Nigeria’s secret police were seen in their exotic vehicles travelling on the Sapele area with their long guns. On the main Effurun-Warri-Sapele Road in Okpabodo, over 100 bare-footed supporters of the DPP with branches of green leaves marched on the road, chanting pro-Ogboru,-anti-PDP war songs. See them in picture below.
In Ward 2, unit 2 in the Uvwie Local Government Area, forty one (41) were accredited. The forty one (41) voted. Election was peaceful, free and fair, but as the poll ended, the returning officer and others while trying to take the results to the local government collation centre at Uvwie local government council secretariat along Heritage Close, off Agric Road, Effurun, Mrs. Ovo Gardener, the ex-aide to the Chief James Ibori’s government and ex-commissioner for Education under the Uduaghan’s government and current House of Representatives aspirant for Uvwie, Okpe and Sapele Local Government Areas intercepted them in her dark coloured Toyota Corolla with number -AH184-GWK with in company of a special police force popularly called Redcap Police. They were trained in Israel on counter-insurgency, and counter-terrorism.
Jubilant DPP supporters shown in the picture, at the background are police officers trying to hijack election materials with Mrs. Gardener and her PDP agent. A monitor of CEHRD was denied access to the Uvwie council collation centre.
At Ukoribi ward 1, Mr. Kelly Utuedo, a popular PDP youth leader in Uvwie Local Government Area commandeered all the election materials to his Ugbowhose village and thumb printed on them. Again, at a unit on Reclamation Road in Sapele, Chief Paulinus Akpeai, the current Commissioner for Communications and Orientation stormed the area and snatched election materials, around the same area in Sapele; Dofinone Ede, a DPP Senate aspirant was attacked and beaten up. He was injured. A bunch of PDP thugs in a car owned by Chief Godwin Atose, the current chairman Sapele Local Government Area stormed Okoruvie Primary School along Reclamation Road in Sapele to cart away ballot boxes but DPP supporters caught them, and returned the boxes to the ward. Some angry DPP supporters beat them up. But Atose was not in the car.
At ward 7 at Ethiope East Local Government Area, Chief Anthony Obro, the Chairman of the council was allegedly trying to cart away voting materials, but was stopped by DPP supporters, who beat him up and returned the materials to the ward. In Mosogar community, ward 4 in the Ethiope West, PDP thugs beat up DPP agents and disappeared with ballot papers. At ward 7, unit 7, 11 and 12 respectively at Ovwian in the Udu Local Government Area of Delta State. Voting was going on at unit 7 when PDP thugs stormed the area, and snatched the materials at gunpoint.
At Alegbo Primary School in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State, a CEHRD monitor was attacked. A bare-footed PDP thug leader led over 100 thugs most of whom were bare-footed and broad-chested at the entrance of the above-mentioned primary school they attacked him. The thug leader before snatching a note book from the monitor thundered in Pidgin English, “Wetin you been dey write since morning. Na una wey dey write bad bad thing against us”. A mobile policeman there at the voting centre tried to ask the thugs to go back, angered the leader who fired rhetorically at the police officer, “If you shake we go tumble this place”. Sadly, they tore our monitor’s note into pieces and left for another centre to flare violence which is their stock in trade.
4) Delta Re-Duplicity; Implications for April Poll
The opposition Democratic People’s Party (DPP) in the re-run election was more mobilized than the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who invested more in recruiting election thugs and militias to steal election materials. The election was characterized by violence, fraud and criminality unleashed by the PDP mainly in active collaboration with INEC officials. Commenting on the re-run election, Professor Attahiru Jega, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), while addressing the media said that the lessons learnt from the re-run poll would form the basis of preparations for the April 2011 round of general elections. CEHRD’s investigation reveals that if a free and fair election were allowed to hold, Chief Ogboru of the DPP would have defeated Dr. Uduaghan of the PDP. The figure released by INEC which made PDP to win is fraudulent.
Any area PDP felt they did not have strong support they rigged. Even in Uduaghan’s supposed stronghold, Ogboru won as we observed in the field, with huge margin e.g. the real result from Ojojo/Okere Warri ward 8, unit 001 in the Warri South Local Government Area has it that DPP got 57, while PDP got only 4. Also, at Okumagba layout ward 12, unit 7, the real result has it that DPP got 494, while PDP 3. INEC announced fake results which they know. When it comes to local government collation centres DPP agents were intimidated out, so their presence there was very scanty at some places. It was at the various collation centers that the figures were increased. Some of the ad-hoc staff, Electoral Officers (E.Os) never released all the materials; they retained some for corrupt motives. EOs appeared and re-appeared at every point. They should be investigated.
This is an indictment on INEC. There were no lessons learned from their previous mistakes. There was poor security arrangement. SSS, police, soldiers, traffic warders, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were drafted in from neighbouring states, in spite of that there were inadequacies; the security officials were concentrated in the Delta cities, and at some locations.
The politicians were just test running their rigging machinery and dexterity under a “new” INEC leadership. Subsequent election will be disastrous because even the opposition parties now know that even though they rigged themselves into power; will be accepted by INEC. For example, the level of fraud in 1999 was lower compared with 2003 and 2007 elections. Each passing day add new rigging strategy to the electoral system by monstrous politicians. The figures quoted were outrageous compared to the actual voting in Delta State in each local government areas.
5) Recommendations
i) To INEC
* Cancel the results of that fraudulent re-run election and conduct a new one, because we can not compromise our credibility. We must lay a proper foundation
* Conduct a free re-run election in Delta State and make the process open, transparent and non-partisan
* While conducting the election, the fresh Delta State re-run election, CSO actors both local and international should be involved fully.
* INEC should probe its staff who participated in the Thursday, January 6, 2011 re-run elections in Delta State and if found guilty should be made to face the law as well as the criminal politicians promoting violence and juvenile inducement into electoral crimes etc.
ii) To Foreign governments/international community
* The international community should not only support the electoral process and stay aloof, it should be interested in democratic development in Nigeria, INEC needs its technical assistance in conducting a free and fair election in Nigeria.
* Election rigging and its associated violence are crimes against humanity. Like their “comrades” in Kenya who ignited the terrible electoral violence which swallowed Kenya in 2007are answering questions at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Nigerian politicians either in Delta State or elsewhere should not be an exception.
For any comment, question and suggestion please contact the election team of the Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), No. 6 Obo Nwanke Street, Post Office Building, Ogale-Nchia, Eleme, Rivers State, Nigeria, West Africa. Telephone; 0803-3367823 (personal), 08191513711 (office phone), 082557893, 082557885 and 082557083 (office landlines) Emails; nigerdeltaproject@yahoo.com
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Problems line up for Nigerian election
No voting equipment, no election officials, no security and an election chairman indicating events are out of his control.
"No one is voting because in many areas people are taking the law in to their own hands.
Many of our officials have been attacked, many of our voting materials have been diverted in many of these places you are talking about so it cannot be our fault," said Attahiru Jega, Chairman of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC.
It is a disturbing admission about a small state election re-run in Nigeria's southern Delta state, but it could also be an indicator of problems ahead for the upcoming national election.
If Jega can't control elections in this one small state, then it could have serious consequences for promises of free and fair national elections across 36 states in April.
A crowd of voters gathered at one voting place soon became angry as they realized they were being denied their right to vote. "No ballot box! No ballot box!" they yelled. "We want to vote! We want to vote!" they chanted.
There was no polling booth, no election officials, no security and no explanation.
Earlier that morning, minibuses left the local distribution center under military guard carrying voting materials. It was the last we saw of it.
"We thought this election was going to be a very good one and hence we came," shouted one man from the crowd. "No accreditation, no voting, nobody."
Just a few hundred meters from where he was standing stood the local offices for the local government, police station and INEC.
Less than a kilometer down the road was the distribution center from where voting materials were transported.
Despite promises for more than 20,000 security officers to be drafted into the state, the curfew was openly flaunted by what were mostly young men criss-crossing Ughelli town in cars and on motorbikes.
At one street corner another crowd searched vainly through a voter accreditation list with some names cut out.
There was no voting equipment, voting officials or security here either.
As we searched for at least one operational polling station, a military helicopter circled overhead.
The chairman of INEC had come to make a surprise inspection.
Jega, a widely respected man in Nigeria, was brought in to give some credibility to INEC -- a commission widely disparaged for overseeing what is considered Nigeria's most corrupt elections in 2007. The Delta's 2007 state election was annulled because of fraud and violence.
Jega's most ambitious program is a new, national voter registration plan to be done in February. But as he acknowledged, without voting equipment, voter registration is of little use.
We asked him if he could give a guarantee that these problems will not happen in April's nationwide election.
"I cannot give absolute guarantees," he explained. "But I know that the problems will be remarkably reduced such that we can't have this kind of rowdiness."
He added: "These problems you are seeing are associated with the old voters register - but we have to use it because we have been ordered by the courts to do the election with it, so by April we will have done our own voters register and things will be remarkably better."
In other areas of Delta state, voting did take place peacefully. But, say observers, just because people voted, it doesn't mean they were counted.
"The processes were riddled with a lot of irregularities and fraud," said Patrick Naagbanton, coordinator for the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development. Throughout the day, he and colleagues had criss-crossed the state as observers.
"The same mistake we made in 1999, 2003, 2007 is the same mistake we have done in this election and this is a litmus test for the credibility of INEC. And they have failed."
Nigeria now only has three months left to organize elections for 150 million people across its 36 states.
"No one is voting because in many areas people are taking the law in to their own hands.
Many of our officials have been attacked, many of our voting materials have been diverted in many of these places you are talking about so it cannot be our fault," said Attahiru Jega, Chairman of Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission, or INEC.
It is a disturbing admission about a small state election re-run in Nigeria's southern Delta state, but it could also be an indicator of problems ahead for the upcoming national election.
If Jega can't control elections in this one small state, then it could have serious consequences for promises of free and fair national elections across 36 states in April.
A crowd of voters gathered at one voting place soon became angry as they realized they were being denied their right to vote. "No ballot box! No ballot box!" they yelled. "We want to vote! We want to vote!" they chanted.
There was no polling booth, no election officials, no security and no explanation.
Earlier that morning, minibuses left the local distribution center under military guard carrying voting materials. It was the last we saw of it.
"We thought this election was going to be a very good one and hence we came," shouted one man from the crowd. "No accreditation, no voting, nobody."
Just a few hundred meters from where he was standing stood the local offices for the local government, police station and INEC.
Less than a kilometer down the road was the distribution center from where voting materials were transported.
Despite promises for more than 20,000 security officers to be drafted into the state, the curfew was openly flaunted by what were mostly young men criss-crossing Ughelli town in cars and on motorbikes.
At one street corner another crowd searched vainly through a voter accreditation list with some names cut out.
There was no voting equipment, voting officials or security here either.
As we searched for at least one operational polling station, a military helicopter circled overhead.
The chairman of INEC had come to make a surprise inspection.
Jega, a widely respected man in Nigeria, was brought in to give some credibility to INEC -- a commission widely disparaged for overseeing what is considered Nigeria's most corrupt elections in 2007. The Delta's 2007 state election was annulled because of fraud and violence.
Jega's most ambitious program is a new, national voter registration plan to be done in February. But as he acknowledged, without voting equipment, voter registration is of little use.
We asked him if he could give a guarantee that these problems will not happen in April's nationwide election.
"I cannot give absolute guarantees," he explained. "But I know that the problems will be remarkably reduced such that we can't have this kind of rowdiness."
He added: "These problems you are seeing are associated with the old voters register - but we have to use it because we have been ordered by the courts to do the election with it, so by April we will have done our own voters register and things will be remarkably better."
In other areas of Delta state, voting did take place peacefully. But, say observers, just because people voted, it doesn't mean they were counted.
"The processes were riddled with a lot of irregularities and fraud," said Patrick Naagbanton, coordinator for the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development. Throughout the day, he and colleagues had criss-crossed the state as observers.
"The same mistake we made in 1999, 2003, 2007 is the same mistake we have done in this election and this is a litmus test for the credibility of INEC. And they have failed."
Nigeria now only has three months left to organize elections for 150 million people across its 36 states.
...Atiku humiliated
Nigeria's ruling party, The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, today chose incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate for presidential elections due to be held in April. President Jonathan polled a total of 2736 votes to win. Atiku Abubakar garnered 805 votes while Sarah Jubril scored 1 vote.
Jonathan carried a total of 31 states and the Federal Capital Territory out of the nations 36 states to clinch the Presidential ticket in the well organized and transparent contest. Vice President Namadi Sambo will join the ticket to face candidates from other political parties in the April 2011 general election.
Atiku won only Five states including, Sokoto, Kano, Niger, Kebbi and Zamfara.
Professor Tunde Adeniran, Chief Returning Officer of the party declared the result as follows:
Sarah Jibril - 1
Atiku Abubakar - 805
Goodluck Jonathan - 2, 736
Total valid votes cast - 3, 542
It was a great humiliation for Atiku, in public and before the whole nation. Analysts believe with this humiliation, Atiku’s political Presidential ambition is over.
Jonathan carried a total of 31 states and the Federal Capital Territory out of the nations 36 states to clinch the Presidential ticket in the well organized and transparent contest. Vice President Namadi Sambo will join the ticket to face candidates from other political parties in the April 2011 general election.
Atiku won only Five states including, Sokoto, Kano, Niger, Kebbi and Zamfara.
Professor Tunde Adeniran, Chief Returning Officer of the party declared the result as follows:
Sarah Jibril - 1
Atiku Abubakar - 805
Goodluck Jonathan - 2, 736
Total valid votes cast - 3, 542
It was a great humiliation for Atiku, in public and before the whole nation. Analysts believe with this humiliation, Atiku’s political Presidential ambition is over.
DID JONATHAN ENDORSE GOVERNOR SYLVA
When we came in 2007,we met a state that ranked low in every imaginable sphere of development indices- human development, education, health infrastructure etc The statistics from several local and foreign agencies painted a grim picture- Gov Timipre Sylva
Since the conclusion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries nationwide, many of the Governors who emerged candidates at the state level have been working round the clock to consolidate their power base.
For many others who were clearly non-performers, they PDP consensus candidacy option was what saved them from imminent defeat.
Their fraudulent emergence therefore meant that many of the leading politicians in such states angrily decamped in mass to opposition parties to actualize their ambition to enthrone change. That was the case in Bayelsa, the home state of incumbent President and Presidential candidate of PDP Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
The case of the governor of Bayelsa State is a bit on the extreme. National and international media have been awash with stories about how the governor has elevated corruption to the level of state policy in the oil rich state. His poor performance have not gone unnoticed by the citizens of the predominantly Ijaw state as they have vowed to vote him out come next election.
However in the wake of the “favorable” aftermath of the PDP primaries in the state, loyalists of embattled governor Timpre Sylva have gone to town with the falsehood that President Jonathan has actually anointed Governor Sylva for another term.
There are several reasons why any discerning Ijaw man will find this political gimmick very difficult to believe. The conclusions can be drawn easily from the recent political antecedents of Governor Sylva especially in his overt disrespect, disregard and often celebrated opposition to the candidature of President Jonathan.
Close confidants of the President can confirm his frustration about the long list of opprobrious conducts of the Yenagoa strong man. It is clearly evident that the President is embarrassed by what is seen to be the bad news always coming from Yenagoa and is committed to covertly or overtly support any effort that can liberate Bayelsa state from the claws of bad governance. Cost what it may!
For those who do not know, President Jonathan and Mr. Sylva are from the same senatorial zone and therefore ought to be brothers. However insiders in Sylva’s government authoritatively revealed to the writer that part of the reasons distracting Gov Sylva are his huge investments into the failed anti-Jonathan movement.
When late President Yardua was ill, Nigerian was thrown into a controversy about the elevation of the then Vice President Jonathan to the position of Acting President. Sadly, it was Governor Sylva, an Ijaw man who spent billions of public funds to trouble makers to block the emergence of his elder brother. When that effort failed, Gov Sylva again went public with many allegations of false declaration of assets in a desperate bid to tarnish the image of the President and bruise his stop ambition to stand election.
Sylva’s destructive remarks against the personality of then Acting President are well documented by the media. Many Ijaw brothers attempted to call Governor Sylva to other but he rebuffed them.
It is on record that he did not utter a single word during the zoning debate within the Peoples Democratic Party. Rather Timpre Sylva was working surreptitiously with the arrowhead of zoning controversy in the person of the former military President Ibrahim Babangida, all in an effort to undermine his brother.
A clear case in point was the fact that a delegation from Bayelsa travelled all the way to grace the IBB presidential declaration in Abuja. Those delegates were sponsored by the Bayelsa State Government. When security reports reached President Jonathan, he like every Ijaw man was shocked at the betrayal by his own state governor at a crucial time in the history of Nigeria.
As if those were not enough,Gov Sylva never spared President Goodluck during his own campaigns in the state. He poured vituperations at the person and era of the President who was former governor of Bayelsa State at every opportunity. At a time, Ex-Vice President Atiku’s campaign organization used the quotations from the speeches of Gov Sylva to spread the propaganda that President Jonathan failed as a governor. How can a man be this wicked against his own kinsman??
However despite all the dirty politics played by Sylva, President Jonathan defeated his opponent Atiku by a very wide margin and this proved that he has very wide acceptance by the people of Nigeria. As if to pay him back in his own coins, Governor Sylva is now faced with an epic political battle which many predict will see him vacating creek haven.
While he was busy undermining Jonathan’s programs including the amnesty, he compromised development in his home, our dear state Bayelsa. He made very lofty promises at the beginning and delivered on none till date. He has performed so poorly that there may be a revolt if by any chance he stays in office beyond May 27.
Gov Sylva himself understands that he has squandered the trust of the people and he is now running like a headless chicken to plead for more time. One of the latest political stunts of his camp is to broadcast the fact that he has been endorsed by the President. The same President Jonathan, who he fought tirelessly, but who God in his mercy has decided to elavate.
Gov Sylva also knows the amount of damage that he attempted to do to the President’s reputation and these days he is often seen sending emissaries to the villa to plead with Jonathan to come to forgive him and campaign for him.
Those who know the mind of the President Jonathan are aware that he is an apostle of good governance and has promised that votes will count nationwide in 2011. The President will naturally use his home state, Bayelsa to set that example.
From every indication, if elections are transparent in Bayelsa State, incumbent governor Timipre Sylva will suffer a humiliating defeat that will force him to vacate creek haven. That is what a corrupt, wasteful, disrespectful and disloyal man like him deserves. He does not have my sympathy neither does he have that of any Ijaw man anymore.
Tari lives in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
When we came in 2007,we met a state that ranked low in every imaginable sphere of development indices- human development, education, health infrastructure etc The statistics from several local and foreign agencies painted a grim picture- Gov Timipre Sylva
Since the conclusion of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) primaries nationwide, many of the Governors who emerged candidates at the state level have been working round the clock to consolidate their power base.
For many others who were clearly non-performers, they PDP consensus candidacy option was what saved them from imminent defeat.
Their fraudulent emergence therefore meant that many of the leading politicians in such states angrily decamped in mass to opposition parties to actualize their ambition to enthrone change. That was the case in Bayelsa, the home state of incumbent President and Presidential candidate of PDP Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.
The case of the governor of Bayelsa State is a bit on the extreme. National and international media have been awash with stories about how the governor has elevated corruption to the level of state policy in the oil rich state. His poor performance have not gone unnoticed by the citizens of the predominantly Ijaw state as they have vowed to vote him out come next election.
However in the wake of the “favorable” aftermath of the PDP primaries in the state, loyalists of embattled governor Timpre Sylva have gone to town with the falsehood that President Jonathan has actually anointed Governor Sylva for another term.
There are several reasons why any discerning Ijaw man will find this political gimmick very difficult to believe. The conclusions can be drawn easily from the recent political antecedents of Governor Sylva especially in his overt disrespect, disregard and often celebrated opposition to the candidature of President Jonathan.
Close confidants of the President can confirm his frustration about the long list of opprobrious conducts of the Yenagoa strong man. It is clearly evident that the President is embarrassed by what is seen to be the bad news always coming from Yenagoa and is committed to covertly or overtly support any effort that can liberate Bayelsa state from the claws of bad governance. Cost what it may!
For those who do not know, President Jonathan and Mr. Sylva are from the same senatorial zone and therefore ought to be brothers. However insiders in Sylva’s government authoritatively revealed to the writer that part of the reasons distracting Gov Sylva are his huge investments into the failed anti-Jonathan movement.
