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Tag: challenge

  • Girma: Ethiopia ready for Nigeria’s challenge

    Girma: Ethiopia ready for Nigeria’s challenge

    They may be seen as one of the minnows of the 2013 African Cup of Nations, but Ethiopia are determined not to be the whipping boys of the competition.

    The Walya Antelopes last participated in the continental showdown in 1982, having won the competition in 1962.

    The east Africans qualified for the 2013 edition by edging out Benin on the away goals rule, before beating Sudan by the same means after their two matches ended in a 5-5 aggregate score-line.

    Now that they have reached the finals, Ethiopia are keen to make the most of their opportunity and are determined not to be overwhelmed by their more illustrious opponents in Group C, iancluding Zambia, Nigeria and Burkina Faso.

    “We are going to face a lot of challenges and we have been away from the competition for a long time,” striker Adane Girma told AFP.

    “But we have good morale, a good mentality and we are very strong, so we can face any kind of challenge,” he added.

    The Walya Antelopes’ first match is against the defending champions Zambia, upon whom all their attention is focussed for now.

    “We are just thinking about finishing that first game on top and then later think about Nigeria or Burkina Faso,” said Girma.

    Coach Sewnet Bishaw, however, has cautioned that his charges, of whom all but three play in the Ethiopian domestic league, lack experience playing at the highest level.

    “Our players are young and they are less experienced with international matches like (the Cup of Nations),” he said.

    Bishaw is confident though that his players will produce performances full of heart and commitment.

    “The mood is 100 percent – they want to show their talent and sell their personality to the world.

    “We have tried many times to qualify for the African Cup of Nations, we have tried many different types of coaches, including professionals from abroad.

    “But now we are all locals here, we made it, so it’s a great thing for our nation,” he said.

  • ACN, Accord challenge tribunal’s jurisdiction to use LP’s reply for petition

    Ondo State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and its candidate, Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), have challenged the jurisdiction of the Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Akure to make use of the reply filed by the Labour Party (LP).

    The objection was filed by 46 lawyers led by three Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Akin Olujimi, Oladipo Okpeseyi and Lasun Sanusi.

    ACN is contesting the competence of the LP’s reply to the petition filed by Prof. Wahab O. Egbewole, who is a full time employee at the University of Ilorin, an educational institution financed by the Federal Government.

    The party noted that paragraphs 1&2(b) of the fifth schedule of the constitution forbid Prof. Egbewole, who is a public officer, from offering his service to any other person except his employer.

    It said Egbewole has no ‘locus standi’ to sign LP’s reply to the petition and the reply signed by him is a nullity and should not be used by the tribunal.

    ACN also prayed the tribunal to strike out all the motions filed by LP challenging its jurisdiction.

    It argued that by virtue of the Electoral Act, all objections raised in the respondent’s reply shall be heard along with substantive suit and not by motion at the pre-hearing session.

    Similar applications were filed by the Accord Party, challenging the LP reply filed by Prof. Egbewole. The applications will be heard on January 10.

    The tribunal at its last sitting hinted that it may consolidate the petitions before it.

    The petitions were filed by ACN, Accord Party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), People for Democratic Change (PDC) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

    In another development, a Federal High Court sitting in Akure has awarded N5,000 cost in favour of Akeredolu and ACN in a suit challenging Akeredolu’s candidature by the Registered Trustees of the Egalitarian Mission Africa.

    The plaintiff’s motion for amendment of their originating summons was adjudged incompetent by the court and struck out.

     

     

     

  • The challenge of citizenship

    The challenge of citizenship

    Let us agree on a few maxims about citizenship, starting with what citizens are not. First, citizens are not subjects. That is to say that they are not members of a kingdom where the king is the state. When Louis XIV of France declared himself as the state, he did not consider those he ruled over as citizens; they were his subjects owing their allegiance to him. But a citizen does not owe allegiance to an individual, no matter how highly placed.

    Second, citizens are not robots. That is to say that they are not brainless and mindless machines programmed to respond in particular ways. Fela’s lyrics concerning the zombies of this world are inapplicable to citizens.

