Education Workers’ Strike: Mr. President Must Honour These Agreements
It has been said that no nation can develop beyond the level of its education. In other words, education is the livewire of any serious nation who aspire to attain the highest level of development. In Nigeria, One might not be too wrong in saying that the policy of the successive government in the country is that the goose that lays the developmental golden egg must be killed so that it does not turn around to criticize the misappropriation and looting of its resources. Or how else does one explain the continuous neglect of the education sector whereby students, who are the nation’s assets and bridge to the future, are made to bear the brunt of our government’s insensitivity while the lecturers and other workers, who train the future wealth of the country, are made to wallow in abject poverty.
This situation which began in 1978 under Obasanjo’s military regime has taken a very critical turn with detrimental implications on the lives of workers, youths and peasants as well as the quality of education. Right since 1978 when the tuition and feeding fees were introduced and government got ensnared in crippling IMF/World Bank loans, the lots of education have gone from bad to worse. As a result of non-funding, all the Nigerian schools lack adequate and well-equipped facilities like modern libraries, laboratories, classrooms, hostels, portable water, constant power supply, etc. Schools are understaffed while morale is low among the existing staff due to poor welfare package and lack of necessary working tools.
In their bid to reverse this, the ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT succeeded in forcing the federal government to sign an agreement with them in October 2009. The agreement basically centres on funding, the allocation of a minimum of 26% of the annual budget to education. But unfortunately since that time, the federal government has not deemed it fit to implement the agreement. It was this government’s blatant refusal to implement the agreement that led ASUU into declaring a one-week lecture boycott last week. As I write, other staff unions are also on strike. And if care is not taken, the crisis may soon degenerate into a full blown industrial strike.
I call on the governments at all level to accede to the demands of the striking universities workers and honour the agreement it willingly reached with the Unions in 2009. The government’s refusal to adequately fund education has created basis for the authorities of institutions to impose various obnoxious charges and fees of the students. This has been making education the exclusive preserve of children of the few rich, the privileged and treasury looters. Moreover, the decrying state of our institutions, from the primary to tertiary, is not a concern to the governments since members of the capitalist ruling class can afford to send their wards to private schools or abroad to acquire sound education.
This is further buttressed by the fact that while government claims there is no money and the universities are left to decay, public officials (elected/unelected) live fabulous ostentatious lifestyles with fat salaries and allowances with a coterie of aides, special advisers, special assistants, and hangers-on, while billions of naira are daily looted, squandered and wasted on frivolous activities that do not fundamentally affect on the living conditions of the working people for the better. Apparently, it is not a case of non-affordability but lack of sincerity, political wil,l charismatic drives and sensitivity to the welfare of the people.
However, as ASUU and other staff unions along with the students are fighting for the proper funding of education, the sight must not lost on the fact that corruption and mismanagement is another phenomenon that compounded the crisis of the education sector. Therefore, we must equally demand for democratic management of our institutions with the elected representatives of the students and academic and non-academic staff.
And while it is instructive to state that the struggle of ASUU is necessary and commendable, the task of revamping of education must be shouldered by the every staff union in the sector (i.e. ASUU, ASUP, COEASU, SSANU, NASU, SSATHURAI, NUT, NAAT, etc.) along with the Nigerian students. There should be joint action among the staff unions and the students. This will lead to the formation of a formidable force that can give the required strength to the struggle. In the meantime, ASUU and other unions should take the struggle beyond the four walls of campuses by organizing public rallies and symposiums in order to enlist physical participation of the working people and to mount pressure on the government.
The need to form a united front is highlighted in the fact that university workers and students have become victims of state repression as a result of their genuine campaigning and demands for better wages and enabling academic environment. In fact, most institutions have not only found it difficult to increase their school fees astronomically but have also elected to suspend and victimize those students activist who make any meaningful attempt to criticize them. This prevalence among others is not accidental but a historically premeditated and calculated attempt at breaking the defenses of any vibrant structure that can possibly protect the interest of the working class. This experience is not limited to the schools alone. The governments at all level of the public service have refused to implement the #18,000 minimum wage which only amount to a meager #600 per day while the disconcerted workers are being threatened with massive retrenchment!
The only lesson inherent in these present quagmires is the need for all working class to unite under a common ground and with the knowledge that nothing can be given freely by the state. It has to be fought for. That is how the capitalist state has always been and that is the way it will remain. History has made it so and there appears to be nothing any mortal can arguably do about that. The state will remain the state just as a leopard cannot change its spot.
