The Nation Newspaper

Category: Abuja Review

  • Don’t scuttle 2015 polls, NAS warns politicians

    The National Association of Seadogs (NAS) has cautioned political office holders against using state resources and the machinery of government to manipulate the 2015 general elections.

    It also called on the Federal Government to imbibe the spirit of good governance and encourage popular participation of the citizens in the electoral process, even as it urged the government to strengthen democratic institutions and the practice of rule of law; equity and justice to enhance socio-economic and political development of the country.

    Speaking at a lecture organised by NAS in Abuja with the theme: “Unity in Diversity: Our Nation’s Strength for the Future,” a senior member of the group and a senior lecturer at the Plateau State Polytechnic, Emmanuel Nanle said all votes should be allowed to count in the 2015 elections.

    He said: “All over the world, the focus for Africa is actually mandate protection which is that when you vote, the votes should count. I think that is what happened in Ekiti State.

    “If the people are desirous to effect a change, they can effect a change. If they are desirous to protect those in government and protect the mandate given to those in the government, they will be able to do it.”

    Mr. Nanle said the election of a President for the country in 2015 should not be based on religion or ethnic extraction but based on competence.

    He urged politicians to subject themselves for approval by the publics, adding that past Presidents that ruled Nigeria evolved as a final solution to the country’s lingering problems.

    He added that there is nothing wrong in the South continuing in the Presidential Villa if they have good things to offer than the North.

    According to him, there should be give-and-take syndrome in the country to allow for integration and representation.

    “What is the justification for power shift to the north? If the north wants power shift, I hope we are not talking about having a president for the north because that unfortunately is the situation we are having.

    “When you bring a President from the South, it becomes a Southern President. When you bring a President from the North, it becomes a Northern President. I understand that in this project called Nigeria, there must be a give-and-take situation to allow for integration and representation.

    “I believe that the selection or the choice of a candidate should not be premised on religion, should not be premised on ethnic extraction but should be premised on competence.

    “If we find such person in the North why not, but I am an ardent believer of Nigeria as a project and I do not see anything wrong in anybody from the South continuing if he has anything to offer,” he said.

     

  • ‘Our representatives have failed us’

    The indigenous people of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the auspices of Greater Gbagyi Development Initiatives (GG-DIN) and the Original Inhabitant of Abuja have described the Senator representing the FCT in the National Assembly, Senator Phillip Aduda and the House Representative member, Hon. Isah Dobi as a disappointment to the people of the FCT. .

    On a peaceful protest march to the palace of the Chief of Garki, Dr, Usman Ngakupi, the houses of Senator Aduda, and Hon. Dobi, over 70 members of the community expressed their grievances against those representing them at the National Assembly who, they said have failed to protect their interests at the National Assembly, adding that their non-quality representation has caused them immense suffering, shame and humiliation in the hands of government.

    On getting to Senator Aduda’s residence, the protesters were informed that he was not in town. They had to proceed to the residence of Hon. Dobi who told them to meet him at Nigeria Turkish Nile University along Airport Road.

    However, when they got to the university, they realised that Hon. Dobi had deceived them out of his residence and switched off his phones.

    Prince Gimba Gbaiza, the Coordinator of GG-DIN who led the protest march, said the people are claiming responsibility for the gridlock at the popular Kubwa-Zuba Expressway, after the unannounced demolition of Alugu-Lungu Village inside Gwarinpa Estate, adding that they are tired of the humiliation and threats to lives from the government of the FCT as their representatives at the National Assembly have failed to represent the interest of the people that elected them.

    “What is the primary duty of Senator Philip Aduda? What is the primary duty of Zaphania Jisalo and Isah Dobi? What is the primary duty of the area council chairmen? Since the issue of what happened at Lungu Village came up and the protest at Kubwa Expressway, none of them has volunteered to visit there and find out what really happened and to see what to do.

    “They have disappointed us. That is why we have come to tell Phillip Aduda, Zaphania Jisalo and Isah Dobi that they have disappointed us. They should know that the primary duty of lawmakers is to make laws that would benefit their constituencies. We have written more than four letters to Senator Aduda seeking to have audience with him, but he refused to grant us audience.

    “What is the problem? Each time we have a problem, we write him he does not respond. We have told him to have an interface with his constituency for us to discuss how to develop the indigenous people of the FCT. He has failed us. We are not going to condone the problem of collecting our ancestral land with anybody any longer.  We are going to take our possession by force,” he said.

