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Tag: calm

  • Buhari: be calm but resolute

    Buhari: be calm but resolute

    •May 29 stands, says Jonathan

    All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari yesterday urged Nigerians to avoid violence over the postponement of the general elections.

    He said though the polls shift was disappointing and provocative, Nigerians must remain resolute and rise above provocation.

    To Gen. Buhari, the postponement is a delay tactic, but he was quick to add that whether the Presidency or Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) likes it or not, an elected government must be in place by May 29.

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the weekend moved the elections from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11 – a decision that has drawn much anger.

    Gen. Buhari said the nation must continue to trust in the entire democratic process and in INEC.

    But he warned that the APC will not tolerate any further interference with the electoral process.

    He said March 28 and April 11 must remain sacrosanct.

    Gen. Buhari, who made the appeal at an international briefing in Abuja, said Nigerians must not allow the delay to abort their desire for change through the ballot.

    He said: “Following the decision by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone the 2015 general elections by six weeks, I wish to appeal for utmost restraint and calm by all Nigerians, especially the teeming supporters of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “This postponement, which comes on the heels of the bogey of the National Security Adviser that half of the registered voters were being disenfranchised, was exposed as a crude and fraudulent attempt to subvert the electoral process.

    “The PDP administration has now engineered a postponement, using the threat that security will not be guaranteed across the length and breadth of Nigeria because of military engagement in some states in the Northeast.

    “It is important to note that although INEC acted within its constitutional powers, it is clear that it has been boxed into a situation where it has had to bow to pressure. Thus, the independence of INEC has been gravely compromised.

    “As a Nigerian and a presidential candidate in the elections, I share in the disappointment and frustration of this decision. This postponement, coming a week to the first election, has raised so many questions, many of which shall be asked in the days ahead.

    “However, we must not allow ourselves to be tempted into taking actions that could further endanger the democratic process.”

    Gen. Buhari said recourse to violence might complicate the security challenges facing the nation.

    He urged Nigerians to use the postponement to strengthen their resolve to sack PDP from power and rescue the nation during the poll.

    He said:  “Our country is going through a difficult time in the hands of terrorists. Any act of violence can only complicate the security challenges in the country and provide further justification to those who would want to exploit every situation to frustrate the democratic process in the face of certain defeat at the polls.

    “If anything, this postponement should strengthen our resolve and commitment to rescue our country from the current economic and social collapse from this desperate band.

    “Our desire for change must surpass their desperation to hold on to power at all cost.  We are clearly dealing with people who feel they can get away with placing their personal interest over those of our nation and its citizens. What is at stake is the very survival of our country. We must not allow this temporary delay to abort this great opportunity.

    “ While I share the pains and frustration of my fellow citizens over this development, my deep faith in the democratic process assures me that this country, with your support, will overcome.

    “We must remain resolute and rise above all provocations. We must continue to trust in the entire democratic process and in INEC, which has been brought under so much pressure in the last few days.”

    But, said Gen. Buhari, the APC will no longer tolerate any interference with the democratic process.

    He added: “Our trust can only serve to encourage the electoral body to remain steadfast and remain committed to the rule of law.  I wish to state strongly that our  party will not tolerate any further interference with the electoral process. The rescheduled elections of March 28th and April 11th, 2015 must be sacrosanct.

    “Nigeria is definitely greater than any of us, and much more important than our individual ambitions. Before us there was Nigeria, and long after we are gone there will still be Nigeria. Let  us continue to do our part to make it the great  country that it should be. We must rescue our dear country. God  being on our side, we shall salvage Nigeria together. God Bless Nigeria!”

    Gen. Buhari, who responded to questions from journalists, insisted that the shift was a delay tactic by the Presidency and the PDP.

    He said: “I am a member of the Council of State and INEC gave us a comprehensive plan of their readiness to go ahead with the elections. INEC is the body that will organise and conduct elections in this country. It is up to the government to secure INEC.

    “But with the military we have, if for five years the Nigerian military cannot secure 14 local governments-10 in Borno, two in Yobe and two in Adamawa-out of 774 local governments in this country, doesn’t that mean  a delay tactic? What they couldn’t do in six years, can they do it in six weeks?

    “But again, it is absolutely clear to us that elections must be held at least 30 days before 29th of May. So, this is the last card INEC and the government has. We don’t know the type of government they want to bring, whether a military government or a civilian government. But an elected government must be in place 30 days before May 29 this year.

    “We will not tolerate any further interference because it is constitutional. INEC has played its last card.

    “If you listened to the explanation of the Chairman of INEC, 30 days to 29th of May, elections must be held and having shifted the date, to March 28 and April 11, that is the last card. So, the Federal Government has to secure this country on the 28th of March and 11th of April respectively for the election to take place.