As the University workers continue their campaign for adequate funding of education, I maintain that students and workers must not just realize in theory the need to fight for political change as a basis of improving the condition of education and better living condition, they must realize this necessity in practice by taking the bold steps of creating, joining, and building a pro-masses’ political party alongside with the labour and civil society with the sole aim of chasing away these anti-education capitalist government and putting in their place a political party and government that recognizes the principle of provision of functional education not just as a fashionable phrase but a cardinal principle of governance which can be realized on the basis of radical re-arrangement of the economy to suit the majority and not the minority.
It is only when these programmes are executed and accomplished that we can boldly peep back into this dark moment in history of our nation and say that after all “the struggles and campaign for the better funding of education were never in vain”.
Adewale Stephen
Department of History, Part IV
Obafemi Awolowo University,
Ile-Ife, Osun State
08031509489
Monday, November 14, 2011
Nigeria Sliding Back To Pariah Status
ABRAHAM OGBODO
US, Britain, Australia, Canada, Others Warn Citizens Against Visit
LATE last week, President Jonathan staged a good show with some visiting Saudi princes reportedly seeking investment opportunities in Nigeria.
Also yesterday, the French Foreign Minister, Mr. Alain Juppe, was in Abuja, to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan and other government officials.
The stream of foreign dignitaries and diplomats to Nigeria has been long, especially since the April 2011 elections, which were sanctioned by the international community as passing the test of fairness and credibility.
The Jonathan Administration has also been burnishing its image, with the President and top government officials leading delegations to other countries and international organisations, such as the United Nations General Assembly and the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGOM).
The President was at the last CHOGOM in Australia with a powerful delegation that included the business community.
In these travels, Nigeria does not only seek to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperations, but also strives for investments in the countrys economy.
Indeed, the government is presenting Nigeria as the best destination for investment.
Yet, efforts by the Federal Government to present a palatable picture of the security challenges in the country are not adding up to good results, as bombings and violent killings continue across the northern states of Yobe, Borno and Kaduna.
Now, the rest of the world, which has been heaping praises on Nigeria, is insisting on a verdict that is somewhat closer to the true picture.
Disturbingly reminiscent of the years gone by when Nigerias maximum ruler, the late General Sani Abacha, held sway, countries, including the U.S, Canada, Britain and Australia, citing security concerns, have issued separate statements, calling on their citizens to stay off Nigeria and in fact, the Gulf of Guinea if they do not have any serious business to transact in the country.
The statements are most damning, bereft of any sweet coatings. According to the US State Department, violent crime committed by individuals and gangs, as well as by some persons wearing police and military uniforms, is an ongoing problem throughout the country, especially at night.
Home invasions remain a serious threat, with armed robbers accessing even guarded compounds by scaling perimeter walls, following, or tailgating, residents or visitors arriving by car into the compound; and subduing guards and gaining entry into homes or apartments.
The statement added that in the face of these copious dangers, the Nigerian law enforcement authorities usually respond slowly or not at all, and provide little or no investigative support to victims.
The Australian Government made it even more frightening, saying the poor state of health facilities and infrastructure has complicated the security issues in Nigeria.
Driving in Nigeria can be dangerous, especially at night, due to poorly maintained roads and vehicles, poor local driving habits, unpredictable pedestrians and inadequate road lightening, it said.
In all, the countries have nothing pleasing to report on Nigeria, especially now that the activities of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, have attained a murderous crescendo.
They listed specific states of the country as most prone to the dangers they highlighted in their advisories. They are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Rivers in the Niger Delta; Abia and Imo in the Southeast and Plateau, Bauchi and Borno in the North as well as the Federal Capital and its adjoining cities.
The countries did more to catalogue the woes, which include killings, kidnapping for ransom, raping and advance fee fraud that foreign nationals had allegedly suffered in Nigeria in the last decade.
Coming barely short of branding Nigeria uninhabitable, the countries elaborately listed precautionary steps visitors must follow in order to experience a safe stay in Nigeria.
As it stands, the few gains that might have come with the dislodgement of the military from the political leadership of the country in 1999 are being seriously threatened, as Nigeria appears to slide back to a pariah status.
