The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Kero-Correct: The True Story

    Dear Editor,

    We read with dismay the story titled, ‘When Will ‘Kero-Correct Scheme Take Effect?’ on page 59 of the 22nd February edition of your newspaper which was laced with a lot of misconceptions and misrepresentations.

    We therefore wish to use this medium to set the records straight regarding the essence of the Kero-Correct Scheme and what has been done so far.

    First, it needs to be stated that the kerosene distribution and supply system is a very complex one that lends itself to abuse due to the various use the product is being deployed to beyond domestic cooking. Because of this, the Kero-Correct Scheme was designed to use NNPC Mega, Floating, and Affiliate stations across the country as outlets in the pilot scheme for ease of control. The reporter tacitly acknowledged when he quoted the General Manager of NNPC Retail, Mr. Ufford Ibanga, as assuring that all the 524 NNPC Retail’s Mega, Floating and Affiliate Stations will be used as outlets for the Kero-Correct Scheme. It was therefore unconscionable for the reporter to link the absence of kerosene at Major and Independent Marketers’ stations with the Kero-Correct Scheme as he did in the story apparently to make the scheme look bad.

    Second, it is not true that NNPC Mega and Affiliate stations in Lagos have been without kerosene for the past two months as stated in the report. It is on record that all Mega and Affiliate Stations, not only in Lagos, but all over the country, have been receiving supplies of kerosene since the project was flagged off last month. It is true that the supplies have not been as regular as desired due to bridging challenges as the product has to be lifted from depots in Lagos and Oghara across the country using trucks. But that is not to say that the scheme has not been efficient in delivering on its mandate of getting kerosene to the end users at N50 per litre. This is the reason why Nigerians prefer to queue at NNPC Mega and Affiliate stations to buy the product rather than go to other stations where they sell at higher prices, a fact the reporter failed to acknowledge in the report.

    Finally, we wish to state that efforts are on to resolve the challenges that have been noticed in the bridging system to ensure a more robust and regular supply of the product to Mega and Affiliate stations across the country. We are also in the process of extending the scheme to the hinterland where most of the consumers of the product reside. This we are doing in conjunction with some reliable independent marketers whose outlets will be used to dispense the product at the regulated price of N50 per litre and 25 litres per household.

    We would appreciate it if you can reflect these facts in your story in order to help us serve Nigerians better.

    Accept the assurances of our utmost regard.

    Thanks,

    – Mr. Nwakwu Anthony,

    Chairman, Kero-Correct Committee, NNPC, Abuja.

  • IGP ABBA We need police station in Abule-Iroko

    ABULE-IROKO is an ancient town in Ogun State. It is a border town which is very close to Lagos State.

    As large as this town is, it does not have a police station or post. People go to Sango-Ota in Ogun State to ask for police assistance any time they are in distress. This help usually comes late because of distance.

    I am appealing to the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, to help the suffering people of the town by giving them a police station or post urgently.

    This is the need of the people of this community. They want it badly. And I hope the police authorities will not disappoint my people.

     

    Adelani Mohammed,

    Abule-Iroko,

    Ogun State.

  • LAGOS POLICE COMMISSIONER Save us from Oshodi boys

    LAGOS POLICE COMMISSIONER Save us from Oshodi boys

    THIS is to draw the attention of the Lagos State Commissioner of Police to the atrocities being committed by some young boys in Oshodi, Lagos.

    These are street boys who have made Oshodi their home. In the afternoon, they operate as touts. They, in some cases, engage themselves in odd jobs and begging.

    When it is night, they operate as thugs and armed robbers. They beat, harm and rob innocent people who are returning from work.

    It is not difficult to identify them. They are found along the railway line. They always appear wild and dirty.

    I must add that motorists who experience breakdowns on the roads are molested and robbed.

    I want the police commissioner to find a way of flushing these evil elements out of Oshodi in the interest of the general public.

     

    Adams Adekole,

    Oshodi, Lagos.

  • ABUJA ELECTRICITY COMPANY We are in darkness in Oke Oyi

    PEOPLE of some towns in Oke Oyi, Yagba, Kogi State have been living in darkness since 2012 because of the lack of electricity supply.

