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Tag: Chukwumerije

  • Chukwumerije misses out of WTF Grand Prix

    Chukwumerije misses out of WTF Grand Prix

    • As China Taekwondo Association representative bungles logistics process

    Nigeria’s sole representative, Chika Chukwumerije, is set to miss out on one of the biggest global Taekwondo events – the WTF Grand Prix Series, which commences on Friday July 4 to 6 at the Suzhou Sports Centre in the Chinese city of Suzhou, due to the laxity and negligence of a representative of the China Taekwondo Association.

    The Suzhou Grand Prix event, the first of three Grand Prix series set for this year, is expected to attract a total of 236 top athletes from 57 countries. The Grand Prix events have a direct impact on qualification for the Rio 2016 Olympics, as a massive 40 Olympic ranking points are at stake. Only the world’s top 31 athletes in each weight category, based on their April 2014 WTF Olympic ranking, are eligible for the tournament.

    Chukwumerije was Nigeria’s sole Taekwondo athlete eligible for the WTF Grand Prix Series, and one of the few from Africa, who was to represent the African continent at this global event.

    Other participating athletes include nine Olympic medallists, including three double Olympic medal winners – Steven Lopez of the United States, Kyung-seon Hwang of Korea and Wu Jingyu of China. The other gold medalists are Argentina’s Sebastian Eduardo Crismanich, Great Britain’s Jade Jones, Serbia’s Milica Mandic and Italy’s Carlo Molfeta, Korea’s Dong-min Cha and Mexico’s Maria Espinoza.

    According to the World Taekwondo Federation President, Chungwon Choue, “The Grand Prix is an exciting new concept in international taekwondo competition, inaugurated last December in Manchester, the United Kingdom. Our ambition with the Grand Prix is to provide an arena for taekwondo’s finest athletes to raise the sport’s visibility, and to realize taekwondo’s fullest potential worldwide.”

    To adequately prepare for this event, Chukwumerije had jetted out to Taiwan for a 23-day long intense training camp, the same location he trained before winning a Bronze at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, a first for Sub-Saharan Africa at the time.

    From the official draws released, Chukwumerije would have met Juan Carlos Diaz of Venezelua in his first fight, and if successful, met the winner between Konstantinos Gkoltsios of Greece and Ivan Trajkovic of Sloviakia, which was considerably a good draw for the veteran combatant.

    Shedding some light on why he could not get the visa on time, he fingered the unprofessionalism of the host organizers as the root cause of his absence at the Grand Prix.

    “The contact person, Mr Cui Wei, informed us we could get the visa in Taipei and we just had to wait for the invitation letter. The Federation submitted all necessary documentation on time, before the stipulated deadline, and all the organizers had to do was sent a letter of invitation on time. They then sent it just two days before I was to fly out to China, and Mr Cui Wei, did a complete turn-around and told me to head back to Nigeria to get a visa.”

    Speaking from his training base in Taiwan, an audibly distraught Chukwumerije lamented about the huge work gone down the drain,

    “The training camp has been so intense – three times training a day, very strict dieting, 6kg lost, hours of watching and analysing opponents. I have not trained this hard and been this focused since the London 2012 Olympics, and someone just sweeps all that layer of hard work through sheer incompetence.”

    Clearly still shaken by the actions of the Chinese Taekwondo Association representative, the veteran athlete reflected on the negative consequences for Nigeria.

    “Now the Grand Prix has started in earnest, and Nigeria is unrepresented by any athlete, just because the organizing committee could not respond to a request email on time or provide the right info at the right time. The unprofessional and unfortunate manner in which the China Taekwondo Association has handled this issue has cost the Nation dearly in terms of funds, money and Olympic points.”

    The athlete thanked the National Sports Commission for their tremendous support towards the growth and development of Taekwondo in Nigeria, and hoped that this incident does not cause significant damage to Nigeria Taekwondo’s chances of qualifying for Rio 2016 Olympics.