US, Britain, Australia, Canada, Others Warn Citizens Against Visit
LATE last week, President Jonathan staged a good show with some visiting Saudi princes reportedly seeking investment opportunities in Nigeria.
Also yesterday, the French Foreign Minister, Mr. Alain Juppe, was in Abuja, to meet with President Goodluck Jonathan and other government officials.
The stream of foreign dignitaries and diplomats to Nigeria has been long, especially since the April 2011 elections, which were sanctioned by the international community as passing the test of fairness and credibility.
The Jonathan Administration has also been burnishing its image, with the President and top government officials leading delegations to other countries and international organisations, such as the United Nations General Assembly and the Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGOM).
The President was at the last CHOGOM in Australia with a powerful delegation that included the business community.
In these travels, Nigeria does not only seek to strengthen bilateral and multilateral cooperations, but also strives for investments in the countrys economy.
Indeed, the government is presenting Nigeria as the best destination for investment.
Yet, efforts by the Federal Government to present a palatable picture of the security challenges in the country are not adding up to good results, as bombings and violent killings continue across the northern states of Yobe, Borno and Kaduna.
Now, the rest of the world, which has been heaping praises on Nigeria, is insisting on a verdict that is somewhat closer to the true picture.
Disturbingly reminiscent of the years gone by when Nigerias maximum ruler, the late General Sani Abacha, held sway, countries, including the U.S, Canada, Britain and Australia, citing security concerns, have issued separate statements, calling on their citizens to stay off Nigeria and in fact, the Gulf of Guinea if they do not have any serious business to transact in the country.
The statements are most damning, bereft of any sweet coatings. According to the US State Department, violent crime committed by individuals and gangs, as well as by some persons wearing police and military uniforms, is an ongoing problem throughout the country, especially at night.
Home invasions remain a serious threat, with armed robbers accessing even guarded compounds by scaling perimeter walls, following, or tailgating, residents or visitors arriving by car into the compound; and subduing guards and gaining entry into homes or apartments.
The statement added that in the face of these copious dangers, the Nigerian law enforcement authorities usually respond slowly or not at all, and provide little or no investigative support to victims.
The Australian Government made it even more frightening, saying the poor state of health facilities and infrastructure has complicated the security issues in Nigeria.
Driving in Nigeria can be dangerous, especially at night, due to poorly maintained roads and vehicles, poor local driving habits, unpredictable pedestrians and inadequate road lightening, it said.
In all, the countries have nothing pleasing to report on Nigeria, especially now that the activities of the dreaded Islamic sect, Boko Haram, have attained a murderous crescendo.
They listed specific states of the country as most prone to the dangers they highlighted in their advisories. They are Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Rivers in the Niger Delta; Abia and Imo in the Southeast and Plateau, Bauchi and Borno in the North as well as the Federal Capital and its adjoining cities.
The countries did more to catalogue the woes, which include killings, kidnapping for ransom, raping and advance fee fraud that foreign nationals had allegedly suffered in Nigeria in the last decade.
Coming barely short of branding Nigeria uninhabitable, the countries elaborately listed precautionary steps visitors must follow in order to experience a safe stay in Nigeria.
As it stands, the few gains that might have come with the dislodgement of the military from the political leadership of the country in 1999 are being seriously threatened, as Nigeria appears to slide back to a pariah status.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, KEY TO DEVELOPMENT - OBI
Nigerian leaders have been challenged to provide enabling environment for entrepreneurship to thrive in the country. Governor Obi gave the charge at Chike Okoli Centre of Entrepreneurial Studies, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka during a visit to the institution.
He assured that government will work with the university to encourage development of entrepreneurship in the university and commended the Vice Chancellor and management of the institution for tremendous achievements.
The Governor said that the present cordial relationship between the State and the university should be sustained for mutual benefits, noting that the Ivory Tower has continued to contribute in providing quality manpower in the state. He enjoined the University to continue to provide opportunity for public debate on topical issues assuring of assisting them to collect the pending take-off grant and other entitlements from the Federal Government.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor of the University Professor Boniface Egboka said the visit has enabled the Governor to have first hand information on the achievements of the university which he noted were in line with the developmental strides of the State and thanked the Governor for his financial support.
Professor Egboka extolled the Governors efforts to develop the state through multi-sectorial approach of ANIDS, noting that in spite of the inadequate Federal allocation to the State the Governor has continued to record landmark achievements.
