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Tag: Daniel

  • Daniel urges NLC on 2014 Pension Reform Act

    Daniel urges NLC on 2014 Pension Reform Act

    The Pension Reform Act 2014 would remain a mirage unless efforts were made to educate workers on their rights by  labour unions, Commissioner for Insurance, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM), Fola Daniel, has said.

    He spoke at the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) Central Working Committee meeting in Enugu.

    He said proper enlightenment would ensure that workers were not shortchanged by employers who fail to comply with the Act.

    Highlighting the benefits of the Pension Reform Act 2014, as it relates to compulsory Group Life Insurance and Life Annuity for the employees by the employers of all tiers of government, and the private sector as contained in Section 4 subsections 5 and Section 7 subsections 1c, he said the purpose of the relevant sections referred to, is to ensure that employee dependents have succour in the event of death during employment and for comfort after retirement.

    He noted that the Act is an update of the Pension Reform Act of 2004.

    He said: “While this act of parliament provides for the security of employees, it would remain a mirage or paper tiger unless conscious efforts are made to enlighten workers of their rights by respective labour unions to ensure that workers are not shortchanged as a result of failure of employer to comply with the provision of the act.

    “At the moment, compliance is largely effected by the Federal government whilst other tiers of government are yet to fully comply.  Compliance by private sector employers will need to be monitored to ensure that workers interests are protected.

    He stated that the Commission has effective collaboration with the National Pension Commission (PenCom) in enforcing the relevant provisions of the Pension Reform Act, adding that the collaboration will continue.

    He urge the NLC to leverage on the provisions of the Act by ensuring that workers were sensitised to demand for their rights as provided and also ensure compliance by all tiers of government and the private sector employers.

    The proactivity of the NLC and its affiliates would enable workers to access the well-intended welfare provision for the workers, he said.

  • Daniel is a political prostitute, says Kashamu

    Daniel is a political prostitute, says Kashamu

    Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain and Chairman of the party’s Organisation and Mobilisation Committee in the Southwest Prince Buruji Kashamu has described former Governor Gbenga Daniel as “someone suffering from an over dose of political prostitution”.

    He was reacting to a statement credited to Daniel yesterday in some national dailies, where the former governor described (Kashamu) as “suffering from political inexperience and over confidence”.

    In a statement yesterday by his Media Adviser, Mr Austin Oniyokor, Kashamu said: “Daniel is suffering from an overdose of political prostitution as a result of his serial defeat in the battle for the souls of the various parties he sought to ply his trade.

    “It is laughable that a renowned political prostitute like Daniel can refer to someone who has defeated him severally as inexperienced and over confident. What Daniel probably presumes to be his experience is how he uses party platforms to negotiate and feather his own nest, just like he did in 2011. The national leadership of our great party, the PDP, is wiser now and will not fall for such tricks anymore.

    “Perhaps he thinks we have forgotten that he jumped from the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to the PDP, PPN, LP, after the PDP made him all that he claims to be today.

    “Now, he has gone to LP, yet he says he wants to collaborate with us to chase away the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in Ogun State. We say “NO”. How can you collaborate with us to chase away the APC government when you are fielding candidates for the same offices, apart from the Presidency? This smacks of deceit and we will not fall for it. If you say you are the strongest party in Ogun State, we say let’s meet on the field. No need for any deceitful collaboration.

    “Only a few weeks ago, Senate President David Mark told the whole world that the PDP is not in any working arrangement with any party. We do not need any allied forces. PDP is PDP. LP is LP.

    “For the teeming members of Ogun PDP, Kashamu’s so-called political inexperience is good for them. It was the “political inexperience” that made him defeat Daniel in the struggle for the soul of the PDP in 2011 and beat his PPN to a distant third position in the polls.”

  • I resigned because of Daniel’s threat, says LP chair

    I resigned because of Daniel’s threat, says LP chair

    The Chairman of the Ogun State chapter of the Labour Party(LP), Bode Simeon, has resigned, alleging “harassment, intimidation and threat” to his life by former Governor Gbenga Daniel.

    Daniel’s media aide, Mr Ayo Giwa, did not comment on the allegation when The Nation called him yesterday.

    In the resignation letter dated July 26, and addressed to the National Chairman of the party, Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, someone also accused a federal lawmaker from Ondo State of threatening his life.