When late President Yardua was ill, Nigerian was thrown into a controversy about the elevation of the then Vice President Jonathan to the position of Acting President. Sadly, it was Governor Sylva, an Ijaw man who spent billions of public funds to trouble makers to block the emergence of his elder brother. When that effort failed, Gov Sylva again went public with many allegations of false declaration of assets in a desperate bid to tarnish the image of the President and bruise his stop ambition to stand election.
Sylva’s destructive remarks against the personality of then Acting President are well documented by the media. Many Ijaw brothers attempted to call Governor Sylva to other but he rebuffed them.
It is on record that he did not utter a single word during the zoning debate within the Peoples Democratic Party. Rather Timpre Sylva was working surreptitiously with the arrowhead of zoning controversy in the person of the former military President Ibrahim Babangida, all in an effort to undermine his brother.
A clear case in point was the fact that a delegation from Bayelsa travelled all the way to grace the IBB presidential declaration in Abuja. Those delegates were sponsored by the Bayelsa State Government. When security reports reached President Jonathan, he like every Ijaw man was shocked at the betrayal by his own state governor at a crucial time in the history of Nigeria.
As if those were not enough,Gov Sylva never spared President Goodluck during his own campaigns in the state. He poured vituperations at the person and era of the President who was former governor of Bayelsa State at every opportunity. At a time, Ex-Vice President Atiku’s campaign organization used the quotations from the speeches of Gov Sylva to spread the propaganda that President Jonathan failed as a governor. How can a man be this wicked against his own kinsman??
However despite all the dirty politics played by Sylva, President Jonathan defeated his opponent Atiku by a very wide margin and this proved that he has very wide acceptance by the people of Nigeria. As if to pay him back in his own coins, Governor Sylva is now faced with an epic political battle which many predict will see him vacating creek haven.
While he was busy undermining Jonathan’s programs including the amnesty, he compromised development in his home, our dear state Bayelsa. He made very lofty promises at the beginning and delivered on none till date. He has performed so poorly that there may be a revolt if by any chance he stays in office beyond May 27.
Gov Sylva himself understands that he has squandered the trust of the people and he is now running like a headless chicken to plead for more time. One of the latest political stunts of his camp is to broadcast the fact that he has been endorsed by the President. The same President Jonathan, who he fought tirelessly, but who God in his mercy has decided to elavate.
Gov Sylva also knows the amount of damage that he attempted to do to the President’s reputation and these days he is often seen sending emissaries to the villa to plead with Jonathan to come to forgive him and campaign for him.
Those who know the mind of the President Jonathan are aware that he is an apostle of good governance and has promised that votes will count nationwide in 2011. The President will naturally use his home state, Bayelsa to set that example.
From every indication, if elections are transparent in Bayelsa State, incumbent governor Timipre Sylva will suffer a humiliating defeat that will force him to vacate creek haven. That is what a corrupt, wasteful, disrespectful and disloyal man like him deserves. He does not have my sympathy neither does he have that of any Ijaw man anymore.
Tari lives in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
SHEKARAU’S CANDIDACY: AN ALTERNATIVE TO A BLOODY REVOLUTION
Followers all over the world are now initiating change in both the private and public sectors. It is no wonder why Americans, with the help of their Youths defied all expectations and voted 46 years old Barrack Obama to become the 44th and First Black President of the United States.
A few months ago, Britain got its youngest Prime Minister almost 200years after. The President of Belgium was just 40 years old when he was voted into power earlier last year. Here in Africa, Ivorian electorate sang a song of change when they voted massively for Quattara as against incumbent President Gbagbo. A few days ago, a revolution in Tunisia sent the 23 years old iron-fisted administration of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali packing. The list goes on and on.
It is believed that the reason for this trend is that we have more followers who are more politically enlightened, educated and who really want to impact their world by making the right choices. Others argue that there is more awareness and participation in the electoral process on the side the Youths who are generally the larger chunk of most population.
Whichever is the case, one thing is for sure, it’s all about change, it’s all about progress, it’s all about moving forward and it’s not about recycling leaders, it’s about bringing people with new and better ideas onboard!
In Nigeria today, the major gladiators seeking to be elected as President are persons who are supposed to be elder statesmen, doing the kind of work, Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Clinton etc are doing for their country. Candidates like Buhari was Head of State from 1983 – 85, IBB was Military President from 1985 – 1993 before stepping aside, Atiku was OBJ’s Vice, for 8 years.
As a kid in elementary school then, whenever I sing the national anthem and got to the point “our heroes past” I actually see some of their pictures flash through the eyes of my mind. I wonder why they have refused to accept that they are past leaders. That their time has past. Now is the time for change. The time for new idea. Thanks though, most of them didn’t make it in their party’s primaries.
Recycling of leaders has become a very sad reference point for us here in Nigeria. I have not yet started my sojourn on this earth by the time Obasanjo handed power to Shagari in his first outing as Military President of Nigeria. I wasn’t even aware that Buhari staged a coup against Shagari and forcefully collected his democratically given mandate because I have not gotten to the age of reasoning.
I was so young I didn’t know that IBB taught Buhari a lesson in coup d’état by staging one to oust him, in fact I thought it was a routine military exercise then! I just finished secondary school when OBJ roared back the second time as civilian President with Atiku as his vice. Having served out their terms in office, I was thinking their will be a level playing field to accommodate new leaders with new ideas.
I was damn wrong! Most of our past leaders have refused to agree that we are in a new era. One then wonder what they still want to achieve? Is their anything they forgot at Aso Rock?
Having gotten to the position of President, Head of State or Vice President, it is suppose to be the defining moment which one needs to show his patriotism and selflessness to his nation. However none of the above candidates is in the mould of Mandela, perhaps the only person I know his country would allow to be President even for a lifetime, but off course it’s not because of his greed but for his record and selflessness.
A few months ago, two Nigeria elder statesmen (Gen. T. Y. Danjuma and Professor Ben Nwabueze) agreed Nigeria needs a revolution, however they couldn’t agree whether it should be bloody or bloodless. This brings us to the questions; what really is a revolution? A revolution is a rebellion or revolt against an oppressor, a tormentor or an illegitimate usurper, usually against current or past government and leaders.
Revolution could also be defying old or odd ways and embracing new and smart ways. In other words, it could be a deviation from an old idea to a new and better one. A most recent example is happening in Tunisia.
What of Bloody Revolution? The difference is that it usually culminates in the killing of the tormentor or oppressor. In as much as I agree with the two elders that Nigeria needs a revolution, I elect to tow the line of Gen. T. Y. Danjuma who averred that the revolution should be bloodless.
However, in the alternative, yes there is an alternative; electing a credible leader is it. Electing a leader with traceable and proven integrity, a leader with unblemished credential and democratic fidelity, a leader who will rollback poverty in Nigeria, a leader who will uplift the standard of living in our country and give hope to the Nigerian families, a leaders who will not neglect the work force of this country, a leader who will guarantee the independence of the judiciary, because that is our last hope.
We need to vote a leader who will make the required sacrifice to save us all- a leader who will put an end to the spate in religion, ethnic and sectarian strife, a leader who will hear the cry of our children dying of cholera, meningitis and other diseases and act immediately and effectively, a leader who will save our children from Lead poisoning and other avoidable deaths.
We need a true leader who will put an end to the senseless kidnappings and return peace to the Niger Delta area. We need a leader who will restore our past glory in food production. We need a leader who is more tolerant, accepting, kind, patients, peaceful and thoughtful, we need a leader who is competent and accountable to only the electorate and not god-fathers. A listening leader is what we need and importantly, a leader with the fear of God.
Malam Dr. Ibrahim Shekarau has all the mentioned qualities above. Shekarau is a leader that has been tested, trusted and proven. Subject is one leader with traceable and proven integrity whom nothing questionable has been detected in his antecedences since his incursion into the Nigerian controversial political terrain.
A good follower of history since 1999 would agree with me that Dr. Ibrahim Shekarau was the first truly elected governor who came from nowhere in 2003 to dislodge a powerful sitting governor in one of the most popular and political enlightened state in Nigeria. A feat he repeated in 2007.
Shekarau is a leader with unalloyed integrity and respect for human life-he was able to curb senseless and usually fatal riots in Kano. He is a leader who upholds the rule of law. I therefore recommend Dr. Ibrahim Shekarau to us. I urge you my fellow countrymen and women, it is high time, we the Nigerian-FOLLOWERS especially the youths-take our common destiny in our own hands and work out strategies to oust bad leaders virally infecting our political system.
There are other ways to achieve this other than a bloody revolution as suggested by Professor Ben Nwabueze. One way which is painless and easy is through the ballot. Yes your vote can do it. Shekarau will safe us a bloody revolution, he is the alternative.
Followers all over the world are now initiating change in both the private and public sectors. It is no wonder why Americans, with the help of their Youths defied all expectations and voted 46 years old Barrack Obama to become the 44th and First Black President of the United States.
A few months ago, Britain got its youngest Prime Minister almost 200years after. The President of Belgium was just 40 years old when he was voted into power earlier last year. Here in Africa, Ivorian electorate sang a song of change when they voted massively for Quattara as against incumbent President Gbagbo. A few days ago, a revolution in Tunisia sent the 23 years old iron-fisted administration of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali packing. The list goes on and on.
It is believed that the reason for this trend is that we have more followers who are more politically enlightened, educated and who really want to impact their world by making the right choices. Others argue that there is more awareness and participation in the electoral process on the side the Youths who are generally the larger chunk of most population.
Whichever is the case, one thing is for sure, it’s all about change, it’s all about progress, it’s all about moving forward and it’s not about recycling leaders, it’s about bringing people with new and better ideas onboard!
In Nigeria today, the major gladiators seeking to be elected as President are persons who are supposed to be elder statesmen, doing the kind of work, Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Clinton etc are doing for their country. Candidates like Buhari was Head of State from 1983 – 85, IBB was Military President from 1985 – 1993 before stepping aside, Atiku was OBJ’s Vice, for 8 years.
As a kid in elementary school then, whenever I sing the national anthem and got to the point “our heroes past” I actually see some of their pictures flash through the eyes of my mind. I wonder why they have refused to accept that they are past leaders. That their time has past. Now is the time for change. The time for new idea. Thanks though, most of them didn’t make it in their party’s primaries.
Recycling of leaders has become a very sad reference point for us here in Nigeria. I have not yet started my sojourn on this earth by the time Obasanjo handed power to Shagari in his first outing as Military President of Nigeria. I wasn’t even aware that Buhari staged a coup against Shagari and forcefully collected his democratically given mandate because I have not gotten to the age of reasoning.
I was so young I didn’t know that IBB taught Buhari a lesson in coup d’état by staging one to oust him, in fact I thought it was a routine military exercise then! I just finished secondary school when OBJ roared back the second time as civilian President with Atiku as his vice. Having served out their terms in office, I was thinking their will be a level playing field to accommodate new leaders with new ideas.
I was damn wrong! Most of our past leaders have refused to agree that we are in a new era. One then wonder what they still want to achieve? Is their anything they forgot at Aso Rock?
Having gotten to the position of President, Head of State or Vice President, it is suppose to be the defining moment which one needs to show his patriotism and selflessness to his nation. However none of the above candidates is in the mould of Mandela, perhaps the only person I know his country would allow to be President even for a lifetime, but off course it’s not because of his greed but for his record and selflessness.
A few months ago, two Nigeria elder statesmen (Gen. T. Y. Danjuma and Professor Ben Nwabueze) agreed Nigeria needs a revolution, however they couldn’t agree whether it should be bloody or bloodless. This brings us to the questions; what really is a revolution? A revolution is a rebellion or revolt against an oppressor, a tormentor or an illegitimate usurper, usually against current or past government and leaders.
Revolution could also be defying old or odd ways and embracing new and smart ways. In other words, it could be a deviation from an old idea to a new and better one. A most recent example is happening in Tunisia.
What of Bloody Revolution? The difference is that it usually culminates in the killing of the tormentor or oppressor. In as much as I agree with the two elders that Nigeria needs a revolution, I elect to tow the line of Gen. T. Y. Danjuma who averred that the revolution should be bloodless.
However, in the alternative, yes there is an alternative; electing a credible leader is it. Electing a leader with traceable and proven integrity, a leader with unblemished credential and democratic fidelity, a leader who will rollback poverty in Nigeria, a leader who will uplift the standard of living in our country and give hope to the Nigerian families, a leaders who will not neglect the work force of this country, a leader who will guarantee the independence of the judiciary, because that is our last hope.
We need to vote a leader who will make the required sacrifice to save us all- a leader who will put an end to the spate in religion, ethnic and sectarian strife, a leader who will hear the cry of our children dying of cholera, meningitis and other diseases and act immediately and effectively, a leader who will save our children from Lead poisoning and other avoidable deaths.
We need a true leader who will put an end to the senseless kidnappings and return peace to the Niger Delta area. We need a leader who will restore our past glory in food production. We need a leader who is more tolerant, accepting, kind, patients, peaceful and thoughtful, we need a leader who is competent and accountable to only the electorate and not god-fathers. A listening leader is what we need and importantly, a leader with the fear of God.
Malam Dr. Ibrahim Shekarau has all the mentioned qualities above. Shekarau is a leader that has been tested, trusted and proven. Subject is one leader with traceable and proven integrity whom nothing questionable has been detected in his antecedences since his incursion into the Nigerian controversial political terrain.
A good follower of history since 1999 would agree with me that Dr. Ibrahim Shekarau was the first truly elected governor who came from nowhere in 2003 to dislodge a powerful sitting governor in one of the most popular and political enlightened state in Nigeria. A feat he repeated in 2007.
Shekarau is a leader with unalloyed integrity and respect for human life-he was able to curb senseless and usually fatal riots in Kano. He is a leader who upholds the rule of law. I therefore recommend Dr. Ibrahim Shekarau to us. I urge you my fellow countrymen and women, it is high time, we the Nigerian-FOLLOWERS especially the youths-take our common destiny in our own hands and work out strategies to oust bad leaders virally infecting our political system.
There are other ways to achieve this other than a bloody revolution as suggested by Professor Ben Nwabueze. One way which is painless and easy is through the ballot. Yes your vote can do it. Shekarau will safe us a bloody revolution, he is the alternative.
When will Chidi Nwosu be buried?
When will Chidi Nwosu be buried? Has his funeral been fixed? To answer that question, allow to quote from a report written by Daniel Elombah yesterday:
QUOTE
"However, the family could not fix the funeral date because the Police have not done the autopsy report. The Police are waiting for the family to give them bribe before they could perform the autopsy...so the funeral is put on hold...
That is the Nigerian Police for you....I was told Chidi was shot around 12:45 am but the Police could not come untill 11:00 am
By 6:00 am the villagers went again to invite the Police...but they refused to come...untill the youths started getting restless and perhaps some payment was made before they could visit the locus criminus almost 11 hours after the crime"
QUOTE ENDS
There you have it, in black and white! No autopsy after 18 solid days! A promising young man who was assassinated within earshot of his family can not even be laid to rest, because the Nigerian Police would not do an autopsy until a bribe is paid!
Chei!! My people, water don pass garri for this our country!
What kind of a country do we have? What kind of a country would Chidi's Nwosu's 5-year old daughter inherit from you and me?
We can not continue this way, because the lack of public outrage, and our nearly infinite tolerance, for any and every evil, continues to birth all kinds of impunities. More than anything else, our inattention to the excesses of the Nigerian state is what has brought our nation down to its knees.
It is the reason why our own Yinka Odumakin was threatened with assasination one year ago. It is the reason why Jonathan Elendu's activism was decaptitated two years ago.
It is the reason why professor Okey Ndibe was harrased last week. It is the reason why Jackson Ude and Churchill Umoren of Pointblanknews, Sowore Omoyele of Saharareporters, Emeke Asiwe of Huhuhonline, and Sunny Ofili of the Times of Nigeria, among many other promising young men and women who labour for public accountability, continue to be in that same SSS list that landed Okey Ndibe in hot water last week!
The impunity of the Nigerian State, its total disregard for basic human dignity, its complete lack of decency, is the reason why the Nigerian police would have the effrontery to demand a bribe from a poor widow whose husband has just been murdered in cold blood.
It is the reason why Chidi's corpse is still in the morgue, accumulating financial costs that his widow can ill-afford, waiting for a time when Ijeoma's lunch money would be cashiered into police pockets.
WILL CHIDI DIE IN VAIN?
OUR OWN NIGERIAN ACTIVISTS AND MEDIA PEOPLE, ARE FOR MURDER?
ARE WE GOING TO SIT BY WHILE THE NIGERIAN POLICE EXTORT AND INSULT THE MISERY OF A FRESH WIDOW?
God forbid it!
Chidi Nwosu fought power forces on behalf of the Nigerian people. Justice for Chidi Nwosu is justice for all of us. Please make your voice count! Say "NO" to unbridled impunity. Demand accountability from those who are paid, with your own money, to protect public safety.
Let us send a CLEAR and message - that we Nigerians are decent people, that a Nigerian widow reeling form a husband's recent assasination would be allowed to suffer the indignity of paying a bribe to get a common autopsy!
If you have not done so, please add your voice to the demand for justice by clicking the link below:
http://petitions.wazobianpools.com/
And please join other men and women of goodwill to make a donation to the Chidi Nwosu memorial fund. Let us send a STRONG message -that our activists and media people must be protected at all times, because they are the life-line that keeps policitians accountable.
Let us demonstrate that we appreciate those among us who risk life and livelihood to advocate for public welfare.
Let us show our youth that Community Service and dedication to the welfare of our neighbour is a worthy calling, and that those who loose their lives in the struggle for a better society will not be forgotten carelessly.
Please Donate by clicking the link below.
http://donations.wazobianpools.com/chidi.nwosu
Thank you so much for support, and may 2011 be a breakthrough you for you and your family.
To read about Chidi Nwosu and how he was murdered, read: http://elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4918%3Aexposed-chidi-nwosu-the-brutal-murder-of-a-nigerian-human-rights-activist&catid=36%3Aomoba&Itemid=83
QUOTE
"However, the family could not fix the funeral date because the Police have not done the autopsy report. The Police are waiting for the family to give them bribe before they could perform the autopsy...so the funeral is put on hold...
That is the Nigerian Police for you....I was told Chidi was shot around 12:45 am but the Police could not come untill 11:00 am
By 6:00 am the villagers went again to invite the Police...but they refused to come...untill the youths started getting restless and perhaps some payment was made before they could visit the locus criminus almost 11 hours after the crime"
QUOTE ENDS
There you have it, in black and white! No autopsy after 18 solid days! A promising young man who was assassinated within earshot of his family can not even be laid to rest, because the Nigerian Police would not do an autopsy until a bribe is paid!
Chei!! My people, water don pass garri for this our country!
What kind of a country do we have? What kind of a country would Chidi's Nwosu's 5-year old daughter inherit from you and me?
We can not continue this way, because the lack of public outrage, and our nearly infinite tolerance, for any and every evil, continues to birth all kinds of impunities. More than anything else, our inattention to the excesses of the Nigerian state is what has brought our nation down to its knees.
It is the reason why our own Yinka Odumakin was threatened with assasination one year ago. It is the reason why Jonathan Elendu's activism was decaptitated two years ago.
It is the reason why professor Okey Ndibe was harrased last week. It is the reason why Jackson Ude and Churchill Umoren of Pointblanknews, Sowore Omoyele of Saharareporters, Emeke Asiwe of Huhuhonline, and Sunny Ofili of the Times of Nigeria, among many other promising young men and women who labour for public accountability, continue to be in that same SSS list that landed Okey Ndibe in hot water last week!
The impunity of the Nigerian State, its total disregard for basic human dignity, its complete lack of decency, is the reason why the Nigerian police would have the effrontery to demand a bribe from a poor widow whose husband has just been murdered in cold blood.
It is the reason why Chidi's corpse is still in the morgue, accumulating financial costs that his widow can ill-afford, waiting for a time when Ijeoma's lunch money would be cashiered into police pockets.
WILL CHIDI DIE IN VAIN?
OUR OWN NIGERIAN ACTIVISTS AND MEDIA PEOPLE, ARE FOR MURDER?
ARE WE GOING TO SIT BY WHILE THE NIGERIAN POLICE EXTORT AND INSULT THE MISERY OF A FRESH WIDOW?
God forbid it!
Chidi Nwosu fought power forces on behalf of the Nigerian people. Justice for Chidi Nwosu is justice for all of us. Please make your voice count! Say "NO" to unbridled impunity. Demand accountability from those who are paid, with your own money, to protect public safety.
Let us send a CLEAR and message - that we Nigerians are decent people, that a Nigerian widow reeling form a husband's recent assasination would be allowed to suffer the indignity of paying a bribe to get a common autopsy!
