From CBN library, Benin.
IN pains on
their hospital beds, survivors of the gunmen invasion of the Deeper Life
Church, Otite in Adavi Local Council of Kogi State, yesterday narrated their
experiences.
One of the
injured worshippers, who identified himself as Mr. Lawal Saliu, told reporters
on his bed at the Lokoja Specialist Hospital that he only saw two gunmen enter
the church in flowing gowns during their usual Bible Study at 11.00 p.m.
and “before we could say anything, we heard several gunshots. I only woke
up to find myself on this hospital bed, I don’t even know how I got here.
“What I
remember last is that the generating set we were using suddenly went off and
the next thing was that there were gunshots everywhere as the whole place was
in darkness. Maybe they (gunmen) were more than that but I saw only two,” he
said. “It was as really evil.” And after killing 18 worshippers evening at a
Deeper Life Bible Church, suspected terrorists continued their siege on Okene.
yesterday. They struck at a mosque and killed two soldiers. One of the gunmen
was allegedly killed during the attack.
The armed
men came in a Hilux pick-up van chanting Islamic songs before they attacked
some Muslims who were holding tafsir (Ramadan lecture) at the Central
Mosque in Okene.
The dead
soldiers were on surveillance duty at area.
The state
Commissioner of Police, Muhammed Katsina, who confirmed the incident and the
death of two soldiers, said the military men killed one of the gunmen.
Already,
Governor Idris Wada has declared a dusk to dawn curfew in Okene and its
environs to forestall the escalation of the crisis.
The governor
in a statewide broadcast, after cancelling his trip to Mecca for the lesser
hajj, vowed to bring the perpetuators of these acts to book.
Wada said
the decision to impose curfew in the area was taken after due consultation with
the security agents, adding that commercial motorcyclists had been restricted 6
a.m. and 6 p.m. until the situation was brought under control.
Fear also
gripped residents of Lokoja, the state capital over the detection of objects
suspected to be bombs.
And with the
death of two more persons yesterday from the Monday incident, the casualty
level has risen to 20.
One of the
survivors of the attack on his hospital bed yesterday narrated how the gunmen
struck at the church.
He said two
of the gunmen in flowing gowns entered the church during the Bible Study
session and shot randomly at worshippers, who were on a night vigil.
Among the dead was the pastor, Stephen Lambe, a lecturer at Kogi State
Polytechnic, Osara campus. He died instantly.
Movement
within Lokoja metropolis was disrupted yesterday following a bomb scare
that rocked the city midday.
As the
rumour spread at 10.00 a.m., government offices and business places were shut
while others scaled down operations. Residents who were yet to get over the
news of the attack in Okene remained indoors.
School
pupils and their parents scampered for safety as stern looking security agents
barricaded major roads in Lokoja while commercial transporters declined to ply
the Lokoja-Okene route.
A bomb was
allegedly detonated near a filling station in Lokongoma Phase Two area. The
bomb discovered in the neighbourhood, later exploded while experts from the
Kogi State Police Command attempted to contain it. No casualty was recorded.
The Liaison
Officer, Adavi Local Council, Mouktar Atimah, told The Guardian in
Okene that as at Monday night, the official casualty figure
was 18 while 14 persons, who were injured rushed to the Specialist Hospital,
Lokoja for treatment.
He, however,
said the number had risen to 20 as two of the injured victims later died.
Atimah said
his cousin was among the victims but assured residents and travellers of their
safety as government and security agencies were on top of the situation.
Asked what
had happened to the bodies of the victims, he said none of them had been buried
as they had been deposited at Okengwen mortuary for identification by their
families. “Once this is finalised, the bodies will be released for burial,” he
said.
Kabiru
Salawu, a resident bemoaned what he considered to be fast becoming a bad image
identity for Ebiraland, saying terror was alien to the area.
Moddibo
Usman, another resident disagreed with the authorities’ claim to be in control
of the situation, saying “the time has come for government to go beyond
post-mortem.
“We should
stop deceiving ourselves that ‘we are on top of the situation.’ I am ashamed of
the political class, which cannot call a spade a spade.”
The Medical
Director of Dosean Hospital in Okene, Dr. Amuda Samuel, who gave some of the
victims first aid treatment, said three of them had been discharged while a
woman who was hit in the stomach was operated upon and transferred to the
Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.
The Okene
Overseer of the Deeper Life Church, Pastor Roland Egunjobi, described the
incident as the saddest moment of his life. He said most of the worshippers who
were killed were children who came out for Bible study with their parents.
The
Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Coordinator in Okene, Pastor Omotosho,
told reporters that four members of the church had died in various hospitals
where they were receiving treatment.
He appealed
to both the federal and state governments to provide Christians with adequate
security in worship places.
The
Commander, Joint Military and Police Task Force (JTF), Lt-Col. Gabriel
Olorunyomi, reportedly alerted Wada of the incident in the middle of a function
at the Lugard House, Lokoja.
The
governor, who broke the “very sad news” to the gathering, immediately left the
hall, which also cut short the programme as guests also exited for fear of the
unknown.
When asked
by journalists to comment on the attack, Wada tearfully said: “15 people have
just been killed in a church in Okene where they were worshipping God. The
perpetrators of the heinous crime are wicked, devilish, ungodly and
deserve no place in a sane society. But they will not get away with it this
time. We will spare no resource at our disposal to fish out the perpetrators
and smoke terrorism out of our state,” he said.
He
continued: “I learned when they came, the first thing they did was to put out
the light in the church before they opened fire at the defenceless, law-abiding
citizens who were worshipping God. This is sad, it is worrisome.”
The
governor, who remained in office till 4.00 a.m. co-ordinating the state
security apparatuses, was said to have briefed President Goodluck Jonathan and
the Inspector-General of Police (IG) on the invasion of the church.
Wada, who
visited the church in Otite, reiterated his promise to fish out the terrorists,
adding that the blood of those children they killed would be upon them.
The governor
also visited the injured at the Okene General Hospital and pledged that the
state government would foot their medical bills.
Reacting to
the killings in Okene, Senate President David Mark asked Nigerians to take the
routine check of their environment as important, noting that the communal
living of Nigerians was being abused by the terror gang.
In a
statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Kola
Ologondiyan, Mark said: “We can no longer take our communal lifestyle for
granted. We should begin to ask questions when we find strange people and
strange development around us.
“The dictum
of being our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper has to be re-examined.”
The Igbo
Youth Movement (IYM) said yesterday that the deliberate attack on Christian
worshippers was designed to turn Nigeria to Sudan and charged the National
Security Adviser (NSA) not to allow more deaths inside churches.
In a
statement in Enugu, IYM President Elliot Uko, said the attacks were targeted at
Ndigbo, stressing that it was at a loss as to why the Boko Haram had continued
the insurgence, despite repeated warnings.
Reacting to
the attack on the church at Okene, Uko added, “Anybody who is committed towards
drawing Ndigbo into the fray might soon succeed, as there is a limit to
endurance…”
Soldiers, others killed in fresh Kogi
attack
WHILE the
Deeper Life Bible Church was still counting its heavy losses to the ruthless
Monday night attack on its church in Otite, Okene, Kogi State, four persons
again died in an attack on the Central Mosque in the city on Tuesday.
Reports from
Kogi on Tuesday indicated that the death toll in the attack on the DLBC during
an evening service on Monday had increased from 16 to 20.
In a panic
measure to curb bloodshed in the state, Governor Idris Wada has announced a
dusk-to-dawn curfew in Okete town, while the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed
Abubakar, has ordered 24-hour surveillance in worship centres in Okene and
other parts of Kogi State.
The dead
victims in the Tuesday attack included two soldiers and two of the gunmen that
attacked the mosque during the Tasfir prayer at 4.00pm.
The soldiers
were killed in a gunfight with the gunmen suspected to be members of the
violent Islamist sect, Boko Haram.
Our
correspondents learnt that the attackers were dressed in white robes and
drove in a Hilux Jeep to the Central Mosque close to the Okene Local Government
Council secretariat while the Tasfir prayer was about to commence.
An
eyewitness told one of our correspondents that a soldier stationed at the
entrance of the mosque gunned down two of the attackers before they could
proceed with their attack. But the soldier and another of his colleague were
also killed in the ensued crossfire with the gunmen whose number was not
ascertained.
The rest of
the attackers that survived the gunfight were said to have escaped in the same
Hilux Jeep before the arrival of other security agents.
The
Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Command, Mr. Muhammed Katsina, confirmed the
incident to journalists in Lokoja.
Gunmen had
similarly opened fire on a DLBC worship centre in Otite during an evening
service on Monday and killed 15 persons on the spot. One of the wounded victims
died on the way to the hospital while another four died on their hospital beds
on Tuesday.
The
Tuesday violence came even as members of the Deeper Life Bible Church, Otite,
Okene, were still taking stock of members killed in Monday night attack.
The Deputy
Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, a Chief Superintendent of Police,
announced the IG measure aimed at arresting the situation in a statement in
Abuja on Tuesday.
“We have
commenced investigation into the attack and we want to plead with Nigerians to
furnish security agencies with information that can assist us in our
investigations,” Mba added.
He said that
the police were working with the Army, State Security Service and other security
agencies to keep law and order in Kogi State.
The police
described the attack as unfortunate and appealed to Nigerians to be patient
with security agencies, pointing out that they were working hard to combat the
security crisis in the country.
The police
deputy public relations officer stated that the IGP ordered the deployment of
additional units of riot policemen from other Squadrons to beef up the security
arrangement in the state.
Mba quoted
the IG as appealing for calm, promising that the perpetrators of the crime
would not go unpunished. He however advised the general public to remain
vigilant and to report any suspicious movement to the police.
Before the
attack on Tuesday evening, Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, had been thrown into
pandemonium when a black polyethylene bag containing refuse and dumped at the
gate of a church was mistaken for an explosive device.
The incident
reportedly paralysed government business and commercial activities in Lokoja as
residents flee the area. Government offices and business premises were
also promptly shut.
The News
Agency of Nigeria reports that security agents were deployed in strategic
places, including churches and mosques in Lokoja on Tuesday.
Meanwhile,
an Igbo youth group, the Igbo Youth Movement, on Tuesday warned that its
members would no longer tolerate further killings of Christians in the north.
The IYM
president, Elliot Uko, told one of our correspondents in Awka, Anambra State,
that the group was calling on the National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, to
act fast and stop the killings.
Vice-President
of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Femi Asiwaju, condemned the
killings of the DLBC worshippers.