    The letter reads: “You will also recall that since the coming of Otunba Gbenga Daniel in to the party, we have not known any peace. He colluded with the National Secretariat using financial inducements to destroy Ogun LP. My life has been a subject of harassment, threats and intimidation.

    “Regarding the on-going suits in Lagos; I did it to affirm my belief in the rule of law, and even after the order was made, you disobeyed it and continue to promote illegality in Ogun state. But because of the persistent threat by Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD), Hon. Akinlaja to my life to drop the suit.

    “You threatened to deal with me on many occasions, I have got threats from Otunba Gbenga Daniel to withdraw from the case or risk bad things happening to my life. I do not want to waste my life in the course of running the party and I put the blame at you, my National Chairman for your inconsistency.

    “In view of this confusion to my life by Gbenga Daniel through Otunba Olumide Osunsina,  I accept responsibilities and events that led to the current crisis in Ogun Labour Party.”

  • APC to Daniel: face your case with EFCC

    APC to Daniel: face your case with EFCC

    The Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC ) has advised former Governor Gbenga Daniel to concentrate on his trial by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC).

    A statement by its Publicity Secretary, Sola Lawal, urged him to stop attacking Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

    The APC said: “It is regrettable that pariahs, who ought to be behind bars for sundry unmitigated crimes against the people are pontificating on the way forward for the same hapless people.

    “Whereas the Amosun administration has been adjudged as the best in recent time in the annals of governance in the state, forces of retrogression could still hold firmly the levers of obstinate denials.

    “The infrastructural, health , education, agricultural and other transformations witnessed in Ogun State since assumption of office of the Amosun government and widespread endorsement of these programmes by the people speak volume of the eagerness of Ogun people to cut a final break from a past of mesmerising oppression by elected people.”

    The party went on: “The eight locust years of the Daniel administration left a legacy of executive pilfering, brigandage, huge proliferation of arms among youths, widespread dejection among the people and general air of hopelessness.”

  • Court admits 26 EFCC documents against Daniel

    Court admits 26 EFCC documents against Daniel

    A state High Court sitting in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital has admitted as evidence 26 title documents in a resumed hearing of the trial of former governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel for corruption and other economic offences.

    Daniel is standing trial before Justice Olanrewaju Mabekoje on a 38- count charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    The charges against the former governor include stealing of over N200 million, diversion of public land to his personal during his tenure.

    At the resumed hearing yesterday, the EFCC brought in two officials of the State Bureau of Lands and Survey as witnesses and were led in evidence.

    They were also crossed examined by both the EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs (SAN) and Daniel’s lawyer, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan (SAN).

    Giving evidence, the first witness, Mariam Bolanle Ademoye, who is the Chief Registrar of the Bureau told the court that all the exhibits tendered before the court were certified true copies of title documents produced by her office upon request by the anti – graft agency.

    The exhibits concerned properties that were allegedly acquired illegally by the former governor and others said to have been unlawfully allocated to the governor, his wife, Yeye Olufunke Daniel and other companies where he (Daniel), allegedly, has vested interest.

    Also testifying, Mr. Isaac Akogun, a Deputy Director in the Bureau faulted the process the said lands were acquired, saying it did not follow due process.

    Akogun claimed he was ignorant of the process that led to the acquisitions even though he was the Assistant Director, Lands Services at the Bureau.

    He cited plots of land where Daniel built his house (Asoludero court, Sagamu), his father’s church, Regeneration Church of God, and other properties in Abeokuta where the acquisition did not satisfy due process.

    He said: “Four plots were merged together to form the bigger plot that was allocated to the church and upon further examination, two of the plots have subsisting interests while the remaining two were revoked.”

    However, Daniel’s counsel, Osipitan asked for adjournment, arguing that he needed some documents with which to help him cross-examine the witness.

    The case was adjourned till April 29 and May 30, for the continuation of hearing.

  • Controversy trails Daniel’s N9bn power equipment

    Controversy trails Daniel’s N9bn power equipment

    In the twilight of his administration in 2011, the then Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, commissioned a 7.2 megawatts energy plant, to boost electricity supply to the state secretariat at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta and thus ensured that government business was not stalled by the epileptic power supply from the patently inefficient Power Holding Company of Nigeria(PHCN).

