The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • 2015: Nigerians must make rational choice

    SIR: As 2015 general elections gather momentum, politicians have begun wide consultations on their ambitions while some political parties and various interest groups have at the same time commenced endorsement of their preferred candidates. States, zones, tribes and socio-cultural/religious organisation are not left out in this endorsement galore.

    With the array of aspirants to various political offices, the choice for the best might be an arduous one. However, as the electorates who hold the ace to political offices, we must be wise in choice. The forthcoming general elections will be a litmus test of our electoral sagacity. Nigerians should look out for aspirants whose programmes for election reflect the yearnings of the people in the areas of poverty alleviation, quality education, health care and agriculture. Time for politics of stomach infrastructure and empty promises should be over in 2015. Nigerians had been led by their noses for a long time thus anyone who seeks their mandate on any elective post or political platform come 2015 should be the one ready to honour a valid social contract.

    Without recourse to party affiliations, they should vote for that man whose presence in government will afford greater opportunities for rapid development.

     

    Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    Samaru, Zaria

     

  • Attention: Taraba acting governor

    SIR: It is, no doubt, getting worse and completely hard for Local Government retirees in Taraba State, whose retirement benefits have not been paid for years, to endure the artificial hardships they are going through. These are people that are supposed to be supported and treated with mercy but are left in despair and misery.

    It appalling and unfortunate that the state government under the leadership of His Excellency the acting governor AlhajiGarba Umar is taciturn to the cry and plight of these gentlemen and women. Their retirement benefits are hanging in an unknown place. It was said last year that the state acting governor had given directive and with needed funds for that purpose but nothing positive came out.

    Surprisingly, money is always being deducted from the Local Government allocation through the state and local government joint accounts for such purposes. But the result is always negative. It has been heard, read and seen that everything has been captured and budgeted in that regard. For about more than two years now, the state government keeps on saying “very soon” the beneficiaries will get their benefits but up till now nothing has been done. We implore the state government to show concern and seriousness on the well-being and welfare of these people who served their local governments in different capacities for many years. Therefore, it is also the immediate responbility of Governor Umar (sardaunan Mambila) to intervene and bring an end to their protracted plight. With the intervention of the state acting governor, it is hoped and believed that very soon, they will get their retirement benefits paid.

     

    Danjuma Dila,

    Taraba State.

     

  • Call AIG Mbu to order

    SIR: The unlawful arrest and detention of journalist Amechi Anekwe on the order of Assistant Inspector General of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, is an attack on free speech as guaranteed by our extant laws. Mbu overreached himself by this deplorable act, and there is no better time to show him the exit door by his employers than now.

    The newly promoted AIG was reported to have ordered the said arrest and detention of the African Independent Television (AIT)’s presenter Anakwe for referring to him as a “controversial” during a TV programme, “Matters Arising”. The journalist who was “invited” to the Force Headquarters, Abuja, was said to have been goaded into detention upon arrival by no less a person than “lion” Mbu himself whose performance in recent times has continued to draw wild condemnation and criticism by the general public.

    Mbu has admitted ordering the arrest but maintained the journalist was not tortured while being detained unlawfully. By this feeble defence, Mbu seems to be making case for the police power of arrest. But he missed the point. No one is questioning the power of the police to make lawful arrest; far from it. What Nigerians are criticising is the circumstances surrounding this particular arrest and the unlawfulness thereof. This was a similar question the Federal High Court, Anambra, was invited to consider in the recent case of Mallam el-Rufai versus Department of State Security wherein the court declared as unlawful the arrest and detention of the former FCT Minister. Security agents are not permitted under our law to exercise their power of arrest arbitrarily and Mbu must realise this!

    Mbu ordinarily ought to know that the presenter was merely carrying out his journalistic duty as enshrined in Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). In case he doesn’t know, the principle of “fair comment” shields journalists from libel. It needs be stated that Nigerians are yet to overcome the unnecessary political upheaval created by Mbu in Rivers State during his stay as Commissioner Police. He did not only hold the office of the state governor in contempt, his reign in the state witnessed total clampdown on freedom of speech and assembly, wanton destruction of lives and properties, and atmosphere of anarchy and chaos. It took the public outrage before his employers eventually redeployed him to Abuja. He became even more “controversial” as the CP, Abuja when he attempted to proscribe the activities of #BringBackOurGirls# campaigners. But thankfully he was called to order by the more refined former IGP, Mohammed Abubakar, who appeared to know the negative image he (Mbu) was creating for the police at the time.