The Vice Chancellor requested among other things security vehicles, re-issuance of acquisition papers for lands donated to the University by Awka and Nnewi communities and intervention to prevail on the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources to resuscitate the World Bank irrigation agriculture water project at Ifite Ogwari.
He assured that government will work with the university to encourage development of entrepreneurship in the university and commended the Vice Chancellor and management of the institution for tremendous achievements.
The Governor said that the present cordial relationship between the State and the university should be sustained for mutual benefits, noting that the Ivory Tower has continued to contribute in providing quality manpower in the state. He enjoined the University to continue to provide opportunity for public debate on topical issues assuring of assisting them to collect the pending take-off grant and other entitlements from the Federal Government.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor of the University Professor Boniface Egboka said the visit has enabled the Governor to have first hand information on the achievements of the university which he noted were in line with the developmental strides of the State and thanked the Governor for his financial support.
Professor Egboka extolled the Governors efforts to develop the state through multi-sectorial approach of ANIDS, noting that in spite of the inadequate Federal allocation to the State the Governor has continued to record landmark achievements.
The Vice Chancellor requested among other things security vehicles, re-issuance of acquisition papers for lands donated to the University by Awka and Nnewi communities and intervention to prevail on the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources to resuscitate the World Bank irrigation agriculture water project at Ifite Ogwari.
At Least 13 Killed in Syrian Protest Violence
Human rights activists say Syrian forces have killed at least 13 people during anti-government protests around the country Friday, as the government faces new accusations that it may be guilty of "crimes against humanity."
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says most of Friday's casualties occurred in the Homs region. Security forces have launched a series of raids in the city in search of dissidents, and activists said Syrian soldiers also were killed in an apparent ambush.
The casualty figures could not be independently verified because Syria bars most foreign journalists from operating in the country.
The fresh violence coincides with the Friday release of a Human Rights Watch report, saying Syrian authorities may be guilty of crimes against humanity for alleged torture and unlawful killings.
Human rights groups and opposition leaders to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have urged the demonstrators to call for a suspension of Syria's Arab League membership. The 22-member league will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Saturday to discuss Syria's unrest.
That meeting follows an apparent breakdown of the Arab-League brokered agreement that calls on the Syrian government to end its brutal crackdown on dissent.
Earlier this month, Syria announced that it had agreed to the plan, which includes a withdrawal of security forces from the streets and talks with the opposition. However, activists and witnesses have reported continued violence.
On Thursday, Amnesty International called on the Arab League to press Syria to allow independent monitors to enter the country.
Earlier in the week, the U.N. human rights office said at least 3,500 people had been killed in the country since protests against President Assad began in March.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says most of Friday's casualties occurred in the Homs region. Security forces have launched a series of raids in the city in search of dissidents, and activists said Syrian soldiers also were killed in an apparent ambush.
The casualty figures could not be independently verified because Syria bars most foreign journalists from operating in the country.
The fresh violence coincides with the Friday release of a Human Rights Watch report, saying Syrian authorities may be guilty of crimes against humanity for alleged torture and unlawful killings.
Human rights groups and opposition leaders to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have urged the demonstrators to call for a suspension of Syria's Arab League membership. The 22-member league will hold an emergency meeting in Cairo on Saturday to discuss Syria's unrest.
That meeting follows an apparent breakdown of the Arab-League brokered agreement that calls on the Syrian government to end its brutal crackdown on dissent.
Earlier this month, Syria announced that it had agreed to the plan, which includes a withdrawal of security forces from the streets and talks with the opposition. However, activists and witnesses have reported continued violence.
On Thursday, Amnesty International called on the Arab League to press Syria to allow independent monitors to enter the country.
Earlier in the week, the U.N. human rights office said at least 3,500 people had been killed in the country since protests against President Assad began in March.
Imo privatises transport corporation
CHRIS NJOKU
The Imo State government has privatised the states transport corporation; it was learnt at the weekend.
The contract was given out to a private company known as Global Ginikana for N360m out of which the company had paid N200m. The contract was signed by the Special Duties Commissioner, Chief Ezerioha on behalf of the state government without an input of the current management of the corporation led by the General Manager, Chief Bennett Achionu.
This has led to the puzzle why would the Imo State government privatise a state-owned company that rakes in N10m monthly to the state governments coffers? This is the question on the lips of people of the state who woke up last week to observe that the Imo Transport Corporation (ITC) has joined the league of state-owned companies in the state that have been privatized.