If you have not done so, please add your voice to the demand for justice by clicking the link below:
http://petitions.wazobianpools.com/
And please join other men and women of goodwill to make a donation to the Chidi Nwosu memorial fund. Let us send a STRONG message -that our activists and media people must be protected at all times, because they are the life-line that keeps policitians accountable.
Let us demonstrate that we appreciate those among us who risk life and livelihood to advocate for public welfare.
Let us show our youth that Community Service and dedication to the welfare of our neighbour is a worthy calling, and that those who loose their lives in the struggle for a better society will not be forgotten carelessly.
Please Donate by clicking the link below.
http://donations.wazobianpools.com/chidi.nwosu
Thank you so much for support, and may 2011 be a breakthrough you for you and your family.
To read about Chidi Nwosu and how he was murdered, read: http://elombah.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4918%3Aexposed-chidi-nwosu-the-brutal-murder-of-a-nigerian-human-rights-activist&catid=36%3Aomoba&Itemid=83
ACN State, House of Assembly and National Assembly primaries is a fraud
The primary elections of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, across the country have been marred by violence, intimidation and imposition of candidates, my checks nationwide have shown.
In controversial consensus arrangements, candidates for the April general elections have emerged in some states, most times, against the will of the majority of the electorate.
It was learnt that some popular candidates who enjoyed the support of the electorate were forced to withdraw for endorsed candidates.
Candidates who refused to withdraw were disenfranchised while the endorsed candidates were selected by godfathers instead of being elected by the electorate as it obtains in any democratic process. This has led to protests in many parts of the country.
Former Director General of the Center for Democratic Studies (CDS), Prof.Omo Omoruyi described the House of Assembly and National Assembly primaries of the Edo State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, as a fraud.
In Oyo State, all the governorship aspirants were summoned to a secluded hotel at the Nigerian Breweries area of Ibadan where the leadership simply announced to them that the ACN leadership, particularly, Bisi Akande, the national chairman, had resolved to present Abiola Ajimobi as the consensus candidate for the 2011 governorship election.
The leadership did not stop there. They also came with a list of names of their anointed candidates for all elective posts in the state, and only wanted the congress called to ratify them.
The flames that started the crisis that eventually consumed the Alliance For Democracy have one real live source with multi-dimensional outlets. And the one “real live source” was ignited on January 1999, when the AD had its closed primaries. In what has been referred to as the night of the long knives, a group of 23 “old wise men” simply chose former presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae, rather than allowing a primary between him and Chief Bola Ige, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
The move was the genesis of the disintegration of the Afenifere, a socio-political group and the Alliance for Democracy (AD), as Ige joined the Olusegun Obasanjo-led PDP government after the 1999 presidential election.
This move which was condemned by the Afenifere leadership eventually led to the death of Bola Ige.
Bola Tinubu also benefited from the influence of those old men. At the Lagos AD Primaries, Many AD members claimed Funso Williams won at that time, but Chief Ayodele Adebanjo signed the papers for Bola Tinubu as the winner.
Again, today, Funso Williams is no more, brutally assassinated just like Bola Ige. And like Bola Ige, his killers has never been found.
In this year of our Lord 2011, in this 21st century, it would seem that history is repeating itself in Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, a reincarnation of AD.
In Anambra, Dr Chris Ngige , “let out his anti democratic bent by Unilaterally changing the result! He has arbitrarily declared Ben chuks winner with 820 votes over CID with 3,169. Can you beat that?
The story is the same in Edo, Oyo, Lagos, Ekiti etc
In controversial consensus arrangements, candidates for the April general elections have emerged in some states, most times, against the will of the majority of the electorate.
It was learnt that some popular candidates who enjoyed the support of the electorate were forced to withdraw for endorsed candidates.
Candidates who refused to withdraw were disenfranchised while the endorsed candidates were selected by godfathers instead of being elected by the electorate as it obtains in any democratic process. This has led to protests in many parts of the country.
Former Director General of the Center for Democratic Studies (CDS), Prof.Omo Omoruyi described the House of Assembly and National Assembly primaries of the Edo State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, as a fraud.
In Oyo State, all the governorship aspirants were summoned to a secluded hotel at the Nigerian Breweries area of Ibadan where the leadership simply announced to them that the ACN leadership, particularly, Bisi Akande, the national chairman, had resolved to present Abiola Ajimobi as the consensus candidate for the 2011 governorship election.
The leadership did not stop there. They also came with a list of names of their anointed candidates for all elective posts in the state, and only wanted the congress called to ratify them.
The flames that started the crisis that eventually consumed the Alliance For Democracy have one real live source with multi-dimensional outlets. And the one “real live source” was ignited on January 1999, when the AD had its closed primaries. In what has been referred to as the night of the long knives, a group of 23 “old wise men” simply chose former presidential candidate, Chief Olu Falae, rather than allowing a primary between him and Chief Bola Ige, former Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
The move was the genesis of the disintegration of the Afenifere, a socio-political group and the Alliance for Democracy (AD), as Ige joined the Olusegun Obasanjo-led PDP government after the 1999 presidential election.
This move which was condemned by the Afenifere leadership eventually led to the death of Bola Ige.
Bola Tinubu also benefited from the influence of those old men. At the Lagos AD Primaries, Many AD members claimed Funso Williams won at that time, but Chief Ayodele Adebanjo signed the papers for Bola Tinubu as the winner.
Again, today, Funso Williams is no more, brutally assassinated just like Bola Ige. And like Bola Ige, his killers has never been found.
In this year of our Lord 2011, in this 21st century, it would seem that history is repeating itself in Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, a reincarnation of AD.
In Anambra, Dr Chris Ngige , “let out his anti democratic bent by Unilaterally changing the result! He has arbitrarily declared Ben chuks winner with 820 votes over CID with 3,169. Can you beat that?
The story is the same in Edo, Oyo, Lagos, Ekiti etc
Akwa Ibom SSG Debunks Report Of Quarrel With Akpabio
The Secretary to the State Government of Akwa Ibom State, Dr. Umana Okon Umana has denied reports of a rift between himself and state Governor Godswill Akpabio over their interest in the Uyo Senatorial District seat.
Reports in the local media had suggested that while the governor preferred the candidacy of the incumbent Senator Effiong Bob, the SSG had sympathy for Honourable Ita Enang, who is presently the member representing Itu/Ibiono federal constituency in the House of Representatives. Effiong was however defeated in the PDP senate primary in the state.
Dr. Umana spoke at an interactive session with journalists in Uyo, saying the reports were fabricated by their authors to create a friction between himself and Akpabio.
He said his relationship with the governor remains robust and cordial.
Reports in the local media had suggested that while the governor preferred the candidacy of the incumbent Senator Effiong Bob, the SSG had sympathy for Honourable Ita Enang, who is presently the member representing Itu/Ibiono federal constituency in the House of Representatives. Effiong was however defeated in the PDP senate primary in the state.
Dr. Umana spoke at an interactive session with journalists in Uyo, saying the reports were fabricated by their authors to create a friction between himself and Akpabio.
He said his relationship with the governor remains robust and cordial.
What is the difference between PDP and ACN?
GABRIEL AKINADEWO
In Nigeria, politics is just an electoral activity. When elections are coming, tempers will rise. The atmosphere will become charged. The tension in the polity will be so thick that it can be seen without using a microscope. But, after the activities, everything will go back to normalcy. Life returns and the struggles continue.
That has been our way of life since the 1960s. And thank God for the April general elections. The same scenario is happening again.
In this brand of deceptive politics that we practice, who is a progressive and who is a progrethief?
Nigerians should thank the Almighty that there are primaries before elections and like before, our political parties have been exposed.
Talking of political parties, we all know that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the ruling party, controlling more than two thirds of the 36 states.
Obviously, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which controls four states, is the most vocal of all the opposition parties.
Through propaganda, Nigerians have been deceived for years.
It is less than three months to the April 2, 9 and 16 general elections and the question Nigerians are asking is: What is the difference between the PDP and the ACN? Does it make sense to say that a lion is harmful and a tiger harmless?
Can you spot the difference between the Fuhrerand German dictator, Adolf Hitler, and the Russian blood-thirsty maniac, Josef Stalin?What is lacking in PDP that Nigerians will get in ACN, given the outcome of the recent primaries?
Why are we always deceiving ourselves in this country?
I don't know why the so-called radicals and activists, always throwing stones at the PDP, have suddenly become blind, deaf and dumb, given the open display of arrogance and imposition that rocked the recent ACN primaries.
I don't have any problem with what ACN people have just done. Everybody will agree that rigging is a Nigerian; imposition, a Yoruba; manipulation, an Igbo and exploitation, an Hausa.
What is totally unacceptable is for ACN people to be telling us that “we are the democrats and others are the devils of Nigerian politics.
When the Spanish philosopher, George Santayana, came out with his popular quote: Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute, there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, the world was still learning, politically.But, when, about 70 years ago, the great British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, popularized the phrase: Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, he was apparently referring to Nigeria.It is clear that ACN, despite the weather-beaten cliche from its leaders: We saved Nigeria from the military, has not learnt anything from Nigerian history.
In fact, the leadership is now telling us that We are the owners of Nigeria and as long as we have the power of propaganda, nothing is going to happen.
Or how in God's name will any democrat explain what is going on in ACN?
For starters, all the aspirants, now candidates, withdrew their candidature even before the start of the process.
They were made to sign Withdrawal Forms attached to their Nomination Forms.
This is as undemocratic as the word despotic.
The imposition of candidates is an antithesis of genuine democracy and a mockery of the process. How can any election be credible in such an arrangement? How do you remove internal democracy from the process and tell the electorate that you are democrats?
Honestly, it is very disheartening and disturbing to many Nigerians that despite the propaganda by the party leadership that ACN is the best party in the world and heaven, the party has shown its true colour as one of the most retrogressive, personalized, tyrannical and dictatorial parties in Nigerian history.
Weeks ago, I watched Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora on a popular television station in Lagos, boasting that nothing or nobody would make him drop his determination to return to the Upper Chamber.
Today, Mamora is singing a new song of being a born again. He was even forced to raise the hand of the candidate imposed by the leadership in Lagos East Senatorial District.
Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, left Epe State Constituency for Isolo and was rejected. He has now been imposed on Ikeja to replace Babatunde Ogala.
One thing I know is that the Yoruba are no fools. They know what is going on but because of the fear of the unknown, many have continued to maintain their silence.
Obviously, the make up, political ideology and modus operandi of the ACN call for close scrutiny.Because of the dictatorial tendencies it displayed during the primaries, the party now sits on a shaky foundation, like a house built on sand.
From Lagos to Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo and Anambra, it was imposition galore. In fact, the number of people killed in Edo during the ACN primaries is higher than those killed in other states.
On imposition, I don't even want to waste time on that because as long as you are a member of a party, if you are tired of what they are doing, you leave.
My concern is that ACN should not be confusing Nigerians that it is the best party. I have a strong belief, and millions of Nigerians do, that there is no party in Nigeria. What we have are associations and they go for their Annual General Meetings during their congresses and conventions.
In April, Nigerians should vote for any candidate of their choice. If a candidate is dark and you prefer someone who is light in complexion, vote for him or her. If you prefer a dwarf, cast your vote for him or her.
Don't let anybody deceive you because ACN is the kind of party that will tell the electorate that after the elections, it would fix air conditioners on our streets so that we can be like Europe and the United States.
Honestly, this time around, it won't work.
If PDP is known with wuruwuru, at least, Nigerians see orderly primaries.But, the exercise is alien to ACN and when it holds, it is another story entirely like the one they did in Lagos. After voting, the delegates and INEC officials were told to leave on the pretext that the votes would be counted the next day.
But, at 3 a.m., INEC officials were called to sign a prepared result and the officials refused.
So, if primaries of other parties are associated with wuruwuru, that of ACN stinks of magomago.Former Information Commissioner in Lagos State and a loyalist of Governor Emeritus Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mr. Dele Alake, was a senatorial aspirant in Ekiti Central district.
A respected journalist, this is what he said on the outcome of the ACN primaries in The Nation of Thursday, January 13, 2011:When I joined the race for the senatorial seat in Ekiti, I was motivated by the higher ideal of offering service and quality representation to the people of Ekiti Central Senatorial District in particular, Ekiti State and Nigeria in general.
I felt that my God-given intellect, talent, elocution and erudition and articulation, experience,, exposure, knowledge and vision would be best put to the service of my people in the National Assembly through a clean electoral process. I did not envisage that an intra-party primary would degenerate into malpractices, fraud, violence and brigandage (emphasis mine) Given what occurred on Monday (January 10, 2011) at the canceled primary in Ekiti Central Senatorial Zone, I have come to the painful conclusion that it will be an uphill task for decent people with a sense of propriety to be part of any such process again (emphasis mine).
In the light of this and after due consultations with well-meaning Nigerians across the geo-political divides and given the fact that I subscribed to the principle and value of playing the game by the rule and also the fact that I cherish the quality of my name, status, stature and my image, I have decided not to be part of any such arrangement because there is no guarantee that the same thing will not occur again (emphasis mine).
I do not believe that in order to serve the people, you either induce them with money, buy their conscience or resort to thuggery, hooliganism and brigandage. I strongly believe that if one wants to serve, you offer yourself and convince the people with ideas, program mes, plans and manifesto. I do not and will not be part of a scheme that will hoodwink the public because I want to serve them. If anyone resorts to monetary inducement, brigandage and cohesion, then, such person's motive can never be to serve (emphasis mine).
I, therefore, withdraw my participation in any political arrangement that is not above board. I appeal to all my supporters and well wishers to be calm and law abiding as the Almighty God, who sees our hearts and knows our intention, is in absolute control. Even today, there is still crisis in that senatorial district.
With this revelation coming from a first-class journalist such as Alake who has withdrawn from the race, what type of candidate do you think the party will produce in that district for the April 2 National Assembly elections?
To counter Alake's open confession of the crisis in the party, loyalists of his challenger and the incumbent Senator, Bode Ola, placed an advertorial in The Nation of Wednesday, January 19, 2011, saying, among others: If most Senators in other parts of the country are being returned, if some ACN Senators in the South-West are being returned to consolidate in the upper chamber, then, let the powers that be in the ACN in Ekiti State, in South-West and at the national level reason well and think deep (emphasis mine).
Let Senator Bode Ola returns. Since ACN has acquired imposition as a trademark, can the kettle call the pot black?
What are the reasons the party will give to the electorate for them to reject the PDP?
But, as we say in Yorubaland, were loga(a mad man has a master).In Lagos, Senator Ganiyu Solomon was left alone because he is a one-man riot squad, apology to the distinguished Senator.
The party leadership knows he has the capacity to bring down the roof, if his ticket was taken away. Because Adekunle Muse and Mamora are gentlemen, they were sacrificed.
You can see that it doesn't pay to be a gentleman in politics, at least, in Nigeria.
If Mamora has the qualities and capacity of Dino Melaye, Adebayo Success, Tokyo, Eleweomo, Saka Saula etc put together, even with his medical background, do you think anybody would have taken his ticket from him when people of his constituency are still backing his return to the Upper Chamber?
My conclusion is harsh but it is true. Clearly, our political messiah has not been born.
In Nigeria, politics is just an electoral activity. When elections are coming, tempers will rise. The atmosphere will become charged. The tension in the polity will be so thick that it can be seen without using a microscope. But, after the activities, everything will go back to normalcy. Life returns and the struggles continue.
That has been our way of life since the 1960s. And thank God for the April general elections. The same scenario is happening again.
In this brand of deceptive politics that we practice, who is a progressive and who is a progrethief?
Nigerians should thank the Almighty that there are primaries before elections and like before, our political parties have been exposed.
Talking of political parties, we all know that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is the ruling party, controlling more than two thirds of the 36 states.
Obviously, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which controls four states, is the most vocal of all the opposition parties.
Through propaganda, Nigerians have been deceived for years.
It is less than three months to the April 2, 9 and 16 general elections and the question Nigerians are asking is: What is the difference between the PDP and the ACN? Does it make sense to say that a lion is harmful and a tiger harmless?
Can you spot the difference between the Fuhrerand German dictator, Adolf Hitler, and the Russian blood-thirsty maniac, Josef Stalin?What is lacking in PDP that Nigerians will get in ACN, given the outcome of the recent primaries?
Why are we always deceiving ourselves in this country?
I don't know why the so-called radicals and activists, always throwing stones at the PDP, have suddenly become blind, deaf and dumb, given the open display of arrogance and imposition that rocked the recent ACN primaries.
I don't have any problem with what ACN people have just done. Everybody will agree that rigging is a Nigerian; imposition, a Yoruba; manipulation, an Igbo and exploitation, an Hausa.
What is totally unacceptable is for ACN people to be telling us that “we are the democrats and others are the devils of Nigerian politics.
When the Spanish philosopher, George Santayana, came out with his popular quote: Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute, there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual.
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, the world was still learning, politically.But, when, about 70 years ago, the great British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill, popularized the phrase: Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, he was apparently referring to Nigeria.It is clear that ACN, despite the weather-beaten cliche from its leaders: We saved Nigeria from the military, has not learnt anything from Nigerian history.
In fact, the leadership is now telling us that We are the owners of Nigeria and as long as we have the power of propaganda, nothing is going to happen.
Or how in God's name will any democrat explain what is going on in ACN?
For starters, all the aspirants, now candidates, withdrew their candidature even before the start of the process.
They were made to sign Withdrawal Forms attached to their Nomination Forms.
This is as undemocratic as the word despotic.
The imposition of candidates is an antithesis of genuine democracy and a mockery of the process. How can any election be credible in such an arrangement? How do you remove internal democracy from the process and tell the electorate that you are democrats?
Honestly, it is very disheartening and disturbing to many Nigerians that despite the propaganda by the party leadership that ACN is the best party in the world and heaven, the party has shown its true colour as one of the most retrogressive, personalized, tyrannical and dictatorial parties in Nigerian history.
Weeks ago, I watched Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora on a popular television station in Lagos, boasting that nothing or nobody would make him drop his determination to return to the Upper Chamber.
Today, Mamora is singing a new song of being a born again. He was even forced to raise the hand of the candidate imposed by the leadership in Lagos East Senatorial District.
Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, left Epe State Constituency for Isolo and was rejected. He has now been imposed on Ikeja to replace Babatunde Ogala.
One thing I know is that the Yoruba are no fools. They know what is going on but because of the fear of the unknown, many have continued to maintain their silence.
Obviously, the make up, political ideology and modus operandi of the ACN call for close scrutiny.Because of the dictatorial tendencies it displayed during the primaries, the party now sits on a shaky foundation, like a house built on sand.
From Lagos to Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Edo and Anambra, it was imposition galore. In fact, the number of people killed in Edo during the ACN primaries is higher than those killed in other states.
On imposition, I don't even want to waste time on that because as long as you are a member of a party, if you are tired of what they are doing, you leave.
My concern is that ACN should not be confusing Nigerians that it is the best party. I have a strong belief, and millions of Nigerians do, that there is no party in Nigeria. What we have are associations and they go for their Annual General Meetings during their congresses and conventions.
In April, Nigerians should vote for any candidate of their choice. If a candidate is dark and you prefer someone who is light in complexion, vote for him or her. If you prefer a dwarf, cast your vote for him or her.
Don't let anybody deceive you because ACN is the kind of party that will tell the electorate that after the elections, it would fix air conditioners on our streets so that we can be like Europe and the United States.
Honestly, this time around, it won't work.
If PDP is known with wuruwuru, at least, Nigerians see orderly primaries.But, the exercise is alien to ACN and when it holds, it is another story entirely like the one they did in Lagos. After voting, the delegates and INEC officials were told to leave on the pretext that the votes would be counted the next day.
But, at 3 a.m., INEC officials were called to sign a prepared result and the officials refused.
So, if primaries of other parties are associated with wuruwuru, that of ACN stinks of magomago.Former Information Commissioner in Lagos State and a loyalist of Governor Emeritus Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Mr. Dele Alake, was a senatorial aspirant in Ekiti Central district.
A respected journalist, this is what he said on the outcome of the ACN primaries in The Nation of Thursday, January 13, 2011:When I joined the race for the senatorial seat in Ekiti, I was motivated by the higher ideal of offering service and quality representation to the people of Ekiti Central Senatorial District in particular, Ekiti State and Nigeria in general.
I felt that my God-given intellect, talent, elocution and erudition and articulation, experience,, exposure, knowledge and vision would be best put to the service of my people in the National Assembly through a clean electoral process. I did not envisage that an intra-party primary would degenerate into malpractices, fraud, violence and brigandage (emphasis mine) Given what occurred on Monday (January 10, 2011) at the canceled primary in Ekiti Central Senatorial Zone, I have come to the painful conclusion that it will be an uphill task for decent people with a sense of propriety to be part of any such process again (emphasis mine).