    If Mbu felt displeased or embarrassed by the comments of the journalist, one expects him to toe the path of civility by approaching the court rather than use his position to intimidate the helpless journalist. Ironically, the top police officer who should rather be discouraging the use of self-help is now the one applying it. He should be told in clear terms that modern policing has gone past the era of arbitrariness, intimidation and application of naked force. Such practice is no longer acceptable anywhere in the world. If Mbu is not ready to accept international best practices, he should throw in the towel or be removed by his employers. Enough of this impunity!

     

    •Barrister Okoro Gabriel,

    Ebonyi State.

     

  • Warri roads and corporate social (ir)responsibility

    SIR: The late Satyagraha and social crusader, Tai Solarin, in one of his anecdotal portrayals posited that, “the hand of an elderly man cannot enter the gourd and the child cannot carry it. It therefore behooves both of them to get out the content of the gourd and to carry it forward through co-operation”.

    The lack of co-operation between governments and most corporations in the execution of corporate social responsibilities have precipitated structural and developmental anarchy and entropy in Delta State and Nigeria. Although, Section 14 subsection 2(b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Fundamental Objectives and the Directive Principles of State Policy states that, “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of Government”, the blatant lackadaisical attitude of most companies in the discharge of their corporate social responsibilities remains grotesquely recondite.

    Glaringly cases are the gullies, static flood water and sandy dunes opposite Sterling Bank, Zenith Bank by Odibo Estate, Donasulu Company, Stanbic Bank, Heritage/Agape Church along the Warri/Effurun Sapele Road, PTI Road opposite PHCN’s Office, Giwa-Amu by Okere Ugborikoko Road, Giwa-Amu by Apala Junction, Giwa-Amu by Eta Junction, Ginuwa Road opposite Johnson & Jones Chemist, Old Walfare Road Radio Road by Igbudu Market.

    There are horrendously deadly scenarios re-enacted along the Airport Road by Union Bank, Pegofor, Isoko Plant Hire Company, Opposite Awenayeri Filling Station, Amju Bank, Ogborikoko Market, Fortune Bank, Greener Line Filling Staion, opposte Cambridge School, Kosini Junction, Ogunu by Angle Pack, Roundabout/ Junction opposite Angle Pack, opposite Federal Government College, opposite Rewane Villa/ Mobile Police Quarters Okere/Urhobo Junction, the express road through Ugbuwangue to the NPA gate and all its adjoining roads.

    The main express from bye-pass is an eyesore as the express road is dotted by potholes and the indiscriminate parking of petrol tankers after the Army Barrack along the major thoroughfare has been the cause of needless loss of lives and avoidable accidents.

    This pothole drama is virtually epitomized in three-quarter of Effurun and Warri areas. The absence of culverts and central drainage systems in Effurun/Warri roads has further compounded the state of the roads and the bitumen surfacing are easily washed away during torrential rains.

    We call on all corporate bodies, individuals to work in unison with the Uduaghan administration’s construction drive to ensure a broad outreach to the citizenry. Governor Uduaghan can do better by constructing culverts/drainage facilities in most of the roads he has done. A simple move to macadamize and fill them will go along way.

    Finally, organizing Neanderthal thanksgiving services in churches for flood short circuiting for 2013 is antediluvian, pristine and escapist. The state government must focus on massive construction of roads, drainages and bridges working in unison with corporate bodies to forestall floods and untold hardship for motorist and pedestrians.

     

    • Chief Bobson Gbinije

    Warri, Delta State

     

  • Kudos to NYSC on on-line policy

    Kudos to NYSC on on-line policy

    SIR: I have read with utmost surprise how the NYSC online registration policy has been described as extortionist. This is far from the truth. Those of us in the Diaspora see it as long overdue. At some point, we wondered why our wards have to do long travel to the NYSC headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria just to collect call-up letters, when such process can be captured online and real-time.

