The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Friends

  • President and fair-weather friends

    Sir: The exit of the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar from the ruling APC has brought into the open the crisis rocking the party which has been concealed for long. To say his exit would not have an effect on the ruling party is to call white black. Atiku Abubakar’s coming into the APC in 2013 or thereabout was significant as his exit. That APC will come to this sorry state with the effort put together by the founding fathers notwithstanding the opposition from the then ruling party could hardly be imagined. This means that like the French Bourbon in the 18th century France, APC has learnt nothing and forgotten nothing. President Buhari suffered untold hardship and denial before assembling the coalition that eventually helped him to realize his ambition. I think that he should not be looking the other way when the edifice is crumbling.

    Analysts have deduced reasons for the exit of Atiku. One factor is that he is treated as an outcast by the party and the presidency. Two, his business interests is said to be a target for annihilation and so on. There is no doubt that a cabal is surrounding the president as the case with all political office holders. However, it is heart rendering that this set of people are often times fair weather friends who contributed nothing to the electoral victory of the president or whosoever. This people always fan the ember of discord between the political office holders and their benefactors through the advice and activities which are centred on self-aggrandizement.

    This happened during President Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency when jobbers pitched him against his benefactor and godfather, ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. The former president is living to tell the story while some of the demagogues are worming around President Buhari for patronages or actually benefitting from the present order. It is doubtful if President Buhari is enjoying the support of all those who supported his aspiration in the past, in spite of his glaring accomplishments. This is because most of them have been abandoned.

    To make the matter worse is the failure of the federal government to constitute the boards of federal agencies and parastatals. Doing this could have empowered party members, some of who rejected financial inducement from the Jonathan presidency. It should not surprise us that many PDP members are still serving on some of the boards of federal agencies and parastatals. What is happening at the federal level is repeating itself in the states except few like Lagos and others.

    It is amazing that as people are exiting the ruling party, others are coming in; that is politics. However, the most important thing to note is the calibre of those exiting and that of the new comers. In the case of the new comers in APC, it is glaring that majority are former public office holders running away from the long arm of law. They will do all to please the president. Some others are political jobbers who are out to corner political appointments from the president. Most of them have no base politically and would not mind returning to their former parties if they could not achieve their aims in the ruling party. These are fair weather friends milling around the president. Buhari should beware of them.

     

    • Adewuyi Adegbite,

    ayekooto05@gmail.com 

  • Two Friends

    Two Friends

    Joseph Conrad noted in one of his short stories that “there is no friend or enemy like a brother.” This quote rambled into me when I heard of the passing of the high-octane lawyer, Olu Onagoruwa. It was not his great work as a progressive lawyer that struck me but his well-known friendship that turned sour. I refer to his relationship with Gani Fawehinmi, the gadfly of tyrants. I was witness to the friendship. As a reporter with African Concord, I visited Gani’s chambers many times. Not a few times I saw Onagoruwa there. They ate, joked, backslapped together and pursued the law with the same ideological identity. They were not twins but twained. They duelled common foes. Their colleagues stigmatised them as rebels and denied them the land’s highest honour, SAN, for a long time.

    Gani used to say he did not trust anybody. He did not socialise outside his office or home. Olu broke the rule. They completed each other’s sentences, glad-handed, frothed over choice liquor. Gani invited Olu to pounded yam parties in his house with the Ondo goat meat delicacy called asun. Gani was wary of his travels. But at one time, they left town together every Friday night or Saturday morning, Gani to Ondo and Olu to Ijebu, and they kept company until the parted ways on the express. But the soul tie lost its soul with Abacha’s Hemlock when he called Olu to serve as minister for justice and attorney general.

    Gani warned, carped and cried over Olu’s choice to work with the brute. Olu said he was not going to compromise his principle. Gani’s point was that taking the job was a compromise already. I thought so too. Olu was not alone in this Abacha surrender. Men like Lateef Jakande and Ebenezer Babatope also lolloped into the cabinet. Like Olu, Babatope and Jakande have had their image battered by that choice, less so for Jakande because of his taciturn airs and his accomplishments as governor. Olu left Abacha’s government when his views ran riot against the despot. Months later, they killed his lawyer son. He also lost his wife. He shed tears at the Oputa panel in quest for justice for his son, Toyin. Gani, not a saint, but he gave him the counsel of a saint and he did not heed.