In the light of this and after due consultations with well-meaning Nigerians across the geo-political divides and given the fact that I subscribed to the principle and value of playing the game by the rule and also the fact that I cherish the quality of my name, status, stature and my image, I have decided not to be part of any such arrangement because there is no guarantee that the same thing will not occur again (emphasis mine).
I do not believe that in order to serve the people, you either induce them with money, buy their conscience or resort to thuggery, hooliganism and brigandage. I strongly believe that if one wants to serve, you offer yourself and convince the people with ideas, program mes, plans and manifesto. I do not and will not be part of a scheme that will hoodwink the public because I want to serve them. If anyone resorts to monetary inducement, brigandage and cohesion, then, such person's motive can never be to serve (emphasis mine).
I, therefore, withdraw my participation in any political arrangement that is not above board. I appeal to all my supporters and well wishers to be calm and law abiding as the Almighty God, who sees our hearts and knows our intention, is in absolute control. Even today, there is still crisis in that senatorial district.
With this revelation coming from a first-class journalist such as Alake who has withdrawn from the race, what type of candidate do you think the party will produce in that district for the April 2 National Assembly elections?
To counter Alake's open confession of the crisis in the party, loyalists of his challenger and the incumbent Senator, Bode Ola, placed an advertorial in The Nation of Wednesday, January 19, 2011, saying, among others: If most Senators in other parts of the country are being returned, if some ACN Senators in the South-West are being returned to consolidate in the upper chamber, then, let the powers that be in the ACN in Ekiti State, in South-West and at the national level reason well and think deep (emphasis mine).
Let Senator Bode Ola returns. Since ACN has acquired imposition as a trademark, can the kettle call the pot black?
What are the reasons the party will give to the electorate for them to reject the PDP?
But, as we say in Yorubaland, were loga(a mad man has a master).In Lagos, Senator Ganiyu Solomon was left alone because he is a one-man riot squad, apology to the distinguished Senator.
The party leadership knows he has the capacity to bring down the roof, if his ticket was taken away. Because Adekunle Muse and Mamora are gentlemen, they were sacrificed.
You can see that it doesn't pay to be a gentleman in politics, at least, in Nigeria.
If Mamora has the qualities and capacity of Dino Melaye, Adebayo Success, Tokyo, Eleweomo, Saka Saula etc put together, even with his medical background, do you think anybody would have taken his ticket from him when people of his constituency are still backing his return to the Upper Chamber?
My conclusion is harsh but it is true. Clearly, our political messiah has not been born.
Odumakin appointed Buhari's spokesman
There are strong indications that the much anticipated alliance between the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) may soon be consummated as the presidential candidates of both parties General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) and Nuhu Ribadu met on Wednesday in Kaduna.
Reliable sources disclosed to LEADERSHIP that the presidential candidates held a secret meeting at the Kaduna residence of the former head of state.
No details of the outcome of the meeting were provided but sources close to both politicians said that Ribadu met Buhari after paying a condolence visit to the family of late General Mamman Remawa who passed away on Sunday.
Northern Political Leaders have intensified efforts to forge a common ground to ensure that one of their own emerges the next president of the country.A source revealed that the northern leaders have directed all the presidential candidates from the region to settle for a consensus candidate from the region to brighten its chances at the coming polls
Many prominent political leaders in the north are working underground to ensure success of the project, but pretend to be satisfied with the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan. All Arewa political heavy weights, including former Heads of State, politicians, and scholars, religious and traditional rulers have weighted the present political situation confronting the north vis-Ã -vis the country at large, and agree that the viable option left for the region is to bury their differences and concentrate on how to salvage the north from political extinction.
The reality facing the leaders is that it is better for the region to contest power with one voice than singing a discordant tune, the source further stated.Nonetheless, the leaders, according to the source, are skeptical, but yet express the hope that PDP would lose in the north.
Whether the strategy will work is another thing, but I can tell you that options are available and in many ways the northern region can put the PDP at bay. What is happening now is a reflection that PDP is losing the north, you can see resistance and it is coming from the masses that constitute 92 per cent of those that will vote in the elections.
I am telling you even if the north fail to produce a single candidate, PDP will not get the north and if you think northern aspirants that lost the primaries are working for PDP you are making a blind political calculation. Is it not one man, one vote? You will see.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Buhari (rtd) has appointed Mr. Yinka Odumakin as his spokesman. A 1989 graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Odumakin began his journalism career at the Punch newspapers before he moved to the Guardian newspapers.
A statement by the Buhari Campaign Organisation yesterday read, He has for years been a critical voice in the pro-democracy movement in Nigeria and, a well-known defender of justice, fairness and equity in the polity.
His critical interventions have been brought to bear on national discourse through his roles as the National Publicity Secretary of the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, and later the Save Nigeria Group, SNG.
His passion for a new Nigeria built on the foundation of justice, equity and good governance is expected to find expression in the campaign of Buhari who is at the head of the movement for change in Nigeria in 2011 through the ballot box, the statement said.
Reliable sources disclosed to LEADERSHIP that the presidential candidates held a secret meeting at the Kaduna residence of the former head of state.
No details of the outcome of the meeting were provided but sources close to both politicians said that Ribadu met Buhari after paying a condolence visit to the family of late General Mamman Remawa who passed away on Sunday.
Northern Political Leaders have intensified efforts to forge a common ground to ensure that one of their own emerges the next president of the country.A source revealed that the northern leaders have directed all the presidential candidates from the region to settle for a consensus candidate from the region to brighten its chances at the coming polls
Many prominent political leaders in the north are working underground to ensure success of the project, but pretend to be satisfied with the candidature of President Goodluck Jonathan. All Arewa political heavy weights, including former Heads of State, politicians, and scholars, religious and traditional rulers have weighted the present political situation confronting the north vis-Ã -vis the country at large, and agree that the viable option left for the region is to bury their differences and concentrate on how to salvage the north from political extinction.
The reality facing the leaders is that it is better for the region to contest power with one voice than singing a discordant tune, the source further stated.Nonetheless, the leaders, according to the source, are skeptical, but yet express the hope that PDP would lose in the north.
Whether the strategy will work is another thing, but I can tell you that options are available and in many ways the northern region can put the PDP at bay. What is happening now is a reflection that PDP is losing the north, you can see resistance and it is coming from the masses that constitute 92 per cent of those that will vote in the elections.
I am telling you even if the north fail to produce a single candidate, PDP will not get the north and if you think northern aspirants that lost the primaries are working for PDP you are making a blind political calculation. Is it not one man, one vote? You will see.
Meanwhile, the presidential candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Buhari (rtd) has appointed Mr. Yinka Odumakin as his spokesman. A 1989 graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Odumakin began his journalism career at the Punch newspapers before he moved to the Guardian newspapers.
A statement by the Buhari Campaign Organisation yesterday read, He has for years been a critical voice in the pro-democracy movement in Nigeria and, a well-known defender of justice, fairness and equity in the polity.
His critical interventions have been brought to bear on national discourse through his roles as the National Publicity Secretary of the Pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, and later the Save Nigeria Group, SNG.
His passion for a new Nigeria built on the foundation of justice, equity and good governance is expected to find expression in the campaign of Buhari who is at the head of the movement for change in Nigeria in 2011 through the ballot box, the statement said.
Transcript of President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address (1961)
Transcript of President John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address (1961)
Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, fellow citizens:
We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge--and more.
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom--and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge--to convert our good words into good deeds--in a new alliance for progress--to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers.
Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.
To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support--to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective--to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak--and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.
Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.
We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course--both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.
So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.
Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms--and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.
Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce.
Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah--to "undo the heavy burdens . . . (and) let the oppressed go free."
And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.
All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty.
The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call to battle, though embattled we are-- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.
The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.
With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.
Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, fellow citizens:
We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom--symbolizing an end as well as a beginning--signifying renewal as well as change. For I have sworn before you and Almighty God the same solemn oath our forbears prescribed nearly a century and three-quarters ago.
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe--the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans--born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage--and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge--and more.
To those old allies whose cultural and spiritual origins we share, we pledge the loyalty of faithful friends. United there is little we cannot do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do--for we dare not meet a powerful challenge at odds and split asunder.
To those new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free, we pledge our word that one form of colonial control shall not have passed away merely to be replaced by a far more iron tyranny. We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom--and to remember that, in the past, those who foolishly sought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside.
To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period is required--not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right. If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.
To our sister republics south of our border, we offer a special pledge--to convert our good words into good deeds--in a new alliance for progress--to assist free men and free governments in casting off the chains of poverty. But this peaceful revolution of hope cannot become the prey of hostile powers.
Let all our neighbors know that we shall join with them to oppose aggression or subversion anywhere in the Americas. And let every other power know that this Hemisphere intends to remain the master of its own house.
To that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations, our last best hope in an age where the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace, we renew our pledge of support--to prevent it from becoming merely a forum for invective--to strengthen its shield of the new and the weak--and to enlarge the area in which its writ may run.
Finally, to those nations who would make themselves our adversary, we offer not a pledge but a request: that both sides begin anew the quest for peace, before the dark powers of destruction unleashed by science engulf all humanity in planned or accidental self-destruction.
We dare not tempt them with weakness. For only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed.
But neither can two great and powerful groups of nations take comfort from our present course--both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both rightly alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that stays the hand of mankind's final war.
So let us begin anew--remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate.
Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.
Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms--and bring the absolute power to destroy other nations under the absolute control of all nations.
Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science instead of its terrors. Together let us explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths and encourage the arts and commerce.
Let both sides unite to heed in all corners of the earth the command of Isaiah--to "undo the heavy burdens . . . (and) let the oppressed go free."
And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion, let both sides join in creating a new endeavor, not a new balance of power, but a new world of law, where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved.
All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty.
The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe.
Now the trumpet summons us again--not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need--not as a call to battle, though embattled we are-- but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"--a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation.
The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country.
My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you.
With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.
Deeper Life Pastor, 3 Others killed in Borno
A District Pastor in the Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC), Pastor Michael Medugu and three other persons were killed in renewed a sectarian violence, which erupted on Tuesday evening in Maiduguri, Borno State.
Medugu’s killing came almost one year after four persons including a District Pastor of Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC), his four children and wife were killed in a sectarian violence which rocked Jos in January 2010.
THEWILL learned about the murder of the district pastor from a source in the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) Headquarter in Lagos, but the source pleaded anonymity because DLBC General Superintendent, Pastor William F. Kumuyi had not given directive on whether the killing of Medugu should be announced to the public.
But it was gathered the Church in Maiduguri had been in the mourning mood since the news of the death of district was revealed to the church members. According to the source, the pastor had left the meeting to his pharmaceutical shop where he was dispensing drugs to customers at about 7.05 p.m. on Tuesday before his assailants struck.
The source said Pastor Medugu “left behind his wife and seven children to mourn him while Senior Pastor in the District, Pastor Ama Awokoya wept when he was told that Medugu had been murdered, shortly after he asked Deeper Life faithful to pray against attack on Christians in the Muslims dominated region.”
Other persons, who were killed along with the late pastor, were simply identified as Obina, James and one Baba Joy. They were Medugu’s neighbours. The attackers were said to have escaped after carrying out the nefarious act.
In his reaction to the attacks on Christians in the north, Christian Association of N Nigeria (CAN) President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has expressed his profound reservation on the increasing attacks on Christians in the Northern parts of country, thus urging all Christians in the volatile region to brace up and defend themselves and family when attacked by the Muslim extremists adding that the killings were no longer tolerable.
Oritsejafor said it really “does not make any sense for a peace-loving Christian to watch his family members being slaughtered without doing anything to defend them. People are calling me from that part of the country daily.
“These people are disenchanted by the daily killings which had instilled fear in the minds of Christians in the Northern region to the extent that some are now migrating from the region, because they believe that the government has not demonstrated enough commitment to defend the citizens,” Oritsejafor explained.
He added that it “is sad that some people have persistently laid siege in the region in a deliberate attempt to exterminate every Christian in the area. For how long shall we continue like this? It is no longer acceptable in this civilized age, for human beings to kill fellow citizens in the name of fighting for God.”
Oritsejafor said that the incessant killings might be a ploy by the enemies of President Goodluck Jonathan to discredit his administration and give the impression that the President is not effective just as major Christian leaders, who reacted to the killing, opined that there “will be no end to the religious crisis in the North unless christians in the area take it upon themselves to defend their lives and property.”
Medugu’s killing came almost one year after four persons including a District Pastor of Deeper Life Bible Church (DLBC), his four children and wife were killed in a sectarian violence which rocked Jos in January 2010.
THEWILL learned about the murder of the district pastor from a source in the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) Headquarter in Lagos, but the source pleaded anonymity because DLBC General Superintendent, Pastor William F. Kumuyi had not given directive on whether the killing of Medugu should be announced to the public.
But it was gathered the Church in Maiduguri had been in the mourning mood since the news of the death of district was revealed to the church members. According to the source, the pastor had left the meeting to his pharmaceutical shop where he was dispensing drugs to customers at about 7.05 p.m. on Tuesday before his assailants struck.
The source said Pastor Medugu “left behind his wife and seven children to mourn him while Senior Pastor in the District, Pastor Ama Awokoya wept when he was told that Medugu had been murdered, shortly after he asked Deeper Life faithful to pray against attack on Christians in the Muslims dominated region.”
Other persons, who were killed along with the late pastor, were simply identified as Obina, James and one Baba Joy. They were Medugu’s neighbours. The attackers were said to have escaped after carrying out the nefarious act.
In his reaction to the attacks on Christians in the north, Christian Association of N Nigeria (CAN) President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor has expressed his profound reservation on the increasing attacks on Christians in the Northern parts of country, thus urging all Christians in the volatile region to brace up and defend themselves and family when attacked by the Muslim extremists adding that the killings were no longer tolerable.
Oritsejafor said it really “does not make any sense for a peace-loving Christian to watch his family members being slaughtered without doing anything to defend them. People are calling me from that part of the country daily.
“These people are disenchanted by the daily killings which had instilled fear in the minds of Christians in the Northern region to the extent that some are now migrating from the region, because they believe that the government has not demonstrated enough commitment to defend the citizens,” Oritsejafor explained.
He added that it “is sad that some people have persistently laid siege in the region in a deliberate attempt to exterminate every Christian in the area. For how long shall we continue like this? It is no longer acceptable in this civilized age, for human beings to kill fellow citizens in the name of fighting for God.”
Oritsejafor said that the incessant killings might be a ploy by the enemies of President Goodluck Jonathan to discredit his administration and give the impression that the President is not effective just as major Christian leaders, who reacted to the killing, opined that there “will be no end to the religious crisis in the North unless christians in the area take it upon themselves to defend their lives and property.”
Is Jonathan the Messiah
Eromo Egbejule
Mr. President,
I remember that sometime in August last year as I sweated out yet another night of power outage, I promised myself I would vote for you when you eventually decided to run for the office of president. You had just launched the roadmap for the power sector and I had, typical Nigerian that I am, begun to hope afresh.
At the time, there were declarations of interest and rumours of declarations of interest and singled you as the best of the available candidates.
I reasoned that you could probably be the one to miraculously nurse your infected party, the People Democratic Party (PDP), back to sanity; that you would be the Messiah we seek.
More than four months later, one more birthday for me, and I am now doubtful of that. Of course, I will vote; that is after all my right. Voting for you is however one action whose possibility continues to diminish. Every new day gives me reason to agree with most of my contemporaries that you are not the long-awaited saviour.
The actions and inactions of your government make me sympathise briefly with those who have chosen to take the cowardly step of fleeing this country to ironically go and help make their resident countries work.
Poverty has remained our neighbour and as the rapper MI (you do know him sire?) says:Hunger hold man for neck like say na bowtie. There is no day Nigerians do not wake up to read or hear about something negative in the news that could have been averted but for inaction and passive governance, or something that could have been positive and benefited the masses but for the actions of government.
A few days ago, I read online that Okey Ndibe, the Okey Ndibe, had been arrested. Pardon my sentimental attachment to the name; it is same for the man himself who I first met in 2008 at a literary meet to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of elder statesman Chinua Achebe's uber-classic, Things Fall Apart.
We did not chat for long but our little discussion remains evergreen for me. It was an expectedly great moment for me because I had been reading his pieces in The Sun and had googled him more at the time, than any other Nigerian writer, save Niyi Osundare.
So, sir, I was shocked that in an age where freedom of speech and of the press continue to make a statement in the enthronement of justice and protection of justice, a patriotic citizen such as Mr. Ndibe who continues to play his part in national development from faraway America could be detained. In civilized places, men of his ilk are given a hero's welcome.
I want to assume that you are not behind the dehumanising ordeal of Mr. Ndibe and that it was just the belligerence of overzealous security agents seeking instant gratification. It is, apart from being morally, socially and democratically wrong, politically dumb, so to speak, to arrest a critic or anyone whatsoever at this critical period when you are pursuing your re-election.
This, sir, is 2011, probably the most significant year in Nigerian political history after 1960 and 1993. So, you may want to listen less to those who call themselves your advisers.
It is you who will face the consequences of acting on their half-baked advice and if your name is rubbed in the mud, they will find new employers. You, sir, will retire to a quiet life in your village and be content to come out twice a year to give lectures to small audiences.
I am also assuming that you are a gentleman and that like all gentlemen and leaders, you will not shy away from admitting that detaining the man was wrong. At least a simple public apology will do. It will not turn back the hands of time but it will definitely show sincerity of purpose to the people you govern. No one is infallible, sir and there is no need to keep up a show of being so.
Mr. President,
I remember that sometime in August last year as I sweated out yet another night of power outage, I promised myself I would vote for you when you eventually decided to run for the office of president. You had just launched the roadmap for the power sector and I had, typical Nigerian that I am, begun to hope afresh.
At the time, there were declarations of interest and rumours of declarations of interest and singled you as the best of the available candidates.
I reasoned that you could probably be the one to miraculously nurse your infected party, the People Democratic Party (PDP), back to sanity; that you would be the Messiah we seek.
More than four months later, one more birthday for me, and I am now doubtful of that. Of course, I will vote; that is after all my right. Voting for you is however one action whose possibility continues to diminish. Every new day gives me reason to agree with most of my contemporaries that you are not the long-awaited saviour.
The actions and inactions of your government make me sympathise briefly with those who have chosen to take the cowardly step of fleeing this country to ironically go and help make their resident countries work.
Poverty has remained our neighbour and as the rapper MI (you do know him sire?) says:Hunger hold man for neck like say na bowtie. There is no day Nigerians do not wake up to read or hear about something negative in the news that could have been averted but for inaction and passive governance, or something that could have been positive and benefited the masses but for the actions of government.
A few days ago, I read online that Okey Ndibe, the Okey Ndibe, had been arrested. Pardon my sentimental attachment to the name; it is same for the man himself who I first met in 2008 at a literary meet to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the release of elder statesman Chinua Achebe's uber-classic, Things Fall Apart.
We did not chat for long but our little discussion remains evergreen for me. It was an expectedly great moment for me because I had been reading his pieces in The Sun and had googled him more at the time, than any other Nigerian writer, save Niyi Osundare.
So, sir, I was shocked that in an age where freedom of speech and of the press continue to make a statement in the enthronement of justice and protection of justice, a patriotic citizen such as Mr. Ndibe who continues to play his part in national development from faraway America could be detained. In civilized places, men of his ilk are given a hero's welcome.
I want to assume that you are not behind the dehumanising ordeal of Mr. Ndibe and that it was just the belligerence of overzealous security agents seeking instant gratification. It is, apart from being morally, socially and democratically wrong, politically dumb, so to speak, to arrest a critic or anyone whatsoever at this critical period when you are pursuing your re-election.
This, sir, is 2011, probably the most significant year in Nigerian political history after 1960 and 1993. So, you may want to listen less to those who call themselves your advisers.
It is you who will face the consequences of acting on their half-baked advice and if your name is rubbed in the mud, they will find new employers. You, sir, will retire to a quiet life in your village and be content to come out twice a year to give lectures to small audiences.
I am also assuming that you are a gentleman and that like all gentlemen and leaders, you will not shy away from admitting that detaining the man was wrong. At least a simple public apology will do. It will not turn back the hands of time but it will definitely show sincerity of purpose to the people you govern. No one is infallible, sir and there is no need to keep up a show of being so.
Why Kinzer is wrong about HRW
Stephen Kinzer's accusation that Human Rights Watch imposes western values is an inadvertent apologia for dictators
Stephen Kinzer accuses Human Rights Watch of imposing western values on impoverished or war-torn countries. Yet his argument rests on a paternalism that treats the people of such countries as if they do not value, or know how to exercise, their fundamental human rights.