    It was part of the first leg of the administration’s Independent Power Project (IPP) aimed at powering the proposed new Abeokuta Business District being conceived by Daniel at the time and to also help  power the state’s water supply equipment.

    But before leaving office, Daniel could not actualise the power project in full as over 30 pieces of the crated equipment were still waiting to be installed at some designated locations in the state when the administration wound up.

    Also, no fewer than 17 indigenes of the state were trained in China on the engineering, technical servicing and management of the equipment upon installation at Oke-Mosan by the contractor – an expatriate firm.

    Like the proverbial palm kernel shell on a domestic stone which continued to elicit questions from whoever sees it because he that cracked the kernel failed to rid the stone of the discomforting shells, Daniel’s power equipment which he purchased while in office is spewing up controversy between him and his successor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, barely three years after leaving the government house in Abeokuta.

    Recently, Amosun’s Finance Commissioner, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, gave insight into why the N9billion power equipment procured by Daniel’s administration are still lying idle at the car park of the state secretariat.

    Adeosun said aside the fact that the equipment were discovered to be obsolete, the cost of installing them coupled with the maintenance, would suffice to provide a better and modern power plant to drive socico-economic activities in the state.

    The commissioner spoke in reaction to a question on why the state government was desirous of procuring a new Gas Turbine engines whereas the existing power equipment bought by the previous administration remained unutilised.

    According to her, the government had even told the contractor of the equipment to source for buyers so that money realised from the sale could be used to buy modern power equipment such as the one in use at the Dangote Cement factory, Ibese, Ogun State.

    Adeosun spoke in Abeokuta, the state capital, at the 2014 budget breakdown put in place by the Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mrs Wande Muoyo.

    She challenged whoever that has confidence in the competence of the said obsolete power equipment to assist the government in getting buyers for it.

    Adeosun said: “when we came into office, we met the power equipment on ground. N9billion has already been spent on that equipment, they were asking for additional N5billion. In addition, they wanted N3billion to install it. When you want to spend that kind of money, you have to do cost benefit analysis, which we did.

    “We called in some power experts, they looked at the equipment and they said these equipment are about 20-years-old. To install it with N3billion, with that money you can buy brand new equipment which is going to be far more efficient than that average equipment.

    “They said if you have that kind of money, we do not advise you to implement these equipment. I’m sure you’ve gone past that power plant and seen the plumes of black smoke coming from the power plant. Go to Dangote’s plant at Ibese, look at the tiny, efficient, quiet power plant and that’s modern technology.

    “So, that’s why we took that decision and what we are trying to do is and we’ve told the contractor, look for somebody who can buy this and let us use the money to buy something modern. It is not new equipment; it is used equipment that was sold to us. We’ve already paid N9billion. If you have any buyer, maybe you can help us to advertise.”

    But Daniel who could not allow the matter to go quietly, fired back, saying the equipment were not obsolete as it came from credible manufacturers.

    Speaking through his media assistant, Mr Ayo Giwa, Daniel said labelling the equipment as obsolete by Amosun-led government is one its latest antics to discredit his achievements, believing they could wiped out.

    Daniel said: “it is totally unfounded and criminal to say that the power equipment were obsolete. They were purchased from reputable manufacturers, renowned for best practices in the sector.

    “As we speak, some of the equipment are generating and had been generating power at the Governor’s office complex including the state secretariat and the House of Assembly for an onward period of about three years (24/7 non-stop) and in some communities in the outskirts of Abeokuta, precisely where Day Waterman College was located along Siun-Sagamu Road.

    “So also is the fact that some of the equipment have been generating power at the Legislators’ and Commissioners’ quarters as well as the Presidential Lodge without any hitch for the past three years. It has also been used to generate power for street lightings within the city and it has proven to be in perfect order. It is just another way of hood winking the general public and painting the immediate past administration in bad light. If really they are outdated, good reasoning should inform them to return them to the manufacturers and get new ones and that is if they are in any way obsolete which is not true.

    “Since the employment of the equipment to generate power, it has never failed and this could be attested to by the general public especially those living or working in the areas mentioned. Saying they wanted to sell it out leaves much to be desired; it is sheer waste of state resources and another attempt to undo part of the legacies of Otunba Gbenga Daniel which has been the habitual practice of the present administration.”

