Nigeria's Acting President Goodluck Jonathan could win support as a candidate for the presidency in 2011 if he delivers in coming months, said a former minister with a reputation as a key reformer.
Jonathan has not said he might stand for the presidency and the place on the ruling party ticket has been widely expected to go to someone from ailing President Umaru Yar'Adua's Muslim north rather than Jonathan's more heavily Christian south. But Nasir El-Rufai, a northerner from a group of younger Nigerian politicians pushing for more rapid liberal reforms, became one of the first to openly suggest the possibility of support for a Jonathan candidacy.
"Yar'Adua is from the North but did nothing for the region, just like many before him," he told Reuters in response to emailed questions.
"If Goodluck shows real leadership over the next few months, many of us will campaign for him to be our president. And I think Nigeria and the West African sub-region will be the better for it," said Rufai, who has been tipped in local media for a possible position in Jonathan's administration.
Jonathan, the vice president, assumed executive powers last week, over two months after Yar'Adua left for a Saudi hospital.
El-Rufai was one of the most senior members of former President Olusegun Obasanjo's team, serving as minister for the capital Abuja and heading the privatisation agency, and was tipped as a potential candidate for the 2007 election.
But he lost out to Yar'Adua, who was seen as less radical and won the presidential race.
After denouncing high level corruption, El-Rufai was himself accused of wrong-doing during his time in government. Dismissing the accusations as politically motivated, he left the country and has remained critical of Yar'Adua.
El-Rufai said that even with limited time, Jonathan could make a start on priorities such as the amnesty for rebels in the oil-producing Niger delta, fixing power supplies and roads as well as reforms to ensure clean elections.
"A lot can be done in these areas to give people hope that in time, the problems will be solved," said El-Rufai.
If Jonathan were to stand for election, at least for the ruling party, he would need the backing of northern politicians because of an unwritten commitment to rotate power between Nigeria's regions.
Since Yar'Adua appears likely to serve only one term, instead of the two allowed under the constitution, many northerners believe his successor should be from the north too.
Local media have suggested that if Yar'Adua's return became impossible, making Jonathan president, El-Rufai could be a candidate for the vice-presidency and therefore potentially for the presidency itself.
"I want to assure you I am not in any race to be that person," El-Rufai said.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
OBI’S MANDATE IS OF GOD – Gov. Oni
Governor Segun Oni of Ekiti State has described the victory of Governor Obi as the handiwork of God and as a result of Governor Obi’s service to the people. He said this in his congratulatory message to Governor Obi on his victory. The message reads:
The Almighty God has made it abundantly clear once again that you have His blessing to preside over the affairs of Anambra State. That your mandate to govern and serve the people of Anambra State is of God's has been affirmed once again by your victory at the Governorship Election of Saturday, 6th February, 2010.
With the unprecedented re-election for a second-term, you have occupied a unique chapter in the history of the state and it is an indication that you, indeed, in the last four years served the people of Anambra State so faithfully, to retain their confidence.
The fresh four-year mandate poses a greater challenge and offers an uncommon opportunity for you to consolidate your achievements and open new horizons to improve the well being of your people.”
The Chairman of the National Population Commission, Chief Samu’ila Danko Makama, on his part, commended the Governor Obi for his election, which he described as the prize for his wonderful achievements he recorded in his first tenure as the Governor of Anambra State. He lauded his achievements in educational, social and economic sectors of the State.
The Almighty God has made it abundantly clear once again that you have His blessing to preside over the affairs of Anambra State. That your mandate to govern and serve the people of Anambra State is of God's has been affirmed once again by your victory at the Governorship Election of Saturday, 6th February, 2010.
With the unprecedented re-election for a second-term, you have occupied a unique chapter in the history of the state and it is an indication that you, indeed, in the last four years served the people of Anambra State so faithfully, to retain their confidence.
The fresh four-year mandate poses a greater challenge and offers an uncommon opportunity for you to consolidate your achievements and open new horizons to improve the well being of your people.”
The Chairman of the National Population Commission, Chief Samu’ila Danko Makama, on his part, commended the Governor Obi for his election, which he described as the prize for his wonderful achievements he recorded in his first tenure as the Governor of Anambra State. He lauded his achievements in educational, social and economic sectors of the State.
OBI IS ANAMBRA’S CHOICE- Anikwenwa
The Anglican Archbishop of Awka, Most Rev. Maxwell Anikwenwa has described the emergence of Governor Peter Obi as the choice of the people of the State. He made this known in his congratulatory message to the Governor.
Archbishop Anikwenwa also commended the people of Anambra State and INEC for the peaceful conduct of the election. His word: “We must first give thanks to the Lord for the conduct of the elections. No lives were lost. There were few serious breaches of peace. Despite widely-acclaimed lapses, INEC must be commended for noticeable improvements in executing its primary responsibility towards conducting free, fair and credible election”.
He urged the Governor to be magnanimous in victory and continue to be a father to everybody.
While praying to God to strengthen, protect and guide the Governor, he invited the people of the State to join hands with him in tackling the daunting problems facing the State.
Archbishop Anikwenwa also commended the people of Anambra State and INEC for the peaceful conduct of the election. His word: “We must first give thanks to the Lord for the conduct of the elections. No lives were lost. There were few serious breaches of peace. Despite widely-acclaimed lapses, INEC must be commended for noticeable improvements in executing its primary responsibility towards conducting free, fair and credible election”.
He urged the Governor to be magnanimous in victory and continue to be a father to everybody.
While praying to God to strengthen, protect and guide the Governor, he invited the people of the State to join hands with him in tackling the daunting problems facing the State.
OHANAEZE NDIGBO PRESS RELEASE ON ANAMBRA ELECTION
The National Executive Committee of OHANAEZE NDIGBO in a special session held on Saturday 13th February 2010 at her Head office, 7 Park Avenue, GRA, Enugu, after deliberating on the conduct of February 6 Gubernatorial election in Anambra State makes the following release:
1. Congratulates the good people of Anambra State for a peaceful and successful Governorship election and commends the electorate for turning out massively to exercise their civic responsibility and for heeding our call for a free, fair and credible election by conducting themselves orderly.
2. NEC further commends the high quality of electioneering campaigns of all the candidates prior to the election especially their spirit of sportsmanship. We do hope that the Anambra experience will open a new chapter in the annals of politics, elections and electoral process in Nigeria.
3. NEC therefore congratulates Mr. Peter Obi for being declared the winner, indeed all the candidates for placing the interests of Anambra people above personal interests. In as much as we agree that individual candidates reserve the right to seek legal remedy for perceived wrongs, we urge that such steps be based on substantive grounds to avoid elongated litigations. Nothing should be done to affect good governance and service delivery to the Anambra people.
Notwithstanding the signs of new beginning arising from the Anambra election, urgent steps should be taken to rectify numerous lapses experienced during the said election.
INEC must brace up to all its responsibilities pre to post elections. In the age of I.C.T., lapses in voters register, verification and voting are no longer acceptable.
NEC calls on the National Assembly to expedite action on the review of the electoral laws as recommended by Rt Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Committee.
Signed
Prince (Engr.) Ralph Ndigwe
National Publicity Secretary
1. Congratulates the good people of Anambra State for a peaceful and successful Governorship election and commends the electorate for turning out massively to exercise their civic responsibility and for heeding our call for a free, fair and credible election by conducting themselves orderly.
2. NEC further commends the high quality of electioneering campaigns of all the candidates prior to the election especially their spirit of sportsmanship. We do hope that the Anambra experience will open a new chapter in the annals of politics, elections and electoral process in Nigeria.
3. NEC therefore congratulates Mr. Peter Obi for being declared the winner, indeed all the candidates for placing the interests of Anambra people above personal interests. In as much as we agree that individual candidates reserve the right to seek legal remedy for perceived wrongs, we urge that such steps be based on substantive grounds to avoid elongated litigations. Nothing should be done to affect good governance and service delivery to the Anambra people.
Notwithstanding the signs of new beginning arising from the Anambra election, urgent steps should be taken to rectify numerous lapses experienced during the said election.
INEC must brace up to all its responsibilities pre to post elections. In the age of I.C.T., lapses in voters register, verification and voting are no longer acceptable.
NEC calls on the National Assembly to expedite action on the review of the electoral laws as recommended by Rt Justice Uwais Electoral Reform Committee.
Signed
Prince (Engr.) Ralph Ndigwe
National Publicity Secretary
On Valentine's Day, gays in Latin America demand marriage equality and an end to homophobic violence
As commercialized as Valentine's Day has become over the years, it also has become a prime opportunity for the LGBT community to make our lack of partnership rights visible whether it's in the United States or any other country that 'observes' the unofficial ode to lovers.
Take France, for example. One of our favorite French blogs posted an amazing video of a massive kiss-in that took place in Paris ("Yagg: Kiss-in against homophobia"). The awesome scene has been a sensation and been picked up by a lot of the big blogs out there including The Huffington Post, Towleroad, Joe.My.God, Queerty, Mike Tidmus, etc.
Definitely less massive but just as important were several demonstrations that took place yesterday throughout Latin America.
Peru: Meet Jonathan and Oscar (right), college students and members of the LGBTI Student Bloc of Lima. In what Blog de Lima calls the 2nd annual "Kisses against homophobia" street action, they joined other several gay and lesbian couples and tried to take over the main public space inside a popular Lima shopping mall.
The couples held hands and kissed as they made their way through the mall but ran into heavy security as they tried to congregate inside the mall's main gathering spot. Several couples embraced each other and kissed for the cameras once they left the building (thanks to leading Peruvian LGBT rights advocate Jorge Alberto Chávez Reyes for providing images and video).
Take France, for example. One of our favorite French blogs posted an amazing video of a massive kiss-in that took place in Paris ("Yagg: Kiss-in against homophobia"). The awesome scene has been a sensation and been picked up by a lot of the big blogs out there including The Huffington Post, Towleroad, Joe.My.God, Queerty, Mike Tidmus, etc.
Definitely less massive but just as important were several demonstrations that took place yesterday throughout Latin America.
Peru: Meet Jonathan and Oscar (right), college students and members of the LGBTI Student Bloc of Lima. In what Blog de Lima calls the 2nd annual "Kisses against homophobia" street action, they joined other several gay and lesbian couples and tried to take over the main public space inside a popular Lima shopping mall.
The couples held hands and kissed as they made their way through the mall but ran into heavy security as they tried to congregate inside the mall's main gathering spot. Several couples embraced each other and kissed for the cameras once they left the building (thanks to leading Peruvian LGBT rights advocate Jorge Alberto Chávez Reyes for providing images and video).
OBI REASSURES ON PEOPLE-ORIENTED GOVERNMENT
Governor Peter Obi has reassured that his administration will continue to work for the interest of all irrespective of religious and political leanings. Governor Obi was speaking at the Government House Awka while receiving the leadership of Odinala Anedo on a courtesy call.
Governor Obi said his victory in the last election was victory for the people and would be translated to high tempo of infrastructural development and people oriented leadership. He stated that government will continue to encourage the protection and promotion of Igbo cultural values to uphold Igbo identity.
A trustee of the organization, Dr. Dozie Ikedife said the visit was to congratulate the Governor on his victory in the last election. Dr. Ikedife noted that the election was free, fair and credible and has provided a model for the country to learn that politics should not be a do and die affair. He commended the Governor for creating a peaceful and conducive environment that facilitated peaceful conduct of the election in spite of obvious provocations.
In similar development, traders of Eke Awka Market said the re-election of Governor Peter Obi was expression of the collective will of the people and ‘hand of God’ in the State.
Speaking during a solidarity visit to the Government House Awka by Chairman of all the sections in the Market, their spokesman, Mr. Ifeanyi Obiekwe said Obi’s victory would enable him complete his vision for the State. Mr. Obiekwe noted Governor Obi was the first Governor to give traders a sense of belonging while expressing confidence that his second tenure will take the state to the next level.
The traders requested Government assistance in restoring power supply to the market, drainage system around the market, toilet facilities and borehole as well as restoration of democratic rule in the markets.
Governor Obi said his victory in the last election was victory for the people and would be translated to high tempo of infrastructural development and people oriented leadership. He stated that government will continue to encourage the protection and promotion of Igbo cultural values to uphold Igbo identity.
A trustee of the organization, Dr. Dozie Ikedife said the visit was to congratulate the Governor on his victory in the last election. Dr. Ikedife noted that the election was free, fair and credible and has provided a model for the country to learn that politics should not be a do and die affair. He commended the Governor for creating a peaceful and conducive environment that facilitated peaceful conduct of the election in spite of obvious provocations.
In similar development, traders of Eke Awka Market said the re-election of Governor Peter Obi was expression of the collective will of the people and ‘hand of God’ in the State.
Speaking during a solidarity visit to the Government House Awka by Chairman of all the sections in the Market, their spokesman, Mr. Ifeanyi Obiekwe said Obi’s victory would enable him complete his vision for the State. Mr. Obiekwe noted Governor Obi was the first Governor to give traders a sense of belonging while expressing confidence that his second tenure will take the state to the next level.
The traders requested Government assistance in restoring power supply to the market, drainage system around the market, toilet facilities and borehole as well as restoration of democratic rule in the markets.
Malawi gay activists 'must be more open'
The Malawi authorities have told gay activists who put up posters and distribute leaflets on the streets anonymously to "come out in the open".
Government official Kingsley Namakhwa said it was against the law to mount such campaigns anonymously.
But he also pointed out that homosexuality was illegal, and anyone promoting it would be prosecuted.
Rights groups have recently criticised Malawi for prosecuting two men who got engaged to each other.
Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to start the marriage process, have pleaded not guilty to charges of public indecency.
Their trial is due to start soon.
"As far as the Malawi government is concerned we only have two gays in Malawi - Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga," said Mr Namakhwa.
"If there are others, let them come out in the open."
The BBC's Raphael Tenthani, in the main city Blantyre, says the police have intensified the hunt for a man who they believe is behind a gay-rights campaign.
It follows the conviction of a 21-year-old man for pasting gay-rights posters on poles along the streets.
Peter Sawali had put up posters saying "gay rights are human rights" and was convicted of conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.
Police say Sawali had been given the posters by another man - whom they are now trying to track down.
Sawali was sentenced to community service for his crime - our correspondent says his punishment is to clean the premises of Blantyre Magistrates Court for 60 days.
Government official Kingsley Namakhwa said it was against the law to mount such campaigns anonymously.
But he also pointed out that homosexuality was illegal, and anyone promoting it would be prosecuted.
Rights groups have recently criticised Malawi for prosecuting two men who got engaged to each other.
Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza, believed to be the first gay couple in Malawi to start the marriage process, have pleaded not guilty to charges of public indecency.
Their trial is due to start soon.
"As far as the Malawi government is concerned we only have two gays in Malawi - Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga," said Mr Namakhwa.
"If there are others, let them come out in the open."
The BBC's Raphael Tenthani, in the main city Blantyre, says the police have intensified the hunt for a man who they believe is behind a gay-rights campaign.
It follows the conviction of a 21-year-old man for pasting gay-rights posters on poles along the streets.
Peter Sawali had put up posters saying "gay rights are human rights" and was convicted of conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.
Police say Sawali had been given the posters by another man - whom they are now trying to track down.
Sawali was sentenced to community service for his crime - our correspondent says his punishment is to clean the premises of Blantyre Magistrates Court for 60 days.
Ovadje, Ibru’s Lawyer, Denies EFCC’s Claims
By Davidson Iriekpen
Personal physician to the former managing director/ chief executive officer of Oceanic International Bank Plc, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, Brigadier-General Oviemo Ovadje (rtd), has denied claims that the credit facilities he obtained from both the bank and Oceanic Saving and Loans Limited were non-performing.
He debunked the claim of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that the facilities were non-performing, adding that the two institutions were yet to declared the facilities non-performing.
The anti-graft commission had in one of the affidavits sworn to by one of its officers, Aliyu Wali, disclosed that Ovadje applied for and was granted a loan by Ocean Bank under Mrs. Ibru in 2007 and that same was non-performing, adding that in order to mask the nature of the loan and its non-performance, it was passed to a subsidiary of the bank, Oceanic Homes Saving and Loans Limited where the accused person was the chairman. EFCC further alleged that Ovadje’s non-performing loan was N442.9million.
But Ovadje, in an affidavit of rebuttal sworn to at a Federal High Court in Lagos and made available to THISDAY, said after his retirement from military service, he engaged in full medical practice in addition to property development business for which purpose he applied for credit facilities at various times from the bank.
He revealed that before he obtained the credit facilities, he duly applied and faced series of interviews and negotiations and paid all fees upfront and deposited the Certificate of Occupancy of his property with the bank as collateral and also met other requirements.
The renowned medical practitioner argued that contrary to the insinuation in the affidavit deposed to by Aliyu Wali, the former bank boss at the time, did not influence the waiver of any obligation on his part, neither was any waiver granted to him.
Submitting that he has all the necessary papers to back his claim, he disclosed that as at today, he the true record of his transactions with the bank were available with the bank and accessible to the anti-graft commission, regretting that Wali chose to depose to facts that were contrary to the truth.
According to him, as at today, he has paid a total sum of N424million, leaving a balance of about N57million for him to liquidate the actual loan granted him and at the same time negotiating payment of interest.
Ovadje argued that in view of the deposition of the EFCC that he was one of the beneficiaries of economic crime of granting loans contrary to law, he was aware that Mrs. Ibru is undergoing trial in court but he has not been linked with any of the offences she was accused of, neither has he been questioned or invited with regard to the charges.
He stated that the total amount of loan given to him by the bank under three separate transactions was N482million, adding that in accordance with the declared purpose of the loan, he used the money to execute the development of his property at Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi Court, Lugard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He stated that between March and August 2009, when the bank had problem with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he paid the total sum of N414 million back to the bank, saying that the medical report he gave her client could be verified scientifically and was not influenced by the loan he got from the bank.
He denounced being labeled a beneficiary of economic crime committed by anybody, saying that the claim was false, baseless, in bad faith and maliciously targeted at criminalising obtaining credit facility.
Personal physician to the former managing director/ chief executive officer of Oceanic International Bank Plc, Mrs. Cecilia Ibru, Brigadier-General Oviemo Ovadje (rtd), has denied claims that the credit facilities he obtained from both the bank and Oceanic Saving and Loans Limited were non-performing.
He debunked the claim of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that the facilities were non-performing, adding that the two institutions were yet to declared the facilities non-performing.
The anti-graft commission had in one of the affidavits sworn to by one of its officers, Aliyu Wali, disclosed that Ovadje applied for and was granted a loan by Ocean Bank under Mrs. Ibru in 2007 and that same was non-performing, adding that in order to mask the nature of the loan and its non-performance, it was passed to a subsidiary of the bank, Oceanic Homes Saving and Loans Limited where the accused person was the chairman. EFCC further alleged that Ovadje’s non-performing loan was N442.9million.