Asiwaju
urged the Federal Government to devise new strategies to ensure peace in the country.
Senate
President, David Mark, also condemned the attacks in Kogi and asked Nigerians
to be more vigilant in their daily activities, especially in worship houses.
Mark said,
“We can no longer take our communal lifestyle for granted. We should
begin to ask questions when we find strange people and strange development
around us.
“The dictum
of being our brothers’ and sisters’ keeper has to be re-examined. When you
find strange people and strange things around your environment, make immediate
report to security agencies that are close to you for immediate and necessary
action.”
He described
the activities of Boko Haram as more daring and urged Nigerians to make
information about the sect available to security agents or those who occupy
elective offices around their constituencies.
Mark
stressed that the attack on the Deeper Life Church, Okene, and other places of
worship in other states was “ungodly and wicked,” adding that “Boko Haram
members are not fighting for God and they must be exposed by those who have
information about their activitie
Fawehinmi to Jonathan: Show competence
or resign
LAGOS—Mohammed
Fawehinmi Chambers has condemned what it called President Goodluck Jonathan’s
poor handling of the Boko Haram menace, challenging him to either show his
competence by terminating Boko Haram within one month and start developing the
nation properly, or comply with the Boko Haram request to resign.
In a
statement by Mr. Mohammed Fawehinmi, the chambers also asked the President to
sack allegedly uncommitted ministers.
The chambers
also called on the National Assembly to shun partisan politics and put national
interest at heart in the impeachment threat against the President, adding that
the purported suggestive increase of five years for every elected or appointed
political leader is the most absurd suggestion that ever came alive in the
nation’s polity and that this had shown that the ruling party had no plan for
the country.
He said: “I
read with uncontrollable laughter the insult meted out to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan,
President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. What a
shame! The docile nature of the President has allowed such an insignificant
group of nuisances popularly known as Boko Haram to insult him, thereby
insulting the whole nation, by asking him to resign.
“The
President has disgraced this country enough, he must either show his competence
and willingness to work by terminating Boko Haram within one month and start
developing the nation properly, or comply with the Boko Haram requests.
“Those who
are not willing to work and are interested in their previous domains in foreign
countries should go, and be replaced immediately with people who are interested
in working for Nigeria. These include Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister
of Finance/Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Mr. Olusegun Aganga,
Minister of Trade and Industry; Mrs. Diezani Allison-Maduke, Minister of
Petroleum and Resources; and Prof. Bart Nnaji- Minister of Power.
Gunmen kill Borno evangelist
Two gunmen,
suspected to be members of the Boko Haram on Monday killed an evangelist of
Good News Church (GNC) at his Mafoni residence in Maiduguri metropolis.
Residents of the area said Evangelist Ali Samari, 57, was killed around 6:30pm shortly after he returned from work. “Late Samari was also a horologist (wristwatch repairer) at the Post Office Area of the metropolis. Whenever he finished evangelism, he would go straight to his place of work in order to earn a livelihood,” Mathew Zakka, a fellow church member of the deceased, said. He said the assailants trailed the late evangelist to his house and fired several gunshots at him before they disappeared. “It was obvious that he was their target and they succeeded in eliminating him,” Zakka said. Borno State police spokesman, Gideon Jibrin, confirmed the incident.
Residents of the area said Evangelist Ali Samari, 57, was killed around 6:30pm shortly after he returned from work. “Late Samari was also a horologist (wristwatch repairer) at the Post Office Area of the metropolis. Whenever he finished evangelism, he would go straight to his place of work in order to earn a livelihood,” Mathew Zakka, a fellow church member of the deceased, said. He said the assailants trailed the late evangelist to his house and fired several gunshots at him before they disappeared. “It was obvious that he was their target and they succeeded in eliminating him,” Zakka said. Borno State police spokesman, Gideon Jibrin, confirmed the incident.
OGUN State
chapter of the Association of Tippers and Quarry Owners of Nigeria (ATQON) has denied
reports that a tipper truck killed five students of the Federal College of
Education (FCE), Osiele, Abeokuta in an accident.
There were
reports on Saturday that a tipper truck rammed into a taxi cab conveying the
five students and killed them on the spot.
As a result,
angry students went on rampage setting ablaze two tipper trucks and damaging 22
others.
But,
addressing newsmen at their garage in Obantoko, Abeokuta on
Sunday, the National Vice Chairman of ATQON, Chief Fashola Ojewunmi
.insisted, none of the said students died. He however admitted there was
an accident involving a tipper truck and a taxi cab but none of the students in
the cab died.
The State
Police Command Spokesman, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi who had, on Friday, the
day of the accident confirmed that two students died has also admitted
that no one died, saying that, the victims were later revived at General
Hospital Ijaye Abeokuta.
Ojewunmi
hinted that the association had already initiated moves to seek compensation
from the authorities of the college for the damage.
But reacting
to the threat, spokesman of the College, Mr. Bola Adesina, said the management
would not join issues with anyone, just as he commended the prompt intervention
of the Police and the state
government
in the melee that followed the accident.
“For us at
the College, we are thanking God and want to use this opportunity to thanks the
Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunke Amosun, as well as the Commissioner of
Police for intervening in the matter. We cannot determine the level of
involvement of students in what apparently was a mob action,” he said.
Kano Hisbah detains non-fasting Muslims
About 20
persons arrested by Kano State Hisbah Board for deliberately refusing to fast
during the ongoing Ramadan period would be held in detention for three days
until they learn how to fast, the Acting Commander General of the board,
Barrister Labahani Usman, told Daily Trust yesterday.
Personnel of
the Hisbah Board have been conducting raids around Kano city aimed at arresting
Muslims who intentionally refused to observe fasting since the month of Ramadan
commenced almost 20 days ago.
Usman told
our reporter that some of the offenders who included women had been arrested in
various hot spots across the metropolis by the plain cloth personnel of the
Hisbah command.
Affected
landlords plead with government to pay their compensation as promised
WHEN the
government embarked on the Lagos-Badagry super-highway, many houses were marked
for demolition.
The
government had invited affected landlords for verification and
certification of their qualification for eventual compensation.
Having gone
for the verification, the landlords started to wait, hoping that, as government
had promised, they would be paid before their houses would be demolished.
But, as it
turned out, government was not ready to wait.
On Monday,
landlords and their tenants at the Maza Maza area of the Lagos-Badagry
Expressway had their day soured as bulldozers, accompanied by armed security
officials of the Lagos State Task Force on Environmental Sanitation, began tearing down
houses.
By noon,
more than 15 buildings had been demolished and many more were marked to go.
One of the landlords,
Mr Afeez Balogun told The Guardian that though they had been informed
and were quite aware that their houses would eventually be demolished, “it
still comes as a shock.
“You cannot
wake up in the house you have lived in for years and the next minute you see it
being demolished without a feeling of devastation.
“No matter
your awareness, it is still a shock
“We have
been aware for the past five months that the demolition will take place
one day but we never imagined it would start today.
“But, much
more worrisome is the fact that we were supposed to have been paid the agreed
compensation before the demolition would start.
“We were
asked to provide documents which were verified and the promise of compensation
made.
“The issue
at stake is that we have not been compensated and our houses have been
demolished.
“I want to
plead with the government to please pay our compensation as soon as possible”
Balogun said.
Another
landlord, Oluwaseun Ogundenro told The Guardian his two-storey building was not
among those earlier marked for demolition.
According to
him: “Ever since the Lagos-Badagry Expressway project started, landlords of the
houses marked for demolition were notified.
“None
whatsoever was given to me nor was my building marked as designated for
demolition as a result of which I did not bother to take my documents to the
Ministry of Physical Planning, like those whose buildings were marked.
“So you can
understand my shock when I came out only to see that one half of the
building was marked that morning for demolition.
“So where
does that leave me, since I did not take documents to the ministry and no one
had indicated my building would be demolished?” he asked.
He said his
prayer now was that the officials would also attend to him since he did not
know earler that his building would be affected.
“I have been
running helter skelter but we cannot do anything except allow the demolition to
go on.
“Yet, the
point must be made that they should have given a week’s final notice so that
those who now have no places to stay would have made alternative
arrangements.”
An official
of one of the inter-state luxury bus companies told The Guardian that the
demolition would affect their business negatively as “our offices are located
in some of the buildings that are being demolished.
“When
members of hTsk Force and their bulldozers arrived, we tried to remove some of
the things we had in our offices.
“We had been
told the buildings would be demolished, but we did not know it would start this
morning.
“But, in the
end, the road-expansion project is all for the best”, he said.
THE National
Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Akwa Ibom State has solicited the
assistance of the traditional institution to stop the illegal peddling and
abuse of hard drugs in the state.
This appeal
was made by the state Commander, Mrs. Ruth Obi, during a courtesy visit on
Obong Essien Ekidem, the Ntisong Ibibio III in Uyo.
According to
the NDLEA boss, the increasing sales and abuse of narcotic drugs in the
state informed her decision to partner with everybody, especially the
traditional institution, in the drug war.
Obi,
therefore, appealed to the traditional ruler to use his position to condemn the
use of these dangerous drugs at every public fora, stressing that such drugs
had been discovered and declared not only as harmful and destructive to the human
body but also as posing very serious setback on the development of the economy.
“So, the
problem we are having is that the abuse of these narcotic drugs is spreading
like fire in every corner of the state by the day. The NDLEA cannot do it
alone. We have come to you and your council because of the authority you have
over your subjects.
“If His
Majesty and Council in any fora speak against the act to make the people know
that he is against the sale and use of these drugs, it will go a long way to
help.
“Some people
started using drugs because they were not aware of the dangers inherent in
using them, but the dealers or sellers are aware because they hide to sell to
people. They do not sell in the open and that is why we must stop them from
selling and destroying more lives, especially the young and the youth who will
be future leaders”, she said.
She further
appealed to the Ntisong and other traditional leaders to use their position to
condemn the business of drug barons in the state by advising them to desist
from the heinous crime and engage in other lawful, genuine and accepted
businesses.
The NDLEA
boss expressed gratitude to the monarch in his concern and cooperation to the
agency since her assumption of duty in the state, maintaining that disallowing
illegal drug dealers from using their money in rendering any gesture to people
and the society would help to discourage them and stop those that might
be ignorantly lured into the illegal trade.
She alleged
that the physically-challenged persons and indigent ones were used to peddle
the hard drugs because they do not have any other means of livelihood, calling
on the traditional institution to set up social welfare programs as a way of
assisting such people to stay out of the illegal business.