     

  • Stowaway Daniel

    Stowaway Daniel

    •His case brings to the fore the importance of parental care in children’s upbringing

    It was not that we have not heard cases of stowaways above 18 years in Nigeria and elsewhere, but when a 13 year-old is involved, it is sure to generate news and excitement, and even surprise. That is why the story of Daniel Oikhena, who was arrested after emerging from the wheel compartment of an Arik Air Flight operating from Benin airport to Lagos on August 24, continues to generate debate.

    Although, Daniel, a Junior Secondary School (JSS) 1 pupil in Benin, Edo State, has been enjoying celebrity status of sort since his arrest, what he did was bad and he should be paying for it now but for his being a minor.

    It was for this same reason that his plight attracted the sympathy of a non-governmental organisation, DE Rauf’s Volunteer Group, that has offered him a scholarship to university level, to enable him realise his dream of travelling by air in a legitimate way. This was after the director-general of the group, Amitolu Shittu, confirmed that a team of lawyers led by Yinka Muyiwa and Nafiu Adeniyi had been at the Shangisha, Lagos office of the State Security Service (SSS), to apply for administrative bail for Daniel, where they were told that he was not detained but was merely delayed for security reasons.

    What is needed in the circumstance is counselling and not necessarily punishment since the boy is only a misguided minor. That probably explains why, apart from the scholarship offered by DE Rauf’s Volunteer Group, the Edo State Government that has taken custody of Daniel plans to send him to a “correctional facility” before allowing him to return to school.

    Opinions are bound to be divided on a matter like this. While many people believe that Daniel should not be punished owing to his tender age, others believe that the offence should not have been committed in the first place if the child was properly brought up. There is merit in both positions. Just as there is the fear that some other misguided kids who, seeing the way Daniel is treated as a celebrity, might want to capitalise on the incident to attempt to do likewise.

    This is why we support the “correctional facility” promised by the Edo State government for Daniel. Apart from this, however, our governments should provide recreational facilities for children to relax so that it is not all work and no play, which will make life boring for them.

    We must also stress the importance of parental care in the matter. Daniel is a typical example of a child from a broken home. Because they do not live together, Daniel’s father and mother showed up separately when their son was brought to the Government House in Benin. Daniel’s father, Osaigbowo (44), complained that he had a problem with his wife of 20 years. In fact, he showed up at government house when his son and wife were taken inside and was not allowed to join them. It was suspected that the father turned up only on hearing about the scholarship being offered to his son.

    Situations like this can easily lead to a child’s indulgence in criminal activities because the child is not properly cared for. Daniel, like many misguided adults and kids, might have heard of the United States as a place for him to make it as a runaway child.

    Under the circumstances, we cannot reasonably put all the blame on him. It is a problem arising from the problems of the larger society, especially our governments that do nothing to improve the welfare of Nigerian families or make concerted efforts to see to the education of every child to a level where he or she would understand the need for self realisation.

     

  • Daniel, the ‘Hollywood’ boy

    Daniel, the ‘Hollywood’ boy

    There are adventures and there are adventures. It all depends on the mindset and conception. Perhaps, for Daniel Ricky Ohikhena, who was recently arrested at the Lagos Airport after flying in the tyre hole of an Arik plane from Benin to Lagos, it was a risky, costly and suicidal adventure. The initial report of the incident said the boy told his interrogators that he was being maltreated and tried to escape from his parents. He thought the plane was on its way to the United States of America. He was wrong. Instead, the plane landed in Lagos and he was promptly handed over to security agents for investigation.

    Since then, the blame game had been on full throttle. Yakubu Dati, the General Manager, Corporate Communications, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, said the aviation security personnel of the agency had no option than to hand over the young voyager to the men of the State Security Service, SSS, for extensive investigation. Dati said the nature and circumstances surrounding the crime informed the agency’s decision, adding that the agency had, “in the meantime, adopted risk amelioration processes to safeguard flight operations and ensure that a similar incident does not occur.”

    However, FAAN has continued to trade blame with Arik Air over the incident. Dati said FAAN was “unfairly indicted” while the airline took no responsibility whatsoever for such a “serious security breach.” Giving the accounts of its preliminary findings, FAAN said, “Our investigations reveal that a passenger on board the flight called the attention of the cabin crew while the aircraft was waiting to take off at the threshold of the runway to the effect that they had seen a young boy walk under the aircraft and had not seen him re-appear on the other side. The cabin crew in turn informed the pilots in the cockpit about this. The pilots called the control tower and asked it to request FAAN to do a sweep of the area after their departure, opting to carry on with their flight despite the report. Upon the arrival of the aircraft in Lagos, we were informed that there had been a stowaway found alive alighting from the wheel well of the aircraft.