But Ovadje, in an affidavit of rebuttal sworn to at a Federal High Court in Lagos and made available to THISDAY, said after his retirement from military service, he engaged in full medical practice in addition to property development business for which purpose he applied for credit facilities at various times from the bank.
He revealed that before he obtained the credit facilities, he duly applied and faced series of interviews and negotiations and paid all fees upfront and deposited the Certificate of Occupancy of his property with the bank as collateral and also met other requirements.
The renowned medical practitioner argued that contrary to the insinuation in the affidavit deposed to by Aliyu Wali, the former bank boss at the time, did not influence the waiver of any obligation on his part, neither was any waiver granted to him.
Submitting that he has all the necessary papers to back his claim, he disclosed that as at today, he the true record of his transactions with the bank were available with the bank and accessible to the anti-graft commission, regretting that Wali chose to depose to facts that were contrary to the truth.
According to him, as at today, he has paid a total sum of N424million, leaving a balance of about N57million for him to liquidate the actual loan granted him and at the same time negotiating payment of interest.
Ovadje argued that in view of the deposition of the EFCC that he was one of the beneficiaries of economic crime of granting loans contrary to law, he was aware that Mrs. Ibru is undergoing trial in court but he has not been linked with any of the offences she was accused of, neither has he been questioned or invited with regard to the charges.
He stated that the total amount of loan given to him by the bank under three separate transactions was N482million, adding that in accordance with the declared purpose of the loan, he used the money to execute the development of his property at Colonel Adekunle Fajuyi Court, Lugard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos.
He stated that between March and August 2009, when the bank had problem with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), he paid the total sum of N414 million back to the bank, saying that the medical report he gave her client could be verified scientifically and was not influenced by the loan he got from the bank.
He denounced being labeled a beneficiary of economic crime committed by anybody, saying that the claim was false, baseless, in bad faith and maliciously targeted at criminalising obtaining credit facility.
2010 census will include question about same-sex marriages, relationships
Gay couples will have an option of marking 'husband or wife' or 'unmarried partners' in federal survey
Ellen Meyers and Elena Yatzeck changed the pronouns in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer for their 2008 commitment ceremony.
More than 200 friends and family watched them exchange nuptials on the North Side in a ritual they equated with marriage.
"It was about making a public statement in a familiar way," Yatzeck said. "It changed how they perceived us."
Now, the couple is weighing how they want the country to view their union. For the first time, the census will allow same-sex couples to identify as husband or wife, and will count their responses. The couple is still deciding how they will identify themselves, since their civil commitment isn't recognized by the state of Illinois.
"We have to figure out how we want to do that," Yatzeck said. "(Gay couples) should separate the emotions from the public policy to accurately reflect how we live."
Same-sex couples will have two ways to characterize their relationships on the 2010 census: They can choose "husband or wife" or "unmarried partners." The census will publicly report those responses and recognize demographic differences, such as their ethnicities, where they live, and whether they're raising children, between the two groups.
The modification is an attempt to capture the changing nature of American households. It is part of the evolution of the decennial survey, which adapts to the social climate and is being advertised this year as a snapshot of America.
In response to advocacy from demographers and national gay rights groups, the Obama administration quietly reversed federal policy this summer to allow the Census Bureau to publish tabulations that tell us how many same-sex couples consider themselves husbands or wives.
Previously, if same-sex couples checked that they were "husband or wife," that information was automatically coded as "unmarried partners." The policy was established during the Clinton administration and maintained under the Bush administration because gay couples could not legally get married, and officials said it was more accurate to call them unmarried partners.
In the decade since the last census, however, laws have changed. In 2004, starting with Massachusetts, gay couples were given the right to legally marry. Four other states — Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire — have full marriage equality. And New York and Washington, D.C., recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender groups (GLBT) advocated for a census methodology that would accurately account for how married couples and those identifying as partners in these groups live, such as their income and education levels, the same as the census does for heterosexual couples.
The 2010 count, however, should not be interpreted as a federal estimate of how many legally married same-sex couples live in the United States. Technically, it's only going to count how many same-sex couples use the term husband or wife to describe their partners.
"This is the first time you see what is considered the gold standard agency begin to collect data on the LGBT population," said Gary Gates, a demographer at the Williams Institute of UCLA's law school. "Even if the data aren't completely accurate, it gives us a more nuanced picture."
The bureau recognizes that same-sex couples are hamstrung because some of the terms they use, such as civil unions or domestic partnerships, aren't on the form. Although several GLBT groups are encouraging same-sex couples to participate in the census, they aren't telling them how to fill out the form. Instead, they are encouraging them to choose the term that applies best to their relationships.
"The information we have on marital status does not capture that relationship; we are forcing people to mark what is closest to how they visualize their relationship," Martin O'Connell, the Census Bureau's chief of fertility and family statistics, said of same-sex couples. "No survey can show the absolute truth."
One reason the 2010 census enumeration is significant is because none of the states that allow gay couples to marry uniformly collects or publishes data on those unions. That makes it difficult to get an accurate count of the number of same-sex couples.
Recognizing the opportunity to have some accounting, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is sponsoring the "Our Families Count" campaign to educate gay couples about their options.
"The census is one of the most credible paths to visibility," said Bob Witeck, who is heading the campaign's endeavor. "It's going to show the face of gay families."
The reality is that same-sex couples "live in a murky legal and social environment around their relationship," Gates said. Many gay couples in long-term committed relationships say they won't check the spouse box, because in most states they still can't legally marry.
Some gay rights groups say the census has taken steps in the right direction, but they want greater clarity about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force wants a question regarding sexual orientation to be added to federal surveys. It is urging its members to "queer the census" and seal their envelope with a pink sticker that reads "everyone should be counted." The stickers allow individuals to check whether they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or a straight ally.
Last month the Office of Management and Budget convened meetings with other federal agencies to determine how all census data should be collected in the future. It has enlisted focus groups to discuss the varying ways people identify themselves.
While it may be a while before more changes are made, O'Connell said he expects some modifications because there are "better ways of describing the relationships people are entering into."
Gay couples, many of whom are not aware of the 2010 census changes, have just started having conversations about how to fill out this year's form.
Meyers, 52, and Yatzeck, 47, said they had not thought about it until asked by a reporter. Meyers' initial response was to declare the couple "unmarried partners." Yatzeck, however, thought referring to each other as spouses was more accurate.
"We will give the answer that sends a message," Meyers said. "Does that mean every gay and lesbian couple is going to fill it out and self-identify? Probably not. We are never going to get absolute quantitative data."
Pat Ewert, 61, said it would be impossible to have enough answer bubbles to reflect how people see themselves. She and her partner of seven months, Vernita Gray, both said they will choose the "unmarried partners."
"There's no need to play house. We can't get legally married in Illinois," said Gray, 61. "I want to be counted, but I also want to count."
Ellen Meyers and Elena Yatzeck changed the pronouns in the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer for their 2008 commitment ceremony.
More than 200 friends and family watched them exchange nuptials on the North Side in a ritual they equated with marriage.
"It was about making a public statement in a familiar way," Yatzeck said. "It changed how they perceived us."
Now, the couple is weighing how they want the country to view their union. For the first time, the census will allow same-sex couples to identify as husband or wife, and will count their responses. The couple is still deciding how they will identify themselves, since their civil commitment isn't recognized by the state of Illinois.
"We have to figure out how we want to do that," Yatzeck said. "(Gay couples) should separate the emotions from the public policy to accurately reflect how we live."
Same-sex couples will have two ways to characterize their relationships on the 2010 census: They can choose "husband or wife" or "unmarried partners." The census will publicly report those responses and recognize demographic differences, such as their ethnicities, where they live, and whether they're raising children, between the two groups.
The modification is an attempt to capture the changing nature of American households. It is part of the evolution of the decennial survey, which adapts to the social climate and is being advertised this year as a snapshot of America.
In response to advocacy from demographers and national gay rights groups, the Obama administration quietly reversed federal policy this summer to allow the Census Bureau to publish tabulations that tell us how many same-sex couples consider themselves husbands or wives.
Previously, if same-sex couples checked that they were "husband or wife," that information was automatically coded as "unmarried partners." The policy was established during the Clinton administration and maintained under the Bush administration because gay couples could not legally get married, and officials said it was more accurate to call them unmarried partners.
In the decade since the last census, however, laws have changed. In 2004, starting with Massachusetts, gay couples were given the right to legally marry. Four other states — Iowa, Connecticut, Vermont and New Hampshire — have full marriage equality. And New York and Washington, D.C., recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states.
Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender groups (GLBT) advocated for a census methodology that would accurately account for how married couples and those identifying as partners in these groups live, such as their income and education levels, the same as the census does for heterosexual couples.
The 2010 count, however, should not be interpreted as a federal estimate of how many legally married same-sex couples live in the United States. Technically, it's only going to count how many same-sex couples use the term husband or wife to describe their partners.
"This is the first time you see what is considered the gold standard agency begin to collect data on the LGBT population," said Gary Gates, a demographer at the Williams Institute of UCLA's law school. "Even if the data aren't completely accurate, it gives us a more nuanced picture."
The bureau recognizes that same-sex couples are hamstrung because some of the terms they use, such as civil unions or domestic partnerships, aren't on the form. Although several GLBT groups are encouraging same-sex couples to participate in the census, they aren't telling them how to fill out the form. Instead, they are encouraging them to choose the term that applies best to their relationships.
"The information we have on marital status does not capture that relationship; we are forcing people to mark what is closest to how they visualize their relationship," Martin O'Connell, the Census Bureau's chief of fertility and family statistics, said of same-sex couples. "No survey can show the absolute truth."
One reason the 2010 census enumeration is significant is because none of the states that allow gay couples to marry uniformly collects or publishes data on those unions. That makes it difficult to get an accurate count of the number of same-sex couples.
Recognizing the opportunity to have some accounting, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation is sponsoring the "Our Families Count" campaign to educate gay couples about their options.
"The census is one of the most credible paths to visibility," said Bob Witeck, who is heading the campaign's endeavor. "It's going to show the face of gay families."
The reality is that same-sex couples "live in a murky legal and social environment around their relationship," Gates said. Many gay couples in long-term committed relationships say they won't check the spouse box, because in most states they still can't legally marry.
Some gay rights groups say the census has taken steps in the right direction, but they want greater clarity about the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender population. The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force wants a question regarding sexual orientation to be added to federal surveys. It is urging its members to "queer the census" and seal their envelope with a pink sticker that reads "everyone should be counted." The stickers allow individuals to check whether they are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or a straight ally.
Last month the Office of Management and Budget convened meetings with other federal agencies to determine how all census data should be collected in the future. It has enlisted focus groups to discuss the varying ways people identify themselves.
While it may be a while before more changes are made, O'Connell said he expects some modifications because there are "better ways of describing the relationships people are entering into."
Gay couples, many of whom are not aware of the 2010 census changes, have just started having conversations about how to fill out this year's form.
Meyers, 52, and Yatzeck, 47, said they had not thought about it until asked by a reporter. Meyers' initial response was to declare the couple "unmarried partners." Yatzeck, however, thought referring to each other as spouses was more accurate.
"We will give the answer that sends a message," Meyers said. "Does that mean every gay and lesbian couple is going to fill it out and self-identify? Probably not. We are never going to get absolute quantitative data."
Pat Ewert, 61, said it would be impossible to have enough answer bubbles to reflect how people see themselves. She and her partner of seven months, Vernita Gray, both said they will choose the "unmarried partners."
"There's no need to play house. We can't get legally married in Illinois," said Gray, 61. "I want to be counted, but I also want to count."
Senate empowers EFCC to prosecute corrupt office holders
By Emmanuel Aziken
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is to take primary role in the prosecution of indicted political office holders under proposals adopted by the Senate that stripped the Independent and Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, ICPC, of that duty.
The Senate’s move came at the commencement of deliberations on the report on the EFCC (Establishment) bill, yesterday.
The Senate, however, deferred consideration till today of a proposal in the bill seeking to strip individuals believed to be in possession of property believed to be above their income levels.
The proposals were articulated in the report on the bill jointly prepared by the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption and the Committee on Judiciary.
The report on the EFCC Amendment Bill sponsored by Senator Sola Akinyede (PDP, Ekiti South) has also endorsed a civil forfeiture plan that would compel the forfeiture of “money, stocks, property acquired in breach” of the provisions of the anti-graft law.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, is to take primary role in the prosecution of indicted political office holders under proposals adopted by the Senate that stripped the Independent and Corrupt Practices and other related Offences Commission, ICPC, of that duty.
The Senate’s move came at the commencement of deliberations on the report on the EFCC (Establishment) bill, yesterday.
The Senate, however, deferred consideration till today of a proposal in the bill seeking to strip individuals believed to be in possession of property believed to be above their income levels.
The proposals were articulated in the report on the bill jointly prepared by the Senate Committee on Drugs, Narcotics, Financial Crimes and Anti-Corruption and the Committee on Judiciary.
The report on the EFCC Amendment Bill sponsored by Senator Sola Akinyede (PDP, Ekiti South) has also endorsed a civil forfeiture plan that would compel the forfeiture of “money, stocks, property acquired in breach” of the provisions of the anti-graft law.
Kenyan police raid 'gay wedding' and arrest five men
Police in Mtwapa, just north of the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa, say they have arrested five men whom they accuse of being homosexuals.
District officer George Matandura said two of the men had been found with wedding rings, attempting to get married, in Kikambala beach resort.
The other three men were handed to the police by members of the public; two of them had reportedly been beaten.
Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya but arrests are extremely rare.
Crowds gathered outside the police station where the men were taken in protest at the presence of alleged homosexuals.
The wedding was reportedly due to take place at a private villa in the resort, but locals heard of the plans and alerted the police, who raided a house and arrested the men.
'Repugnant' behaviour
"We are grateful to the public for alerting the police. They should continue co-operating with the police to arrest more," Mr Matundura said.
"It is an offence, an unnatural offence, and also their behaviour is repugnant to the morality of the people."
We shall use all means to curb this vice
Sheikh Ali Hussein
Council of Imams and Preachers
The district officer said the five, aged between 20 and 35, would "undergo a medical examination before we charge them with homosexuality," the AFP news agency reported.
"We will move swiftly and close down bars which condone gays, lesbians, prostitution and drug abuse in their premises," Mr Matundura added.
A member of a Kenyan gay rights organisation condemned the arrests and said it had appealed to the Human Rights Commission to step in.
But the marriage allegedly planned was condemned by Muslim and Christian clerics.
"We cannot allow these young boys to ruin their future through homosexuality," Sheikh Ali Hussein of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya told AFP.
"We shall use all means to curb this vice."
Bishop Lawrence Chai, of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, said: "This is immoral and we shall not allow it, especially here in Mtwapa."
The five men are due to appear in court soon.
Media coverage
On Thursday, two other men abandoned their plans to get married at a seaside villa in the same area after local authorities complained.
The couple and their guests fled the coastal city when word spread that the police, government officers and members of the public were looking for them.
Homosexual behaviour is illegal in many African countries.
Four months ago, a Kenyan gay couple became civil partners in a ceremony in London - an event which received wide media coverage inside Kenya.
District officer George Matandura said two of the men had been found with wedding rings, attempting to get married, in Kikambala beach resort.
The other three men were handed to the police by members of the public; two of them had reportedly been beaten.
Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya but arrests are extremely rare.
Crowds gathered outside the police station where the men were taken in protest at the presence of alleged homosexuals.
The wedding was reportedly due to take place at a private villa in the resort, but locals heard of the plans and alerted the police, who raided a house and arrested the men.
'Repugnant' behaviour
"We are grateful to the public for alerting the police. They should continue co-operating with the police to arrest more," Mr Matundura said.
"It is an offence, an unnatural offence, and also their behaviour is repugnant to the morality of the people."
We shall use all means to curb this vice
Sheikh Ali Hussein
Council of Imams and Preachers
The district officer said the five, aged between 20 and 35, would "undergo a medical examination before we charge them with homosexuality," the AFP news agency reported.
"We will move swiftly and close down bars which condone gays, lesbians, prostitution and drug abuse in their premises," Mr Matundura added.
A member of a Kenyan gay rights organisation condemned the arrests and said it had appealed to the Human Rights Commission to step in.
But the marriage allegedly planned was condemned by Muslim and Christian clerics.
"We cannot allow these young boys to ruin their future through homosexuality," Sheikh Ali Hussein of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya told AFP.
"We shall use all means to curb this vice."
Bishop Lawrence Chai, of the National Council of Churches of Kenya, said: "This is immoral and we shall not allow it, especially here in Mtwapa."
The five men are due to appear in court soon.
Media coverage
On Thursday, two other men abandoned their plans to get married at a seaside villa in the same area after local authorities complained.
The couple and their guests fled the coastal city when word spread that the police, government officers and members of the public were looking for them.
Homosexual behaviour is illegal in many African countries.
Four months ago, a Kenyan gay couple became civil partners in a ceremony in London - an event which received wide media coverage inside Kenya.
Turkey urged to end discriminatory clampdown on gay rights groups
Amnesty International called on the Turkish authorities to end its harassment of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations after a new attempt to close down an LGBT group through the courts began on Tuesday.
The case against the Black Pink Triangle association, which has worked in the city of Izmir to combat discrimination against LGBT people in since it was founded in February 2009, was adjourned after the first hearing, amid fears that the Turkish authorities will engage the group in a protracted - yet groundless - legal battle.
The association faces closure following a complaint by the Izmir Governor's Office that its aims violate "Turkish moral values and family structure".
"The decision to adjourn the hearing rather than dismiss this baseless and discriminatory case is a signal that the judicial harassment of LGBT associations continues," said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's Turkey researcher.
Amnesty International is concerned that this closure case follows similar cases targeting LGBT associations in recent years.
Cases were brought against LGBT association KAOS-GL in 2005 and Pembe Hayat (Pink Life) in 2006. In April 2009, the solidarity group Lambda Istanbul won its appeal against the closure of the association - but only after an arduous four-year legal battle.
In the trial, which was observed by Amnesty International, lawyers for Black Pink Triangle association called on the court to uphold the right to freedom of association.
The public prosecutor stated that if the authorities did not audit associations such as the Black Pink Triangle, it "would turn social life into anarchy".
The case was adjourned until 20 April after the judge said there had been letters from abroad regarding the case that he wanted translated before continuing.
Outside the court, Black Pink Triangle association issued a statement criticizing the authorities for attempting to close an LGBT association at a time when LGBT people are victims of hate crimes in Turkey.
