The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Controversy

  • Controversy mars PDP congress in Imo

    Controversy mars PDP congress in Imo

    •Udenwa, Ihedioha, Uzodinma battle for party’s structure

    The ward congress of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State was marred yesterday by violence and controversy.

    Loyalists of the various party leaders engaged in a shootout at the party’s secretariat in Owerri, the state capital, while the chairman of the congress and Abia State Deputy Governor Ude Okochukwu and other high-ranking members of the party escaped to a popular hotel, where the results were allegedly written.

    The hotel, which is located near the Government House, was manned by heavily armed policemen, while PDP senators and other party leaders were in a closed-door meeting with Okochukwu.

    The congress, which held across the country on Saturday, was postponed in the state to reconcile the warring factions.

    It was learnt that the party’s faithful, who had gathered for the congress, were disappointed after waiting till evening without the electoral officials or materials.

    A former governor, Chief Achike Udenwa, and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, were among those who waited at their wards to participate in the congress.

  • Controversy over killing of tanker driver in Lagos

    Pandemonium broke out yesterday at Sanya Bus Stop along the Apapa-Oshodi expressway, Lagos State, after some officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority  (LASTMA) allegedly killed a tanker driver identified as Salisu Sani, 30.

    The state traffic management agency however said its personnel were not involved or responsible for the incident.

    The incident which occurred at about 6:20am disrupted traffic for almost eight hours on the busy road, as rampaging youths set up bonfires on the highway.

    The protesters, comprising tanker drivers rebuffed all entreaties from the operatives of Rapid Response Squad  (RRS), Festac Police Division and soldiers to leave the road.

    It was learnt that the driver of the petrol-laden tanker marked ABJ 758XD parked beside Port Terminal to observe his morning prayers when the LASTMA team numbering about four struck.

    The team comprising three officials in uniform and another wearing mufti accosted the driver’s assistant,Nurudeen Abdulahi, who was praying on the culvert and asked him where his boss was.

    According to Abdulahi, he pointed to where his boss(the driver) was praying and one of the LASTMA went there to meet him.

    He said: “They were arguing. I think it was about money. As the driver and one of the LASTMA men were arguing, another one entered the trailer and was driving it off.

    “The driver rushed down and asked the man why he was driving his tanker. He told the man that his tanker was on the service lane and that if he wanted to arrest him, he should have told him to come and drive his vehicle to wherever they wanted to take him.

    “The LASTMA officer did not listen. He was still driving the tanker and so the driver ran and was climbing the vehicle through the passenger side.

    “By this time, two of the LASTMA men returned into their vehicle and drove off.

    “So, as the driver mounted the trailer from the passenger side, the LASTMA officer who was on the ground dragged his clothe, pulling him to the ground.

    “As soon as he fell down, the LASTMA vehicle that went to turn, crushed his head. As soon as the LASTMA officer on the ground saw  what has happened he told his colleague on the steering that my boss was dead and they both rushed into their vehicle zoomed off, without parking the tanker well. I was the one who applied the hand brakes before taking my boss to the hospital.

    “There was only one tanker behind me. I saw what happened from where I was praying prayers and when I rushed to the scene, my boss was bleeding from his head.

    “I called a commercial tricyclist and begged him to assist me. We took my boss to a private hospital but the doctor there said we should take him to general hospital. By the time we got to general hospital, the doctor said he was dead,” said Abdulahi.

    Continuing, Abdulahi who said the driver was his kinsman from Kaduna State, told The Nation that the deceased was married with three children.

    After about seven hours of meetings and persuasions, the security agents led by the RRS Commander, Olatunji Disu, an Assistant Commissioner of Police  (ACP) decided to apply minimal force to get the disperse the protesters and free the road.

    Disu who had earlier appealed to the people to take the corpse so that the deceased can be buried according to Islamic rites, ordered his men to put out the burning tyres and disperse the crowd without firing teargas or gunshots.

    Speaking to The Nation at the scene, Disu said their only motive was to restore peace and clear the expressway of gridlock.

    Describing the incident as unfortunate, the spokesman of LASTMA, Mr.Mahmud Hassan, said that operatives of the agency were not involved in the incident.

    He said: “It’s indeed an unfortunate and sad incident. However, LASTMA officials were not involved in the incident. As a matter of fact , no single operative or patrol vehicle of LASTMA was at the vicinity of the incident. The police should carry out thorough investigations, unravel  the culprits and bring them to justice.”

    Confirming the incident, the state  police command’s spokesperson, Dolapo Badmos,  a Superintendent of Police  (SP) said: “The victim was rushed to AMC Hospital Amuwo Odofin where he died. Policemen have been deployed to the vicinity to restore normalcy while all stakeholders are being pacified to prevent further  breakdown of law and order. Investigation has commenced to unravel what actually transpired.”

  • Controversy over new councils in Ogun

    Controversy over new councils in Ogun

    In fulfilment of his election promises, Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has created 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) from the existing 20 local governments. But, the development has been dogged by controversy. Correspondent ERNEST NWOKOLO examines the pros and cons of the LCDAs.

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun has fulfilled his promise to create new local government councils.

    During last year’s general elections, the creation of councils was a campaign issue.