    This is indeed a welcome development and I wish people can see it as one of the best innovations that have happened in the NYSC since inception. The only thing that is constant in life is change and the NYSC should not be left out. If I understand it very well, this online registration thing is optional for those it is convenient for. The logical thing to do is weigh options and go for the one that is most suitable.

    The world is moving fast and lots of transactions are captured online. I also understand that other agencies like the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) have long embraced this initiative and it has made the activities of JAMB less cumbersome. This is what the NYSC aims to achieve in my opinion.

    Corps members should not be made to go through cumbersome processes for any reason whatsoever. As I write, my daughter has completed her registration online. I expect other parents to encourage their wards to do same.

     

    • Ebube Onyekachi,

    Atlanta, United States

     

  • Governor Orji and Abia’s ugly posterior

    SIR:  Relative to the nominal use of English is the anatomical lexicon which parades and establishes the frontal and backward terms as anterior and posterior views respectively. Whereas anterior expresses the features of a structure or body part that can be seen physically, posterior tells or talks about the not-too conspicuous back part of an object. Every object or institution, whether knowingly or not, has a part its attention is more concentrated and that which has less viewership and patronage.

    While I continue to anticipate the yet to be seen but highly publicized infrastructural achievements of Governor T.A Orji of Abia State, it remains an unanswered question and a great poser to the beloved people of Arochukwu Local Government Area of Abia State, a city which boast of intellects, heroes like the legendary Kanu Nwankwo, Mao Ohuabunwa and others, that the road that leads an adventurer to this great city remains a death trap and a colossal mockery.

    Arochukwu, the historic resort of the slave masters where the pre-colonial escapade of slavery occurred, lacks a capable route that can boast of smooth sail. It is located, like I said, posterior to Umuahia, the state capital and in the northern senatorial district of the state of which the state also has its College of Education (Technical).

    The road which smears the aesthetic boast of the governor’s achievement begins its array of misery and public absurdity right after the army barracks in Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State. As a visitor, I felt so ashamed of my state leading fellow students from diverse states to my state on a visit to a bereaved friend.

    This beggars the answer to a painful question, has Arochukwu become a despondent city to be neglected to such extent despite its historic popularity amongst the Igbo nation? Is there no member of the state House of Assembly who can draw the attention of the governor to this great place to respond to this urgent demand?

    We cannot continue to leave this city made up of rural farmers and young boys who have taken up the challenge of patching the state government-owned road with sand and used cement bags to their fate.

    Governor T.A Orji, remember that the perfect feature of an umbrella is that it covers the frontal part of its owner but includes his posterior part as it still part of his body.

     

    • Ogbonna  Khaleb Power ,

    Amaba  Isuikwato,  Abia State

     

  • APGA and fallacy of Party Ndi Igbo

    APGA and fallacy of Party Ndi Igbo

    SIR: The recent defection of the immediate past governor of Anambra state, Chief Peter Obi has generated much hue and cry. Obi who defected to PDP was in fact  considered one of the few chief priests of the party who knows the best method of appeasing  the spirit of Ojukwu- the deity of the party.

    So to some, the defection is not just an ordinary one, but a herald of the beginning of the end of APGA.

    APGA has been nurtured and sustained by the fallacy of Ndi Igbo party through which it has dominated Anambra political landscape since 2006. But the question staring on us is this : what has the so-called party fetched us ? Do Igbos have any future in Nigerian politics under the auspice of APGA?

    Arthur  Nwankwo in his investigative  masterpiece titled ‘The Igbo Leadership and the Future of Nigeria’ expatiated  the predicament that Igbo Elite  suffered by  linking the themselves to the wrong party in the second Republic. This was what happened to Anambranians under the banner of APGA.

    APGA as political party was founded by group of Igbo politicians led by  Chief Chewas Okorie in 2002 – registered in 2003 – and became popular when the Igbo leader Chief Dim Odimegwu Ojukwu used the party to further his presidential ambition. But unable to make any impact in the  election, the fame that Ojukwu infused to party began to dwindle.

    It was Peter Obi that raised APGA from the brink of collapse  through the miracle of his judicial roller-coaster. Peter Obi- according to Chewas  Okorie – was chosen by Ojukwu to bear the party gubernatorial flag of the state in 2003 General Election.  Obi’s mandate was stolen by Chris Uba foisted candidate of PDP – Dr Chris Ngige.  Through the instrumentality of court, Obi was able to reclaim his mandate and in alliance with  Ojukwu canonized APGA as party of Ndi Igbo.