She noted that
the agency only prosecuted dealers and not users but rather assisted them
through counseling, treatment and rehabilitation to get normal and back
into the society.
Responding,
Essien Ekidem commended the NDLEA commander for her concern and the good works
her administration had been doing towards making Akwa Ibom State drug-free.
He also
commended her for recognizing the traditional institution as worthy partners in
fighting the war against illicit drugs.
Tinubu, Fayemi ask FG to address
insecurity
LAGOS — THE
immediate past governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, yesterday
warned the authorities to immediately address the insecurity in the land or
allow Nigerians to seek self-help.
He spoke at
the launch of a book, The Nigerian Political Turf: Polity, Politics,
Politicians, just as Governor Kayode Fayemi said the insurgency by the Boko
Haram Islamic sect has inevitably re-opened the debate on the future of the
country as a united federal entity.
The duo
alongside, House of Representatives Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal used the occasion
of the book launch to praise what they described as the tenacity and
resourcefulness of Nigerian journalism.
The launch
of the book authored by Mr. Bolade Omonijo, Group Political Editor of The
Nation Newspaper also attracted several other governors including, Ogbeni
Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Mr. Peter
Obi of Anambra state, Senator Ganiyu Solomon, veteran journalist and economist,
Haroun Adamu, Mr. Odia Ofeimum, the cream of the Nigerian media among others.
Tinubu who
was represented by Dr. Lekan Pitan, a commissioner in his cabinet said: “The
problem of insecurity and bombing ravaging the nation require an urgent action.
The government must act quickly to curtail the activities of Boko Haram before
Nigerians resort to self-help. The debate for state and community policing has
been long overdue and it is time for Nigeria to decentralise the police force,
in order to arrest the problem of insecurity.
For Nigeria
to move forward, there is need for courageous, visionary and committed leaders
at all levels of governance,” Tinubu submitted.
Recommending
the book to the public, he said:
“The book Polity, Politics, Politicians is well loaded and well-articulated with various problems facing the Nigerian political development. Bolade Omonijo belongs to the courageous writers in Nigerian journalism today.”
“The book Polity, Politics, Politicians is well loaded and well-articulated with various problems facing the Nigerian political development. Bolade Omonijo belongs to the courageous writers in Nigerian journalism today.”
“All the
issues raised in the book are issues that confront us as a nation because it
talks about the 1999 constitution, lack of true federalism, problems of
Independent Electoral Commission, INEC, and other issues as it bothers on
corruption, political, economic and social well-being of the country.’’
Failure
of leadership
Governor Fayemi, who was the Guest Speaker, in his lecture titled: The Nigerian Polity, politics and Politicians: Moving from Transaction to Transformation, expressed concern on the increasing militarization of the polity, saying that it portends a great danger.
Governor Fayemi, who was the Guest Speaker, in his lecture titled: The Nigerian Polity, politics and Politicians: Moving from Transaction to Transformation, expressed concern on the increasing militarization of the polity, saying that it portends a great danger.
“At the core
of the crisis, either in the Niger Delta or in the North is the failure of
politics to allocate authority and legitimise it and use it to
achieve the social as well as economic ends that is conducive to communal
well-being.
“In this sense the current debate on Boko Haram insurgency is about the status and quality of democracy in Nigeria, a debate about the future of the country as a united, federal entity.’’
“In this sense the current debate on Boko Haram insurgency is about the status and quality of democracy in Nigeria, a debate about the future of the country as a united, federal entity.’’
Habit of
reading
Also speaking, Tambuwal commended the foresight of the author, just as he implored other media practitioners to follow his path.
Also speaking, Tambuwal commended the foresight of the author, just as he implored other media practitioners to follow his path.
“We are
encouraging other journalists to put their experiences in a book form because
by reading, we set to know the characters and plots that have taken place in
our political landscape in Nigeria
“It is only
by reading that we can transport ourselves to different adventures, different
cultures and it is with reading of books during our generation that impacted on
our lives because it remains the only source of knowledge’’ he noted.
Continuing,
he said, “the book that is being launched today is an important topic because
it bothers on our day-to-day activities as a nation and it is important we all
cultivate the habit of reading in order to have an insight on the political
situation in our country.” The book was reviewed by Mr. Kunle Ajibade.
BUILDING on
her work in the last five years as World Bank Vice President for Africa,
former Nigerian Solid Minerals and Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, is
teaming up with billionaire George Soros to chart a new economic course for
Africa.
The move
will help advanced economies on the continent to finally
reach and positively touch the lives of the poor African majority, and set up
a world-class graduate school of public policy in Abuja.
Ezekwesili,
who has been appointed by the Open Society Foundations (OSF) to lead its new
Africa Economic Policy Development Initiative, will provide economic policy
support for Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and other African countries.
Ezekwesili,
in May, rounded off her tenure as World Bank VP for Africa, and handed over to
Makhtar Diop, a Senegalese.
Ezekwesili
told The Guardian in New York on Monday evening that her partnership with the
Open Society and its billionaire founder was
strategic, providing the opportunity “to advance the centrality of
sound policies for economic growth that delivers benefit to a larger
number of African citizens especially because capable states do
better in articulating and executing sound public policies.”
After
holding meetings with other top officials of the Open Society in New York, she
added that “in this assignment, I want to bring in structural transformation,
especially now that Africa must prioritise structural transformation
through economic diversification.”
A statement
from the Open Society in Abuja yesterday, where Ezekwesili would be based in
her new role, also said: “The Open Society Foundations today announced
that it has asked Obiageli Katryn Ezekwesili, a world-renowned expert on
economic reforms and economic governance, to lead its new Africa Economic
Policy Development Initiative. “
According to
the statement, the initiative was created to build on the strong growth
performance of Africa over the last decade and the emergent urgency for
structural transformation of economies to expand benefits to the poor majority
through policies that boost private sector jobs and incomes.
Continuing
the Open Society said: “Operating from Abuja, Ezekwesili will advise the
leaders and policy-makers of the countries on their economic strategy and
policy reforms that can help boost investment and create job growth in the Mano
River region. The initiative over the next three years will expand to include
other countries across Africa.”
The
initiative, which is focusing on Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, countries in
West Africa, will help develop leadership in public policy and economic reforms
within governments and will leverage African expertise in the Diaspora to
strengthen state capacities in various sectors of economies in Africa,
according to the Open Society.
Commenting
on the new role of the Nigerian former minister, President Alpha Conde of
Guinea said: “We very heartily welcome this initiative by the Open Society
Foundation and are eager to seize the opportunity to receive the valuable
policy advice and support from Oby Ezekwesili. We benefited from her rich
experience and policy expertise when she was at the World Bank and helped us
considerably in advancing our country’s economic reforms and development
priorities.”
In his own
comments, Open Society founder, Soros, observed: “I am delighted for Oby to
join our team working on Africa.”
Soros, who
is also the chairman of the Open Society Foundations added that “my
foundations have long been committed to fostering economic development in
post-conflict countries and nations transitioning to democracy.”
Ezekwesili
will take the title Senior Economic Advisor in the Open Society
Foundations and in that capacity, “will oversee the creation of a public policy
advisory centre in Abuja that will collaborate with Paul Collier, the professor
of economics who focuses on developing countries and others to provide economic
policy solutions to pro-reform governments starting with Guinea, Liberia and
Sierra Leone.”
In addition
to that, the former World Bank Vice President for Africa will help
establish “a separate Africa-wide graduate school of public policy, based in Nigeria
that will collaborate with leading universities including the School of Public
Policy at the Central European University.”
Ezekwesili
said that there was a two-year timeline, “to begin to build towards
the school.”
Open Society
President Christopher Stone also praised Ezekwesili saying: “Oby has dedicated
her career to the proposition that governments in Africa, as elsewhere, can
achieve equitable growth when they are open, honest and disciplined. She is the
right person to lead this new initiative.”
In her job
at the World Bank, where she was Vice President in charge of Africa,
Ezekwesili was responsible for operations in 48 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa
and supervised a lending portfolio of over
El-Rufai to Jonathan: Quit if you can’t
solve Nigeria’s problems
ABUJA—As
the spate of violence escalates, particularly in the North, former Minister of
the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, has asked President
Goodluck Jonathan to quit if he could not solve the growing security threats to
lives and property in the country.
In an
exclusive interview with Vanguard yesterday, el-Rufai said it was
indefensible for the government to allow innocent souls to be slaughtered daily
without any response from the administration. El-Rufai spoke against the
backdrop of Chief Edwin Clark’s assertion that northern leaders were not doing
enough to curtail the Boko Haram sect, apparently to bring down the
administration.
El-Rufai and
Jonathan
While
dismissing Clark’s allegation as untenable, the former minister warned the
elder statesman to desist from making inflammatory and unverified statements
capable of exposing him to ridicule instead of applause that he deserves at his
age.
El-Rufai
also asked the former federal information commissioner to desist from insulting
northern leaders at the slightest opportunity.
According to
him, Jonathan has already made it clear to Nigerians and the international
community that the gale of bombings in the land was beyond the capability of
his administration to handle, a situation, he described as unfortunate. He
stated that other Nigerian heads of state had at different times and periods
been confronted with serious challenges and they deployed appropriate state
apparatus to deal with them without resorting to wrong quarters and the
ordinary citizens for help. “Why is it that only President Jonathan cannot
solve Nigeria’s security problem? El-Rufai asked.
“If he
cannot do the job for which he was elected to do, he should consider going home.
No president has ever sought the help of the ordinary people in tackling
security problems in this country.
“The
protection of lives and property of the citizens is the basis of any government
in power and if the leadership has failed woefully to deploy the resources and
information at its disposal to enforce coercive power for the benefit of the
society, then it had no reason to stay on,” he stated.
He said the
current situation in the country had made many Nigerians to be worried about
the future of the country, warning that if urgent steps were not taken to
reverse the dangerous trend, the country could be plunged into a deeper crisis.
On the
controversy over the implementation of the budget, the former minister
maintained that if the budget had worked, it would have brought some relief to
the ordinary citizens who had almost been choked by the economic stagnation in
the country. “Yes, all of us would have seen the results if the budget had been
well implemented. A good economic system shows in the quality of lives of the
people and does not end on the pages of newspapers,” he added. The former
minister said the finance minister alone cannot change the current gloomy
economic outlook in the country, as a tree cannot make a forest.