It was gathered Chief Achionu was summoned by the special duties commissioner during the public holiday to provide the seal of the corporation, but the general manager refused to oblige, saying that the seal was in a safe in his office at MCC Road. But the workers who were not prevy to the resistance being put up by the general manager against the move by government to privatize the corporation accused him of being a sell-out.
On Tuesday November 8, 2011, the workers walked out in protest when talks between them and new management broke down as they refused to sign a new condition of service which they considered to be unfavourable to them.
The Imo State government has privatised the states transport corporation; it was learnt at the weekend.
The contract was given out to a private company known as Global Ginikana for N360m out of which the company had paid N200m. The contract was signed by the Special Duties Commissioner, Chief Ezerioha on behalf of the state government without an input of the current management of the corporation led by the General Manager, Chief Bennett Achionu.
This has led to the puzzle why would the Imo State government privatise a state-owned company that rakes in N10m monthly to the state governments coffers? This is the question on the lips of people of the state who woke up last week to observe that the Imo Transport Corporation (ITC) has joined the league of state-owned companies in the state that have been privatized.
It was gathered Chief Achionu was summoned by the special duties commissioner during the public holiday to provide the seal of the corporation, but the general manager refused to oblige, saying that the seal was in a safe in his office at MCC Road. But the workers who were not prevy to the resistance being put up by the general manager against the move by government to privatize the corporation accused him of being a sell-out.
On Tuesday November 8, 2011, the workers walked out in protest when talks between them and new management broke down as they refused to sign a new condition of service which they considered to be unfavourable to them.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP, KEY TO DEVELOPMENT - OBI
Nigerian leaders have been challenged to provide enabling environment for entrepreneurship to thrive in the country. Governor Obi gave the charge at Chike Okoli Centre of Entrepreneurial Studies, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka during a visit to the institution.
He assured that government will work with the university to encourage development of entrepreneurship in the university and commended the Vice Chancellor and management of the institution for tremendous achievements.
The Governor said that the present cordial relationship between the State and the university should be sustained for mutual benefits, noting that the Ivory Tower has continued to contribute in providing quality manpower in the state. He enjoined the University to continue to provide opportunity for public debate on topical issues assuring of assisting them to collect the pending take-off grant and other entitlements from the Federal Government.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor of the University Professor Boniface Egboka said the visit has enabled the Governor to have first hand information on the achievements of the university which he noted were in line with the developmental strides of the State and thanked the Governor for his financial support.
Professor Egboka extolled the Governors efforts to develop the state through multi-sectorial approach of ANIDS, noting that in spite of the inadequate Federal allocation to the State the Governor has continued to record landmark achievements.
The Vice Chancellor requested among other things security vehicles, re-issuance of acquisition papers for lands donated to the University by Awka and Nnewi communities and intervention to prevail on the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources to resuscitate the World Bank irrigation agriculture water project at Ifite Ogwari.
He assured that government will work with the university to encourage development of entrepreneurship in the university and commended the Vice Chancellor and management of the institution for tremendous achievements.
The Governor said that the present cordial relationship between the State and the university should be sustained for mutual benefits, noting that the Ivory Tower has continued to contribute in providing quality manpower in the state. He enjoined the University to continue to provide opportunity for public debate on topical issues assuring of assisting them to collect the pending take-off grant and other entitlements from the Federal Government.
In his address, the Vice Chancellor of the University Professor Boniface Egboka said the visit has enabled the Governor to have first hand information on the achievements of the university which he noted were in line with the developmental strides of the State and thanked the Governor for his financial support.
Professor Egboka extolled the Governors efforts to develop the state through multi-sectorial approach of ANIDS, noting that in spite of the inadequate Federal allocation to the State the Governor has continued to record landmark achievements.
The Vice Chancellor requested among other things security vehicles, re-issuance of acquisition papers for lands donated to the University by Awka and Nnewi communities and intervention to prevail on the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and Water Resources to resuscitate the World Bank irrigation agriculture water project at Ifite Ogwari.
OBI AND THE NATIONAL AWARD
Jude Otuonu
Monday, November 14, the Anambra State governor, His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi, added yet another glowing feather to his cap. The president and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , His Excellency, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, will confer on Governor Obi the national award of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
The award which Governor Obi will receive along with a few other governors will put him in the unique league of being among the first serving governors in Nigeria to be so honoured.
