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Tag: Goodluck Jonathan

  • Proposed national conference and its controversies

    Proposed national conference and its controversies

    The proposed national dialogue may hold in this first quarter. But, criticisms are trailing the report of the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) headed by Senator Femi Okurounmu. Will President Goodluck Jonathan issue guidelines on the conference based on the report or tap from the minority report submitted by Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN)? MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE highlights the hurdles on the way of the conference.

    Then President Goodluck Jonathan unfolded his plan for a national conference last year, many stakeholders were skeptical. They dismissed the proposed dialogue as a decoy. Now, the report of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference recently submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan has confirmed the fear that the conference will be teleguided by the government.

    The committee headed by Senator Femi Okurounmu was divided over some issues. While Okurounmu submitted a majority report, another member, Chief Solomon Asemota (SAN) submitted a minority report. The conference is expected to kick off in this quarter. But, stakeholders have expressed divergent views. Some have said that the report fell short of expectation. Others are saying that the missing links in the majority report can be bridged by the recommendations in the minority report. A section of the stakeholders are also warning against dismissing the reports, until the government white paper is out.

    Many people have pointed out that the main report has trivialized critical issues germane to the survival of the country. Highlighting the shortcoming, the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), said expressed surprise about the report. He said irrelevant 38 items have been included in the agenda of the national conference. He warned that, if the conference is convoked, based on the Okurounmu report, it will end up as a mere talk shop.

    Agbakoba said: “We expect that we had made a number of recommendations on things we have found unacceptable. The first surprise, which the PAC put forward, is that it has failed to understand what the constitution should contain.

    “We had expected that the PAC will be looking at the devolution of power, the structure of the federation, whether there should be six geo-political zones, state creation and their viability, the role of the local government and other important issues.”

    The human rights activist said that, although the PAC played down these important items on the conference agenda, issues of god fatherism, the cost of governance, the return of missionary and private schools, nomadic education, Tsangaya/Almajiri education system and unsettled issues of the Nigerian civil war are put on the front burner. The President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Okey Wali (SAN), also faulted the report. He wondered why the President refused to receive the minority report submitted by Asemota.

    However, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, flayed the critics of the report. He pointed out that Asemota was present when Okunrounmu presented his report to the President. His explanation did not put a stop to the volley of criticisms. The leader of ‘The Patriots’ and the ‘Igbo Leader of Thoughts’, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN), said that the report was lopsided on the modalities of convoking the national conference, which requires that delegates should come from the existing constituencies delineated by the Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC), instead of the ethnic nationalities.

    The former university don frowned at the way Okurounmu had attacked him, based on his observations, instead of acknowledging his lapses in good faith. Also, the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) led by Hon. Olawale Oshun supported Nwabueze’s line of thoughts. The Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr. Kunle Famoriyo, said that any conference convened, based on the Okunrounmu panel’s recommendation, may not meet the yearning of Nigerians.

    He added: “We found the recommendation that representation should be based on federal constituencies distasteful because this political structure has been used as a veritable tools of injustice, social and political discrimination that have held this country bound.

    “Our recommendation therefore, is that equal number of delegates should be elected or selected by ethnic nations within the zone. We also reject the recommendation that the conference delegates should be saddled with the responsibility of deciding how the decision and the outcome of the proposed conference would be integrated into the constitution and laws of Nigeria.

    “We therefore, kick against the nomination of any delegate, whether from any public official or from special interest group. Our stand is that every Nigerian belongs to an ethnic nation.”

    Agbakoba reviewed the agitations for the national conference. He noted that the 1999 Constitution was rejected because it did not emanate from the people. The lawyer said that the people perceived it as a military imposition because the document was midwife by the Abdulsalami Abubakar Administration.

    There are several flaws in the constitution which stakeholders expect the conference to correct. The constitution, for instance, states that the creation of states must be backed by the act of the National Assembly. The request must be supported by, at least, two-third majority of members representing the area.

    The process, analysts believe, is cumbersome should be modified. Some states are not viable, but were created for selfish political reasons. Some of them were decreed by the military government.

    Also, the local governments have become a subject of disputation. The 1999 Constitution states that a bill for the law of a House of Assembly, in respect of the area agitating for a council, must be supported by, at least, two-third majority of members representing the area demanding the creation of the new local government.

    Many experts have pointed out that the council are created by states, but their funding has become a subject of disputation. Should they be funded by the Federal Government or states?