    Third, citizens are neither Saints nor Satan. That is to say, citizens are neither perfect beings nor irredeemable devils. Since no human being is perfect, and since citizens are human beings, it follows that they are not perfect. It is not a mystery that saints are not declared as such until well into their having departed the world of sin!

    A satanic being is incapable of doing any good. But no matter how bad a citizen is, there is always some redeeming value. This is what institutions are expected to do and why Jean-Jacques Rousseau pleaded with the Government of Poland to create institutions that are capable of making citizens out of human beings because “it is national institutions which shape the genius, the character, the tastes and the manners of a people; which give it an individuality of its own; which inspire it with that ardent love of country..”

    Now to what citizens are. First, citizens are self-determining beings. They are responsible for the laws that they are made to follow. That makes them lawmakers as well as law-keepers. They are lawmakers in the sense that their elected representatives, who represent their interests, are responsible for the making of laws. As such keeping the laws is not an imposition; it is a case of the maker also being the keeper. And it does not matter that my preferred representative is not the choice of my fellow citizens.

    Second, citizens are rational and deliberative beings. Reason is the master driver of the affairs of citizens. They deliberate on the most effective and efficient means for their desired ends. They have self-regarding as well as other-regarding interests which they want to promote. The latter include interests of a parent for a good education for her son or daughter, or the interest of a philanthropist for the welfare of motherless babies. Citizens with such interests deliberate and reflect on how they can have their interests realised and will throw their support for candidates who share their interests and concerns. Once those candidates get elected, our citizens will mount pressure on them to support legislations for the realization of their common interests.

    Third, citizens are morally conscious. This does not contradict my previous point that citizens are not saints. What this means is that citizens are aware of the distinction between right and wrong. They know what conduct is wrong, and if they do not suffer from a weakness of the will, they would refrain from such conduct.

    More importantly, citizens are aware of their responsibilities to fellow-citizens and to the state of which they are citizens. They are conscious of the moral wrongness of breaking the law; evading taxes; aiding and abetting corruption; and violently thwarting the will of the people in elections. A citizen will also put the good of his country above everything else because he or she identifies that good as his or her own good as well. After all, the peace of the tree is the peace of the bird that perches on it.

    It is readily apparent that the picture of the citizen that emerges from the foregoing is not the reality that many of us are familiar with. Rather, we have citizens in name only, and never in deed. When the jurist suggested that there is only one Nigerian nationality with its citizens, he took the form for the substance.

    Of course, the state confers citizenship, but to what end is that? Do the citizens have the inspiration to conduct themselves as such? Can citizens be deliberative and rational when they are confronted daily with irrationalities as the order? Can they espouse morality in an immoral society led by evil impostors? Can a citizen see herself as self-determining when she knows that her vote counts for nothing and the lawmaker representing her is an election robber?

    Our present predicament goes back to the sandy foundation on which the national edifice was laid. We went into independence fractured and divided. While the nationalists were seemingly united in their quest for independence, there was no united focus on building lasting national institutions or creating a common patriotic citizenry. There was no national hero, nor a national leader that the entire country can look up to. There was no inspirational leadership that cut across the divisions of cultural nations that predated the Nigeria we came to acknowledge as nation. In the circumstance, what could have helped to create a sense of belonging was the development of strong national institutions. Instead, the selfishness of those who got themselves into national offices prevented them from seeing beyond the immediate interests of holding on to power.

    A just electoral system is a sine qua non for a strong democracy. Yet the election that ushered in independence was nothing close to just. And since then, it has gone from bad to more than worst. But ideal citizenship is a product of a strong democracy. It cannot come out of nowhere. Therefore it is in vain that we wish for the emergence of good citizens without selfless leaders who are willing to sacrifice their self-interests for the good of the nation.

    There are many lines of division that make the dream of a united country so elusive. This was recognised earlier in our years as a toddler nation. We even got it written into the first national anthem. But while we declared our brotherhood despite the difference in “tribe and tongue”, those who had responsibility for following through to make our brotherhood a reality were guilty of deepening the differences. Later developments, some deliberately pursued as state policy, put to rest the insincerity of the declaration. And when for once, citizens in action rather than words, issued their own declaration of unity in diversity, raising the hope of a brighter future based in strong democracy, they were rebuffed by their self-imposed leaders. It was not only another missed opportunity, that selfish and thoughtless act on behalf of a clique, drew the country back at least another thirty years.