This award is coming on the heels of several others bestowed on the history maker of Anambra State and Nigeria . Indeed, Obis achievement of many firsts since he came into the mainstream of the countrys politics has marked him out as the bastion of Nigeria s democracy.
It is on record that Obi made history as the first man to remove a serving governor who stole his mandate and sat on it for three long years. He became the first governor to quash an illegal impeachment when anti-democratic forces who thrived in anarchy and who lived off the fat of the state attempted to ease him out for denying them unfettered access to the commonwealth of the state.
Obi returned to the joy of the people of the state who had feared the worst. But he had hardly settled down to work when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the body saddled with conducting elections in the country, goofed when they held an election in Anambra State which should not have been. Before then the same body had contrived with politicians to disqualify Obi from that election which eventually threw up a ˜winner. But Obi again returned to court and sought an interpretation to his tenure vis-a-vis when it began and when it should end. The Supreme Court in a landmark judgement declared that the election that took place without him was illegal as there had never been any vacancy at government house Awka. It hinged its decision on the fact that Obis tenure began on the day he took the oaths of allegiance and office and must therefore run its full course of four years. Thus Obi returned to his seat.
This singular development opened the doors to staggered elections in the country and also opened the eyes of some other governors to the constitutional provisions of the country. Governors who have gained from this include: Adams Oshiomhole, Olusegun Mimiko, Rauf Aregbesola, Kayode Fayemi and Liyel Imoke, among others.
On taking full reins of governance in Anambra State, he quickly envisioned the pathway to the success of the state and chose the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as the vehicle for achieving that vision. This was anchored on what he termed Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS). Through this, he has touched and been touching lives in all sectors of the state at the same time, something even the most optimistic doubted could succeed.
Obi began to bequeath enduring legacies to the people of Anambra State and today the difference he has made is clear for even the blind to see. Critical sectors in the state such as health, education, infrastructural development, e.t.c. were all touched. Today the result is that Anambra enjoys the best road network in the whole of Nigeria. Unlike other states which only focus on township roads, the Obi administration has for the first time remembered rural areas, including those long since forgotten by past regimes. It is a fact that one can access the capital city of Awka from anywhere in the state under one hour!
Some health institutions in the state became accredited for the first time under Obis administration. The states first teaching hospital also came afloat and is nearing completion. Health centres sprang up in every local government area thereby bringing health care closer to the people.
In education secondary schools were given buses, boreholes, generators, computers, e.t.c.; while a block of five classrooms were built in every one of the 177 communities in the state. The first library after the one built in 1966 is being built today in Awka and is to be known as the Prof Kenneth Dike Library. Obi s administration has handed over 50 secondary schools to the churches. Under this arrangement, government provides funds while churches supervise.
Workers have also not had it so good as their salaries were increased four times. They were also promoted for the first time after a former governor had bluntly told them that promotion was not a right. He also built two magnificent secretariats for the workers.
Enumerating all Obi has done will be enough to fill a book but suffice it to say that governments presence is today felt in every locality. To cap it all, government has for some time now been providing money at the end of each year to communities to address areas of greatest need. This is the first time this will be happening in the state.
In recognition of his achievements, several organizations have been pouring awards on him. In 2007 he won the Sun newspaper Man of the Year award. The next year he won Thisday newspapers award as the best governor on fiscal management.
As if to vindicate Thisdays decision, the federal government this year appointed Obi as a member of the nations Economic Management Team. It also made him an Honorary Adviser on Finance.
Then also came the clean bill of health given Anambra as the most financially sound by the Senate. It was not a surprise as Anambra remains the only state today that has not borrowed any money from any source within or outside the country. It has not also raised bond.
Before then, apparently in recognition of his leadership qualities, Obi had been appointed Chairman of the South East Governors Forum. He was later to become Chairman of South East/South South Governors Forum and then became Deputy Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum.
This latest award by the federal government as Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), is therefore an icing on the cake for the visionary leader of Anambra State. It shows his sterling qualities have been recognised and acknowledged by all and it will only serve to spur him to doing more for his people.
Jude Otuonu sent this piece from Nimo
Monday, November 14, the Anambra State governor, His Excellency, Mr. Peter Obi, added yet another glowing feather to his cap. The president and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , His Excellency, Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, will confer on Governor Obi the national award of Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).
