The Nation Newspaper

Category: Northern Report

  • Council chief seeks more polling units

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) has been enjoined to establish new polling units or extend the existing centres to rural communities in the area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Alhaji Abubakar Giri gave the advice when he received the FCT Resident Electoral Commissioner, Chief Godwin Kwanga in his office.

    Secretary to the Council, Alhaji Usman Yahaya who stood in for the chairman at the meeting said that millions of FCT people in the rural areas are being disenfranchised during elections due to absence of polling units in those areas.

    He further said that there was a need to increase polling units in Gwagwalada Area Council as regular voters who have come of age are many in the rural areas.

    Responding, the Resident Electoral Commissioner said the team was in Gwagwalada on sensitisation campaign to get the co-operation of the people on the scheduled continuous voter registration expected to begin this year in all the area councils of Abuja.

    He explained that massive awareness would be employed to keep Abuja residents informed of the exercise.

  • National dialogue gives voice to FCT residents

    National dialogue gives voice to FCT residents

    As if they were eagerly waiting for the constitution of the national dialogue committee to be announced by President Goodluck Jonathan, residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) trooped out in their large numbers, struggling and falling over one another.

    They shoved and struggled for an opportunity to add or change a clause in the proposed National Conference when the Presidential Committee on the national dialogue had its final sitting in Abuja.

    The venue was filled to capacity with some stakeholders standing and others struggling with security operatives to gain access into the venue with memorandums they clutched dearly as if their lives depended on it.

    Original inhabitants of the FCT, civil society groups and religious organisations all had the chance to present papers on ideas they believed should be adopted to improve the political and economic fortunes of the country.

    The fact that the committee informed them that the President had not given them a “no go area” to discuss, enabled residents to speak freely on everything that came to mind including the amount of money that the committee had spent on their tour and a request for a minute silence for the fallen heroes.

    Many suggested that the terms of the conference should include the calibre of delegates or people allowed to participate and to also disqualify illiterates from the conference.

    A delegate from the Network of Kogi State Associations even suggested that the President, Vice-President, members of the Houses of Assembly and House of Representatives be made to contribute two months of their salaries, including contributions from all Nigerians to the conference.

    This, the delegate said, would curb corruption when government is allowed to support the project.

    The Original Inhabitants Association of Nigeria in the FCT suggested that the representation of the FCT by the Senate and House of Representatives be discouraged and the FCT be allowed its own House of Assembly and also for government to resettle and compensate the original inhabitants who had their lands taken away by the government.

    FCT steering committee on the national dialogue which was represented by the chairman and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Umar Moddibo suggested that “the serious problem is the tenure of the FCT minister. The provisions of the Constitution says that the governor of the FCT is the President himself and he shall appoint a proxy in the form of a minister.

    “The minister should be addressed as the administrator of the territory; he should have a fixed tenure of office. Regrettably, since the inception of the FCT, there have only been two ministers who have served for up to four years.

    “This is not healthy. The ministers should have a fixed tenure of four years. So, you should compel Mr. President to do his selection of ministers based on that; so that the minister will have the chance to see his projects through. It is really important because what if a state has three governors a tenure? You know it will be impossible to plan.”

    The chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on national dialogue, Senator Femi Okuronmu informed the residents that Nigerians have agreed to the conference because they believe that it will lead to a more harmonious and united country where all of us will be happier, be given a sense of equality and cement our unity.

    He said: “Nigerians are to decide on what will constitute the agenda of the conference; the size, how many delegates will constitute the conference, how the delegates are to be chosen and the duration of the conference. The legal framework of the conference or platform on which the government will stand and the legal framework on which the decisions of the dialogue will be made part of the Constitution and any other issue Nigerians will want to talk about in relation to the conference.

    “The acceptance of the conference have been gaining momentum such that even the initial skeptics who were wondering if anything could come out of the National Conference have seen how Nigerians across the country are supporting the idea of the conference. They are beginning to have second thought and have been sending their memorandums secretly to us.

    “It shows that nobody can stop Nigerians from exercising their rights or to sit at the table and talk about their problems.”

    Commenting on the several conferences that had been held in the past, a member of the committee, Dr. Abubbakar Sadiq said: “You keep on trying and doing your best. Some of these conferences were nominated by the government. People said their minds especially the last one. But for the fact that some people tried to play funny, the issue of the third term agenda and so forth came in. But if you look at the documents, there were some good things in them.