    While on a tour of the state to assess the impact of his programmes and policies on the people, Amosun played the LCDA card, particularly in Sagamu, the headquarters of Sagamu Local Government Area, saying that some local governments would be broken into two or three. He said the proposed LCDAs, when created, would open up remote and far-flung parts of the Gateway State, bring government closer to the people and engender rapid socio-economic development.

    The governor made good his promise  when he sent a bill to the House of Assembly for the creation 37 LCDAs. The idea of LCDAs is not new in Ogun State. Borrowing a leaf from Lagos State, former Governor Olusegun Osoba had created 32 LCDAs in 2002 and followed it up with a referendum. But, nothing came out it, because Osoba did not return in 2003 to implement it. His successor, Gbenga Daniel, ignored it, saying that the new LCDAs lacked the approval of the National Assembly.

    What the Amosun did, via the bill before the legislators, was to activate and retain the 32 LCDAs initially proposed by Osoba. He added five new ones to bring the number of the LCDAs to 37. If the bill sails through, Ogun will have a total of 57 local councils.

    The five new LCDAs are: Afon, with headquarters in Oloka-Afon; Sango/Ijoko, with headquarters in Sango; Abeokuta Northeast, with headquarters in Ita-Iyalode; Ifesowapo, with headquarters in Imodi-Imosan; and Coker-Ibogun, with headquarters in Ibogun.

    Expectedly, the news was received with enthusiasm in many quarters. but in others, it has been protests all the way. The Osiele of Oke-Ona Egba, Oba Adedapo Tejuoso, was among those who vigorously supported the proposed LCDAs, saying it was a step in the right direction.

    According to him, it would make room for an even spread of the dividends of democracy among the rural folks where the bulk of the population reside. Also, a renowned lawyer, Mr. Benjamin Ogunmodede, defended the idea. He was, however, not happy with the way Orile-Oko was carved out of Obafemi Owode Local Government. Ogunmodede argued that his people in Orile-Oko prefered remain in Obafemi Owode to being elsewhere.

    According to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Suraj Adekunbi, no fewer than 100 petitions have been received over the proposed LCDAs. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Ogun State chapter, said creating additional 37 LCDAs to the existing 20 local governments recognised by the constitution is a mere “naked dance and playing to the gallery.”

    Its state Chairman, Akeem Ambali, told The Nation that the organised labour is not in doubt that new local government would bring government and development nearer to the people, but argued that given the way it is being constituted, the aim of the exercise may be defeated in the end.

    Ambali said the existing 20 LGAs do not have autonomy said, because they are under-funded and also because they operate joint accounts with the state government. He said the existing councils do not have the autonomy to carry out their rudimentary functions such as regular payment of workers’ salaries, road construction and maintenance, as well as waste collection and disposal.

    Ambali added that local government elections are also anything but democratic, as the state governments dictate the outcome. He said that there is need to put in place an enabling environment for existing local councils to function independently before creating new ones.

    A community leader, Mr. Omotayo Roberts, also argued that the creation is not necessary, given the dwindling monthly revenue accruing to the state and the austerity it has engendered.

    Roberts, a chartered accountant, said Amosun is merely copying Lagos State without checking to ascertain if more LCDAs are what the people need. Instead of creating new LCDAs, he suggested that city councils should be created in urban areas.

    He said: “We don’t need new LCDAs now. We are copying Lagos State without studying critically what Lagos State did. What we need is a state capital authority similar to the Federal Capital Authority in Abuja. The territory should include the urbanised contiguous areas from Ojere to Osiele, from Aro to Kemta, from Kobape to Akomoje. This territory should have as its political head, a commissioner. The state capital will be charged with all those functions that local governments have not been performing.

    “Some of our major cities, including Sango-Ota, Ilaro, Sagamu, Ijebu-Ode, Ifo, Ibafo/Mowe, can be turned to city councils, to bring the services entrusted to the third-tier of government closer to the people in those cities. The clearly rural authorities such as Ogun Waterside, Imeko Afon, Ipokia and remote locations should remain, and perhaps, be designated Rural Councils or Authorities.”

    Pockets of street protests have even been witnessed in Orile-Oko, where residents marched round the town before proceeding to the House of Assembly to register their displeasure with the attempt to merge them with Obafemi Owode.

    The agrarian community is a mixed grill of residents and natives, including people outside Yoruba ethnic group. Some people in the area have historical and cultural links with the Remo in Ogun East Senatorial District, while others are Egbas who have affinity with their kith and kin in Ogun Central District.

    Those of Remo extraction in Orile-Oko want to remain in Remoland. Nevertheless, they are worried that the proposed LCDA would excise their land and people and merge it with the Egbas of Obafemi Owode in Ogun Central. The Remo traditional rulers under the leadership of the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Adeniyi Sonariwo, have also petitioned the legislators on the issue.

    The Atunluto of Remoland, Chief Pekun Awobona, appealed to the legislators not to accede to the request of Amosun to excise Orile-Oko from Remoland and cede it to Obafemi Owode Local Government Council in Egba.