The award which Governor Obi will receive along with a few other governors will put him in the unique league of being among the first serving governors in Nigeria to be so honoured.
This award is coming on the heels of several others bestowed on the history maker of Anambra State and Nigeria . Indeed, Obis achievement of many firsts since he came into the mainstream of the countrys politics has marked him out as the bastion of Nigeria s democracy.
It is on record that Obi made history as the first man to remove a serving governor who stole his mandate and sat on it for three long years. He became the first governor to quash an illegal impeachment when anti-democratic forces who thrived in anarchy and who lived off the fat of the state attempted to ease him out for denying them unfettered access to the commonwealth of the state.
Obi returned to the joy of the people of the state who had feared the worst. But he had hardly settled down to work when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the body saddled with conducting elections in the country, goofed when they held an election in Anambra State which should not have been. Before then the same body had contrived with politicians to disqualify Obi from that election which eventually threw up a ˜winner. But Obi again returned to court and sought an interpretation to his tenure vis-a-vis when it began and when it should end. The Supreme Court in a landmark judgement declared that the election that took place without him was illegal as there had never been any vacancy at government house Awka. It hinged its decision on the fact that Obis tenure began on the day he took the oaths of allegiance and office and must therefore run its full course of four years. Thus Obi returned to his seat.
This singular development opened the doors to staggered elections in the country and also opened the eyes of some other governors to the constitutional provisions of the country. Governors who have gained from this include: Adams Oshiomhole, Olusegun Mimiko, Rauf Aregbesola, Kayode Fayemi and Liyel Imoke, among others.
On taking full reins of governance in Anambra State, he quickly envisioned the pathway to the success of the state and chose the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as the vehicle for achieving that vision. This was anchored on what he termed Anambra Integrated Development Strategy (ANIDS). Through this, he has touched and been touching lives in all sectors of the state at the same time, something even the most optimistic doubted could succeed.
Obi began to bequeath enduring legacies to the people of Anambra State and today the difference he has made is clear for even the blind to see. Critical sectors in the state such as health, education, infrastructural development, e.t.c. were all touched. Today the result is that Anambra enjoys the best road network in the whole of Nigeria. Unlike other states which only focus on township roads, the Obi administration has for the first time remembered rural areas, including those long since forgotten by past regimes. It is a fact that one can access the capital city of Awka from anywhere in the state under one hour!
Some health institutions in the state became accredited for the first time under Obis administration. The states first teaching hospital also came afloat and is nearing completion. Health centres sprang up in every local government area thereby bringing health care closer to the people.
In education secondary schools were given buses, boreholes, generators, computers, e.t.c.; while a block of five classrooms were built in every one of the 177 communities in the state. The first library after the one built in 1966 is being built today in Awka and is to be known as the Prof Kenneth Dike Library. Obi s administration has handed over 50 secondary schools to the churches. Under this arrangement, government provides funds while churches supervise.
Workers have also not had it so good as their salaries were increased four times. They were also promoted for the first time after a former governor had bluntly told them that promotion was not a right. He also built two magnificent secretariats for the workers.
Enumerating all Obi has done will be enough to fill a book but suffice it to say that governments presence is today felt in every locality. To cap it all, government has for some time now been providing money at the end of each year to communities to address areas of greatest need. This is the first time this will be happening in the state.
In recognition of his achievements, several organizations have been pouring awards on him. In 2007 he won the Sun newspaper Man of the Year award. The next year he won Thisday newspapers award as the best governor on fiscal management.
As if to vindicate Thisdays decision, the federal government this year appointed Obi as a member of the nations Economic Management Team. It also made him an Honorary Adviser on Finance.
Then also came the clean bill of health given Anambra as the most financially sound by the Senate. It was not a surprise as Anambra remains the only state today that has not borrowed any money from any source within or outside the country. It has not also raised bond.
Before then, apparently in recognition of his leadership qualities, Obi had been appointed Chairman of the South East Governors Forum. He was later to become Chairman of South East/South South Governors Forum and then became Deputy Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum.
This latest award by the federal government as Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON), is therefore an icing on the cake for the visionary leader of Anambra State. It shows his sterling qualities have been recognised and acknowledged by all and it will only serve to spur him to doing more for his people.
Jude Otuonu sent this piece from Nimo
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)