    In its own reaction, Arik blamed FAAN for the huge breach in security, noting that the incessant cases of security breaches at the nation’s airport had become a major source of concern to the airline. The airline wondered how the teenager beat the aviation security personnel at the Benin Airport to get to the runway. It said its pilot had reported to the control tower the presence of a strange boy in the bush about 200 – 300 metres at the end of the runway before leaving the airport. The captain was said to have been informed that the situation was under control and that he had been cleared for take-off.

    While the controversy raged, Evelyn, the mother of the boy, appeared on the scene. She said her son was a nice boy who never displayed any tendency for such a dangerous venture. The embattled mother said Daniel was a nice boy who did not mingle with bad friends. She said she was on a visit to her elder sister who had just put to bed when the incident happened. It was when she got home the following day that she could not find the boy. The only answer she got upon her enquiries on his whereabouts was that the daughter told her that they quarrelled in the night because Daniel woke up at midnight to watch movies. Daniel eventually slept in the sitting room. One of his younger brothers also said he saw Daniel remove all his school books from his bag. Her neighbours then told her that, at around 5 to 6 am of the fateful day, they heard sounds that somebody was opening the gate but never thought it was Daniel. The mother maintained that Daniel doesn’t go out. “What I know is that he is always watching films in the house but he doesn’t have friends. He is always at home; I have never seen anybody come to look for him and he doesn’t have friends.”

    Now let us look at the whole tragic-comedy this way. In these days of insurgency and bomb blasts all over the place, if that boy was carrying a bomb, it means he would have succeeded in blowing up the plane and all the passengers on board, including himself. Or if he had carefully dropped the lethal ware in the tyre hole and walked away, he would have caused an explosion of a catastrophic proportion. The question now is: how can somebody be in an aircraft without being detected? This shows that we have a serious security problem.

    For a teenager like Daniel, gaining access to the airport at all from a bush path was a fait accompli. Although he thought that the plane was headed for the US, he ‘boarded’ effortlessly and came out of it successfully, unscarred. Others before him were not so lucky. In 2010, Emeka Okechukwu Okeke, a desperate young Nigerian, who tried to smuggle himself to the United States, died in the tyre compartment of a Delta Airlines aircraft. His corpse was discovered on arrival in New York. Okeke sneaked into the place at Lagos airport. That was not all. In 2012, the dead body of a young, male Nigerian was also discovered in the wheel well, the undercarriage compartment of a domestic airline, after it returned from South Africa.

    It is needless for both Arik and FAAN to continue to trade blames over the incident. What about the plethora of other security agents at that airport? I mean the SSS, the Police, the Air Force and the rest of them. Where were their personnel during the boy’s daring stroll into a tyre hole?

    One disturbing thing is that, watching all manners of movies has become a major pastime of youths today. The other is playing games on television. The other day, I had a running battle with my son, a Senior Secondary School 3 student who was completely engrossed in playing some Nintendo games even at the heat of his final exams. Thank God that he came out well in the exams but it shows the depth of distraction that parents nowadays have to cope with in order to bring their children into line.

    Daniel may have been good at watching Hollywood movies. Hollywood is where you come across that type of derring-do. There is no doubt that Daniel is a talented young lad. But his adventure may be predicated on the discomfort which abject poverty has thrown the family into. It is doubtful if in that environment, he could realise his dreams. The young boy wants to go to America where he believes everything flows. Yes, there are opportunities in America. But as a black man, although Barack Obama rose to become the President of the most powerful nation in the world, how many black presidents will come after him? How and when? If you are hard-working, America provides you with all you need to reach the top. But many are there too who are barely existing on credit cards and other government largess. So, the likes of Daniel should not think that to make it in life, all you need is to package yourself in a tyre hole and dash to America. There is more to the Eldorado in America. You pay dearly for it.

    I will suggest that the relevant government agencies, and public-spirited organisations and individuals should see to the plight of Daniel and his family. He took the risk for a better tomorrow. That tomorrow should be made possible for him. The mother said she was so passionate about her children’s education. Now we have not heard any word from the father. I guess he is away in ‘Siberia’, ‘missing in action’, or marooned somewhere. The bottom line is that Daniel needs help. So also is the family, while the security agents on duty in Benin that day should face the music. It is one security breach too many!