    Six years later, the public struggle of the few courageous ones and the private support of the silent majority appeared to pay off when the coward dictators that relied on the power of the gun instead of the content of their ideas were shamed out. But appearance is not reality and for more than twelve years we have simply either matched in place or backward in every sphere of national life. Security is presently where we never experienced it since the various inter-tribal wars of the 18th and 19th centuries. The quality of education at all levels was much higher in the days before independence. And the health status of citizens has never been more precarious.

    What is needed, then, is a citizenry that takes seriously the responsibility of citizenship to serve as the gadfly perched on the back of lethargic and uninspiring leadership. We must resolve to confront a jaded leadership that threatens our citizenship status; come together state by state, local government by local government in demand of good governance.

  • Tackling the challenge of Aba roads

    Tackling the challenge of Aba roads

    In the past, leaders in Nigeria have failed the people; too much promises, less action hence the average Nigerian hardly has any confidence in their leaders. But even at that, there are still leaders with integrity, who have made promises, kept them in the face of daunting challenges of leadership in the country today.

    One such leaders is the governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Orji, a man who has consistently keep to his election promises since he was re-elected for second term in 2011. Today Abia State, hitherto a backward state on the development index in the country, has witnessed and is still witnessing uncommon transformation drive courtesy of legacy projects being executed by the present government. Anybody who has followed the politics of the state since 1999 would never believe that such progress could be made in the state within the short period of Governor Orji’s re-election. All these have been made possible, thanks to the successful and peaceful liberation of the state from the stranglehold of the former governor, Orji Uzor Kalu’s political dynasty.

    The successful execution of some legacy projects in the state among which are the new workers secretariat, International Conference Centre, Amaokwe Housing Estate, Judiciary Complex and others within a short period of Orji’s re-election is a clear testimony and evidence that his government was hijacked, delayed and distracted during his first term in office by his predecessor and now estranged and frustrated godfather. Now the people must have realized what they lost in terms of developments in the years of political godfatherism.

    That is why the planned probe of the ex-governor’s administration is very much supported and hailed by the people. This is because such probe will give an insight on how the collective resources of the state was mismanaged and cornered by a particular family for more than a decade with nothing for people. Truly, Governor Orji has shown that he is a better student of politics and governance than his predecessor, and the people of the state are already testifying and reciprocating it with the tremendous goodwill and support they have shown for his administration since his re-election.

    Not forgetting his election promises on tackling of infrastructural challenges in Aba, Governor Orji has built a pedestrian bridge in front of Abia State Polytecnic Aba along Aba/ Owerri to save the life of commuters especially students who had fell victims of road accident along the road in the past. His government has also constructed and rehabilitated many roads in the commercial city of Aba, including the long-abandoned Ukwummango road before the rainy season sets in.

    But with the torrents of rainfall coupled with heavy flooding in the city, government contractors working there left the sites to avoid wastages and shoddy jobs. But instead of understanding the true situation of things, some armchair critics especially the leadership of NBA in have since made themselves a pawn in the hand of Orji’s predecessor, to criticize and accuse Orji’s government of abandoning Aba roads.

    The criticisms should never be allowed to derail the administration’s vision and commitment in Aba, knowing full well that it is much easier to be critical than to be correct, especially when such criticisms are being sponsored and paid for to achieve selfish political aim.

    It was the British politician and author, Benjamin Disraeli who once said: “If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming criticisms. The thing is to get the work done.”

    The above aphorism is Orji government’s philosophy in the face of sponsored criticisms and attacks at his government since he liberated the state from Kalu dynasty. As a man who lives and abides by his election promises to his people, Orji’s government has mobilized contractors and work has commenced on 16 roads that need serious attention in the city as the rainy season subsided. He had made it clear before now that contractors had been mobilized to commence work on the roads any moment, so that motorists and commuters could enjoy the roads during the yuletide celebration but the doubting Thomases did not believe him.