On the
allegations that he was making noise preparatory to contesting the presidential
election in 2015, he cautioned those making the claims to wait for 2015,
pointing out however, that he was qualified to do so if he wanted.
Police on trail of Shagari police
station attackers
Sokoto State
Police command says it is on the trail of those who attacked and razed the
divisional police station in Shagari local government area of Sokoto Monday
evening.
State police commissioner Aliyu Musa said yesterday that the attackers were hoodlums who went there in three motorcycles with a Jeep following them and attacked the police station. The policemen, according to the commissioner, were able to repel the attack but that the hoodlums threw grenade at the police station.
State police commissioner Aliyu Musa said yesterday that the attackers were hoodlums who went there in three motorcycles with a Jeep following them and attacked the police station. The policemen, according to the commissioner, were able to repel the attack but that the hoodlums threw grenade at the police station.
Implement past reports on Jos crisis –
Plateau elders
Elders of
Berom, Plateau State, have called on the Federal Government to implement
all recommendations in the reports on the crisis in the state.
The group
made the call after a closed-door meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on
Monday night.
The meeting,
which lasted beyond midnight, was at the instance of the National Security
Adviser, Sambo Dasuki.
Addressing
State House correspondents after the meeting on Tuesday, the Gbong Gwom Jos,
Jacob Gyang, said the implementation of the recommendations would reduce
tension.
He stressed
the need for the two ethnic groups involved in the crisis –Berom and
Hausa/Fulani– to embrace and end violence in the state.
The former
Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service said, “You are aware that
there has been a lot of security challenges on the Plateau just like so many
other states. But that of the Plateau has been on for quite a while and so the
NSA invited us to meet with Mr. President so they can hear from us what really
are the issues and what are the suggestions for the way forward because we
cannot allow such things to continue indefinitely.
“We must be
able to talk and come out with what the real issues are and then resolve them
appropriately.
“The issues
are many and we have said them to the press so many times. Let me advise that
the media should take an interest in the report of the Judicial Commission
on Enquiry and other reports. You will be able to see what the issues
are and maybe the press will be able to advise us also on the way forward.”
Gyang said
the reports of all committees set up on the crisis were still relevant and
should be implemented.
Gyang added,
“All the reports are relevant. There are the judicial commissions’
reports, there are some administrative committees’ reports but they carry some
information, all information is very vital for the resolution of these
problems. And so we will suggest that government should set up a committee
to see what they can dig out of those reports and the way forward.
“The
government is a listening government and that is why we are here; they are
noting our suggestions and we want to believe there will be action.”
Our
correspondent learnt that the Berom elders were expected to submit a written
report of what they want to the government.
It was also
learnt that Jonathan will meet with the leaders of the Hausa/Fulani ethic
group soon and will also ask them to submit their own report.
The two
reports, it was learnt, would be studied by the government before convening a joint
meeting of the two groups.
Killings: Nigeria on brink of anarchy
—ACF, Anglican Church, Labour
HERE was a
public outcry on Tuesday against the spate of terrorist attacks in the country,
particularly the Monday killings at the Deeper Life Bible Church in Kogi State.
Many people who spoke to our correspondents on Tuesday said the country was on
the brink of anarchy.
Groups and
individuals, including the Church of Nigeria Anglican communion; the northern
socio-political group, the Arewa Consultative Forum; and some former police
bosses condemned the growing wave of violence in the country.
The Prelate
of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, in an interview with one of
our correspondents in Abuja, warned that the country was drifting to anarchy.
He said, “At
the rate we are going, the country is drifting fast into anarchy and if people
now capitalize on that situation, it will degenerate to dog eat dog.
“If dog eats
dog, that is the end of the country. So for me, we go back to government whose
responsibility it is constitutionally to provide defence for the people.”
The cleric
called on the Federal Government to utilise the taxpayers’ money to “provide
protection for the people.”
He said,
“The attack on the church is a damnable thing; it is evil. Again, it is not
something people should feel that the church should be the one responsible to
act. The church has no soldiers.
“It is the
Federal Government and state governments that collect revenue from people and
control the security organizations that can act.”
Also, the
ACF, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani,
noted that the current attack on Okene was dastardly.
He said,
“They (the gunmen) desecrate the holy month of Ramadan meant for sober
reflection.
“The attacks
and killings of police in both Damaturu and Sokoto as well as of some churches
in Kogi State are very disturbing and horrible not because the killings are
more dastardly than those of the past but because they desecrate the holy month
of Ramadan.
The ACF spokesman
urged terrorists who were behind the attacks to embrace peace.
He stated,
It (ACF) calls on all those who kill themselves in order to kill other people
for whatever reasons to lay down their arms and embrace peaceful approaches to
addressing concerns/perceived grievances and attaining their goals.
“This is
because in peace, it is very possible to make the most of our diversity,
respect them and love them for common good.”
Commenting
on the killings, the President of the Campaign for Democracy, Dr. Joe
Okei-Odumakin, said that the government had lost the war against terrorism.
“Government
has lost the war totally. There are only two options: Jonathan should either
get his act right and deal with the situation or step aside and let the country
sort itself out,” she added.
Also, the
Secretary General of the Trade Union Congress, Chief John Kolawole, described
the killings as abhorrent.
He called on
the Federal Government and the security agencies to take decisive steps to stop
the attacks to prevent the country from serious turmoil.
He said that
it would not be right for the government to pretend as though everything was
okay, knowing that things were going wrong.
He wondered
what would happen in the country if Christians revenged the mindless waste of
human lives.
Kolawole
stated, “They (terrorists) are getting out of the North-East; they have crossed
the Niger. We have had one or two incidents in Kogi in the past and the
security agents contained them,
“However, I
think trying to eject them from Kogi is not working. The political class must
sit up and the security agencies must check their advances, and stop the
incessant killings.
“I don’t
want to predict anything, if Christians begin to retaliate, you know what will
happen, but these people are also killing Muslims.
“I think
some people are trying to create massive unrest in the country and we must move
fast to prevent it.”
On his part,
a former Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Mr. Abubakar Tsav, noted the
insecurity in the country was getting out of hand.
Tsav, in an
interview with one of our correspondents, said the police and the Joint Task
Force lacked the capacity to tackle terrorism in the country.
The former
police commissioner stated, “This thing is getting out of hand. From all
indications, it has become clear that both the police and the JTF lack the
capacity to provide security for the citizenry.”
Tsav said
that security agencies should be on the alert, since the attacks had been
consistent.
“The
primary objective is to provide security. Government has not done that,” he
added.
The former
police commissioner advised the government to recruit more policemen because
the ratio of one policeman to 400 citizens had not been achieved.
“I think
Jonathan’s administration has failed to provide security and the government has
failed,” he said.
A former
Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, described the attack as
devastating.
“I am
still sad about it that such a thing happened to Nigeria, I don’t know what
comment to make about it,” the ex-IG said.
The Senator
representing Kogi Central, Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman, in a statement by his
Special Assistant on Media, Michael Jegede, condemned the attack on Deeper Life
Church, Okene.
The Senator
expressed shock that such a gruesome, barbaric and impious act could take place
in the holy month of Ramadan.
“We
really need to be security conscious. Furthermore, the security agencies must
beef up their efforts to uncover the perpetrators and bring them to book,” he
said.
Advising the
government, News time, a United States of America-based non-governmental
organisation, said that there was the need for Nigerian leaders in the three
tiers of government to ensure good governance.
Newstime
National President, Tony Oyatedor, at a news conference in Kaduna on Tuesday,
said that the reason behind the current insecurity in the country was because
of the “wickedness and thieving attitudes” of Nigerian leaders.
The
Institute of Capital Market Registrars (ICMR) said on Tuesday that the January
1, 2013 deadline for dematerialisation of all share certificates was not
realistic.
Dr David
Ogogo, the Chief Executive of the institute, explained that their stance was as
a result of the inability of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to
enlighten shareholders and other stakeholders on the cost implication of
dematerialisation.
Dematerialisation
is the elimination of physical certificates or documents on ownership of
securities through conversion to an electronic ownership mode domiciled with
the Central Securities Clearing System Limited (CSCS).
According to
Ogogo, the deadline is not achievable as stakeholders must resolve the issue of
cost in the interest of the market.
Hestressed
that investors were not against dematerialisation but could not bear the
financial burden of verification.
However,
Ogogo said: “SEC should intensify its enlightenment campaign for investors on
the advantages of dematerialisation for dealers, the investing public and
quoted companies.”
Boniface
Okezie, the President of the Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria,
said that SEC had not done enough to educate the investing public.
Okezie said
that investors would not dematerialise until the commission ensured proper
enlightenment, noting that many investors had yet to understand the meaning of
dematerialisation and how to go about it.
He also said
that SEC had failed to meet the expectations of investors, especially in the
area of sensitisation in a troubled Nigerian bourse.
“It is not
realistic; let us be frank because there is nothing on ground that is
mobilising and wooing the investors on the benefits of dematerialisation,” he
said.
SEC in a
public notice dated March 13, set Jan.1, 2013 as deadline for the
dematerialisation of all share certificates.
The notice
said that all share certificates dematerialised on or before January 1, 2013,
would be at no cost to the shareholder, but that there would be a penalty for
those done after that date.
It also said
that the allotment of shares of public offerings would from now be by
electronic processes that would transfer shares directly to the CSCS.
FG says power supply now 4,237MW
Minister of
Power Prof. Bart Nnaji says public power supply in the country has hit a peak
capacity of 4,237mw. The minister said in a statement yesterday that this is
the highest power output ever generated in Nigeria to date.
The statement signed by Ogbuagu Anikwe, his Special Adviser on Media attributed the sharp increase to gas availability and commended the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, for delivering on the promise to supply gas to the thermal plants.
The statement signed by Ogbuagu Anikwe, his Special Adviser on Media attributed the sharp increase to gas availability and commended the Nigeria Gas Company (NGC) and the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, for delivering on the promise to supply gas to the thermal plants.
EFCC to challenge Delta on $15m Ibori
money
There were
indications on Tuesday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission will
go to court to challenge moves to claim for Delta State, the controversial $15m
cash said to have been received from an undisclosed agent of a former governor
of the state, Chief James Ibori, in 2007.
EFCC lawyer,
Mr. Rotimi Jacobs, informed our correspondent that the anti-graft agency would
contest the moves to have the $15m returned to the state.
The sum,
which Ibori allegedly offered the EFCC as bribe to compromise its
investigations by the anti-graft agency, has been kept in the strong room of
the Central Bank of Nigeria as an unclaimed property since August 2007.
