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Tag: Committee

  • Committee to avert land crisis in Anambra

    A community in Anambra State has found a way to end crises resulting from the sale of its land.

    Oba in Idemili South Local Government Area used to peaceful until some residents started selling land indiscriminately, resulting in crises.

    But the traditional ruler Igwe Peter Ezenwa (Eze Okpoko I), his chiefs and the town union have set up a committee to regulate land use and sale, hoping it will contain the bad blood generated by land conflicts.

    The General Assembly of the community met first on April 6, under the aegis of Oba Patriotic Union (OPU), while the second and third joint meetings were held on May 20 and 19 June.

    The new committee by the community which was inaugurated at the weekend is led by Chief Vincent A.O. Obi.

    In recent times, however, due to population explosion and urbanization, land has become a scarce commodity in Oba.

    The LUSAC chair, Chief Vincent Obi, popularly called (Akamba) in the area, said, ”Oba town which has existed from time immemorial has also known peace, progress and brotherhood and would want the same conditions to prevail from generation to generation.”

    The surge in indiscriminate and illegal sales of land and flagrant abuse of traditional procedures for community land disposal were becoming an order of the day for youths they refer to social drop outs in the community.

    As a result, the community waded in, with committee to curb the menace that nearly torn the community into shreds.

    According to the code of conduct for all land deals in Oba community; “That Individuals or Kindreds who have Personal or Communal Lands have rights to sell their bonafide property, provided that the President General of the town mandatorily appends his signature to the Agreement or Assignment before the sale can be consummated and forwarded to the Ministry of Lands for Title Deeds”

    “That the Ministry of Lands shall be informed to dishonor any application for a Title Deed which does not bear the signature of The President General”

    “That the Ichie/Chief of the village and designated members of the village where the sale is about to and/or has taken place shall attest that the land is/was in their village and that the seller is a citizen of the village and is the bonafide owner of the land”

    “That any person or persons who indulge in secret land deals and transactions would be punished by the Oba traditional laws and customs until they return to sanity”

    It was signed by Igwe Peter Ezenwa, the president General of the town union, Ifeatu A. Uzowulu, Clifford M. Enendu and Chief Vincent A.O. Obi.

  • Committee on new national carrier begins sitting

    Committee on new national carrier begins sitting

    The 12-man National Carrier Ministerial Committee inaugurated on Monday by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation, Mrs. Binta Bello Thursday commenced sitting in Lagos.

    The meeting, which commenced in the early hours held at the annex office of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos.

    The committee has the mandate to fashion out modalities for the project.

    A committee member who spoke with our correspondent on the condition of anonymity said the committee is at the moment taking presentations from stakeholders and Price Water House, consultants for the project.

    The source confided in our correspondent that major sitting of the committee would commence from next week as the team would take both written and oral applications from professionals and stakeholders in the sector.

    He explained that the essence of meeting with proven experts in the sector was to ensure that everyone was carried along in the project.

    He however said that the committee could not determine when the nation would be presented with a new national carrier, stressing that it would take a long process.

    He said, “You know, it is not what we can get overnight. There will still be issue of Air Operator’s Certificate, AOC, for the airline and other regulations that the new airline will have to comply with.

    “You know, we have short and long term plans in setting up an airline. The technical partnership too should be put into consideration. Those are the things we need to work on first before giving a specific date for the project. But, one thing I can tell you is that it is very achievable. At the end of the exercise, we will give government a template on how to go about it in a manner that is transparent and actionable.”

    Recall that Bello on Monday inaugurated a committee led by the former Managing Director of Discovery Air, Capt. Mohammed Abdulsalam with the mandate of reviewing previous consultants’ submissions and recommendations on a national carrier, review the report on the failure of the defunct Nigeria Airways and other failed private airlines.

    The committee, which was given four weeks to complete its assignment and submit its report also had the mandate to consult widely with stakeholders on the establishment of a national airline, including interested international partners on setting on the basis of Public Private Partnership, PPP, model.

    She also charged the committee to invite the Assets Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON, to determine the debt profile of domestic airlines to serve as a guide in its recommendations, and to develop the optimum model for a national carrier for Nigeria.