    Olu’s story shows how one choice can sully a lifetime of nobility. History records such many cases. May it not happen to anyone. Olu died out of public spotlight, apparently in deference to his son and his diminished profile. In his book, he wrote: “So Toyin was one of those killed to give Gen. Abacha the rest he will never have.” I wonder if Olu had any rest before he died over his decision to join Abacha. Apart from his son, he lost a friend and brother in Gani.

  • Family, friends urge IGP to rescue abducted director

    Family, friends urge IGP to rescue abducted director

    Ihe Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris, has been urged to rescue the Southsouth Regional Director of Dangote Cement PLC, Mr. Olapade Ojo-Odidie, who was abducted 84 days ago.

    Addressing reporters in Lagos, yesterday, Mr Tolu Orodu, the coordinator for the Intervention Committee for Ojo-Odidie, said security agencies and Rivers State government should act fast before anything untoward happened to him.

    He said neither the family members, nor relations had not been contacted by his abductors, noting that his wife and children were passing through harrowing moments.

    “Let me make it clear that the family and friends of the missing Olapade fondly called Pade, as at 83 days of his abduction are yet to be contacted by the abductors just as the vehicle and mobile phone of the victim had been recovered by the police.

    “We are deeply worried.  Our brother, who until his disappearance, was a regional director, Southsouth with Dangote Cement Plc and based in Warri, Delta State.

    “He travelled to Awka, Anambra State on April 22 to attend an official event organised by one of the company’s major distributors.

    “He attended the event with three other directors of the company, after which he was presumed to have travelled back to Asaba to check out of the hotel, where he lodged and thereafter headed to Warri through Port Harcourt since then, we have not heard from him.

    “The case was immediately reported to the Rivers State Police Command in Port Harcourt and the police authorities have been investigating the matter since then but without any breakthrough.

    “The police command confirmed the case as abduction and has recovered his mobile phone and official vehicle, Prado Jeep, (black) marked KSF580 DN,” he said.

  • Corruption has friends too

    It is intriguing that a federal legislator proposed a corruption-friendly law that is antagonistic to the country’s fight against corruption. It is unclear whether the idea belongs to the proposer, or whether the proposer is just a messenger who is delivering a message packaged by champions of corruption who are desperate to corrupt the anti-corruption war.

    The so-called Economic Amnesty Bill is particularly thought-provoking because it demonstrates the power of corruption and how the powerful can abuse power in favour of corruption. A report said: “The bill was introduced and read for the first time on June 14, 2017 on the floor of the House and awaits a second reading in July when it would be debated.”

    As the public awaits the debate on the bill in the House of Representatives, there are strong signals that the proposal is unpopular in the public space and offensive to right-thinking people. Did the proposer anticipate the degree of public opposition that the proposal has attracted?  Or did he expect a smooth ride?

    Here is a picture of the bill: “The bill seeks to give looters leeway to escape any form of probe, inquiry or prosecution after satisfying certain conditions. The proposed law is titled, “A bill for an Act to establish a scheme to harness untaxed money for investment purposes and to assure any declarant regarding inquiries and proceedings under Nigerian laws and for other matters connected therewith.”

    Here is an elaboration of the bill: “According to the sponsor of the bill, Linus Okorie (Peoples Democratic Party, Ebonyi State), the bill “seeks to allow all Nigerians and residents, who have any money or assets outside the system or have acquired such money or assets illegally (looted or any variant of the cliché) to come forward, within a set time frame, to declare same, pay tax/surcharge and compulsorily invest the funds in any sector of the Nigerian economy; and be granted full amnesty from inquiry or prosecution.”

    It is easy to see how this bill will help the corrupt and help corruption. Is it possible that Okorie’s proposal reflects the thinking about corruption in his federal constituency?  Are his constituents fully behind him in this pro-corruption campaign?