"The only way for LGBT people to resist the oppression, isolation and marginalization in social life due to their sexual orientation and gender identity is through solidarity and coming together," said the Black Pink Triangle spokesperson.
"A protracted legal battle, hampering the vital work done by Black Pink Triangle in defending the rights of LGBT individuals, would be a further indictment of Turkey's failure to uphold the right to freedom of association and non-discrimination." said Andrew Gardner.
The case against the Black Pink Triangle association, which has worked in the city of Izmir to combat discrimination against LGBT people in since it was founded in February 2009, was adjourned after the first hearing, amid fears that the Turkish authorities will engage the group in a protracted - yet groundless - legal battle.
The association faces closure following a complaint by the Izmir Governor's Office that its aims violate "Turkish moral values and family structure".
"The decision to adjourn the hearing rather than dismiss this baseless and discriminatory case is a signal that the judicial harassment of LGBT associations continues," said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's Turkey researcher.
Amnesty International is concerned that this closure case follows similar cases targeting LGBT associations in recent years.
Cases were brought against LGBT association KAOS-GL in 2005 and Pembe Hayat (Pink Life) in 2006. In April 2009, the solidarity group Lambda Istanbul won its appeal against the closure of the association - but only after an arduous four-year legal battle.
In the trial, which was observed by Amnesty International, lawyers for Black Pink Triangle association called on the court to uphold the right to freedom of association.
The public prosecutor stated that if the authorities did not audit associations such as the Black Pink Triangle, it "would turn social life into anarchy".
The case was adjourned until 20 April after the judge said there had been letters from abroad regarding the case that he wanted translated before continuing.
Outside the court, Black Pink Triangle association issued a statement criticizing the authorities for attempting to close an LGBT association at a time when LGBT people are victims of hate crimes in Turkey.
"The only way for LGBT people to resist the oppression, isolation and marginalization in social life due to their sexual orientation and gender identity is through solidarity and coming together," said the Black Pink Triangle spokesperson.
"A protracted legal battle, hampering the vital work done by Black Pink Triangle in defending the rights of LGBT individuals, would be a further indictment of Turkey's failure to uphold the right to freedom of association and non-discrimination." said Andrew Gardner.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan: Profile
By Nengi Ilagha
Against the background of resounding calls by discerning Nigerians to restore faith in the rule of law and follow the Constitution to the letter in the matter of a credible helmsman for the nation, Nengi Josef Ilagha, his former speech writer, provides an insight into the life of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Acting President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Think not what your country can do for you,
but what you can do for your country. - John F. Kennedy
ON NOVEMBER 20, 1957, when a peasant farmer named Jonathan and his wife gave birth to a baby boy at their humble homestead in Otuoke, they never imagined that the boy would become famous beyond the rural confines of Ogbia kingdom. Not for once did it occur to them that this boy would one day become the first Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State rising, by dint of hard work and the intervention of fate, to become Governor.
Even so, the paternal grandmother of this jolly good chap had a vision for her grandson. She called him Azikiwe, in the hope that the illustrious name would leave a political imprint of glory on his impressionable mind, and lead him to repeat the exploits of the Great Zik of Africa. The old woman did not hope in vain. Early in life, the lad marked himself apart from his peers. He was christened Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Today, many years after he took up chalk and slate, he holds a doctorate degree in Zoology and serves under President Umar Musa Yar’Adua as the first Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to emerge from the south-south geo-political zone in the 49-year history of Nigeria.
Young Goodluck Jonathan began his primary education at St Stephen’s Primary School (now State School, Otuoke) and later moved to St Michael’s Primary School, Oloibiri, where he completed his elementary education in 1969, at the age of 12. His leadership traits began to come up for reckoning in the course of his secondary school days. In 1973, while in form three, he was appointed class prefect and Secretary of the Food Committee, an administrative body of hostel masters and senior students. He occupied that position up to form five. As the prime prefect of Masterson House, he soon assumed the exalted office of Chairman, Committee of Prefects. Like a gold fish, he could no longer hide. Two years later, in 1975, he obtained his West African School Certificate from the famous Mater Dei High School, Imiringi, passing out with a distinction.
Afterward, Goodluck Jonathan worked as a Preventive Officer with the Department of Customs and Excise, proud of his khaki uniform, his new rank, and the official pistol by his side, stuck in its holster. In 1977, he secured admission into the Department of Zoology, a pioneer student of the newly established University of Port Harcourt. After a studious tenure there, he bagged a Bachelor of Science degree in 1981, graduating with a Second Class Honours (Upper Division).
As a corps member, Goodluck served Nigeria devotedly as a humble classroom teacher at Iresi, a community in Oyo State, now in Osun State. At the end of the NYSC programme in 1982, the young man took up appointment as a classroom teacher under the auspices of the Rivers State Civil Service Commission, and began to cultivate his independent-minded spirit. Following his exceptional performance at the interview, he was promptly upgraded to the rank of Science Inspector of Education in the Ministry of Education.
But then, Goodluck Jonathan always knew that he had a bond with the academia that he couldn’t deny. Accordingly, in November 1983, he left the mainstream civil service for the Rivers State College of Education, Port Harcourt, where he picked up his chalk again, standing before the blackboard and drawing diagrams, content with his status as a lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences. He was elected as a Representative of Congress in the Senior Appointments and Promotions Committee of the College. He performed his duties to great acclaim until he voluntarily resigned his appointment.
Given his dogged quest for knowledge, however, he propelled himself to obtain a Masters degree in Hydro-Biology and Fisheries Biology in 1985. It is on record that from his primary school right through tertiary education, Goodluck Jonathan never failed any terminal or semester examination. Ultimately, in 1995, after a long dream of academic fulfillment, he bagged his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt.
With the creation of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC, in October 1992, Dr Jonathan was called to serve as Assistant Director, Ecology, in March 1993 in the Directorate of Environmental Protection and Pollution Control. He was in charge of the Environmental Protection Sub-Department of the Commission. He performed creditably in that capacity, until he voluntarily left the service of the Commission in 1998.
Simple and unassuming, humble to a fault, none of his friends, colleagues and associates ever expected Dr Goodluck Jonathan to jump into the rough waters of Nigerian politics. But that is exactly what he did. Inspired by the words of Isaac Adaka Boro, determined to advance the welfare and progress of his people on a larger scale, he ventured into politics in 1998, with a hopeful heart beating in his chest. At the dawn of the Fourth Republic, Dr Jonathan pitched tent with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and emerged as the running mate to the party’s gubernatorial flag-bearer, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. The duo emerged triumphant at the polls in the 1999 governorship election, and so Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan stepped into office as the first Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State.
A cautious, disciplined and seasoned administrator, his dedication to service earned him the Best Performing Deputy Governor Award, as well as the Honourary Award for Democracy and Good Governance. Given his contributions to Environmental Management, he was decorated with the prestigious Honourary Fellowship of the Nigerian Environmental Society. A member of various professional associations around the world, he remains a Fellow of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria, FISON, Fellow of the Public Administrators of Nigeria, Fellow, International Association of Impact Assessment, IAIA, and Fellow, Institute of Corporate Affairs Management. He is also a member, Science Teachers Association of Nigeria, and Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary International.
A man of apparent honesty, an astute and dependable politician, a thought-provoking teacher, technocrat and peace maker, an achiever of no mean distinction, he remains popular amongst his people. He abides in the consciousness of his friends, associates and record keepers as a builder of unity bridges.
Indeed Goodluck Ebele Jonathan qualifies as a lover of truth, a perfect gentleman deserving of honour, a caring husband to his loving wife, Patience Faka Jonathan, and a great father and friend to his adorable children, Aruabai Jonathan and Adolphus Ariweri Jonathan. Like a tree solidly rooted in the earth, he holds an unshakeable belief in the oneness and brotherhood, not only of the Ogbia clan and his home state, Bayelsa, but of our great nation, Nigeria.
These are the invaluable personal and public testimonies that enabled him to worm a path into the heart of his friend and current boss, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua. Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Grand Commander of the Order of Nigeria, GCON, was sworn into office as Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2007.
"Nengi Ilagha" booktreasure2005@yahoo.com
Against the background of resounding calls by discerning Nigerians to restore faith in the rule of law and follow the Constitution to the letter in the matter of a credible helmsman for the nation, Nengi Josef Ilagha, his former speech writer, provides an insight into the life of Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Acting President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Think not what your country can do for you,
but what you can do for your country. - John F. Kennedy
ON NOVEMBER 20, 1957, when a peasant farmer named Jonathan and his wife gave birth to a baby boy at their humble homestead in Otuoke, they never imagined that the boy would become famous beyond the rural confines of Ogbia kingdom. Not for once did it occur to them that this boy would one day become the first Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State rising, by dint of hard work and the intervention of fate, to become Governor.
Even so, the paternal grandmother of this jolly good chap had a vision for her grandson. She called him Azikiwe, in the hope that the illustrious name would leave a political imprint of glory on his impressionable mind, and lead him to repeat the exploits of the Great Zik of Africa. The old woman did not hope in vain. Early in life, the lad marked himself apart from his peers. He was christened Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Today, many years after he took up chalk and slate, he holds a doctorate degree in Zoology and serves under President Umar Musa Yar’Adua as the first Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to emerge from the south-south geo-political zone in the 49-year history of Nigeria.
Young Goodluck Jonathan began his primary education at St Stephen’s Primary School (now State School, Otuoke) and later moved to St Michael’s Primary School, Oloibiri, where he completed his elementary education in 1969, at the age of 12. His leadership traits began to come up for reckoning in the course of his secondary school days. In 1973, while in form three, he was appointed class prefect and Secretary of the Food Committee, an administrative body of hostel masters and senior students. He occupied that position up to form five. As the prime prefect of Masterson House, he soon assumed the exalted office of Chairman, Committee of Prefects. Like a gold fish, he could no longer hide. Two years later, in 1975, he obtained his West African School Certificate from the famous Mater Dei High School, Imiringi, passing out with a distinction.
Afterward, Goodluck Jonathan worked as a Preventive Officer with the Department of Customs and Excise, proud of his khaki uniform, his new rank, and the official pistol by his side, stuck in its holster. In 1977, he secured admission into the Department of Zoology, a pioneer student of the newly established University of Port Harcourt. After a studious tenure there, he bagged a Bachelor of Science degree in 1981, graduating with a Second Class Honours (Upper Division).
As a corps member, Goodluck served Nigeria devotedly as a humble classroom teacher at Iresi, a community in Oyo State, now in Osun State. At the end of the NYSC programme in 1982, the young man took up appointment as a classroom teacher under the auspices of the Rivers State Civil Service Commission, and began to cultivate his independent-minded spirit. Following his exceptional performance at the interview, he was promptly upgraded to the rank of Science Inspector of Education in the Ministry of Education.
But then, Goodluck Jonathan always knew that he had a bond with the academia that he couldn’t deny. Accordingly, in November 1983, he left the mainstream civil service for the Rivers State College of Education, Port Harcourt, where he picked up his chalk again, standing before the blackboard and drawing diagrams, content with his status as a lecturer in the Department of Biological Sciences. He was elected as a Representative of Congress in the Senior Appointments and Promotions Committee of the College. He performed his duties to great acclaim until he voluntarily resigned his appointment.
Given his dogged quest for knowledge, however, he propelled himself to obtain a Masters degree in Hydro-Biology and Fisheries Biology in 1985. It is on record that from his primary school right through tertiary education, Goodluck Jonathan never failed any terminal or semester examination. Ultimately, in 1995, after a long dream of academic fulfillment, he bagged his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt.
With the creation of the Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC, in October 1992, Dr Jonathan was called to serve as Assistant Director, Ecology, in March 1993 in the Directorate of Environmental Protection and Pollution Control. He was in charge of the Environmental Protection Sub-Department of the Commission. He performed creditably in that capacity, until he voluntarily left the service of the Commission in 1998.
Simple and unassuming, humble to a fault, none of his friends, colleagues and associates ever expected Dr Goodluck Jonathan to jump into the rough waters of Nigerian politics. But that is exactly what he did. Inspired by the words of Isaac Adaka Boro, determined to advance the welfare and progress of his people on a larger scale, he ventured into politics in 1998, with a hopeful heart beating in his chest. At the dawn of the Fourth Republic, Dr Jonathan pitched tent with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and emerged as the running mate to the party’s gubernatorial flag-bearer, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. The duo emerged triumphant at the polls in the 1999 governorship election, and so Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan stepped into office as the first Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State.
A cautious, disciplined and seasoned administrator, his dedication to service earned him the Best Performing Deputy Governor Award, as well as the Honourary Award for Democracy and Good Governance. Given his contributions to Environmental Management, he was decorated with the prestigious Honourary Fellowship of the Nigerian Environmental Society. A member of various professional associations around the world, he remains a Fellow of the Fisheries Society of Nigeria, FISON, Fellow of the Public Administrators of Nigeria, Fellow, International Association of Impact Assessment, IAIA, and Fellow, Institute of Corporate Affairs Management. He is also a member, Science Teachers Association of Nigeria, and Paul Harris Fellow, Rotary International.
A man of apparent honesty, an astute and dependable politician, a thought-provoking teacher, technocrat and peace maker, an achiever of no mean distinction, he remains popular amongst his people. He abides in the consciousness of his friends, associates and record keepers as a builder of unity bridges.
Indeed Goodluck Ebele Jonathan qualifies as a lover of truth, a perfect gentleman deserving of honour, a caring husband to his loving wife, Patience Faka Jonathan, and a great father and friend to his adorable children, Aruabai Jonathan and Adolphus Ariweri Jonathan. Like a tree solidly rooted in the earth, he holds an unshakeable belief in the oneness and brotherhood, not only of the Ogbia clan and his home state, Bayelsa, but of our great nation, Nigeria.
These are the invaluable personal and public testimonies that enabled him to worm a path into the heart of his friend and current boss, Alhaji Umar Musa Yar’Adua. Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Grand Commander of the Order of Nigeria, GCON, was sworn into office as Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2007.
"Nengi Ilagha" booktreasure2005@yahoo.com
JONATHAN, NEW CAPTAIN MUST CHOOSE OWN PLAYERS
FROM THE GUARDIAN
ALHAJI Abdulrahman Mohammed, a chieftain of the pan-North political organization, Arew Consultative Forum (ACF) and former Vice president of Kaduna Chamber of Commence, Industry, Agriculture and Mines (KADCCIMA) spoke to Saxone Akhaine in Kaduna. Excerpts:
What is your reaction to last week's resolution of National Assembly vesting power on Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as Acting President?
It is not the best, but it has created a safety value for the pressure Nigeria is going through. You know, the political and economic phases of the country have been over-charged. The economic phase has been given the banking reform. The political has just got its safety valve: when there is too much pressure there would be explosion, unless there is a safety valve. The ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been digging in, digging in enough to make a military regime more democratic then the democracy that we are operating, they were not running a democracy. Everything is on the threshold of illegality. We are a decent country. Nigerians are the best operators in foreign countries Nigerians have strong business acumen, from the Ibos to every body.
A Yoruba Nigerian just got the concession for Gatwick Airport in London, to operate it. The Nigerian has been in America for 25 years. That is what Nigeria is known for. Not the mess of the political situation we've been thrown in, in the last 14 years. This action of the National Assembly was a safety valve, a very good one. Addressing whether it will be sealed or not, we must accept it. When they were carrying out their illegalities before this time, we accepted it. Nigerians don't know how to obey laws, because the leaders don't care about the laws. That is why all the tactics of Michael Aondoakaa, the former Attorney General didn't amuse anybody. We have carried statecraft to those dubious limits where it is personal interest that matters and not national interest.
The National Assembly, in terms of the attendance to their jobs, the quality of discussions, and debates on the floor of the Assembly and everything, have alienated themselves from the people, from being their representatives. It got to a point they were no longer representing the interests of Nigerians but themselves. We have a country where the people desire that things should get better, but we have representatives who didn't care about the country getting better, because they were over-paid. Any man who is making dubious profits from his business will misbehave.
I must tell you that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan now has the goodwill that the people in government never had. He is a fine. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua got completely messed up. We have all been praying for him, both Christians and Muslims, for God to make him better. Now he has enough time to rest. We can now talk to each other as Nigerians who have a stake in Nigeria. This is no time any longer hiding under the cover of a sick President and unlashing corruption, banditry on our common wealth and or our common good. Now, I commend the Acting President for deploying Aondoakaa. He had created a lot of pressure within the system. His going is good. When you have a football team and the captain whom everybody has relied on turns ill, you must have another captain. The captain you are getting is either the deputy captain or somebody from the team. In our own situation, it is the Vice President. He has been part of the system, been watching and he is a highly intelligent man.
Some say he (Acting President) is just a lucky man while others say he is ambitious... (cuts in)....
Not ambitious; he is behaving the name God gave to him. His parents were full of wisdom, because not everybody that has been Jonathan is necessarily lucky. Right from day one up to this day, he did not fight for anything, he just got it. And we do hope that Luck will manifest itself in Nigeria's problems and we would get out of our problems. You don't expect the new captain of a team not to re-arrange the players. He knows better what he wants to do. We don't want a Jonathan that will finish in 2011 and fail; no, he knows what he wants to achieve, the buck now stops on his table. And if he doesn't want politicians to use him to create the excuse for the failure of our democracy, he has to choose those who will help him to deliver. And having been part of the stakeholders, and the victims or beneficiaries of the misdirection in the area of Niger-Delta, that feeling and that pain will make Jonathan deliver to Nigerians. The Niger-Delta issue has been mishandled from day one. In the North we don't know about degradation and pollution; we know about desertification. And the desertification here is creating problems too for all of us. See poverty walking on four legs on the streets in the North. But the Niger-Delta issue in Nigeria should be a prime issue because that is where are get our lifeline where we get our food; that is where we get money to run our governments.
I am advising Jonathan to ensure less government in Nigeria. We have too much governments and bureaucracies. We have too many powers and little or no action. All these are what is creating the corruption. Power is eating up the money and resources of the nation and the people are dying of hunger daily. If you look at the amount of money they are spending in Abuja, on projects and other things, it can build and feed twice the size of Nigeria. It can build many cities. And they should better start building the cities in the Niger-Delta. Even Angola is building a new city in that country. It has just found oil. We have been in oil exploration for years now let us follow the path of other oil-producing nations in development activities.
The government should start with building new city in Niger-Delta if they want the oil money to continue to flow, so that the restiveness of militants in the area could be brought down; the people must be made to have a sense of belonging if the unity of our country is to have meaning. We have been saying things; been letting the government know this since the period of the late Saro-Wiwa. We read about Isaac Boro, as children, we knew what happened. I had a personal discussion with Late Saro-wiwa during Abacha's time. If you go into a person's courtyard where there is a big mango tree and you throw stones, pluck the mangoes and do other things, if you finish, he will insist that you clean up the place. That is ordinary mango not to talk of Niger-Delta oil, which dominates our peoples lives.