    “But in this case, we are going round and people are telling us how it should be done. We write our reports. I’m sure Nigerians will hold the conference. It is a matter of structure. If you look at the terms of reference, what should be the nature of the conference was not clearly stated and then we say Nigerians should tell us if it’s a sovereign national conference, dialogue or just a conference. People have been coming and talking.”

  • A night in the State House

    A night in the State House

    There is a general impression out there that journalists covering the Presidential Villa normally cart home money in ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags as part of the largesse from the beat.

    But, so far, I have not seen such since I started covering the Presidential Villa.

    It is also believed that journalists on the beat get presidential treatment in everything they do at the Villa.

    One of my editors at the head office was particularly shocked with what journalists went through while waiting for the end of the 13-hour meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) last Monday at the First Lady’s Conference Room in the State House.

    As the meeting borders on national issue whose outcome would be of great interest to many Nigerians, he knew that it would be difficult for me or any of the journalists to leave the venue of the meeting until it ends and we get the news for Nigerians.

    The editor, who called intermittently to get update from the starting of the meeting around 2.40 p.m. on Monday to the end of the meeting by 3.35 a.m. the following day, could not believe what journalists waiting to get the outcome of the meeting went through.

    When he called around 1.30 a.m. on Tuesday to know if the meeting had ended, I told him that the meeting was still ongoing. Feeling concerned for me and other journalists, he then said that he was sure that we must have been served dinner, coffee or tea and other drinks during the long wait.

    I told him exactly what we were going through. First and foremost, nobody offered us any drink or food while the meeting lasted.

    I told him that many journalists who did not anticipate the meeting spilling over to the following day, did not see any food to buy and had to stay hungry throughout the duration of the meeting.

    By the time they realised that the meeting could end in the wee hours of the following day, most shops and restaurants outside the Presidential Villa were already closed.

    Still worried, he wanted to know if the journalists were at least staying in a comfortable room at the venue. I had to explain to him that journalists have access to two befitting press centres, one located at about one-minute’s trek from the President’s office and the other within the Banquet Hall of the State House.

    But because the two press centres are far away from the First Lady’s Conference Room, venue of the meeting, journalists had to hang around the venue since they knew that the key actors at the meeting might not wait for journalists to re-assemble if they decide to stay in any of the press centres.

    So, in order to get first-hand information on the outcome of the meeting, I told my editor that journalists made do with what was available at the meeting venue by sitting or lying down on the bare floor by the entrance to the building.

    A great number of my colleagues had to sleep on the bare floor; and some of them were snoring away their tired souls not minding the harsh harmattan weather gradually taking over Abuja and its environs.

    Some of my colleagues, who managed to keep awake in the night, kept themselves busy by taking pictures of other journalists sleeping on the bare floor and also used their midgets to record the croak-like noise from their snoring colleagues.

    I also told my editor about the comparison some of my colleagues were making between some of the night vigils they kept during the past meetings to resolve the fuel subsidy protest at the same venue and what they went through last Monday night and Tuesday morning.

    According to them, there was a great difference between the two sets of meetings. Unlike the fuel subsidy meetings that usually started around 9:00 p.m. and ended in the early hours of the following day, last Monday’s meeting started in the afternoon and did not end till 3.35 a.m. the following day.

    By the time I finished telling him what we were going through, my editor kept wondering aloud when Nigerian journalists will truly be treated as members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm, as they are often referred to.

    Even though they criticise the government on wrong policies, when they don’t actually have constitutional or statutory powers, they should, at least, be respected for the roles they played during the military era and the current democratic dispensation as they act as important pillars in sustaining our democracy after the legislative, the executive and the judiciary arms of government.

     

  • ‘Why we cater for children of the poor’

    ‘Why we cater for children of the poor’

    The matron of Victorine Home for Children, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), Sister Jovita Nzeduru has said that the desire to contribute to the well-being of humanity inspired the home to provide foster care for children of the poor and the marginalised in the society.

    At a fund-raising dinner organised for children of the homes in Abuja, Sister Nzeduru explained that the aim of the home is to cater for the children till they are re-united with their families.

    According to her, over 15 children who are re-united with their families have benefited from the care of the home on a short stay basis with 12 children currently in the home.