  • Jonathan and the new auto policy

    The new automobile policy introduced by the President Goodluck Jonathan administration in October last year and programmed to fully take off in May and later shifted to July 1, this year has continued to raise dust among stakeholders in the industry.

    The battle is so fierce that it is being likened to the experience in the power sector where importers of electricity generating sets are alleged to be working against government’s reforms in the sector.

    Government believes that the new automobile policy will not only transform the sector by ensuring mass production of cars in Nigeria, but will also boost foreign exchange earnings through export of such made-in-Nigeria cars.

    It also expected the policy to greatly tackle the rising unemployment rate in the country.

    But some Nigerians who kick against the implementation of the policy believe that government was putting the cart before the horse by raising duty paid on imported vehicles without first putting the necessary structures on ground.

    This, they said, will impose more hardship on the citizenry, who mostly rely on used or second-hand imported cars, popularly called tokunbo cars.

    According to them, the 70 per cent, made up of 35 per cent duty and 35 per cent levy on imported vehicles being introduced under the new policy should be  imposed on imported cars when new vehicles start rolling out in large quantity from factories in Nigeria and at affordable prices.

    By the time the affordable made-in-Nigeria cars flood the Nigerian market, they argue, the importation of used vehicles will naturally go down as Nigerians will then decide whether to patronise locally-produced cars at affordable prices or pay exorbitant duty for imported cars.

    They currently believe that government is more interested in raising the import duty on imported vehicles than manufacturing new cars in the country, pointing out that the environment is not conducive to the automobile policy as it is characterised by poor infrastructure, poor power supply, high overhead costs and lack of technical manpower. They also maintain that the policy cannot be realised by executive fiat.

    Stressing that they are not really against the new policy but its implementation, they pushed for the right sequences to be followed in the public interest as they claimed that the present implementation is anti-people.

    Unless the government gets the policy implementation sequences right, they warned, Nigerian importers may likely shift to Benin Republic or other neighbouring ports which will result in loss of revenue to the Federal Government.

    The controversy surrounding the new policy was among the issues that dominated discussions at the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided by President Jonathan last week. It subsequently, mandated the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga to enlighten the public more on the new policy.

    Aganga said: “The article had claimed that the duty on the used cars is now 70 per cent from yesterday. That is incorrect. It is 35 per cent. It also claimed all used cars now coming into the country would pay duty of 70 per cent, which again is incorrect.

    “For all those in the auto policy programme, all those car assembly plants in the programme, the policy is that they would be able to import cars to meet the gap when you look at production and the demands in the country. They would be able to import those cars at 35 per cent. So, it is not 70 per cent.

    “It is only for those who are putting strain on our foreign reserves who have no intention to create jobs, who want to continue to remain traders that the 70 per cent applies to and this is to discourage trading. It is to encourage local assembly and job creation and unnecessary pressure on our foreign reserves.

    “Why would you import cars at 70 per cent while others are importing at 35 per cent? So, we do not expect to see anyone importing cars at 70 per cent. It was just a measure to encourage people to go within the policy group.

    “On used cars, in every country when you have auto policy, used cars are banned. Even when there was a meeting of the auto manufacturers last week, they pushed for banning of used cars. This government under this President, bearing in mind the socio-political environment we operate today, where most people import used cars, this government decided not to ban importation of used cars.

    “The second thing which we have emphasised is to make it easier for those who buy used cars to make sure that we work with the financial institutions to have car purchase scheme in the country, where they can borrow money to buy cars as long as you are working at very reduced interest rate not up to 20 per cent. We are looking at very low interest; we are at advanced stage of negotiating that.

    “We should be proud of the progress we have made since that policy was introduced in October. If we don’t implement this policy, the pressure on the economy of this country will be unbearable because we rely heavily on the importation of cars and this is not what we want to use your foreign exchange for.

    “Today, we spend more than $3 billion every year on importing cars. We spend another $3.2 billion and $3.4 billion importing used cars and spare parts. With every importation, we are creating new jobs in other countries.”

    With the latest news of shifting the imposition of 35 per cent duty on imported cars to January next year, it is hoped that government will really get it right this time round and Nigerians, at the end of the day, are not further impoverished than they are currently.