  • NGO faults National Peace Committee

    A non-governmental organi-sation (NGO) Civic Duties Awareness Initiatives (CIDAI) has faulted the Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar-led National Peace Committee’s suggestion that President Muhammadu Buhari should not waste his time fighting corruption alone.

    The Executive Director of the group, Benjamin Oyekunle said that the suggestion could distract the anti-corruption crusade of the Buhari administration.

    He said: “It is in this light that we cannot support the recent call by some elderly, respectable and eminent citizens on the President not to waste his time on fighting corruption alone.

    “It is our informed view that given the resources available at the moment no developmental project or administrative area has suffered neglect under this government.

    “We believe and rightly so that there is no time spent on fighting graft that is not worth it. The President is on the right path. Anti-graft war is needed, it is needed now.

    “For Nigeria to develop, corruption must be eradicated. All hands must be on deck in this just cause”.

    Oyekunle warned Nigerians on the capability of corrupt persons to do everything to stop the anti-corruption, including fighting integrity crusaders.

    “It has been noted that when you fight corruption, corruption fights back. Vigilance is therefore of utmost importance against all reactionary tendencies. The people who have emptied our collective purse are still bent on diverting the national resources to their private pockets. They are ready to spend huge sums to truncate the anti-graft war. They are the ones alleging partiality and selectivity.

    “They can use anybody as their mouthpiece even without the person being aware they are being used for a wrong cause.

    “There are those who would also want to make nonsense of this justifiable cause by attempting to make caricature of it, shouting wolf where none exists.

    “They want to manipulate the process to their favour through mob action and smear campaigns aimed at pulling down public servants who are above board and have been impediments to dipping their hands into the public treasury.

    The group likened the allegations against the Director-General of Industrial Training Fund (ITF) Dr. Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko to such moves by the corrupt to tarnish the image of the just.

    “We view this as a deliberate attempt by mischief makers to rubbish the modest achievements recorded by her since assuming office in 2014.

    “The fund was alleged to be enmeshed in corruption prior to her becoming the DG. There are those who had been feeding fat on the fund who she blocked. Her transparent management of the fund was said to have boosted the confidence  and garnered support from the stakeholders.

    “Mrs Onaeko is a young mother of two and a dutiful wife. Her competences and ability were recently recognised by no other person than President Muhammadu Buhari when he included her in his lean entourage to the United States of America.

    “Some have reasoned that her enviable feat in the course of her duties might have endeared her to the President who might have penned her name down for a higher appointment.

    “They opined that the above reasons could be why some who want her position as DG of ITF or scheming to get a ministerial slot are fighting her for.

    “The allegations against Mrs Onaeko and some others that are already fighting corruption should be dismissed for what they are, concocted and fabricated lies based on hearsay against innocent public officers”.

    While commending the efforts of President Buhari in tackling corruption, the group urged opinion leaders, professionals and the media not to allow themselves to be tools in the hands of evil forces.

     

  • Away with this Peace Committee

    I think what we are concerned about is the process. It is no longer a military regime and under our existing laws, everybody is innocent until proven guilty.” This is a statement credited to the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Dioceses, Bishop Hassan Kukah, when The Peace Committee for 2015 general elections led by former Head of State General Abdulsalami Abubakar visited President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday August 11, 2015. As it were, I found nothing wrong in the Peace Committee visiting the President because any credible group is free to visit the President since the President is for everybody and for nobody in particular. What I am worried about is the timing and the motive of the visit. I am deeply worried about the purpose of this visit. Is it to shield some people from the investigations on corruption going in almost every critical sector of our economy? Is it to try to circumvent a clinical process being put in place to put things in order in Nigeria? Is it to try to slow down President Buharis’s agenda to rid Nigeria of corruption? Is it an attempt to intimidate the President to slow down and let the corrupt who pillaged and plundered our common patrimony to go scot free? Is it a blackmail to render nugatory APC’s agenda to bring the change it promised Nigerians? Are the Peace Committee members not aware of the sordid roles some members of the committee played during President Jonathan’s tenure? Why these crude interventions at a time like this? Is the Peace Committee working to protect Jonathan and his cronies and shield them from facing the jury? When has it become an offence to investigate past leaders and bring them to book if necessary? What is the meaning of this dangerous mediation at a time like this? A friend tells me that the rampancy of corruption in Nigeria is a function of low Intelligence Quotient (IQ) on the part of all of us. Can the members of the Peace Committee be exonerated?