    She said: “We take care of children that are in difficulty in order to give them shelter. We believe that these children deserve the best. Circumstances of their parenthood should not stop them from having the best in life.

    “Our aim is to give them the best and then re-unite them with their families. But some of them who don’t have parents remain with us.

    “Some of these children don’t have fathers. Others are children of inmates in prison. We take care of the children of the mentally challenged who don’t have the capacity of taking care of them.

    “We want to save children from dying of hunger and deprivation by giving them the basic necessities of life. Some of them were a month-old when they came here. Others are a year or more old.

    “We try to establish contact with the families of these children to facilitate their re-union as soon as their situations improve or when they are able to fend for themselves. Because of the temporary nature of their stay therefore, a complete adoption is not possible.

    “Currently, we have 12 resident children while over 15 children with their mothers have benefited from the home on a short-stay basis.

    “Whoever receives one such child in my name, receives me and whoever receives me, receives not me but he who sent me, has found an expression of show of love and affection.”

    Victorine Home for Children is an initiative of the Sisters of Jesus the Redeemer. The home, inaugurated in 2010, has become an oasis for little children without the means of survival to find a new lease of life.

    The home provides shelter for children in difficulty, the marginalised and children of inmates who were delivered of their mothers in prisons.

  • 40 for free face surgery

    Over 40 people with facial deformities are to benefit from free-craniofacial surgery in Kwali General Hospital.

    The week-long free surgery which started last week, was organised by Cleft Care Foundation (CCF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO). CCF is a body of medical practitioners of Maxillofacial surgeons.

    The founder of the group, Consultant Craniofacial Surgeon Dr. Bello Seidu Adebayo said the free cleft surgery service is to render humanitarian service to the less-privileged in the society.

    He added that the outreach which started sometime in March, 2011 is now having in its register a total of 298 patients who have undergone various facial surgeries which include: upper palate, lips and upper cleft separation and other facial deformities.

    Dr. Bello recalled that among three stages of facial ailments, “facial tumor is more expensive to treat and it takes longer days to be operated on.”

    Addressing the patients who had just finished screening, the maxillofacial surgeon pointed out that it’s good to correct facial ailments between first and second year after a child is born.

    He said: “The reason is that if such child grows with open upper palate (rooftop of mouth) and it is corrected at such old age, the speech may not be as normal as when treated at early stage of life.”

    Commenting on the cause of the deformities, Dr. Adebayo said that the cause is not known, noting that the formation of such ailments occur at the early stage of pregnancy.

    Speaking on possibility of losing contact with his patients since the outreach is not done in a place, Dr. Adebayo pointed at a one-and-half-year-old baby whose split lip was corrected in March this year. The baby was brought for the second time for upper palate surgery.

    He further stated that his patients have his phone number with which he could be reached, noting that the team also visits the beneficiaries three months after the treatment.

    The consultant maxillofacial surgeon therefore called for support from well-meaning Nigerians which he said would go a long way in sustaining the mission.

    “A patient may need CT scan and MIRS. The cost of the two is N150, 000; and this must be done before surgery. It is a whole lot of money. Take for instance; we need aesthetic machine for this exercise which costs over N1million. Where do I get it from?” he said.

    Dr. Bello continued: “Although we thank the FCT Administration for allowing us to use their facilities, the cost of bringing or borrowing equipment is high. Philanthropists can come to our aids.

    Dr. Bello, however, enjoined the Federal Government to establish craniofacial centres where various facial ailments would be specially treated as it is done in India.

    One of the beneficiaries, William Esan expressed his gratitude to the NGO as he said his boy has been operated on twice and that he came for final operation.

    He added that the boy could not suck breast since birth owing to the upper palate deformity.

    Reports have it that the 9th outreach of upper cleft surgery which will end on Saturday this will, among other ailments, treat various facial deformities such as upper palate, lip and upper clefts.

    A total of 298 patients had so far been operated upon by the Cleft Foundation free with their ailment treated within three years of the outreach.

  • How to curb indiscipline, by expert

    How to curb indiscipline, by expert

    A SCHOOL proprietress has an answer to indiscipline among pupils: the carrot-and-stick approach. Unity High School (UHS) proprietress Mrs. Olufemi Akanni, at the 10th anniversary of the school in Abuja, said: “There is a high level of indiscipline in our schools now. I urge teachers to use the carrot and stick approach because that is what teaching entails. No student is too big to be disciplined. Any child who doesn’t want to be disciplined should leave.”