    He said: “Remo and Egba people have been cohabiting peacefully in Orile-Oko for ages. Some people who live in Orile-Oko are Remos while others are Egba people, but the land belongs to Remo. Records attest to the fact that Orile-Oko is part of Remoland. So, we have come to seek the assistance of the lawmakers not to accede to the request of Governor Amosun, by merging Orile-Oko with Obafemi Owode. Orile-Oko is part of Remo; we are not ready to concede an inch or square of Orile-Oko.”

    Similarly, indigenes and residents of Sango-Ijoko in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area staged a protest march to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Abeokuta home, asking him to wade into the proposed creation of Sango-Ijoko LCDA by Amosun. The protesters, led by the duo of Chief Aderemi Quadri and Chief Idowu Olaniyi, appealed to Obasanjo to save them from what they described as “unjust” boundary adjustment contained in the proposed LCDA.

    They claimed that the boundary adjustment would cut them off their root and force them to become part of Ota in Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government. According to the protesters, the boundary adjustment, if allowed to stay, would rob them of their facilities, including Sango garage, market, primary and secondary schools and the only health centre.

    A community leader, Hon. Mufutau Balogun, also complained that their oppressors in the existing Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Council are desirous of annexing the healthcare centre, market, motor parks and three primary schools located in Sango communities. They argued that, if that is allowed to happen, the proposed LCDA would be crippled politically, economically and socially.

    Balogun said: “We don’t want to be enslaved any further by the Ota people; we don’t want Sango to be broken into parts. We are Egbas and our ancestors were the first to settle in Sango – Ijoko as at 1839 and were later joined by other tribes.

    “Our first traditional ruler — Baale Ajenifuja — was installed in 1916 and the Olota of Ota, Oba Timothy Fadina, was banished to Sango in 1948/49 when he was dethroned in Ota. It is a known tradition in Yorubaland that, when a community banishes an Oba, he is driven to a land that is not theirs. So, we want all our Egba communities in Sango – Ijoko LCDA and none should be ceded to the Ota people.”

    However, the Deputy Speaker, Kunle Oluomo, said that people were not moved from one place to another and that legislators are looking into all the worries and fears of the indigenes and residents over the issue. Oluomo, who represents Ifo 1 Constituency, said this informed why the house directed that a referendum be conducted in some areas.

    He also explained that some local governments were broken into two or three, but the indigenes and residents remained largely unaffected, as nobody was assigned or moved to where he shouldn’t be.

    Oluomo said the lawmakers have also looked into the complains of the Orile-Oko people critically and concluded that they cannot be shuffled to another area, but should stay where they are.

    The Deputy Speaker noted that this observation by the legislators had been communicated to Amosun, who also had reasoned along with them in that regard.

    On the issue of agitations for more LCDAs by some indigenes, particularly people from the Ogun West (Yewa), Oluomo said the legislators are aware of it, based on the petitions, pleas and files before the House.

    He said that creation of more LCDAs is a continuous exercise. He added that another “LCDAs can’t happen now,” except the ones already proposed and being worked on by all the stakeholders.

    He said the state is being guided by the rationale to create manageable number, instead to creating too many LCDAs that would later become problematic.

    Oluomo, however, assured that the process of completing the creation of the LCDAs is in progress, with the successful conduct of the referendum on April 21 by the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC).

    The Deputy Speaker said the legislators are awaiting the outcome of the referendum from OGSIEC while resolutions from the chairmen of the affected local governments approving the creation of the proposed LCDAs are also being expected to enable the House to tidy its own end and pass the bill.

    He said when the proposed LCDAs, it would open a new vista of opportunity to tap from the abundant natural and human resources inherent in various localities.

    According to the Chairman, OGSIEC, Alhaja Risikat Ogunfemi, indications are that the people are actually desirous of having additional LCDAs. He said after the collation of the results of the referendum, the electoral body would send a comprehensive report to the House of Assembly for further action.

  • APC blasts Fayose, aides over ‘dead’ lawmaker controversy

    APC blasts Fayose, aides over ‘dead’ lawmaker controversy

    The Ekiti State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has slammed Governor Ayo Fayose and his aides for allegedly employing lies and falsehood to create tension and divert attention from alleged crimes against the constitution and the people.

    The party said the claim of the Fayose administration that the lawmaker representing Efon, Afolabi Akanni, has died in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) was an attempt to blackmail the Federal Government.

    In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Taiwo Olatunbosun, the APC said three other lawmakers declared “missing” by the House of Assembly are hiding in Fayose’s home in Afao-Ekiti.

    The APC said the recent claim by Fayose’s men that DSS officers invaded the House of Assembly “was one in the series of the governor’s shameless lies to set Nigerians against the security agency.”

    According to the party, this is even after security report and workers of the Assembly had said “there was no invasion and shooting anywhere”.

    “The spreading of the rumour of Akanni’s death bore the mark of usual blackmail stunts by the governor to create tension among the people to cause mayhem.

    ”This is to divert attention from his alleged criminal acts, including court invasion to beat up a judge, attacks on the opposition and criminal manipulation of electoral process that gave him victory.”

    Olatunbosun urged Nigerians not to see Fayose’s behaviour as a standard conduct among Ekiti people.