    “Otherwise, whatever they do is going to be unconstitutional and it is up to Nigerians to accept or reject it.”

    At the briefing were the National Chairman of APC, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, the Director-General of APC Presidential Campaign Organisation, Governor Rotimi Amaechi; a former Lagos State Governor and National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Abia State Governor, Chief Ogbonnaya Onu, a former Gombe State governor, Senator Danjuma Goje, ex-Kwara State Governor Bukola Saraki, former Anambra State Governor, Chris Ngige, Deputy National Chairman (South) Chief Segun Oni, Deputy National Chairman (North) Lawal Shuaibu, National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, Director of Organisation, APC Presidential Campaign Council, Boss Mustapha, a member of the House of Representatives Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, former Secretary of INEC, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, ex-National Chairman of ACN,  Chief Audu Ogbe, and a former acting National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Abubakar Baraje.

     

  • Maigari calls for calm, assures on Sept Elections

    Maigari calls for calm, assures on Sept Elections

    President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Alhaji Aminu Maigari has appealed for calm and assured Nigerians that normalcy will soon return to the nation’s football administration and stave off the hanging threat of suspension from the Federation of International Football Associations (NFF).

    He also assured the football community and the general public that elections into the Executive Committee of the NFF will hold before September 25 after an Extra Ordinary Congress scheduled for September 18.

    The NFF President also dismissed insinuations of crisis in the nation’s football administration, pointing out that only five persons have been trying to cause confusion within the ranks.

    “It is important that we remain calm and don’t take action or make comments that will aggravate the situation. We are very positive that those who may have inadvertently caused us to incur the threat of suspension from FIFA will retrace their steps and save Nigeria the trauma experienced these past months”, noted the NFF President who addressed over 41 Delegates and Board members earlier in the day.

    FIFA had in a letter of September 4 and signed by the Secretary General, Jerome Valcke directed Chris Giwa and others purporting to have been elected to theNFF Board to vacate the offices by 7am Nigerian time on Monday, September 8 or the country will be automatically suspended from all organized football activities.

    On the elections which FIFA directed should be held, Maigari said “we are going to hold the election before September 25 and the Extra-Ordinary Congress will hold to ratify the roadmap as requested by FIFA”.

    Giwa, the proprietor of Premier League side, Giwa FC and five others have been occupying offices of the NFF Board, insisting that they were elected at a supposed Congress held on August 26.

    According to the NFF boss, ” it is gratifying to note that we have consistently worked in consonance with the NFF, CAF and FIFA Statutes and we will not deviate from that path but urge those who have taken wrong steps to retrace and they will be accommodated”.

    Maigari said he is reaching out to constituted authorities to rein in the recalcitrant few.

  • Calm after the storm

    Calm after the storm

    The row over the selection of the Vice-Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNZIK) in Awka, Anambra State, by the Governing Council is gradually disappearing, following the endorsement of the process by stakeholders. MMADUKA ODOGWU (Political Science) writes.

    There was tension at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) in Awka, Anambra State as the tenure of its Vice-Chancellor, Prof Boniface Egboka, was about to end. Who would succeed Egboka? No member of the university community could tell, but all they knew was that the contest would be keen. No fewer than 35 professors, including the then Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Joseph Ahaneku, were in the race to succeed Prof Egboka, whose tenure ended.

    When their credentials were vetted by the  Governing Council, Prof Ahaneku was picked.

    The council, led by Air Vice Marshal Larry Koinyan (rtd), selected Ahaneku after the candidates were shortlisted to nine.

    Other contenders were Prof Benjamin Osisioma, Prof Ikechukwu Oluka, Prof Christian Ikpeze, Prof Gregory Nwakoby, Prof Azubuike Nwankwo, Prof Ifeoma Enweani, Prof Emeka Nwabueze and Prof Godwin Mbamalu.

    The joint Council-Senate Interview Board met with the contenders. Using a scoring system different from the template issued by the Federal Ministry of Education, it interviewed the candidates. Three of them – Prof Nwakoby, Prof Ahaneku and Prof Osisioma – were adjudged to have excellent credentials.

    As required by law, the report of the interview board was presented to the Council members for approval and adoption. The council used a voting method to select the VC from the three names submitted. According to members, they decided to toe the path of democracy to ensure transparency in the exercise.

    Of the 11 Council members who voted, eight chose Prof Ahaneku, three went for Prof Nwakoby, while Prof Osisioma had no vote. By this outcome, the stage was set for Prof Ahaneku to become Prof Egboka’s successor.

    The statement from the Council read: “The entire process was done in accordance with due process and provisions of the University Act.”

    But the selection method did not go down well with some of the contestants, especially the first runner-up, Prof Nwakoby. He reportedly called a press conference to proclaim victory before the official pronouncement of the winner by the Council. When Ahaneku’s name was announced, Nwakoby protested and alleged that he was short-changed by the Council members.