    The roads witnessing construction works which was flagged off by the governor recently include Azikiwe, Jubillee, Cemetery, Milverton Avenue, Eziukwu/Okigwe roundabout, Ama Ogbonna, Nwala by Faulks road to Brass Junction at Aba Owerri road, Ngwa road, Ohanku which is on-going; Emelogu Road completed but to be added drainage; Ehere, Omoba road, Umuola road, Ikot Ekpene road from Opobo junction to Bata, Amaogbonna/Omuma by ACCN, Nwigwe by Nwagba Avenue and Geometric Access road Aba.

    With these projects, it is clear that the present administration in the state had always meant well for the city and the residents, but faced with natural and financial challenges to take the city to the next level. That is why the state government has always called on private investors and federal government to partner with them in tackling the challenges in Aba for good.

    The present government in the state has never claimed repository of solutions and answers to the daunting environmental challenges in the city; rather than engage in blackmail or shifting-blame, it has continued to tackle them systematically and effectively since it came into office despite the paucity of funds.

    As the government has started the reconstruction of 16 roads in the city, what will armchair critics like the NBA leadership in the city and their paymaster do or say now? Will they applaud government efforts or continue to make mockery of themselves before the people in the name of criticisms against the state government?

    • Ofodu wrote from Abuja

     

  • The mortgage challenge

    The mortgage challenge

    The biggest economic policy error of President Obama’s first term was the failure to effectively address foreclosures. The administration’s efforts were far too limited for far too long. By favouring the voluntary cooperation of banks in reducing monthly payments for hard-pressed borrowers, they did more to shield the banks from losses than to help homeowners and stabilize the market.

    Last year, as the campaign drew near, the administration began to reshape its flagging strategy by promoting more refinancing and principal reductions. But it is unclear whether the new efforts will pan out — and, even if they do, they still will not match the scale of the problem.

    Recent signs of a housing recovery aside, nearly three million loans are now in or near foreclosure, according to Moody’s Analytics. In addition, some five million borrowers who are current in their payments have high-rate mortgages that they have not refinanced, in part because of excessive bank fees. In all, nearly 12 million borrowers collectively owe $600 billion more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, a loss of wealth and a load of debt that make a strong and steady economic recovery all but impossible.

    The question now is whether Mr. Obama will use his second term to get mortgage relief right and, in the process, put the economy on a firm footing. A first test of his resolve will be the swift nomination of a new director for the agency that oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-controlled mortgage companies that own or back most mortgages. The acting director, Edward DeMarco, has opposed administration plans to reduce principal balances on underwater loans, even though research shows that principal reduction is generally the most effective form of relief. The fact that he is still in charge casts doubt on the administration’s commitment to debt forgiveness. A nominee who supports such relief would underscore the administration’s determination to improve and expand its relief efforts. Senate Democrats could help by revising the chamber’s rules to make sure the new nominee is not blocked by a filibuster.

    A new director also could revise onerous rules that have prevented some borrowers from taking advantage of today’s low rates to refinance. Big banks won’t like the needed revision, because it would curb the fees and rates they charge on refinancing by fostering competition with midsize and smaller banks.

    While new leadership at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a key to more relief, the push for more help also could be strengthened through a pair of bills that would expand refinancing and principal reductions, introduced by Senator Jeff Merkley, Democrat of Oregon, and by two other Senate Democrats, Barbara Boxer of California and Robert Menendez of New Jersey. The administration supports the bills, but what’s needed is a strategy for getting them passed, including the use of the president’s bully pulpit.

    A sound mortgage-relief agenda also requires an enforcement plan. Last January, Mr. Obama promised an investigation into mortgage abuses to hold wrongdoers accountable and generate fines that could be used for providing mortgage relief. Vastly more resources are needed to support the investigation, which so far has yielded two pending cases against big banks by the New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, and two settlements, by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In his recent budget, Mr. Obama has asked for $55 million, but in the deficit-obsessed Congress, the money won’t be forthcoming unless the president makes it a priority.

    The White House must also champion strong national standards for banks to follow when processing mortgage payments, defaults and foreclosures. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is expected to release new rules next year, but early indications are that the rules may be weak, allowing for many of the problems and abuses that have long plagued the foreclosure process. The White House cannot direct the rule-making process, but it can send a message to the banks and regulators by setting high and transparent standards, using as a template rules that it helped create in a recent legal settlement with big banks over foreclosure abuses.