    “The governor’s special behaviour is the price of electing ‘unserious people’ into honourable positions of authority.”

  • Controversy trails pay rise deal for 300,000 petrol attendants

    Talks on the planned enhanced remuneration for about 300,000 petrol attendants across the country  may have been stalled, The Nation has learnt. The talks were scheduled to begin last  month.

    There was an agreement to increase the salaries of petrol attendants  by last month, but the decision has been mirred by disagreement and stakeholders in the deal are back to the discussion table.

    The deal is being brokered by some interest groups within the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

    The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN); Petrol Dealers Association of Nigeria (PEDAN); Petrol Station Workers Union (PSWU) and National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) are yet to reach an agreement on the issue.

    Intrigues and power play, it was gathered, are hindering the implementation of the scheme, a development that suggests that the majority of the workers are still receiving  N8,000.

    Sources, who pleaded anonymity, said the controversy has mirred the  unions involved in the issue have failed to reach a consensus to ensure that the workers get a better deal.

    The sources at the meeting of the unions, which took place in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, said the workers could not get new salary package as planned for last month due to some problems in the scheme, which were yet to be resolved.

    The Major Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), a part of the talks, according to the sources, though absent, would not refuse to accede to the demand of the petrol station workers, adding that   MOMAN’s commitment was not in  doubt.

    “The Petrol Dealers Association of Nigeria (PEDAN), Petrol Station Workers Union (PSWU) and others are still working out modalities for the implementation of the enhanced welfare package. The Independent Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) is yet to show strong commitment to the issue. We do hope that all the concerned groups would come to terms on the issue soon. This will give the workers a new lease of life, given that most of them are not well paid,” the sources said.

    Efforts to get the IPMAN’s President, Chief Chinedu Okoronkwo to speak on the issue proved abortive, but the ex-officio, Petrol Station Workers Union, Mr. Samson Akintayo said modalities for the new salary scheme for the fuel attendants have been fashioned out by bodies, such as PSWU, which is the apex body for petrol attendants, Petrol Dealers Association of Nigeria (PEDAN), IPMAN and NUPENG.

    He said the assocaitions were involved in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which drafted the conditions of service for the workers.

    He said the agreement would spell out the new salary structures of the attendants, their leave bonuses, hospital bills, and other packages, adding each of the 300,000 attendants  who work in over 30,000 filling stations in the six-geo political zones of the country would be given a copy of the agreement, as soon as the scheme takes off.

    He said the minimum salary for the attendants is N15,000, while the older and experienced ones would earn between N20,000 and N25,000  monthly under the new scheme.

  • Chicken Republic’s social media ads stir controversy

    Chicken Republic’s social media ads stir controversy

    Chicken Republic, a quick service restaurant, has provoked the social media community by using the travails of the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, to market its brand. The advert, one that went unnoticed out of several, is being questioned on ethical ground by social media commentators and brand analysts, writes ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI.

    No one, perhaps, only a few, took the brand, Chicken Republic, a quick service restaurant, up on its series of advertising campaigns on social and political gaffes in the last one year, until the recent one. In a recent campaign that is generating a fuss, in the brands and marketing community, as well as the social media, the company used the travail of the National Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Olisa Metuh, to create what some described as a mockery or satirical social media campaign.

    The controversy was inspired by the arrest of Metuh on allegation of corruption. Few days after his arrest, he was reportedly on hunger strike. Days later, when he was brought to the court, Facebook and Twitter in Nigeria almost collapsed under the weight of narratives about whether or not, it was right for the government to have brought him to court on handcuffs. Metuh was also rumoured to have attempted to “chew” his written statement, an issue that made the EFCC to level other separate charges of trying to destroy evidence against him.

    In the midst of his travail, Chicken Republic’s creative agency, BBDO, was inspired to create content; a cartoon where Chicken Republic was asking the rather funny question- why eat your words when you can eat our chicken? In the cartoon, a Chicken Republic “chicken” is seen flying to deliver a special food order for Metuh while he was in EFCC custody.

    Following the release of the creative material on social media, its audience who were unhappy with the way Metuh is being treated, vent their anger against the QSR on Facebook and twitter, calling for the boycott of the QSR on account of this.  ”Those who were piloting this ship even went as far as creating their own cartoons, some of which had pictures of people vomiting after eating at Chicken Republic,” says Brand-Analyst-Chief at Brandish.com.ng.

    That’s not the first of such controversial ad from the brand. The Nation sighted other social issue ads on Chicken Republic twitter @ChickenRepublic playing on some of the happenings in the country in the last one year. Some of the social media ads include: No More Black Friday Discount for Petrol on November 7; On appointment of Babatunde Fashola: Yoruba Dictionary, Okunrin meta ‘3-in-1 BRF’. The brand also used another one on Buhari with a campaign theme-Baba-Go-Fast and several hashtags on: þ@ChickenRepublic  8 Oct 2015 #UsainBuhari #PickingUpSpeed #BoltOfChange #HopeFortheFuture #BetterThingsToCome #ChickenRepublic. On March 21, the brand also used a cartoon with an theme: How to Woo Electorate. These are some of the social critic campaign from the QSR.

    Also, Chicken Republic has done another ridiculing of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as former Chelsea Manager, Jose Mourinho.