    These towns are Ponyan, Ife Olukotun, Oranre, Alu and Igbagun.

    Apart from the suffering being experienced by the residents of the towns who cannot use electricity in their homes, artisans find it difficult to carry out their trades because this is the facility they depend on for their operations.

    To put a stop to the darkness, I am calling on Abuja Electricity Company to send their engineers to rectify the electrical fault responsible for the disruption of the supply.

     

    Hon Ayedogbon Segun,

    Ponyan, Kogi State

  • PRESIDENCY Provide good teachers

    WE have a serious problem in this country, but this is not known to most people, especially our leaders.

    The problem is in the area of education. To simply put it, we do not have qualified and experienced teachers manning our schools at both primary and secondary levels.

    This problem is responsible for the poor performances of our pupils and students in schools and examinations like the WASSCE and NECO.

    I am now using this opportunity to call on our leaders to go into this matter with a view to finding a lasting solution to it.

    Without good education, there will be no meaningful development. In the light of this, the president and all our governors should swing into action on this important matter.

     

    Muhammad Bashir,

    Gwagwalada, Abuja.

  • GOVERNOR AREGBESOLA Give us institution of higher education in Modakeke

    GOVERNOR AREGBESOLA Give us institution of higher education in Modakeke

    I AM directing this message to Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State. As a listening leader, it is my belief that he will quickly act on it.

    I want the governor to establish an institution of higher education in Modakeke. This is a town with many secondary schools, both public and private, but without an institution of higher education.

    I am not asking for a university. What I am requesting for is a polytechnic or college of education.

    I am not commanding the governor. I am humbly appealing to him to come to the aid of these people who are mainly the supporters of his party and government.

    We need this. And we shall never forget him, if our request is granted.

     

    Wale Akinniyi,

    Bosa Street, Modakeke,

  • Whither Nsukka people?

    SIR: We have taken time to ponder over the fate of Nsukka people since the return of “democracy” in 1999. We have thought of the hopelessness of our people, their stinking poverty and deliberate deprivations unleashed on them by the PDP government. What has this government – federal and state – got to show in Nsukka? Is it roads, health facilities, employment, farm inputs, water supply or electricity? All they see are broken promises, failed and failing infrastructures.

    By deliberate plot, PDP has a design to further weaken Nsukka zone. The party has side tracked all the Nsukka aspirants who have experience and who are highly educated. At the governorship level, the choice of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in preference for very articulate and political activists like Ikeje Asogwa, Sam Onyishi (Peace Mass Transit) Engr. Since his eleven years, eight months in the House of Representatives, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has never spoken a word in the National Assembly, not even motion for adjournment!

    The picture is not better with the PDP’s choice of the senatorial candidate for Nsukka. Here again the same scenario plays out. The game plan is simple: impose some one on Nsukka who cannot rival any of the other two senior senators from the other senatorial districts, namely, the incumbent senators Ekweremadu and Gil Nnaji who are also candidates for this election. So in the senate, the Nsukka man, Chuka Utazi, would be a green horn. The effect is that given his lack of experience and standing vis-à-vis the other contesting senatorial candidates, any major positions or slots in the senate meant for Enugu State would automatically go to senators from East and West senatorial districts. It is clear that PDP team in this election is not Nsukka first eleven. They cannot score the goals needed to move Enugu State forward let alone Nsukka, in the years ahead.

    This is where Okey Ezea (Ideke) of All Progressives Congress (APC) readily comes in. He has the experience. He has the vision. He has a manifesto, a requisite blue print needed to move Enugu State forward. Above all, he is no body’s godson.

    Should the evil design of the PDP cabals succeed, (God forbid) then Nsukka would be shut out in the scheme of things in the next dispensation. Nsukka man may be governor, but as has been pointed out, the voice would be that of Jacob but the hand would be that of Esau.

     

    • Ifeanyi Ugwueze,

    Concerned Nsukka Patriots, Nsukka

  • Power to sack Jega beyond Jonathan

    SIR: We must never permit a situation of having to lock the stable door after the horse has bolted. The constitution is clear and unambiguous: the process of removal of the Chairman of INEC, according to Section 157 of the 1999 Constitution, starts from the Senate and ends with the President.

