The Nation Newspaper

Tag: aide

  • Jonathan’s aide cautions against unproductive unionism

    Students of tertiary institutions have been cautioned against a unionism that is detrimental to their academics.

    The Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to President Goodluck Jonathan on Student and Youth Matters, Comrade Jude Imagwe, gave the advice when he paid a visit to the executives of the Students Union (SU), of the University of Benin.

    Imagwe, who was a former NANS president, recounted some of the challenges he encountered in the saddle.  According to him, how to succeed in his education topped  his priority despite being NANS leader. Imagwe urged them to adopt a more mature approach in resolving issues on campus rather than embarking on what he described as “unnecessary protest” against constituted authorities.

    He said: “I want you to understand the fact that unionism is different from academic work. I wouldn’t have been an SSA to the President, if I had not placed my education as priority irrespective of how I went about my union activities. Secondly, that you are a union officer does not give you the right above the law because you are the mirror to other students on how you act and respond to issues.

    “I know we led a lot of protests as union leaders then; fortunately, today I wouldn’t lead such protest because the situations are different and I have grown to understand that there are other approaches to adopt to achieve the same results.”

    Besides, the Presidential aide  appealed to the newly sworn in SU President, Comrade Ikhide Ifidon John, to carry along his executive members. This, he noted, would check the tendency by the school authority to infiltrate their rank and cause division.

    Ifidon, who received the SSA with his exco members, promised to follow the exemplary leadership quality of past leaders in ensuring that the welfare of students tops his agenda.

  • Clinton’s former aide for Abuja seminar July 10

    A former White House Political Director/Assistant to former President Bill Clinton, Mr. Craig Smith, will be speaking in Abuja to women political leaders/women aspirants on ‘Preparing to run” on Thursday, July 10 at an international seminar on Political Advertising, Perception Building and Voter Education.

    The international seminar, which will hold at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, will be chaired by Independent national Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, as part of the 41st Annual General Meeting/Congress of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN).

    Robina Namusisi, Resident Country Director (Nigeria) for International Republican Institute (IRI), Robina Namusisi, said women who intend to seek elective offices will have a chance to engage Mr. Craig Smith on how to surmount the unwritten limitations placed by the system and still clinch the party’s ticket.

  • Tukur disowns aide over attack on governors

    Tukur disowns aide over attack on governors

    The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, has disowned his media aide, Prince Oliver Okpala over attack on five north’s governors.

    Okpala had, in a statement on Tuesday, slammed Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa); Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano); Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Aliyu Wamakko (Sokoto); and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa).

    He described the governors as lacking in wisdom, caution, prudence and good counsel for allegedly calling for the removal of Tukur at a recent private meeting of the governors with President Goodluck Jonathan.

    A statement by the Acting National Secretary of the PDP, Dr.Aderemi Akitoye yesterday said Okpala’s statement did not represent the thoughts and actions of the chairman.

    According to Akitoye, Tukur could not have authorised such statement about the governors, “in view of his ever persistent role to achieve lasting peace and progress for the party which himself and others nursed from infancy”.

    In a another denial, Ahmed Shuaibu-Gara Gombe, who also issued a statement on the matter said Tukur was particularly infuriated by the attack on the governors, who were invited by the President for consultation in Abuja recently.

  • Ubah not qualified to judge Obi, says aide

    The Senior Special Assistant to Anambra State Governor Peter Obi on Media and Publicity has called on Nigerians to ignore oil magnate Ifeanyi Ubah’s assessment of Obi’s performance.

    Valentine Obienyem said Ubah was not qualified to pass judgment on Obi.

    Obienyem said it was wrong for Ubah to consign Obi’s achievements to the pages of the newspapers.

    “Yesterday, for example, the governor inspected the on-going Iyiowa-Odekpe Road, Obodoukwu Road at Okpoko and three bridges on the Atani- Ozubulu Road.

    “These projects are there for everybody to see. If Ubah is sure of what he was saying, I challenge him to name one project Obi claimed he has done that he did not do,” Obienyem said.

    The aide said Ubah should tell the people what he would do for them, if elected.

    Obienyem asked: “Let us face it, which Ubah are we even talking about? Is it not the same man who is living at the mercy of injunctions that will not last forever?

    “ It is only in Nigeria that people like him, who should be hiding in shame, will open their mouth and speak unadulterated nonsense.”

     

  • Jonathan has no hand in Amaechi’s challenges, says presidential aide

    THE Presidency yesterday broke its silence on the feud between Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi and Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike.

    “Neither President Goodluck Jonathan nor the Presidency has a hand in the current challenges facing Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi,” the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, said yesterday.

    He also told reporters in Abuja that the President has not said he would probe former President Olusegun Obasanjo or any of the ministers that served under him.

