Author: The Nation

Renowned veteran journalist, Mr. Ndu Eke, has chronicled his childhood experiences during the Nigerian Civil War in a recently published book, ‘Kidding in a Theatre of War’.

The author described the 210-page book as a multi-dimensional story of a human tragedy dredged from the belly of a theatre of war.

A statement from the publishers of the book, European Books, under the series, ‘Build Universes’, noted that the book came out of the desire of Eke’s mother to preserve the history of the war experiences.

The publishers said: “In two and a half years, scampering from Aba to Amaeke Item and back to Aba, a 10-year-old boy accepts his mother’s prescient prompt to document the untold sordid realities of the Nigerian-Biafran war.

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“Its flow connects daring adventures and unexpected events, community sense of survival, brotherhood and friendship.

“The narrative rhythm is thrilling and touching, ‘Kidding in a Theatre of War’, drives the reader into a metaphorical grip that’s hard to escape from.”

An excerpt from the literary work stated:  “Well, don’t think there’s a choice; if we don’t, we all die …if he goes, perhaps he dies for us, they spare us.

“You feel this way because I’m alive; the dead don’t have deformities. Do they?”

Eke is a war survivor, storyteller and writer. He has been a broadcast, newspaper and digital media journalist rising to the post of an Editor.

Years later, he transitioned to a banking career during which he led marketing, corporate communications and relationship marketing teams.

Lately, the author has been leading a leadership communications consultancy he founded.

A civil society organisation, Coalition of Concerned Niger Delta Stakeholders on Tuesday held a rally at the Unity Fountain Abuja, calling for good governance across board.

The group expressed dissatisfaction that a large population of Nigerians are living below the poverty line, while threat of insecurity and hunger are staring the country at the face.

These according to the Concerned Niger Delta Stakeholders are all indices of bad governance, calling on the newly inaugurated administration of President Bola Tinubu to make efforts to address them.

The good governance rally which had as the theme, “Independence of Legislature, Executive and Judiciary” also featured performances by cultural troupe, comedy, and music.

Speaking at the event, Co co – Convener of the group, Odiedini Maachree also called for efforts to strengthen the independence of National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly as they represent the baxton of democracy.

He said, “We as concerned Niger Deltans are aware of the significance of a democratic and inclusive legislative process and its role in fostering national development, accountability and protection of citizens’ rights.

“As we expect the leadership of the tenth National Assembly next week, itis crucial that the elections of the President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, their Deputies, and other Principal Officers should be conducted in a manner that upholds the principles of fairness and equity.

“We do not expect any form of interference or intimidation of the National Assembly members from any quarter, including the executive. They should be allowed to vote credibility and excellent track record and not those with questionable characters.

“Legislators should be able to exercise their constitutional rights and freedom to elect leaders who can effectively represent their interests and the interests of the Nigerian people”, he stated.

The group which had earlier called for the rejection of former governor of Akwa Ibom State, Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Senate President drummed support for a former Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari for the office of the third citizen.

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Also part of the rally was the National President, Arewa Youth Amb. Mohammed Aboki who demanded equity and non-interference of the executive in the affairs of the 10th National Assembly.

Talking on equity and fairness, he said the error of the outgoing 9th National Assembly where the President and the Senate President are both from the North should be corrected.

“We need a balanced system. We need equity and justice. Nigeria needs to get it right this time. We are calling on APC to resist the temptation of hand-picking the leadership of tenth Assembly.

“We don’t need a Senate President or House Speaker whose duty will be commissioning of projects”, he said.

Also in his remarks, a youth stakeholder of Niger Delta, Comrade Bani Samuel challenged Akpabio to show his scorecard as a Minister of Niger Delta Affairs before seeking to become the Senate President.

He said the North deserves to produce the Senate President since the South has produced the President, even as he insists on independence of the tenth National Assembly without executive interference.

The National Secretary of Nigeria Youth Organisation, Comrade Duke Alamboye said the 109 Senators and the 360 House of Representatives members are exposed enough to decide their leadership, urging political parties to stay away from affairs of the legislature.

Demonstrators also wielded placards with different inscriptions, including “Executive South, Legislature North, Judiciary South”, “We Don’t Want A Dictator to Head The National Assembly”, “We Need Fresh Air in the 10th National Assembly Leadership” and more.

Ahead of the June 13 inauguration, reports have emerged that Tinubu has withdrawn his support for Godswill Akpabio as Senate President.

But the Concerned Niger Delta Stakeholders insist that only a balanced power sharing system can accelerate the development of the country.