    The term ‘Party Ndi Igbo’ is in itself self-defeating in that it conjures up nebulous shades of political brouhaha  and imbroglios  that defined the First Republic.

    If Igbo Presidency is still the dream of Igbo people, then we shall desist from joining regional party. For with regional party, the project of Igbo presidency can’t be achieved.

    APGA as a political party was used by  Peter Obi to further his quest for power and relevance.  On  realizing  that the fame APGA can give  circulates just around Anambra State, Obi – who is Ojukwu’s political anointed son – decided to join PDP in order not to remain a ‘spectator’ in the national affairs.

    It’s appalling that Anambrarians weren’t smart enough to know the true character of their so-called best governor. By this defection, Peter Obi has not  just put credence to the assertion that Nigerian politicians are the same but has decidedly heralded the  Nunc Dimitis for APGA and soon other party bigwigs will follow suit.

    As Anambrarains are enjoying the continuity that  governor Obiano’s administration is keeping to, the question everybody is asking is: Is Peter Obi still keeping to the promise he made to Ojukwu?

     

    • Asikason Jonathan,

     Enugwu-Ukwu , Anambra State.

     

  • Leader Nigerlites deserve

    SIR:  “Leaders must have that sense of trusteeship, that they are only temporarily in charge of the destinies of their people and that their duty is not only to discharge that trust, but also to pass it on to equally trustworthy and competent hands.” Lee Kuan Yew

    A nation governs best when its leader governs free men. Since the return to democracy in 1999, many states have not fared well neither endowed with a kind of leadership and development anticipated by the masses despite the huge allocations they received from federation account. We have been hurt, and we have been disillusioned. We have seen a wall go up that separates us from our own government. We have lost some precious things that historically bound us and our government together. We have been a nation adrift for too long. There is a fear that our best years are behind us, but with effective and honest leadership, our best is still ahead.

    Niger State fell among the category of states that dividends of democracy and good governance have not been so palatable. A journey from Suleija-Minna, Minna-Bida, Lambata-Lapai-Agaie-Bida, Minna/Sarkin-Pawa, Bida-Doko, Kwakwuti-Kafinkoro, Agaie-Katcha-Baro, SabonWuse-Garam-Bwari, NewBussa-Babana, Bida-Mokwa, Lemu-Zungeru, Tegina/Birnin-Gwari, Bida-Katcha, and Kontagora-Rijau road will tell the pitiful condition of our roads across the state. Education, healthcare, agriculture, job creation and social sector do not justify the billions of naira said to have been channelled to them.

    In many parts of the state, majority of primary and secondary schools remain dilapidated as they were in 1999. Travellers along Abuja-Kaduna and Suleija-Minna road can verify by taking a look at Government Arabic Girls College Dikko, Government Girls Secondary School, Sabon-Wuse and Government Science College, Izom respectively. The case of the two female schools are more pathetic; in early 80’s to mid 90’s, they both played host not only to the pupils from the state, but have been the darling of FCT residents mostly public servants who regarded them then as the best choice for their children because of standard, facilities, environment and its proximity. Today, the glory of both schools is now past.

    Even the foreign scholarship scheme for undergraduate and postgraduate studies embarked upon by the entire northern states to boost manpower and self-reliance in field of Medicine, Bio-Technology, Engineering, Information technology, Agriculture, Industrial Design, Architecture, Renewable Energy and Pharmacy; Niger State is only one yet to adopt the initiatives.

    Despite being purely agrarian, many of its Local Government Councils cannot boast of a single functional tractor nor tell last when fertilizer, pesticides or seedlings where sold at subsidised rate to the farmers. A state which was created in 1976 is now lagging behind Katsina, Akwa-Ibom, Jigawa, Gombe, Delta, Kebbi, Osun, Ekiti and Zamfara States created in 1987, 1991 and 1996 respectively in terms of physical and human development. Even the states of Yobe and Borno that are engulfed in insurgency for past three years appear to fare better in physical and human development.