The government of Jonathan must be serious to redress the Niger-Delta problem. We can't spend more on exploitation and overheads in Abuja and Nigeria than Niger-Delta can have attention. All of them are equal. Next, the lives and properties of Nigerians need protection. The people also need food. And I want to tell you, if you double the finance of police in Nigeria today, it will still not work. Unless they redress all the bad work the people have done in the past. The Boko Haram Leader, Yussuf, his father in-law just instituted a case against the police. A man presented himself at the police station, they caged him, the Boko Haram man was said to have been seen alive by the Army; in fact, the Army personnel handed him over to the police, then the next thing we heard was he was dead in police custody. In Jos, more than 150 people were removed from wells. BBC confirmed that there were more than 150 people removed from wells. And police said that 26 people were dead. The police need to change. We have able and responsible people in the police force, our operational mode should change.
How do want the Acting President, Jonathan to run his administration now that he is in full control of the economy?
Economic advancement of the nation is not an easy task. But, I advise Acting President Jonathan to put attention on the Niger-Delta area. All the promises made to the people should be fulfilled. That budget that they claimed Umaru Yar'Adua signed should be prepared, vetted and given to Jonathan to put his signature on it because that budget was essentially meant to solve some of the teething problems, including those of the Niger-Delta Area. They should review the finances of the National Assembly. They should set up a committee to review the wages and salaries of the National Assembly members. And they should work out new salaries and allowances of the National Assembly and re-direct the excess funds into the development of the economy.
It is unacceptable for a Senator or member of House of Representatives, as it is now to receive a totality of more than N10 million monthly. The disparity between the wages in the private sector and public sector should also be looked into immediately. Those are the issues presently encouraging corruption in the system. The gap in wages and salaries as in the Public and private sectors is too much. After all, it is the same resources capacity they are engaged in or employing. That is what has fuelled corruption in Nigeria. The issue of the refineries is another subject that should engage Jonathan's attention. You cannot sell refineries and expect them to work under private institutions that have stolen money from Nigeria treating or benefitted from the corrupted Nigerian establishment that sold out refineries and expect them to work
I assure you that if the government is serious about the refineries they will work. Jonathan should set up groups to look into power, oil sector and other areas in the economy that need attention. All these things they are claiming are too much and it is all lies. They have been stealing the money. And let the Acting President get the CBN governor Sanusi Lamido to come out with the investigation of those who chopped off the N25 Billion in banks. Let them come out with where they found the money, where the money came from, in the last 16 years. Not to allow people to start living in corruption. You can see that in the case of the refineries, it is the top Nigerians that have been working in NNPC that killed them. All appointments in NNPC should last for only eight years. You pay them so much money and when they go on retirement, you are paying them the same salaries they are earning while they were working, throughout their lifetime. Why is this so? And yet, we still don't have refineries to give us fuel in Nigeria.
So, why are they still on big salaries in NNPC while the refineries are not working? All other international oil sectors in other countries have their refineries working but ours are dead and nobody cares. They keep on importing fuel at outrageous prices and we are under pressures as Nigerians while others are making huge profits. These are the issues that the Acting President must give attention to.
ALHAJI Abdulrahman Mohammed, a chieftain of the pan-North political organization, Arew Consultative Forum (ACF) and former Vice president of Kaduna Chamber of Commence, Industry, Agriculture and Mines (KADCCIMA) spoke to Saxone Akhaine in Kaduna. Excerpts:
What is your reaction to last week's resolution of National Assembly vesting power on Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan as Acting President?
It is not the best, but it has created a safety value for the pressure Nigeria is going through. You know, the political and economic phases of the country have been over-charged. The economic phase has been given the banking reform. The political has just got its safety valve: when there is too much pressure there would be explosion, unless there is a safety valve. The ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been digging in, digging in enough to make a military regime more democratic then the democracy that we are operating, they were not running a democracy. Everything is on the threshold of illegality. We are a decent country. Nigerians are the best operators in foreign countries Nigerians have strong business acumen, from the Ibos to every body.
A Yoruba Nigerian just got the concession for Gatwick Airport in London, to operate it. The Nigerian has been in America for 25 years. That is what Nigeria is known for. Not the mess of the political situation we've been thrown in, in the last 14 years. This action of the National Assembly was a safety valve, a very good one. Addressing whether it will be sealed or not, we must accept it. When they were carrying out their illegalities before this time, we accepted it. Nigerians don't know how to obey laws, because the leaders don't care about the laws. That is why all the tactics of Michael Aondoakaa, the former Attorney General didn't amuse anybody. We have carried statecraft to those dubious limits where it is personal interest that matters and not national interest.
The National Assembly, in terms of the attendance to their jobs, the quality of discussions, and debates on the floor of the Assembly and everything, have alienated themselves from the people, from being their representatives. It got to a point they were no longer representing the interests of Nigerians but themselves. We have a country where the people desire that things should get better, but we have representatives who didn't care about the country getting better, because they were over-paid. Any man who is making dubious profits from his business will misbehave.
I must tell you that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan now has the goodwill that the people in government never had. He is a fine. Umaru Musa Yar'Adua got completely messed up. We have all been praying for him, both Christians and Muslims, for God to make him better. Now he has enough time to rest. We can now talk to each other as Nigerians who have a stake in Nigeria. This is no time any longer hiding under the cover of a sick President and unlashing corruption, banditry on our common wealth and or our common good. Now, I commend the Acting President for deploying Aondoakaa. He had created a lot of pressure within the system. His going is good. When you have a football team and the captain whom everybody has relied on turns ill, you must have another captain. The captain you are getting is either the deputy captain or somebody from the team. In our own situation, it is the Vice President. He has been part of the system, been watching and he is a highly intelligent man.
Some say he (Acting President) is just a lucky man while others say he is ambitious... (cuts in)....
Not ambitious; he is behaving the name God gave to him. His parents were full of wisdom, because not everybody that has been Jonathan is necessarily lucky. Right from day one up to this day, he did not fight for anything, he just got it. And we do hope that Luck will manifest itself in Nigeria's problems and we would get out of our problems. You don't expect the new captain of a team not to re-arrange the players. He knows better what he wants to do. We don't want a Jonathan that will finish in 2011 and fail; no, he knows what he wants to achieve, the buck now stops on his table. And if he doesn't want politicians to use him to create the excuse for the failure of our democracy, he has to choose those who will help him to deliver. And having been part of the stakeholders, and the victims or beneficiaries of the misdirection in the area of Niger-Delta, that feeling and that pain will make Jonathan deliver to Nigerians. The Niger-Delta issue has been mishandled from day one. In the North we don't know about degradation and pollution; we know about desertification. And the desertification here is creating problems too for all of us. See poverty walking on four legs on the streets in the North. But the Niger-Delta issue in Nigeria should be a prime issue because that is where are get our lifeline where we get our food; that is where we get money to run our governments.
I am advising Jonathan to ensure less government in Nigeria. We have too much governments and bureaucracies. We have too many powers and little or no action. All these are what is creating the corruption. Power is eating up the money and resources of the nation and the people are dying of hunger daily. If you look at the amount of money they are spending in Abuja, on projects and other things, it can build and feed twice the size of Nigeria. It can build many cities. And they should better start building the cities in the Niger-Delta. Even Angola is building a new city in that country. It has just found oil. We have been in oil exploration for years now let us follow the path of other oil-producing nations in development activities.
The government should start with building new city in Niger-Delta if they want the oil money to continue to flow, so that the restiveness of militants in the area could be brought down; the people must be made to have a sense of belonging if the unity of our country is to have meaning. We have been saying things; been letting the government know this since the period of the late Saro-Wiwa. We read about Isaac Boro, as children, we knew what happened. I had a personal discussion with Late Saro-wiwa during Abacha's time. If you go into a person's courtyard where there is a big mango tree and you throw stones, pluck the mangoes and do other things, if you finish, he will insist that you clean up the place. That is ordinary mango not to talk of Niger-Delta oil, which dominates our peoples lives.
The government of Jonathan must be serious to redress the Niger-Delta problem. We can't spend more on exploitation and overheads in Abuja and Nigeria than Niger-Delta can have attention. All of them are equal. Next, the lives and properties of Nigerians need protection. The people also need food. And I want to tell you, if you double the finance of police in Nigeria today, it will still not work. Unless they redress all the bad work the people have done in the past. The Boko Haram Leader, Yussuf, his father in-law just instituted a case against the police. A man presented himself at the police station, they caged him, the Boko Haram man was said to have been seen alive by the Army; in fact, the Army personnel handed him over to the police, then the next thing we heard was he was dead in police custody. In Jos, more than 150 people were removed from wells. BBC confirmed that there were more than 150 people removed from wells. And police said that 26 people were dead. The police need to change. We have able and responsible people in the police force, our operational mode should change.
How do want the Acting President, Jonathan to run his administration now that he is in full control of the economy?
Economic advancement of the nation is not an easy task. But, I advise Acting President Jonathan to put attention on the Niger-Delta area. All the promises made to the people should be fulfilled. That budget that they claimed Umaru Yar'Adua signed should be prepared, vetted and given to Jonathan to put his signature on it because that budget was essentially meant to solve some of the teething problems, including those of the Niger-Delta Area. They should review the finances of the National Assembly. They should set up a committee to review the wages and salaries of the National Assembly members. And they should work out new salaries and allowances of the National Assembly and re-direct the excess funds into the development of the economy.
It is unacceptable for a Senator or member of House of Representatives, as it is now to receive a totality of more than N10 million monthly. The disparity between the wages in the private sector and public sector should also be looked into immediately. Those are the issues presently encouraging corruption in the system. The gap in wages and salaries as in the Public and private sectors is too much. After all, it is the same resources capacity they are engaged in or employing. That is what has fuelled corruption in Nigeria. The issue of the refineries is another subject that should engage Jonathan's attention. You cannot sell refineries and expect them to work under private institutions that have stolen money from Nigeria treating or benefitted from the corrupted Nigerian establishment that sold out refineries and expect them to work
I assure you that if the government is serious about the refineries they will work. Jonathan should set up groups to look into power, oil sector and other areas in the economy that need attention. All these things they are claiming are too much and it is all lies. They have been stealing the money. And let the Acting President get the CBN governor Sanusi Lamido to come out with the investigation of those who chopped off the N25 Billion in banks. Let them come out with where they found the money, where the money came from, in the last 16 years. Not to allow people to start living in corruption. You can see that in the case of the refineries, it is the top Nigerians that have been working in NNPC that killed them. All appointments in NNPC should last for only eight years. You pay them so much money and when they go on retirement, you are paying them the same salaries they are earning while they were working, throughout their lifetime. Why is this so? And yet, we still don't have refineries to give us fuel in Nigeria.
So, why are they still on big salaries in NNPC while the refineries are not working? All other international oil sectors in other countries have their refineries working but ours are dead and nobody cares. They keep on importing fuel at outrageous prices and we are under pressures as Nigerians while others are making huge profits. These are the issues that the Acting President must give attention to.
Jonathan Meets Babangida, Buhari, Others This Week
Goodluck, These people you are meeting will plot your downfall !!!
From George Oji
As part of his on-going general consultation with major stakeholders across the Nigerian nation since his assumption of office last week, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan will this week meet with former President Ibrahim Babangida and former Head of State, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). Jonathan is also expected to meet with some other key national leaders across the country within the week.
THISDAY gathered that the meeting with the two former leaders would have taken place last week but for the very tight schedule of the acting President.
Jonathan Friday night met with former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. THISDAY gathered that like the Thursday meeting between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan, the Friday night’s meeting with Abubakar took place at an undisclosed venue in Abuja. The meetings, THISDAY further gathered, are holding at the instance of the acting president and he is using the occasion to explain to the leaders the fact that the administration is a continuation of the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Presidency. Jonathan also listens to the advice offered him by the various leaders.
Presidency sources also told THISDAY that a meeting between the aides of President Yar’Adua and those of the acting President is also expected to hold this week. The meeting is to seek ways for the two teams to work together and cooperatively to advance the programme of the administration.
“We are going to have a meeting between the various aides to fashion out ways of working together for the good of the administration. After all, whether anybody likes it or not, it is still the same President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Presidency that is running,” the source explained.
Babangida and Buhari are expected to meet with Jonathan separately. The acting President had also met with Lt. Gen. T. Y. Danjuma.
Also last week, the group of some eminent elders led by former Head of State, Dr. Yakubu Gowon met with the acting President. Other members of the group who called on Jonathan at the Presidential Villa Abuja included former President Shehu Shagari, former Interim Head of State, Ernest Shonekan, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Alpha Belgore, former Governor of Plateau State, Chief Solomon Lar, Senators Jonathan Zwingina, Isaiah Balat, Chief Edwin Clark, Lt. Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, Ahmed Joda, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, and Mrs. Christy Silas
The acting President, while addressing the eminent elders during the visit, assured Nigerians of his determination to do what was right and in the larger interest of the majority of Nigerians. Jonathan’s explanation came after the elders had urged him to be “focused, courageous, decisive, firm, but fair, honest and just,” in the discharge of his office.
The elders had also advised Jonathan to scale down the seven-point agenda of the Yar’Adua’s administration to four in order to be effective and impactful on the lives of Nigerians. The four critical areas of focus according to the group were listed as free, fair and credible election, infrastructure, energy and power as well as peace and security.
Spokes person of the group and former Information and National Orientation Minister Professor Jerry Gana who fielded questions from State House Correspondents at the end of their parley said “the elders just came to wish the acting president well and to say to him be focused, courageous, decisive, firm, but fair, honest and just.”
The acting President had at the meeting also noted the need to emphasise what can be done quickly to impact positively on the lives of Nigerians within the shortest possible time.
He assured that the administration would work towards stable power supply, ensure adequate security of Nigerians through the on-going reform of the Police and improve on the Nigerian Police Force's intelligence gathering capacity.
From George Oji
As part of his on-going general consultation with major stakeholders across the Nigerian nation since his assumption of office last week, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan will this week meet with former President Ibrahim Babangida and former Head of State, Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd). Jonathan is also expected to meet with some other key national leaders across the country within the week.
THISDAY gathered that the meeting with the two former leaders would have taken place last week but for the very tight schedule of the acting President.
Jonathan Friday night met with former Head of State, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. THISDAY gathered that like the Thursday meeting between former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Jonathan, the Friday night’s meeting with Abubakar took place at an undisclosed venue in Abuja. The meetings, THISDAY further gathered, are holding at the instance of the acting president and he is using the occasion to explain to the leaders the fact that the administration is a continuation of the President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Presidency. Jonathan also listens to the advice offered him by the various leaders.
Presidency sources also told THISDAY that a meeting between the aides of President Yar’Adua and those of the acting President is also expected to hold this week. The meeting is to seek ways for the two teams to work together and cooperatively to advance the programme of the administration.
“We are going to have a meeting between the various aides to fashion out ways of working together for the good of the administration. After all, whether anybody likes it or not, it is still the same President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Presidency that is running,” the source explained.
Babangida and Buhari are expected to meet with Jonathan separately. The acting President had also met with Lt. Gen. T. Y. Danjuma.
Also last week, the group of some eminent elders led by former Head of State, Dr. Yakubu Gowon met with the acting President. Other members of the group who called on Jonathan at the Presidential Villa Abuja included former President Shehu Shagari, former Interim Head of State, Ernest Shonekan, former Vice President Alex Ekwueme, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Alpha Belgore, former Governor of Plateau State, Chief Solomon Lar, Senators Jonathan Zwingina, Isaiah Balat, Chief Edwin Clark, Lt. Gen. T.Y. Danjuma, Ahmed Joda, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, and Mrs. Christy Silas
The acting President, while addressing the eminent elders during the visit, assured Nigerians of his determination to do what was right and in the larger interest of the majority of Nigerians. Jonathan’s explanation came after the elders had urged him to be “focused, courageous, decisive, firm, but fair, honest and just,” in the discharge of his office.
The elders had also advised Jonathan to scale down the seven-point agenda of the Yar’Adua’s administration to four in order to be effective and impactful on the lives of Nigerians. The four critical areas of focus according to the group were listed as free, fair and credible election, infrastructure, energy and power as well as peace and security.
Spokes person of the group and former Information and National Orientation Minister Professor Jerry Gana who fielded questions from State House Correspondents at the end of their parley said “the elders just came to wish the acting president well and to say to him be focused, courageous, decisive, firm, but fair, honest and just.”
The acting President had at the meeting also noted the need to emphasise what can be done quickly to impact positively on the lives of Nigerians within the shortest possible time.
He assured that the administration would work towards stable power supply, ensure adequate security of Nigerians through the on-going reform of the Police and improve on the Nigerian Police Force's intelligence gathering capacity.
ANIDS KEY TO OBI’S VICTORY – VC, UNIZIK
The Vice Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Prof. Boniface Egboka has attributed the success of Governor Obi in the last poll to what he called his “leadership style and polices as encapsulated in the ANIDS Programme. He made this known in a congratulatory letter to the Governor. He said that through the election, the people of Anambra State spoke loudly and eloquently about their confidence in the Governor.
Pledging that Nnamdi Azikiwe University will continue to identify with him, he said he hoped the State Government would continue to partner with the University for mutual benefits.
In the same vein, the Vice Chancellor of the Anambra State University, Uli, Prof. I.P. Orajaka, while congratulating the Governor on his victory, said it was “a reflection of the confidence the people of Anambra State had in his leadership style.”
“We in Anambra State University are particularly happy at the monumental development strides your administration had recorded in this University within the past thirty-four months,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the second tenure would enable him bring more development to the State and the University community.
Pledging that Nnamdi Azikiwe University will continue to identify with him, he said he hoped the State Government would continue to partner with the University for mutual benefits.
In the same vein, the Vice Chancellor of the Anambra State University, Uli, Prof. I.P. Orajaka, while congratulating the Governor on his victory, said it was “a reflection of the confidence the people of Anambra State had in his leadership style.”
“We in Anambra State University are particularly happy at the monumental development strides your administration had recorded in this University within the past thirty-four months,” he said.
He expressed confidence that the second tenure would enable him bring more development to the State and the University community.
Igbocentrism And Anioma Ethnic Identity
By Kunirum Osia
FOR decades we, Anioma people, have been buffeted back and forth by people attempting to impose a persona on us. Some described us as being neither here nor there. Others do not give us chance to define and describe who we are as a people. We know exactly who we are. We have no confusions about our geography and genealogy. We know that identity is like gold. Just as the gold bar stands behind a currency as a guarantee of its legal tender, so is identity to an individual or a group. The analogy is only partial, of course, the price of gold may rise or fall, but we tend to pride ourselves on the stability of our identity. Anioma ethnic identity is a value we must guard. In recent times we have contended with the intrusion into Anioma world what we might call the concept of, albeit, reality of Igbocentricism.