    Mrs. Akanni explained that the approach will create better youths that will build this country and take it to where it ought to be.

    Also speaking, the Director, Guidance and Counseling Unit of the FCT College of Education, Zuba, Dr. Elizabeth Abolarin urged the society to value teachers as she described their profession as greater to none.

    Mrs. Abolarin said: “No other profession is greater than teaching.  Without the teachers, there will be no engineers who will plan, design and manage the construction of buildings, roads, bridges, communication facilities and other mechanical infrastructures.

    Similarly, doctors, scientists, politicians and others will not exist without the teacher and the teaching process.

    She pointed out that teachers mold a child into what he or she will be in the future; as they teach him or her to read, write, to deal with others and to deal with himself or herself.

    While stating some of the challenges encountered in teaching profession, she noted that good hands in the profession are quitting because of low reward.

    “Though teaching has attracted quite a number of young people in recent years, today, many of the most creative and brilliant educators are leaving the profession.  Also, there is increased classroom size and very high students to teacher’s ratio.

    “Great teachers receive far less than they are worth and the economic well-being of the teacher has been broken down by the global and national economic downturns,” she said.

    She, however, advised teachers to provide students with the highest quality of education possible.

  • FCT seeks ways to pay N400b debt

    FCT seeks ways to pay N400b debt

    The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is indebted to the tune of N400 billion which it incurred from services rendered to it by some of its development partners.

    The information was made known by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Bala Mohammed during his inauguration of the steering committee on the proposed national dialogue in Abuja. He charged members to explore ways of getting robust funding for the development of the Federal Capital Territory, which is a project for all Nigerians.

    He said that the proposed national dialogue is a timely one for the FCT because the administration has been given an opportunity to articulate and present what it experimentally consider the best legal and administrative structure for the territory.

    The 27-man committee which includes two former ministers, is charged with compiling all laws, regulations and orders that have been enacted for and in respect of the FCT since inception; conduct a surgical analysis of these laws, regulations and orders with recommendations that will bring them to conform with the current realities; review in particular Order 1 section 303 of the 2004 constitution towards improving, enlarging or discarding same for a more workable structure for FCT.

    The committee is chaired by a former FCT Minister, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo with FCT Permanent Secretary, Engr. John Obinna Chukwu as Secretary. It also includes, Prof. Jerry Gana, a former Minister of Information, Hon. Bitrus Jisalo, Hon. Micah Jiba, Engr. Adamu Isaila.

    Other members are Mr Reuben Okoya, Mr Imabong Okpongete, directors of the FCTA and other stakeholders in the FCT.

    Aliyu Modibbo while appreciating the opportunity given to them to serve the FCT also said, “One of the greatest disservice to the FCT is taking away that one percent and saying that the Federal government should pay from its own share of revenue.

    “When we say FCT, we say, Federation Capital Territory and not a Federal Government Territory; we hope to articulate it well for the standard funding which is important to the growth of the FCT.

    “We will also talk on the original inhabitants and find an acceptable framework to its definition, where whoever comes to the FCT is an indigene by law but special recognition may be given to people that were here first.”

    The committee which were selected from diverse backgrounds, some on technical, communal, administrative backgrounds etc, were given a week to submit their report and also asked to discuss in a friendly atmosphere all the challenges facing the FCT.

     

  • Reps investigate land racketeering

    Reps investigate land racketeering

    The House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating alleged land racketeering in the FCT has said its members are determined to do justice to their assignment and address the rot in land matters in the FCT.

    Some top officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) are alleged to have manipulated security agencies to dupe unsuspecting Nigerians and hoodwink them into buying unapproved land in the FCT.

    Also, the FCT authorities are said to be insensitive to the plight of the indigenous Gbagi population who surrendered their lands in the interest of national unity but denied their dues for the past 37 years.

    The two victims, however, became jubilant and expressed optimism that justice would come their way as Bimbo Daramola, Chairman of the House Committee was emphatic on the determination of the panel to get to the root of the matter.

    The Committee made the pronouncement in view of the complaints of 854 Gbagi communities over years of injustice and 186 people to the Committee on how several structures in Goza Estate and elsewhere were pulled down by the FCT authorities in the pretext of invalid documents and allocation of land for the Centenary Village.