    There is also one thing that the administration must not do: get sidetracked into premature discussions about reprivatising Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The future of those two companies — and reviving the private mortgage market — is important, and the White House has put forth sound recommendations. But the foreclosure crisis, and its damage to homeowners and the economy, is still paramount. In the next term, the focus should be on debt reduction, refinancing, enforcement and true consumer protection.

    – New York Times

     

  • The challenge of change

    The challenge of change

    •Continued from yesterday

    Further to these have been the jumpstarting of industrial development through the establishment of technology parks for small and medium-scale enterprises; urban renewal; the creation of micro-credit facilities; development of the agro-allied and solid minerals sectors; and massive investments in the tourism corridor.

    It’s still the structure, stupid!

    Yet, we still face fundamental odds. The structural deformities of the Nigerian federation have circumscribed many of the possibilities of our state, and many other states in Nigeria and the country as a whole. Both local and international observers have described Nigeria as an “embarrassment of riches,” both in human and materials terms. Why then is the Nigeria state in such a wobbly state and why are the citizens of the country trapped in such disappointing socio-economic and political realities? What could be done to bring about sustainable change at the national-state level?

    It is difficult, if not impossible to sustain good governance at the national level in Nigeria because of the structural fatalities that I have mentioned earlier. The over-concentration of powers in the Federal centre must give way to devolution and decentralisation of power and authority. Therefore, a critical fundamental political restructuring of the Nigerian federation is an unavoidable step that must be taken to generate the basis for the creation and sustenance of a participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive national governance and one that is based on the rule of law. I am convinced that this can, and will definitely, happen in Nigeria at some point in the near future.

    Nigeria is a deeply divided, but immensely blessed and potentially great country. Why Nigerians and foreigners are often focussed on the deep divisions, little is said, for the most account, on our immense assets and potentials. What Nigerians need to do is to use our immense blessings, both human and natural, and transform our potential greatness into real greatness, in order to reduce our deep divisions and enhance or strengthen our unity. The two steps I have elaborated above are critical in doing this. There must be a fundamental political transformation of Nigeria; then, good governance must become the underlying basis of political power. With these, I believe that the question of deepening democracy and enhancing development would be largely resolved. Nigeria cannot achieve this without a national resolution by Nigerians to come together as one people with a common destiny.

    The true representatives of the various parts of Nigeria last met between September and October 1958 to agree on the ways in which the federation should be constituted. This was during the last round of the Constitutional Conferences preceding independence. Since then, neither the military regimes nor the civilian governments at the centre have allowed the Nigerian people to come together democratically and in all their diversity, to re-determine their common fate. Those at the centre of power in Nigeria have become so terrified about change that they have foreclosed the possibility of a national dialogue. Fifty years after independence and against the backdrop of the unrelenting inter-ethnic and inter-faith bloodletting, after five decades of abysmal leadership at the federal level – which has turned a country which was regarded at independence as the hope of Africa into what Eghosa Osaghae describes succinctly as the “crippled giant” – there is the need for a new national togetherness that will re-authorise the federal union and re-energise Nigeria.

    Those who are clamouring for this kind of change are fundamentally concerned with how to create a country that is strong, stable and liveable, one that is diverse but united, and one which, through good governance, ensures life more abundant for all. Such a good life that is provided by good governance is neither bound to ethnicity, nor to religious affiliation. In the Nigeria that we seek to re-create, our divisions will not be the parameters of our oneness and common humanity; rather, our oneness and common humanity will be the basis of resolving our divisions. We seek to create a country in which all Nigerians will have the confidence that when they lose, they have lost fairly; and that when they win, they have won equitably. It is the absence of this seemingly simple logic of national togetherness – one that is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and one that is based on the rule of law – that has been the frustration of most Nigerians. From the insurgency in the Niger Delta to the extremisms in the far north, justice, equity and fairness can be used as the mechanisms of preserving and consolidating Nigeria’s national unity.