By Igbocentrism or Igbocentricity we mean an existential point of view that puts Igbo at the centre of Igbo people's cosmology. Central to Igbocentrism is the idea that people believed or assumed to be Igbo must acknowledge, understand and love their "Igboness" so as to understand and deal with non-Igbo. It is a conceptual approach to human relations from the Igbo point of view. It is an Igbo-centeredness of interpretation of such relations and quotidian realities. Because the vast majority of Anioma people speak dialects derived from the Igbo language, it is assumed that they are "Igbo." Anioma history records individuals from diverse origins. There are in Anioma the "Olukunmi" who speak a variant of Yoruba spoken around Owo. Ebu people in Anioma speak Igala as their mother tongue.
While language delimits cultural fields, it is not permanent because people have mastered more than one language. Language is one of many indices of a culture. Language is not enough to define who a people are. Because Americans or Australians speak English does not make them English. Because Mexicans, Cubans, or Argentineans speak Spanish does not make them Spaniards. The nationals of these countries will not introduce themselves as "English" simply because they speak English nor as Spaniards because they speak Spanish. Those of them who can trace their origin to England or Spain know that over time they have formed a new identity called "American," "Australian," "Mexican," "Cuban," or "Argentinean."
Anioma people recognize a geographical contiguity, a clearly defined historicity and cultural commonality, that in their consciousness they define as their collective identity. Our Anioma ethnic identity derives from our common set of symbols and cognition shared by our people: Aniocha, Ndokwa, Ika and Oshimili share the same cultural space and delimited physical geography. They dress and dance alike, and use the same musical instruments. The systemic prolonged subordination and marginalization has lead to the gradual radicalization of our youth and elders, as exemplified by the formation of many Anioma associations in Nigeria and abroad.
The Anioma are a Nigerian people in terms of their geographical location and ancestral pedigree; in terms of the criteria and categories that are applicable in defining other Nigerian groups, and in terms of their cultural forms and institutions which they have evolved for themselves and which are comparable to those of other ethnic groups, with a specificity that is syncretic in its manifestations.
Located at the crossroads of diverse influences, Anioma has developed a syncretic culture rich in varied contributions, and we rightly can talk of an identity that is uniquely Anioma not replicable anywhere in Nigeria. Through culture contact or cultural cross-pollination, borrowing from contiguous neighbours, Anioma displays cultural syncretism in the real sense of the word. History notes that Anioma people trace their origins to Edo, Igala, Yoruba and Igbo. Ibusa (Igbo Uzo) and one part of Ogwashiuku trace their ancestry to Igbo. All other Anioma people trace their origins in entirety to Edo, Igala and Yoruba. From none other than Chief Dennis Osadebay, comes an uncontested account of the origin of 'Ahaba'. Eri, son of Achado, a king of Igala founded the towns of Aguleri, Umuleri, Igbariam and Nteje. If logic is any guide here, Eri we might reason would found a community with the people he knew, namely, Igala. Nnebisi the founder of 'Ahaba' was from Nteje founded by Eri the prince from Igala. Nnebisi married an Igala woman he had won as a prize from the Igala fishermen and traders who frequented 'Ahaba'. This is the verifiable story of the origin of 'Ahaba' (now Asaba).
Osadebay said that another migrant came from Benin and settled in 'Ahaba,' "and so the present natives of Asaba are descendants of Igala in the north, Benin in the west, and Ibo in the east" (Osadebay, Building a Nation, Macmillan, Nigeria Ltd, 1978 p.2). With this from Chief Osadebay, which to our best research has never been denied nor contradicted, we argue that Asaba people are the least Igbo among the very few segments of Anioma that claim Igbo ancestry.
With such a background, one would have thought that the identity of Anioma people would never be a matter of debate nor an issue that might unsettle the tranquility of informed mind. Yet, writings about Anioma people are replete with misconceptions, distortions, selectivity, inaccuracies and just blatant falsehood. Even some Anioma writers peddle stories diffracted into multiple and apocryphal histories that present every Anioma person originating from Nri in Igboland. May we remind the few of Igbo ancestry how much distance the passage of time and the vicissitudes of history have placed between them and their origin? Similarly, we would remind one or two traditional leaders who argue for extension of Igbo hegemony to Anioma, that they are bartering their honour and royalty for vacuous glory in Igboland, and that they do not represent Anioma people.
This muddle as to the definition of an Anioma is not intrinsic to the Anioma identity, but rather a problem fused into the tinted lenses of Igbocentrism through which the Anioma people have erroneously been viewed over the ages. The kinds of questions posed, presuppositions made, set of axioms posited, and the very methodological approaches adopted in many publications betray Igbo bias and oftentimes arrogance of Igbocentricity. The cumulative result of this imposed paradigm has been a people dispossessed of their identity, their history, and, to a great extent, their political and economic rights.
Any Anioma person who feels inadequate unless called "Anioma-Igbo," has serious identity problem. Osadebay and his group coined and christened us with the name "Anioma." They were satisfied with what it meant and what it represented for our people. The Igbocentric conception of Anioma people as "our kith and kin across the Niger" is a fallacy of baseless proportion. Thus, Igbocentrism has not only set the terms of the debate on Anioma identity, it has consumed our intellectual autonomy to counterpoise it with Aniomacentric methodology. This capitulation to Igbocentric paradigm of identity is part of a wider syndrome of intellectual dependency precipitated by homegrown colonialism.
We may ask, where was this "kith and kin across the Niger" platitude
when our forbears fought the Ekumeku wars of 1883 to 1914, which pitted them against the British through the instrumentality of the Royal Niger Company to dominate trade, culture, social and political lives of our people;
when the Second Division of the Nigerian Army commanded by Murtala Mohammed marched into Anioma areas in pursuit of the fleeing 'Biafran Expeditionary Force' and massacred our people at Asaba and Isheagu with such macabre ruthlessness and vapidity;
when in 1970 several high ranking Anioma military officers were detained for months (one of them for years) in Port Harcourt prison after Biafra surrendered on January 12, 1970, even though as these officers put it to the writer in their letter to him dated June 7, 1970, to seek help from Governor Ogbemudia, wrote, "...that all other officers of former Eastern Region origin (Ibos, Efiks, Ijaws etc) have been released..." and
when in 1996 our people were assured of support from Ndi Igbo during our quest for Anioma state?
Anioma state was not created instead Ebonyi was, thanks to the last minute turn around and support from Ndi Igbo. This experience was articulated by Professor Ijomah during the Congress of Izu-Anioma held at the POCO Plaza, Ogwashiuku, March 3rd, 1998, when he said, "... it was agreed during the last state creation exercise that Anioma State should be created. When the stakes were down, the Ibos across the Niger abandoned the Anioma quest at the last hour and supported the creation of Ebonyi State which was not seriously being canvassed before then, causing Anioma to lose." (The ANIOMA, Vol. 10, No 1, May, 1999, p. 11).
Anioma people should not be hoodwinked by Ndi Igbo. Recently, Igbos have renewed their gimmickry of support for the creation of Anioma state. All they want is their grandiose illusion of 'Greater Igbo' comprising Anioma and some parts of Rivers State. Only Anioma can provide us an essential part of our historical consciousness, and an index to the universal psychic character of our identity. Only Anioma can communicate a sense of history to us.
Anioma culture sustains the vocabulary of moral prescriptions and a repertoire of covenant with visible and invisible entities. There are areas designated as secular and sacred; some creatures are deemed sacred and should not be killed nor be eaten; some vegetation considered sacred should not be eaten as vegetables. Anioma culture sees unity and sanctity in nature. Philosophically, it fuses cosmology and cosmogony. It shapes our experiencing and perceiving. It teaches us the canons of relevance and evidence. We come to ourselves through our choice of our archetypes. We have maintained cool-headedness in the face of provocation from Igbos who call us 'Hausa Igbo', Ika-Igbo and now Anioma-Igbo. Such appellations are as insulting and denigrating as they are meaningless and nonsensical.
We reject attempts to Igbonize Anioma. We do not inhabit the same historical and cultural space with Igbos. When ethnicity becomes subject to the elaborations of cultural identity politics, it often develops into a focus of symbolic contestation. Those wanting Anioma to become "Anioma-Igbo" undermine the efforts of our founding fathers who christened us "ANIOMA." Osadebay puts everything in perspective when he stated, "Strictly speaking, Ibo is a linguistic group or a language, not a tribe, as all Ibo-speaking people do not claim origin from any common ancestor" (Osadebay op. cit. 1978, p.14).
Reckless utterances and writings coming from some Igbo people, through Ohaneze Ndigbo and their internet forum intellectuals, that the creation of Anioma state would increase Igbo states, damage Anioma cause. The quest for the creation of Anioma state preceded the creation of the 36 Nigerian states.
Identity is built on choices and commitments. By committing ourselves to Anioma causes our real selves develop. An obstacle to achieving identity is the temptation to avoid choices and postpone decisions. Let us proclaim Anioma by the Enu Ani language that we speak; by the Ika language that we speak; by the Ndokwa language that we speak; by the Olukunmi language that we speak and by the Igala language that we speak.
We should intensify our efforts on the creation of Anioma state where our people will be central characters rather than simple bit players, where the importance of our history lies in its significance for us rather than for others. We do not want to be a pawn simply to checkmate the contending and competing interests of other nationalities in the larger Nigerian collectivity. Our journey involves more than navigating the geography of political boundaries. It is a continuous mapping and remapping of the geography of our culture and identity. We no longer wish to be objects in the history of others rather we wish to be subjects of our own history. Our Anioma ethnic identity is cultural self-definition and philosophical affirmation of our self-determination as a people who see themselves at the crossroads of contemporary Nigeria. It is a refusal to accept the transposition of other people's interpretive categories on Anioma. We bear the name of Anioma with exalted pride, dignity and fidelity. We cherish our distinct identity and unique culture. So, efforts to fit Anioma into the constructs and schemata of Igbo provenance are futile.
Osia is the former Founding National President of Anioma Association, USA, Inc.
FOR decades we, Anioma people, have been buffeted back and forth by people attempting to impose a persona on us. Some described us as being neither here nor there. Others do not give us chance to define and describe who we are as a people. We know exactly who we are. We have no confusions about our geography and genealogy. We know that identity is like gold. Just as the gold bar stands behind a currency as a guarantee of its legal tender, so is identity to an individual or a group. The analogy is only partial, of course, the price of gold may rise or fall, but we tend to pride ourselves on the stability of our identity. Anioma ethnic identity is a value we must guard. In recent times we have contended with the intrusion into Anioma world what we might call the concept of, albeit, reality of Igbocentricism.
By Igbocentrism or Igbocentricity we mean an existential point of view that puts Igbo at the centre of Igbo people's cosmology. Central to Igbocentrism is the idea that people believed or assumed to be Igbo must acknowledge, understand and love their "Igboness" so as to understand and deal with non-Igbo. It is a conceptual approach to human relations from the Igbo point of view. It is an Igbo-centeredness of interpretation of such relations and quotidian realities. Because the vast majority of Anioma people speak dialects derived from the Igbo language, it is assumed that they are "Igbo." Anioma history records individuals from diverse origins. There are in Anioma the "Olukunmi" who speak a variant of Yoruba spoken around Owo. Ebu people in Anioma speak Igala as their mother tongue.
While language delimits cultural fields, it is not permanent because people have mastered more than one language. Language is one of many indices of a culture. Language is not enough to define who a people are. Because Americans or Australians speak English does not make them English. Because Mexicans, Cubans, or Argentineans speak Spanish does not make them Spaniards. The nationals of these countries will not introduce themselves as "English" simply because they speak English nor as Spaniards because they speak Spanish. Those of them who can trace their origin to England or Spain know that over time they have formed a new identity called "American," "Australian," "Mexican," "Cuban," or "Argentinean."
Anioma people recognize a geographical contiguity, a clearly defined historicity and cultural commonality, that in their consciousness they define as their collective identity. Our Anioma ethnic identity derives from our common set of symbols and cognition shared by our people: Aniocha, Ndokwa, Ika and Oshimili share the same cultural space and delimited physical geography. They dress and dance alike, and use the same musical instruments. The systemic prolonged subordination and marginalization has lead to the gradual radicalization of our youth and elders, as exemplified by the formation of many Anioma associations in Nigeria and abroad.
The Anioma are a Nigerian people in terms of their geographical location and ancestral pedigree; in terms of the criteria and categories that are applicable in defining other Nigerian groups, and in terms of their cultural forms and institutions which they have evolved for themselves and which are comparable to those of other ethnic groups, with a specificity that is syncretic in its manifestations.
Located at the crossroads of diverse influences, Anioma has developed a syncretic culture rich in varied contributions, and we rightly can talk of an identity that is uniquely Anioma not replicable anywhere in Nigeria. Through culture contact or cultural cross-pollination, borrowing from contiguous neighbours, Anioma displays cultural syncretism in the real sense of the word. History notes that Anioma people trace their origins to Edo, Igala, Yoruba and Igbo. Ibusa (Igbo Uzo) and one part of Ogwashiuku trace their ancestry to Igbo. All other Anioma people trace their origins in entirety to Edo, Igala and Yoruba. From none other than Chief Dennis Osadebay, comes an uncontested account of the origin of 'Ahaba'. Eri, son of Achado, a king of Igala founded the towns of Aguleri, Umuleri, Igbariam and Nteje. If logic is any guide here, Eri we might reason would found a community with the people he knew, namely, Igala. Nnebisi the founder of 'Ahaba' was from Nteje founded by Eri the prince from Igala. Nnebisi married an Igala woman he had won as a prize from the Igala fishermen and traders who frequented 'Ahaba'. This is the verifiable story of the origin of 'Ahaba' (now Asaba).
Osadebay said that another migrant came from Benin and settled in 'Ahaba,' "and so the present natives of Asaba are descendants of Igala in the north, Benin in the west, and Ibo in the east" (Osadebay, Building a Nation, Macmillan, Nigeria Ltd, 1978 p.2). With this from Chief Osadebay, which to our best research has never been denied nor contradicted, we argue that Asaba people are the least Igbo among the very few segments of Anioma that claim Igbo ancestry.
With such a background, one would have thought that the identity of Anioma people would never be a matter of debate nor an issue that might unsettle the tranquility of informed mind. Yet, writings about Anioma people are replete with misconceptions, distortions, selectivity, inaccuracies and just blatant falsehood. Even some Anioma writers peddle stories diffracted into multiple and apocryphal histories that present every Anioma person originating from Nri in Igboland. May we remind the few of Igbo ancestry how much distance the passage of time and the vicissitudes of history have placed between them and their origin? Similarly, we would remind one or two traditional leaders who argue for extension of Igbo hegemony to Anioma, that they are bartering their honour and royalty for vacuous glory in Igboland, and that they do not represent Anioma people.
This muddle as to the definition of an Anioma is not intrinsic to the Anioma identity, but rather a problem fused into the tinted lenses of Igbocentrism through which the Anioma people have erroneously been viewed over the ages. The kinds of questions posed, presuppositions made, set of axioms posited, and the very methodological approaches adopted in many publications betray Igbo bias and oftentimes arrogance of Igbocentricity. The cumulative result of this imposed paradigm has been a people dispossessed of their identity, their history, and, to a great extent, their political and economic rights.
Any Anioma person who feels inadequate unless called "Anioma-Igbo," has serious identity problem. Osadebay and his group coined and christened us with the name "Anioma." They were satisfied with what it meant and what it represented for our people. The Igbocentric conception of Anioma people as "our kith and kin across the Niger" is a fallacy of baseless proportion. Thus, Igbocentrism has not only set the terms of the debate on Anioma identity, it has consumed our intellectual autonomy to counterpoise it with Aniomacentric methodology. This capitulation to Igbocentric paradigm of identity is part of a wider syndrome of intellectual dependency precipitated by homegrown colonialism.
We may ask, where was this "kith and kin across the Niger" platitude
when our forbears fought the Ekumeku wars of 1883 to 1914, which pitted them against the British through the instrumentality of the Royal Niger Company to dominate trade, culture, social and political lives of our people;
when the Second Division of the Nigerian Army commanded by Murtala Mohammed marched into Anioma areas in pursuit of the fleeing 'Biafran Expeditionary Force' and massacred our people at Asaba and Isheagu with such macabre ruthlessness and vapidity;
when in 1970 several high ranking Anioma military officers were detained for months (one of them for years) in Port Harcourt prison after Biafra surrendered on January 12, 1970, even though as these officers put it to the writer in their letter to him dated June 7, 1970, to seek help from Governor Ogbemudia, wrote, "...that all other officers of former Eastern Region origin (Ibos, Efiks, Ijaws etc) have been released..." and
when in 1996 our people were assured of support from Ndi Igbo during our quest for Anioma state?
Anioma state was not created instead Ebonyi was, thanks to the last minute turn around and support from Ndi Igbo. This experience was articulated by Professor Ijomah during the Congress of Izu-Anioma held at the POCO Plaza, Ogwashiuku, March 3rd, 1998, when he said, "... it was agreed during the last state creation exercise that Anioma State should be created. When the stakes were down, the Ibos across the Niger abandoned the Anioma quest at the last hour and supported the creation of Ebonyi State which was not seriously being canvassed before then, causing Anioma to lose." (The ANIOMA, Vol. 10, No 1, May, 1999, p. 11).
Anioma people should not be hoodwinked by Ndi Igbo. Recently, Igbos have renewed their gimmickry of support for the creation of Anioma state. All they want is their grandiose illusion of 'Greater Igbo' comprising Anioma and some parts of Rivers State. Only Anioma can provide us an essential part of our historical consciousness, and an index to the universal psychic character of our identity. Only Anioma can communicate a sense of history to us.
Anioma culture sustains the vocabulary of moral prescriptions and a repertoire of covenant with visible and invisible entities. There are areas designated as secular and sacred; some creatures are deemed sacred and should not be killed nor be eaten; some vegetation considered sacred should not be eaten as vegetables. Anioma culture sees unity and sanctity in nature. Philosophically, it fuses cosmology and cosmogony. It shapes our experiencing and perceiving. It teaches us the canons of relevance and evidence. We come to ourselves through our choice of our archetypes. We have maintained cool-headedness in the face of provocation from Igbos who call us 'Hausa Igbo', Ika-Igbo and now Anioma-Igbo. Such appellations are as insulting and denigrating as they are meaningless and nonsensical.