    We need a leader who can inspire us, unite us around the principles that we share and rally us to a common purpose. Nigerlites wouldn’t approve of candidates that are intellectually bankrupt or devoid of ideas.  The next governor must create an open-door policy, because in a democracy, it shouldn’t be just loyalists, party men, the wealthy, and the well-connected that should have access and influence.

    Every eligible voter in the state must play a role in changing the course of the state’s history. The state has had enough of elected officers who have turned the state agencies and programmes into personal piggy banks, granting favours to their family, friends, god-fathers, thugs, ballot-box snatchers and election riggers, mistresses, rewarding donors, and furthering their own interests.

     

    • Ibrahim Muye Yahaya,

    Muye, Niger State

     

  • Still on Mimiko’s defection to PDP

    SIR: Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State thinks he can always succeed with his manipulative and maradonic styles of politics.

    He manipulated late Adefarati and succeeded. Mimiko manipulated late Olusegun Agagu and triumphed. He manipulated Bola Tinubu and got away.

    The latest of the Mimiko’s manipulative politics was his claim that he helped Ayo Fayose and the PDP to win in Ekiti.

    The fact is that Governor Mimiko, through the help of Senate President, David Mark, former Chief of Staff to the President, Mike Ogiadome and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ayim Pius Ayim, took Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele of the House of Representatives to President Goodluck Jonathan as the candidate that should be supported for Ekiti governorship election.

    Further more, during the Ekiti governorship electioneering, Mimiko was in Ekiti State four times to campaign for Labour Party’s candidate, Bamidele.

    Let me also state that Mimiko handsomely paid Fayose’s former Personal Assistant, Goke Olatunji to support Bamidele against his boss.

    However, after the Ekiti governorship election, President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly told Mimiko that despite his claim of being rooted in South-west, Labour Party could not get up to 20,000 votes in Ekiti.

    The President also reminded Mimiko that if he had not supported his re-election bid in October 2012, he wouldn’t have won, meaning that Mimiko has been rejected by the common people of Ondo State.

    And shortly after the Ekiti governorship election, Fayose went to the LP Secretariat in Ado-Ekiti to thank Opeyemi Bamidele for dividing the APC. Affirmatively, the division among the Ekiti APC greatly aided the victory of Fayose.

    Mimiko was expecting Fayose to also pay him a thank you visit in government house, however, rather than going to Alagbaka to pay homage to Mimiko, Fayose proceeded to the Ondo PDP Secretariat in Akure to thank his party members for their moral support.

    Mimiko has been kicking against Fayose ever-since.

    That Mimiko could choose Abuja for his defection shows that the maradona of Ondo Politics is afraid of his people. Why? Because a good politician defects where his people resides. Segun Oni joined APC at his Ifaki-Ekiti country home. Fayose re-joined PDP at his Afao-Ekiti country home. Bamidele joined LP at Ado-Ekiti. Senator Boluwaji kunlere joined PDP at his Igbotako country home.

    Trust PDP, if a sitting governor is decamping in Abuja, particularly inside the villa and the president was right inside the same villa but was not at the ceremony, national chairman of the party was not present and BOT Chairman Tony Anenih, in Abuja was also not present!

    Governor Segun Mimiko; please get ready for battle of supremacy which you might not win this time around.

     

    • Maxwell Adeyemi Adeleye,

    Magodo, Lagos.

     

  • Army or oppressors?

    SIR:I wish to say a very big thank you to all those who helped train our men in uniform (Army) especially those within and around Auchi, Edo State.

    Our military men, it appears, have so prepared for combat that they don’t seem to remember that we are in a democratic system and that we, bloody civilians are not at war with them, and that they were commissioned to protect and not to oppress us, bloody civilians.

    Hardly does a week go by without incidents of military men beating up civilians within Auchi (I know not of other places). This is often at the slightest provocation. For instance, an officer comes to use an ATM machine, he expects everyone else to move aside from the queue and anyone stupid enough to complain gets a nice beating. As a boys scout, I recall how much emphasis was placed on discipline among our members. Are these fellows not trained in the rudiments of law and order?

    It’s not just at ATMs that our men show how poor their moral values are but they try hard to show it everywhere else. I hope somebody becomes concerned about this before these soldiers have nobody to protect (or oppress).

     

    • Ishaq Umason,

    Auchi