    But the take on Metuh has generated much furore from social media audience believed to be his sympathisers. This according to some, could affect the market of the brand, especially in the areas that have soft spot for him. On the other hand, the some analysts believe it could further strengthen the brand instead.

    “You see, what these angry people were doing are exactly what Chicken Republic desired. The brand wanted conversations. ‘Let the people be talking about us,’ must have been the message to the agency behind the campaign. Chicken Republic is easily country’s biggest, operating 65 outlets in Nigeria and Ghana and looking like it is the only indigenous quick service restaurant that still makes money. In these days when traditional advertising really no longer works and folks are playing more in the content space, Chicken Republic seemed to have caught the bug quicker than most other players in and outside the QSR industry,” said Okuhu.

    He said to provoke conversations and generate viral buzz, Chicken Republic has chosen the very controversial, as themes for its content, designed mainly in the form of cartoons with real people, with real emotional arteries running through millions of individuals as subjects.

    “Its latest focus was Olisa Metuh and for a couple of days, it seemed like this was a wrong choice for this company that has clearly innovated better than the rest of the industry, especially the locals. Emotions ran wild, especially among those who are Metuh’s fans and supporters. And it worked!,” he said.

    “In less than 48 hours after the content was released, hundreds of thousands have shared it on Facebook. Countless others who are angry created their own messages and even called for boycotts. But nobody ever boycotted a business for doing such things. Chicken Republic seems to have understood social media even better than those who use it every day to share content and be up-to-date on news and information. They know that “sharing” is at the core of why we are on the social media. They also are aware that the more a particular content is shared, the more people talked about it and the higher they go in terms of top-of-mind,” said Okuhu.

    He said little wonder the brand has grown from $2 million at launch back in the early 2000s to over $150 million today. Okuhu affirms further: “A brand that prides itself as one for the young must firmly understand what drives this community and controversy is one of them.”

    Another commentator, Kelechi Deca in one of his comments on the controversial cartoon, said Chicken Republic will profit rather than lose at the end of the day. “Instead of boycott, more people will throng the restaurants for even more chicken,” he noted. He added, “Not all demarkating actually ends up demarkating a brand. It might lead to the emergence of another crop of supporters …”

    It will be recalled that few months ago, StanbicIBTC also mocked English Premier League side, Arsenal, on twitter after its goalkeeper let in cheap goals in the first game of the season against West Ham United.

    “As we said in a review of that campaign, especially when Arsenal fans were raving and ranting all over the place, the winner at the end of the day would be Stanbic IBTC. We had then made it clear that “content is critical to marketing these days. When you have the right content, what it does for the brand is to breed a sense of community via social conversations. Content has come to replace the old-reliable word-of-mouth communication and tends to be a lot more effective because it has a way of bringing a lot more people together,” Okuhu recalled.

    Whether the ad is in bad taste or not, there is a consensus among brand analysts that Chicken Republic has won yet again. “For the people on the side of Metuh, they have inadvertently spread the word on the brand, even with their boycott calls,” said Okuhu.

     

  • Controversy over budget’s whereabouts

    Controversy over budget’s whereabouts

    What is the fate of Budget 2016? Contrary to the promise by the National Assembly that it will make its consideration a priority on resumption from the Christmas/New Year break, it was not discussed yesterday.

    Both chambers yesterday returned from recess. The House shifted work on the budget till next week. Instead, it gave priority to its bills.

    The Senate held a stormy session over alleged “disappearance” of the hard copies of the budget proposal submitted to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 22, last year.

    The senators were said to have been “troubled” that the fiscal document presented suddenly developed wings and “disappeared”.

    The “missing document” was said to have been the subject of a closed session summoned by Senate President Bukola Saraki, shortly after the lawmakers reconvened from their break.

    Copies of the budget proposal were not distributed to the lawmakers before they vacated went on break.

    The disappearance of the hard copies of the document was said to have been disclosed by Senate leader Ali Ndume during a closed session that lasted over one hour, 30 minutes.

    Reporters were not briefed after the session but Ndume roundly dismissed insinuations that the fiscal document was missing.

    Ndume wondered how anybody could say that the budget proposal was missing when the document is not money.

    The alleged disappearance of the document is coming a few days after news of the withdrawal of the budget estimates made the rounds.

    In fact, an official in the Presidency also hinted of a likely retrieval of the document for some amendments.

    But Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters Senator Ita Enang dismissed insinuations that the budget proposal was withdrawn.

    Consideration of the fiscal document was, however, not listed in the Senate Order Paper yesterday.

    It was gathered that senators at closed session mandated the Senate President to liaise with President Buhari on the missing document.

    Senate President Saraki was at the Aso Villa for a brief meeting with President Buhari.

    Saraki, who came out from the President’s office after about 30 minutes, declined to speak with reporters.

    When asked by reporters about the document’s whereabouts, Saraki exclaimed: “Ha, ha, ha”, and jumped into his vehicle.

    It was gathered that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators accused the Presidency of being behind the disappearance of the documents.

    But All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers were said to have taken exception to the accusation as they considered it uncalled for.