  • Igbos dare Northern elders on Ihejirika

    Igbos dare Northern elders on Ihejirika

    Igbo elders on Wednesday dared Northern elders to carry through their threat to drag former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika, to The Hague over alleged human rights abuses in the fight against terrorism in the country.

    The South East elders also asked President Goodluck Jonathan to redress the omission of “Ndigbo in the council of security chiefs of the country.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, spoke on behalf of Igbo elders at a news conference in Abuja.

    Chukwumerije said the threat of Northern Elders Forum to drag the immediate past COAS and six others to the International Criminal Court of Justice (ICC) in The Hague is capable of unleashing a national ill-wind that will do no one any good in the country.

    He noted that the approach of the Northern Elder Forum to a national problem is “selective, patently biased, apparently in search of preconceived culprits, pointedly indifferent to the demands of national unity, and highly provocative to the sensibilities of all who genuinely desire the unity and stability of this country.”

    Though he emphasized that senseless sacrifice of a human life is indefensible, the lawmaker noted that violations of human rights have remained the bane of Africa.

    He said, “A society that has no respect for human life is nearer the status of a community of animals. But the situation in the universally acknowledged difficult terrain of a borderless war such as terrorism, counter terrorism and guerilla-like conflicts offers a unique challenge.”

    Chukwumerije, who spoke at the National Assembly added: “The motives of Prof. Ango Abdullahi and co are obviously beyond concerns about violations of human rights. This is so because the incident of Bama (Baga) has been investigated and put to rest long ago.

    “For instance, the Senate sent a strong team to the area in June 2013 after the incident. After a thorough on-the-spot investigation which extended to interviews with all concerned officials (Director of SSS, State Governor, Commander of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, and stakeholders of the community) and visit to the grave yard, the Senate Committee concluded as follows: ‘the death toll of 185 was exaggerated but there may be more than 37 deaths.”

    Chukwumerije, who said the Senate endorsed the report noted that “definitely, there were no massacres to the scale that demanded the judicial sanctions of The Hague.

    He posed three questions: “Why the blatantly selective search for responsibility in Bama (Baga) and why so personal?

    “Every citizen (including Prof. Ango Abdullahi) knows that the anti-terrorism campaign in the North is a joint-military operation under the command of the Chief of Defence Staff.

    “In singling out Lt. General Ihejirika, the then Army boss, the likes of Prof. Ango Abdullahi are merely betraying old prejudices and embarking on new hazardous search for bad names to hang hated dogs.

    “Besides, the fact that Prof. Ango Abdullahi and co sprung into action immediately Lt. General Ihejirika and ‘six others’ left their commands has revealed the depth of long-smoldering resentment of the campaign against Boko Haram by the self-proclaimed leaders of the North.

    The position of the Northern Elders Forum, he said, “raises a question about where their sympathy lies in this battle” against Boko Haram.

    Chukwumerije further asked, “Why single out Bama (Baga) incident for Hague’s adjudication?”

     

  • ASUU ‘wants N1.5tr’ to end strike

    ASUU ‘wants N1.5tr’ to end strike

    The Senate on Wednesday said that the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) wants N1.5 trillion to end its ongoing strike.

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, released the figure in his contribution on a motion urging the striking lecturers to call off their strike.

    The motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, and 106 others is entitled: “Appeal to Academic Staff Union of Universities to call off the strike action and return to work.”

    Chukwumerije, who read the controversial 2009 agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU, said that part of the component of the agreement on funding stipulated that “all regular federal universities shall require the sum of N1.5 trillion for the period 2009 to 2011.

    He said that ASUU is insisting that the agreement must be implemented to the latter.

    He said the agreement also said that “This money is to be paid in three installments, 2009 – almost N500 billion; 2010 – almost N500 billion and 2011 – almost N506 billion.

    Apart from the N1.5 trillion the agreement also stipulated that “each state university shall require N3.6 million” while “a minimum of 26 per cent of the annual budget should be allocated to education.”