Kinzer cites two contemporary situations to make his point: Darfur and Rwanda. In Darfur, he contends that the involvement of human rights groups encourages rebels to "provoke massacres by the other side" so as to mobilise public opinion in their favour and prolong the war. In Kinzer's perverse view, it is not the Sudanese government that bears responsibility for slaughtering civilians, but the human rights groups that condemn the killing and the rebel groups that somehow "provoke" it. By that logic, Darfur would be better off if the world left the Sudanese government to proceed on its abusive path rather than pressure it to stop. Murderous regimes the world over would, undoubtedly, be all too eager to embrace such a deflection of responsibility.
In Rwanda, it is widely recognised that the government has brought economic progress to the country, while using the spectre of another genocide to impose increasingly harsh and intolerant rule. Kinzer asserts that the Rwandan people are "thrilled" to give up their political rights, as if Rwandans were incapable of criticising their government without inciting genocide. In the absence of meaningful political pluralism or debate in the country, Kinzer's claims that he knows what the Rwandan people want ring hollow.
Kinzer is correct that human rights are about not only political debate, but also such matters as health, education and security, as the quickest perusal of Human Rights Watch's website would show. But the best way to achieve the full panoply of rights is not to adopt a paternalist perspective in which government killings are dismissed as outside provocation and repression is justified by imaginary applause from a silenced population. Instead, people in each country need to be empowered to set their nation's course and to hold their government accountable for pursuing their vision.
When rights are trampled upon, the proper course is to work with those who peacefully oppose that repression, rather than concoct justifications from afar for why the dictator really knows best.
President Omar al-Bashir is alleged to have caused 35,000 violent deaths among the Fur, Marsalit and Zaghawa groups in Darfur.
Stephen Kinzer accuses Human Rights Watch of imposing western values on impoverished or war-torn countries. Yet his argument rests on a paternalism that treats the people of such countries as if they do not value, or know how to exercise, their fundamental human rights.
Kinzer cites two contemporary situations to make his point: Darfur and Rwanda. In Darfur, he contends that the involvement of human rights groups encourages rebels to "provoke massacres by the other side" so as to mobilise public opinion in their favour and prolong the war. In Kinzer's perverse view, it is not the Sudanese government that bears responsibility for slaughtering civilians, but the human rights groups that condemn the killing and the rebel groups that somehow "provoke" it. By that logic, Darfur would be better off if the world left the Sudanese government to proceed on its abusive path rather than pressure it to stop. Murderous regimes the world over would, undoubtedly, be all too eager to embrace such a deflection of responsibility.
In Rwanda, it is widely recognised that the government has brought economic progress to the country, while using the spectre of another genocide to impose increasingly harsh and intolerant rule. Kinzer asserts that the Rwandan people are "thrilled" to give up their political rights, as if Rwandans were incapable of criticising their government without inciting genocide. In the absence of meaningful political pluralism or debate in the country, Kinzer's claims that he knows what the Rwandan people want ring hollow.
Kinzer is correct that human rights are about not only political debate, but also such matters as health, education and security, as the quickest perusal of Human Rights Watch's website would show. But the best way to achieve the full panoply of rights is not to adopt a paternalist perspective in which government killings are dismissed as outside provocation and repression is justified by imaginary applause from a silenced population. Instead, people in each country need to be empowered to set their nation's course and to hold their government accountable for pursuing their vision.
When rights are trampled upon, the proper course is to work with those who peacefully oppose that repression, rather than concoct justifications from afar for why the dictator really knows best.
President Omar al-Bashir is alleged to have caused 35,000 violent deaths among the Fur, Marsalit and Zaghawa groups in Darfur.
Tony Blair: Of what help is he to Rwanda?
Tony Blair, Rick Warren and anyone else participating in the active or passive oppression of Rwandans, need to be reminded that Paul Kagame is not God. He maybe charismatic, a visionary and a brilliant military strategist, but he cannot govern Rwanda without popular consent. He is not immortal, and his destiny is not intertwined with that of Rwanda.
Like any other public official before him, however ruthless he may be, he will soon have to leave. What would be better at this time would be for these well meaning friends of Rwanda, to take a comfortable backseat, steer clear of Rwandan politics and let Rwandans decide their destiny.
Blair's recent comment that Kagame is a "visionary leader" is as unfortunate as it gets. For the comment ignores the current crisis facing Kagame or even worse, represent a desire to downplay it.
In September, the UN high commission for human rights issued a monumental document on the crimes committed in the DRC. The report claims to have damning evidence that, Kagame's forces committed genocide against Hutu refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Mr. Blair, like other supporters of this murderous regime did not say a word when this report was released. As a matter of fact, they were right to keep quiet considering that Britain under Blair was the largest donor to Rwanda at a time when Rwandan troops were committing these massacres in the DRC. Given this major failure, it would make more sense for Mr. Blair to undergo some soul searching and possibly apologize to the Rwandan people and the Congolese community.
To claim that he supports a man that is responsible for the vast share of violence that has affected our lives, is both criminal and insensitive.
Recent events in Rwanda have shown that Kagame is losing control over the country. There is clear and growing dissent within the ranks of the Tutsi ruling elites. The military ”the backbone of Kagame's state”is deeply fragmented.
Opposition candidates are gaining more legitimacy internationally, and Kagame is turning the whip on them. Two notable individuals, Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, are facing politically motivated imprisonment. Of course, the current mode of governance is neither sustainable nor productive.
If Tony Blair cannot praise China's despicable human rights record, even though China has had the highest rate of economic growth recorded in recent history, why would he do so for Rwanda?
Mr. Blair needs to reexamine his relationship with Kagame, and refuse to be used as Kagame's propaganda machine. Otherwise, the honeymoon for Kagame is surely over.
Like any other public official before him, however ruthless he may be, he will soon have to leave. What would be better at this time would be for these well meaning friends of Rwanda, to take a comfortable backseat, steer clear of Rwandan politics and let Rwandans decide their destiny.
Blair's recent comment that Kagame is a "visionary leader" is as unfortunate as it gets. For the comment ignores the current crisis facing Kagame or even worse, represent a desire to downplay it.
In September, the UN high commission for human rights issued a monumental document on the crimes committed in the DRC. The report claims to have damning evidence that, Kagame's forces committed genocide against Hutu refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Mr. Blair, like other supporters of this murderous regime did not say a word when this report was released. As a matter of fact, they were right to keep quiet considering that Britain under Blair was the largest donor to Rwanda at a time when Rwandan troops were committing these massacres in the DRC. Given this major failure, it would make more sense for Mr. Blair to undergo some soul searching and possibly apologize to the Rwandan people and the Congolese community.
To claim that he supports a man that is responsible for the vast share of violence that has affected our lives, is both criminal and insensitive.
Recent events in Rwanda have shown that Kagame is losing control over the country. There is clear and growing dissent within the ranks of the Tutsi ruling elites. The military ”the backbone of Kagame's state”is deeply fragmented.
Opposition candidates are gaining more legitimacy internationally, and Kagame is turning the whip on them. Two notable individuals, Bernard Ntaganda and Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza, are facing politically motivated imprisonment. Of course, the current mode of governance is neither sustainable nor productive.
If Tony Blair cannot praise China's despicable human rights record, even though China has had the highest rate of economic growth recorded in recent history, why would he do so for Rwanda?
Mr. Blair needs to reexamine his relationship with Kagame, and refuse to be used as Kagame's propaganda machine. Otherwise, the honeymoon for Kagame is surely over.
Delta Set to Pay varsity staff outstanding arrears
Delta state government will within the next two weeks work out modalities for the payment of the six month outstanding salary arrears of Delta state University academic staff.
The state governor who announced this at a meeting with Academic Staff Union of Delta state University promised to continue to promote the welfare of workers in the state to check industrial actions.
Dr. Uduaghan who also promised to ensure that the academic calendar of the University was not disrupted said the arrears would be paid within the stipulated period to encourage the staff to put in their best.
The governor explained that academic excellence was central to the state government policy on higher education as his administration would implement programmes to achieve this vision.
He explained that the state government would do its best to improve on the welfare of staff in the university and provide befitting infrastructure for the institution saying “I am aware that this state is one of the states that pay the highest salary to university workers”
The governor appealed to Industrial unions in the state not to use strike as an instrument of blackmail and enjoined them to see dialogue as the best option to press home their demands.
“Labour Unions should not use strike as a tool to get what they want because that will amount to blackmail. Dialogue is the best option and delta state government appreciates dialogue in resolving issues”.
In an interview with journalists the Chairman of Academic staff Union of Delta state University, Dr. Emmanuel Mordi commended the state government for looking into his demand especially payment of the outstanding salary arrears and pledged that the academic staff will not go on strike.
He noted that the Institution lacked befitting infrastructures and appealed to the state government to look into the situation adding that DELSU-ASUU is grateful to the state government for its concern on the welfare of its staff and institution. “All is well with ASUU and the state government”.
The state governor who announced this at a meeting with Academic Staff Union of Delta state University promised to continue to promote the welfare of workers in the state to check industrial actions.
Dr. Uduaghan who also promised to ensure that the academic calendar of the University was not disrupted said the arrears would be paid within the stipulated period to encourage the staff to put in their best.
The governor explained that academic excellence was central to the state government policy on higher education as his administration would implement programmes to achieve this vision.
He explained that the state government would do its best to improve on the welfare of staff in the university and provide befitting infrastructure for the institution saying “I am aware that this state is one of the states that pay the highest salary to university workers”
The governor appealed to Industrial unions in the state not to use strike as an instrument of blackmail and enjoined them to see dialogue as the best option to press home their demands.
“Labour Unions should not use strike as a tool to get what they want because that will amount to blackmail. Dialogue is the best option and delta state government appreciates dialogue in resolving issues”.
In an interview with journalists the Chairman of Academic staff Union of Delta state University, Dr. Emmanuel Mordi commended the state government for looking into his demand especially payment of the outstanding salary arrears and pledged that the academic staff will not go on strike.
He noted that the Institution lacked befitting infrastructures and appealed to the state government to look into the situation adding that DELSU-ASUU is grateful to the state government for its concern on the welfare of its staff and institution. “All is well with ASUU and the state government”.
The Holy Bible Inconsistencies
"Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you and sons shall eat their fathers...I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they shall rob you of your children; pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring a sword upon you. I, the Lord, have spoken."
..........Ezekiel 5:10, 5:17
Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
........... 2 Corinthians 13:11
"Of all religions the Christian is without doubt the one which should inspire tolerance most,
although up to now the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men."
- Voltaire , French philosopher
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." - Mark Twain
"No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says; he is always convinced that it says what he means." - George Bernard Shaw
(more in Great Minds)
"..the Lord will smite with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts."
..........Isaiah 3:17
"I will strew your flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with your carcass. I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing blood..."
..........Ezekiel 32:5
"I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rend them."
..........Hosea 13:8
"Behold, I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces..."
..........Malachi 2:3
"'Pass through the city after him, and smite; your eye shall not spare and you shall show no pity; slay old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women...'"
..........Ezekiel 9:5
"Behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger...Whoever is found will be thrust through and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes, their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished."
..........Isaiah 13:9, 13:15
"Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you and sons shall eat their fathers...I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they shall rob you of your children; pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring a sword upon you. I, the Lord, have spoken."
..........Ezekiel 5:10, 5:17
"And I will fill your mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain with the sword shall fall...Then you shall know that I am the Lord."
..........Ezekiel 35:8
"...I make weal and create woe, I am the Lord, who do all these things."
..........Isaiah 45:7
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother- in-law...."
..........Matthew 10:34
"'But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.'"
..........Luke 19:27
(parable) "If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned."
..........John 15:6
"The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."
..........Matthew 13:49
"And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one."
..........Luke 22:36
"Do you think I have to come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother- in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in- law.
..........Luke 12:51
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of god rests upon him."
.........John 3:36
"And that servant who knew his master's will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating."
..........Luke 12:47
"If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."
..........Luke 14:26
"When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be punished; for the slave is his money."
..........Exodus 21:20
"Let all who are under the yoke slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brethren; rather they must serve all the better since those that benefit by their service are believers and beloved."
..........1 Timothy 6:1
"If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. . . . And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the manservants do."
"Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes...."
..........Luke 12:37
"As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from the nations that are round about you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you, to inherit as a possession forever; you may make slaves of them, but over your brethren the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness."
..........Leviticus 25:44
"Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, . . . and they shall be your possession . . . they shall be your bondmen forever."
..........Leviticus 25:45-46
"Bid slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect..."
..........Titus 2:9
"Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ...."
..........Ephesians 6:5
"But if the thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young woman, then you shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones..."
..........Deuteronomy 22:20"
...they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them? Therefore I will give their wives to others..."
..........Jeremiah 8:9
"I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire will be for your husband."
..........Genesis 3:16
"For the wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does..."
..........1 Corinthians 7:4
"For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman but woman for man."
..........1 Corinthians, 11:8
"Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord."
..........Ephesians 5:22
"It is well for a man not to touch a woman."
..........1 Corinthians 7:1
"...the Lord has trodden as in a wine press the virgin daughter of Judah."
..........Lamentations 1:
"Behold the day of the Lord is coming, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in the midst of you. For I will gather the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished..."
..........Zechariah 14:1
"...I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the light of this sun."
..........2 Samuel 12:11
"Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives..."
..........Romans 7:2
"Likewise, you wives, be submissive to your husbands..."
..........1 Peter 3:1
"As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church."
..........1 Corinthians 14:34
"Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or have authority over men; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor."
..........Timothy 2:11
"And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem..."
..........2 Samuel 5:13
"When men fight with one another, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall have no pity."
..........Deuteronomy 25:11
"Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will let nations look on your nakedness and kingdoms on your shame."
..........Nahum 3:5
"He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the Lord."
..........Deuteronomy 23:1
"...she played the harlot in the land of Egypt and doted upon her paramours there, whose members were like those of asses and whose issue was like that of horses."
..........Ezekiel 23:19
"Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts..."
..........Jeremiah 4:4
"Any animal which has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord or sacrifice within your land..."
..........Leviticus 22:24
"David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines; and David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law."
..........1 Samuel 18:27
"Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?"
..........Romans 2:25
"...so when he went into his brother"s wife he spilled the semen on the ground...And what he did (spilling his semen) was displeasing in the sight of the Lord and He slew him also."
..........Genesis 38:9
"Bless, O Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries..."
..........Deuteronomy 33:11
Contradictions:-
GE 1:3-5 On the first day, God created light, then separated light
and darkness. GE 1:14-19 The sun (which separates night and day)
wasn't created until the fourth day.
GE 1:11-12, 26-27 Trees were created before man was created.
GE 2:4-9 Man was created before trees were created.
GE 1:20-21, 26-27 Birds were created before man was created.
GE 2:7, 19 Man was created before birds were created.
GE 1:24-27 Animals were created before man was created.
GE 2:7, 19 Man was created before animals were created.
GE 1:26-27 Man and woman were created at the same time.
GE 2:7, 21-22 Man was created first, woman sometime later.
GE 1:28 God encourages reproduction.
LE 12:1-8 God requires purification rites following childbirth which,
in effect, makes childbirth a sin. (Note: The period for purification
following the birth of a daughter is twice that for a son.)
GE 1:31 God was pleased with his creation.
GE 6:5-6 God was not pleased with his creation.
(Note: That God should be displeased is inconsistent with the concept of omniscience.)
GE 2:4, 4:26, 12:8, 22:14-16, 26:25 God was already known as "the Lord" (Jahveh or Jehovah) much earlier than the time of Moses. EX 6:2-3 God was first known as "the Lord" (Jahveh or Jehovah) at the time of the Egyptian Bondage, during the life of Moses.
GE 2:17 Adam was to die the very day that he ate the forbidden fruit.
GE 5:5 Adam lived 930 years.
GE 2:15-17, 3:4-6 It is wrong to want to be able to tell good from
evil. HE 5:13-14 It is immature to be unable to tell good from evil.
GE 4:4-5 God prefers Abel's offering and has no regard for Cain's. 2CH
19:7, AC 10:34, RO 2:11 God shows no partiality. He treats all alike.
GE 4:9 God asks Cain where his brother Able is.
PR 15:3, JE 16:17, 23:24-25, HE 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden from his view.
GE 4:15, DT 32:4, IS 34:8 God is a vengeful god.
EX 15:3, IS 42:13, HE 12:29 God is a warrior. God is a consuming fire.
EX 20:5, 34:14, DT 4:24, 5:9, 6:15, 29:20, 32:21 God is a jealous god.
LE 26:7-8, NU 31:17-18, DT 20:16-17, JS 10:40, JG 14:19, EZ 9:5-7 The
Spirit of God is (sometimes) murder and killing. NU 25:3-4, DT 6:15,
9:7-8, 29:20, 32:21, PS 7:11, 78:49, JE 4:8, 17:4, 32:30-31, ZP 2:2
God is angry. His anger is sometimes fierce. 2SA 22:7-8 (KJV) "I
called to the Lord; ... he heard my voice; ... The earth trembled and
quaked, ... because he was angry. Smoke came from his nostrils.
Consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it."
EZ 6:12, NA 1:2, 6 God is jealous and furious. He reserves wrath for,
and takes revenge on, his enemies. "... who can abide in the
fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and rocks
are thrown down by him." 2CO 13:11, 14, 1JN 4:8, 16 God is love. GA 5:22-23 The fruit of the Spirit of God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
GE 4:16 Cain went away (or out) from the presence of the Lord.
JE 23:23-24 A man cannot hide from God. God fills heaven and earth.
GE 6:4 There were Nephilim (giants) before the Flood.
GE 7:21 All creatures other than Noah and his clan were annihilated by
the Flood. NU 13:33 There were Nephilim after the Flood.
GE 6:6. EX 32:14, NU 14:20, 1SA 15:35, 2SA 24:16 God does change his
mind. NU 23:19-20, IS 15:29, JA 1:17 God does not change his mind.
GE 6:19-22, 7:8-9, 7:14-16 Two of each kind are to be taken, and are
taken, aboard Noah's Ark. GE 7:2-5 Seven pairs of some kinds are to be taken (and are taken) aboard the Ark.
GE 7:1 Noah was righteous.
JB 1:1,8, JB 2:3 Job was righteous.
LK 1:6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous.
JA 5:16 Some men are righteous, (which makes their prayers effective).
1JN 3:6-9 Christians become righteous (or else they are not really
Christians). RO 3:10, 3:23, 1JN 1:8-10 No one was or is righteous.
GE 7:7 Noah and his clan enter the Ark.
GE 7:13 They enter the Ark (again?).
GE 11:7-9 God sows discord.
PR 6:16-19 God hates anyone who sows discord.
GE 11:9 At Babel, the Lord confused the language of the whole world.
1CO 4:33 Paul says that God is not the author of confusion.
GE 11:12 Arpachshad [Arphaxad] was the father of Shelah.
LK 3:35-36 Cainan was the father of Shelah. Arpachshad was the
grandfather of Shelah.
GE 11:16 Terah was 70 years old when his son Abram was born.
GE 11:32 Terah was 205 years old when he died (making Abram 135 at the
time). GE 12:4, AC 7:4 Abram was 75 when he left Haran. This was after
Terah died. Thus, Terah could have been no more than 145 when he died;
or Abram was only 75 years old after he had lived 135 years.
GE 12:7, 17:1, 18:1, 26:2, 32:30, EX 3:16, 6:2-3, 24:9-11, 33:11, NU
12:7-8, 14:14, JB 42:5, AM 7:7-8, 9:1 God is seen. EX 33:20, JN 1:18,
1JN 4:12 God is not seen. No one can see God's face and live. No one
has ever seen him.
GE 10:5, 20, 31 There were many languages before the Tower of Babel.
GE 11:1 There was only one language before the Tower of Babel.
GE 15:9, EX 20:24, 29:10-42, LE 1:1-7, 38, NU 28:1-29, 40 God details
sacrificial offerings. JE 7:21-22 God says he did no such thing.
GE 16:15, 21:1-3, GA 4:22 Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. HE
11:17 Abraham had only one son.
GE 17:1, 35:11, 1CH 29:11-12, LK 1:37 God is omnipotent. Nothing is
impossible with (or for) God. JG 1:19 Although God was with Judah,
together they could not defeat the plainsmen because the latter had
iron chariots.
GE 17:7, 10-11 The covenant of circumcision is to be everlasting. GA
6:15 It is of no consequence.