    While the fundamental restructuring of the Nigeria State will address key questions of political transformation, such issues as the writing of a people’s constitution and the question of constitutional governance, the fundamental precepts or authorising principles of national togetherness, citizenship and the nationality question, the political economy of federalism, including the raising, sharing and spending of public revenue, human rights, justice and equity, the nature of the autonomy of the constituent parts vis-a-vis the centre, the recognition and protection of minority rights, and such other fundamental questions; good governance is geared towards resolving the questions of social and economic reconstruction, electoral reform, strengthening of legislative oversight, security sector governance, social security, public sector reform, privatization, gender equality, and other such issues. The dynamism and vitality or vivacity of the Nigerian people, the diversity and beauty of our climate and land, Nigerians’ passionate and unsurpassable nationalism when the Super Eagles are playing against other national teams, and the astonishing good sense that even our much-maligned national elite exercises every time Nigeria faces an outrageous conflict that threatens to terminate the country as a corporate entity, all convince me that Nigeria, in the course of time, will rise to match her manifest destiny.

    Conclusion

    As I said at my inaugural address in October 2010, it is possible. Positive change is possible in Nigeria. There are many change agents who are devoted to ensure the legitimacy and responsiveness of the State, the deepening and expansion of democracy, good governance and national unity in Nigeria. These change agents are not only in the civil society. We also have them in the political society and the State. There are many challenges that these change agents face, but most of us, and I count myself among them, are undaunted.

    In Ekiti State, with massive investment in Agriculture, infrastructure, public education, social services and health, and by creating a conducive environment for private enterprise to thrive, thereby creating economic opportunities for our people and working towards expanding the middle class, and by creating synergy not only locally, but also regionally among our contiguous states and by partnering with international development agencies, we have shown that change is possible and that good governance is achievable – even in a resource challenged state. This change is not only material, but also attitudinal.

    As for my people in Isan-Ekiti, two years after, I still don’t use siren when I drive into town, and they have now embraced this as part of the best practices of good governance. Positive change is constantly beckoning on us. We only have to continue to rise up to the occasion but I urge friends of Nigeria not to let the perfect become the enemy of the good.

    I thank you for listening.

  • FA CUP 3RD ROUND: Southampton challenge for Mikel, Moses

    FA CUP 3RD ROUND: Southampton challenge for Mikel, Moses

    Nigeria’s duo Mikel Obi and Victor Moses will need to overcome Southampton challenge to progress in the FA Cup come January 5 and 6.

    The Chelsea duo who will form the nucleaus of Stephen Keshi’s squad to the AFCON 2013 in South Africa were Sunday draw against premiership sides Southampton in the FA Cup third round.

    Chelsea incidentally made a double last season winning both the FA Cup at Wimbley Stadium where they edged out Liverpool 2-1 and the Champions league after defeating Bayern Munich.

    The last FA Cup victory marked the fourth time the Blues will be lifting the Cup in six years.

    Other Eagles stars who will do FA Cup battle before heading for the Nations Cup include Osaze Odemwingie whose West Brom side has been pitched against Queens Park Rangers and Newcastle’s Shola Ameobi who made an impressive outing against Lone Stars of Liberia leading to Nigeria’s qualification for the continental diadem. Newcastle will face Brighton in the FA Cup clash.

  • Azeez relishes Eagles challenge

    Azeez relishes Eagles challenge

    ALMERIA midfielder Ramon Azeez is hoping to make the best of the opportunity if he gets a call up by Nigeria’s coach Stephen Keshi as the battle to get a shirt for the 2013 Nations Cup gathers momentum.

    Azeez, a former Nigeria U21 captain, is enjoying the season with his club as they are placed second in the Spanish second division and he said he will grab with both hands the opportunity of playing in the team if an invitation is extended to him.

    “For now, I won’t want to say it’s going to be easy for me to just break into the team but I’m working hard to make sure that I improve on my game.

    “But If I get the chance to play in the Super Eagles, it will only make me a better player and I’m ready for the challenge,” he said.

    The midfielder who has also featured for Nigeria’s U-17 revealed excitement at the Super Eagles return to the Nations Cup with the conviction that Nigeria will qualify from their group which also have Zambia, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.