    Please listen to Bishop Kukah’s second sentence: “Again, our commitment is not to intimidate or fight anybody, the former President’s commitment and what he did still remains spectacular and I think that President Buhari himself appreciates that. So our effort really is to make sure that the right thing is done.” Now, what is this spectacular thing that the former president Jonathan did, to preside over a corrupt empire never known in the history of Nigeria, to decimate and desecrate the political decision to rotate power between the North and South and consequently put the nation in danger, to accept that he blew billions of dollars and pounds in an election he was bound to lose because the figures were not in his favour. He did something spectacular by accepting defeat in an election he lost fair and square? He did something spectacular by allowing every Dick and Harry including his wife to declare war on our national till?

    Let the truth be told, former president Jonathan was defeated black and blue, left and right, front and back and up and down. Eleven small states in the South-South and South- East would not have defeated 25 states from the South-West, North-West, North-East and North-Central. There was no way two small zones would have defeated four big zones in that crucial elections. Therefore, there was nothing spectacular about accepting defeat. He had no choice than to hand over and bow out. Former president Jonathan’s ambition to rule Nigeria for 10 years plus OBJ’s eight years put Nigeria in great danger. In fact it put a knife on things that have held us together. It divided the country, and it was a threat to national unity.

    It is therefore worrisome and unacceptable for the members of the Peace Committee to try to blackmail and intimidate APC and President Buhari in their strong desire and determination to fulfill what the party promised Nigerians. APC promised to fight corruption, impunity and lawlessness. APC promised to restore sanity and progress in the land. APC promised to do things differently and change the way we think, the way we reason, the way we act, the way we plan and the way we work. APC promised to plug all the loop holes and stop all the leakages within the system. APC promised to stop the oil thieves and chase the saboteurs away from the power sector and NNPC. APC cannot achieve all this without the required political will, courage and strong leadership. The task of rebuilding and repositioning Nigeria is a task that must be done and the president must be encouraged to go the whole hog. Have we suddenly forgotten what President Buhari went through in the course of the campaign? Have we forgotten all the hate campaigns against candidate Buhari? Have we forgotten the Certificate issue, his health issue, and his age issue? What did the Peace Committee do? They said Buhari will not rule Nigeria. They said he is brain dead. They said he has no certificate. They said he is not electable. They said he will die in office. They abused his family. They said APC will not survive till October 2014. They said Nigeria will be set on fire if Jonathan loses.

    Now that God has made Buhari president, please let us allow him to work. There are some faces I saw in the Peace Committee that send strong signals to me that it is former president Jonathan’s show. An evil spirit visited the house in the night and the child died in the morning. We know better. President Buhari should be allowed to do the work God wants him to do. God brought this president in the saddle to do what he is doing now. They did everything humanly possible to stop him but he defeated them all. I know that the election losers are still very angry, and are yet to come to terms with what hit them but it is a mission accomplished. I am told that old ways will not open new doors. PDP posed an existential threat to Nigeria while the bazaar lasted. Now we have a new order. This is a new Nigeria. Please allow President Buhari to fight corruption and restore sanity in the land.

     

    • Joe Igbokwe wrote from Lagos
  • N120bn Budget: Reps set up committee to assess NASS’ needs

    N120bn Budget: Reps set up committee to assess NASS’ needs

    House of Representatives  Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, yesterday inaugurated  a committee to conduct a Needs Assessment of the chamber / National Assembly.

    The committee, which is made up of eminent Nigerians and representatives of  civil society organizations,  is to “judiciously determine the proper cost of running the legislative arm of government to enable it play its constitutionally-assigned responsibilities.”

    Dogara  said at the inauguration that for the legislative arm to function effectively, resources must be made available by the executive.

    “However, resources that may be made available would be based on the actual needs and not greed of the Legislature. There has been no study or assessment of what the legislature needs to perform optimally in Nigeria. We have all been making, at best, educated guesswork on whether the legislature is adequately funded or not,” he said.