    In a presentation by the association of the allotees, Abuneme Okeke said the public was deliberately misled by the said officer because the transactions were conducted within the premises of the Gudu Office of the NSCDC.

    He said: ”The Principal Officer’s office is inside the Civil Defence Office in Gudu and everybody that has to do with the transaction are always wearing Civil Defence uniform. We are talking of inside the Civil Defence office, not outside, not even outside fence but right inside.

    “Apart from that, the receipt we were issued with after payment to an account name Danemy Nigerian Limited 32223405192110 has Civil Defence logo and coat of arm on it. We are not illiterates.

    “So, we ask questions and the principal officer showed us approvals from Development Control Department of the FCDA. We even had to pay for the fencing of the Goza Estate which was not supposed to be so. People were buying this land which was not cheap at between N800,000 and N1.2m because everybody believed that if it was coming from an institution of government, it must be genuine.”

    He, however, said trouble started when FCDA arrived at the estate and marked some structures for demolition, saying that the allotees would be compensated before the demolition.

    “They said the estate has been marked for the Centenary Village. We are not against that but the FCDA came and pulled down our houses without compensating us contrary to what we were told and in spite of several representations we made to the FCDA,” he added.

    Another petitioner, Ishaya Boyo who was more familiar with the Danemy said several family members and associates of his bought land from Danemy on the basis of his status in Civil Defence and relationship with his own wife.

    “Right now, my family is in disarray because everybody is accusing me of duping them just because I introduced them to the Danemy who was alleged to have fled the country. I was convicted because my wife works with Civil Defence. So, we never suspected any foul play,” he said.

    Ola Faleke, another allotee said Danemy was no longer accessible.

    On the other hand, the Committee could not help the 854 indigenous communities of Gbagi that have not been paid their compensation for the land taken away from them by the Federal Government 37 years ago.

    According to the counsel to the Galadimawa community, Musa Panya, the community applied for allocation of 76 hectares of their ancestral land and cemetery but they were denied of the application.

    Ironically, a former governor was allocated 101 hectares of land covering five villages in Kwali District. The Committee was shocked when told that the said governor has commenced compensation exercise, with ejection to follow. The grouse of the Gbagi people was the non-justification of taking away their lands through land swap scheme by FCDA with no regard to the feelings of the original owners.

    The Galadimawa community said it was no longer interested in the issue of compensation but that the government should consider reintegration instead. According to Panya, the protest to the Committee was about the allocation of their ancestral home and farmland to five private developers by FCDA.

    “Besides, the government cannot pay the N2.8b compensation bill computed in 1975 when added to the interest that would have accrued to it till date,” he said. According to him, though government claimed to have partially compensated some of the communities, Panya asserted that it amounted to nothing as the constitution does not recognise partial compensation.

    He cited one Alhaji Yahaya on whose land Transcorp Hilton Hotel is standing today but awarded N20.00??? by the government. ”What we are seeking for is re-integration since the government can’t afford to compensate us or resettle us where we came from. Abuja died on February 13, 1976 with Gen. Murtala Mohammed because the vision for Abuja died with him because those that succeeded him did not follow his vision.

    “Obasanjo tried because he set up a body to cost the compensation and they came up with N2.8b which the government cannot afford. That is why they resorted to re-integration. Now, they even have to deploy hired soldiers to accompany their demolition squad; armed soldiers against harmless, peaceful people. It’s the height of injustice.”

    Panya said the community is demanding that the land swap arrangement be revisited because the arrangement was such that 60 per cent of the deal goes to the developer to do whatever it feels with the land while the 40 per cent left belongs to the FCDA. The interest of the indigenous community was not part of the deal. He said the FCT has been divided into 21 districts and that the land swap arrangement has been concluded on 10 of the districts.

    “Each of the developers has paid N350m to the FCDA as commitment fees. We are a peace-loving people but Abuja is a ticking time-bomb as of now. The current land swap arrangement is not agreeable to us. What we want is 30 per cent for the indigenous communities?” he said.

    The Committee assured the Gbagi communities in Kwali District and Galadimawa in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) of justice after due investigation.

    Chairman of the committee, Daramola questioned the propriety of the activities of the FCT authorities on land matters regarding the indigenous people, saying: “Are we saying that while the Galadimawa community applied to the FCDA for 76 hectares of their ancestral home land and refused, the same FCDA saw no problem allocating 101 hectares to one single individual?