  • Council chief seeks increased allocation

    The Chairman of Abaji Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Hon. Yahaya Garba, has reiterated the need for the Federal Government to increase the revenue allocations to the area council to enable it improve the lives of the residents of the council.

    Garba, who made the appeal during his administration’s one-year anniversary in Abaji, said despite the financial challenges that the council has been experiencing, it had impact positively on the lives of the people.

    According to the council chief, they have been able to meet some of the people’s expectations that have direct bearing to their lives through the provision of access roads, potable water supply in communities and scholarship to indigent people in rural areas.

    “The people should expect more infrastructural development as the financial situation in the council improves because it is our desire to see how we are going to improve on infrastructural development and provision of basic amenities for our people.

    “What we have done in the past one year is not good enough. We need to do more. That is why we are appealing to the Federal Government to increase the area council’s allocation in order for us to provide more dividends of democracy for our people,” he said.

    The immediate past chairman of the council, Hon. Yahaya Mohammed, who expressed satisfaction over the performance of the present chairman, urged him to pursue all projects with vigour so that the people would benefit more.

  • Subsidised grains for FCT farmers

    The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has sold grains to residents at a subsidised rate.

    The idea of the FCT buffer stock programme the administration says is geared towards reducing wastage and ultimately ensuring food security in the territory.

    To ensure that several residents benefit from the sale, 16,507 bags of maize, 1,880 bags of guinea corn, and 2,393 bags of millet all in 50kg packs were sold at 50 per cent subsidised rate as a bag of maize and guinea corn were sold for N2,200 while millet was sold for N3,000.

    Minister of State for the FCT, Olajumoke Akinjide said the event is a showcase for the giant strides the administration is making towards transforming agriculture from being a development intervention into a business enterprise.

    She said that the programme was designed to use agriculture as an engine for business and entrepreneurship rather than development intervention.

    She said: “By this intervention, government aims to increase the productivity of farmers as well as empower the youth and women through various forms of agric business. Consequently, the FCT Administration is championing value addition, sourcing for markets, enlightenment, sensitisation and education of farmers on the availability of new technologies and new ways of agriculture.

    “The FCTA therefore, is tearing its barns and expanding its walls to make room for the anticipated growth in harvest from the current buffer stock capacity of 1,250 metric tons to 3,250MT as a result of the boost.

    “For that reason, we are opening the floodgates of our storehouses to FCT farmers and residents in order to bridge the gap created by the intervening period, when all the crops would have gone into the ground. This is with a view to stabilising the prices of produce as we await yet another bumper harvest.”

  • Crack in Chibok girls campaign

    Crack in Chibok girls campaign

    Another dimension has been introduced into the campaign  for rescue of the over 200 secondary schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State almost two months ago.

    A splinter group, which broke out of the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign, stormed the Unity Fountain Arena in Abuja claiming that the campaign has been hijacked by political activists for partisan reasons.

    While the former Minister of Education, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili-led group wore red T-shirts and believed that the government was not doing enough to rescue the girls, the splinter group wearing white T-shirt pushed for commendation for government and security agencies in the rescuing efforts.

    Priscilla Achakpa, the Co-Convener of the white T-shirt group of the ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ campaign operating under the platform of the Grand Alliance Against Terrorism (GAAT), believed that all Nigerians should be able to speak with one voice against terror and avoid distracting the government in the effort to rescue the girls and crush terrorism in Nigeria.

    The two groups, however, agreed that everything should be done to rescue the girls.

    Declaring that the government was not doing enough, Ezekwesili led her group in protest to submit a letter containing 10 posers for President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday, May 22, 2014. The group, known as Citizens’ Group was met by Jonathan’s representatives led by Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim at the Federal Secretariat, Abuja before the group could access the Presidential Villa gate.

    She said: “It is because of the sake of citizen collaboration that we listened to the delegation of Mr. President. You have to tell Mr. President that the answers we have received are inadequate.”

    One of the posers reads: “We need the President to establish the authenticity of the abduction as well as why it took so long to act, as there seems to be an obvious shortfall in our military operatives as well as their welfare package, considering the recent mutiny. Citizens are concerned, especially in view of the strong indications of weak communication and operational synergy leading to gaps in accountability?”