GE 17:8 God promises Abraham the land of Canaan as an "everlasting
possession." GE 25:8, AC 7:2-5, HE 11:13 Abraham died with the promise
unfulfilled.
GE 17:15-16, 20:11-12, 22:17 Abraham and his half sister, Sarai, are
married and receive God's blessings. LE 20:17, DT 27:20-23 Incest is
wrong.
GE 18:20-21 God decides to "go down" to see what is going on.
PR 15:3, JE 16:17, 23:24-25, HE 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden from his view.
GE 19:30-38 While he is drunk, Lot's two daughters "lie with him,"
become pregnant, and give birth to his offspring. 2PE 2:7 Lot was
"just" and "righteous."
GE 22:1-12, DT 8:2 God tempts (tests) Abraham and Moses.
JG 2:22 God himself says that he does test (tempt).
1CO 10:13 Paul says that God controls the extent of our temptations.
JA 1:13 God tests (tempts) no one.
GE 27:28 "May God give you ... an abundance of grain and new wine." DT 7:13 If they follow his commandments, God will bless the fruit of their wine. PS 104:5 God gives us wine to gladden the heart. JE 13:12 "... every bottle shall be filled with wine." JN 2:1-11 According to the author of John, Jesus' first miracle was turning water to wine. RO 14:21 It is good to refrain from drinking wine.
GE 35:10 God says Jacob is to be called Jacob no longer; henceforth his name is Israel. GE 46:2 At a later time, God himself uses the name Jacob.
GE 36:11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. GE 36:15-16 Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz. 1CH 1:35-36 Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek.
GE 49:2-28 The fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel are: Reuben,
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin. RE 7:4-8 (Leaves out the tribe of Dan, but adds Manasseh.)
GE 50:13 Jacob was buried in a cave at Machpelah bought from Ephron the Hittite. AC 7:15-16 He was buried in the sepulchre at Shechem, bought from the sons of Hamor.
EX 3:1 Jethro was the father-in-law of Moses.
NU 10:29, JG 4:11 (KJV) Hobab was the father-in-law of Moses.
EX 3:20-22, DT 20:13-17 God instructs the Israelites to despoil the Egyptians, to plunder their enemies. EX 20:15, 17, LE 19:13 God prohibits stealing, defrauding, or robbing a neighbor.
EX 4:11 God decides who will be dumb, deaf, blind, etc.
2CO 13:11, 14, 1JN 4:8, 16 God is a god of love.
EX 9:3-6 God destroys all the cattle (including horses) belonging to
the Egyptians. EX 9:9-11 The people and the cattle are afflicted with boils. EX 12:12, 29 All the first-born of the cattle of the Egyptians are destroyed. EX 14:9 After having all their cattle destroyed, then afflicted with boils, and then their first-born cattle destroyed, the Egyptians pursue Moses on horseback.
EX 12:13 The Israelites have to mark their houses with blood in order
for God to see which houses they occupy and "pass over" them. PR 15:3,
JE 16:17, 23:24-25, HE 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden from God.
EX 12:37, NU 1:45-46 The number of men of military age who take part in the Exodus is given as more than 600,000. Allowing for women, children, and older men would probably mean that a total of about 2,000,000 Israelites left Egypt. 1KI 20:15 All the Israelites, including children, number only 7000 at a later time.
EX 15:3, 17:16, NU 25:4, 32:14, IS 42:13 God is a man of war--he is fierce and angry. RO 15:33, 2CO 13:11, 14, 1JN 4:8, 16 God is a god of love and peace.
EX 20:1-17 God gave the law directly to Moses (without using an
intermediary).
GA 3:19 The law was ordained through angels by a mediator (an
intermediary).
EX 20:4 God prohibits the making of any graven images whatsoever. EX
25:18 God enjoins the making of two graven images.
EX 20:5, 34:7, NU 14:18, DT 5:9, IS 14:21-22 Children are to suffer for their parent's sins. DT 24:16, EZ 18:19-20 Children are not to suffer for their parent's sins.
EX 20:8-11, 31:15-17, 35:1-3 No work is to be done on the Sabbath, not even lighting a fire. The commandment is permanent, and death is required for infractions. MK 2:27-28 Jesus says that the Sabbath as made for man, not man for the Sabbath (after his disciples were criticized for breaking the Sabbath). RO 14:5, CN 2:14-16 Paul says the Sabbath commandment was temporary, and to decide for yourself regarding its observance.
EX 20:12, DT 5:16, MT 15:4, 19:19, MK 7:10, 10:19, LK 18:20 Honor your father and your mother is one of the ten commandments. It is reinforced by Jesus. MT 10:35-37, LK 12:51-53, 14:26 Jesus says that he has come to divide families; that a man's foes will be those of his own household; that you must hate your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even your own life to be a disciple. MT 23:9 Jesus says to call no man on earth your father.
EX 20:13, DT 5:17, MK 10:19, LK 18:20, RO 13:9, JA 2:11 God prohibits killing. GE 34:1-35:5 God condones trickery and killing. EX 32:27, DT 7:2, 13:15, 20:1-18 God orders killing. 2KI 19:35 An angel of the Lord slaughters 185,000 men. (Note: See Atrocities section for many more examples.)
EX 20:14 God prohibits adultery.
HO 1:2 God instructs Hosea to "take a wife of harlotry."
EX 21:23-25, LE 24:20, DT 19:21 A life for a life, an eye for an eye, etc. MT 5:38-44, LK 6:27-29 Turn the other cheek. Love your enemies.
EX 23:7 God prohibits the killing of the innocent.
NU 31:17-18, DT 7:2, JS 6:21-27, 7:19-26, 8:22-25, 10:20, 40, 11:8-15,
20, 30-39, JG 11:30-39, 21:10-12, 1SA 15:3 God orders or approves the complete extermination of groups of people which include innocent women and/or children.
EX 34:6, DT 7:9-10, TS 1:2 God is faithful and truthful. He does not lie. NU 14:30 God breaks his promise.
EX 34:6, DT 7:9-10, TS 1:2 God is faithful and truthful. He does not lie. 1KI 22:21-23 God condones a spirit of deception.
EX 34:6, DT 7:9-10, TS 1:2 God is faithful and truthful. He does not lie. 2TH 2:11-12 God deludes people, making them believe what is false, so as to be able to condemn them. (Note: some versions use the word persuade here. The context makes clear, however, that deception is involved.)
EX 34:6-7, JS 24:19, 1CH 16:34 God is faithful, holy and good.
IS 45:6-7, LA 3:8, AM 3:6 God is responsible for evil.
EX 34:6-7, HE 9:27 God remembers sin, even when it has been forgiven.
JE 31:34 God does not remember sin when it has been forgiven.
LE 3:17 God himself prohibits forever the eating of blood and fat. MT
15:11, CN 2:20-22 Jesus and Paul say that such rules don't
matter--they are only human injunctions.
LE 19:18, MT 22:39 Love your neighbor [as much as] yourself.
1CO 10:24 Put your neighbor ahead of yourself.
LE 21:10 The chief priest is not to rend his clothes.
MT 26:65, MK 14:63 He does so during the trial of Jesus.
LE 25:37, PS 15:1, 5 It is wrong to lend money at interest.
MT 25:27, LK 19:23-27 It is wrong to lend money without interest.
NU 11:33 God inflicts sickness.
JB 2:7 Satan inflicts sickness.
NU 15:24-28 Sacrifices can, in at least some case, take away sin. HE 10:11 They never take away sin.
NU 25:9 24,000 died in the plague.
1CO 10:8 23,000 died in the plague.
NU 30:2 God enjoins the making of vows (oaths).
MT 5:33-37 Jesus forbids doing so, saying that they arise from evil
(or the Devil).
NU 33:38 Aaron died on Mt. Hor.
DT 10:6 Aaron died in Mosera.
NU 33:41-42 After Aaron's death, the Israelites journeyed from Mt. Hor, to Zalmonah, to Punon, etc. DT 10:6-7 It was from Mosera, to Gudgodah, to Jotbath.
DT 6:15, 9:7-8, 29:20, 32:21 God is sometimes angry.
MT 5:22 Anger is a sin.
DT 7:9-10 God destroys his enemies.
MT 5:39-44 Do not resist your enemies. Love them.
DT 18:20-22 A false prophet is one whose words do not come true. Death
is required. EZ 14:9 A prophet who is deceived, is deceived by God himself. Death is still required.
DT 23:1 A castrate may not enter the assembly of the Lord.
IS 56:4-5 Some castrates will receive special rewards.
DT 23:1 A castrate may not enter the assembly of the Lord.
MT 19:12 Men are encouraged to consider making themselves castrates for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
DT 24:1-5 A man can divorce his wife simply because she displeases him and both he and his wife can remarry. MK 10:2-12 Divorce is wrong, and to remarry is to commit adultery.
DT 24:16, 2KI 14:6, 2CH 25:4, EZ 18:20 Children are not to suffer for their parent's sins. RO 5:12, 19, 1CO 15:22 Death is passed to all men by the sin of Adam.
DT 30:11-20 It is possible to keep the law.
RO 3:20-23 It is not possible to keep the law.
JS 11:20 God shows no mercy to some.
LK 6:36, JA 5:11 God is merciful.
JG 4:21 Sisera was sleeping when Jael killed him.
JG 5:25-27 Sisera was standing.
JS 10:38-40 Joshua himself captured Debir.
JG 1:11-15 It was Othniel, who thereby obtained the hand of Caleb's daughter, Achsah.
1SA 8:2-22 Samuel informs God as to what he has heard from others. PR 15:3, JE 16:17, 23:24-25, HE 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees and hears everything.
1SA 9:15-17 The Lord tells Samuel that Saul has been chosen to lead the Israelites and will save them from the Philistines. 1SA 15:35 The Lord is sorry that he has chosen Saul. 1SA 31:4-7 Saul commits suicide and the Israelites are overrun by the Philistines.
1SA 15:7-8, 20 The Amalekites are utterly destroyed.
1SA 27:8-9 They are utterly destroyed (again?).
1SA 30:1, 17-18 They raid Ziklag and David smites them (again?).
1SA 16:10-11, 17:12 Jesse had seven sons plus David, or eight total.
1CH 2:13-15 He had seven total.
1SA 16:19-23 Saul knew David well before the latter's encounter with Goliath. 1SA 17:55-58 Saul did not know David at the time of his encounter with Goliath and had to ask about David's identity.
1SA 17:50 David killed Goliath with a slingshot.
1SA 17:51 David killed Goliath (again?) with a sword.
1SA 17:50 David killed Goliath.
2SA 21:19 Elhanan killed Goliath. (Note: Some translations insert the words "the brother of" before Elhanan. These are an addition to the earliest manuscripts in an apparent attempt to rectify this
inconsistency.)
1SA 21:1-6 Ahimalech was high priest when David ate the bread.
MK 2:26 Abiathar was high priest at the time.
1SA 28:6 Saul inquired of the Lord, but received no answer.
1CH 10:13-14 Saul died for not inquiring of the Lord.
1SA 31:4-6 Saul killed himself by falling on his sword.
2SA 2:2-10 Saul, at his own request, was slain by an Amalekite.
2SA 21:12 Saul was killed by the Philistines on Gilboa.
1CH 10:13-14 Saul was slain by God.
2SA 6:23 Michal was childless.
2SA 21:8 (KJV) She had five sons.
2SA 24:1 The Lord inspired David to take the census.
1CH 21:1 Satan inspired the census.
2SA 24:9 The census count was: Israel 800,000 and Judah 500,000.
1CH 21:5 The census count was: Israel 1,100,000 and Judah 470,000.
2SA 24:10-17 David sinned in taking the census.
1KI 15:5 David's only sin (ever) was in regard to another matter.
2SA 24:24 David paid 50 shekels of silver for the purchase of a
property. 1CH 21:22-25 He paid 600 shekels of gold.
1KI 3:12 God made Solomon the wisest man that ever lived, yet .... 1KI
11:1-13 Solomon loved many foreign women (against God's explicit prohibition) who turned him to other gods (for which he deserved death).
1KI 3:12, 4:29, 10:23-24, 2CH 9:22-23 God made Solomon the wisest king and the wisest man that ever lived. There never has been nor will be another like him. MT 12:42, LK 11:31 Jesus says: "... now one greater than Solomon is here."
1KI 4:26 Solomon had 40,000 horses (or stalls for horses).
2CH 9:25 He had 4,000 horses (or stalls for horses).
1KI 5:16 Solomon had 3,300 supervisors.
2CH 2:2 He had 3,600 supervisors.
1KI 7:15-22 The two pillars were 18 cubits high.
2CH 3:15-17 They were 35 cubits high.
1KI 7:26 Solomon's "molten sea" held 2000 "baths" (1 bath = about 8 gallons). 2CH 4:5 It held 3000 "baths."
1KI 8:12, 2CH 6:1, PS 18:11 God dwells in thick darkness.
1TI 6:16 God dwells in unapproachable light.
1KI 8:13, AC 7:47 Solomon, whom God made the wisest man ever, built his temple as an abode for God. AC 7:48-49 God does not dwell in temples built by men.
1KI 9:28 420 talents of gold were brought back from Ophir.
2CH 8:18 450 talents of gold were brought back from Ophir.
1KI 15:14 Asa did not remove the high places.
2CH 14:2-3 He did remove them.
1KI 16:6-8 Baasha died in the 26th year of King Asa's reign.
2CH 16:1 Baasha built a city in the 36th year of King Asa's reign.
1KI 16:23 Omri became king in the thirty-first year of Asa's reign and he reigned for a total of twelve years. 1KI 16:28-29 Omri died, and his son Ahab became king in the thirty- eighth year of Asa's reign. (Note: Thirty-one through thirty-eight equals a reign of seven or eight years.)
1KI 22:23, 2CH 18:22, 2TH 2:11 God himself causes a lying spirit. PR 12:22 God abhors lying lips and delights in honesty.
1KI 22:42-43 Jehoshaphat did not remove the high places.
2CH 17:5-6 He did remove them.
2KI 2:11 Elijah went up to heaven.
JN 3:13 Only the Son of Man (Jesus) has ever ascended to heaven.
2CO 12:2-4 An unnamed man, known to Paul, went up to heaven and came back. HE 11:5 Enoch was translated to heaven.
2KI 4:32-37 A dead child is raised (well before the time of Jesus). MT 9:18-25, JN 11:38-44 Two dead persons are raised (by Jesus himself). AC 26:23 Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.
2KI 8:25-26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began his reign.
2CH 22:1 He was 42 when he began his reign.
2KI 9:27 Jehu shot Ahaziah near Ibleam. Ahaziah fled to Meggido and died there. 2CH 22:9 Ahaziah was found hiding in Samaria, brought to Jehu, and put to death.
2KI 16:5 The King of Syria and the son of the King of Israel did not conquer Ahaz. 2CH 28:5-6 They did conquer Ahaz.
2KI 24:8 Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim) was eighteen years old when he began to reign. 2CH 36:9 He was eight. (Note: This discrepancy has been "corrected" in some versions.)
2KI 24:8 Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim) reigned three months.
2CH 36:9 He reigned three months and ten days.
2KI 24:17 Jehoiachin (Jehoaikim) was succeeded by his uncle.
2CH 36:10 He was succeeded by his brother.
2CH 3:11-13 The lineage is: Joram, Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham. MT 1:8-9 It is: Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, etc.
2CH 3:19 Pedaiah was the father of Zerubbabel.
ER 3:2 Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
2CH 19:7, AC 10:34, RO 2:11 There is no injustice or partiality with the Lord. RO 9:15-18 God has mercy on (and hardens the hearts of) whom he pleases.
ER 2:3-64 (Gives the whole congregation as 42,360 while the actual sum of the numbers is about 30,000.)
JB 2:3-6, 21:7-13, 2TI 3:12 The godly are persecuted and chastised but the wicked grow old, wealthy, and powerful, unchastised by God. PS 55:23, 92:12-14, PR 10:2-3, 27-31, 12:2, 21 The lives of the wicked are cut short. The righteous flourish and obtain favor from the Lord.
PS 10:1 God cannot be found in time of need. He is "far off."
PS 145:18 God is near to all who call upon him in truth.
PS 22:1-2 God sometimes forsakes his children. He does not answer. PS 46:1 God is a refuge, a strength, a very present help.
PS 30:5, JE 3:12, MI 7:18 God's anger does not last forever.
JE 17:4, MT 25:46 It does last forever. (He has provided for eternal punishment.)
PS 58:10-11 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees vengeance.
PR 24:16-18 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls or stumbles.
PS 78:69, EC 1:4, 3:14 The earth was established forever.
PS 102:25-26, MT 24:35, MK 13:31, LK 21:33, HE 1:10-11, 2PE 3:10 The earth will someday perish.
PR 3:13, 4:7, 19:8, JA 1:5 Happy is the man who finds wisdom. Get wisdom. LK 2:40, 52 Jesus was filled with wisdom and found favor with God. 1CO 1:19-25, 3:18-20 Wisdom is foolishness.
PR 12:2, RO 8:28 A good man obtains favor from the Lord.
TI 3:12, HE 12:6 The godly will be persecuted.
PR 14:8 The wisdom of a prudent man is to discern his way.
MT 6:25-34 Take no thought for tomorrow. God will take care of you.
PR 14:15-18 The simple believe everything and acquire folly; the
prudent look where they are going and are crowned with knowledge. MT 18:3, LK 18:17 You must believe as little children do. 1CO 1:20, 27 God has made the wisdom of the world foolish so as to shame the wise. PR 16:4 God made the wicked for the "day of evil." MT 11:25, MK 4:11-12 God and Jesus hide some things from some people. JN 6:65 No one can come to Jesus unless it is granted by God. RO 8:28-30 Some are predestined to be called to God, believe in Jesus, and be justified. RO 9:15-18 God has mercy on, and hardens the hearts of, whom he
pleases. 2TH 2:11-12 God deceives the wicked so as to be able to
condemn them. 1TI 2:3-4, 2PE 3:9 [Yet] God wants all to be saved.
PR 8:13, 16:6 It is the fear of God that keeps men from evil.
1JN 4:18 There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear.
1JN 5:2, 2JN 1:6 Those who love God keep his commandments.
PR 26:4 Do not answer a fool. To do so makes you foolish too.
PR 26:5 Answer a fool. If you don't, he will think himself wise.
PR 30:5 Every word of God proves true.
JE 8:8 The scribes falsify the word of God.
JE 20:7, EZ 14:9, 2TH 2:11-12 God himself deceives people.
(Note: Some versions translate deceive as "persuade." The context
makes clear, however, that deception is involved.)
IS 3:13 God stands to judge.
JL 3:12 He sits to judge.
IS 44:24 God created heaven and earth alone.
JN 1:1-3 Jesus took part in creation.
IS 53:9 Usually taken to be a prophecy re: Jesus, mentions burial with others. MT 27:58-60, MK 15:45-46, LK 23:52-53, JN 19:38-42 Jesus was buried by himself.
JE 12:13 Some sow wheat but reap thorns.
MI 6:15 Some sow but won't reap anything.
MT 25:26, LK 19:22 Some reap without sowing.
2CO 9:6, GA 6:7 A man reaps what he sows.
JE 32:18 God shows love to thousands, but brings punishment for the sins of their fathers to many children. 2CO 13:11, 14, 1JN 4:8, 16 God is a god of love.
JE 34:4-5 Zedekiah was to die in peace.
JE 52:10-11 Instead, Zedekaih's sons are slain before his eyes, his
eyes are then put out, he is bound in fetters, taken to Babylon and
left in prison to die.
EZ 20:25-26 The law was not good. The sacrifice of children was for the purpose of horrifying the people so that they would know that God is Lord. RO 7:12, 1TI 1:8 The law is good.
EZ 26:15-21 God says that Tyre will be destroyed and will never be found again. (Nebudchanezzar failed to capture or destroy Tyre. It is still inhabited.)
DN 5:1 (Gives the title of "king" to Belshazzar although Belshazzar
was actually the "viceroy.")
DN 5:2 (Says that Nebuchadnezzar was the father of Belshazzar, but actually, Nebonidus was the father of Belshazzar.) (Note: Some
versions attempt to correct this error by making the verse say that
Nebuchadnezzar was the grandfather of Belshazzar.)
ZE 11:12-13 Mentions "thirty pieces" and could possibly be thought to be connected with the Potter's Field prophesy referred to in Matthew. MT 27:9 Jeremiah is given as the source of the prophesy regarding the purchase of the Potter's Field. (Note: There is no such prophesy in Jeremiah.)
MT 1:6-7 The lineage of Jesus is traced through David's son, Solomon.