    According to him, the agreement also said that “education should be put on First Line Charge” while the Education Tax Act should be amended to its original concept as High Education Fund.”

    He noted that the agreement said that “Governing Council of Universities should access and effectively utilize from Education Tax Fund funds for research, training and development of academic staff.”

    Other components of the agreement included Salary Structure of Academic Staff of Nigerian universities and earned academic staff allowances.

    The earned academic staff allowances include: “Post graduate supervision allowances; teaching practice and industrial allowances; honorarium for external moderation of undergraduate and postgraduate examination system, postgraduate study grants; external assessment of readers or professors, call duty and clinical duty and hazard allowance and excess workload allowance.”

     

  • ‘Villains’ of June 12 struggle

    ‘Villains’ of June 12 struggle

    Nigerians on Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the most credible election ever conducted in the history of the country.

    The June 12, 1993 presidential election that was controversially annulled by Ibrahim Babangida –led military junta pitched the billionaire business mogul -turned politician – the late Chief M.K.O Abiola of the defunct Social Democratic Party against Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa, who contested the election on the platform of the proscribed National Republican Convention.

    Abiola, who died in prison on July 8, 1998, was coasting to a landslide victory in the poll until the Armed Forces Ruling Council announced its cancellation via a terse statement on June 21, 1993.

    The protests that followed the controversial decision pushed the country closer to another civil war until the former military president was forced to step aside on August 26, 2003. That development ushered in the Interim National Government headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, who was also ousted in a palace coup by the late Gen. Sani Abacha in November 17, 2003.

    Gen. Abacha died on June 8, 1998 in a mysterious circumstance.

    While many Nigerians genuinely laid claims to the sobriquet of “heroes and heroines of June 12 struggle and albeit democracy.” There are others whose roles in the “extermination” of the June 12 dream would never be forgotten even by generations unborn.

    They played varying roles in extinguishing the collective hope and aspirations of millions of Nigeria who came out on that historical day to elect the candidate of their choice.

    To many Nigerians these people are “Judas Iscariot” of our time because they sold their conscience for “a piece of silver.” Ironically many of them are now major beneficiaries of the present democratic experiment, occupying public offices both at state and national level.

    HAMED SHOBIYE, Assistant Editor, Online looks at some of the “perceived villains” of the June 12 struggle.

     

    Ibrahim Babangida:

    Babangida was the head of the military government that controversially annulled Nigeria’s most credible election. He was forced to step aside after nationwide protests pushed Nigeria closer to another civil war.

    Sani Abacha:

    The late head of state was a frontline member of AFRC, the military council that annulled the election.

    He allegedly played pivotal roles in the annulment and also controversially incarcerated the presumed winner of the poll who later died in detention.

    His government pushed Nigeria closer to civil war. But he died mysteriously and paved way for Nigeria’s return to civil rule.

    Arthur Nzeribe:

    The controversial former senator also played huge roles in the annulment of that historic election.

    He founded the controversial Association for Better Nigeria alongside one Abimbola Davies. The ABN obtained an interim court injunction to stop the election, a development that paved ways for the poll eventual annulment.

    Nzeribe later became a senator when Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999.

    Uche Chukwumerije:

    A senator in the current National Assembly was a strong member of Abacha’s kitchen cabinet and campaign vigorously against the election within and outside the country.

    Walter Ofonagoro:

    Another very vocal opponent of the June 12 struggle. He was the unofficial spokesman of Abacha’s government.

    Lamidi Adedibu:

    The late strongman of Ibadan politics was a very visible opponent of the June 12 struggle. He wined and dined with the military authorities. He also provided useful information on the activities of the National Democratic Coalition, a pro-democracy group that was in the fore-front of the struggle, to the late Abacha and his hatchet men.

    Ironically, the late Ibadan high chief was one of the major beneficiaries of Nigeria’s return to democratic rule until his demise few years ago.