    Ndume said: “Budget cannot be missing. One copy can be laid; it is a symbolic copy. The budget will be in custody of both chambers; it cannot be stolen; it cannot be missing. Once the budget is laid in the National Assembly, it has become the property of the National Assembly.

    “Saraki’s visit to Villa is for Senate to know the President’s priority. We want to see how we can fast-track the passage of the budget before the end of February. What is before the Senate is proposal. Once the President signs it, it cannot be amended. We can turn the budget upside down; it cannot be missing. If it is online, you can produce the budget; how can it be missing?”

  • Student’s death: Controversy trails UPTH panel’s report

    Student’s death: Controversy trails UPTH panel’s report

    The panel set up by the management of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Choba Port Harcourt in Rivers State to investigate the cause of death of one of the students of the University of Port Harcourt, Kelechi Ndulagwu Precious has released its report. The late Miss Precious was an undergraduate student of Theatre and Film Studies of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

    The management of the UPTH was forced to set up the panel following the wide protest and condemnation that trailed the death of Kelechi, who died on August 30, after she was reportedly denied treatment by members of staff of the hospital, which cited lack of available bed space.

    The unlucky student was said to have later collapsed in her hostel bathroom and died shortly afterwards on the same day.

    Her death did not go down well with her colleagues and leadership of the Students’ Union Government (SUG). This led to wild protests that grounded activities of the university. The angry students destroyed some medical equipment at the UPTH.

    The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of UPTH, Prof. Aaron Ojule quickly invited the press to exonerate the hospital from the allegation of the death of the undergraduate.

    He said: “It was not an issue of rejection; we cannot reject anybody outside the campus let alone a student of the university. When the hospital is filled it is filled. We cannot ask somebody to go down to accept another. We sympathised with the victim’s family and the university over what happened. The students have alleged that we killed her, but we have no hand in her death.”

    Prof. Ojule added: “We have set up a panel to investigate the issue. They came here and we told them there was no space at the time they came and when the lady died, they said it was UPTH that killed her. We have always told the people that UPTH is over-subscribed.

    “Ironically, the panel, which was headed by a Professor of Obstetrics and a Professor of Gynaecology Prof. John Ikimalo, recommended the sack of two female nurses who were on duty when the late Kelechi was brought in.”

    The recommendation of Prof. Ikimalo’s report, rather than settle the debate of the incident, has raised more questions, particularly as it contradicted the earlier stance of the CMD.

    Prof. Ojule, who announced the result of the report of the panel in a press briefing at the boardroom of the hospital, explained that because of the critical nature of the matter, the management of the hospital decided to set up a panel to investigate the circumstances that led to the unfortunate incident.

    He said the panel recommended the sack of two nurses on duty at the time of the incident. The CMD, who did not mention the names of the nurses, said the panel condemned their acts of laxity and indiscipline.

    “The two members of staff flouted established rules and protocol that are applicable in the hospital. They have been issued queries and based on their unsatisfactory responses; the panel has recommended their sack. At present, we have placed them on suspension for three months without pay while waiting for the approval of the Ministry of Health.”

    The panel’s recommendation has received the support of the Rivers State government.

    The Deputy Governor, Dr. (Mrs) Ipalibo Harry Banigo said: “The punitive action taken by the panel set up by UPTH on the two nurses that orchestrated the death of Miss Kelechi Precious should serve as deterrent to erring public servants. The action of the management of the hospital would go a long way in checking future acts of negligence on the part of public workers.”

    But some members of the public are unimpressed. They are of the opinion that the panel should have blamed the government for not living up to its responsibilities of providing adequate facilities in public health sector rather than blame the death of the student on the nurses on duty.

    Those who have contrary views said the nurses were merely following instructions, which were alluded to by the CMD in his earlier press briefing, on what to do when there is no bed space in the hospital.

    Reacting to the panel’s recommendation, President Nigerian Democratic Awareness (NIDAF), Comrade Obiajunwo Paul threatened to mobilise members of the public to protest the decision if the Ministry of Health decides to approve the recommendation of the panel.

    “We are watching what will happen. What the panel did is to recommend. We want to know if the recommendation would be approved. It is unjust to blame the problem that the management should have accepted responsibility on the nurses on duty,” he said.

  • CONtroversy

    It perhaps was there all along; but with the criminal annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, CONtroversy made a brazen landing in Nigeria’s political public space.

    It is equal opportunity yarn: no moral, no conscience, no ethos, no decorum; just stiff, unconscionable bluff, doubly assured that impunity, in-your-face impunity, rules the roost.

    CONtroversy simply cons (or more accurately, badgers) the opposite party — often, the wronged — into submission!

    So, being such an amoral jungle, only the soulless bully, who presses into action the most outrageous of humbug and most audacious of lies, not to mention the most heartless of media spins, prevails.

    Again, back to June 12.  An election was held, the cleanest and freest in Nigeria’s history.  Somebody won: MKO Abiola (God bless his soul!).  Somebody lost: Bashir Tofa.

    But then some power criminals, under the military presidency of Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, had other ideas.  Their fatal conceit?  That they could erase, without breaking a sweat, the electoral will of the 14 million Nigerians that voted.