    “An appropriate Needs Assessment may well find out that the Legislature in Nigeria is overfunded or that it is underfunded. There should be an empirical and objective study to determine this.

    “It is as a result, that the House of Representatives made a commitment in its Legislative Agenda to set up an Independent Committee comprising – Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s), independent Groups and professional bodies with the support of international development partners, to conduct a Needs Assessment of the actual requirements of running and maintaining the institution of the House of Representatives/National Assembly in Nigeria in order to carry out its legislative functions.”

    The terms of reference of the committee include:

    What it would cost the House of Representatives and the National Assembly to conduct Public Hearings on the bills and other legislative measures passed by both chambers, including live coverage of these activities; what it would cost to communicate all its proceedings and activities to its different constituencies and the general public;  what it would cost to build, equip and maintain all the infrastructure, like offices of the bureaucracy, Members, Committee Rooms, Hearing Rooms; modernization of Chambers of both Houses, electronic communications infrastructure, e- parliament facilities; what it would cost the National Assembly to conduct proper policy and budget oversight on the executive branch, including all its agencies in order to expose corruption, inefficiency or waste and what it would cost to take important legislative measures down to the grassroots, to members constituencies.

    Members of the Committee include Clement Nwankwo       (PLAC), who is the Chairman; National Institute for Legislative Studies (Secretariat);  Representative of the Clerk to the National Assembly,  Austin Alegeh; NBA President or Representative, Otunba Olufemi  Deru (ICAN President) or Representative,  Waheed Odusile (NUJ President)    or Representative, Elias Mbam (RMAFC)      or Representative, Senator Ita Enang        and Hon Albert Sam-Tsokwa.

    Others are Prof Mike Obadan, Dr Kabiru Mato,  Seun Onigbinde (BUDGIT), Idayat Hassan (CDD), Samson Itodo (YIAGA), Ben Arikpo (FEPAR), Saudatu Mahdi (WRAPA),  Mimidoo Achapa (WREP),  Clara Barnet (DFID)    and  Bolaji Kehinde (UNDP).

  • As Nigeria’s Peace Committee resurrects

    SIR: The 2015 general elections peace committee headed by former Head of State Abdulsalami Abubakar must be commended for the roles they played towards the successful or peaceful conduct of the hotly contested 2015 presidential elections. They worked both on and behind the scenes to trigger and influence events that later culminated in the historic handing over from the ruling PDP to the opposition APC. We give kudos to them for that!

    With the achievement of their primary objective therefore, one had thought the committee would naturally disband and give the newly elected government space to do for Nigerians what it has promised them at the campaign trail. Alas, that appeared not be the case; as the committee on Tuesday August 11  suddenly resurrected and abruptly paid President Muhammadu Buhari a visit many Nigerians found unusual and unexpected.

    Speaking after ‘the closed door’ meeting, Mathew Hassan Kukah while responding to a question about their mission which appeared to be on Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade, said:  ’I think what we are concerned about is process. It is no longer a military regime, and under our existing laws, everybody is innocent until proven guilty.’ Connecting the dots of events occurring prior to the peace committee’s meeting with Buhari such as the visit to Villa by two former heads of state, it won’t require any political expert to decipher the code and conclude that the peace committee met with the President purposely to intercede on behalf of certain interests or individuals likely to come under the loop of President Buhari’s anti-corruption or loot recovery crusade.

    Unless we, ordinary Nigerians, were kept in the dark about the entire terms of what was called Abuja Accord signed on January 14,  which the peace committee mid-wifed, I do not think that allowing officials who stole from public treasury to escape justice was part of the agreement signed in the event of Buhari defeating the then incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan. But I stand to be corrected though! Thus, for the peace committee’s spokesperson to make the scathing innuendo and remark that Nigeria was ‘no longer a military regime’ is un-called for as it all sounded like someone was wailing on behalf of the bereaved. For goodness’ sake, since when has it become the peace committee’s responsibility to hold forte for those suspected of looting our commonwealth in billions? Which is the import of the entire message of Kukah and his committee!