    Abdulazeez Arisekola-Alao:

    The Ibadan-based businessman would never forget the treatment he received from students of University of Ibadan when he visited the institution for a convocation programme in November 1998. He came to the university campus with the then head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, who had just taken over as Nigeria’s leader after the mysterious death of Abacha, ostensibly to placate the students for frolicking with the military during the June 12 struggle.

    But he was oblivious of the harsh treatment awaiting him in the hands of the angry students who pounced on him, seized his posh cars, set them ablaze and forced him to escape from the campus through one of the police pick up vans.

     

     

  • Chukwumerije inspires 100 kids in taekwondo

    As part of its efforts to popularise taekwondo across the country among young people, Chika Chuwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) at the weekend in Jos, Plateau State capital, trained over 100 kids at its one-day Inspire The Future programme.

    Being the second edition of the exercise after Abuja hosted the maiden edition last month, the kids between ages four and 14 years, were indeed excited about the programme sponsored by the grassroots sports department of the National Sports Commission (NSC).

    Parents and guardians, who also admitted that such exercise would help to engage their wards, accompanied the participants to Crest Hotel in Jos.

    For the duo of Fortune Williams and Miracle Chidi Uba, the programme was exciting and fun.

    Williams, nine year-old pupil of First Baptist Model School, he was able to acquire skills in taekwondo as well as meet with other pupils. “I now know how to defend myself and one thing that interest me in the training was that it was full on fun,” he said.

  • Chukwumerije hails Osun’s education policies

    Chukwumerije hails Osun’s education policies

    The Senate yesterday hailed the educational policies of the Osun State Government. It said other states should take a cue from it.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Uche Chukwumerijie, said this while on an oversight visit to the state.

    He said others must drop their party affiliations and sentiments because what is happening in Osun is capable of rescuing the country’s rotten education sector.

    “The states and the country owe Governor Rauf Aregbesola a lot of gratitude for promptly laying a formidable foundation for education in the state. I will like to use this opportunity to advise other states, irrespective of your political affiliation. You must drop your ego and learn from the people-oriented projects and programmes of Governor Aregbesola.”

    Aregbesola said for the country to progress, the interest of the people must be considered before any decision is taken.

    He said parliamentary system of government is the essence of democracy.

    He said: “The best form of political activity is in the parliament, our nation will not make appreciable progress if it focuses only on the executive, at least the parliament is where ideas are generated, they have the total support of the people.

    “Parliamentary system is the essence of democracy. The assembly of the people must not be an expression but it must be put into practice.

    “For a country to have meaningful development, it must not be a one-sided means of power.”

    Speaking on education, Aregbesola said when he assumed office, his intention was to close down schools for about a year because of what he met.

    “What was on ground was dilapidated school buildings not fit for human habitation. The conditions of teachers were nothing to write home about plus the condition of other infrastructure.”

     

  • Nigeria a failed state: Mark disagrees with Chukwumerije

    Nigeria a failed state: Mark disagrees with Chukwumerije

    Senate President, Senator David Mark on Tuesday sharply disagreed with Senator Uche Chukwumerije over the latter’s assertion that Nigeria is a failed state.

    Mark noted that contrary to Chukwumerije’s declaration the country has a lot of things to be proud of.

    Chukwumerije had in his contribution to a motion entitled “Congratulations to Nigeria and Nigerians on her 52nd Independent Anniversary” described Nigeria as a either a failed state or on the verge of failure.

    The motion was sponsored by Senator Ita Enang (Akwa Ibom North East) and 108 others.

    Enang said in his lead debate that the Senate should noted that on Monday, October 1, Nigeria marked her 52nd Independence Anniversary, having attained Independence from Britain on October 1, 1960.

    He further noted that “steadily and gradually in Nigeria , the nation is developing its domestic production capacity as an Independent nation”.

    He urged the Senate to resolve to congratulate President Goodluck Jonathan and the people of Nigeria on the 52nd Independence anniversary of Nigeria .

