The Nation Newspaper

Category: News Update

  • ‘U.S women gave Obama second term ticket’

    ‘U.S women gave Obama second term ticket’

    A professor of Political Science from the Loyola University Chicago, Prof. Richard Maitland, on Friday said President Barack Obama would have lost the United States presidential election to his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, if not for women.

    Obama, the Democratic Party candidate defeated Romney in a keenly contested race already described as the fiercest presidential battle in the history of U.S presidential elections.

    Maitland spoke in Abuja at a national multi-stakeholders dialogue on enhancing women’s political participation through constitutional and legal reforms in Nigeria, organised by the Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development.

    He said women had the majority vote that brought about Obama’s victory due to the fact that he had attended to major issues concerning women.

    Maitland said there is no gain saying that women play a very crucial role in election throughout the world, hence should be allowed to participate effectively in politics.

    His words: “It is very clear that majority of the men in the United States voted for Romney during the Presidential election by very small margin but the majority of women voted for Obama by a large margin and when the votes of the two groups were collected Obama ended up winning the election.

    “You can effectively say he (Obama) won because of the women’s vote and believe me the women’s groups are very happy to retain him in office because they voted for him and they expect him to do things to support issues, especially those ones that concern women.

    “And that has happened; Obama has been much more supportive of women groups and issues than Romney was in terms of health care, equal paper, equal works. We expect big changes in the area of immigration from President Barack Obama.”

    A fact sheet obtained by The Nation from the organizers, shows that after the 2011 elections there was a shortfall in the number of women elected across all the states and at the national level.

     

  • Jonathan’s monthly media chat holds Sunday

    Jonathan’s monthly media chat holds Sunday

    President Goodluck Jonathan is to speak on matters that are currently of interest to the nation in the next edition of the Presidential Media Chat on Sunday.

    The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, stated this in a release in Abuja on Friday.

    Abati said the Presidential Media Chat would be broadcast live on the network services of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).

    He said that during the chat, the president would answer questions and respond to comments from a panel of media professionals on a broad range of current topical issues.

    Abati said the chat would begin at 7p.m.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that he urged other television and radio stations to hook up to the network services of NTA and FRCN to transmit the programme for the benefit of their viewers and listeners.

     

  • Books’ distribution: FG to sanction defaulting publishers

    Books’ distribution: FG to sanction defaulting publishers

    The Ministry of Education has begun process of sanctioning publishers contracted to supply textbooks and library resource materials to primary and junior secondary schools across the country.

    The Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, said this in Abuja on Friday while addressing the publishers in his office.

    Wike said  the sanction was as a result of their inability to supply textbooks for the 2012/2013 academic session within the approved six weeks specified in their contract agreements with the Federal Government.

    He directed the management of the Universal Basic Education Commission, through its legal department, to write to the publishers.

    He said the legal department should indicate the relevant clauses in the agreement upon which they defaulted and the specified sanctions.

    The minister described the default of all the publishers as regrettable.

    He said the ministry had already written to the president for the nationwide distribution scheduled for launch on November 30.

    “The publishers cannot hold the government to ransom. You have been doing this but it cannot continue. We will apply the necessary sanctions,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the minister as saying to the publishers.

    Wike pointed out that after six weeks, the publishers ought to have supplied books to the 36 states and Abuja.

    “The publishers claimed that they had the capacity to deliver within schedule. I am really disappointed and I will not hesitate to recommend to the president that you don’t have the capacity,’’ he said.

    Responding on behalf of the publishers, the Managing Director of Heinemann Educational Books, Nigeria, Mr. Ngwuocha Okereke, appealed to the minister to temper justice with mercy.

    Okereke gave the assurance that the publishers would work round the clock to deliver all the textbooks and resource materials to the states before the launch.

     

     

     

  • Mark mourns Eso

    Mark mourns Eso

    Senate President, David Mark, on Friday described the death of the retired Supreme Court Justice, Kayode Eso, as a monumental loss to the nation’s judiciary.

    Mark, who reacted to the death of the foremost jurist, lamented that the country has lost one of the best and fertile minds in the judiciary.

    A statement signed by the Special Adviser (Media) to Senate President, Kola Ologbondiyan, quoted Mark as saying that Late Eso was one of the proponents of the legal reforms that ushered in the era of dignity and the independent of the nation’s judicial system.