    The last time I checked Nigeria was not operating a caste system; we are all said to be equal before the law irrespective of class and status. And, as an enthusiastic follower of events and happenings in Nigeria, I have heard and read of how some ordinary folks involved in or suspected of theft of items not worth a million Naira were set on fire by angry mobs. And that is still the unofficial penalty for theft in many places in Nigeria! While I am not a subscriber to or a believer in jungle justice, the import of this is that majority of Nigerians are seriously averse to anything to do with theft or corruption. And, so far, I have never heard of a committee set up either by Kukah or any of his peace committee members purposely to fight  such jungle justice meted out on ordinary oles or barawos! So what PMB’s anti-corruption fight style or ‘process’ typical of ‘military regime’ is Kukah and his committee ‘concerned about’ that is worse than setting suspects ablaze?!

    , President Muhammadu Buhari was voted into power by Nigerians to specifically fight the cancer of corruption. In fact it has been said by someone that should Buhari fail in all areas but succeed in killing official corruption, Nigerians will ultimately be happy for it and with him. I agree with this. In essence, the whole pedestal upon which the charismatic stature of PMB rests is his anti-corruption credential; hence any individual or group who arm-twists, cajoles, intimidates or blackmails PMB into soft-pedalling or jettisoning entirely his anti-corruption campaign does PMB and Nigerians a great disservice and disfavour. And, history and posterity will not forgive that individual or group for setting corruption free from the hands of Nigerians after it was chased, caught, wrestled to the ground, tamed and handed over to the only alpha/Malam Nigerians believe knows how to slaughter it – That is President Muhammadu Buhari!

     

    • Hamisu Salihu,

    Department of Economics,

    University of Surrey, Guildford, United Kingdom

  • House Committees : Dogara, select committee meet behind closed doors

    The process to determine who gets what committee in the House of Representatives began yesterday as Speaker Yakubu Dogara held an inaugural meeting with members of the select committee.

    The meeting, which was held behind closed doors and lasted for over two hours, also had Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun and  Majority Leader Femi Gbajabiamila in attendance.

    Also in attendance was  Minority Leader Leo Ogor and other principal officers.

    Though there was no briefing or information made available after the meeting, The Nation learnt that the process to fill about 89 committees in the House has begun.

    Presently the Green Chamber since inauguration has been operating with ad hoc committees in order to keep the legislative functions of the House going unimpeded.

    Immediately the select committee was named by the Speaker, intense lobbying had began as members jostled for what has been termed “juicy” or A- list committees in the 8th House.

    The lobbying had been extended to anyone perceived to have influence on the Speaker to help put in a kind word in order to clinch the committee the members desire.

    Such personalities include the former Speaker in the 7th House and now Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal who is widely believed to have helped swing the Speakership votes in the direction of Dogara on the 9th of June. Also leaders of All Progressives Congress, APC, have reportedly been inundated with requests by members on the committee issue.

     

  • Bankers Committee moves against naira hawkers

    Bankers Committee moves against naira hawkers

    The Bankers’ Committee met in Lagos yesterday and decided that hawking of the naira will no longer be acceptable.

    Managing Director, Enterprise Bank Limited, Mrs. Mary Akpobome, who spoke on behalf of the Committee members, said it has been discovered that the naira is hawked by some merchants on the streets across the country, saying the practice has to stop.

    She said such practice, which is not permissible in advanced countries like the United States of America and United Kingdom, should not be encouraged in Nigeria.

    “We appeal to the people involved in this act to desist from buying and selling the naira on the streets or face the consequences of their actions,” she said.

    Akpobome said the Committee notified various agencies to go after the perpetrators, adding that both the buyer and seller of the currency will face the wrath of the law.

    Kola Balogun, who represented the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Director, Banking Supervision, said the ongoing publication of the debtors’ list is to ensure that the financial sector is stable. He said the CBN will follow up on the prescribed sanction for the delinquent debtors, including ban from accessing the forex market, adding that the publication of bad debtors’ names on national dallies will continue on regular basis.

    He expressed surprise that a bank can publish the name of a non-existent borrower in the media, adding that where such is the case, the bank and customer should resolve it amicably. “Some delinquent debtors have been named. The banks followed their loan books and I will be surprised if a bank publishes non-existent debtor as owing,” he said.