    According to him, Dr Jonathan has maintained that no minister has his authorisation to canvass for votes for him or to tell Nigerians whether or not he will seek a re-election in 2015.

    Gulak also reacted to a statement credited to the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, at a ceremony in Oyo State, where she reportedly canvassed for votes for Dr Jonathan ahead of the 2015elections.

    The presidential aide said the minister was not in a position to represent the opinion of the President.

    He said: “We have said it before that whether or not Mr. President will contest in 2015 will be unveiled to Nigerians in 2014. Whatever anybody is saying or doing is on his own.”

    Contrary to speculations, the Special Adviser said his principal was not keen on who becomes the next Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    Gulak said: “Mr. President is ready to work with any chairman of the NGF. The President is a constitutional organ while the NGF is not a constitutional organ. If you are talking of the National Economic Council (NCC), where all the governors are members, you can say the body can relate with the President, because it is a constitutional organ.

    “As far as Mr. President is concerned, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) is not a constitutional organ. The body cannot pursue certain things as the President is at liberty to listen to their advice.

    “So, why should Mr. President care about them? He does not care about who becomes the chairman of NGF.”

    On the grounding of Amaechi’s aircraft, Gulak said the matter has nothing to do with any witch-hunting but that it is about obedience to laid-down rules.

    He said: “If you are a governor and you are flying a private jet, you must do it within the extant laws. There are laws governing the use of private jets in this country and the world over. The fact that you are a governor does not give you the licence to flout the laws governing your country.

    “Nigerians should be told in clear terms that no governor is above the law. The fact that you have immunity does not mean you should flout the law the way you want.”

    The presidential aide said there is nothing wrong with a probe, adding that it is an examination of what is happening or what has happened.

    Gulak denied any move by the Federal Government to probe former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration.

    According to him, the administration does not see anything wrong with the National Assembly nvestigating various sectors of governance in line with its oversight function.

     

  • Imo deputy governor’s aide murdered

    •Body found four days after abduction

    Laz Anyanwu, the Protocol Officer attached to Imo State Deputy Governor, was yesterday found dead in Owerri, the state capital, four days after he was abducted by unknown gunmen.

    The late deputy governor’s aide was a Director of Administration and Services (DAS) in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government.

    He was reportedly found dead near a bush path at Nwaoriebe in Mbaitoli Local Government yesterday evening.

    It was learnt that the late Anyanwu was kidnapped near the Government House last Friday evening.

    His abductors did not contact his family or anyone else, it was learnt.

    Governor Rochas Okorocha, who was to address a stakeholders’ meeting at the Government House, was devastated when the remains of the Protocol Officer were brought to the Government House.

    It was gathered that no ransom was demanded by the kidnappers.

    A government source said Anyanwu’s killing may have been politically-motivated.

     

  • Kogi Speaker’s police aide dies in road crash

    Lamidi Akeem, the police escort of Kogi State House of Assembly Speaker Lawal Jimoh, has died following a road crash involving the Speaker’s convoy on Okene Road.

    It was learnt that the accident occurred three days ago at Osara when the Speaker was travelling to Okenne, his home town.

    The accident occurred barely a week after Governor Idris Wada was injured in a road crash in which his Aide-de-Camp, Idris Mohammed, died.

    But Jimoh’s vehicle was not affected by the accident.

    Akeem was said to be in a convoy vehicle, not in the Speaker’s car.

    The police escort was reportedly rushed to a hospital for emergency treatment. But he died yesterday.

    The Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, Austin Akubo, confirmed Akeem’s death.

    He said the Speaker’s vehicle was not affected.

    The late Akeem hails from Erin-Ile, Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State.

    “The Speaker was ready to take him to any hospital in Nigeria or any part of the world for best treatment. Unfortunately, he died early this morning (yesterday),” Akubo said.

  • LG chairman’s aide shot

    The Special Assistant to the Transition Chairman of Etsako Central Local Government Area, Mr. Alfred Nyamanli ,was shot yesterday by unknown gunmen in his compound at Fugar in Edo North..

    According to source, the hoodlums who laid an ambush at his compound launched the attack on him at about 9.30 pm and shot him on his buttocks.

    The Nation learnt that he was immediately rushed to Ogar hospital in Fugar by neighbours who heard him screaming. He is presently receiving treatment in the hospital.

    Speaking on the incident, the chairman of the council, Comrade Suleman Bagudu ,said Mr. Alfred has been transferred to central hospital for proper medication.

    While calling on the security agencies to carry out painstaking investigation about the attack, Bagudu said his aide was ambushed at the gate of his house in Fugar.

    Edo State commissioner of Police, Alhija Olayinka Balogun, confirmed the incident. The commissioner said that the people that shot Alfred are suspected to be cult boys and the command are doing everything possible to get them.