Following an
exparte motion by the EFCC, an Abuja Federal High Court on July 25, 2012,
granted an interim order forfeiting the $15m to the Federal Government.
The court,
presided by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, ordered that if nobody steps forward to
claim the money within 14 days, it would be finally forfeited to the Federal
Government when the motion on notice for final forfeiture comes up for hearing
on September 17, 2007.
Since the
court granted the interim order, some stakeholders in Delta State had been
arguing that the money should be handed over to the state, which Ibori governed
between 1999 and 2007.
Some
stakeholders in Delta State, including a former Minister of Information and
Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark, called for the return of the money to the
state.
A lawyer,
Mr. Timipa Okponipere, on July 27, filed a suit before an Abuja Federal High
Court, challenging the interim order that forfeited the amount to the Federal
Government.
The suit is
perceived to be moves by Delta State to claim the money.
The lawyer
told the court that he filed the application “for and on behalf of the
Government and people of Delta State.”
He asked the
court not to give the money to the Federal Government, maintaining that as at
April 25, 2007 when Ibori allegedly offered the bribe of $15m bribe to the
EFCC, he was still the governor of Delta State, with all rights and privileges
attached to the office.
He asked the
court to declare that the $15m is property belonging to Government of Delta
State and its people.
Okponipere
further asked the court to hold that any application or order granting the
money to any other entity other than the Government and people of Delta State
was illegal and of no effect.
The lawyer
asked the court to order the Attorney General of the Federation, the EFCC and
the CBN to return the money to the Government and people of Delta State.
However,
EFCC counsel, Jacobs, told our correspondent that the anti-graft agency will
challenge the moves to claim the money in court, once it is served with notices
of a suit to claim the said amount.
Our
correspondent asked for an update on the fate of the controversial $15m bribe
money, following the termination of the two-week window during which the Abuja
FHC ordered that any interested person should step forward to claim the money,
and show cause why the final order of forfeiture should not be made in favour
of the Federal Government.
Speaking to
our correspondent on the telephone, Jacobs said, “I read in the papers that
somebody made a claim, but we have not been served.
“If we are
served we will contest it in court.”
The EFCC
counsel added that in the event the commission was not served, it would still
go to court to move the motion for the final forfeiture of the $15m to the
Federal Government.
Okponipere
urged the court to declare that the $15m became property of the Government and
people of Delta State when Ibori was convicted and sentenced to prison in the
United Kingdom, and that his (Ibori’s) conviction quashed all previous denials
he made to any court, and the EFCC, regarding the question of whether or not he
was the actual giver of the alleged bribe money.
A LAGOS
State Magistrate’s Court, Ejigbo Division, presided over by Justice Memunat
Folami has reserved ruling in a case of theft preferred against a 30 year
old man, Michael Agbasa.
The
Prosecutor, Oladejo Balogun had told the court that between December 2011 and
June 2012, at 15, Lasu/Igando by Araromi Bus Stop Akesan, the accused
allegedly stole the sum of N179, 000 belonging to De Supreme Paint company
being the property of Sunday Aiyero.
The prosecution
witness one Noah Emaorioma, testified that the accused committed the offence.
But Agbasa,
who was being held on one count charge of theft, punishable under Section 285
of the Criminal Code of Lagos State Nigeria 2011, however pleaded not
guilty.
The defense
counsel, J.O Adewale was absent in court.
The
Investigating Police Officer, Korede Eyinfunjowo told The Guardian that
the accused was a salesman to the plaintiff when he stole the sum of N179,
000 being proceeds from the sale of paints.
The defendant
told The Guardian that he had been working with the plaintiff for two years
and at a point the business was not moving well and this he brought to
his notice.
“Few days
after, he came with policemen to my house, ordered them to arrest me, claiming I
stole the sum of N179, 000” he said.
He said that
at the station, the policemen asked him to pay the sum N200, 000 if I did
not want the case to get to court.
“I don’t
have such amount of money, nor does my mother, Mrs. Victoria.
“But we
later came to a conclusion to give the policemen the document to the land she
has, which is worth N800,000 pending the time the cash will be ready, and
we did” he added.
He said the
police still have the document with them, yet charged the case to court.
The court
granted the defendant bail in the sum of N100,000, two sureties in like
sum and the sureties must provide their 2010/2011 Tax Certificate and
prove their sustainable means of livelihood.
The case was
adjourned to August 27, 2012 for mention.
GROWING
insecurity, especially terrorism, and corruption, which have emerged as the
main obstacles to Nigeria’s development will be on the front burner when
President Goodluck Jonathan receives American Secretary of State, Hillary
Clinton, next Thursday, August 9 in Abuja.
Nigeria’s
Ambassador to the United States, Prof. Ade Adefuye, who has arrived home
in preparation for the visit, explained yesterday that Clinton’s visit to
Africa, which started last week, had a stop in the country as a priority,
dismissing speculations that she had sidelined Nigeria all together.
“I can
confirm that Mrs. Clinton would be meeting President Jonathan and other top
Federal Government officials in Abuja on Thursday,” Adefuye stated.
He stressed
that it was the long-given commitment of Jonathan to honour an invitation from
Jamaica that prevented a Clinton stop in Nigeria and meeting with the President
on August 2.
According to
Adefuye, Washington had wanted a meeting with the President and other top
officials for last Thursday, but the Jamaican government had long wanted Dr.
Jonathan at its National Day. He said considering the Federal Government’s
commitment to Africans in Diaspora, that date, which was earlier secured before
the Clinton trip, had to be honoured by the President.
He added
that based on the effective working relationship between the U.S. government
and the Nigerian Embassy in Washington DC, the new date for Clinton’s one-day
visit has now been mutually agreed to.
In another
development, some eminent Nigerians, including a former Minister for Information,
Dr. Walter Ofonagoro, have asserted that one-time Head of State, Gen. Yakubu
Gowon, and erstwhile President Olusegun Obasanjo owed the country an
explanation over the treaty of 1970-1975 ceding Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun
and the signing of the Green Tree Accord (GTA), which finally transferred the
territory following the ruling of International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the
dispute.
They spoke
in Lagos yesterday at the 11th Brainstorming Session of the Nigerian Institute
of International Affairs (NIIA) on “The 1861 Annexation of Lagos As A British
Crown Colony: Matters Arising,” as the people of Bakassi Peninsula await the
former ratification of the October 10, 2002 judgment by the global court.
It was
argued by experts yesterday that the ratification of the judgment would seal
any attempt by Nigeria to appeal the verdict.
Also on the
occasion, participants unanimously faulted historical claims that the role
played by the late Oba Dosumu of Lagos in the 1861 annexation of Lagos was
against the interest of the city, saying that he was heroic in his dealings
with Britain.
They also
described the annexation as a commercial adventure, stressing that it was not
driven by human interest as being claimed by Britain.
Those at the
event, which attracted notable people from the academia, diplomatic corps,
legislature and traditional institution among others, included former Head of
Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan, Senator Olorumimbe Momora,
Amb. George Obiozor, Erelu Abiola Dosumu, Mr. Sam Amuka, Dr. Walter Ofonagoro,
Amb. Robert Clark, Prof. Rafiu Akindle, Prof. Tekena Tamuno, Prof. Margaret
Vogts, Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, Amb. Dapo Fafowora, Prof. Alaba Ogunsowo, Prof.
Akin Oyebode, Associate Professor Fred Agwu, Alex Ekeanyanwu of NIIA, Prof.
Abolade Adeniji, Prof. Kunle Lawal and Prof. Bolanle Awe.
The speakers
contended that despite the sad and negative imports of the treaty and other
treaties, Nigeria and other African nations who went through similar
experiences have failed to learn their lessons but still sign ill thought-out
agreements.
However,
Erelu Dosumu regretted that the late Oba’s (monarch’s) role in the annexation
of Lagos had been wrongly placed on the wrong side of history.
According to
her, “while it is tempting to want to join the argument on the different and
sometimes distorted accounts on the role of Oba Dosumu in signing the treaty
ceding Lagos to the United Kingdom, I simply would like to use this opportunity
to welcome you to the celebrations, which started a year ago, where experts,
historians, actors and actresses are putting the records straight through
intellectual discusses, workshops and a host of other interesting activities.
“If there is
any other massage I have today, it is the fact that the treaty of Lagos was
about trade, it established a relationship between Her Majesty, Queen
Victoria’s government and Lagos, which later expanded to Nigeria as a whole.
The treaty of Lagos was about promotion of trade and investment and economic
cooperation in general and not territorial takeovers, which my extensive
research revealed.”
Detailing
the expected highlights of Clinton’s visit, Adefuye said issues to be discussed
would include Boko Haram, while Clinton also wanted to personally express
satisfaction and gratitude over the success of the Nigeria-U.S. Bi-National
Commission (BNC) accord she personally signed two years ago.
Indeed the
success of the BNC between both countries led to signing a similar agreement
between Nigeria and Canada that has their diplomatic relations.
During
Clinton’s meeting with Jonathan and National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki,
Boko Haram is expected to come up. She would also hold talks with the EFCC
Chairman, Ibrahim Lamorde. There are also plans for her to meet Chief Justice
Alooma Mukthar.
Confirming
that Republicans in the U.S. Congress are planning to force an FTO (Foreign
Terrorist Organisation) designation on Boko Haram, Adefuye said the Nigerian
embassy was fighting hard to prevent such a move.
Bakassi had
been the subject of violent disputes between the two neighbours for decades
until they agreed to a United Nations (UN)-backed process to settle the matter.
The ICJ
resolved the issue with a ruling in 2002. The verdict was followed by the 2006
GTA – signed under the auspices of former Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, under
which Nigeria recognised Cameroonians sovereignty over the Peninsula, one part
of the border.
However, on
November 22, 2007, the Nigerian Senate rejected the transfer, since the GTA
ceding the area to Cameroun was contrary to Section 12(1) of the 1999
Constitution. Regardless of the Upper House’s position, the territory was
formally transferred to Cameroun on August 14, 2008.
The
peninsula lies roughly between latitudes 4°25’ and 5°10’N and longitudes 8°20’
and 9°08’E. It consists of a number of low-lying, largely mangrove-covered
islands covering an area of around 665 kilometres and it is also very rich
in crude oil.
Ofonagoro
contended that it was illegal for Gowon to have ceded it to Cameroun without
due regards to the nation’s law, which says no one has the right to give out
any part of Nigeria’s territory to any other country.