    “Certainly, there are questions to answer. We are also desirous of finding out about the Land Allocation Advisory Committee in the FCT which we are told has been non-existent since 2000.

    “We would want the Minister of the FCT to update us on it because its non- existence would be a violation of the Land Use Act. This and other questions are there for the minister to come and clear and his continued absence would not be in the interest of the country; because Abuja is supposed to be for every Nigerian,” he said.

    With these revelations, the Committee summoned the Commandant-General of the NSCDC, Olu Abolurin and the Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Ekpo Nta to shed light on their roles in the matter.

    The ICPC boss was invited when the D-G of the Civil Defence, Olu Abolurin said those suspected of engaging in the land scam have been referred to the anti-graft agency.

    The ICPC boss, Ekpo Nta shocked the Committee when he said 61 properties were seized from one top official of the security agency, adding that Danemy Nigeria Limited was not part of those being investigated so far.

    “The agency embarked on the investigation following a formal complaint from the Commandant-General of the NSDC, Dr Ade Abolurin who personally visited me on May 15 this year. He said that some of the officials of the Corps were involved in selling lands illegally to unsuspecting members of the public in the name of NSCDC under a non-existent Housing Estate Scheme in Abuja and Nasarawa State.

    “He demanded full investigation into the scam with a view to getting to the root of the matter. I was impressed by the action of the Commandant-General for reporting his own officials for alleged wrong doings and demanding an independent investigation while other heads of agencies or organisations will be covering up if they were involved.

    “I commenced an immediate investigation by directing the Special Squad I set up on land matters to swing into action and the team even started with some officers who the D-G came with.

    “We made findings; we made efforts to get additional information from other government agencies and banks which assisted us immensely in the course of our investigations.

    “In the course of the investigation, we established that six different companies were used in the scam. We froze the bank accounts of certain officers and the companies used. We seized several properties; including 61 houses, 45 plots of land and a duplex traced to some of the officers. Interestingly, the 61 houses made up of 40 units of three bedroom flats, 20 units of two bedroom flats and a duplex were seized from a single officer.” He said.

    He, however, promised to commence investigation on Danemy Nigeria Limited immediately, even as he disclosed that those interrogated have been released except one that has absconded. He also said compensation of the 186 victims was beyond ICPC.

    “That is beyond our power. The final decision rests on the court. Ours is to arrest, investigate and prosecute; but as we speak, we have established abuse of office against some of the officers investigated. It is the court that will now decide their fate. The law recognises the interest of procurer,” he said.

    The FCT Minister, Bala Mohammed is expected to appear before the Committee next week.

  • Presidency versus varsity teachers

    The strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over four months and the teachers’ demands seem to be getting too hot to handle.

    Pleas from different quarters on ASUU and the Federal Government to shift ground in order to resolve the crisis and pave way for students to go back to school seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

    About four separate key interventions by the Presidency towards resolving the crisis aimed at making the lecturers return to the classrooms have not been fruitful.

    Initially, the Presidency tried to resolve the crisis through the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who handled the issue of lecturers’ allowances on one hand while the Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam who headed the Presidential Universities Needs Implementation Committee, tried to resolve the issues of infrastructural decays in the universities.

    But they seem not to have gone far enough as they were not able to prevail on ASUU to call off its strike action.

    Government’s first offer of N100 billion for infrastructural developments in the universities and N30 billion for payment arrears of allowances did not move ASUU as the body insisted on implementation of the 2009 agreement reached with the Federal Government.

    Raising the infrastructure development fund has not made any difference either.

    When these moves failed, what seemed to be a threat to the effect that lecturers who do not report to the classrooms will no longer be paid salaries, also did not deter the lecturers who stuck to their demands.

    In a bid to resolve the matter, series of meetings were held between Vice-President Namadi Sambo, ASUU leadership and other stakeholders. That also did not achieve much as the lecturers continued the strike action.

    The failure of past efforts to resolve the crisis set the stage for a meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and ASUU leadership at the First Lady’s Conference Room in the Presidential Villa on Monday last week.

    Before the meeting started, it was expected that the crisis has got to its final bus stop and the strike action would be called off few hours after the end of the meeting.

    Exchanging pleasantries with the ASUU team led by its President, Dr. Nasir Isa Fagge just before the 13-hour meeting started, President Jonathan said: “My President, all the problems will be over today. All our children must go back to school.”