    A few hours before Prof Ahaneku took the oath, there was rumour of “massive protests” being planned by some aggrieved contenders to disrupt the ceremony. There was tension on the campus.

    A prominent member of the management, who did not want his name in print, said the process that brought Ahaneku in was “completely transparent”, denying that the process was against other candidates.

    However, the inauguration of Prof Ahaneku was witnessed by a mammoth of crowd of staff members, students and members of the university community.

    President of the Students’ Union Government (SUG) Chinonso Ibe said students were in support of the new administration, urging the unsuccessful candidates to team up with the VC to move the school forward.

    Endorsement of Ahaneku’s administration also came from the most powerful union on campus – the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), UNIZIK chapter, whose members visited the VC to felicitate with him.

    Led by their chairman, Prof Harry Odimegwu, ASUU members said they were ready to work with Ahaneku. They canvassed improved welfare for academic staff. The union expressed confidence in the ability and technical competence of the VC to turn the fortunes of the institution around.

    Similarly, the institution’s chapter of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) declared support for the new administration. Its chairman, Comrade Louis Okwudili, while presenting some of their challenges to the VC, noted that discipline, hard work, and commitment would remain the watchwords of the union to ensure the progress of the institution.

    With the support of major stakeholders within the university community, the storm gathered by VC’s selection is over. Will tranquility return to the campus?

     

  • Uneasy calm

    Like a calm river that stretches along the mangrove into the planes of the savannah where neither the branches of trees nor the opulence of mountainous tops cover its glittering nature, so is the state of our current permutation regarding the management of football in Nigeria.

    Whereas, it has been said, that we have made significant progress in inscribing our name among the committee of nations that are now playing in the bigger league. However, we have failed in years past to translate our success on the field to the aspect of management of the game itself which is off the field. Meanwhile, we have also heard a school of thought that has over time advocated that the managers of our football are not doing enough in the area of establishing certain structures that can stand the test of time.

    This has over the years been seen as evident in the way administrators come and go and if proper institutional framework is not established we may be heading for a complete state of anarchy in the nearest future. We need to establish enduring protocol and systems that will outlive us and our generations, unfortunately we have failed to do this in recent times.

    The concentration of most successive administrators in the Glass House has always been on how to retain their seats and they felt that the only way to do this was simply by ensuring that the various national teams keep doing well. As much as I want to partially align to this school of thought I would like to also add that this cannot be complete without a comprehensive development of management policies and its implementation that will see the management of football as a professional concern.

    I have often said that a visitor coming to the Glass House for the very first time will be very disappointed because of the poor structure and infrastructure of the place. Meanwhile, I am aware that there exists a new secretariat built by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) but without any furniture. I am sure that there is the need for this new facility to be put into use to further reinforce the need for the management of football to be carried out in a clean and better working environment

    Coming back to the current situation and happenings in the football house, it is my expectation and earnest desire that all actors will find it within their hearts to come to a reasonable conclusion in the interest of the game and benefit of the nation. My fear is that we have witnessed an uneasy calm since FIFA pronounced that Nigeria has been suspended from all its competitions and I have come to one conclusion which is: when two elephants fight it is the grass that will suffer.

    Writing this piece was a very difficult thing for me considering my affiliation as an interested party in matters relating to the management of football in Nigeria and it is on this note that I can authoritatively say that all the actors know what to do and as such should find it in their hearts to do the needful to avoid the needless in football management.

    A culture of management has been identified along a given pattern and it is this pattern that needs to be re-defined before matters like the one we are currently experiencing can be forgotten. If there is a failure to address such patterns with the bid of either refocusing or realigning, we may be in for more of such patterns in the nearest future.

    Every election year in the Nigeria Football Federation has been known to be a year of serious challenges and I dare say that football managers should at this time be looking at what can be done in addressing this problem rather than shying away from the main subject of discussion

    My suggestion will be very simple and it is that the Nigeria Football Federation Congress should look into their operating law which is the statutes and see if they can amend the clause that talks about tenure for political officers. I’m sure that if it is said that no member of the NFF Executive is permitted to spend two terms in the same position then we will not be having this issue as a reoccurring decimal in Nigeria.

    By this a board member can only come back to the board if he contests and wins as either a President or 1st Vice-President, while a 1st Vice-President can only come back as President and the President will only serve a term and go. I’m saying this against the backdrop of recent experiences. Also, the NFF Election should be moved from a World Cup Year.

    We must all recognize the fact that the beautiful game has been in existence before the birth of any of us and we will also not be alive to witness its end, hence, let us not kill it in our time as a result of our inability to address our differences and move the game forward for the good of all Nigerians. I wish all parties good luck as they go about their ways in solving the current impasse in our football.