    Pro-National Conference (PRONACO) member Mr. Linus Okoroji expressed reservations about the proposed conference. He said that one of the issues that may generate heat there is the status of the local government. “ The federal government should not fund the councils directly because they are created by states. They should ensure that the money goes to the states that will now allocate them to their councils. The states already have a grasp of the challenges these councils are facing”, he said.

    Another vexed issue on the front burner is the state police. It has polarized the polity. While a section is insisting on the federal police, another section is agitating for its decentralization.

    Recent events in the country has fuelled the clamour for a multi-level policing. There are allegations that state police commissioners are incited against governors, who are the chief security officers in their states.

    Abgbakoba urged Nigerians not to miss the opportunity for another conference. But, he doubted, if the dialogue can succeed, if the baseline is the adoption of the majority report.

    He said: “Nigerians truly want to see a new constitution. Rightly or wrongly, Nigerians are not happy that General Abubakar brought about the 1999 Constitution through Decree No 24 of 1998. They want to see something new. So, they don’t expect that the new constitution should simply be amended. After the national conference has produced a report, they say it should go to the National Assembly that will now tinker with it. How can that be a constitution by the Nigerian people?

    “What we want to see is a new constitution that is home grown and owned by Nigerians, subject to a referendum, sent to the President and given to the National Assembly, whose only power is to pass it into law. That is what Nigerians want to see. So, we reject the proposition by the committee. The National Assembly cannot be bigger than the Nigerian people”.

    Agbakoba added: “We have always talked about a Sovereign National Conference. But, I am a pragmatic human right advocate. We cannot pull a SNC; we don’t have the momentum for that. I don’t see anything wrong with the President convening the conference. But, if there must be SNC, there are certain minimum requirement. The conference must be open to all. Everybody must participate through the ethnic nationalities.”

    Agbakoba said: “The conference may be swallowed by the tension in the National Assembly.” He therefore, urged stakeholders to avoid that disastrous route.

    In the minority report, Asemota argued that, without a referendum, the report of the conference will be in jeopardy. He dissociated himself from this omission, which created a deep hollow in the majority report.

     

  • ‘North should struggle for economic power’

    ‘North should struggle for economic power’

    Senator Smart Adeyemi represents Kogi West District in the Senate. He spoke with Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU on the Jonathan Administration, the agitation of the North for power shift and other partisan issues.

    Why are you always defending the activities of the Jonathan Administration, despite the spate of criticisms against the government?

    Apart from the civil war, tell me the government that has ever ruled this country that has had the challenges of administration more than Goodluck Jonathan. Tell me the government in Nigeria that has faced the worse social disorder in any nation than Goodluck Jonathan. There is no government in Nigeria that has had the burden and the pains of carrying the challenge of terrorism than Jonathan. The problem of terrorism is enough to collapse the economy. If we didn’t have the government of Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria would have broken up.

    Why are you so optimistic about the Jonathan Administration?

    I see the President as a man who is absolutely committed to the welfare of Nigerians. He is a man who really thinks of how we can make Nigeria a better place. These I can say between me and my God. I’m close to him. I have had times to discuss with him. He only came at a wrong time; when there is security challenge. There is no past President in Nigeria that dedicated one third of his budget; almost a trillion, to security.

    Again, let me say that, by the end of 2014, Nigerians will believe that he is a committed president.

    In fact, I’m learning from some of his approaches. He is a new philosopher in the political history of Nigeria by his response to issues, and he is getting result. Some few years from now, the people will begin to see the outcome of his resilience and committment. Once a man is focused, we should pray for him to actualise his vision and mission. He would take us out of the wood.

    But, people say his responses are weak?

    Last year, we voted N935 billion for security, as at that time we have archaic, outdated security equipment. The securtiy services, go and ask them. The equipment they had and what they have today is far better and that is why they are able to curtail the challenges emanating from terrorism. When you say the President is weak, you have forgotten that government is not by drastic action. Good governance is not through drastic action, but putting in place the requirements that are needed to confront challenges of good governance. The people you perceived in time past as very dynamic, ask them what they voted for security? America is still improving its security vote annually. In Nigeria, go and check the barracks, the intelligence services and ask, if they had the kind of equipment they have now some five years ago. My point is that Goodluck Jonathan had a problem that was capable of derailing him and defocusing him. Do you know what it means for a leader to wake up in the morning and you hear that three bombs explode in your country? Is that not enough to give that President a mental disorder? But today, things are getting better. I am not saying that we have gotten there already, but I know we are getting somewhere. I am not saying this because I am a PDP senator, but because I have information. Do you know why many of those who are ganging up today are ganging up? Everyone of them have personal reason, not collective reason. There are some that believe that Goodluck Administration has affected their source of economic power. There are those who are nursing ambition to be President. There are those who feel that some people that are nursing ambition won’t get it, let them hang somewhere. Maybe, they would be considered. Let me tell you, we politicians know ourselves. I pity Nigerian people because they don’t know those who are committed to their wellbeing.