LK 3:23-31 It is traced through David's son, Nathan. (Note: Some
apologists assert that Luke traces the lineage through Mary. That this is untrue is obvious from the context since Luke and Matthew both clearly state that Joseph was Jesus' father.)
MT 1:16 Jacob was Joseph's father.
LK 3:23 Heli was Joseph's father.
MT 1:17 There were twenty-eight generations from David to Jesus.
LK 3:23-38 There were forty-three.
MT 1:18-21 The Annunciation occurred after Mary had conceived Jesus. LK 1:26-31 It occurred before conception.
MT 1:20 The angel spoke to Joseph.
LK 1:28 The angel spoke to Mary.
MT 1:20-23, LK 1:26-33 An angel announces to Joseph and/or Mary that the child (Jesus) will be "great," the "son of the Most High," etc., and .... MT 3:13-17, MK 1:9-11 The baptism of Jesus is accompanied by the most extraordinary happenings, yet .... MK 3:21 Jesus' own relatives (or friends) attempt to constrain him, thinking that he might be out of his mind, and .... MK 6:4-6 Jesus says that a prophet is without honor in his own house (which certainly should not have been the case considering the Annunciation and the Baptism).
MT 1:23 He will be called Emmanuel (or Immanuel).
MT 1:25 Instead, he was called Jesus.
MT 2:13-16 Following the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary flee to
Egypt, (where they stay until after Herod's death) in order to avoid
the murder of their firstborn by Herod. Herod slaughters all male
infants two years old and under. (Note: John the Baptist, Jesus'
cousin, though under two is somehow spared without fleeing to Egypt.)
LK 2:22-40 Following the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary remain in the area of Jerusalem for the Presentation (about forty days) and then return to Nazareth without ever going to Egypt. There is no slaughter of the infants.
MT 2:23 "And he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: He will be called a
Nazarene.'" (This prophecy is not found in the OT and while Jesus is often referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth", he is seldom referred to as "Jesus the Nazarene.")
MT 3:11-14, JN 1:31-34 John realized the true identity of Jesus (as
the Messiah) either prior to the actual Baptism, or from the Baptism
onward. The very purpose of John's baptism was to reveal Jesus to
Israel. MT 11:2-3 After the Baptism, John sends his disciples to ask if Jesus is the Messiah.
MT 3:12, 13:42 Hell is a furnace of fire (and must therefore be
light). MT 8:12, 22:13, 25:30 Hell is an "outer darkness" (and
therefore dark).
MT 3:16, MK 1:10 It was Jesus who saw the Spirit descending.
JN 1:32 It was John who saw the Spirit descending.
MT 3:17 The heavenly voice addressed the crowd: "This is my beloved Son." MK 1:11, LK 3:22 The voice addressed Jesus: "You are my beloved Son...."
MT 4:1-11, MK 1:12-13 Immediately following his Baptism, Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness resisting temptation by the Devil. JN 2:1-11 Three days after the Baptism, Jesus was at the wedding in Cana.
MT 4:5-8 The Devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple, then to the mountain top. LK 4:5-9 First to the mountain top, then to the
pinnacle of the temple.
MT 4:18-20, MK 1:16-18 (One story about choosing Peter as a disciple.)
LK 5:2-11 (A different story.) JN 1:35-42 (Still another story.)
MT 5:1 - 7:29 Jesus delivers his most noteworthy sermon while on the mount. LK 6:17-49 Jesus delivers his most noteworthy sermon while on the plain. (Note: No such sermons are mentioned in either MK or JN and Paul seems totally unfamiliar with either the sermon on the mount or the sermon on the plain.)
MT 5:16 Good works should be seen.
MT 6:1-4 They should be kept secret.
MT 5:17-19, LK 16:17 Jesus underscores the permanence of the law. LE 10:8 - 11:47, DT 14:3-21 The law distinguishes between clean and unclean foods. MK 7:14-15, MK 7:18-19 Jesus says that there is no such distinction. TI 4:1-4 All foods are clean according to Paul.
MT 5:17-19, LK 16:17 Jesus did not come to abolish the law.
EP 2:13-15, HE 7:18-19 Jesus did abolish the law.
MT 5:22 Anyone who calls another a fool is liable to Hell.
MT 7:26 Jesus says that anyone who hears his words and does not do them is a fool. (Note: The translation now prevalent, MT 23:17-19 Jesus twice calls the Pharisees blind fools. MT 25:2, 3, 8 Jesus
likens the maidens who took no oil to fools.
..........Ezekiel 5:10, 5:17
Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with you.
........... 2 Corinthians 13:11
"Of all religions the Christian is without doubt the one which should inspire tolerance most,
although up to now the Christians have been the most intolerant of all men."
- Voltaire , French philosopher
"It ain't the parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me, it is the parts that I do understand." - Mark Twain
"No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says; he is always convinced that it says what he means." - George Bernard Shaw
(more in Great Minds)
"..the Lord will smite with a scab the heads of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their secret parts."
..........Isaiah 3:17
"I will strew your flesh upon the mountains, and fill the valleys with your carcass. I will drench the land even to the mountains with your flowing blood..."
..........Ezekiel 32:5
"I will fall upon them like a bear robbed of her cubs, I will tear open their breast, and there I will devour them like a lion, as a wild beast would rend them."
..........Hosea 13:8
"Behold, I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces..."
..........Malachi 2:3
"'Pass through the city after him, and smite; your eye shall not spare and you shall show no pity; slay old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women...'"
..........Ezekiel 9:5
"Behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger...Whoever is found will be thrust through and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes, their houses will be plundered and their wives ravished."
..........Isaiah 13:9, 13:15
"Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in the midst of you and sons shall eat their fathers...I will send famine and wild beasts against you and they shall rob you of your children; pestilence and blood shall pass through you; and I will bring a sword upon you. I, the Lord, have spoken."
..........Ezekiel 5:10, 5:17
"And I will fill your mountains with the slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain with the sword shall fall...Then you shall know that I am the Lord."
..........Ezekiel 35:8
"...I make weal and create woe, I am the Lord, who do all these things."
..........Isaiah 45:7
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother- in-law...."
..........Matthew 10:34
"'But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.'"
..........Luke 19:27
(parable) "If a man does not abide in me, he is cast forth as a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire and burned."
..........John 15:6
"The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth."
..........Matthew 13:49
"And let him who has no sword sell his mantle and buy one."
..........Luke 22:36
"Do you think I have to come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division; for henceforth in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against her mother, mother- in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in- law.
..........Luke 12:51
"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the son shall not see life, but the wrath of god rests upon him."
.........John 3:36
"And that servant who knew his master's will, but did not make ready or act according to his will, shall receive a severe beating."
..........Luke 12:47
"If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple."
..........Luke 14:26
"When a man strikes his slave, male or female, with a rod and the slave dies under his hand, he shall be punished. But if the slave survives a day or two, he is not to be punished; for the slave is his money."
..........Exodus 21:20
"Let all who are under the yoke slavery regard their masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be defamed. Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brethren; rather they must serve all the better since those that benefit by their service are believers and beloved."
..........1 Timothy 6:1
"If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. . . . And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the manservants do."
"Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes...."
..........Luke 12:37
"As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from the nations that are round about you. You may also buy from among the strangers who sojourn with you and their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you, to inherit as a possession forever; you may make slaves of them, but over your brethren the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness."
..........Leviticus 25:44
"Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, . . . and they shall be your possession . . . they shall be your bondmen forever."
..........Leviticus 25:45-46
"Bid slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect..."
..........Titus 2:9
"Slaves, be obedient to those who are your earthly masters, with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as to Christ...."
..........Ephesians 6:5
"But if the thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young woman, then you shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones..."
..........Deuteronomy 22:20"
...they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is in them? Therefore I will give their wives to others..."
..........Jeremiah 8:9
"I will greatly multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire will be for your husband."
..........Genesis 3:16
"For the wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does..."
..........1 Corinthians 7:4
"For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman but woman for man."
..........1 Corinthians, 11:8
"Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord."
..........Ephesians 5:22
"It is well for a man not to touch a woman."
..........1 Corinthians 7:1
"...the Lord has trodden as in a wine press the virgin daughter of Judah."
..........Lamentations 1:
"Behold the day of the Lord is coming, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in the midst of you. For I will gather the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women ravished..."
..........Zechariah 14:1
"...I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the light of this sun."
..........2 Samuel 12:11
"Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives..."
..........Romans 7:2
"Likewise, you wives, be submissive to your husbands..."
..........1 Peter 3:1
"As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silence in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate, as even the law says. If there is anything they desire to know, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church."
..........1 Corinthians 14:34
"Let a woman learn in silence with all submissiveness. I permit no woman to teach or have authority over men; she is to keep silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor."
..........Timothy 2:11
"And David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem..."
..........2 Samuel 5:13
"When men fight with one another, and the wife of one draws near to rescue her husband from the hand of him who is beating him, and puts out her hand and seizes him by the private parts, then you shall cut off her hand; your eye shall have no pity."
..........Deuteronomy 25:11
"Behold, I am against you, says the Lord of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will let nations look on your nakedness and kingdoms on your shame."
..........Nahum 3:5
"He whose testicles are crushed or whose male member is cut off shall not enter the assembly of the Lord."
..........Deuteronomy 23:1
"...she played the harlot in the land of Egypt and doted upon her paramours there, whose members were like those of asses and whose issue was like that of horses."
..........Ezekiel 23:19
"Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts..."
..........Jeremiah 4:4
"Any animal which has its testicles bruised or crushed or torn or cut, you shall not offer to the Lord or sacrifice within your land..."
..........Leviticus 22:24
"David arose and went, along with his men, and killed two hundred of the Philistines; and David brought their foreskins, which were given in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law."
..........1 Samuel 18:27
"Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?"
..........Romans 2:25
"...so when he went into his brother"s wife he spilled the semen on the ground...And what he did (spilling his semen) was displeasing in the sight of the Lord and He slew him also."
..........Genesis 38:9
"Bless, O Lord, his substance, and accept the work of his hands; crush the loins of his adversaries..."
..........Deuteronomy 33:11
Contradictions:-
GE 1:3-5 On the first day, God created light, then separated light
and darkness. GE 1:14-19 The sun (which separates night and day)
wasn't created until the fourth day.
GE 1:11-12, 26-27 Trees were created before man was created.
GE 2:4-9 Man was created before trees were created.
GE 1:20-21, 26-27 Birds were created before man was created.
GE 2:7, 19 Man was created before birds were created.
GE 1:24-27 Animals were created before man was created.
GE 2:7, 19 Man was created before animals were created.
GE 1:26-27 Man and woman were created at the same time.
GE 2:7, 21-22 Man was created first, woman sometime later.
GE 1:28 God encourages reproduction.
LE 12:1-8 God requires purification rites following childbirth which,
in effect, makes childbirth a sin. (Note: The period for purification
following the birth of a daughter is twice that for a son.)
GE 1:31 God was pleased with his creation.
GE 6:5-6 God was not pleased with his creation.
(Note: That God should be displeased is inconsistent with the concept of omniscience.)
GE 2:4, 4:26, 12:8, 22:14-16, 26:25 God was already known as "the Lord" (Jahveh or Jehovah) much earlier than the time of Moses. EX 6:2-3 God was first known as "the Lord" (Jahveh or Jehovah) at the time of the Egyptian Bondage, during the life of Moses.
GE 2:17 Adam was to die the very day that he ate the forbidden fruit.
GE 5:5 Adam lived 930 years.
GE 2:15-17, 3:4-6 It is wrong to want to be able to tell good from
evil. HE 5:13-14 It is immature to be unable to tell good from evil.
GE 4:4-5 God prefers Abel's offering and has no regard for Cain's. 2CH
19:7, AC 10:34, RO 2:11 God shows no partiality. He treats all alike.
GE 4:9 God asks Cain where his brother Able is.
PR 15:3, JE 16:17, 23:24-25, HE 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden from his view.
GE 4:15, DT 32:4, IS 34:8 God is a vengeful god.
EX 15:3, IS 42:13, HE 12:29 God is a warrior. God is a consuming fire.
EX 20:5, 34:14, DT 4:24, 5:9, 6:15, 29:20, 32:21 God is a jealous god.
LE 26:7-8, NU 31:17-18, DT 20:16-17, JS 10:40, JG 14:19, EZ 9:5-7 The
Spirit of God is (sometimes) murder and killing. NU 25:3-4, DT 6:15,
9:7-8, 29:20, 32:21, PS 7:11, 78:49, JE 4:8, 17:4, 32:30-31, ZP 2:2
God is angry. His anger is sometimes fierce. 2SA 22:7-8 (KJV) "I
called to the Lord; ... he heard my voice; ... The earth trembled and
quaked, ... because he was angry. Smoke came from his nostrils.
Consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it."
EZ 6:12, NA 1:2, 6 God is jealous and furious. He reserves wrath for,
and takes revenge on, his enemies. "... who can abide in the
fierceness of his anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and rocks
are thrown down by him." 2CO 13:11, 14, 1JN 4:8, 16 God is love. GA 5:22-23 The fruit of the Spirit of God is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
GE 4:16 Cain went away (or out) from the presence of the Lord.
JE 23:23-24 A man cannot hide from God. God fills heaven and earth.
GE 6:4 There were Nephilim (giants) before the Flood.
GE 7:21 All creatures other than Noah and his clan were annihilated by
the Flood. NU 13:33 There were Nephilim after the Flood.
GE 6:6. EX 32:14, NU 14:20, 1SA 15:35, 2SA 24:16 God does change his
mind. NU 23:19-20, IS 15:29, JA 1:17 God does not change his mind.
GE 6:19-22, 7:8-9, 7:14-16 Two of each kind are to be taken, and are
taken, aboard Noah's Ark. GE 7:2-5 Seven pairs of some kinds are to be taken (and are taken) aboard the Ark.
GE 7:1 Noah was righteous.
JB 1:1,8, JB 2:3 Job was righteous.
LK 1:6 Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous.
JA 5:16 Some men are righteous, (which makes their prayers effective).
1JN 3:6-9 Christians become righteous (or else they are not really
Christians). RO 3:10, 3:23, 1JN 1:8-10 No one was or is righteous.
GE 7:7 Noah and his clan enter the Ark.
GE 7:13 They enter the Ark (again?).
GE 11:7-9 God sows discord.
PR 6:16-19 God hates anyone who sows discord.
GE 11:9 At Babel, the Lord confused the language of the whole world.
1CO 4:33 Paul says that God is not the author of confusion.
GE 11:12 Arpachshad [Arphaxad] was the father of Shelah.
LK 3:35-36 Cainan was the father of Shelah. Arpachshad was the
grandfather of Shelah.
GE 11:16 Terah was 70 years old when his son Abram was born.
GE 11:32 Terah was 205 years old when he died (making Abram 135 at the
time). GE 12:4, AC 7:4 Abram was 75 when he left Haran. This was after
Terah died. Thus, Terah could have been no more than 145 when he died;
or Abram was only 75 years old after he had lived 135 years.
GE 12:7, 17:1, 18:1, 26:2, 32:30, EX 3:16, 6:2-3, 24:9-11, 33:11, NU
12:7-8, 14:14, JB 42:5, AM 7:7-8, 9:1 God is seen. EX 33:20, JN 1:18,
1JN 4:12 God is not seen. No one can see God's face and live. No one
has ever seen him.
GE 10:5, 20, 31 There were many languages before the Tower of Babel.
GE 11:1 There was only one language before the Tower of Babel.
GE 15:9, EX 20:24, 29:10-42, LE 1:1-7, 38, NU 28:1-29, 40 God details
sacrificial offerings. JE 7:21-22 God says he did no such thing.
GE 16:15, 21:1-3, GA 4:22 Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. HE
11:17 Abraham had only one son.
GE 17:1, 35:11, 1CH 29:11-12, LK 1:37 God is omnipotent. Nothing is
impossible with (or for) God. JG 1:19 Although God was with Judah,
together they could not defeat the plainsmen because the latter had
iron chariots.
GE 17:7, 10-11 The covenant of circumcision is to be everlasting. GA
6:15 It is of no consequence.
GE 17:8 God promises Abraham the land of Canaan as an "everlasting
possession." GE 25:8, AC 7:2-5, HE 11:13 Abraham died with the promise
unfulfilled.
GE 17:15-16, 20:11-12, 22:17 Abraham and his half sister, Sarai, are
married and receive God's blessings. LE 20:17, DT 27:20-23 Incest is
wrong.
GE 18:20-21 God decides to "go down" to see what is going on.
PR 15:3, JE 16:17, 23:24-25, HE 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden from his view.
GE 19:30-38 While he is drunk, Lot's two daughters "lie with him,"
become pregnant, and give birth to his offspring. 2PE 2:7 Lot was
"just" and "righteous."
GE 22:1-12, DT 8:2 God tempts (tests) Abraham and Moses.
JG 2:22 God himself says that he does test (tempt).
1CO 10:13 Paul says that God controls the extent of our temptations.
JA 1:13 God tests (tempts) no one.
GE 27:28 "May God give you ... an abundance of grain and new wine." DT 7:13 If they follow his commandments, God will bless the fruit of their wine. PS 104:5 God gives us wine to gladden the heart. JE 13:12 "... every bottle shall be filled with wine." JN 2:1-11 According to the author of John, Jesus' first miracle was turning water to wine. RO 14:21 It is good to refrain from drinking wine.
GE 35:10 God says Jacob is to be called Jacob no longer; henceforth his name is Israel. GE 46:2 At a later time, God himself uses the name Jacob.
GE 36:11 The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, and Kenaz. GE 36:15-16 Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz. 1CH 1:35-36 Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek.
GE 49:2-28 The fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel are: Reuben,
Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph, and Benjamin. RE 7:4-8 (Leaves out the tribe of Dan, but adds Manasseh.)
GE 50:13 Jacob was buried in a cave at Machpelah bought from Ephron the Hittite. AC 7:15-16 He was buried in the sepulchre at Shechem, bought from the sons of Hamor.
EX 3:1 Jethro was the father-in-law of Moses.
NU 10:29, JG 4:11 (KJV) Hobab was the father-in-law of Moses.
EX 3:20-22, DT 20:13-17 God instructs the Israelites to despoil the Egyptians, to plunder their enemies. EX 20:15, 17, LE 19:13 God prohibits stealing, defrauding, or robbing a neighbor.
EX 4:11 God decides who will be dumb, deaf, blind, etc.
2CO 13:11, 14, 1JN 4:8, 16 God is a god of love.
EX 9:3-6 God destroys all the cattle (including horses) belonging to
the Egyptians. EX 9:9-11 The people and the cattle are afflicted with boils. EX 12:12, 29 All the first-born of the cattle of the Egyptians are destroyed. EX 14:9 After having all their cattle destroyed, then afflicted with boils, and then their first-born cattle destroyed, the Egyptians pursue Moses on horseback.
EX 12:13 The Israelites have to mark their houses with blood in order
for God to see which houses they occupy and "pass over" them. PR 15:3,
JE 16:17, 23:24-25, HE 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees everything. Nothing is hidden from God.
EX 12:37, NU 1:45-46 The number of men of military age who take part in the Exodus is given as more than 600,000. Allowing for women, children, and older men would probably mean that a total of about 2,000,000 Israelites left Egypt. 1KI 20:15 All the Israelites, including children, number only 7000 at a later time.
EX 15:3, 17:16, NU 25:4, 32:14, IS 42:13 God is a man of war--he is fierce and angry. RO 15:33, 2CO 13:11, 14, 1JN 4:8, 16 God is a god of love and peace.
EX 20:1-17 God gave the law directly to Moses (without using an
intermediary).
GA 3:19 The law was ordained through angels by a mediator (an
intermediary).
EX 20:4 God prohibits the making of any graven images whatsoever. EX
25:18 God enjoins the making of two graven images.
EX 20:5, 34:7, NU 14:18, DT 5:9, IS 14:21-22 Children are to suffer for their parent's sins. DT 24:16, EZ 18:19-20 Children are not to suffer for their parent's sins.
EX 20:8-11, 31:15-17, 35:1-3 No work is to be done on the Sabbath, not even lighting a fire. The commandment is permanent, and death is required for infractions. MK 2:27-28 Jesus says that the Sabbath as made for man, not man for the Sabbath (after his disciples were criticized for breaking the Sabbath). RO 14:5, CN 2:14-16 Paul says the Sabbath commandment was temporary, and to decide for yourself regarding its observance.
EX 20:12, DT 5:16, MT 15:4, 19:19, MK 7:10, 10:19, LK 18:20 Honor your father and your mother is one of the ten commandments. It is reinforced by Jesus. MT 10:35-37, LK 12:51-53, 14:26 Jesus says that he has come to divide families; that a man's foes will be those of his own household; that you must hate your father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and even your own life to be a disciple. MT 23:9 Jesus says to call no man on earth your father.