    Turning to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, who was with the ASUU team, the President also said: “My President, with you around today, there will be no problem. Our agreement is signed, sealed and delivered.”

    But, unfortunately, many days after the meeting ended, the strike action has continued to the detriment of Nigeria’s future leaders.

    Special appeal, through this medium, still goes to the two sides to think about the suffering Nigerian youths and do what is right so that the students can go back to school.

     

  • Artists blame lack of awareness for poor tourism

    Artists blame lack of awareness for poor tourism

    Abuja arts and culture village which would have been one of its best tourism sights is today a sleepy centre which most residents of the city have little or no knowledge about.

    Arts and Crafts Village lies at the heart of the city flanked on either side by magnificent monuments, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre on the right and Silverbird Entertainment Centre on the left. Just opposite the village is Sheraton Hotels and Towers. But in spite of nestling around entertainment hubs, artists complain of low patronage.

    This, the artists attributed to lack of knowledge of its existence by the residents of Abuja.

    A walk around the arts village in the early hours of the day revealed its profound serenity. Men were seen lying on their mats outside their shops while some others sat on benches chatting with colleagues. Only few were inside their shops, though doing nothing. Some shops were at the moment of visitation without shop-attendants. This was because there were no customers’ insights.

    However, the arts centre becomes a little busy only in the evening hours when few expatriates come out to appreciate and buy art works.

    A painter, Yusuf Omoniyi said that although so many people love to patronise the work of arts, they do not know where to get them.

    He appealed to government to support them by creating a world-wide awareness of the arts and culture village in Abuja.

    Yusuf said: “We need publicity and apart from that, we need an event centre in this place. Something that can bring tourists to come to see what we are doing here.”

    The artist who also blamed the low patronage of their arts work on “the great economy problem” noted that arts appreciation is not complete without finance.

    He said: “I believe that if the economy is better, we will have more patronage so government needs to work on the economy of the nation.”

    Suggesting other ways government can help boost tourism in the arts centre, he explained: “Government should commission artists to work. We need a lot of arts in the city here. If you look at a lot of buildings here, they are so flat, not even a single work of art on them. There are a lot of beautiful art works that are supposed to be done on buildings that will make the city even more beautiful”, adding that it will help encourage a lot of artists to venture into the business.

    The artist who is also a member of Society of Nigerian Artists, Abuja branch, lamented that they have not had light at the centre for over three months running.

    For the general manager of Tambari Theatre in arts and culture centre, Malami Abraham, government is to blame, for the low tourism development in Abuja, adding that Abuja arts and culture centre lacks publicity.

    The Tambari Theatre boss regrets that the few people who come for sightseeing do not appreciate the Nigerian arts and culture the way they should.

    He said: “If government can say this place should be for only cultural performance anybody that comes here should pay. I was in Egypt when I wanted to enter that Sahara Pyramid, I had to pay almost $20 just to watch that pyramid. But here it is free. Foreigners will come here and snap pictures of things for free and carry them to their countries to re-do them.”

    He urged government to equip the centre with everything that can help develop the area, mount security and gates so that tourists will better appreciate the centre and more foreign currencies will be generate into the city.

    For Umar Mustapha Farouk, a trader in coral beads, sea shells, precious stones from gombe and Baluchi and other assorted traditional clothings, the centre is not booming like it should because too many people are ignorant of its existence.

    He said: “we need support from government. With government everything can move faster by inviting journalists to come and advertise the place as a tourist centre so that many people can see them on Television, Radio, newspapers, and other means so that people will come and see what is happening here. That way, everything will move fine.”

    He emphasized on the need for government to empower artists and craftsmen by lending loans to them.

    He said: “With good capital, we can buy many things and create many art works so that many people will see it. Because if we don’t have enough money, we cannot do such thing here because everything here is hard work and Nigerian made.”

    Meanwhile a Whiteman, Rob Ten who our correspondent saw observing the beauty of Nigerian arts and culture recommended that foreigners’ attention could be drawn to the arts centre by exhibiting some of these arts in hotels, adding that some local music should be played in the centre.

    “What I will truly recommend is that you make some arts in Sharaton,also in the Hilton.Draw the attention of the people by making advertisements in the hotels.

    “What you could also add is some music, some local music not too loud but to create a bit more local atmosphere. I don’t mean the atmosphere with modern cars, but to the original feeling of Nigeria.”