    At the end of President Jonathan’s speech read by one of his representatives, Ezekwesili said: “Please, let Mr. President know that none of the issues we raised have been addressed. Also, let him know that we actually felt sad at the missed opportunity. There is a colossal opportunity. The citizens that are gathered here today are citizens who are saying that they do not want any fractious fight against a common enemy. We want a united fight.”

    But leading a parallel body at the same venue where the Ezekwesili-led group has been observing a daily sit-out for weeks and exactly three days after Ezekwesili submitted the letter, Achakpa, with over 200 followers, protested and carried various placards with some of the inscriptions reading: “This House Must not Fall”, “God Bless Nigerian Armed Forces”, “We need peace in Nigeria, Say no to terrorism”, “Thank you Nigerian Armed Forces”, “I support my country”, and “Thank you Nigerian Police”.

    At the rally, Achakpa said: “We are proud Nigerian patriots who care deeply about the image of our country, the integrity of our nation and the humanity of the Nigerian person. We are not political activists who want to exploit a national tragedy to further a narrow, partisan cause.

    “We will rather pray for our leaders, support our government and encourage our security agencies as best as we can to win the war against terror.”

    Continuing, she said: “Our struggle is not just to bring back our girls; our struggle goes deeper than that. Our struggle is to mobilise our people against the scourge of terrorism, to enlighten them about its devilish pact and to rally them to remain patient and focused until victory is achieved.

    “Our struggle is to ensure that our girls come back home and also contribute to the peace and stability of our dear country, Nigeria. With God on our side, the journey may be long and difficult but we shall overcome terror in our land.”

    Stressing that they were the initiators of the campaign, she said: “We (Women United for Peace, True Friends of Nigeria and Women Environment Programme), were at the forefront of the launch of the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. We are happy that the campaign we started has now been globally acknowledged and accepted and more actions are still ongoing,” she added.

    The group, on Monday last week, came out in their hundreds to pray for the abducted girls.

    Reacting to the news that same day from the Chief of Defence Staff, Alex Badeh that the location of the girls have been discovered, the Secretary General of GAAT, Mr. Ariyo Atoye, said it was re-assuring news as he appealed to Nigerians not to distract the military from rescuing the girls.

    Another group, Citizens’ Initiative for Security Awareness (CISA), same Monday also marched on the streets of the Federal Capital Territory, calling for support for the military’s counter-insurgency operations in the Northeast.

    Ever since that day, there have been various groups protesting in Abuja or other parts of the country; either blaming the government or supporting the government and the armed forces in the rescuing efforts.

    Some of them wear yellow, green, black, white or red-coloured T-shirts or other attires during the protests.

    It is our hope that the crack in the campaign for the release of the girls will not further over-heat the polity and won’t work against efforts to secure safe release of the girls.

  • ‘Abuja’s transforming despite N470bn debt’

    ‘Abuja’s transforming despite N470bn debt’

    The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Bala Mohammed, rarely speaks about what his administration has been doing differently to transform Abuja, the city where the high and mighty converge to discuss business, politics and other sundry issues.

    Fresh from hosting the World Economic Forum Africa (WEFA) with its attendant security challenges following the bomb blasts in Nyanya, the closest satellite town to the city centre, killing scores of lives, Mohammed told journalists at a leadership forum that his administration has recorded impressive strides in its bid to transform Abuja into “one of the 20 capital cities by the year 2020.”

    With a mission to ensure “the provision of infrastructure, services and administration for the development of a first-class Federal Capital Territory comparable to the best in the world,” the minister, who was quick to point out that a huge debt burden of over N470 billion and paucity of funds hinder developmental strides, said all these could be reverted when the marshal plans being put in place by his administration come on stream.

    With a mandate ranging from the provision of effective and efficient administrative framework, provision of critical infrastructure, wealth creativity, poverty reduction, provision of services to residents to the need to ensure a safe and secure environment, Mohammed said he targets an internally generated revenue (IGR) of between N500 billion and N600 billion annually. He further said a radical change in policies and an aggressive tax drive are underway in the territory.

    Mohammed, while debunking insinuations in some quarters that the multi-billion Naira Close Circuit Televisions (CCTVs) installed in strategic points in the city centres stopped working even before the Nyanya bombings, said the facilities actually aided the security agencies in tracking the perpetrators of the dastardly act as they were of high quality.