    The impression conveyed to the public by President Goodluck Jonathan during the Wednesday, February 11, media chat was that he could hire and fire the chairman of INEC at any time. No sir. Such power does not reside in the presidency.

    Even if the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission were to commit a criminal offence today, such as murder, he can be arrested by the police and prosecuted, since he enjoys no immunity, but the President has no constitutional power to either constructively remove him through suspension or sack him outright on account of that criminal act. Indeed, I find it ludicrous when some lawmakers claim they suspend the Speaker of a House of Assembly. The fact is, there is no such provision for the suspension of a Speaker. Suspension and removal amount to the same thing, in that he will not function in the said office during the period of suspension. No such is ever envisaged by the framers of the constitution. If he has committed any gross misconduct, he can be removed by two-thirds majority of the entire House. I am aware of the Public Service Rules, the House Rules, etc., but these are subordinate to the Constitution.

    The power of the President to appoint or dismiss the chairman of INEC, NJC, NPC, etc. is not only limited but circumscribed by the fact that he shall consult the National Council of State for appointment and obtain confirmation of the Senate, and in the case of removal secure, first, the concurrence of at least two-thirds majority of the Senate. The language employed by the constitution is that the process of removal should commence from the Senate – unlike the process of appointment which should begin from the President. Therefore, the President should be well-guided and not act in ignorance or defiance of the provisions of the constitution.

    Buoyed by his getting away with constructive removal of the former CBN governor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi, from office through suspension, the President erroneously believes that he can do the same for federal executive bodies listed in Section 153 of the 1999 Constitution. No sir; that’s a no-go-area.

    But then impunity begets impunity. Under what constitutional power did the President remove Chief Festus Odumegwu, the then chairman of the National Population Commission? Did the process commence from the Upper House? Did the Senate debate let alone vote on his removal? But we all kept quiet then; so why not attempt other infractions if you could get away with one act of impunity? But it is time to say thus far and no further to the President. Acting against the constitution is tantamount to treason.

    We must warn against a situation where the President will attempt to unconstitutionally dismiss the chairmen of INEC, NPC, NJC, etc. and then ask anyone that is not satisfied to go to court. That will amount to high treason. The constitution is clear: the process of removal of the chairman of INEC, according to Section 157, starts from the Senate and ends with the President. The purpose of Section 157 is to insulate the all-important bodies like INEC, CCB, NPC, RMAFC, etc. from vagaries of politics and political interference from the President. The polity should no longer permit any acts of impunity that may bring down the edifice of this nation.

     

    • Opeyemi Soyombo,

    Abeokuta, Ogun State.

  • Obasanjo’s farewell to PDP

    SIR: With the dramatic public rending of his membership card, one needs not to be told that Chief Olusegun has finally parted ways with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). In fact, with this unique farewell package, one can confidently conclude that Obasanjo’s unending wars with the PDP are also over. Obasanjo is the highest beneficiary of the PDP’s benevolence as he rose from the position of a condemned prisoner in 1998 to the exalted position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    The former president for quite some time has distanced himself from the activities of the PDP and government related functions. He did not show up at the PDP presidential campaign in Abeokuta. Obasanjo took advantage of every auspicious time at his disposal both at home and abroad to launch unprecedented verbal attacks on PDP led government and policies which he deems anti-people to the chagrin of his former party, the PDP.

    Apart from that, he was conspicuously absent at the National Council of State meeting held on February 5 where issues bordering on the prevailing security situation and the forth coming general elections were discussed.

    It is in the person and character of former President Obasanjo to diligently pursue whatever ideals he cherishes and stands for with sublime passion and vigour. He equally remains resolute and unruffled in the face of reactions or criticisms emanating from his views on any national or international issues. It was Harold Laski who affirmed that “without freedom of mind and of association, a man has no means to self-protection in our social order.”As a matter of fact, the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly of every Nigerian are guaranteed under Sections 39 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. In as much as speech is free and truth sacrosanct; the former needs to be uttered with decorum and guarded with utmost care while the latter devoid of personal interest should in all circumstances prevail.