  • Daniel goes to Lagos

    Daniel goes to Lagos

    LET’S get it right from the outset. This is not about the former governor and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – sorry, an error there; the Labour Party(LP) – Otunba Gbenga Daniel.

    Neither is it about politics, its rough and tumble, twists and turns, intrigues and treachery. Nor is it about politicians and their wily ways, their inconsistency and ineffectuality that have bred a stifling socio-political situation. Boko Haram. Kidnapping. Armed robbery. Ritual killing and other despicable acts. No.

    The story is familiar. A kid packed his bag, left home in Benin City, headed for the airport and jumped into the wheel compartment of an aircraft getting set to fly. The pilot, who had earlier complained that he saw an unusual movement, was cleared to take off. He did. Some passengers said the take-off was not smooth. They claimed that there was a bang and many were screaming: “Jesus! Jesus!”.

    Thankfully, the plane landed safely in Lagos. The passengers disembarked and congratulated one another for a safe trip. From the tyre compartment emerged a boy, in all the innocence of a kid. He wore an orange-white sweat shirt with a hood, a white rosary dangling from his tender neck and a black backpack in his hand. He was grabbed by a security man who held him so tightly as if he was his after-race prize.

    Poor boy. From his countenance, Daniel was upset. Probably not because he was seized like a Lagos pick-pocket. No. Most likely because the trip ended so soon. He was, surely, not yet in his destination. Daniel was heading for America and realising that he was still in Nigeria must have infuriated him.

    After watching some movies, he had confided in his younger brother that he was one day going to fly to America. What he didn’t say was that he was going to so do in such a sensational manner.

    Why did 13-year old Daniel choose to travel in that weird way? His mum, Mrs. Evelyn Ohikhena, said he was never maltreated. He couldn’t have been running away from a hostile home. To psychologists, this is a practical expression of the fecundity of a youngster’s mind, the raw power of imagination. Even the famous movie pranksters, Aki and Pawpaw, could have found Daniel’s feat a bit odd. Neither Edddie Murphy – Coming to America – would have imagined a kid stowaway. Nor Nkem Owoh’s peregrination in Osofia in London would have harboured such a stunt.

    Like in such strange matters, the Daniel story has suddenly bred an army of emergency aeronautics engineers and beer parlour pilots, who have not allowed the experts to talk. They have been arguing that the huge sound the plane was said to have let out at take-off couldn’t have been caused by the kid’s presence in the tyre area. Can that happen without the person who may have caused the obstruction being hurt? What is the size of the tyre? How possible is Daniel’s action, going by the laws of aerodynamics? Where does avionics come in? Is the tyre area lit for Daniel to see during his flight? The row goes on and on.

    If the pilot had aborted the take-off – assuming he was not sure the obstacle he saw had been cleared – the next day’s headline would have been so electrifying. Sample: “Hundreds escape death on Arik Air flight.” And such other sensational stuff.

    Spiritualists have entered the fray. A senior government official who was on the flight described Daniel as “an evil spirit”. He was shaking as he spoke – apparently thinking the boy had some ethereal force to bring down the aircraft but was handicapped by a superior power. Some even said the little one thought he was going to heaven.

    There is also a large crowd of security experts, who have been postulating on how our airports –we have thrown billions into knocking down and rebuilding terminals with little consideration for the human element, the personnel – should be secured against cows, sheep, birds and touts.

    The Daniel story is yet to end. Who are his class mates? Who is his teacher? What kind of pupil is he? Brilliant? Troublesome? Talkative? Naughty? Where is his dad? What does he do? What are Daniel’s other ambitions, besides just flying to America? Who are his heroes? Can he sing the National Anthem? In other words, does he believe in Nigeria where his future is assured? What fired his imagination? The American dream? A mere case of an idle mind being the devil’s workshop? Infant fantasy? Shouldn’t he have been in summer school, like the kids of the rich? The questions are many.

    His sister told The Nation yesterday: “He always said he will surprise us one day. His younger brothers also informed our mother that Daniel told them that one day, he would make our family popular. Thank God he is alive to tell the story himself.”