We reject attempts to Igbonize Anioma. We do not inhabit the same historical and cultural space with Igbos. When ethnicity becomes subject to the elaborations of cultural identity politics, it often develops into a focus of symbolic contestation. Those wanting Anioma to become "Anioma-Igbo" undermine the efforts of our founding fathers who christened us "ANIOMA." Osadebay puts everything in perspective when he stated, "Strictly speaking, Ibo is a linguistic group or a language, not a tribe, as all Ibo-speaking people do not claim origin from any common ancestor" (Osadebay op. cit. 1978, p.14).
Reckless utterances and writings coming from some Igbo people, through Ohaneze Ndigbo and their internet forum intellectuals, that the creation of Anioma state would increase Igbo states, damage Anioma cause. The quest for the creation of Anioma state preceded the creation of the 36 Nigerian states.
Identity is built on choices and commitments. By committing ourselves to Anioma causes our real selves develop. An obstacle to achieving identity is the temptation to avoid choices and postpone decisions. Let us proclaim Anioma by the Enu Ani language that we speak; by the Ika language that we speak; by the Ndokwa language that we speak; by the Olukunmi language that we speak and by the Igala language that we speak.
We should intensify our efforts on the creation of Anioma state where our people will be central characters rather than simple bit players, where the importance of our history lies in its significance for us rather than for others. We do not want to be a pawn simply to checkmate the contending and competing interests of other nationalities in the larger Nigerian collectivity. Our journey involves more than navigating the geography of political boundaries. It is a continuous mapping and remapping of the geography of our culture and identity. We no longer wish to be objects in the history of others rather we wish to be subjects of our own history. Our Anioma ethnic identity is cultural self-definition and philosophical affirmation of our self-determination as a people who see themselves at the crossroads of contemporary Nigeria. It is a refusal to accept the transposition of other people's interpretive categories on Anioma. We bear the name of Anioma with exalted pride, dignity and fidelity. We cherish our distinct identity and unique culture. So, efforts to fit Anioma into the constructs and schemata of Igbo provenance are futile.
Osia is the former Founding National President of Anioma Association, USA, Inc.
Aondoakaa in 50 Million Naira Scam
culled from PUNCH
AondoakaaA request by former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), for the release of N50m to enable a team travel abroad to launder the country’s image in the wake of Farouk Abdulmutallab’s ill-fated attempt to bomb a US airline, has become a subject of controversy in Abuja.
Aondoaaka had claimed, in a request made late January, that he obtained a presidential approval to undertake the trip to four countries.
The identities of the said countries could not be ascertained, nor was the date in January the request was made.
Meanwhile, the controversial former A-G who was redeployed on the first day of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the Acting President commenced a one-month vacation on Friday.
One of our correspondents gathered that Aondoakaa told his close aides that he decided to commence his vacation because he did not want anything to do with the Ag. President status of Jonathan whom he continued to refer to as the vice-president.
The Abdulmuttalab saga and the sectarian crisis in Jos, Plateau State had provoked undue negative foreign reportage of Nigeria, which the minister said, telling the country’s side of the story was absolutely necessary.
However, the big question is: was it Yar’Adua, who no public official had seen since he left the country for Saudi Arabia on November 23, 2009 that, gave the approval?
It was gathered that the N50m request was addressed to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansur Muktar and the Minister of State of Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola.
But the request was ultimately passed to the Director-General Budget, Dr. Bright Okogu.
When contacted on the telephone on Sunday, Okogu confirmed that his office received such application from Aondoaaka.
However, he could not say whether it was approved, just as he said there were many requests of such nature, which were not approved.
Okogu told our correspondent, “Well, I don’t specifically remember if it was approved because a lot of so many requests were made during that period and many of them were turned down.
“However, I will find out from my staff and get back to you after our budget seminar.”
The former AGF had in January been involved in altercation with the Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsanya on a central travel unit for all the MDAs, which he opposed.
Oronsanye had justified the new scheme on the need to save cost for government.
Aondoaaka has reportedly traveled out of the country on vacation, shortly after he was redeployed as Minister of Special Duties.
AondoakaaA request by former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), for the release of N50m to enable a team travel abroad to launder the country’s image in the wake of Farouk Abdulmutallab’s ill-fated attempt to bomb a US airline, has become a subject of controversy in Abuja.
Aondoaaka had claimed, in a request made late January, that he obtained a presidential approval to undertake the trip to four countries.
The identities of the said countries could not be ascertained, nor was the date in January the request was made.
Meanwhile, the controversial former A-G who was redeployed on the first day of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the Acting President commenced a one-month vacation on Friday.
One of our correspondents gathered that Aondoakaa told his close aides that he decided to commence his vacation because he did not want anything to do with the Ag. President status of Jonathan whom he continued to refer to as the vice-president.
The Abdulmuttalab saga and the sectarian crisis in Jos, Plateau State had provoked undue negative foreign reportage of Nigeria, which the minister said, telling the country’s side of the story was absolutely necessary.
However, the big question is: was it Yar’Adua, who no public official had seen since he left the country for Saudi Arabia on November 23, 2009 that, gave the approval?
It was gathered that the N50m request was addressed to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Mansur Muktar and the Minister of State of Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola.
But the request was ultimately passed to the Director-General Budget, Dr. Bright Okogu.
When contacted on the telephone on Sunday, Okogu confirmed that his office received such application from Aondoaaka.
However, he could not say whether it was approved, just as he said there were many requests of such nature, which were not approved.
Okogu told our correspondent, “Well, I don’t specifically remember if it was approved because a lot of so many requests were made during that period and many of them were turned down.
“However, I will find out from my staff and get back to you after our budget seminar.”
The former AGF had in January been involved in altercation with the Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Stephen Oronsanya on a central travel unit for all the MDAs, which he opposed.
Oronsanye had justified the new scheme on the need to save cost for government.
Aondoaaka has reportedly traveled out of the country on vacation, shortly after he was redeployed as Minister of Special Duties.
Jos crisis 2008: Former AGF Bola Ajibola panel indicts Hausa community - Investigate Mantu
Culled from: www.elombah.com
The commission of inquiry led by former Attorney General of the Federation Prince Bola Ajibola which was set up by the Plateau State Government to investigate the Jos crisis of November 2008 has blamed elements of the Hausa Fulani Muslim community for initiating acts of violence that led to the crisis. The commission’s report, submitted to Governor David Jonah Jang four months ago, was obtained by Daily Trust at the weekend.
The Ajibola panel said in its 339-page report that “despite the coincidence of time, the local government election of 2008 was not the immediate cause of the unrest but the feeling that the Hausa Fulani had lost the election and had by that token lost access to one of the major opportunities for economic domination and advancement amongst their people, which pushed them to violence.”
The commission recommended that major Hausa Fulani settlements in Jos should be acquired by the Plateau State government. The settlements which the commission suggested should be acquired by the state government include Gangere, Yan Tinka, Rikkos cattle market (Yan Shanu), Angwan Rogo, Angwan Rimi, Angwan Dalyop, Katako, parts of Ali Kazure and Dilimi. The panel advised the state government to create a modern city out of the settlements after the acquisition by constructing urban access roads through these settlements and opening up the slums with the provision of roads, housing estates, clinics and modern schools.
The Ajibola Commission also recommended that the police be made to investigate the activities of some prominent persons in the state, including former Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu, Alhaji Saleh Hassan, Sheik Yahaya Jengre, as well as former Minister of State for Information and Communications Alhaji Dasuki Ibrahim Nakande.
The commission recommended that Nakande and House of Representatives member representing Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency Malam Samaila Mohammed, among others, be thoroughly investigated by the police, saying their utterances before and after the crisis were capable of igniting more crises in the future.
The Ajibola commission also said it was not satisfied by the explanations of former President Ibrahim Babangida that he did not create Jos North local government to favour a particular group. The commission said it found out that the former President created Jos North local government in 1991 to favour the Hausa Fulani of Jos North as it was the Hausa Fulani community that demanded for the local government in the form in which it was created.
The Prince Bola Ajibola commission however absolved Plateau State governor Jonah Jang of any complicity in the 2008 crisis. It said “there was no evidence to substantiate the allegation that the governor in a statement gave a shoot-on-sight order” during the crisis, after which security agents were alleged to have killed so many residents.
However, the report advised the state government to readily take on security advice “as in the recent instance, when the scheduling of the elections for Thursday was advised against because it would mean that the results would be announced on a Friday, a Muslim worship day, with possible religion-inflamed consequences.”
The commission in its final report also recommended that the state government reacquires the University of Jos land and hand over same to the university authority to fence and develop for its use. It said “over time some persons have acquired some parcels or portions of the University of Jos land by tribal sentiments, wrong issuance of Right of Occupancy and other titles including numerous illegal sales and purchases with the active cooperation of the Federal Government.”
The commission also recommended that the Plateau State government should, after investigating individual culprits, set up a reconciliation commission for the purpose of allowing adversaries meet and to reconcile their differences. It said “those among them that come out and embrace the peace process should be granted amnesty from criminal prosecution” while the state government should investigate those who do not embrace the reconciliation commission.
The commission also recommended that the present Jos North Local Government be re-delineated into three sustainable local governments with an equitable representative number of wards within each local government, while “the state government should give due consideration to all ethnic groupings in appointments, nominations and promotions within the state.”
In addition, it recommended that the state government should promote inclusion and participation through a ‘State Character’ principle similar to the Federal Character policy of the federal government, “as this would take into consideration citizen’s right in any part of Nigeria that they may find themselves.
“This means that all persons who are bona fide citizens should have equal rights, opportunities and access and not to deny those designated as non indigenes of an area the access to some of the most important avenues of socio economic mobility be it government jobs, academic scholarships, university admission or fees.”
The commission said it received claims of property destroyed totalling more than N43 billion while 4,815 structures as well as 167 cars were claimed to have been damaged during the unrest. It also said the actual number of persons who lost their lives in the 2008 Jos unrest stands at 312 as it could not verify claims by Human Rights Watch that the Muslim community recorded 632 deaths. The commission however agreed that the Muslim community “suffered massive casualties.”
It would be recalled that the Hausa Fulani Muslim community had boycotted the activities of the Prince Bola Ajibola commission of inquiry into the November 2008 Jos crisis. It said Governor Jonah Jang, who set up the commission, was an interested party in the crisis and cannot be expected to set up an impartial commission of inquiry.
The commission of inquiry led by former Attorney General of the Federation Prince Bola Ajibola which was set up by the Plateau State Government to investigate the Jos crisis of November 2008 has blamed elements of the Hausa Fulani Muslim community for initiating acts of violence that led to the crisis. The commission’s report, submitted to Governor David Jonah Jang four months ago, was obtained by Daily Trust at the weekend.
The Ajibola panel said in its 339-page report that “despite the coincidence of time, the local government election of 2008 was not the immediate cause of the unrest but the feeling that the Hausa Fulani had lost the election and had by that token lost access to one of the major opportunities for economic domination and advancement amongst their people, which pushed them to violence.”
The commission recommended that major Hausa Fulani settlements in Jos should be acquired by the Plateau State government. The settlements which the commission suggested should be acquired by the state government include Gangere, Yan Tinka, Rikkos cattle market (Yan Shanu), Angwan Rogo, Angwan Rimi, Angwan Dalyop, Katako, parts of Ali Kazure and Dilimi. The panel advised the state government to create a modern city out of the settlements after the acquisition by constructing urban access roads through these settlements and opening up the slums with the provision of roads, housing estates, clinics and modern schools.
The Ajibola Commission also recommended that the police be made to investigate the activities of some prominent persons in the state, including former Deputy Senate President Ibrahim Mantu, Alhaji Saleh Hassan, Sheik Yahaya Jengre, as well as former Minister of State for Information and Communications Alhaji Dasuki Ibrahim Nakande.
The commission recommended that Nakande and House of Representatives member representing Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency Malam Samaila Mohammed, among others, be thoroughly investigated by the police, saying their utterances before and after the crisis were capable of igniting more crises in the future.
The Ajibola commission also said it was not satisfied by the explanations of former President Ibrahim Babangida that he did not create Jos North local government to favour a particular group. The commission said it found out that the former President created Jos North local government in 1991 to favour the Hausa Fulani of Jos North as it was the Hausa Fulani community that demanded for the local government in the form in which it was created.
The Prince Bola Ajibola commission however absolved Plateau State governor Jonah Jang of any complicity in the 2008 crisis. It said “there was no evidence to substantiate the allegation that the governor in a statement gave a shoot-on-sight order” during the crisis, after which security agents were alleged to have killed so many residents.
However, the report advised the state government to readily take on security advice “as in the recent instance, when the scheduling of the elections for Thursday was advised against because it would mean that the results would be announced on a Friday, a Muslim worship day, with possible religion-inflamed consequences.”
The commission in its final report also recommended that the state government reacquires the University of Jos land and hand over same to the university authority to fence and develop for its use. It said “over time some persons have acquired some parcels or portions of the University of Jos land by tribal sentiments, wrong issuance of Right of Occupancy and other titles including numerous illegal sales and purchases with the active cooperation of the Federal Government.”
The commission also recommended that the Plateau State government should, after investigating individual culprits, set up a reconciliation commission for the purpose of allowing adversaries meet and to reconcile their differences. It said “those among them that come out and embrace the peace process should be granted amnesty from criminal prosecution” while the state government should investigate those who do not embrace the reconciliation commission.
The commission also recommended that the present Jos North Local Government be re-delineated into three sustainable local governments with an equitable representative number of wards within each local government, while “the state government should give due consideration to all ethnic groupings in appointments, nominations and promotions within the state.”
In addition, it recommended that the state government should promote inclusion and participation through a ‘State Character’ principle similar to the Federal Character policy of the federal government, “as this would take into consideration citizen’s right in any part of Nigeria that they may find themselves.
“This means that all persons who are bona fide citizens should have equal rights, opportunities and access and not to deny those designated as non indigenes of an area the access to some of the most important avenues of socio economic mobility be it government jobs, academic scholarships, university admission or fees.”
The commission said it received claims of property destroyed totalling more than N43 billion while 4,815 structures as well as 167 cars were claimed to have been damaged during the unrest. It also said the actual number of persons who lost their lives in the 2008 Jos unrest stands at 312 as it could not verify claims by Human Rights Watch that the Muslim community recorded 632 deaths. The commission however agreed that the Muslim community “suffered massive casualties.”
It would be recalled that the Hausa Fulani Muslim community had boycotted the activities of the Prince Bola Ajibola commission of inquiry into the November 2008 Jos crisis. It said Governor Jonah Jang, who set up the commission, was an interested party in the crisis and cannot be expected to set up an impartial commission of inquiry.
Each time I go to Ghana, I get angry
By Femi Adesina
By Christmas, I was completely fed up. Peeved, completely riled and exasperated by a fuel-less, power-less and president-less country. So I packed my bags and baggage, and off to Ghana I went.
Two years ago, at about the same period, I had taken a holiday in Ghana, and when I returned, I did a piece with the headline ‘Notes from Accra.’ I romanticized the peace, security and sanity in that country so much that one Nigerian, gripped in the paroxysm of jingoism, sent me an angry text that I should return to Ghana if I loved the place more than my country. So, two days after Christmas, I heeded the advice.
I went back to Ghana, along with my family.
After six nights in the former Gold Coast, and having traveled extensively through Accra, Aburi, Kumasi and Cape Coast, I came back angrier than I was in 2007. Why should Ghana work, and Nigeria will not? Why should Ghana, which for now has not started exploiting its newly-found crude oil, not have fuel crisis, unlike Nigeria which has exported crude for about 50 years? Why should you travel hundreds of kilometers on smooth, almost silky roads in Ghana, and your own roads back home are filled with craters and gullies?
You passed through many police check points, but not at a single one were you questioned, harassed or money extorted from you or the driver. Like a troubadour, you traversed villages, towns and cities, but not once were you in danger of being waylaid and robbed silly. Dare you try that in Nigeria? Why, why, why? Why is our country so blest? I went to Ghana for recreation, I got it. But I also came back with deep-seated anger in the pit of my stomach.
Six nights in Ghana, no power failure, not even for one second. In Nigeria, they promised us 6000 megawatts of electricity by December 2009, they delivered pitch darkness. Why won’t one be angry, to the point of entertaining thoughts that are potentially treasonous, mutinous? Since you can’t really hold a man for the thoughts in his heart (at least, you’re not God), let me share with you some of the things that infiltrated my heart during those days in Ghana. Just consider that I’m thinking aloud.
The visionary Kwame Nkrumah government was overthrown by the military in 1966. The generals began to toss the country from one side to the other, from Ankrah to Afrifa, to Acheampong, to Akuffo. They covered the landscape with greed, avarice, larceny. They bled Ghana to the bones, and the country virtually collapsed. Then came pay day. A hot-headed young military officer struck in 1979. Flight Lieutenant John Jerry Rawlings, scion of a Scottish father and Ghanaian mother.
It is a matrilineal society, so Rawlings is considered a full-blooded Ghanaian. What did he do? Gen Afrifa had seized power in 1968, Acheampomg in 1972, Akuffo in 1978. He hauled all of them before military tribunals, which found them guilty of corruption. And they were shot. Shocking! Yes, but shock treatments do work, they have their positive sides.
Because Rawlings gave Ghana a shock treatment, the country is almost an Eldorado today. In the late 1970s, as a result of years of plunder by the military, Ghanaians flocked into other African countries, seeking refuge and succour. Many of them taught me in secondary school. Bernard Ohene Addai. Adu Sarkodee. Sarkodee Mensah. Ben Omane. Nana Offori. Ado Danquah. And many others. And their women? Let’s not remember the days of two lala. That was what they charged then in the brothels (don’t ask me how I knew). They could not pronounce Naira properly, so they called it lala. But those days are now gone. The Ghanaian woman has regained her pride because good leadership retrieved the country from the hawks, from the plunderers. When will our own come?
By the hands of the military, Ghana was destroyed. And by the hands of a military man, the land was restored. Eight solid years of democratic rule by the same man laid a new foundation for the country. A former military leader has also ruled us here for eight years as a supposed democrat. He left the country in further ruins.
Our own military left Nigeria in tatters. The only Buhari /Idiagbon regime that wanted to knock sense into our heads (and land) was toppled in a palace conspiracy. Oh, what an unfortunate land. Today, Ghana has got her democracy right, the votes of the people count, elections are largely free and fair, while for us, we can only dream of such things. Pity, pity. Shouldn’t we also have shot some people to ribbons? But enough of thinking aloud, lest I be accused of accommodating seditious thoughts. Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it are the issues of life.