    Predictably, Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), said in a statement that showed deep disgust: “In spite of the steep decline in the sense of morality and values in Nigeria in the last 16 years, particularly since this Eight Session of the National Assembly was inaugurated, Okorie’s blatant and brazen advocacy of free looting is nevertheless still shocking to the senses.”

    Sagay added: “That a Nigerian legislator (a lawmaker) can have the effrontery to promote a bill which if enacted into law, will enable looters of our treasury and national patrimony to keep the loot, if only they can acknowledge it as looted, provided they undertake to spend it in Nigeria, is breathtaking. In summary, what Mr. Okorie is encouraging is free plundering of state funds without consequences.  Simply put, it is the legitimating of treasury plundering.  It is clear that if such a bill becomes law, the anti-corruption war is doomed.”

    It is understandable that anti-corruption warriors are shell-shocked by Okorie’s pro-corruption move. It is beyond question that this condemnable looters’ bill further calls into question the quality of lawmaking and the quality of lawmakers in the  federal legislature. What Okorie’s proposal suggests is that there are members of the National Assembly who lack a fundamental understanding of the developmental essence of the legislative role. Certainly, Okorie’s proposal cannot be regarded as an example of progressive thinking.

    There are similar instances of unprogressive thinking that corrupts the image of the federal legislature.  This information illustrates another instance: “A similar move had been suggested at the Senate in May 2016 when the Chairman, Senate Committee on Gas, Bassey Akpan, advocated special amnesty for owners of Nigeria’s stolen money stashed in the various banks across the world should such looters be willing to bring back the money and invest it in the country.”

    It is disturbing that this corruption-friendly idea reportedly suggested by a member of the Senate last year is the same idea that has been formally proposed by a member of the House of Representatives this year, indicating that there are members of the National Assembly who are on the same page on this issue of giving corruption a chance to breathe.

    Okorie’s proposal should have no place among honourable men and women in honourable legislative chambers.  It is an egregious idea that should be treated with utmost contempt.  While its introduction and first reading may be regarded as procedural stages, when it is time to debate the bill, there can be no excuse for not shooting down the absurdity.

    Sagay asked: “Now, what shall we do with Linus Okorie?” He supplied an answer that deserves to be taken seriously:  ”I propose that the House of Representatives should regard Okorie’s bill to be so impertinent and scandalous as to earn him a suspension from the House, for the rest of the Eight Session, i.e., until July 2019.That should serve notice that Nigeria will no longer tolerate such brazen impunity and corruption or its promotion thereof.”

    Perhaps Okorie deserves a more punitive penalty.  It may not be extreme to call for Okorie’s recall.  It is a point to ponder that there has been no reported expression of disappointment and disgust by Okorie’s constituents. The fight against corruption must be fought with every possible lawful weapon.  It is noteworthy that Sagay argued: “Section 15(5) of the Nigerian Constitution provides that ‘the State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of power.’ Should a legislator, a ranking public officer, be seen committing a breach of the Constitution, which at the same time constitutes assault on our sensibilities with relish?”

    Clearly, there is a need to improve legislative thinking in the National Assembly, given the negative example of Okorie’s proposal. The country deserves an apology from him for his indecent promotion of an unprogressive  idea that is essentially corruption-friendly.

  • Saraki vs. Amaechi: Friends or foes?

    Saraki vs. Amaechi: Friends or foes?

    The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and the Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, have a lot in common. They were two-time governors of their respective states (Kwara and Rivers) and also served as chairmen of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. They were also at the forefront of the revolt within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which culminated in the party’s loss of influence and former President Goodluck Jonathan’s loss at the March 28, 2015 presidential election.

    For a while, it looked like their alliance was made in heaven. But most times, success has a way of putting asunder what adversity had joined together. With speculations that Saraki worked against the emergence of Amaechi as the running mate to President Muhammadu Buhari in the build-up to the 2015 presidential election, their friendship began to wane. The schism turned into chasm with Saraki’s seeming rebellion against the All Progressives Party (APC) power bloc to which Amaechi allegedly belong, in order to emerge President of Nigeria’s Eighth National Assembly.