  • The challenge of urban renewal in Aba

    The challenge of urban renewal in Aba

    When professional faultfinders lampoon Abia State government on the state of infrastructure in Aba, little do they realize, that the level of degradation that has ravaged Enyimba city for decades does not call for quick-fixes, nor cosmetic remedies which they are wont to proffer. Historically, it is a city that wears several hats from its early beginnings as a colonial administrative centre, World War 2 army rehabilitation centre, railway town, to its present role as a trans-national commercial epicentre of the eastern heartland- the home of Ariaria market famous for shoes, bags and other household items. Aba has one of the best football clubs in Nigeria.

    It was a city that was well planned, by the British in a structured format that met town planning standards. In the past, before you turned the sod in the soil for a building project, a potential developer had to follow set procedures. This includes obtaining necessary licences and permits, completing required notifications and inspections and obtaining utility connections. Before the civil war years, a registered town planner analyzed the proposed site of a building and drafted an environmental impact assessment report which listed the potential impact of the project on the environment, such as the noise, traffic and increase in human density issues.

    After wading through the gamut of due process, the Aba Town Planning Authority issued you with a building permit which was strictly adhered to the letter. Contiguous to the permit was the provision of canals, ducts and drainages for flood water control. A labyrinth of culverts, chutes and deep sewers, channelling all waste water into a massive gutter that spouted it into the river. Public and open spaces including recreational parks added to the aesthetic value of the city up till the end of the civil war when things went awry.

    The masterplan of Aba was obeyed more in the breach, as developers, sundry traders built houses, shops on top of drainages and side walks. Motor parks, mechanic garages, workshops, garbage heaps dotted every open space to the extent the city was morphed into an environmental nightmare.

    Recall that the topography and geography of Enyimba city is susceptible to ravages of nature. It was on account of these, that a former state chief executive in the eighties was pejoratively labelled as ‘weeping governor’ when he requested for federal assistance over the Ndiegoro, Aba flooding.

    The truth of the matter is that when gutters are blocked,the effluent is denied the right of way, it flows into people’s homes and the roads don’t last. Previous administrations tackled the problem in an incremental manner.

    It is against this background that Governor T.A Orji’s transformation agenda that encompasses the urban renewal of Aba has emerged. As we are speaking, 1800 houses, shacks, hovels are sitting on and blocking gutters and sewage system in Aba. Except these unapproved and illegal structures are demolished, all the investments by the administration in road infrastructure will end up in smoke. For the records, Aba has gulped quite some humongous investments. Sampler: dualization/reconstruction of Aba Owerri Road, reconstruction/dualization of phase 1 Aba-Owerri road (from Osisioma Express road junction to Umuimo Road Junction) 3.4km. Rehabilitation of 5no.

    selected roads, Ehi Road (2.1km) Ehere Road (0.8), Ogbor-Hill,Azikiwe road, Asa Road. Reconstruction/rehabilitation of Ohanku (4.7km),Rehabilitation of Osisioma park- Ekeakpara road (4.5km).Reconstruction of Asa Road, Aba Owerri Road by Umuiron junction to Aba Motor Park and

    asphalt overly of Asa Road, Construction of unity Garden/Osisioma Ring Road. Construction/dualization of Aba-Owerri road phase 11 (from Umuimo Road junction to Aba Motor Park) and Asphalt overlay .

    Reconstruction of Port-Harcourt Enugu Express way from Osisioma Junction. Reconstruction of Obohia Road, construction of additional stretch of the Osisioma Ring Road, construction/rehabilitation of Samek Road, construction of Old Express Road.

    It is strange to note that people block drainages which results in flooding, and turn around to blame the governor. When the submerged road disintegrates and eroded away, the state government draws unusual flak as if nothing had been done even when the same road was worked on

    in the last season.

    It is heart-warming that the Aba Landlords Association has endorsed the proposed demolition of illegal structures. This support signposts a new direction and thinking in development planning which focuses on upgrades in infrastructure such as streets, roadway improvements, sidewalks, utilities, public spaces, or plazas.

    These upgrades will ultimately provide incentives to attract business and housing, enhance traffic flow and public safety, and support private investment in Aba.

    Dr T. A. Orji, the Abia state helmsman, has stood firmly with Aba, cognizant of the fact that Aba is of high political and social awareness. He is aware that Aba is laden with hardworking people who have unimaginable vote potentials.