    He said: “It’s not true that the CCTVs are not working. The CCTV is working in Abuja. The police and the State Security Service (SSS) have separate CCTV. Any time there is an incident, security agencies fall back on the information there and that is why we are getting results. I’m equally not aware of any foreign government offering to assist with installing better CCTVs in the FCT either for free or cheaper rate.

    “What happened is this. I had wanted to carry out procurement for 500 CCTVs for the FCT and the Federal Government offered 1,000 with FCT, Lagos and several other cities with close to over 600 repeater stations all over the country. I’m not aware of procurement of CCTV with Korean company but that was my initial plan to procure 500 CCTV stations for the FCT. But the Federal Government lent support and increased it to 1,000 stations. The Federal Government had the intention of taking the project to the major cities in Nigeria. That project was meant to capture the entire country.

    “However, the one at Nyanya was not taken into consideration and that was why they can’t have a fall back of what really happened in that bomb explosion. What we are doing now is to lend support to the Federal Government to conceptualise the project and implement it across the major cities in Nigeria to strengthen security of lives and properties.

    “In Abuja now, we are working hard to ensure that all roads leading into the FCT are captured with functional CCTV cameras that are powered by both solar and electricity generating set.

    Explaining why most communities still lack access to potable water in spite of the inauguration of the multi-billion Naira Lower Usman Dam in Bwari by President Goodluck Jonathan, the minister said: “The water projects executed by the present administration are currently producing a well-refined 30 million gallons of water per hour.

    “The projects we have embarked upon will serve the entire city of Abuja for the next 50 years. This includes the yet-to-be-developed 79 new districts; though with challenges of connectivity and distribution, especially to the satellite towns. The FCT water sector requires about N4 billion to N5 billion. But, as it stands, the whole of FCT budget is N37 billion. So, we can only prioritise the necessary sectors in order to ensure that the other sectors get their fair share of attention. As a result, I have allocated N1.5 billion and I am glad that the contractors are ready to deliver. Another of our problems is that most of the water facilities in Abuja are over-stretched because people from neighbouring states put serious pressures on the facilities.

    Vowing that his administration will continue to frustrate the activities of land speculators, he said: “When we came into office in 2011, land speculators assumed landlords status, doing their business everywhere and anywhere. We then introduced serious reforms in the activities of Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) and introduced digital ways of land information.

    “That singular act made it so difficult for the speculators to penetrate into the database of AGIS to do their business. For example, Central Area Districts have been subjected to a lot of speculations due to the value of the lands in the area. We charge N8, 000 per square meter in central area. The problem of managing the FCT is land but we have drastically reduced it during the time of this administration.

    “We have improved the integrity of the AGIS system and land administration. The FCT Administration had equally introduced e-approval for the Department of Development Control. This had enhanced their efficiency, transparency and quick delivery of service.

    He equally denied claims that the FCT reneged on its promise to pay the bills of victims of the tragic bomb blast in Nyanya, especially that of a seven-year-old girl whose foot was badly damaged and was flown abroad for treatment with the assistance of a United Nations agency.

    “Yes, we made that promise to all that were affected by the blast and we did not make that promise to be applauded. We made it out of human responsibility and on behalf of the President. I am glad that we’ve lived up to the expectation. But if you, as an individual, decide to fly yourself or your child abroad for treatment, we cannot stop you. The case of the seven-year-old girl is a matter of choice. Some other people rejected the FCT Administration’s offer for medical attention and decided to seek medical care from other sources. FCT health facilities are equal to the task. We have the best of doctors and consultants to render any medical services people needed but the seven-year-old girl’s case was a personal decision and there’s no way we could stop her. In the case of the United Nations building bombing, we reached an agreement with the Permanent Representative of UN to fly their staff to South Africa for treatment. The President permitted it and paid over N300 million for their medical bills.

    He also cautioned Abuja residents against labeling some persons as suspected insurgents simply because they live in slums, noting that “Abuja is a land of opportunity and, as expected, people come from all parts of Nigeria in search of greener pasture. People from all parts of Nigeria are living here. Remember that the original inhabitants are living here, they are hosting us and we have to accommodate them.

    “We can’t segregate them as a result of mere perception or suspicion. We will encourage citizen rights advocacy where we will sensitise the public on their rights. Regarding the upsurge of illegal markets, the relevant secretariats are doing very well in ensuring that these markets are removed.  Though, we have not achieved 100 per cent, we have done well in removing them.