    While the cold war is on, the two remain in charge of powerful blocs within the party. And there is no shortage of ammunition should either of them try to escalate the feud to open warfare. Observers are watching to see if both men will sheath their swords for the sake of party unity.

  • Family, friends hail Osuntokun at 75th birthday

    Family, friends hail Osuntokun at 75th birthday

    Family members and well-wishers of Emeritus Professor of History and International Relations Professor Jide Osuntokun yesterday eulogised him at Sheraton Hotel,  Ikeja, Lagos, where his 75th birthday was marked.

    Osuntokun was celebrated by the students he taught from the 70s to date at the University of Lagos and Redeemer University. The informal reception was hosted by one of them, Mr. Biola Olusola, a lawyer.

    The ceremony was attended by his friends from universities, the media  and his old colleagues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They include former External Affairs Minister General Ike Nwachukwu under whom Osuntokun served as Special Adviser and Ambassador Dapo Fafowora.

    Members of his family, particularly his nieces and nephews including Chief Akin Osuntokun, former Special Adviser on Political Matters to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, called to congratulate Osuntokun when the celebration was on.

    Gen. Nwachukwu said his relationship with Prof. Osuntokun started long ago and since then he had no regret associating with him. He recalled that when Osuntokun served as his Special Adviser in the Ministry of External Affairs, he found him to be a reliable and a dependable colleague.

    The retired General said Osuntokun has every course to celebrate his 75th birth day because he has touched many lives as a teacher and a family man. He congratulated the university don for looking radiant at 75 and wished him many happy returns.

    One of his nephews, Ms Nike Osuntokun was full of praises for the Professor for what she described as his leadership role in the family. She noted that when she lost her father at a tender age, Professor Osuntokun filled the gap by looking after the children left behind by her dad.

    Akin Osuntokun thanked God for sparing the professor’s life to witness the occasion. According to him, he had faced many challenges in life. He lost his wife and he was detained by the Abacha military administration for six months.

    The host, Olusola, said nothing was too much to celebrate Professor Osuntokun because he had helped many people in the past. Olusola said the celebrator is getting back the result of his good deeds.

    Similarly, Osuntokun’s students from Redeemer University eulogised him as a teacher and a father. They described him a selfless intellectual.

    The celebrator thanked God for sparing his life to witness the occasion. He used the occasion to reflect on an air mishap he and Gen. Nwachukwu experienced during a diplomatic shuttle to Zambia. He said when the presidential plane that took them to Zambia was about to land at the airport, the light went off. The pilot complained that the plane was running short of fuel when it was hovering in the air.

    “Amid apprehension, the light was restored and the plane landed safely,” he said. Osuntokun said he had given up but for the divine intervention that restored the light.

    He thanked God for all that he was able to achieve on earth and prayed Him to endow him with good health to enable him do more in the service of humanity.

    The high-point of the occasion was the cutting of the cake. The guests were treated to a buffet lunch.

  • IT’S A WRAP: Kunle Afolayan hosts colleagues, friends to ‘threesome’ movie gig

    IT’S A WRAP: Kunle Afolayan hosts colleagues, friends to ‘threesome’ movie gig

    IT was a celebration of triumph as ace filmmaker, actor and CEO of Golden Effects Pictures, Kunle Afolayan hosted a wrap –up party of the production of three new movies – ‘Roti’, ‘Omugwo’ and ‘Tribunal’ –  all produced within 40 days.

    The party which held on Wednesday night at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, had some of the cast from the movies such as Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, Ayo Adesanya, Funso Adeolu, Carole King and Omowunmi Dada, letting their hair down to unwind.

    Others attendees include Art Designer, Pat Nebo; writer of ‘Tribunal’, Tunde Babalola as well as the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Steve Ayorinde.

