The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Belgore

  • Belgore seeks probe into police shooting of Kwara Poly student

    Belgore seeks probe into police shooting of Kwara Poly student

    A chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Kwara State, Mr Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), has urged the state government and the police to investigate the shooting of a student of the state polytechnic.

    The 2011 governorship candidate of ACN said this would ensure that such an ugly incident does not repeat itself.

    In a statement in Ilorin, the state capital, by his media aide, Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, the senior lawyer said: “We are saddened by the latest round of disruption of public peace arising from the alleged shooting of a student by a policeman attached to a bullion van. We wish the concerned student, who remains unnamed, a speedy recovery from his alleged gunshot injury.

    “We urge caution on the side of security agencies, especially the police, as well as the Kwara State Polytechnic students, who are genuinely irked by the alleged shooting of their colleague.

    “We recall that a similar incident of avoidable shooting had led to the killing, also in Ilorin, of Muyideen Mustapha Opobiyi, who was involved in the fuel subsidy protest of January, last year. Maybe this latest shooting would have been averted had a thorough investigation been carried out into that sad incident of 2012.

    “While we acknowledge that a greater number of our policemen are law-abiding and dutiful, we cannot shut our eyes to the excesses of some bad eggs in the Force. We, therefore, urge the security agencies to always exercise restraint and professionalism, even in the face of provocations from the populace.

    “It is interesting to note that a police officer who murdered another fuel subsidy protester, Ademola Aderinto, in Lagos, has now been dismissed from the force because of the efforts of the Lagos State Government which not only insisted on the police producing the culprit but also instituted criminal prosecution against the policeman.

    “Should it be found after due investigation that the police have acted unlawfully, the Kwara State Government should not sit on the sidelines but act in similar vein.”

  • Belgore to Kwara PDP: a million canvassers can’t undo poor record

    •Canvassers to feel people’s pulse, says govt

    The appointment of canvassers by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to propagate the “achievements” of its government to Kwara State residents is an admission of failure, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN) said yesterday.

    Belgore, a chieftain of the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), was reacting to reports that Kwara State PDP leader, Bukola Saraki, appointed 3,744 canvassers to inform the people about the PDP and the feats of its government.

    In a statement in Ilorin, the state capital, by his media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, the senior lawyer said the PDP-led government, rather than impact lives positively, has made Kwara the butt of national jokes “through sheer profligacy, operation of caretaker-like government, ridiculous false claims and downright deceit in everything it does”.

    The statement added: “That the PDP is not ashamed of its abysmal record, which has rendered Kwara unbankable, as confirmed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) verdict on its finances, should baffle every sensible person.

    “The PDP may as well send out a million canvassers to every corner of the state, if it so wills. But, as can be deduced from the story, the Kwara PDP, which has been in power in the past 10 years, still needs thousands of canvassers to sell itself and announce its achievements to the public.

    “Were those achievements felt and seen by the public, would the PDP need anyone to mouth them? That is an unintended admission of failure. By asking canvassers to intimate prospective voters of the ‘achievements’ of its government, it is clear that such achievements exist only in the imagination of the PDP and its government.

    “If the government had indeed done the things it claimed to have done in cities and villages across Kwara, the people would not need a PDP canvasser to tell them about things they can see and feel themselves.

    “In a nutshell, the PDP just confirmed our position that its achievements exist only on the pages of newspapers, in radio jingles and doctored TV documentaries. Hence, there is need for specially-anointed canvassers to tell the public what the PDP government has done.”

    Belgore urged the ruling party to realise that winning an election is not an end in itself, adding that the appointment of vote canvassers, barely two years into a four-year tenure, shows that the PDP and its government see politics for the sake of it.

    The statement added: “Instead of impacting the lives of Kwarans, the PDP government has made the state the butt of public jokes through sheer profligacy, operation of caretaker-like government, ridiculous false claims and downright deceit in everything it does. That PDP is not ashamed of its abysmal record, which has rendered Kwara unbankable, as confirmed by CBN verdict on its finances, should baffle every sensible person.

    “The so-called appointment of vote canvassers barely two years into a four-year mandate – questionable as it is – says it all about the mindset of the party and its leaders in Kwara. We wish to inform Kwara PDP that winning election is not an end onto itself, it is a means to better the lives of the people.”

     

  • Belgore to Kwara, Fed Govt: get serious in 2013

    •‘Kwara budget ridiculous’

    Kwara State major opposition figure Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN) has urged the Federal Government to be sincere in tackling corruption.

    Besides, it should give Nigerians a sense of belonging and pride in the New Year.

    Belgore was the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) governorship candidate in the 2011 election.

    In a New Year message, the lawyer noted that “2012 cannot be said to be eventful for the people of Nigeria, in the areas of security, job opportunities, economic empowerment, power, road network and other basic infrastructure, which are required to give the citizenry a sense of belonging and pride”.

    He added: “The government needs to first admit these failures and then move in urgently to do the right thing in the New Year.”

    Belgore admonished the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in Kwara State to “behave more responsibly and govern in the best interest of the people”.

    The senior lawyer warned that the “events of 2012 have shown beyond doubt that Kwara people want genuine change and real socio-economic and political empowerment, not the window dressing that dotted the past years’.

    The ACN chieftain noted that Kwara lags behind in basic infrastructure and human capital development.

    He criticised the Abdulfattah Ahmed administration for presenting the 2013 budget with a recurrent expenditure (N51billion) exceeding the capital expenditure (N42.6billion).