He also
queried why other areas of former Cameroun that are parts of Nigeria today went
through plebiscites and then decided to join the federation but Bakassi people
were not availed the opportunity.
He added
that Obasanjo, who publicly said the defunct Supreme Military Council agreed
that it was wrong for Gowon to have ceded the territory to Cameroun, went ahead
to formally sign off Bakassi without resorting to the National Assembly after
the ICJ’s ruling.
“If Obasanjo
had obeyed the law by taking it to the National Assembly, they would have
called a public hearing on the matter and Bakassi would still be part of
Nigeria, and there would have been no bloodshed. But it didn’t happen that way.
The two heads of state and the president that caused the problem are Gowon and
Obasanjo,” Ofonagoro said.
He also
observed that despite the judgment of an Abuja High Court asking the Federal
Government to support the self-determination drive of a group of Bakassi people
over their maltreatment by the Cameroonian authority, successive
administrations have refused to do anything on the people’s predicament.
While
calling for more researches on the issue before the October 10 date, he
contended that only the Bakassi people and non-governmental organisations can
fight the cause, since the government has refused to do anything.
But
Akinterinwa, the Director-General of NIIA, said the Federal Government was
induced into error of judgment and that it could still be corrected before it
was too late. As a group, the Bakassi Self-determination Front is now
positioning to fight for the people’s right.
He noted
that in the event of armed struggle, Nigeria, the UN and the international
community may be drawn into the crisis.
In such a
scenario, he said a plebiscite may be called, Nigeria and Cameroun may be told
to jointly rule the territory or Bakassi Peninsula becomes a sovereign state.
But Vogt, UN
Representative in Central African Republic, said that Nigeria also gained from
the ICJ judgment as parts of Cameroun were also ceded to her.
Deceased Police officers’ families storm
hqtrs over pension, insurance
ABUJA—No
fewer than 1,000 families of deceased Police officers, owed arrears of pensions
and insurance, running into billions of naira, yesterday, stormed Police
Headquarters in Abuja, in protest over their outstanding entitlements.
Among the
protesters were those whose benefactors were killed in the line of duties and
whose money for insurance benefits were seized by Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission, EFCC, during the Mr. Tafa Balogun saga as Police Inspector-General.
Vanguard
learnt that though EFCC had been directed to release the money, close to N700
million, which had been seized, nothing has so far happened in the matter.
The
protesters, who assembled at the police headquarters at 7:30a.m., with placards
of various inscriptions, chanted “give us our cheques.”
They said
they were incensed on reading an advertisement placed in a national daily by
the police in July, asking the prospective beneficiaries to come to Abuja for a
“final screening.”
Addressing
the protesters at Force Headquarters, Deputy Inspector-General of Police in
charge Administration, Mr. Suleiman Fakai, assured the next of kins of the
deceased police officers that they will soon be paid.
He explained
that the delay in payment was due to late release of funds as state commands
that were invited to Abuja failed to streamline processes of payment to beneficiaries.
He said: “We
had a minor problem because the benefits (pension of dead officers) were not
paid and now government has released the money through Central Bank of Nigeria,
CBN.
“The pension
is for between 2004 and 2010. But unfortunately, the process of streamlining
the payment had not been carried out at the state level, so we invited them
here to Abuja.”
He admitted
that there was communication gap between police authorities and the
beneficiaries, noting that they had been prevailed upon to go back to their
respective states after completing the process, and await the payment.
OYERINDE: Controversy trails Ugolor’s
arrest
CONTROVERSY
has continued to trail the killing of the Principal Private Secretary to
Governor Adams Oshiomhole, Comrade Olaitan Oyerinde, by men suspected to be
assassins. Comrade Oyerinde was killed at about 2.00 a.m, May 4, 2012, at his
Ugbor Road residence, GRA Benin City.Following his gruesome murder which was
perpetrated at the heat of the governorship campaign in the state, Governor
Oshiomhole placed a N10million ransom on the head of the killers of Oyerinde,
whom he described as a son.
After the
killing, President Goodluck Jonathan ordered the Inspector General of Police,
Muhammed Abubakar to investigate the killing and ensure that the perpetrators
are brought to book. Consequently, crack team of detectives from the Force
headquarters in Abuja led by a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ezike
and Supol Irioge stormed Benin City with forensic experts with a view to unearth
the killers. Nothing was heard about the investigations until Wednesday
July 11, 2012.
While making
security arrangements for the governorship election in the state, the IGP
declared to journalists that the killers of Oyerinde have been found but,
however, failed to give details of how they were found. He said: “I want to
announce that we have arrested four persons who had killed the PA to the
governor. And that is a credit to the police.”
On Friday,
July 27, 2012, the Executive Director of the African Network for Environment
and the Economic Justice, ANEEJ, Rev. David Ugolor was arrested by the police
at about 2.00 p.m. in connection with the murder. It will be recalled that
Ugolor is a close friend of Oyerinde, and as a matter of fact, was the one who
took Oyerinde to the hospital after he was shot by the suspects.
It was said
that Ugolor dropped Oyerinde at his house at about 11p.m after they came back
from an outing. After Oyerinde was shot at about 2.00 a.m, Oyerinde’s wife ran
to Ugolor’s place close by to inform him that her husband had been shot. It was
Ugolor who then informed other government officials before they rushed him to
Benin Central hospital where he gave up the ghost.
Mr. Innocent
Edemhanria, Programme/Policy Officer at ANEEJ, who was at the office when the
armed policemen stormed their office said: “At about 2.05 pm on Friday heavily
armed security operatives some wearing Federal SARS jacket, others in plain
clothes, swooped on our office and took away our Executive Director, Rev. David
Ugolor.” The security operatives, who numbered about ten had picked him up from
somewhere in town and brought him to the office.
They had
ransacked his private home and office and took away some items. Staff of the
office had their cell phones taken away from them and switched off for as long
as the security men held them hostage which lasted for about three hours.
They later
returned the phones at about 4.35 pm before vacating the office premises. A
staff of Centre for Social Justice, Mr. Kingsley Nnajiaka was at ANEEJ
secretariat then and was held hostage for the same period”.
Confession
from a suspect
It was said
that Ugolor was arrested following a confession from one of the suspects that
one “David” gave the gang money to kill Oyerinde. It was also alleged that
there was a call log which buttressed the point that Ugolor and the suspect had
a discussion. Ugolor’s arrest came as a shock to many in the state due to his
antecedent as an environmental activist and one of those who have fought
doggedly for the prudent management of resources by state and Federal
Governments.
It was not
surprising, therefore, that civil society organisations in the state have been
protesting his continued detention by the police. Solicitor to Rev.Ugolor,
Afolabi Olayiwola, alleged that his client was being framed up by the police.
In his petition to the Inspector General of Police, he lamented that “the
condition of the said Rev. David Ugolor is totally bad as he is in a cell where
there is no toilet and he is using bucket for this purpose at the Area
Commander’s office, Benin City, and where there are cells that have such
facilities in good condition.
While we are
not obstructing police investigation on the murder of Olaitan Oyerinde, we are
seriously appealing to you to reconsider the health condition of the said Rev.
David Ugolor and take a critical look at his present condition and do the
needful in the following: Either grant him bail to a reliable surety because he
has made statement to the police wherein he denied the allegation.
“Or
equally remove him from the police cell at Area Commander’s office, Benin City
which has no basic toilet facilities where he is been detained with criminals
who use this same deplorable facilities and are made to empty the bucket
regualrly in the soak-away pit”.
Last
Wednesday, members of the civil society organisations protested on the streets
of Benin declaring that his continued detention is an attempt to divert
attention from the real killers of Oyerinde, adding that the way and manner the
arrest was made was ‘clearly stage managed in order to indict an innocent
person.”
Some of the
organisations that protested include the Gani Fawehinmi Movement for Good
Governance, Edo State Conference of NGOs (CONGOs), South South Youth
League, Downtrodden Forum For Development, DFFD, Niger Delta Youth Congress,
Voice of the Masses and ten others.
In their
address to newsmen, they noted: “We have examined the situation and reached the
conclusion that some faceless persons who feel threatened by the lawful activities
of Rev. Ugolor and his organisation have planned to dent his image and taint
him with the murder of comrade Olaitan”.
Investigation
into the matter
However,
investigation into the matter took another twist last Wednesday, when the State
Security Services, SSS, in Abuja, paraded six persons who confessed to have
been the mastermind of the murder. The Deputy Director, Public Relations
Officer of the service Marilyn Ogar, who paraded the suspects, said
“investigation revealed that careless statements made by Ali Ihade, Oyerinde’s
security guard, at various times about is master’s position in government
attracted the attention of the prime suspect, Mohammed Ibrahim.
On the day
of the robbery, Abdulahi specifically instructed other gang members to tie up the
Ihade before they entered the compound so that Ihade will not see his face”.
She added that the suspects confessed to have shot and killed Oyerinde because
when he ran into his badroom and attempted to go underneath his bed, they
believed he was trying to reach for a gun.
According to
Ogar, “Oyerinde was shot and killed by the prime suspect Muhammed Ibrahim
Abdulahi, when he ran into his bedroom and attempted to go under his bed.
Abdulahi said he believed Oyerinde was reaching out for a gun under the bed
and, therefore, shot him”.
The
confession threw the entire investigation into confusion as members of the
public are at a loss whether to believe the police who held Ugolor as one of
the suspects, or the SSS. Following the Abuja revelation, members of the civil
society stormed the police headquarters in Benin City, Thursday morning
demanding for the immediate release of Ugolor. The protesters barricaded the
State CID, after it was learnt that the police had stopped the wife of Ugolor,
Ngozi from seeing him and that they (the Police) will now be responsible for
his feeding.
Sobbing
profusedly she said between sobs: “they have prevented me from gaining access
to my husband. They said I should not bring food any more that they will take
care of that. I appeal to the President to intervene in this matter. My husband
is innocent, some body is framing him up and God will expose the person. They
want to poison my husband just like they have done to many others. The public
should help me please”.
In an
address to newsmen, the civil society groups noted thus: “We have examined the
situation and reached the conclusion that some faceless persons who feel
threatened by the lawful activities of Rev. Ugolor and his organisation have
planned to dent his image and taint him with the murder of comrade Olaitan.
The question
on the lips of people in the state now is who are the real killers of Oyerinde?
Is the police trying to bastardise the investigations or being used by some
highly placed individuals to achieve a point? Only time will tell.