    Starting from January 25, 2017, ‘Roti’ was shot in 11 days, followed by ‘Omugwo’ which was shot in 10 days and ‘Tribunal’ which was shot in eight days, according to Afolayan. The three movies are also scheduled to be released at the cinemas. While ‘Omugwo’ would be out on April 7, ‘Roti’ would be out on June 30 and ‘Tribunal’ would be out on July 17, 2017.

    “It has never happened before that anybody would release three movies back to back in cinemas,” said Afolayan, who thanked and personally appreciated every cast and crew present.

    “We’re setting a record, we’re setting pace.”

    Others on the cast of the movies include Bimbo Manuel, Norbert Young, Faithia Balogun, Patience Ozokwor, Toyin Oshinaike, Kate Henshaw, Kunle Afolayan, Darimisire Afolayan, Ade Laoye, Damilola Ogunsi, Ken Erics and Christian Paul.

    ‘Roti’ is a story on reincarnation in which a couple lose their child and the wife is thrown into depression when she sees a child who resembles her’s. ‘Tribunal’, a court-based story, deals with the stigma against albinos in the society whereby an albino loses his job in an unfair manner. The third movie, ‘Omugwo’ deals with culture clashes whereby a couple – a Yoruba man and an Igbo woman – have to contend with the Igbo practice of having the mother in-law live with the couple who just had a baby.

    Afolayan has over the years produced successful movies such as ‘Figurine’, ‘Phone Swap’, ‘Irapada’, ‘October 1’ and ‘The CEO’.

  • Day friends, associates celebrated Peterside, Asita

    Day friends, associates celebrated Peterside, Asita

    It is rare to find a governorship candidate and his running mate sharing the same birthday, but that is the situation in Rivers State.

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State during the 2015 election, Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside, and his running mate, Mr. Honourable Okorie Asita, a lawyer, were born on December 31.

    Last December 31 was a memorable day for Peterside and Asita, as they clocked 46 and 50, having been born in 1970 and 1966.

    Peterside is an alumnus of the Rivers State University of Science and Technology (RSUST), Port Harcourt and the University of Port Harcourt, popularly called Unique UNIPORT, where he bagged Doctorate in Organisational Behaviour, while his doctoral dissertation was in Corporate Political Strategy.

    The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) also attended Georgia State University, Atlanta and Harvard-Kennedy School, University of Harvard.

    While at the RSUST, Port Harcourt, where he studied Medical Laboratory Sciences, specialising in Haematology and Blood Transfusion, Peterside was elected National President of the National Union of Rivers State Students (NURSS) in January 1992. His Master’s in Management was also at RSUST, after a Post-Graduate Diploma (PGD).

    Peterside and Asita were at the House of Representatives at the same time (2011-2015). The NIMASA boss hails from Opobo, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area of Rivers state, the kingdom of the famous King Jaja, while Asita is an indigene of Okarki in Ahoada West LGA of the state.

    The governorship candidate of the APC in Rivers in the 2015 election, while speaking at the elaborate birthday bash organised by his friends, which took place at the highbrow and newly-inaugurated Lasien Pavilion Royale, an event centre on Forces Avenue, old Government Reservation Area (GRA), near Government House, Port Harcourt, said Asita played a key role in his election as National President of NURSS, while they were both at RSUST.

    Peterside said: “The good Lord has been faithful to us. He has been kind to us. We do not deserve His mercy and honour. We thank the Almighty God and we vow to serve Him all the days of our lives.

    “I am here to share with you that God rewards a life of sincerity, honesty, humility and trust. My brother Asita and I are products of God’s mercy and faithfulness.

    “Honesty, humility, fear of the Lord, trusting God will definitely be rewarded now and eternally. That is why we have absolutely no fear about what the future holds for us. The good Lord will always make a way, where there seems to be no way.”

    The NIMASA boss was appointed as Commissioner for Works by the then Rivers Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, now the Minister of Transportation.

    From being a commissioner, he was in 2011 elected to represent Andoni-Opobo/Nkoro constituency in the House of Representatives, where he became the Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum (Downstream).

    Peterside also said: “After the Almighty God, God chose Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as an instrument to take me from one point to another. It will be uncharitable not to acknowledge the roles he (Amaechi) has played in my life.