    Will Daniel’s antics open a new door of opportunity for terrorists as it is being suggested in some circles? That is neither here nor there. What is sure is that our overzealous security agents may have got a new licence to brutalise innocent people. Watch out for accidental discharges at airports!

    Daniel’s escapade may not have been driven by poverty. Farouk Abdulmuttalab, the Christmas Day underwear bomber, is not from a poor home. The son of a respected banker, he was seduced into extremism by the thoughts he harboured. He, apparently for some inexplicable psychology reasons, lent himself to radicalism. He remains unrepentant till date.

    But Daniel is not the first stowaway. According to The Telegraph of UK, American Clarence Terhune became perhaps the first aviation stowaway in 1928 after he hid himself on an airship, flying from the United States to Germany. So thrilled by his daring feat, the Germans offered Terhune a job at a department store.

    Mere imagination may have fired Daniel to undertake the Benin-Lagos flight. Not so for another Nigerian. Olajide Oluwaseun Noibi boarded a Virgin Atlantic flight from New York to Los Angeles in 2011, using an out-of-date boarding pass. He was arrested in LA after attempting to board another flight, using the same invalid boarding pass. When the police searched him, they found 10 other boarding passes, none of which bore his name.

    There was also the crafty cleaner who in 2009 boarded an aircraft at Medina Airport in Saudi Arabia on the pretence of cleaning it. He hid in the toilet of the Jaipur, India-bound flight. He was discovered when a passenger tried to use the facility.

    Kid sensations are scare nowadays, except for some pop stars singing lewd songs that are neither elevating nor inspiring. All noise, no sense – to the old school.

    I hope Daniel is doing fine with the security agents who have been questioning him. He should be allowed to go home and continue dreaming. It is from such dreams that great deeds sprout.

    He is daring, the very quality that many of our leaders lack. It is this lack of boldness and courage – and character – that has kept the nation in toddlerhood even at adulthood. The Nigerian paradox has planted in the minds of our leaders a strong feeling that state police is not possible; why don’t we try? A national conference is avoided like a plague. Isn’t it imperative now, considering the quagmire in which we have found ourselves?

    Nigeria needs dreaming and daring leaders. How do we get them?

     

     

    The return of Suntai

    TARABA State Governor Danbaba Suntai’s return on Sunday from a 10-month overseas medical trip was as dramatic as the circumstances that led to his incapacitation for that long. But the Taraba show is yet unfolding.

    Suntai is, no doubt, physically exhausted. He needs time to recuperate in peace – no stress, no worries. But, like in the late President Umarau Yar’Adua’s case, the selfish forces that are gaining from his being there, even if he is out of form in every way, will not let him throw in the towel.

    He sent a letter to the House to say he was set to return to work. The governor followed it up yesterday with a shocking dissolution of the executive council. Besides, he made a short broadcast, thanking the people for standing by him. Lagos lawyer Femi Falana is calling for an inquiry into the health of His Excellency. That is what the law says. If he is certified fit, he should continue to run the show.

    Suntai will not lose anything if he is allowed to quit, should doctors confirm that he can’t do the job. The forces that seem to be holding him captive are being unfair to him and the people. The buffoonery is unnecessary.

  • We’ve been vindicated on Daniel, says Ogun PDP

    The Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it has been vindicated with the appointment of the former state governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, as the “life patron” of the Labour Party (LP) in the state.

    The party said the confirmation of Daniel’s membership of the LP by the State Chairman, Olabode Simeon and its Secretary, Sunday Oginni, has “put paid to all the denials, intrigues and subterfuge of the OGD Group. ”

    In a statement by the state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Waliu Oladipupo, the party said, “With Daniel’s exit from our great party, a big political albatross and liability has been taken off the PDP. Now, our people can now take our word for it that we are building a new PDP in Ogun State; a PDP that is devoid of violence, brigandage, bloodbath and other ignoble acts.”

    The party appealed to its national leadership to withdraw all the goodwill and patronage that had hitherto accrued to Daniel courtesy of the PDP-led Federal Government, adding that it was aware that some slots were given to him as a result of the dummy the former governor allegedly sold to the top hierarchy of the PDP that he was still a member of the party.

    It urged the leaders of the party such as President Goodluck Jonathan, the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur; the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, to wade into the matter.

    It described Daniel as “an inconsistent politician who is always looking for a platform to feather his own nest. “