Boko Haram abusing our communal living -
Mark
Senate
President David Mark yesterday described the Monday attack on Deeper Life
Church in Okene as ungodly, saying that the Boko Haram sect is abusing the
communal living of Nigerians.
Mark, in a
statement yesterday by his spokesman Kola Ologbondiyan, condemned attacks on
places of worship and called on Nigerians to be vigilant.
Mark urged
Nigerians to take the routine check of their environment as important, noting
that “the communal living of Nigerians is being abused by the sect.
He advised
security agents to take routine surveillance of their beats very seriously and
condoled with the government and people of Kogi State over the incident.
Also
yesterday, Senator Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman (PDP, Kogi Central) condemned
Monday’s attack on Okene Deeper Life Church and urged the security agencies to
intensify the fight against any attack in the country.
Abatemi-Usman
said this in a statement yesterday by his spokesman Michael Jeg
North may drag Nigeria backward – Maku
The Minister
of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, has said the insecurity problems in the
northern part of the country may not help Nigeria to move forward.
He also said
it was regrettable that the northern part of the country, which he said was
once leading in peace and tranquillity, had become the theatre of war.
The minister
spoke on Monday night at the First Dialogue and Peace Iftar Dinner
organised by Ufuk Dialogue Foundation in Abuja.
Maku said
Nigerians must be worried that a region once known for its peaceful atmosphere
and co-existence was already having dwindling fortune due to incessant
terrorist attacks mostly by the Boko Haram sect.
He said,
“Unless we are able to stop the fire, development will continue to elude the
North. If the North lags behind, the whole country may not move forward.”
He called on
Nigerians to embrace dialogue as the best option to settle their differences,
adding that since almost all Nigerians believe in God, they should not resort
to self-help when there were grievances among them.
He said, “If
there are two religions that share the same ancestors, they are Islam and
Christianity. These two religions not only share the same prophets, what you
say in Quran is what you read in the Holy Bible. If there are two peoples that
share same values, they are Muslims and Christians.
“I see no
reasons why Nigeria cannot succeed. The way of Nigeria is important for all
Africa. What we do today (the dialogue) is what we must do often.”
Also
speaking at the event, the Governor of Gombe State, Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwanbo,
said suspicion remained a contributory factor fuelling insecurity in the
country.
“There is a
lot of misunderstanding, a lot of suspicion not only along religious lines but
among individuals, the only way we can clear this misunderstanding is through
dialogue,” he added.
Archbishop
of Catholic Diocese of Abuja, Rev. John Onaiyekan, said he was happy that such
dinner was organised during the Ramadan.
He said he
and other religious leaders would continue to “go all over the world and say
‘if you want to see where Christians and Muslims are living together in peace
and mutual respect, come to Nigeria’.”
He added,
“The average Nigerian Muslims and Christians want to live together and they are
doing so. This two great religions – Islam and Christianity, we are able
to manage our difference; above all we are able to exploit them to maximum our
commonalities.”
The
President of Ufuk Dialogue Foundation, Oguzhan Dirican, said the foundation’s
aim was to promote peace and dialogue, cultural coexistence and mutual
understanding among every nation.
He said the
sustainable contribution would continue with a series of conferences and events
in different states of Nigeria.
Ex-militants threaten to burn Warri NUJ
office
Hundreds of
ex-militants on Tuesday invaded the Secretariat of the Nigerian Union
Journalists, in 3rd Marine Gate, Warri, Delta State, threatening to burn down
the building.
The
ex-militants, who brandished, various weapons came with kegs of petroleum,
because, according to them, reporters were not on the ground to take interviews
over their unpaid monthly stipend.
Among the
protesters were 17 ladies who said they were demonstrating in solidarity with
their husbands who were trained in the phase two Amnesty Programme.
They
threatened to lynch the Chairman of the Correspondent Chapel, Michael Ikeogwu,
but for the quick intervention of soldiers and policemen who arrested a handful
of them.
The Warri Galaxy
Television correspondent, Dele Fasan, who tried to calm the youths, was
manhandled for refusing to record the protest.
The ex-militants,
who gave journalists 30 minutes to mobilise to interview them, started smashing
glass doors when it was obvious that most reporters had fled.
Gbenga
Ahmed, a reporter with Independent Television, Benin, also had his
car vandalised and was forced to record the protest.
The incident
caused gridlock on the 1st and 3rd Marine Gate roads for hours before a team of
soldiers of the Joint Task Force came to the rescue.
It took the
efforts of the Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion, Nigerian Army, Effurun,
near Warri, Lt.Col Ifeanyi Otu, who sent his men following a distress call from
the NUJ leadership to curtail the protest.
Paul Oniyan,
and Billy Onaro, who led the protest, were taken away by the soldiers while
several of the youths scaled the fence.
A protest
letter by the ex-militants had earlier demanded the removal of Kingsley Kuku,
the Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta for what they called his
“incompetence.”
It was
learnt that the same group had earlier been stopped by security forces while on
their way to Abuja for a protest.
Anambra monarch freed, 9 days after
kidnap
AWKA—THE
traditional ruler of Ukpo in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State,
Igwe Robert Eze, who was kidnapped on July 29, 2012 regained his freedom,
yesterday, after spending nine days in the kidnappers’ den.
Igwe Eze,
younger brother to Prince Arthur Eze, was abducted from his palace by a
four-man gang who operated in an SUV, as he returned from a church service
at the nearby St. Mary’s Anglican Church, Ukpo.
When
Vanguard visited the palace, yesterday, a large crowd was seen jubilating and
thanking God for the safe return of the royal father.
Among the
early callers were several priests from different part of Anambra State, who
organised a prayer session in the house of the traditional ruler, as well as
the Anambra State Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Professor Chinyere
Okunna, who it was gathered, was detailed by Governor Peter Obi to confirm the
release of the monarch and brief him accordingly.
There were
also many traditional rulers, who showed up at Igwe Eze’s palace, among them
were the traditional rulers of Abagana, Igwe Mbamala and that of Nibo, Igwe
Ugonwanne Ngene, as well as members of Ukpo traditional cabinet.
The
embattled Igwe Eze could not appear in public, yesterday, although Vanguard was
informed that he managed to come out of his balcony to wave at his subjects,
who thronged the palace as early as 5a.m., when they learnt of his return.
It was not
clear if any ransom was paid before his release, although the kidnappers had
demanded N100 million a day after his abduction.
Anambra
State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Raphael Uzoigwe, confirmed that the
monarch had regained his freedom.
MOSOP seeks FG’s help in Ogoni poverty
THE Movement
for the Survival of Ogoni People has called on the Federal Government to deal
with the problem of poverty and marginalisation affecting the people of the
area.
Chairman of
MOSOP Provisional Council, Prof. Ben Naanen, said the recent declaration of
self-government by a factional leader of the group, Mr. Goodluck Diigbo, could
be traced to poverty and neglect faced by the people.
Naanen, who
spoke with The PUNCH in a telephone interview on Tuesday, noted that the
situation in Ogoniland was responsible for the support Diigbo enjoyed from his
(Diigbo) community.
He insisted
that though Ogoni people were feeling the pangs of marginalisation and poverty,
they were not interested in self-government being declared by Diigbo.
The MOSOP
leader argued that people like Diigbo would not be able to cause confusion in
Ogoni if the Federal Government had shown commitment towards the development of
the area.
“Diigbo is
seeking relevance. He is playing to the gallery and some people listen to him
because they are poor and unemployed,” he said.
Arewa youths warn Clark, Asari Dokubo
Northern
youths under the aegis of the Arewa Youth Forum on Tuesday in Kaduna
asked President Goodluck Jonathan to “call to order,” his kinsmen – former
Federal Commissioner for Information and Ijaw Leader, Chief Edwin Clark; and
the leader of the Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Asari Dokubo – for their
“unguarded utterances” which could lead to the disintegration of the country.
National
President of the AYF, Mr. Gambo Gujungu, in a statement, insisted
that the region was not afraid of war.
He said,
“People like Clark and Asari had forgotten that the region was the
mainstay of the Nigerian state before the discovery of oil.
“It is
pertinent to let the war mongers know that the North is not afraid of
war. But we are advocates of peace. We are not war mongers and will not
and will never call for war within the polity of Nigeria.
“But we are
bothered that Asari Dokubo, Edwin Clark and co are turning President Goodluck
Jonathan into an Ijaw leader instead of the President of the Federal
republic of Nigeria that he is.”
He warned
people beating the drum of war as according to him, in the past two decades,
apart from Sri Lanka, nobody had won a war against another country.
Gujungu
said it was unfortunate that the likes of Asari we’re blaming the North
for Boko Haram as if every northerner is a member of Boko Haram. “That is not
good enough,” he added.
Gujungu said
in the statement, “Having taken a keen interest and appraisal of what has been
happening in the Nigerian polity of recent culminating in the recent outburst
and frontal attack on the North by the leader of Niger Delta People Volunteer
Force, Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, we have deem it necessary to react as
follows.
“Let it be
known that the youths of the North under the umbrella of the AYF are peace
loving people who believe in the peaceful coexistence of Nigeria and has been
working and will continue to work for the peaceful co-existence of the country.
“Asari
should know that some of us are quite aware of the type of person he is. We
know his antecedents and the type of person he is. The Volunteer Force leader
is not the one to threaten any body and should not continue in the way of threat
or else we will be force to expose him for who he truly is.”
57 per cent of varsity lecturers have no
PhDs’
About 57 per
cent of the 36,000 lecturers in 61 public universities in Nigeria which is
20,520 have no PhDs and it is crippling the quality of manpower in the system,
Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Professor
Mahmmod Yakubu, has said.
Yakubu, who
spoke in Abuja yesterday at a meeting for heads of tertiary institutions, said
after conducting the needs assessment of Nigerian universities, indi-cated a
disproportionate number of students registered for undergraduate studies.
He said 85
per cent of students were enrolled for undergraduate studies, 5 per cent
sub-degree, 5 per cent for postgraduate for diploma, 3 per cent for
postgraduate masters and only 2 per cent PhD candidates.
The Federal
Government had recently appealed to first generation universities to
concentrate more on postgraduate studies to fill the dearth of quality
manpower.
The
University of Ilorin which now has a 60:40 per cent ratio in favour of
postgraduate studies and the University of Ibadan are the only universities in
compliance.
In July when
the National Universities Commission (NUC) presented the benchmark minimum
academic standards for Postgraduate Programmes, Education Minister Professor
Ruqayyatu Rufai directed the commission to seek funding from TETfund to conduct
a staff and student audit of all public universities in Nigeria to verify the
number of shortfall of lecturers in the system.