    “There is nobody who gets something, without God providing a platform or an instrument. I am grateful to Rt. Hon. Amaechi and his family. I also wish to thank the leadership of the APC in Rivers State. I have enjoyed tremendous support from the APC.”

    While the ex-Rivers commissioner for works was chairing the House of Representatives’ Committee on Petroleum (Downstream), the lawmaker representing Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, Senator Magnus Ngei Abe, was also chairing the same committee in the Senate, which made them to be much closer, besides being Rivers indigenes.

    When Peterside aspired in 2015 to be Rivers governor, Abe, who hails from Bera-Ogoni in Gokana LGA of Rivers state, was also a strong contender/aspirant on the platform of APC. The former eventually got the party’s ticket, while leaders of APC prevailed on the latter to return to the Senate, where he presently is.

    The director-general of NIMASA said: “Senator Abe has always been my friend. Sometime in 1991/1992, Chief Rufus Ada-George (the then Rivers governor) put us together in a committee to celebrate the silver jubilee anniversary of the creation of Rivers State.

    “When I was getting married in 1999/2000, in my home, the person that first arrived was Senator Magnus Abe. I used to live at No. 29, Immaculate Street, Borikiri, Port Harcourt. Senator Abe literally supervised my dressing, until we got to church.

    “Senator Abe said to me he was not going to stay throughout the wedding and that he would leave at some point. We have always had a close relationship. He has been to me, a brother, a friend and a trusted ally. Nothing will change it.”

    Peterside also publicly acknowledged the roles played by his running mate, whom he described as his reliable and trustworthy brother, friend and confidant.

    He said: “In 1991, I wanted to be the President of the Students’ Union at the RSUST, Port Harcourt, Asita played a key role and I emerged the President, by God’s grace.

     

    “Asita who played the key role at RSUST, went to the background. In 2015, when the members and leaders of the Rivers State APC chose me as the party’s governorship candidate, they also chose Asita to work with me as running mate.

    “We made attempt (in 2015), but God said He did not want me to be governor at that point in time and we said God, we surrender to your will and that God’s will is the best for us.

    “To the best of our ability, we (he and Asita) will continue to live a life of sincerity and selflessness. We will always put the interest of the generality first, before our own personal interest, whenever we have the opportunity. We will always put God first in all our activities and we will put the people next. Gratitude is a way of life for me. I appreciate all of you.”

    Asita, earlier in his opening remarks, stated that in spite of being four years older than Peterside, they remained very close friends, describing the governorship candidate as very honest, transparent, hardworking, a man of integrity and honour.

    Abe, born on May 24, 1965, while proposing the toast, described Peterside and Asita as his God-fearing and reliable friends, while referring to the director-general of NIMASA as an accomplished Nigerian, who had recorded tremendous achievements at 46, while displaying brilliance and intellect.

    The ex-Secretary to the Rivers State Government in Amaechi’s administration (Abe) also noted that the unique and easy-going Asita had no worries, making him to look like a 30-year-old man at 50.

    There were many men of God/clerics at the carnival-like thanksgiving, with the sermon handled by Rev. Essa Ogorry, who said there was the need for people to always put their trust only in God Almighty, while various groups of beautifully-dressed choristers added colour to the birthday bash.

    In his vote of thanks, the Chairman of the birthday committee, Bisi Nwankwo, an engineer, declared that besides God, the success of the thanksgiving should be attributed to a former member of the House of Representatives, who represented Akuku-Toru/Asari-Toru constituency of Rivers state between 2011 and 2015, Dr. Dawari Ibietela George.

    Peterside was first appointed Special Assistant to the then Rivers Governor, Dr. Peter Odili, on Students and Youths’ Affairs in August 1999, from where he was invited to serve as Chairman, Opobo-Nkoro Local Government Council in December 2002.

    He was later appointed as Senior Special Assistant on Works to the then governor, after his tenure as the chairman of Opobo/Nkoro council, while in 2005, he went further to pursue another passion of leadership grooming, through the founding of a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Development and Leadership Institute (DLI).