    He however said that the victim is responding to treatment very well.

     

  • Another governor’s aide resigns

    •Says he ‘ll lose poll 

    Barely 72 hours after a Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Project Monitoring in Owo Local Government, Mr. Femi Idris, resigned, another SSA to Governor Olusegun Mimiko on Local Government, Prince Adepoju Adewusi, yesterday resigned his appointment.

    He said Governor Mimiko would lose the October 20 poll.

    Adewusi said he could no longer stomach the wastage and underdevelopment foisted on the state by Mimiko.

    He predicted that the governor would lose the election because he has elevated fantasies above governance.

    According to him, his popularity is a creation of the media and his paid agents whose major jobs are to sing his praises in the media.

    Adewusi, who hails from Akoko North West Local Government, said they only felt the impact of governance in the state during the Olusegun Agagu administration.

    He said: “Forget about the paid agents whose jobs are to sing the praises of the governor. They are not here, so they don’t know how and where the shoe pinches.

    “He has used our money to service cosmetic projects so that his friends and cronies could coast home with largesse.

    This is why the dome, Arigidi Tomato Company, Ose Cement Factory, Ore Industrial Village and other white elephant projects only exist on paper.

    “I dumped him because I’m sure he is on a voyage of deceit and my conscience can no longer bear his deceit.”

    Adewusi said those still celebrating Mimiko as an achiever must have benefited from his extravagant life.

     

  • Police arrest Oni’s aide for ‘disrupting’ Ekiti teachers’ test

    Police arrest Oni’s aide for ‘disrupting’ Ekiti teachers’ test

    •TDNA turnout low

    The police in Ekiti State yesterday arrested an aide of ousted “Governor” Segun Oni, Mr. Lere Olayinka, who allegedly disrupted the Teachers Development Needs Assessment (TDNA) test at the Ola-Oluwa Muslim Grammar School centre in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

    Olayinka allegedly led a group of suspected thugs, who threw stones at the teachers in the examination hall.

    Police spokesman Victor Babayemi confirmed the arrest.

    Babayemi said: “As the organ of the government charged with the responsibility of maintaining law and order, our men were posted to various centres to ensure that the on-going TDNA is without hitch.

    “Consequently, Lere Olayinka was arrested for conducting himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of public peace at a TDNA centre. He is presently being interrogated. The outcome of the interrogation/investigation would determine what the next action would be.

    “We reiterate that we are doing our job professionally without sentiments. Anybody who contravenes the law would be made to face the music, irrespective of his/her status or political affinity.”

    In a statement, Governor Kayode Fayemi’s media aide, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, said Olayinka’s arrest has upheld the government’s position that some disgruntled politicians were at the root of various labour crises in the state.

    Oyebode said: “The state government raised the alarm recently that some politicians were responsible for various allegations and protests by the National Union of Local Government Employee (NULGE).

    “It also alerted the public to plans by some politicians to frustrate the TDNA by spreading falsehood and harassing teachers, who already had the conviction that the test would impact positively on their careers. The arrest has vindicated our position.

    “It is needless to say that Olayinka’s physical attack on the teachers was part of the calculated attempt by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and his pay masters to frustrate the TDNA and other government policies. Apparently piqued by the determination of the teachers to take the test, he resorted to physical attack.

    “While we hail the police for rising to their responsibility of maintaining law and order, we hope they will, through their investigation, unmask the masterminds of the plot and bring them to book.

    “The Fayemi administration is committed to maintaining the peace that has been the hallmark of the state since the inception of this administration. We are also committed to policies that will enhance development in all sectors. Teachers and indeed workers are assured of adequate security as they go about their work.”

    The turnout of teachers for the test was low.

    Less than 100 of the 6,000 teachers expected for the test turned up.

    At the Ola-Oluwa Muslim Grammar School, over 3,000 teachers were expected, but only 35, including the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), Mr. Sola Adigun, and executive members of the union, wrote the test.

    At the African Church Comprehensive High School, Ikere Ekiti, only 28 teachers wrote the test.

    No one turned out in Omuo, Ido and Aramoko Ekiti.

    There was heavy presence of security personnel around the centres in Ado-Ekiti.

    Commissioner for Education Mrs. Eniola Ajayi said: “We thank God that some teachers wrote the test, which is aimed at developing human capital in our education sector.

    “You could see the level of failure recorded in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) this year. This is to tell you the level of rot in the system, which we were able to expose by canceling the so-called miracle centres.”

    Commissioner for Labour and Human Capital Development Wole Adewumi said:

    “We have told the teachers that the competency test is not meant to ridicule, demote or sack them, but to develop their skills and make Ekiti great.”