The last
verification exercise conducted by NUC was in 2007 where it was revealed that
about 61 per cent of the 25,000 lecturers were Lecturer 1 and below with little
capacity for research.
That survey
also revealed that tertiary institutions have a shortfall of 61,738 academic
staff especially in the areas of science and technology.
The
governors of the 36 states of the federation under the aegis of the Nigerian
Governors’ Forum (NGF) will meet today in what may be a stormy session in Abuja
ostensibly to harmonise their differences on some knotty issues slated for
constitutional amendment, among other matters affecting the nation.
A source
told Business Day that the governors may also look into the impeachment threat
against President Goodluck Jonathan being championed by the House of Representatives.
Three issues
slated for constitutional amendment that have polarized the governors along
regional or geo-political lines include the proposal for five-year single
tenure for the president, the clamour for state police and state creation.
The governors,
under the leadership of Chibuike Amaechi, governor of Rivers State, had earlier
taken a common position demanding for the inclusion of state police as part of
the items for review in the on-going constitutional amendment proposal.
However,
after another meeting, the 19 governors from the North opted out of the quest
for state police. A source close to one of the northern governors told Business
Day that the North sees the clamour for state police as purely an agenda being
pushed forward by the South especially the South West.
The source,
who craved anonymity told BusinessDay: “Remember that from 2003 to 2007 when
PDP controlled all the South West states with the exception of Lagos, the
agitation for state police died down. It was only the defunct Action Congress
(AC) which metamorphosed into the present Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) that
was calling for state police at any given opportunity. Now that the party (ACN)
is in control of all the South West (except Ondo which is under the Labour
Party) they are singing the song for state police every day and making it look
like it is a national demand.”
The proposal
for single tenure of five years for the president has also been rejected by the
northern governors. The idea of five-year single tenure is to reduce the
tension and acrimony always connected with re-election campaign so that once a
president is sworn in he hits the road running without making political
compromises with an eye for re-election. It is also believed that single
five-year tenure could help the case of those clamouring for rotational
presidency.
However,
following recent developments in the country, the North appears bent on
stopping President Goodluck Jonathan from seeking re-election in 2015 and at
least three governors from the North are said to have presidential ambition. In
the event of the presidency going back to the North in 2015, they (the North)
would not want a single tenure as the presidency might come back to the South
after 2020. Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State and Babangida Aliyu of Niger State are
among northern governors perceived to have ambition to take over from Jonathan
in 2015.
The South
East has always been agitating for an additional state to be at par with other
zones. Among the six geo-political zones, the South East has five states; four
other zones have six states each while the North West has seven states. At the
retreat held in Asaba, the Delta State capital, the Senate Constitutional
Review Committee in its communiqué made recommendation for the creation of one state
for the South East, among all the demands for state creation.
An
additional state for the South East will bring the number of states in the
South to 18, thereby narrowing the numerical advantage of the North over the
South. The North has 19 states and given the animosity between some Middle Belt
states especially Plateau State and the core north, the North will not likely
vote for any constitutional amendment that will erode its political advantage.
Another
issue that may make the session stormy is the impeachment threat against
President Jonathan issued by the House of Representatives. The lower house had
given the president ultimatum to implement the 2012 budget 100 percent by the
time it reconvenes on September 18 after its current recess.
Since that
threat was issued, the presidency has reacted, reaching out to the House. Also,
the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, made appearance before the Senate Committee on Appropriation to
make clarification on the implementation of the 2012 budget.
Political
observers believe that the impeachment threat may not be about budget
implementation alone given that the issue of 2015 is now on the front burner.
Effiom Ewok, a political analyst in Abuja told BusinessDay yesterday that the
governors have influence over their National Assembly members and might
therefore deliberate on the matter especially given the intervention of Bamanga
Tukur, national chairman of the PDP.
Reps to probe $12bn Paris Club debt
repayment
The House of
Representatives will soon investigate the repayment of $12 billion loan to the
Paris club by the Federal Government in 2006, Chairman of the House of
Representatives Committee on Finance, Abdulmumin Jibrin (PDP, Kano), has said.
Speaking to
Daily Trust Jibrin said on resumption in September 19, a motion calling for the
probe will be presented before the parliament because information available to
them indicates that “some top government officials have enriched themselves in
the process that led to the consummation of the agreement with Paris club of
debtors.”
In April
2006, the Nigerian government under former President Olusegun Obasanjo agreed
to pay back its multibillion-dollar debt to the Paris Club of creditor nations
after reaching a deal in October 2005.
Members of
the Paris Club of debtors include the United States, Germany,
France and other wealthy nations that allowed it to pay off about $30 billion
in accumulated debt for about $12 billion, an overall discount of about 60
percent and at the time the government said would use the money it saved
to develop the country and reduce poverty.
“In the
Finance committee, there are some activities that we are going to investigate
when we resume. We are also taking a review on issues of loans in this country,
we are going to do a comprehensive review on the Paris club debt exit
transaction because there are allegations that some people got themselves very
much enriched during the process of these transactions,” he said.
111 Nigerians repatriated from Libya
One hundred
and one Nigerians were brought into the country from Libya through the Murtala
Muhammad International Airport, Lagos on Monday night.
It was
gathered that out of the figure, 47 were adult males, 52 adult females, four
boys and eight girls. The South-West zonal coordinator of the National
Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Iyiola Akande said, “One hundred and
sixty two people were ready to return to Nigeria, and the figure rose to 172 at
the point of departure in Libya. But when it was time to board the plane, 61
persons declined”.
Akande urged
the returnees to take into account the trauma and hardship that they went
through in the foreign land, and avail themselves of the abundant opportunities
abound in Nigeria.
He added
that whatever one achieves in a foreign land, he is still considered a second
class citizen, and consequently deprived of many opportunities. He, therefore,
enjoined them to consider their return as a challenge and start afresh.
ARRANGEMENT
has been concluded to create an‘Anti’-Corruption Internet Database’ (ACID) with
the website ‘www.antigraft.org’ to be made accessible to the public with a view
to fighting corruption in the country.
According to
the Executive Director, West Africa NGO Network (WANGONET), Mr. Tunde Ladner,
during the stakeholders engagement forum, which took place in Lagos, the level
of corruption in Nigeria calls for a joint action plan to tackle the ‘disease’
which has become endemic in the nation. Hence WANGONET in collaboration
with Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA) are coming up with the
idea of a website that would keep abreast the record and information of corrupt
leaders and Nigerians so that the issue of quickly forgetting perpetrators of
heinous crime of corruption would not be there any more in Nigeria.
“It is
alarming that 80 per cent of Nigeria’s oil revenue accrues to only one per cent
of the population and 70 per cent of Nigeria’s population who are mostly youths
are poor, a situation that is highly sympathetic.
“Corruption
in Nigeria is systemic which requires a systemic approach to address.
ACID which is housed in the website ‘www.antigraft.org’ would address three
basic things which include sharpening our memory by having an on-line database;
aggregate people around issues of corruption advocacy by creating what we call
“virtual network” which enable people to subscribe to that network and they
become part of that whole on line networking, though we also have what we also
call ‘real net work’ apart from virtual network while the third part is to
establish what we describe as opportunity cost of corruption.
“Someone
described Nigeria as a rich country full of poor people while Nigeria in the
Guinness Book of Record is also described as a country of highest proportion of
poor people in the world. Over the past 50 years, a system was created
whereby corruption and bad behaviour were encouraged with no punishment to
offenders of these vices and the consequence is that our children will now
suffer the brunt and that is why 70 per cent of Nigerians mostly under the age
of 30 are poor today which simply means that the future of these children had
been mortgaged by allowing a bad system to prevail,” he said.
Ladner also
described ACID as a clarion call to Nigerians to understand that if corrupt
system should go on without anything done to checkmate it, the nation would
eventually collapse.
He regretted
that anywhere Nigerians travel to in the world, accusation of corruption was
always leveled against them and the stigma must be removed which ACID to a very
large extent be addressing.
North can stand on its own; Arewa youths
reply Asari Dokubo, Clark
The Arewa
Youth Forum (AYF) yesterday said northern youths would continue to work for the
peaceful coexistence of the country, but are not afraid of the break of Nigeria
as the region is capable of standing on its own.
Reacting to
recent comments by Chief Edwin Clark and Alhaji Asari Dokubo, AYF, through its
president, Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu, urged the Federal Government to call those
agitating for war or break up of the country to order.
“The frontal
attack on the North by the leader of the Niger Delta People Volunteer Force,
Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, has forced us to tell the world that the region is
not afraid of war, though we are advocates of peace. The region has what it
takes to take care of itself in the areas of food and other mineral deposits.
People like Asari have forgotten that the North was the mainstay of Nigerian
before the discovery of oil. We are not war mongers and will never call for
war, but we are bothered that Asari Dokubo, Edwin Clark and others are turning
President Goodluck Jonathan into an Ijaw leader, instead of the president of
the entire country. Asari should know that some of us are quite aware of the
type of person he is. We know his antecedents. The volunteer force leader
should not threaten anybody or we will be forced to expose him for who he truly
is”, the group said.
Bolt launches 200m bid
For Usain
Bolt, there are bigger things to come. For some of the runners lucky – or
unlucky – enough to race against him in 200m qualifying on Tuesday, this was
the highlight of the Olympics.
Bolt opened
defense of his 200m title with a stress-free first-round heat of 20.39 seconds,
a race in which he powered to the lead early, then eased up to a jog over the
final 80m.
“I was
taking it as easy as possible. It’s my first (200) run. I’m looking forward to
tomorrow (Wednesday),” said Bolt, who runs in the semifinals on Wednesday as he
tries to become the only man with two Olympic titles in the 200m.
The final
is Thursday.
The first
round was a predictably nonchalant moment for The World’s Fastest Man, though
it held more significance for Isiah Young of the United States, the runner who
lined up next to him in the day’s first heat.
“It was
different. He’s more experienced,” said Young, the 22-year-old, who finished
third to advance to the semifinals. “He knows how to get through this round. I
don’t think he was all-out at all. I think he was in cruise control.”
Of course
he was.
Bolt
returned to the track a bit more than 12 hours after jumping onto the medal
stand to receive the 100m gold in a ceremony on Monday night. He had tweeted a
picture of himself with three Swedish handball players from the wee morning
hours after his win and explained it on Tuesday by saying, “They wanted
pictures. We chilled.”