    He said his administration has attracted over $6 billion in Direct Foreign Investment through land swap deal and the building of the World Trade Centre in Abuja, adding that over 1,000 CCTV would be mounted to cover all parts of the FCT and adjourning settlements.

    On the debt, he explained that his administration plans to float a bond to defray the debts.

    “We are trying to access $3.8 billion to develop a new area along the Airport Road. We intend that people should develop the infrastructure and we pay them with land. We have given our lands value. We are giving a per cent of the land to the investor. We took the natives along as partners for the first time.  Any investor must deposit N350 million to show they have the capacity after the provision of infrastructure,” he said.

  • FCT builds three waste stations

    As part of efforts to keep the Federal Capital Territory  always clean, the Administration has expended over N3. 6 billion in the construction of three waste transfer stations as well as purchase equipment for waste management in the capital city.

    The Acting Director of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) Mrs. Aishat Adebowale revealed this when the House of Representatives Committee on Environment visited the board as part of its oversight functions.

    She spoke at an interactive session with the committee headed by Hon. Uche Ekwunife.

    “The the construction of the three waste transfer stations was awarded in 2011at the cost of N2, 957, 572, 096. 35.” She said though the project had been impeded by a number of challenges, “it is about 39. 5 per cent completed.”

    She said: “The waste transfer stations with a combined capacity of 13,000 tons per day will be equipped with waste-sorting facilities, thereby promoting waste recycling and resource utilisation with the associated environmental benefits to the territory.”

    She also told the committee that “contract for the supply of six units Roll-On-Roll- Off (RORO) trucks was awarded in March, 2012 at the cost of N203, 590, 497.36. The project has been partly executed with the supply of two units.”

    “Another contract for the supply of 12 units of motorised street sweepers was awarded in January, 2012 at the cost of N405, 677, 546.40,” she said, adding that the project has been fully executed and inaugurated,” she said.

    According to her, central sewage system is employed for liquid waste management in the FCT.

    “The sewage, which is a separate system, is composed of a sewer network of about 700 kilometres and about 90-kilometre trunk line,” she said.

    Speaking earlier, Hon. Uche Ekwunife had said her committee was interested in how far the board has gone on the issue of sanitary landfills and waste treatment plants.

    While commending the AEPB in its effort so far at ensuring a clean and green city, particularly within the city centre of Abuja, Ekwuni said there was also need to concentrate on the satellite towns.

    “We would very much like to see a situation where the satellite towns are looking as clean and green as the city centre,” she said.

    The lawmaker, however, wondered how the waste transfer stations with sorting facilities would effectively function when the citizens that would generate the waste have not been enlightened on how to sort their waste for recycling purposes.

    She urged the AEPB to adopt a more effective waste collection procedure and to do more in enlightening the residents in order to make the efforts of the board more effective.

  • Jonathan, Chibok girls and the world

    The abduction of over 200 secondary schoolgirls in Chibok, Borno State is exactly four weeks today and the indescribable hardship, sufferings and psychological trauma the parents and relatives are undergoing cannot quite be imagined by those not affected.

    The situation has led to many Nigerians taking to the streets in many states to protest the abduction.

    Worried by the situation, the chief of the Chibok community in Abuja, Hosea Sambido, said the uncertainty had made mothers in his home town lose appetite and had forced fathers into the bush in desperate search for their daughters.

    Some Nigerians have pushed for negotiation with the insurgents towards securing the girls’ release, while some security experts have warned the government to be very tactful in handling the issue in order not to anger the terrorists to harm the school girls.

    It is believed that the insurgents may not only use the girls as shield but demand the girls’ exchange for some members of the insurgents being held by the government.

    Even as the security agencies believe they were doing their best in the circumstances, many Nigerians believe more can still be done to urgently rescue the girls alive.

    To investigate the issues, the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, governors’ wives and other stakeholders had summoned some key actors in the Chibok abduction saga to the Presidential Villa. The meeting, at the end, doubted whether any schoolgirl was abducted and declared that the issue was being politicised.

    This did not go down well with the Northeast Forum for Unity and Development, led by its Chairman Board of Trustees and former Finance

    Minister, Adamu Ciroma. He had to pay a visit to President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday last week to accuse the President’s wife and some highly-placed government officials of treating the issue with disdain insensitivity.