    After galloping from impunity to impunity, surely June 12 would be yet another impunity Nigerians must drink in — or chuck it?

    Well, it turned a rather nasty pass, birthing the most fearsome intra-Nigeria war of attrition, that set the country’s South West against the power hegemonists: hustlers who represented no one; but who nevertheless grandstand as “northern”, and their cells nationwide.

    After five years, when the dust cleared, the military which had always usurped power and subverted government, had itself thoroughly self-subverted, so much so that it barely kept its integrity.

    That misadventure’s bitter after-taste lingered even longer: in the military’s disgraceful show against Boko Haram under President Goodluck Jonathan, only mercifully rolled back, since President Muhammadu Buhari’s take-over on May 31.

    For the North, it was even more politically galling.  For not declaiming a few power prodigals that — in the North’s name, real or perceived — criminally abused their uniforms, a region that assumed the conceit that power was its for the asking, risked a cruel shut-out.

    That explained the political entente fundamental to forging the present 4th Republic, with former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s arranged choice to “appease” the South West.

    Obasanjo, after a  failed attempt at an illegal third term, returned the favour.  He gifted the North his own choice of northerner, in the late Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, despite the open secret of his illness.

    The death of Yar’Adua, and the rise of Goodluck Jonathan — despite the illicit stonewalling by the so-called Katsina cabal — left the North, yet again, trapped in the thick jungle of power wilderness!  Not bad for a community that refused to call to order, a few wayward rascals, among its ranks!

    But Muhammadu Buhari, hardly a hit with the northern power elite, would change all that.

    So, for once, the northern power elite — indeed, the errant Nigerian ruling class — would rely on a personage they would rather not do business with, to salvage them from their own putative self-ruin.  Really, in the closing months of the Jonathan Presidency, this breed was getting endangered, for the polity was melting down!

    See where politics without ethos can land a people?

    At the core of this morass is the queer idea of solo infraction but vicarious guilt.

    ‘The Saraki saga, however it pans out, should teach everyone braggadocio does not pay, especially if you have a mighty lot to hide’

    A politician steals solo.  But when it’s time to do the time, his action attains an ethnic or religious hue, making his putative guilt vicarious, even if he represented only himself when he did the alleged crime.

    That explains the umpteenth lobby for a politician in distress, by his local potentates or religious orders, reported with glee in the media, as if it was the divine thing to do.

    Still, pathos is a universal emotion.  The fall of the vilest of leaders unleashes some deep pity: the fall of Iraq’s Saddam Hussein, hanged on Eid-el-Kabir Day, 30 December 2006, for instance.  Or Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi, felled by pursuing rebels, in the streets.

    Even in classical literature and Shakespeare, that tragic heroes die of their own follies didn’t dam societal pathos.  So, when Anthony in Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra gambled away his share of the Roman empire, on the loins of Eygpt’s Queen Cleopatra, he knew there would be terrible consequences — and indeed, there was.

    But Nigeria is less the universal humanity symbolised by pathos, but more of its abuse.  It is a country a public figure would deliberately challenge the law in a no-contest; yet when the law roars back in its full majesty, his community, that had played dumb during the rash challenge, would jerk awake to bawl “victimisation”!

    The Bukola Saraki saga is before a court of law.  Needless to say, controversy is at play, for or against.  Judgment will come, one way or another.

    But even as that plays out, a manoeuvre is already on — to fill the senate presidential seat, should Saraki finally fall.  From newspaper reports, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is set to pounce on the Senate Presidency.

    Again, the rule is not decency, not morality, not fairness, not even basic reason; just crass real-politik — read unconscionable audacity — for how would a minority party in parliament plot to seize the natural right of the majority, and will kid itself everything would be well?

    Meanwhile, the polity is near-funereally silent now, while this reckless stratagem goes on.  It is the bliss of the reckless dog, biting man.  But when the irate man starts biting that dog, the place will explode with pitiable screams of “victimisation”, “high-handedness” and allied epithets of cheap pity!

    Even the so-called “front runners”, in the alleged plot, are just a laugh: Ike Ekweremadu, controversial Senate deputy president, courtesy of Saraki’s brazen sell-out of his party for personal glory; Godswill Akpabio, even more controversial Senate minority leader and megalomaniacal former Akwa Ibom governor, and David Mark, former Senate president, who may yet keep a date with history for his alleged great deeds (or misdeeds!) of scuttling June 12, despite returning as one of the greatest beneficiaries of reinstated democracy.

    MKO’s ghost, after all, still hovers over the political space!  It took a whole of 16 years for PDP to self-destroy in its politics of soulless opportunism.  It should take even less for tigers of that ancien regime to politically perish too, should they continue in their old gbaju e (urban Yoruba street quip for audacious) ways.

    The Saraki saga, however it pans out, should teach everyone braggadocio does not pay, especially if you have a mighty lot to hide.  But then, that comes with the territory of political impunity, which has assumed a sickening political culture.

    President Buhari should leverage his personal integrity to crush this monster, even if his presidency uses the skulls of a few errant politicians to crack that evil coconut.

    Or Nigeria goes nowhere — for no country progresses without a moral core on which it anchors its national ethos.