    Managing Director, GTBank, Segun Agbaje, said nothing has changed in the operation of domiciliary accounts in the country, except that foreign currency deposits are no longer acceptable into the accounts.

    He said: “Interested persons will continue to pay school fees or medical bills through the official forex window. I want to assure you that legitimate transactions will pass through the official window. The forex is available in the banks people with legitimate demands should follow the right procedure and get it”.

    On the cash-less policy, Managing Director, Wema Bank Plc, Segun Oloketuyi, said only five states and Abuja are implementing the policy. The states are Lagos, Ogun, Kano, Rivers and Anambra. He said the Bankers’ Committee is working on getting the policy rolled out nationally and called on banks to embrace the policy nationally.

  • Saraki challenges Omoworare’s Committee on e-parliament

    Senate President Abubakar Bukola Saraki yesterday challenged the Senator Babajide Omoworare-led  Committee on Rules and Business to evolve an e-parliament for the country which would open a new chapter in legislative business in the nation.

    Saraki, inaugurating the committee in the National Assembly complex noted that the Vice Chairman of the Committee who is also the Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, and other members of the Committee including Senators Barnabas Gemade, Kabiru Marafa, Joshua Lidani, David Umaru, Clifford Ordia, Chukwuka Utazi and Uche Ekwunife were specially chosen to make a difference in managing the day to day business of lawmaking by the 8th Senate.

    Saraki said: “The challenge to us particularly is how do we take Eighth Senate to the issue of e-parliament. I think that is my charge to the members of this important Committee.

    “You must start this new page in the history of the Senate and I believe those who are members here have the capacity to do that and that is where we begin to say that the Eighth Senate did make a difference and started to do something innovative and useful”.

    “I know that being led by the chairman, the majority leader and also distinguished senators, you must be the one that will change operational modalities of the Senate because that is one of the things that we want you to do as you prepare the Order Paper of the Eighth Senate on a daily basis.

    He added that the composition of the committee also show that the 8th Senate is operating a policy of inclusiveness having put politics behind it to face the real work of legislating for the country.

    The Senate President said: “I think what we are also doing here is showing the world what we have always said that this is an inclusive Senate.  This is the Senate that is here to serve the people and leave politics behind and I think that having someone like Senator Babajide Omoworare as the Chairman of the Committee also goes to confirm that we are beginning to work our talk about composition of committee and allocation of responsibilities based on competence, experience and qualification.”

    Earlier, Omoworare while thanking the Senate President for the honour, pledged that the committee would be innovative and proactive in the execution of its mandate.

    He said: “We will carry out our mandate diligently, passionately and resolutely. We will ensure that there is fairness in the scheduling of the business of the Senate.

    “The committee notes that after 16 years of democracy in Nigeria, there should be a near uniformity and standard in the Standing Orders of the Legislature in Nigeria. We will strive to accomplish this.

    “The committee is committed to the early realization of your vision to implement as a matter of urgency, the e-parliament technology that will enable Senators access to Order Paper, Notice Paper, Legislative Calendar and other operational legislative information online and real time. It will also enable us to properly monitor oversight, committee works and other legislative chores”, he said.”

  • Gunmen abduct Odi committee chairman

    Odi community in Bayelsa State has been thrown into confusion following the abduction of Compensation Funds Disbursement Committee Chairman, Prof. Zibokere Daukiye by unidentified gunmen.
    The riverine community has been engulfed in crisis since 1999 when federal troops under President Olusegun Obasanjo bombarded it to avenge the gruesome murder of security operatives by youths during the militancy era.
    The community was awarded N 37.6 billion by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, but was later paid N15bn by the government after negotiation.
    The N15bn compensation paid the community by the government after series of legal actions has also unsettled the people in the area following alleged diversion of a chunk of the money.
    It was gathered that Daukiye amidst controversies was appointed by stakeholders in the community to manage the disbursement of the compensation funds which had torn the people apart.
    The unknown gunmen were said to have stormed the community on Friday.
    It was gathered that they arrived the area on a speedboat through the community’s river.
    The gunmen were said to have caused panic in the community by firing staccato of gunshots into the air to scare the residents.
    Residents were said to have fled to many direction for safety as the gunmen invaded the residence of Daukiye.