    Are you not perturbed that your party is gradually losing grip, following the defection of five governors and 37 member of the National Assembly?

    It depends on how you perceive it. Those governors, are you sure they have gone finally? Secondly, does the movement of those governors translate to not winning the presidential or governorship election? The answer is no. When you talk about winning election, make no mistake about it that one governor will determine who wins election in the state. Do you know that Nigeria of today is not the Nigeria of five years ago. There are many sentiments that will come to play when the time comes. The advantage I have is that I know Nigeria more than many of these so-called leaders. You see, many of them never had the privilege I had as a journalist and moreso, as the NUJ President. I moved across the length and breath of Nigeria. I know more than two-third of Nigeria’s local goverment areas. I know how diverse we are and the sentiments that will come when election comes. Goodluck Jonathan doesn’t need 28 governors to become President of Nigeria.

    What is the reason for this gang-up against President Jonathan by some elements in the North?

    It is wrong to say that there is a gang-up by the North because there are many Northerners who are in support of this government. My brothers in the North should not concentrate fighting for power because we have had power for 30 years. What should be the priority is how to liberate the North from poverty and oppression. And, when they were not forthcoming, I sponsored the Frontier Oil Exploration Bill to help the North out of poverty so that Southerners will not be carrying us as slaves. If you have power, but you don’t have economic power, it makes no sense. The person that has economic power will only take that power from you anytime he wants. So, go and tell the Northern governors that, if you have political power without economic power, the person that has economic power will ground you and collect it from you. The Yoruba in the Southwest didn’t fight with oil during June 12. They used Lagos port to paralyse Nigeria. Tell me what the North can use to paralyse Nigeria, if we have cause to disagree with other parts of the country. If the Southsouth people decide that they want to paralyse this country today, 30 minutes is enough. You will have N50,000 in your pocket and won’t be able to buy petrol.

    Recently, you distributed some empowerment equipment for your people. What is your motive?

    I am passionate about my people. That informed my decision to come into politics.Let me say that on monthly basis, I give out millions of Naira to meet the challenges facing my people.

    How should Nigerians assess legislators?

    When you want to do an assessment of a legislator, you don’t assess him based on what Nigerians call the delivery of dividends of democracy. That is not right. If you want to assess a legislator, the best way to do that is the level of his participation in his legislative duties, especially his attendance. In the sixth Senate, from 2007 to 2011, I was absent for only six sittings, and in the seventh Senate, three sittings. There were several senators who were absent for over 100 days. Every legislator can have any good reason not to sit at parliamentary functions, but attendance is my primary assignment. Secondly, a legislator must be on the side of the people all the time. For me, when I rise, I usually say ‘I speak on behalf of the masses’. This is aimed at creating the right consciousness in the minds of my colleagues that there are people who have voted for us, the down trodden people.

     

     

     

     

     

    What is the content of the empowerment materials that you have given out?

    I came from the United States with about seven container loads of medical equipment. There are twenty-two ambulances that I paid for, not donation. Each of them cost me over N450,000,000 to clear it from the port. I never allowed them to be driven here, I hired trucks to carry them and I paid one hundred and eighty thousand Naira to get each of them here, each of them cost me fifteen thousand dollar, excluding the cost of freight. I have all other kinds of medical equipment that I brought from overseas. I have spent over seven hundred Dollars on empowerment interventions. Presently, I am constructing four cottage hospitals in place like Odo Iri where I am doing a thirty bed hospital. In Igbaruku, I demolished the cottage hospital there, which the Sardauna built in 1962. I got there and I shed tears because that is still the only building that they call their hospital. I just demolish it. I am roofing the new building now as I am speaking to you. That is twenty five-bed hospital, in Igbagu, I am constructing a 15 bed hospital there. In Ogale, I am doing, a ten bed hospital there. All these equipment are meant to be shared not only to these hospitals but also to other hospitals in the state. I have about four hundred hospital beds and mattresses. I have stretchers, wheel chairs, surgical equipment. It might interest you to note that I’m donating two of the ambulances to Central and East senatorial districts. I am equally donating to the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital because this district used to be part of Old Kwara State. As I speak to you, we still have hundreds of thousands indigenes of Kogi West living in Kwara State. More importantly, my wife is from Kwara State, I also have substantial amount of business interests in Kwara State. So, we have to let them know that Kwara is home to us.