  • Centenary City of controversy

    Centenary City of controversy

    Its founders may have conceived a near-paradise of a metropolis but all the Centenary City has offered is one controversy after another. GBENGA OMOKHUNU reports on the latest: indigenous women taking former Minister of the territory, Bala Mohammed to task over nonpayment of compensation.

    When will dreadful tales end about a city conceived to offer beauty and class? Initiated by the Dr. Goodluck Jonathan administration to mark the country’s 100th anniversary, the Abuja Centenary City was, at least in the head of its founders, nothing short of a dream land, a metropolis where everything was in its place.

    In reality, the multi-billion naira city has provided nothing but agony and controversy. There is no city to speak of. No houses, no residents, no beautiful lawns or classy cars cruising well paved roads. Forests surround the site. The city has failed to take off.

    That is not all. Many have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to scrap the project. Some have asked whether former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, whose office championed the project, had any personal interests in it and whether or not he declared such interests. Anyim also faced questions regarding how he reportedly sourced N1.2 billion allegedly paid from his company’s account to displaced people.

    Now, some of those displaced people have said they were not paid any resettlement fees as compensation for their indigenous lands acquired for the Centenary City. Indigenous women in Abuja under the auspices of Airport Road Gbagyi Women Association have petitioned President Muhammadu Buhari over nonpayment of compensation by the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Centenary City Plc.

    Women Leader of Centenary City affected communities, Mrs. Ladi Danladi who made this known in a press statement called on Buhari to sanction the former Minister for FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed for pitching him and his administration against the people.

    According to the indigenous women, Buhari should compel the former Minister for FCT Senator Bala Mohammed to immediately provide adequate compensation for their lost means of livelihood.

    “Professional estimates put the compensation value at more than N10 billion. A lot of our young people are going to be rendered idle and we do not want this to happen because an idle mind is a fertile mind for anything.

    “Compel the Minister to retract his malicious and false accusation that he has paid us one billion two hundred million (N1,200,000,000) naira as compensation. Reassure us that we will not regret our support for your administration by correcting this outright injustice.

    “Proactively handle this to avoid a breach of peace within the FCT and by extension the Nigerian nation. We write to vehemently protest the wicked, malicious and unfortunate deprivation of our means of sustainable livelihood, false accusation, discord and hatred being sown in our community that may lead to breach of peace by the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed.

    “We are the entire women representing the original inhabitant communities of the area presently designated as the centenary city, consisting of the following communities, Baruwa, Dayisna, Kpaikpai and Togo. We as women are the last bastion of peace, as we have been intervening and preventing our men from carrying out their threat of outright confrontation,” they said.

    They explained that their communities have always loved and supported the present administration and they are willing to give President Buhari more support, that however, following the recent development, many of their people are beginning to question the sincerity of the present administration based on the actions of the FCT Minister.

    “The Minister has announced that he is compensating us for our means of sustainable livelihood with a sum of One billion Two Hundred Million Naira (N1, 200,000,000). Your Excellency, this sum is very paltry considering the huge number of our people whose means of livelihood will be terminated. No proper enumeration has been conducted and these figures do not in any way represent the quantity of losses that has been and will be incurred on the loss of our livelihood.

    Reminiscing over the purported one billion two hundred million naira announced to us as compensation, it is on record that the minister has only released the sum of three hundred, nineteen million, five hundred and seventy four thousand, nine hundred and seventy eight naira only.

    “The actual amount paid was N319, 574,978 the affected communities are BARUWA with a population of 702 people paid N80, 467,925, KPAIKPAI with a population of 656 people paid N55, 551,641, TOGE with a population of 681 people paid N86, 614,069 and DAYISNA with a population of 1,015 people paid N96, 941,343. Putting these people together, you will have a total number of 3,054 persons from the 4 communities.

    in Abuja, said that the affected communities namely, Barwa, Dayisna, Kpaikpai and Toga the condemned condemned and disassociate themselves from the statement.

    “We categorically consider the said approval of the report as submitted to Mr. President in it entiréty as fradulent, misleading and deceit. The authority had reneged on our collective position reached between the affected communities and the authority to constitute a standing Committee to fashion out modalities for the relocation and resettlement of the affected communities.

    “We have sincé rebuffed and countered by our letters to some government and concerned authorities, the statement made by the Director of Centenary City Plc, that affected communities have been compensated.

    “It is however, regretable that up to the time of this press briefing, we are yet to receive any response, correspondence or attention from the concern authourities. It is on record that the sum of N319, 574,979:00k only was spent as monetary compensation to the affected communities with respect to their crops and economic trees only,” they said.

    The indigènes explained in a breakdown of how the N319,574,979:00k they got for their crops and economic trees was shared amongst the affected communities, that Barwa village got N80,467,928, Dayisna village got N96,941,343:50k, Kpaikpai village N55,551,641, while Toge village got N86,614,069.

    “We therefore challenge the authority to explain how, and when the said a whoopping sum of over one billion naira, N1.237 was spent as compensation to the affected communities with verifiable evidence.

    “We have resolved to undertake all available legal and constitutional means to make sure that our inalienable rights as guarranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are not trampled upon as citizens of Nigeria,” Gade said.