    While Peterside was championing the transformation of DLI from a local NGO to an international non-profit organisation, Amaechi invited him to serve as commissioner of works.

    The Amaopusenibo of Opobo Kingdom (Peterside), at various times, turned down no fewer than fourteen chieftaincy titles, many honourary doctoral degrees and awards, while rather believing in the people as a reason for service.

    The NIMASA boss is married to Elima, a lawyer, and they are blessed with three children: Soba, Belema and Miebi.

    The Rivers Chairman of the APC, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, while speaking on the birthday, said: “Those who have followed Dr. Peterside’s trajectory as a leader from his school days, until he was appointed Senior Special Assistant to Rivers Governor on Youths and Students Affairs at the beginning of this republic, know that he obviously has a rendezvous with history and he has shown invaluable and inestimable capacity to deliver beyond target.

    “Peterside has become legendary for showing limitless benevolence to the downtrodden, associates, colleagues and practical display of immense love and compassion to everyone that has crossed his path in life, especially with many persons on his ongoing overseas scholarship programme, which he started many years ago.”

    Ikanya also stated that Peterside’s 46 birthday was a perfect opportunity for him to sense the feeling of being alive in the depths of his heart and promise himself to continue to do greater things and aim even higher.

    While speaking with reporters after the thanksgiving, the NIMASA boss noted that Wike had a Herculean task to prove that the two leaked rigging audio tapes were not his voice.

    Peterside said: “It is a big embarrassment to our state that a governor or anybody who occupies the office of governor can be associated with the two leaked audio tapes.”

    While commenting on the passage of the Rivers State’s 2017 Budget under 48 hours, before Friday’s inauguration of the six APC lawmakers, the NIMASA boss noted that it was ridiculous and shocking.

    “We all know that Wike has taken loans in excess of N130 billion. Is there any provision in the budget to service the loans? No such provision.”

    Peterside also expressed displeasure on the spate of insecurity in Rivers, with kidnappers, cultists, armed robbers, sea pirates and assassins, among others, letting loose, leading to loss of lives and property.

     

     

     

  • ICRC: Friends of IDPs, Chibok girls

    ICRC: Friends of IDPs, Chibok girls

    The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is probably the best thing that has happened to internally displaced persons, reports DUKU JOEL

    With the release of 21 of the abducted Chibok, it has become clear that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is not just another global organisation trying to help people in danger.

    The ICRC and the Swiss government facilitated the return of the girls but even before the freedom of the girls, the organisation had been working very hard to bring succour to people in very dangerous situations.

    In 2016, the ICRC increased its humanitarian response for people in dire need in the North East. Of Nigeria and some other parts of the country where communal clashes and urban conflicts were visible. Of particular mention is the support and provision of food, shelter and essential household items. One other area of intervention carried out by the ICRC is increased access to clean water and medical care. It also strived to facilitate the restoration of missing or broken family ties caused as a result of the crisis in the region.

    In Borno State for instance, ICRC together with the Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) gained access to very difficult areas like Sabon Gari, Damboa, DIKwa, Monguno, Gamboru-Ngala, etc where they assisted residents and IDPs with food, Medicare and shelter where necessary.

    An investigation into the activities of the ICRC in the North East by our correspondent revealed that the organisation is ranked very high amongst IDPs and many host communities of Borno and Yobe State apparently due to their effective humanitarian intervention during the Boko Haram crisis.

    Restoration of missing family ties

    Over one thousand disunited families as a result of the Boko Haram insurgents have been re-united in one way or the other  through the efforts of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Nigerian Red Cross Society between January to August 2016 investigation has revealed.

    According to a document obtained from the ICRC, nine children were flown from Dar es Salaam IDP camp in Chad back to Nigeria and reunited with their parents.  The organization has also helped reunite family members by facilitating contacts with each other using Red Cross Messages and free phone calls.

    A total of 1,078 new tracing files for persons searching for missing relatives were opened by the ICRC and the NRCS, while a total of 479 Red Cross messages were also exchanged among separated family members.