    He said during the closed-door meeting: “The abduction of the over 230 Chibok school girls and the way this dastardly appalling act is being handled with callousness and disdain by some highly-placed officials of the Federal Government, the ruling party and even the wife of the President, is a matter of surprise and worry to the generality of Nigerians.

    “One begins to wonder how this real tragedy has been perceived with high degree of official doubt and ambivalence that it is taking the Federal Government over three weeks to set up a committee to authenticate this.”

    He stressed that the insurgency is not about religion, ethnicity or politics, but an extension of international terrorism on Nigeria.

    To tackle the insurgency among other security challenges in the country, the group made nine recommendations to the government. These, they said would include “Government re-examining its capacity to tackle this tricky and deteriorating security situation by recognising it correctly for what it is, discarding the idea of renewing the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states and to put in place more efficient and stringent security measures, effective intelligence gathering and analysis, and the introduction of high-technologies in nipping the crisis in the bud.

    “Meanwhile, the reports of the following should now be seriously studied and implemented as soon as possible: The Gaji Galtamari Committee; the Sheik Ahmed Lemu Committee; and the Alhaji Kabir Turaki Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee, ensuring robust community relations and participation in the security, rescue and rehabilitation operations in the area.

    “Government should ensure that the abducted Chibok school girls are quickly and safely rescued, rehabilitated and re-united with their families within a pre-determined timeframe.

    In order to raise the confidence and morale of the citizens, the President should lead a high-powered delegation of his Cabinet and security operatives and visit Chibok/Izge, Buni Yadi, Bama and Gamboru Ngala as soon as possible in the manner that he visited Nyanya.

    He should make strong positive statements there with regard to the rescue operations and government’s plans for rehabilitation/compensation and re-integration.

    “Government should genuinely investigate all cases of human rights abuses, extra-judicial killings, tortures, slippages/escapes from detention, and so on and bring the culprits to justice.

    The Federal Government should consider and assist the state governments strongly in the immediate rehabilitation and securing of the affected schools,

    colleges and critical infrastructure in the area, so that our children will safely and confidently go back to school.

    “The state governments in the sub-region, particularly the three states under emergency to be offered some respectable and reasonable monetary compensation to offset their expenditure on security operations which is primarily a Federal Preserve.

    “While acknowledging the constitution and the reconvening of government’s

    Dialogue Committee, we urge the government and the committee to seek and utilise various civic and civil ways to achieve comprehensive solution to the insurgency.”

    Apart from the security agencies’ efforts in the past three weeks to rescue the girls, the government, on Tuesday last week, also inaugurated a Presidential Committee to unravel the circumstances surrounding the abduction of the girls.

    Many Nigerians, on Tuesday last week, welcomed the news that President Jonathan had accepted the offer of the US President, Barrack Obama, to assist the Nigerian troops with security personnel and assets in their efforts to rescue the Chibok girls.

    Other countries and international organisations including China, Britain, France, United Nations; Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have also pledged their support towards rescuing the abducted girls.

    With the rising global supports, the affected families, and indeed, all well-meaning Nigerians, are anxiously waiting for the news that the abducted Chibok girls have been rescued and re-united with their families.

  • Resident doctors urged to end strike

    Resident doctors urged to end strike

    The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Peter Alabi, has appealed to resident doctors in the hospital to call off the strike they embarked upon two weeks ago.

    While speaking with journalists, the CMD explained that although government approved the new salary structure, the hospital was awaiting financial backing from the government in order to pay the aggrieved doctors.

    Alabi said that the new salary scheme was not captured in the 2014 budget and so the government was looking for a means of ‘cash-backing’ it.

    “Government has not released the money for the new salary scheme; the strike is uncalled for. So, I ask the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to call it off. NARD could confirm this from the Budget Office, Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Health.

    “You have an approval from the government, but this has not been cash-backed. Some hospitals went on this same strike, but when it became obvious that the money was nowhere and no CMD was empowered to pay the money, they all ended the strike,” he said.

    He expressed dismay that, in spite of this explanation, UATH resident doctors remained adamant and were yet to call off the strike, which has entered its third week.

    “The strike, which is supposed to be a national action has, however, been localised and local action, will not help the situation,’’ he said.

    Recall that the National Association of Resident Doctors embarked on an indefinite nation-wide strike on April 18, to press home their demand that government should implement a new salary structure which it approved for them but was yet to pay them.