Each time I stand by the Atlantic Ocean in Ghana, I remember my father. And two of the hotels where we stayed, La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra, and Elmina Beach Hotel, Cape Coast, are right at the bank of the great sea. It was the same waters on which my father sailed almost 55 years ago, in search of the golden fleece. He never stopped telling us of the voyage to Fourah Bay College, Sierra-Leone, where he took a degree in Economics. He had stopped over in Ghana. Maybe he even stood on the very spot on which I had my feet planted. Memories are forever.
At a point in Accra, my wife and daughter needed to buy sunglasses. Our tour guide, Steve, was driving a fairly new Toyota. He simply found a place to park, left the engine running, and went to help them bargain. Good old Lagos! Leave your car door open with the engine running? The car will be at Cotonou in the next hour!
Hey! There is even Olusegun Obasanjo Way in Accra. Who dashed him? A long, well constructed dual carriageway. Didn’t they ask him of the condition of the road that leads to Otta, his farm, before they so honoured him? The man should be ashamed. Shame? Oh he long told us that he never feels ashamed, that he was not at home the day God was distributing that virtue.
Aburi. Beautiful, serene Aburi, set daintily atop a hill. It is home to a botanical gardens that is 119 years old. But for us in Nigeria, Aburi goes beyond just nature and its preservation. It is the town where Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Odumegwu Ojukwu met, to try and avert the Nigerian Civil War that lasted between 1967 and 1970. They came out with the Aburi Accord, which later broke down. And a shooting war started. You could see the presidential lodge on a hill, where the Nigerian leaders had parleyed at the behest of Ghanaian leaders. It all ended in futility
At the botanical gardens, we saw trees that were 119 years old. No wonder the Good Book says, “As the day of the trees are, so shall the days of my people be.” (Isaiah 65:22) But would you want to live up to 119, “sans eyes, sans teeth, sans taste, sans everything?” (Shakespeare). Food for thought.
In that garden, almost all the trees are flourishing, except the mahogany tree planted in 1979 by Olusegun Obasanjo, as the then military head of state of Nigeria. Well, what do you expect of a self-confessed bad man? But let’s leave the chicken farmer alone, and go to more pleasant things.
After four hours drive from Aburi, you get to Kumasi, the land of the Asantes. And I remember Sam Asante, who used to play for my favourite local team, the IICC Shooting Stars, in the 1970s. Is he from here?
In history lessons, we had been told of Okonfo Anokye, Osei Tutu, and Prempeh I, the Asantehene who was exiled to Seychelles because he refused to give up the golden stool, the soul of the Asantes, to the British. You saw all these in bold relief at the Mahyia palace, where a tour guide took you round, with vintage pictures to back up the story. You had the pleasure of listening to a drum that had been in existence since 1888.
From Kumasi to Cape Coast. Another four hours drive, with stop-over at Assin Manso, where captured slaves had their last bath and drank their last Ghanaian water before being ferried abroad. Quite touching.
New Year eve and day were spent at Cape Coast. Scores of white people were also living it up at the Elmina Beach Hotel and the Coconut Grove. And then, the unholy thoughts came back. What a great harvest for kidnappers. If these people dare venture to certain parts of Nigeria, it would indeed be a merry time for kidnappers, who would smile daily to the banks. Impure thoughts, get thee behind me!
Lest I forget, we got to the zoo at Kumasi. The lions were quite robust, and they made their counterparts in Nigerian zoos look like poorer cousins. When a nation prospers, it shows, even in the animals.
I think I should stop at this point, as I can feel fresh anger welling up within me. After six days, I came back to still meet Nigeria fuel-less, power-less, president-less. But this is our land. We have no other. We will stay here and salvage it together. But then, did we make a mistake by not shooting some people as Rawlings did in Ghana? But now that we are in a democracy, such is not possible again. Those impure thoughts again! Get thee behind me, Satan.
By Christmas, I was completely fed up. Peeved, completely riled and exasperated by a fuel-less, power-less and president-less country. So I packed my bags and baggage, and off to Ghana I went.
Two years ago, at about the same period, I had taken a holiday in Ghana, and when I returned, I did a piece with the headline ‘Notes from Accra.’ I romanticized the peace, security and sanity in that country so much that one Nigerian, gripped in the paroxysm of jingoism, sent me an angry text that I should return to Ghana if I loved the place more than my country. So, two days after Christmas, I heeded the advice.
I went back to Ghana, along with my family.
After six nights in the former Gold Coast, and having traveled extensively through Accra, Aburi, Kumasi and Cape Coast, I came back angrier than I was in 2007. Why should Ghana work, and Nigeria will not? Why should Ghana, which for now has not started exploiting its newly-found crude oil, not have fuel crisis, unlike Nigeria which has exported crude for about 50 years? Why should you travel hundreds of kilometers on smooth, almost silky roads in Ghana, and your own roads back home are filled with craters and gullies?
You passed through many police check points, but not at a single one were you questioned, harassed or money extorted from you or the driver. Like a troubadour, you traversed villages, towns and cities, but not once were you in danger of being waylaid and robbed silly. Dare you try that in Nigeria? Why, why, why? Why is our country so blest? I went to Ghana for recreation, I got it. But I also came back with deep-seated anger in the pit of my stomach.
Six nights in Ghana, no power failure, not even for one second. In Nigeria, they promised us 6000 megawatts of electricity by December 2009, they delivered pitch darkness. Why won’t one be angry, to the point of entertaining thoughts that are potentially treasonous, mutinous? Since you can’t really hold a man for the thoughts in his heart (at least, you’re not God), let me share with you some of the things that infiltrated my heart during those days in Ghana. Just consider that I’m thinking aloud.
The visionary Kwame Nkrumah government was overthrown by the military in 1966. The generals began to toss the country from one side to the other, from Ankrah to Afrifa, to Acheampong, to Akuffo. They covered the landscape with greed, avarice, larceny. They bled Ghana to the bones, and the country virtually collapsed. Then came pay day. A hot-headed young military officer struck in 1979. Flight Lieutenant John Jerry Rawlings, scion of a Scottish father and Ghanaian mother.
It is a matrilineal society, so Rawlings is considered a full-blooded Ghanaian. What did he do? Gen Afrifa had seized power in 1968, Acheampomg in 1972, Akuffo in 1978. He hauled all of them before military tribunals, which found them guilty of corruption. And they were shot. Shocking! Yes, but shock treatments do work, they have their positive sides.
Because Rawlings gave Ghana a shock treatment, the country is almost an Eldorado today. In the late 1970s, as a result of years of plunder by the military, Ghanaians flocked into other African countries, seeking refuge and succour. Many of them taught me in secondary school. Bernard Ohene Addai. Adu Sarkodee. Sarkodee Mensah. Ben Omane. Nana Offori. Ado Danquah. And many others. And their women? Let’s not remember the days of two lala. That was what they charged then in the brothels (don’t ask me how I knew). They could not pronounce Naira properly, so they called it lala. But those days are now gone. The Ghanaian woman has regained her pride because good leadership retrieved the country from the hawks, from the plunderers. When will our own come?
By the hands of the military, Ghana was destroyed. And by the hands of a military man, the land was restored. Eight solid years of democratic rule by the same man laid a new foundation for the country. A former military leader has also ruled us here for eight years as a supposed democrat. He left the country in further ruins.
Our own military left Nigeria in tatters. The only Buhari /Idiagbon regime that wanted to knock sense into our heads (and land) was toppled in a palace conspiracy. Oh, what an unfortunate land. Today, Ghana has got her democracy right, the votes of the people count, elections are largely free and fair, while for us, we can only dream of such things. Pity, pity. Shouldn’t we also have shot some people to ribbons? But enough of thinking aloud, lest I be accused of accommodating seditious thoughts. Keep your heart with all diligence, for from it are the issues of life.
Each time I stand by the Atlantic Ocean in Ghana, I remember my father. And two of the hotels where we stayed, La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, Accra, and Elmina Beach Hotel, Cape Coast, are right at the bank of the great sea. It was the same waters on which my father sailed almost 55 years ago, in search of the golden fleece. He never stopped telling us of the voyage to Fourah Bay College, Sierra-Leone, where he took a degree in Economics. He had stopped over in Ghana. Maybe he even stood on the very spot on which I had my feet planted. Memories are forever.
At a point in Accra, my wife and daughter needed to buy sunglasses. Our tour guide, Steve, was driving a fairly new Toyota. He simply found a place to park, left the engine running, and went to help them bargain. Good old Lagos! Leave your car door open with the engine running? The car will be at Cotonou in the next hour!
Hey! There is even Olusegun Obasanjo Way in Accra. Who dashed him? A long, well constructed dual carriageway. Didn’t they ask him of the condition of the road that leads to Otta, his farm, before they so honoured him? The man should be ashamed. Shame? Oh he long told us that he never feels ashamed, that he was not at home the day God was distributing that virtue.
Aburi. Beautiful, serene Aburi, set daintily atop a hill. It is home to a botanical gardens that is 119 years old. But for us in Nigeria, Aburi goes beyond just nature and its preservation. It is the town where Gen. Yakubu Gowon and Odumegwu Ojukwu met, to try and avert the Nigerian Civil War that lasted between 1967 and 1970. They came out with the Aburi Accord, which later broke down. And a shooting war started. You could see the presidential lodge on a hill, where the Nigerian leaders had parleyed at the behest of Ghanaian leaders. It all ended in futility
At the botanical gardens, we saw trees that were 119 years old. No wonder the Good Book says, “As the day of the trees are, so shall the days of my people be.” (Isaiah 65:22) But would you want to live up to 119, “sans eyes, sans teeth, sans taste, sans everything?” (Shakespeare). Food for thought.
In that garden, almost all the trees are flourishing, except the mahogany tree planted in 1979 by Olusegun Obasanjo, as the then military head of state of Nigeria. Well, what do you expect of a self-confessed bad man? But let’s leave the chicken farmer alone, and go to more pleasant things.
After four hours drive from Aburi, you get to Kumasi, the land of the Asantes. And I remember Sam Asante, who used to play for my favourite local team, the IICC Shooting Stars, in the 1970s. Is he from here?
In history lessons, we had been told of Okonfo Anokye, Osei Tutu, and Prempeh I, the Asantehene who was exiled to Seychelles because he refused to give up the golden stool, the soul of the Asantes, to the British. You saw all these in bold relief at the Mahyia palace, where a tour guide took you round, with vintage pictures to back up the story. You had the pleasure of listening to a drum that had been in existence since 1888.
From Kumasi to Cape Coast. Another four hours drive, with stop-over at Assin Manso, where captured slaves had their last bath and drank their last Ghanaian water before being ferried abroad. Quite touching.
New Year eve and day were spent at Cape Coast. Scores of white people were also living it up at the Elmina Beach Hotel and the Coconut Grove. And then, the unholy thoughts came back. What a great harvest for kidnappers. If these people dare venture to certain parts of Nigeria, it would indeed be a merry time for kidnappers, who would smile daily to the banks. Impure thoughts, get thee behind me!
Lest I forget, we got to the zoo at Kumasi. The lions were quite robust, and they made their counterparts in Nigerian zoos look like poorer cousins. When a nation prospers, it shows, even in the animals.
I think I should stop at this point, as I can feel fresh anger welling up within me. After six days, I came back to still meet Nigeria fuel-less, power-less, president-less. But this is our land. We have no other. We will stay here and salvage it together. But then, did we make a mistake by not shooting some people as Rawlings did in Ghana? But now that we are in a democracy, such is not possible again. Those impure thoughts again! Get thee behind me, Satan.
N120bn fraud: Intercontinental Bank ex-directors oppose charges
By Akeem Nafiu
EFFORT by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to re-arraign seven directors of Intercontinental Bank Plc at a federal high court presided over by Justice Dan Abutu in Lagos was, on Monday, stalled owing to the insistence of the directors that the new criminal charge against them was defective.
The EFCC is currently prosecuting Raymond Obieri (chairman); Hyacinth Enuha; Christopher Adebayo Alabi; Samuel Adegbite; Isyaku Umar; Bayo Dada and Sani Adams for alleged illegal banking practice and economic crimes to the tune of N120 billion.
When the case came up for hearing, on Monday, counsel for the EFCC, Muslim Hassan, informed the judge that an amended charge had been filed against the accused and that the papers had been served on them.
The counsel, therefore, urged the court to allow the bank chiefs to take their pleas on the amended charge, a request which the court granted.
However, after the first count out of the 20 counts was read to the accused, Wole Olanipekun, counsel for Obieri, raised an objection to the charge, insisting that the plea of his client could not be taken because the charge was defective.
Olanipekun, who cited Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Act to buttress his point, said his client would be objecting to 10 out of the 20 charges.
The lawyer further urged the court to adjourn the matter to enable him to file a formal application to challenge the amended charge.
In his reaction, Hassan argued that the move by the defence was a ploy to further delay trial, adding that the amended charge had been served on the accused since January 20.
In a short ruling, Justice Abutu upheld Olanipekun’s submission and directed the accused to file formal application, while he adjourned the matter till March 22.
EFFORT by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to re-arraign seven directors of Intercontinental Bank Plc at a federal high court presided over by Justice Dan Abutu in Lagos was, on Monday, stalled owing to the insistence of the directors that the new criminal charge against them was defective.
The EFCC is currently prosecuting Raymond Obieri (chairman); Hyacinth Enuha; Christopher Adebayo Alabi; Samuel Adegbite; Isyaku Umar; Bayo Dada and Sani Adams for alleged illegal banking practice and economic crimes to the tune of N120 billion.
When the case came up for hearing, on Monday, counsel for the EFCC, Muslim Hassan, informed the judge that an amended charge had been filed against the accused and that the papers had been served on them.
The counsel, therefore, urged the court to allow the bank chiefs to take their pleas on the amended charge, a request which the court granted.
However, after the first count out of the 20 counts was read to the accused, Wole Olanipekun, counsel for Obieri, raised an objection to the charge, insisting that the plea of his client could not be taken because the charge was defective.
Olanipekun, who cited Section 167 of the Criminal Procedure Act to buttress his point, said his client would be objecting to 10 out of the 20 charges.
The lawyer further urged the court to adjourn the matter to enable him to file a formal application to challenge the amended charge.
In his reaction, Hassan argued that the move by the defence was a ploy to further delay trial, adding that the amended charge had been served on the accused since January 20.
In a short ruling, Justice Abutu upheld Olanipekun’s submission and directed the accused to file formal application, while he adjourned the matter till March 22.
Lagos AC Chides Lagos DPA for Childish Politics.
By Joe Igbokwe.
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress has charged the Lagos DPA to grow up and cease playing kindergarten politics with issues so as to shore up its miserable political standing in Lagos . The party was reacting to DPA’s laughable and infantile allegation that the Fashola regime was responsible for the rating of Lagos as one of the worst livable cities in the world by an international intelligence magazine.
In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the AC, Joe Igbokwe, the party chided on what remains of the DPA for trying desperately to twist an issue it knows dates back to the degradation of the country by marauders in government and which the Fashola regime is trying to correct with the hope that it will cash in on it. It says that desperation has a limit and that when it comes in the form of engaging in puerile false propaganda for effects, it becomes clearly a case of infantile opportunism of the type the DPA is known for.
“We have no reason to quarrel with the so-called rating that has added fire to DPA’s penchant to engage in futile opportunistic politics but we are clearly shocked at the degree the DPA in Lagos is ready to go to advertise its desperation to stand against the current and present a super performing government in bad lights before the very people who have acknowledged the stellar performance of the present government. Lagos AC is not ready to engage the Economist Intelligent Unit (EIU) on its rating that has fired DPA’s latest pedestrian zeal, we would have Lagos DPA to tell Lagosians the criteria employed in reaching this so-called rating. Again, we would have loved DPA to tell Lagosians what the situation was, what the rating was and whether there had been improvement or regression in the past ten years before the AC government berthed in Lagos .
“While we note that Lagos DPA thrives on sensationally cashing in on issues from a very narrow, selfish and restricted perspective, we want them to know that such issues as the latest rating have to be taken in context with the general picture elsewhere in Nigeria . Are other cities, including those controlled by DPA’s allies more livable than Lagos ? What indices were employed in arriving at the latest rating and how applicable are they to other parts of the country? Is Lagos unlivable while Port Harcourt , Ibadan , Abuja , Kano , Enugu , Owerri, Kano . Kaduna , Jos are livable? Let the DPA provide answers to these posers before it opens its mouth in shameful opportunism to paint a regime that so far, remains the best and the most acknowledged in Nigeria in bad lights. If the other aforementioned cities are not more livable than Lagos , as is obviously the case, does this translate to the lie that Fashola has taken Lagos back as the DPA were struggling to make Nigerians believe?
“We believe that assessing what Fashola is doing to make Lagos livable will necessarily factor what the situation was before he came and what obtains in other parts of the country. We believe that Lagos DPA would have tried, even from an abysmally low level, to tell Nigerians the kind of pressure Lagos, which has become an oasis for other Nigerians, faces vis a vis other cities in Nigeria, the population pressure and the picture in other states in Nigeria. it is convenient for Lagos DPA in its desperation, to ignore these facts and try to make a political capital from the sensationalism in the story.
“Lagos AC will not join issues with what calls itself Lagos DPA on the plethora of issues it feels the Fashola regime should tackle before it sheds its induced self-blindness because the government is doing all it is doing to the satisfaction of not only Lagosians but other Nigerians. It is easier for the impaired to see the monumental developments in Lagos at present as planting flowers and trees. It is easier for anyone that is stranded on the lonely stretch of denial to see what the government is doing in Lagos presently as media razzmatazz and such other nonsensical forgeries of insane minds but Lagosians and Nigerians are no fools. Like the blind men that went to see an elephant, DPA and the few people that have sworn to be permanently blind to the great phenomenon in Lagos can go on and fool themselves that what the Fashola government is doing in Lagos is planting trees and flowers and media propaganda. They are racing against themselves in a game they are woeful and pitiable losers. We can only wish Lagos DPA a merry voyage in self-foolery and self-induced blindness. Lagosians can discern rabid desperation and awful propaganda from real performance and stellar achievements and that is what has made the toiling of the one-man Lagos DPA an effort in futility.
“Lagos AC wants DPA to grow up to the fact that it can never achieve anything by living in self denial of what the present regime is doing in Lagos . We want the DPA to accept a fact it can never change by denying its existence. The New Lagos is real and we are happy that the DPA cannot change this fact by its selective propaganda.”
Joe Igbokwe.
Publicity Secretary,
Lagos AC.
The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress has charged the Lagos DPA to grow up and cease playing kindergarten politics with issues so as to shore up its miserable political standing in Lagos . The party was reacting to DPA’s laughable and infantile allegation that the Fashola regime was responsible for the rating of Lagos as one of the worst livable cities in the world by an international intelligence magazine.