    The statement added: “While our people are indeed peace-loving and unassuming, they cannot continue to endure lies being told in the name of governance.

    “The state’s 2013 budget, where recurrent expenditure (standing at N51billion) exceeds capital expenditure (pegged at N42.6billion), does not show a government in tune with the yearnings of the impoverished masses and global trend. For a state clearly on the lower wrung of social, economic and human capital development ladder, such budget estimate calls for worry by concerned citizens who are genuinely conscious of the dictates of the time and consequences of enriching a corrupt few at the expense of the majority of the populace. We hope the State Assembly would rightly raise issues with the budget estimates which we found to be ridiculous and run afoul of the government’s much-ridiculed ‘Shared Prosperity’ mantra.

    “Finally, we wish all Nigerians, especially Kwarans, a truly prosperous 2013.”

  • No true democracy in Nigeria – Belgore

    No true democracy in Nigeria – Belgore

    Former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Alfa Belgore (Rtd.), has decried the ubiquitous presence of infrastructural decay in all parts of the country, saying with the decay the country was yet to experience true democracy.

    The retired jurist, who on Thursday delivered the fourth Justice Bola Babalakin annual lecture organized by the Osogbo branch of Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) in Osogbo, Osun State capital, said that it will take some time before Nigeria gets true democracy where people’s wish and what is good for the country shall prevail.

    In the lecture titled: “Nigeria Constitution: What is the future?” Justice Belgore, who is the Chairman of the Constitution Review Committee set up by President Goodluck Jonathan, berated the political class for the nation’s infrastructural decay.

    He said it is preferable that Nigeria is called a federation rather than the federal republic.

    “I will like our country to be called federation of Nigeria rather than the federal Republic of Nigeria, because we are not a true republic as our culture does not reflect the republican tendency.

    “What type of republic is this that has traditional rulers – the Obas, the Obis, the Emirs and others? The truth is that we are a federation and not a republic. Whenever there is crisis in this country, these traditional rulers mobilize the populace for peaceful settlement. We cannot do without them.

    “I believe entirely in the united, peaceful and economically vibrant nation of Nigeria, but we have to have a rethink of the constitution without the interference of the military,” he said.

    He noted that from 1979 till date the country has only had constitutions that are irrelevant, difficult to practise and very expensive.

    He said: “We do not have to be like United States, because our history, our cultures and our ambitions are different from any of those so called advanced countries,”

    Represented by his deputy, Mrs. Grace Titi Laoye-Tomori, the Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, faulted the 1999 Constitution.

    He called for the immediate review of the present constitution which, according to him, did not provide necessary provisions for the present democratic system.

     

  • Oil firms aiding bunkering, says ex-CJN Belgore

    Oil firms aiding bunkering, says ex-CJN Belgore

    Former Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Salihu Belgore, has accused oil companies of encouraging oil bunkering in the country.

    Belgore, who spoke at the opening of a three-day national workshop on the judiciary and the oil and gas industry organised for Judicial Officers by the International Institute for Petroleum Law, Energy and Policy (IIPLEP), in Abuja, called for the reorganisation of the oil industry to curtail wastages and check bunkering.

    Speaking on the theme: ‘The Nigerian Judiciary and the Oil and Gas Industry: Fostering a better understanding,’ he alleged that oil companies have refineries in neighbouring countries where they process the stolen oil.

    In her address, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mariam Aloma-Mukhtar, identified regulatory uncertainty “as the main obstacle to industry growth and expansion, saying it is a menace no economy can put up with.

    She urged the government to step up efforts to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to address the challenges.

    “It is most significant to note that when companies are unsure of judicial outcomes when deals go sour, or when companies fear uncertain liability, they are less likely to consummate some deals and more likely to keep some new products from the market, thus slowing down the pace of economic growth.

    “It is hoped that the PIB when passed, will stimulate largely eliminate a litany of legislative hiccups, form new bedrock and open up new frontiers for a more robust oil and gas sector that will be both private sector led and commercially driven.”

    Aloma-Mukhtar also stressed the need for the judiciary to be impartial and treat all litigants alike whether they are corporations or individuals.

    The NJI Administrator, Justice Umaru Eri, stated that the survival of the economy rests to a great extent on whatever happens in the oil and gas industry.

  • Nigeria, a sleeping giant, says Belgore

    Kwara State Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) leader, Mr. Dele Belgore (SAN), has said Nigeria is a sleeping giant.

    The frontline lawyer noted that despite attaining 52, the country has not unlocked its vast human and natural resources for development.

    The politician decried the lack of political will by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) administration to ensure the development projects across the country.

    He said if unlocked, the nation’s potentials would have made it one of the top 20 economies of the world.

    Belgore said: “As things stand, one is virtually being punished daily for just being a Nigerian. This is as a result of the negative impact of government on the lives of the people.

    “Politics is put above governance. Service to the people is secondary to self-interest and benefit and institutions have been subordinated to the whims and caprices of individuals.

    “No nation thrives in such circumstances. A nation becomes great by the commitment of its leaders and the faithful followership of its people.

    “For Nigeria to be great, we must begin to see some sincerity of purpose in our leaders. They must have the interest of the nation at heart, not a sectional, political, religious or ethnic interest.

    “The right people should be put in the right places to lead and govern. Institutions should be allowed to function properly and the people empowered to maximise their opportunities and talents.

    “We all know the things that are wrong with our country. What we need now is the will to right those wrongs and at 52 it is high time we got it right.”