    As it appears, Aba gets more than required attention, evident in billions spent in construction, maintenance of infrastructure and crime prevention. Do we need to recall the apocalyptic years when Enyimba city, the Japan of Africa was the fiefdom of muggers, body snatchers and robbers. It was Governor Theodore Orji, who inspired and put into place a crack security template that gulped huge resources in collaboration with the military joint task force that restored tranquillity. Following the assurances, some investors with interest in various fields have sent delegations to the state for feasibility studies while many others have indicated interest to come into the state to do business. An offshore investor that has shown interest include Alkamali Petroleum, a Dubai based oil and gas company, is keen in to establish a refinery in Ukwa West.

    The governor invites all stakeholders to treat. As a consummate and thorough bred statesman he has always extended an olive branch to and welcomes the opposition, including, faultfinders, moaners, grumblers for an inclusive and anti-exclusionary ideal government that will move Abia forward.

    • Torti is a public policy analyst.

  • We’re on top of security challenge in Kano, says Kwankwaso

    We’re on top of security challenge in Kano, says Kwankwaso

    FOR Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, his administration and security agencies are on top of the security challenges in the state.

    Kwankwaso, who spoke with reporters in Abuja, said the state has recovered from the security problems it experienced in January with its Internally Generated Revenue increasing from about N450 million to N1.7 billion.

    He said: “So, it(the crisis) is not something that is peculiar to Nigeria or to Kano. What is important is that the authorities -the state government and security agencies are on top of the situation.

    “We are working with security agencies, the general public is working with everybody to ensure that Kano is peaceful. Kano is a centre for commerce and anybody who is there will always want to support commerce. And we cannot run commerce and industries without peace.

    “Of course, we had an unfortunate attack on the 20th of January but if you checked the graph, you will see that it has gone down to almost zero. During the attack, we decided to impose a 24-hour curfew, it was reduced to 18, 12 hours and now it is zero. You could come out 24 hours to do your businesses.”

    Kwankwaso urged Nigerians not to see the Kano incident as an isolated case which cannot be overcome.

    The governor said: “You see, there was never a time in the history of any country or any state that there was no crisis. Some people in Nigeria are very, very forgetful. That is why I have a lot of respect for former President Olusegun Obasanjo. When we came in 1999, there were all sorts of religious crises, ethnic crises, killings of Northerners in the Southwest and in the Southeast, even in the Southsouth and vice versa.

    “We were just sleeping with one eye from 1999 and 2003 because the governors of Niger, Kano and others on the road would say corpses are coming to Kano, watch it.

    “We had few cases they were bringing corpses and immediately people saw them in Kano, they will start rioting. And along the line, they will attack people from those areas who were living in Kano. These are things that people have forgotten.

    “We also had the issue of Sharia which started in Zamfara and came through many other states including Kano. And that was really an issue of interest at that particular time. “So, there were many things. I don’t think there was anytime in the history of this country that leaders were not faced with challenges.

    “And what we have today is our own version of the security challenge that we are facing in Nigeria. That is why we are all up and doing. We are working round the clock to ensure that our states, especially Kano and other states, are safe so that Nigeria can continue to be peaceful and so that people can continue to be running their normal businesses.”

    Responding to a question, the governor said: “People are not deserting Kano, it is not true.”

    On security votes, Kwankwaso said the state has cancelled such a recurrent expenditure because it amounts to a waste of public funds.

    He said most political office holders used to divert security votes into personal use.

    He added: “To crown it all, we looked at areas of wastages; especially various governments are used to this security votes and in the opinion of the state government in Kano, that is an area that governments take money for their personal use in the name of security. So, we decided to cancel security votes.”

    To prove that the security challenge in Kano has abated, Kwankwaso said the state’s IGR has increased from N400million to about N1.7 billion per month.

    He said: “People are always asking where you get the money? It is simple. One, we decided to block all the loopholes, wastages within the government circle and even beyond.

    “Two, we have decided to improve on our IGR. And I am happy to say that when we came in, we were getting N400 million and N450 million from the records of the last administration but now we are well above N1.7 billion per month. Of course, even under the present security challenge.”