In a release in Lagos, signed by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the AC, Joe Igbokwe, the party chided on what remains of the DPA for trying desperately to twist an issue it knows dates back to the degradation of the country by marauders in government and which the Fashola regime is trying to correct with the hope that it will cash in on it. It says that desperation has a limit and that when it comes in the form of engaging in puerile false propaganda for effects, it becomes clearly a case of infantile opportunism of the type the DPA is known for.
“We have no reason to quarrel with the so-called rating that has added fire to DPA’s penchant to engage in futile opportunistic politics but we are clearly shocked at the degree the DPA in Lagos is ready to go to advertise its desperation to stand against the current and present a super performing government in bad lights before the very people who have acknowledged the stellar performance of the present government. Lagos AC is not ready to engage the Economist Intelligent Unit (EIU) on its rating that has fired DPA’s latest pedestrian zeal, we would have Lagos DPA to tell Lagosians the criteria employed in reaching this so-called rating. Again, we would have loved DPA to tell Lagosians what the situation was, what the rating was and whether there had been improvement or regression in the past ten years before the AC government berthed in Lagos .
“While we note that Lagos DPA thrives on sensationally cashing in on issues from a very narrow, selfish and restricted perspective, we want them to know that such issues as the latest rating have to be taken in context with the general picture elsewhere in Nigeria . Are other cities, including those controlled by DPA’s allies more livable than Lagos ? What indices were employed in arriving at the latest rating and how applicable are they to other parts of the country? Is Lagos unlivable while Port Harcourt , Ibadan , Abuja , Kano , Enugu , Owerri, Kano . Kaduna , Jos are livable? Let the DPA provide answers to these posers before it opens its mouth in shameful opportunism to paint a regime that so far, remains the best and the most acknowledged in Nigeria in bad lights. If the other aforementioned cities are not more livable than Lagos , as is obviously the case, does this translate to the lie that Fashola has taken Lagos back as the DPA were struggling to make Nigerians believe?
“We believe that assessing what Fashola is doing to make Lagos livable will necessarily factor what the situation was before he came and what obtains in other parts of the country. We believe that Lagos DPA would have tried, even from an abysmally low level, to tell Nigerians the kind of pressure Lagos, which has become an oasis for other Nigerians, faces vis a vis other cities in Nigeria, the population pressure and the picture in other states in Nigeria. it is convenient for Lagos DPA in its desperation, to ignore these facts and try to make a political capital from the sensationalism in the story.
“Lagos AC will not join issues with what calls itself Lagos DPA on the plethora of issues it feels the Fashola regime should tackle before it sheds its induced self-blindness because the government is doing all it is doing to the satisfaction of not only Lagosians but other Nigerians. It is easier for the impaired to see the monumental developments in Lagos at present as planting flowers and trees. It is easier for anyone that is stranded on the lonely stretch of denial to see what the government is doing in Lagos presently as media razzmatazz and such other nonsensical forgeries of insane minds but Lagosians and Nigerians are no fools. Like the blind men that went to see an elephant, DPA and the few people that have sworn to be permanently blind to the great phenomenon in Lagos can go on and fool themselves that what the Fashola government is doing in Lagos is planting trees and flowers and media propaganda. They are racing against themselves in a game they are woeful and pitiable losers. We can only wish Lagos DPA a merry voyage in self-foolery and self-induced blindness. Lagosians can discern rabid desperation and awful propaganda from real performance and stellar achievements and that is what has made the toiling of the one-man Lagos DPA an effort in futility.
“Lagos AC wants DPA to grow up to the fact that it can never achieve anything by living in self denial of what the present regime is doing in Lagos . We want the DPA to accept a fact it can never change by denying its existence. The New Lagos is real and we are happy that the DPA cannot change this fact by its selective propaganda.”
Joe Igbokwe.
Publicity Secretary,
Lagos AC.
Monday, February 15, 2010
North is Gradually Becoming Nigeria’s Problem’- ACF
Vice chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) Board of Trustees (BoT), Senator Ladan Shuni, has declared that most of the problems bedeviling Nigeria are from the North.
Shuni, who said this at the opening of the BoT meeting, called to examine the Jos crisis and other forms of problem emerging from the area, added that most of the problems bedeviling the north have not been helped by the attitudes of leaders in the area who have failed to halt the trend.
He said Northern leaders must take responsibility for all the problems of the north, like deteriorating quality of education and begging and try to find ways of redressing it, adding that if the problems persist, the North faces a bleak and uncertain future.
According to him, the North has to create an enabling environment where quality policies and programmes on socio-economic issue would be implemented for the development of the area.
“There are a lot of crises in the North; there have been Boko Haram, Kala kato, and the present Jos crisis. The North is becoming the problem of the country and it is the North that should come together and solve the problem.”
Shuni, who said this at the opening of the BoT meeting, called to examine the Jos crisis and other forms of problem emerging from the area, added that most of the problems bedeviling the north have not been helped by the attitudes of leaders in the area who have failed to halt the trend.
He said Northern leaders must take responsibility for all the problems of the north, like deteriorating quality of education and begging and try to find ways of redressing it, adding that if the problems persist, the North faces a bleak and uncertain future.
According to him, the North has to create an enabling environment where quality policies and programmes on socio-economic issue would be implemented for the development of the area.
“There are a lot of crises in the North; there have been Boko Haram, Kala kato, and the present Jos crisis. The North is becoming the problem of the country and it is the North that should come together and solve the problem.”
Ribadu asks America to pressure Nigeria on reforms
By Musikilu Mojeed
The former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, [EFCC] Nuhu Ribadu, has requested the American government to “double its commitment to the democratic future of Nigeria” and pressure the Nigerian government to rev up the war against corruption.
“I have always maintained that corruption is perhaps the greatest reason for the failure of development and failure of democracy in our region, Mr. Ribadu said at a speech he gave at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
“For this reason, I ask today that the West and the United States in particular double its commitment to the democratic future of Nigeria.” Mr. Ribadu, a respected anti-corruption fighter, was removed from his post in 2007 after the EFCC he headed arrested and locked up James Ibori, a former state governor, believed to have significantly bankrolled President Musa Yar’Adua’s election.
Robust actions
Now on exile, following alleged attempts on his life, Mr. Ribadu is a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, Washington DC and Senior Fellow at St. Anthony’s College at Oxford University, United Kingdom.
Since he relocated abroad, the former EFCC chairman has continued to advocate for a more transparent and effective handling of Nigeria’s affairs and those of other African countries.
At the Council For Foreign Relation’s symposium, attended by U.S. policymakers, academics, experts and politicians, Mr. Ribadu, speaking on, “Corruption and Africa: Beyond the bleak projections for a region and its challenges”, asked the United States to pressure his country’s leaders to urgently reform the electoral system in the run up to the 2011 general election.
“Our nation may suffer the frustrating challenges of a prolonged childhood but the nobility of our people’s dreams outpace the putrid vision of their leaders,” he said.
“There are urgent goals and priorities that can help push our nation forward. One is an urgent electoral reform which must be a condition for the 2011 elections. The second priority will be to put the anti-corruption programme back on the rail. Such a programme will assume a one-stop agency that comes complete with a financial intelligence unit, an attitude of zero tolerance for inner agency corruption, an attorney general who is not a friend to the most criminal elements in the land, and a judiciary that has defined itself in terms of expeditious resolution of cases and incorruptibility.”
He said if the United States was indeed interested in Nigeria’s progress, it must take “robust action against the stolen money that finds its way into your jurisdictions; against the companies that believe there is only one way to do business in Africa; support for training for the best in security forces, civil service, judiciary and media.
“And when it comes to something like elections, a focus now, well ahead of time, of the issues: if we wait for polling day, it may be too late.”
Arguing that corruption is responsible for a larger chunk of Nigeria’s woes, Mr. Ribadu said the country could still experience a rapid turnaround if it gets the right kind of support from abroad.
He lamented that a small clique of corrupt elite who have continued to bleed the country of its meagre resources had hijacked his country, throwing it into abject poverty.
“The score sheet of this very tenacious system is that it delivers for those it serves but leaves the overwhelming majority with next to nothing.”
Mr. Ribadu said because the funds that should have been used to fix the healthcare system had been stolen, President Umaru Yar’Adua is now holed up in Saudi Arabia undergoing medical treatment.
“A visit to any one of our once proud but now sadly dilapidated universities will show the picture is the same in education, as in indeed is the case in the security sector, the environment, the care for the climate, and other development sectors,” he said.
No limits
“We have now settled to the conclusion that when corruption takes over, only your imagination limits how fundamental the consequences can be. Our people are no longer properly educated or cared for.
“The police cannot protect citizens from criminals, although there are those who swear that they are the criminals. If judges can be bought, there is no justice.
“Because contracts to repair and rebuild the power sector have been abused for a generation”, Mr.
Ribadu continued, “We now produce barely as much electricity as we did at independence 50 years ago this October.” He said “for those who import diesel to feed the generators accessible to the fortunate few, it has been a multibillion dollar bonanza; for the contractors who promise much but deliver little, it has also provided enormous fortunes.
“But without power we have no industry. With no industry we have no real jobs, no possibility to compete even with our neighbours and the relentless erosion of our living standards,” the former EFCC chairman concluded.
The former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, [EFCC] Nuhu Ribadu, has requested the American government to “double its commitment to the democratic future of Nigeria” and pressure the Nigerian government to rev up the war against corruption.
“I have always maintained that corruption is perhaps the greatest reason for the failure of development and failure of democracy in our region, Mr. Ribadu said at a speech he gave at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.
“For this reason, I ask today that the West and the United States in particular double its commitment to the democratic future of Nigeria.” Mr. Ribadu, a respected anti-corruption fighter, was removed from his post in 2007 after the EFCC he headed arrested and locked up James Ibori, a former state governor, believed to have significantly bankrolled President Musa Yar’Adua’s election.
Robust actions
Now on exile, following alleged attempts on his life, Mr. Ribadu is a visiting fellow at the Center for Global Development, Washington DC and Senior Fellow at St. Anthony’s College at Oxford University, United Kingdom.
Since he relocated abroad, the former EFCC chairman has continued to advocate for a more transparent and effective handling of Nigeria’s affairs and those of other African countries.
At the Council For Foreign Relation’s symposium, attended by U.S. policymakers, academics, experts and politicians, Mr. Ribadu, speaking on, “Corruption and Africa: Beyond the bleak projections for a region and its challenges”, asked the United States to pressure his country’s leaders to urgently reform the electoral system in the run up to the 2011 general election.
“Our nation may suffer the frustrating challenges of a prolonged childhood but the nobility of our people’s dreams outpace the putrid vision of their leaders,” he said.
“There are urgent goals and priorities that can help push our nation forward. One is an urgent electoral reform which must be a condition for the 2011 elections. The second priority will be to put the anti-corruption programme back on the rail. Such a programme will assume a one-stop agency that comes complete with a financial intelligence unit, an attitude of zero tolerance for inner agency corruption, an attorney general who is not a friend to the most criminal elements in the land, and a judiciary that has defined itself in terms of expeditious resolution of cases and incorruptibility.”
He said if the United States was indeed interested in Nigeria’s progress, it must take “robust action against the stolen money that finds its way into your jurisdictions; against the companies that believe there is only one way to do business in Africa; support for training for the best in security forces, civil service, judiciary and media.
“And when it comes to something like elections, a focus now, well ahead of time, of the issues: if we wait for polling day, it may be too late.”
Arguing that corruption is responsible for a larger chunk of Nigeria’s woes, Mr. Ribadu said the country could still experience a rapid turnaround if it gets the right kind of support from abroad.
He lamented that a small clique of corrupt elite who have continued to bleed the country of its meagre resources had hijacked his country, throwing it into abject poverty.
“The score sheet of this very tenacious system is that it delivers for those it serves but leaves the overwhelming majority with next to nothing.”
Mr. Ribadu said because the funds that should have been used to fix the healthcare system had been stolen, President Umaru Yar’Adua is now holed up in Saudi Arabia undergoing medical treatment.
“A visit to any one of our once proud but now sadly dilapidated universities will show the picture is the same in education, as in indeed is the case in the security sector, the environment, the care for the climate, and other development sectors,” he said.
No limits
“We have now settled to the conclusion that when corruption takes over, only your imagination limits how fundamental the consequences can be. Our people are no longer properly educated or cared for.
“The police cannot protect citizens from criminals, although there are those who swear that they are the criminals. If judges can be bought, there is no justice.
“Because contracts to repair and rebuild the power sector have been abused for a generation”, Mr.
Ribadu continued, “We now produce barely as much electricity as we did at independence 50 years ago this October.” He said “for those who import diesel to feed the generators accessible to the fortunate few, it has been a multibillion dollar bonanza; for the contractors who promise much but deliver little, it has also provided enormous fortunes.
“But without power we have no industry. With no industry we have no real jobs, no possibility to compete even with our neighbours and the relentless erosion of our living standards,” the former EFCC chairman concluded.
ICPC urged to invite Aondoakaa over remarks on Akunyili
by Idowu Samuel
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has been urged to invite the Minister of Special Duties, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, to substantiate the allegation of corruption he levelled against his colleague in the Information and Communications Ministry, Professor Dora Akunyili.
This is coming on the heels of reports that members of Anti-Corruption Revolution (ANCOR), recently launched by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had petitioned the commission to invite the former Attorney-General of the Federation to shed light on his allegation against the information minister.
Some civil society groups including NGOs, National Network For Anti-Corruption and Yar’Adua/Jonathan Support Group, had also filed separate petitions before the ICPC, urging it to consider the weighty allegation Aondoakaa levelled against Akunyili and make him prove such publicly.
According to a petition to ICPC, signed by national co-ordinator, NGO Network, Mallam Mahmud Boguei, the allegations by Aondoakaa had offered proof of alleged large-scale corruption being perpetrated by cabinet members under President Umaru Yar’Adua, a reason it said the anti-corruption agency should make him shed light on the corrupt members of the cabinet.
Attah, in the petition to ICPC, referred to section 19 of ICPC Act 2000, stating that since the law frowns on any attempt by public officers using their offices to amass wealth, it should, as a matter of necessity, probe the allegation by the new Minister of Special Duties.
TUC Demands Probe of Ministries, Agencies
By Linda Eroke, 02.15.2010
Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has called on Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, to probe the activities of the various ministries and agencies during the period that the seat of power was vacant due to President Musa Yar’Adua’s medical vacation.
The Congress also called for the evaluation of the various ministries to determine how money and other budgetary provisions were spent during this period.
TUC, in a statement jointly signed by its President General, Comrade Peter Esele and Secretary General, Comrade John Kolawole, noted that the recent minor shakeup was inadequate going by the failure of the various ministries in their administration.
The Congress suggested that fresh hands be brought in while those that have become heady and unpopular be dropped immediately.
The Congress, while commending members of the National Assembly for declaring Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as the nation’s Acting President said the joint action have saved the country from further ridicule among the comity of nations and also helped to confirm that the country belongs to everyone irrespective of tribe or religious beliefs.
The move, the Congress explained, has also gone a long way to re-assure all on the stance of the present administration in the sanctity of rule of law and respect for the nation’s constitution.
The Congress however urged the Acting President to initiate actions on burning national issues such as poor power supply, irregularities in fuel distribution, poor infrastructures and the provision of world class health facility that is capable of handling divers kinds of health cases.
TUC also advised Jonathan to be decisive in determining those to work with either as ministers, special advisers and other machineries necessary for effective governance.
“No minister should be higher than the office he/she occupies. What we are saying in essence is that fresh hands should be brought in while those that have become heady and unpopular should be dropped immediately.
The last minor shakeup is not all what we expect,” TUC said. The present bunch of ministers have failed the nation going by ministry evaluation.
“We also demand a probe into the activities of the various ministries and agencies during the period this whole episode was been played out to determine how money and other budgetary provisions were spent,” the congress said.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) has been urged to invite the Minister of Special Duties, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, to substantiate the allegation of corruption he levelled against his colleague in the Information and Communications Ministry, Professor Dora Akunyili.
This is coming on the heels of reports that members of Anti-Corruption Revolution (ANCOR), recently launched by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), had petitioned the commission to invite the former Attorney-General of the Federation to shed light on his allegation against the information minister.
Some civil society groups including NGOs, National Network For Anti-Corruption and Yar’Adua/Jonathan Support Group, had also filed separate petitions before the ICPC, urging it to consider the weighty allegation Aondoakaa levelled against Akunyili and make him prove such publicly.
According to a petition to ICPC, signed by national co-ordinator, NGO Network, Mallam Mahmud Boguei, the allegations by Aondoakaa had offered proof of alleged large-scale corruption being perpetrated by cabinet members under President Umaru Yar’Adua, a reason it said the anti-corruption agency should make him shed light on the corrupt members of the cabinet.
Attah, in the petition to ICPC, referred to section 19 of ICPC Act 2000, stating that since the law frowns on any attempt by public officers using their offices to amass wealth, it should, as a matter of necessity, probe the allegation by the new Minister of Special Duties.
TUC Demands Probe of Ministries, Agencies
By Linda Eroke, 02.15.2010
Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has called on Acting President, Goodluck Jonathan, to probe the activities of the various ministries and agencies during the period that the seat of power was vacant due to President Musa Yar’Adua’s medical vacation.
The Congress also called for the evaluation of the various ministries to determine how money and other budgetary provisions were spent during this period.
TUC, in a statement jointly signed by its President General, Comrade Peter Esele and Secretary General, Comrade John Kolawole, noted that the recent minor shakeup was inadequate going by the failure of the various ministries in their administration.
The Congress suggested that fresh hands be brought in while those that have become heady and unpopular be dropped immediately.
The Congress, while commending members of the National Assembly for declaring Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as the nation’s Acting President said the joint action have saved the country from further ridicule among the comity of nations and also helped to confirm that the country belongs to everyone irrespective of tribe or religious beliefs.
The move, the Congress explained, has also gone a long way to re-assure all on the stance of the present administration in the sanctity of rule of law and respect for the nation’s constitution.
The Congress however urged the Acting President to initiate actions on burning national issues such as poor power supply, irregularities in fuel distribution, poor infrastructures and the provision of world class health facility that is capable of handling divers kinds of health cases.
TUC also advised Jonathan to be decisive in determining those to work with either as ministers, special advisers and other machineries necessary for effective governance.
“No minister should be higher than the office he/she occupies. What we are saying in essence is that fresh hands should be brought in while those that have become heady and unpopular should be dropped immediately.
The last minor shakeup is not all what we expect,” TUC said. The present bunch of ministers have failed the nation going by ministry evaluation.
“We also demand a probe into the activities of the various ministries and agencies during the period this whole episode was been played out to determine how money and other budgetary provisions were spent,” the congress said.
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