     

  • NSC calls for calm

    NSC calls for calm

    The National Sports Commission (NSC) has received the news of the suspension of the Nigerian Football Federation, NFF by FIFA on the grounds of an alleged court order which the world football body has interpreted as government interference in the affairs of the football house.

    The National Sports Commission wishes to state that the said court action brought against the NFF followed an internal crisis within the football family and has nothing to do with government.

    While FIFA has stated that unless the court action is withdrawn, the suspension of the NFF will not be lifted, it is pertinent to state that neither the NSC nor government is involved in the court process.

    However, the NSC wishes to state that the suspension of the NFF is a procedural practice by FIFA each time it feels that there is an alleged interference by government, be it the  Executive or Judiciary, in the affairs of its affiliate bodies.

    It has, therefore, called on Nigerians to remain calm as efforts are being made to ensure that the suspension is lifted as soon as possible; as appropriate representation has been made to FIFA to present the true situation of the crisis within the football family.

  • Uneasy calm in Zaria after cleric’s murder

    There was an uneasy calm in Zaria, Kaduna State, yesterday, following the murder of a prominent Islamic scholar, Sheikh Mohammed Auwal Albany, his wife and child by unknown gunmen, on Saturday

    Speaker of the House of Representatives Aminu Tambuwal condemned the killing, urging security agencies to arrest the killers.

    Tambuwal described the killing as dastardly, despicable and barbaric.

    In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, the speaker described the deceased as a fearless scholar, who went about his activities without fear or favour.

    Governor Mukthar Ramalan Yero described the killing as gruesome, saying despite the improvement in security in the state, more still needs to be done to rid the state of evil doers.

    The gunmen were said to have followed the Islamic scholar from his Salafiya Islamic Centre at 9pm and ambushed him at Gaskiya, about 500 metres to his house, leaving four others, including two of his children, injured.

    One of Albany’s students, who identified himself as Sahabi Musa, told reporters that the assailants trailed Albany from his centre in a Volkswagen Golf. Others were on a motorcycle and opened fire on him and his family close to their home.

    He said: “Mallam was reciting the Kalimat Shahada repeatedly before he died; we are so happy about that and pray to Almighty Allah to forgive his sins and reward him with paradise.

    “They opened fire on them and ran away. This is reminiscent of how Sheik Jafar Adam was killed in Kano. The killers trailed him from his schools.”

    In a statement signed by his Director General, Media and Publicity, Ahmed Maiyaki, the governor said the government has ordered investigation and assured the people that those behind the dastardly act would be caught.

    He described the late Islamic preacher as a man “who always stood on truth in accordance with the teaching of the Qur’arn and the Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). He was known for imparting education to the younger generation, a practice which he upheld until he met his death in the hands of evil men.

    “At this difficult and sad time, our hearts and prayers are with the family of the late Albany. We urge his family to take solace in the belief that we are all from Allah and to Him, we must return.”

    The governor called on his followers to remain calm and law abiding as the government would bring the perpetrators to justice.

    The Secretary-General of the Muslim umbrella body in the North, Jama’atul Nasril Islam (JNI), Dr. Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, said the spate of killing of religious clerics was worrying.

    He called on the authorities to strengthen the security network and find the killers.

    Police and other security agents were keeping vigil in strategic parts of the city, but were yet to make a statement on the killing.

  • Keshi calls for calm

    Keshi calls for calm

    Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi warned that his team was still far from greatness, though the potential was there after they reached their first Africa Cup of Nations final in 13 years on Wednesday.

    A stunning first-half display helped the Super Eagles demolish Mali 4-1 in their semifinal at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

    Elderson Echiejile, Brown Ideye, and Emmanuel Emenike were all on target as the two-time former champions led 3-0 at the interval, before Ahmed Musa scored on the hour mark to stretch the advantage to 4-0.

    Mali, huge underdogs for the clash, eventually replied through Cheick Fantamady with 15 minutes left, but it proved a meagre consolation as they were outdone by a rival team full of energy and pace.

    Keshi was a player the last time Nigeria won the trophy back in 1994, captaining a team that included future stars like Daniel Amokachi, Jay-Jay Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, and Finidi George.

    “It took us five years to build that squad, this one is just five weeks old,” he said when asked to compare the two generations.

    “I don’t want us to get ahead of ourselves; as I said, we’re still building. Don’t think we’re there yet.

    “That was a wonderful squad, the spirit in that team was unbelievable, we’re friends, we were brothers. Until I can get that same atmosphere from this team, we can’t really compare,” said Keshi.

    The Nigeria boss, bidding to become only the second man to win the continental showpiece as a player and coach after Egyptian Mahmoud El-Gohary, was also pleased that his plan to leave out several senior players from the current side had gone well.