EX 20:13, DT 5:17, MK 10:19, LK 18:20, RO 13:9, JA 2:11 God prohibits killing. GE 34:1-35:5 God condones trickery and killing. EX 32:27, DT 7:2, 13:15, 20:1-18 God orders killing. 2KI 19:35 An angel of the Lord slaughters 185,000 men. (Note: See Atrocities section for many more examples.)
EX 20:14 God prohibits adultery.
HO 1:2 God instructs Hosea to "take a wife of harlotry."
EX 21:23-25, LE 24:20, DT 19:21 A life for a life, an eye for an eye, etc. MT 5:38-44, LK 6:27-29 Turn the other cheek. Love your enemies.
EX 23:7 God prohibits the killing of the innocent.
NU 31:17-18, DT 7:2, JS 6:21-27, 7:19-26, 8:22-25, 10:20, 40, 11:8-15,
20, 30-39, JG 11:30-39, 21:10-12, 1SA 15:3 God orders or approves the complete extermination of groups of people which include innocent women and/or children.
EX 34:6, DT 7:9-10, TS 1:2 God is faithful and truthful. He does not lie. NU 14:30 God breaks his promise.
EX 34:6, DT 7:9-10, TS 1:2 God is faithful and truthful. He does not lie. 1KI 22:21-23 God condones a spirit of deception.
EX 34:6, DT 7:9-10, TS 1:2 God is faithful and truthful. He does not lie. 2TH 2:11-12 God deludes people, making them believe what is false, so as to be able to condemn them. (Note: some versions use the word persuade here. The context makes clear, however, that deception is involved.)
EX 34:6-7, JS 24:19, 1CH 16:34 God is faithful, holy and good.
IS 45:6-7, LA 3:8, AM 3:6 God is responsible for evil.
EX 34:6-7, HE 9:27 God remembers sin, even when it has been forgiven.
JE 31:34 God does not remember sin when it has been forgiven.
LE 3:17 God himself prohibits forever the eating of blood and fat. MT
15:11, CN 2:20-22 Jesus and Paul say that such rules don't
matter--they are only human injunctions.
LE 19:18, MT 22:39 Love your neighbor [as much as] yourself.
1CO 10:24 Put your neighbor ahead of yourself.
LE 21:10 The chief priest is not to rend his clothes.
MT 26:65, MK 14:63 He does so during the trial of Jesus.
LE 25:37, PS 15:1, 5 It is wrong to lend money at interest.
MT 25:27, LK 19:23-27 It is wrong to lend money without interest.
NU 11:33 God inflicts sickness.
JB 2:7 Satan inflicts sickness.
NU 15:24-28 Sacrifices can, in at least some case, take away sin. HE 10:11 They never take away sin.
NU 25:9 24,000 died in the plague.
1CO 10:8 23,000 died in the plague.
NU 30:2 God enjoins the making of vows (oaths).
MT 5:33-37 Jesus forbids doing so, saying that they arise from evil
(or the Devil).
NU 33:38 Aaron died on Mt. Hor.
DT 10:6 Aaron died in Mosera.
NU 33:41-42 After Aaron's death, the Israelites journeyed from Mt. Hor, to Zalmonah, to Punon, etc. DT 10:6-7 It was from Mosera, to Gudgodah, to Jotbath.
DT 6:15, 9:7-8, 29:20, 32:21 God is sometimes angry.
MT 5:22 Anger is a sin.
DT 7:9-10 God destroys his enemies.
MT 5:39-44 Do not resist your enemies. Love them.
DT 18:20-22 A false prophet is one whose words do not come true. Death
is required. EZ 14:9 A prophet who is deceived, is deceived by God himself. Death is still required.
DT 23:1 A castrate may not enter the assembly of the Lord.
IS 56:4-5 Some castrates will receive special rewards.
DT 23:1 A castrate may not enter the assembly of the Lord.
MT 19:12 Men are encouraged to consider making themselves castrates for the sake of the Kingdom of God.
DT 24:1-5 A man can divorce his wife simply because she displeases him and both he and his wife can remarry. MK 10:2-12 Divorce is wrong, and to remarry is to commit adultery.
DT 24:16, 2KI 14:6, 2CH 25:4, EZ 18:20 Children are not to suffer for their parent's sins. RO 5:12, 19, 1CO 15:22 Death is passed to all men by the sin of Adam.
DT 30:11-20 It is possible to keep the law.
RO 3:20-23 It is not possible to keep the law.
JS 11:20 God shows no mercy to some.
LK 6:36, JA 5:11 God is merciful.
JG 4:21 Sisera was sleeping when Jael killed him.
JG 5:25-27 Sisera was standing.
JS 10:38-40 Joshua himself captured Debir.
JG 1:11-15 It was Othniel, who thereby obtained the hand of Caleb's daughter, Achsah.
1SA 8:2-22 Samuel informs God as to what he has heard from others. PR 15:3, JE 16:17, 23:24-25, HE 4:13 God is everywhere. He sees and hears everything.
1SA 9:15-17 The Lord tells Samuel that Saul has been chosen to lead the Israelites and will save them from the Philistines. 1SA 15:35 The Lord is sorry that he has chosen Saul. 1SA 31:4-7 Saul commits suicide and the Israelites are overrun by the Philistines.
1SA 15:7-8, 20 The Amalekites are utterly destroyed.
1SA 27:8-9 They are utterly destroyed (again?).
1SA 30:1, 17-18 They raid Ziklag and David smites them (again?).
1SA 16:10-11, 17:12 Jesse had seven sons plus David, or eight total.
1CH 2:13-15 He had seven total.
1SA 16:19-23 Saul knew David well before the latter's encounter with Goliath. 1SA 17:55-58 Saul did not know David at the time of his encounter with Goliath and had to ask about David's identity.
1SA 17:50 David killed Goliath with a slingshot.
1SA 17:51 David killed Goliath (again?) with a sword.
1SA 17:50 David killed Goliath.
2SA 21:19 Elhanan killed Goliath. (Note: Some translations insert the words "the brother of" before Elhanan. These are an addition to the earliest manuscripts in an apparent attempt to rectify this
inconsistency.)
1SA 21:1-6 Ahimalech was high priest when David ate the bread.
MK 2:26 Abiathar was high priest at the time.
1SA 28:6 Saul inquired of the Lord, but received no answer.
1CH 10:13-14 Saul died for not inquiring of the Lord.
1SA 31:4-6 Saul killed himself by falling on his sword.
2SA 2:2-10 Saul, at his own request, was slain by an Amalekite.
2SA 21:12 Saul was killed by the Philistines on Gilboa.
1CH 10:13-14 Saul was slain by God.
2SA 6:23 Michal was childless.
2SA 21:8 (KJV) She had five sons.
2SA 24:1 The Lord inspired David to take the census.
1CH 21:1 Satan inspired the census.
2SA 24:9 The census count was: Israel 800,000 and Judah 500,000.
1CH 21:5 The census count was: Israel 1,100,000 and Judah 470,000.
2SA 24:10-17 David sinned in taking the census.
1KI 15:5 David's only sin (ever) was in regard to another matter.
2SA 24:24 David paid 50 shekels of silver for the purchase of a
property. 1CH 21:22-25 He paid 600 shekels of gold.
1KI 3:12 God made Solomon the wisest man that ever lived, yet .... 1KI
11:1-13 Solomon loved many foreign women (against God's explicit prohibition) who turned him to other gods (for which he deserved death).
1KI 3:12, 4:29, 10:23-24, 2CH 9:22-23 God made Solomon the wisest king and the wisest man that ever lived. There never has been nor will be another like him. MT 12:42, LK 11:31 Jesus says: "... now one greater than Solomon is here."
1KI 4:26 Solomon had 40,000 horses (or stalls for horses).
2CH 9:25 He had 4,000 horses (or stalls for horses).
1KI 5:16 Solomon had 3,300 supervisors.
2CH 2:2 He had 3,600 supervisors.
1KI 7:15-22 The two pillars were 18 cubits high.
2CH 3:15-17 They were 35 cubits high.
1KI 7:26 Solomon's "molten sea" held 2000 "baths" (1 bath = about 8 gallons). 2CH 4:5 It held 3000 "baths."
1KI 8:12, 2CH 6:1, PS 18:11 God dwells in thick darkness.
1TI 6:16 God dwells in unapproachable light.
1KI 8:13, AC 7:47 Solomon, whom God made the wisest man ever, built his temple as an abode for God. AC 7:48-49 God does not dwell in temples built by men.
1KI 9:28 420 talents of gold were brought back from Ophir.
2CH 8:18 450 talents of gold were brought back from Ophir.
1KI 15:14 Asa did not remove the high places.
2CH 14:2-3 He did remove them.
1KI 16:6-8 Baasha died in the 26th year of King Asa's reign.
2CH 16:1 Baasha built a city in the 36th year of King Asa's reign.
1KI 16:23 Omri became king in the thirty-first year of Asa's reign and he reigned for a total of twelve years. 1KI 16:28-29 Omri died, and his son Ahab became king in the thirty- eighth year of Asa's reign. (Note: Thirty-one through thirty-eight equals a reign of seven or eight years.)
1KI 22:23, 2CH 18:22, 2TH 2:11 God himself causes a lying spirit. PR 12:22 God abhors lying lips and delights in honesty.
1KI 22:42-43 Jehoshaphat did not remove the high places.
2CH 17:5-6 He did remove them.
2KI 2:11 Elijah went up to heaven.
JN 3:13 Only the Son of Man (Jesus) has ever ascended to heaven.
2CO 12:2-4 An unnamed man, known to Paul, went up to heaven and came back. HE 11:5 Enoch was translated to heaven.
2KI 4:32-37 A dead child is raised (well before the time of Jesus). MT 9:18-25, JN 11:38-44 Two dead persons are raised (by Jesus himself). AC 26:23 Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.
2KI 8:25-26 Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began his reign.
2CH 22:1 He was 42 when he began his reign.
2KI 9:27 Jehu shot Ahaziah near Ibleam. Ahaziah fled to Meggido and died there. 2CH 22:9 Ahaziah was found hiding in Samaria, brought to Jehu, and put to death.
2KI 16:5 The King of Syria and the son of the King of Israel did not conquer Ahaz. 2CH 28:5-6 They did conquer Ahaz.
2KI 24:8 Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim) was eighteen years old when he began to reign. 2CH 36:9 He was eight. (Note: This discrepancy has been "corrected" in some versions.)
2KI 24:8 Jehoiachin (Jehoiakim) reigned three months.
2CH 36:9 He reigned three months and ten days.
2KI 24:17 Jehoiachin (Jehoaikim) was succeeded by his uncle.
2CH 36:10 He was succeeded by his brother.
2CH 3:11-13 The lineage is: Joram, Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham. MT 1:8-9 It is: Joram, Uzziah, Jotham, etc.
2CH 3:19 Pedaiah was the father of Zerubbabel.
ER 3:2 Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel.
2CH 19:7, AC 10:34, RO 2:11 There is no injustice or partiality with the Lord. RO 9:15-18 God has mercy on (and hardens the hearts of) whom he pleases.
ER 2:3-64 (Gives the whole congregation as 42,360 while the actual sum of the numbers is about 30,000.)
JB 2:3-6, 21:7-13, 2TI 3:12 The godly are persecuted and chastised but the wicked grow old, wealthy, and powerful, unchastised by God. PS 55:23, 92:12-14, PR 10:2-3, 27-31, 12:2, 21 The lives of the wicked are cut short. The righteous flourish and obtain favor from the Lord.
PS 10:1 God cannot be found in time of need. He is "far off."
PS 145:18 God is near to all who call upon him in truth.
PS 22:1-2 God sometimes forsakes his children. He does not answer. PS 46:1 God is a refuge, a strength, a very present help.
PS 30:5, JE 3:12, MI 7:18 God's anger does not last forever.
JE 17:4, MT 25:46 It does last forever. (He has provided for eternal punishment.)
PS 58:10-11 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees vengeance.
PR 24:16-18 Do not rejoice when your enemy falls or stumbles.
PS 78:69, EC 1:4, 3:14 The earth was established forever.
PS 102:25-26, MT 24:35, MK 13:31, LK 21:33, HE 1:10-11, 2PE 3:10 The earth will someday perish.
PR 3:13, 4:7, 19:8, JA 1:5 Happy is the man who finds wisdom. Get wisdom. LK 2:40, 52 Jesus was filled with wisdom and found favor with God. 1CO 1:19-25, 3:18-20 Wisdom is foolishness.
PR 12:2, RO 8:28 A good man obtains favor from the Lord.
TI 3:12, HE 12:6 The godly will be persecuted.
PR 14:8 The wisdom of a prudent man is to discern his way.
MT 6:25-34 Take no thought for tomorrow. God will take care of you.
PR 14:15-18 The simple believe everything and acquire folly; the
prudent look where they are going and are crowned with knowledge. MT 18:3, LK 18:17 You must believe as little children do. 1CO 1:20, 27 God has made the wisdom of the world foolish so as to shame the wise. PR 16:4 God made the wicked for the "day of evil." MT 11:25, MK 4:11-12 God and Jesus hide some things from some people. JN 6:65 No one can come to Jesus unless it is granted by God. RO 8:28-30 Some are predestined to be called to God, believe in Jesus, and be justified. RO 9:15-18 God has mercy on, and hardens the hearts of, whom he
pleases. 2TH 2:11-12 God deceives the wicked so as to be able to
condemn them. 1TI 2:3-4, 2PE 3:9 [Yet] God wants all to be saved.
PR 8:13, 16:6 It is the fear of God that keeps men from evil.
1JN 4:18 There is no fear in love. Perfect love drives out fear.
1JN 5:2, 2JN 1:6 Those who love God keep his commandments.
PR 26:4 Do not answer a fool. To do so makes you foolish too.
PR 26:5 Answer a fool. If you don't, he will think himself wise.
PR 30:5 Every word of God proves true.
JE 8:8 The scribes falsify the word of God.
JE 20:7, EZ 14:9, 2TH 2:11-12 God himself deceives people.
(Note: Some versions translate deceive as "persuade." The context
makes clear, however, that deception is involved.)
IS 3:13 God stands to judge.
JL 3:12 He sits to judge.
IS 44:24 God created heaven and earth alone.
JN 1:1-3 Jesus took part in creation.
IS 53:9 Usually taken to be a prophecy re: Jesus, mentions burial with others. MT 27:58-60, MK 15:45-46, LK 23:52-53, JN 19:38-42 Jesus was buried by himself.
JE 12:13 Some sow wheat but reap thorns.
MI 6:15 Some sow but won't reap anything.
MT 25:26, LK 19:22 Some reap without sowing.
2CO 9:6, GA 6:7 A man reaps what he sows.
JE 32:18 God shows love to thousands, but brings punishment for the sins of their fathers to many children. 2CO 13:11, 14, 1JN 4:8, 16 God is a god of love.
JE 34:4-5 Zedekiah was to die in peace.
JE 52:10-11 Instead, Zedekaih's sons are slain before his eyes, his
eyes are then put out, he is bound in fetters, taken to Babylon and
left in prison to die.
EZ 20:25-26 The law was not good. The sacrifice of children was for the purpose of horrifying the people so that they would know that God is Lord. RO 7:12, 1TI 1:8 The law is good.
EZ 26:15-21 God says that Tyre will be destroyed and will never be found again. (Nebudchanezzar failed to capture or destroy Tyre. It is still inhabited.)
DN 5:1 (Gives the title of "king" to Belshazzar although Belshazzar
was actually the "viceroy.")
DN 5:2 (Says that Nebuchadnezzar was the father of Belshazzar, but actually, Nebonidus was the father of Belshazzar.) (Note: Some
versions attempt to correct this error by making the verse say that
Nebuchadnezzar was the grandfather of Belshazzar.)
ZE 11:12-13 Mentions "thirty pieces" and could possibly be thought to be connected with the Potter's Field prophesy referred to in Matthew. MT 27:9 Jeremiah is given as the source of the prophesy regarding the purchase of the Potter's Field. (Note: There is no such prophesy in Jeremiah.)
MT 1:6-7 The lineage of Jesus is traced through David's son, Solomon.
LK 3:23-31 It is traced through David's son, Nathan. (Note: Some
apologists assert that Luke traces the lineage through Mary. That this is untrue is obvious from the context since Luke and Matthew both clearly state that Joseph was Jesus' father.)
MT 1:16 Jacob was Joseph's father.
LK 3:23 Heli was Joseph's father.
MT 1:17 There were twenty-eight generations from David to Jesus.
LK 3:23-38 There were forty-three.
MT 1:18-21 The Annunciation occurred after Mary had conceived Jesus. LK 1:26-31 It occurred before conception.
MT 1:20 The angel spoke to Joseph.
LK 1:28 The angel spoke to Mary.
MT 1:20-23, LK 1:26-33 An angel announces to Joseph and/or Mary that the child (Jesus) will be "great," the "son of the Most High," etc., and .... MT 3:13-17, MK 1:9-11 The baptism of Jesus is accompanied by the most extraordinary happenings, yet .... MK 3:21 Jesus' own relatives (or friends) attempt to constrain him, thinking that he might be out of his mind, and .... MK 6:4-6 Jesus says that a prophet is without honor in his own house (which certainly should not have been the case considering the Annunciation and the Baptism).
MT 1:23 He will be called Emmanuel (or Immanuel).
MT 1:25 Instead, he was called Jesus.
MT 2:13-16 Following the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary flee to
Egypt, (where they stay until after Herod's death) in order to avoid
the murder of their firstborn by Herod. Herod slaughters all male
infants two years old and under. (Note: John the Baptist, Jesus'
cousin, though under two is somehow spared without fleeing to Egypt.)
LK 2:22-40 Following the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary remain in the area of Jerusalem for the Presentation (about forty days) and then return to Nazareth without ever going to Egypt. There is no slaughter of the infants.
MT 2:23 "And he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: He will be called a
Nazarene.'" (This prophecy is not found in the OT and while Jesus is often referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth", he is seldom referred to as "Jesus the Nazarene.")
MT 3:11-14, JN 1:31-34 John realized the true identity of Jesus (as
the Messiah) either prior to the actual Baptism, or from the Baptism
onward. The very purpose of John's baptism was to reveal Jesus to
Israel. MT 11:2-3 After the Baptism, John sends his disciples to ask if Jesus is the Messiah.
MT 3:12, 13:42 Hell is a furnace of fire (and must therefore be
light). MT 8:12, 22:13, 25:30 Hell is an "outer darkness" (and
therefore dark).
MT 3:16, MK 1:10 It was Jesus who saw the Spirit descending.
JN 1:32 It was John who saw the Spirit descending.
MT 3:17 The heavenly voice addressed the crowd: "This is my beloved Son." MK 1:11, LK 3:22 The voice addressed Jesus: "You are my beloved Son...."
MT 4:1-11, MK 1:12-13 Immediately following his Baptism, Jesus spent forty days in the wilderness resisting temptation by the Devil. JN 2:1-11 Three days after the Baptism, Jesus was at the wedding in Cana.
MT 4:5-8 The Devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple, then to the mountain top. LK 4:5-9 First to the mountain top, then to the
pinnacle of the temple.
MT 4:18-20, MK 1:16-18 (One story about choosing Peter as a disciple.)
LK 5:2-11 (A different story.) JN 1:35-42 (Still another story.)
MT 5:1 - 7:29 Jesus delivers his most noteworthy sermon while on the mount. LK 6:17-49 Jesus delivers his most noteworthy sermon while on the plain. (Note: No such sermons are mentioned in either MK or JN and Paul seems totally unfamiliar with either the sermon on the mount or the sermon on the plain.)
MT 5:16 Good works should be seen.
MT 6:1-4 They should be kept secret.
MT 5:17-19, LK 16:17 Jesus underscores the permanence of the law. LE 10:8 - 11:47, DT 14:3-21 The law distinguishes between clean and unclean foods. MK 7:14-15, MK 7:18-19 Jesus says that there is no such distinction. TI 4:1-4 All foods are clean according to Paul.
MT 5:17-19, LK 16:17 Jesus did not come to abolish the law.
EP 2:13-15, HE 7:18-19 Jesus did abolish the law.
MT 5:22 Anyone who calls another a fool is liable to Hell.
MT 7:26 Jesus says that anyone who hears his words and does not do them is a fool. (Note: The translation now prevalent, MT 23:17-19 Jesus twice calls the Pharisees blind fools. MT 25:2, 3, 8 Jesus
likens the maidens who took no oil to fools.
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