    According to Mark, “As a legal officer and jurist, Eso was a voice for the voiceless.

    “He defended the defenseless and was there for the oppressed.

    “He was a forthright and distinguished officer.

    “Nobody doubted his integrity and where he stood on national issues were clearly unambiguous.

    “He was a patriotic Nigerian.”

    The Senate President recalled that the late Eso as the then Pro-Chancellor and Chairman, Governing Council of the University of Benin(UNIBEN), brought positive reforms in University administration especially the tenure of Vice-Chancellors.

    He said the nation shall miss the worthy contributions of Eso, who he described as eminent in all ramifications.

    For Mark, Eso left positive footprint on the sand of time.

  • Aganga tasks Nigeria, South Africa on economic growth

    Aganga tasks Nigeria, South Africa on economic growth

     

    The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has urged Nigeria and South Africa to take advantage of the window of opportunities available in their economies to strengthen economic growth in the continent.

    Aganga stated this at a dinner organised by the Nigeria Consulate in South Africa and co-hosted by Financial Times and Brand South Africa in Johannesburg on Thursday.

    He emphasised that the two countries must not allow the opportunities to pass without being exploited by them for the benefit of their citizens and for the people in the continent.

    “Nigeria and South Africa have the fastest economic growth in the continent. If Africa must take advantage of the current global economic meltdown to boost growth in the continent, then the two countries need to work together.

    “The two countries have to complement each other in area of comparative advantage. There is no country that can develop its economy without industrialisation, South Africa is the leader in Africa in that area.

    “But Nigeria has the advantage in area of market and raw material over many countries, Nigeria has the largest population in Africa, an investment in Nigeria is a gateway into the ECOWAs with about 300 million population, Nigeria is a market nobody can ignore, “the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Aganga as saying at the gathering.

    He said that Nigeria is no longer interested in investors coming into the country to export raw material out of the country.

    “What we want are investors setting up industry and manufacturing plants in the country, to help provide employment for our youths and ever growing population.

    “Nigeria is discussing with South Africa on ways to collaborate in setting up automobile plants in Nigeria. There are opportunities in mining, not for exportation alone, but for mining of the mineral for processing and production,’’ Aganga said.

    He said that there were untapped potentials in the agricultural sector, saying, “ Nigeria is blessed with 84 million of acre of land, where everything and anything can grow.

    But the agriculture sector of our economy is not fully tapped.

    “We want investors in the agriculture sector not only in the area of planting and harvesting of agriculture product, but also in area of food processing and storage, this is an area where South Africa can come in, because they are well ahead of other Africa countries in food processing and storage.

    “There are also business opportunities in oil and gas, Nigeria is the largest producer of oil and gas in the continent and investment opportunities in that sector is open,” the minister stated.

    He said Nigeria can also learn from South Africa in service and infrastructure development.

     

     

  • Nigeria needs a new constitution, not review – Ekiti Speaker

    Nigeria needs a new constitution, not review – Ekiti Speaker

    The Speaker, Ekiti State House of Assembly, Dr. Albert Omirin, on Friday faulted the ongoing review sessions of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly.

    Omirin told the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos at the Senate constitution review session for the South-West zone that what Nigeria needed was a totally new constitution and not a review.

    “The panel-beating of the 1999 Constitution is not the answer; what we need is for Nigerians to sit down and write a new constitution for the country.

    “We are spending a fortune on these reviews; we need to sit down and write a new one instead,” the speaker said.

    According to him, there is a need for Nigeria to call a national conference.

    “What the National Assembly is doing now is like a referendum, there may not be any referendum after this public hearing,” he added.

    On the issue of granting a special status to Lagos, the speaker said it will be a good omen to the nation’s economy well being if granted.

    `Virtually all tribes of Nigeria are in Lagos and Lagos is the economic capital of the nation,” he said.

    On state creation, Omirin said the agitation for more states is because of financial problems confronting Nigerians, adding that if resources are well managed, the agitation will reduce.

    “People want their share of the national cake; some states depend solely on revenue allocation rather than what they can generate internally.”

    He argued against financial autonomy to councils, insisting that most of the local government areas existed just to squander money.

    “The councils need to be supervised by the states,” he said.

     

  • War court clears Croatia generals

    A war crimes court in The Hague has overturned the convictions of two Croatian generals charged with atrocities against Serbs in the 1990s.

    Appeals judges at tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ordered the release of Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac.