    The document also revealed that 899 free phone calls were made available by the Red Cross to persons who were separated from their families.

    Detention visits

    ICRC have also embarked on visits of persons detained in connection with armed conflict and violence and provided support for the authorities on improving detention conditions of detainees. Under the period, a total of 21, 442 detainees in prisons, police and military detention facilities across Nigeria were visited by the ICRC, just as the water and hygiene facilities in those places were rehabilitated.

    Livelihood Support and Micro-finance Initiatives

    This is a Programme that targeted returnees who wished to resume farming in their communities, while cash was also given to people retuning to areas that there were functional markets to help them rebuild their homes. Its aim was to assist 162,000 IDPs and vulnerable persons living in widow or female headed household. Out of the number, 41,000 persons in Yobe received cash to purchase priority commodities by the end of July 2016, just as 16,000 returnees from Adamawa and Southern Borno were given livelihood input grant as well.

    A total of 248,037 returnees from North East and Middle Belt were availed with agriculturalinputs to resume farming again, while 69,624 IDPs in Borno and Yobe States including victims of urban violence in River State received cash to enable them purchase commodities of their choice.

    Widows/female heads of families enjoyed serious assistance from the ICRC as 1000 of them were registered Borno State and were given cash for the running of their families. An additional 250 benefiting from the micro-finance initiative.

    Emergency Relief Assistance

    One of the major concern of the ICRC was to get to the hard-to-reach areas there there was severe food shortage and hunger. With some of them missing out on the planting season for more than 3 years, it is not an exaggeration that the people will remain dependent  on  handouts aid from donor agencies until such a time that their crops are harvested. Worried by the plight of the ICRC provided food rations for three months to  892,040 IDPs in the North East, 319,516 IDPs both in the North East received essential household items with 51 NRCS, NEMA and SEMA were trained across Nigeria.

    Healthcare

    Like any other sector of human existence in the north east, the  health sector  had its fair share of the Boko Haram attacks on the region. Hospitals and health facilities were either burnt down or abandoned by the insurgents. Doctors, nurses and other health and medical personable were either killed, while those that survive fled to safer places leading to complete break down of the system.

    The ICRC in a quick response provided support to primary and mobile state health clinics in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa through the regular medical supplies, equipment supply and training of staff. Two ICRC surgical teams also provided cares the weapon wounded and IDPs in need of emergency surgical care in Maiduguri State Specialist Hospital.

    A total of 308, 594 patients attended 14 ICRC supported centre for primary health care and 6 mobile clinics serving IDPs, returnees and residents in Borno, and Adamawa State.

    A total of 10,499 children were in ICRC supported clinics in the North east, while 8,649 children who suffered from acute malnutrition were also treated at the ICRC supported clinics in Borno State.

  • Friends abandon Jide Omokore

    Friends abandon Jide Omokore

    Some lessons can only be learnt the hard way. When ill-fortune storms a man’s castle of comfort and starts pulling it down brick by brick, he feels desolate, forsaken by the prestige and honour that once bedecked his brows. He finds out then that even the friends he has may not endure, for, as the monk in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales declares, if the good times bring you friends, the bad times often turns them into enemies.

    This, in a nutshell, captures the predicament of the chairman of Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Nigeria Limited, Jide Omokore. Since the beginning of his travails with the dreaded Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, he has been literally abandoned by people who flocked around him when the going was good.

    The top associate of former President Goodluck Jonathan has not been finding life rosy since the EFCC invited him in connection with a series of alleged fraudulent multi-billion dollar petrol import and crude export deals. Omokore had no doubt thought that his friends would be his source of strength at the beginning of his travails. It is therefore easy to imagine his shock when many of the so-called friends not only shunned him but publicly celebrated his suffering, leaving the bewildered Kogi-born oil magnate to lick his wounds in shocked silence.

    Meanwhile, the case against him is in court since the EFCC charged him and five others in July. Recent indications are that no respite is in the offing for Omokore as eight of his accounts were recently traced and frozen by the anti-graft agency.