    In his contribution Chwukwumerije said: “I want to draw attention to the scanty way the mover of the motion summarized the achievements of the nation before moving on to congratulations.

    “That scanty way in itself says a lot.

    “In three dry sentences he summarized what he saw as Nigeria ’s achievements. In saying that I want to draw attention to what we can say in a more blunt way.

    “Before putting it in a more blunt way let me first refer to the very first speaker here, Senator Abaribe (Enyinnaya) who used the analogy of a human being who is 52 years old and gave the impression of someone that has gone beyond even maturity.

    “But I think he is being very generous to Nigeria . To make my point on this I want to draw the attention of my colleagues to a general view of international affairs.

    “In Turkey , it took General Atatuk only 21 years to transform Turkey from a feudal state to highly modernized state that has remained till today.

    “South-East Asia countries, it took them 30 years to move from undeveloped ex-British colonies to what they are today, Asia Tigers.

    “One of them took our own palm produce and turned it into an export market.

    “It took South Korea 18 years to move from a very dependent country to one of the world’s top today.

    “It took China exactly 48 years to move from a slum status derided by the West as the begging bowl of Asia to a super power.

    “Taking the development of this country into considering for the last 52 years, you will come to understand why I said the first speaker was being very generous when he compared us with a 52 year old human being.

    “If a country that took ordinary palm nuts from us some years back has turned it into its main export product, how will you describe the country from which it was taken that is today importing all those things.

    “I can only describe that country in one word: that Nigeria is either a failed state or on the verge of being a failed state.

    “You will agree with me that a country that cannot meet the basic expectations of her people has failed in every way in meeting the basis of a social contract.

    “So we must start therefore by accepting that objective reality that as of today Nigeria is a failed state or nearly a failed state.

    “But it has tremendous potential to move to something. I believe that Nigeria is a sleeping giant.

    “All the vital signals around the corporate body politics of Nigeria indicate that Nigeria is going to move into the top of regional power in Africa and a formidable regional power in the world.

    “I therefore say that as we are moving towards that we have to be able to look back as they say in African proverb and ask ourselves from where the rain started beating us in order to be able to correct ourselves to be able to realize the fullness of this potential ahead of us.

    “I just want to draw attention to two issues. One: I don’t know of any country in the world that moves forward by following a path that leads to mediocrity and failure.

    “A country that has to move forward must aim at excellence, aim at healthy competition.

    “I think one of the greatest difficulties facing this country, one of the greatest anti-growth handicaps facing this country is what we call Federal Character and the second thing is the issue of corruption.”

    But Mark disagreed completely with Chukwumerije.

    The Senate President noted that rather than describe the country as a failed state, Nigerians should congratulate themselves for still being one united nation “that one alone is an achievement.”

    He said, “There is no gain saying that we are not where we would love to be, certainly, we are not there but that is not to say that we have not made progress at all.

    “We have made some considerable achievement and for that, we need to show gratitude to God.

    “We need to pray and work, not just pray, prayer alone will not solve the problem we need to combine both of them.

    “More than anything else, we need the political will to take our policies to logical conclusions either at the executive level or legislative level, whether it is at the federal, state or local government levels.

    “Unless we are determined to politically pursue the decision we have taken that are of benefit to this country, we will still be where we are in another 20, 30 years because the political will is lacking in so many areas.

    “I do not agree that Nigeria is a failed state; we are not on the way to being a failed state either.

    “We may not have done well but to say we are a failed state is going the extreme of it and I disagree completely with that in my candid opinion.

    “We have challenges, there is no doubt about that but I believe that with political will, we will meet those challenges.

    “It is at every level. Most times, when we are going on the road and there is traffic, people will drive by the foot path, is that a failure of leadership?

    “Every Nigerian has something to do. When people do the wrong thing and they are not caught and dealt with according to the law, they continue to do it.

    “At every level, we must know that we have leadership role to play.

    “When things begin to go wrong, we must have the courage to speak out before it gets too far.” Mark stated.