    In 2011 they were sentenced to 24 years and 18 years respectively over the killing of ethnic Serbs in an offensive to retake Croatia’s Krajina region, BBC reports.

    Thousands of people in Croatia’s capital Zagreb cheered Friday’s ruling.

    On Friday, presiding Judge Theodor Meron said that court entered “a verdict of acquittal” for Gen. Gotovina and Gen. Markac, both aged 57.

    The two men were last year convicted of murder, persecution and plunder. Judges then ruled that they were part of a criminal conspiracy led by late Croatian President Franjo Tudjman to expel ethnic Serbs.

    They referred to the shelling of Knin and three other towns.

    But on Friday, Judge Meron said there had been no such conspiracy.

    Court officials also said prosecutors would not appeal against the ruling, describing it as “the final judgment.”

    Neither defendant showed emotion in court, but their supporters in the gallery hugged each other and clapped after the verdict.

     

  • Minister tasks farmers on dry season farming

    Minister tasks farmers on dry season farming

    The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, has urged farmers to embrace dry season farming to boost food production in the country.

    Ochekpe gave the advice in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ilorin.

    She said the government had set aside sufficient funds to boost agricultural production for the dry season.

    “Nigerians should not only rely on farming during the rainy season but explore other opportunities. “People are doing farming on a small scale but we want more people to be involved in this dry season farming.

    “That way, we are also creating more jobs, getting many people busy,’’ she said.

     

  • Justice Kayode Eso is dead

    Justice Kayode Eso is dead

    The retired justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Kayode Eso is dead.

    He died died at the Hammersmith Hospital, London, on Friday.

    He was aged 87.

    The late Justice Eso was born on September 18, 1925 in Ilesa, Osun State.

    He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland Republic, where he obtained a Bachelor of Law Degree in Legal Science in 1953 and a Masters in 1956.

    Justice Eso was the greatest protagonist for an Independent Judiciary and very well known for his relentless efforts in maintaining discipline and protecting the integrity of his court.

    He had received several awards and University honours. He was Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON): 1979.

    He received LL.D honoris Causa, University of Ibadan: 1990, and University of Nigeria, Nsukka: 2001, respectively.

    The deceased was an author of several books, articles and had delivered various papers at national and international seminars.

     

  • I learnt political notes from Saraki – Babangida

    I learnt political notes from Saraki – Babangida

    A former Military President, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, on Thursday described the late Dr. Olusola Saraki as a refined politician from whom he learnt a “few political notes.”

    Also, a former Governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu said the late Saraki was a bridge between the North and the South.

    Babangida, who spoke on Saraki in a statement released through his Media Adviser, Prince Kassim Afegbua, said the former Senate Leader understood the dynamics of politics.

    The statement said: “Nigeria has once again lost a rare political gem, such a refined man who understood the tempers and mercies of politics and who gave more than a passing interest in nurturing it.

    “He was a man that cultivated his politics in a very peculiar manner and espoused the practice of generosity and good neighbourliness to sustain his array of political followers. Easily called “Oloye” by his numerous followers back in his native Ilorin, Senator Olusola Saraki was a politician that created his own panache throughout his entire political sojourn.

    ”He was very close to me and I had the rare privilege of learning a few political notes from his rich reservoir of political knowledge.

    “Senator Saraki has the mileage that most politicians do not have. He was kind, generous, God-fearing and enjoyed a popularity that was peculiar to him alone. He understood the dynamics of Nigeria politics and was able to sustain his political relevance through and through.

    “Even though death is the final sting of man, it is hurting to lose such a political colossus at this time. His death struck me with awe. It is nostalgic especially when I reflected on those good old days when we shared certain political philosophy together; the philosophy of one Nigeria, the philosophy of growth and development and the symbolic practice of being kind to fellow human being.

    “Senator Olusola Saraki’s philanthropy was infectious and down-to-earth. His love for the ordinary folks out there earned him a place in their million hearts. He was the masses man who craved for the elimination of poverty. He shared his riches and politics with many, and his ability to fit into all political groupings was what made his life very unique.

    “On behalf of my family, I join millions of his admirers, friends and associates in condoling his family over this painful loss. May Allah in His infinite mercy grant him eternal rest in the hereafter. May He grant the family the strength and courage to bear with this hurting loss. Adieu, Oloye until we meet to part no more.”