    The sage should understand that there are several decent ways of killing a rat. As former President and chairman Board of Trustee (BOT) under the same party which he has publicly humiliated, his behaviour and utterances at any given time should be reflective of restraint and decorum. However, the action failed the litmus test of self-control and cannot in any way be said to be statesmanlike.

    Obasanjo and the PDP were expected to show high level of maturity in managing their perceived differences for old time sake’s.  After all it is mutual respect for each other, uncommon restraint and forgiving spirit that sustains any relationship.  Both should be blamed for washing their dirty linings in the public. However, it is said that appropriate measure of blames should be visited upon the strong who in the course of a brawl with his neighbour publicly made him to defecate in his dress and the underdog who shamelessly messed himself up.

     

    • Sunday Onyemaechi Eze,

    Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Kaduna

  • Fayose is sick!

    SIR: Ayo Fayose embodies all the key indicators of aggravated personality meltdown – he has cast off all sense of restraint, he is actuated by an insatiable urge to embarrass himself in public, his utterances run like a surging stream of folly, and he finds delectation in the headshaking attention that his  shameful stunts earn him!

    So there is possibly no way to frame Fayose’s condition nicely. No way to make it sound tame and politically correct. It must be said as it is: simply and plainly – without a touch of varnish. And this is it: this rascal who insists on making sports of his nakedness, this pretender to the seat of Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose, is sick.

    Fayose, who the other day, felt compelled to assert his education by brandishing all the paper qualifications he has ever garnered, from primary school to the polytechnic, before a televised campaign rally, is not a medic. Even his claim to basic literacy is suspect because he has proved unable to appreciate a simple reading of the constitution on the count of majority in the Nigerian legislature.

    Yet he has sworn himself to pronouncing upon the health of his pet hate, Citizen Muhammadu Buhari, and branding the APC Presidential candidate as sick.

    Fayose is not quite a new discovery. He has always been. His maiden tenure as Ekiti Governor, a tenure that had to be abbreviated by a very urgent impeachment, was a tragedy. Fayose did not excel in any sphere of governance. And certainly, he was no healthcare champion. He could only be justly credited with doing an excellent job of defining himself as a man confused by the habitat of power. He made himself the poster boy of rascality; of delinquent leadership. He wound up scamming the state in the name of a poultry farm.

    When he launched a bid for his second advent, Fayose affected to have undergone an inward transformation. He called in the posture and self-abasing confessions of a remorseful prodigal son seeking to have the runs of his old residence. Many people risked a bet on his affectation of repentance. After all, his outcast blackout should have mellowed his vintage.

    Fayose returned. And he has been supplying evidence that the passage of years has only served to crystallize his capacity for leisurely nuisance. The truth subsists in the paradox: the child is the father of the man.

    He has become the hooligan of the hour. Fayose, the relentless stalker, continues to pursue the health of a man who is leading a normal life and prosecuting a rigorous campaign. Fayose and his ilk would rather have Buhari incapacitated in the run up to the elections so that the Presidential race will be a veritable solo contest for the incumbent – a Na Only You Waka Come farce.

    We look at Fayose and wonder whether a fraction of his supposed love for health reflects on Ekiti. Has he articulated and crafted a universal healthcare bill, say Fayosecare, to expand access to modern day medicine? Has he budgeted for cottage hospitals in communities where the sick have to choose between staking their survival on the potency of a foul smelling herbal concoction or a bottle of holy water?

    Has Fayose proposed Ekiti Cancer Diagnostic Center yet? Does he have a model of the building sitting on his desk?

    Fayose thinks that cancer has exclusive fondness for opposition presidential candidates. He needs to know that Ekiti Government House is not free of cancer bearers. Among the aides and courtiers in his orbit, we can hit at least a dozen humans who need chemotherapy but are walking about in ignorant bliss.

    We know Fayose wants to win the gold medal. He wants to be decorated the most ardent Jonathan fanatic. But Fayose would be better off focusing his efforts on mastering the ill health of his own people rather than burn himself out on a Buhari who can take care of himself comfortably. Fayose needs to know that the number one killer disease in his domain is not the ominously sounding cancer but ‘ordinary malaria’. And his kith and kin could use a Governor’s passion for healthcare.

    • Emmanuel Uchenna Ugwu

    @emmaugwutheman