    Could this be the reason why some of your people are urging you to go back to the senate for the third time?

    You see, as a Christian, I always believe in the saying that what happens tomorrow is in the hands of God. There is no amount of planning that anybody can do could guarantee victory. Victory in any contest is in the hands of God. If human efforts can stop somebody from becoming a senator, I should not have been where I am now. If human or government power or machinery is what is required to win an election and is capable of stopping somebody, I should not have been a senator today but when I was fighting the former administration. People asked if I could return to the senate and I said my second term was in the hands of God. My take is to tell the people to allow me do this job well so that my conscience will be clear that I have served like Baba Awolowo served, like Ahmadu Belloe served. Those are the people I see as role models. Those who dont serve the people well don’t end up well. You need people’s prayer to succeed. My desire for good governance brought me into politics and not money.

     

  • Tukur as sacrificial lamb

    Tukur as sacrificial lamb

    In the last few months, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has been engulfed in crises. Every other day, new dimensions are added to the roiling crises. Most of the issues involved borders on contest of supremacy and arbitrary use of power through which many party faithful have either been emasculated or pushed to the back burner of party affairs. In such a dire situation, it is only natural that the bubble will soon burst.

    When the bubble finally burst last week, the lone casualty was Bamanga Tukur, the erstwhile chairman of the party. But he did not go down without a fight. He fought frantically to secure his position but he was overwhelmed by the array of opposition mounted against his person and his office. The President, Goodluck Jonathan, and his henchmen tried as much to shield him and ward off attacks against him, but at the end of the day, the President capitulated when he realised that it was better to sacrifice him and keep the fractured party together.

    Since Tukur took over the reign of leadership of the party in March 2012, the party has been mired in scheming and internecine war. It started like a fratricidal war among key chieftains of the party, especially the aggrieved governors, many members of the National Executive Committee, and National Working Committee, as well as some members of the Board of Trustees. For the 22 months of his turbulent reign as chairman, Tukur was perpetually placed on his toes as the groups perfected their strategy to unseat him.

    Trouble started for Tukur when the disgruntled groups within the party started clamouring for reforms in the party. The struggle for reform later snowballed into a major conflagration last August, when some party leaders, led by some state governors, staged a walkout from the party’s national convention ground in Abuja. Not only have the various reconciliation meetings even with the President in attendance failed to yield any fruitful result, there appears to be the presence of a certain clique within the party that is opposed to any form of reconciliation with aggrieved members. The reason for this is the fear that such reconciliation may pose a threat to their present comfort zone in the party. Therefore, they are hell-bent on maintaining the status quo.

    Now that the fate of Tukur as national chairman has been decided, there are other major issues involved in the simmering crises confronting the party, and several meetings, which attempted to resolve the knotty issues, have yielded no tangible result. Two of the issues are Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 election and the control of party machinery in the states.  Going by the body language of the party’s hierarchy, the issue of Jonathan’s candidature in the 2015 election appears to be a no-go area. In order to consolidate the hawks’ hold on the party machinery, Tukur became a willing puppet that was used to perpetrate illegality and arbitrariness in the states’ party executives.

    One of the problems created for the PDP under the chairmanship of Tukur was that his leadership was particularly divisive. An example was the unilateral dissolution of the executive of the Adamawa State chapter of the party loyal to Murtala Nyako, the governor of the state which was achieved through the courts. The appointment of a new one was strongly suspected as a clear move to cripple the governor’s influence in the party and the state. In the wake of the dissolution, Tukur’s opponents had alleged that his decision to sack the Adamawa PDP executive was motivated by a selfish desire to pave the way for Mahmud Tukur, his son, who is currently on trial over his involvement in oil subsidy scandal, to become the next PDP governor of Adamawa State.

    Similarly, the executive of the party in Rivers State was wrestled from the hands of Rotimi Amaechi, the state governor, through the instrumentality of a court order and replaced by a team loyal to Jonathan and Nyesom Wike, the supervising Minister of Education. Ever since, both Rivers State and Amaechi, have known no peace as Wike has become a willing tool in the orchestrated campaign against the governor.

    In the case of the South-west, the situation is more pathetic as Tukur’s arm-twisting led to the installation of some largely unwanted leaders whose credibility has been severally called to question as interim managers of the South-west zone of the party. The takeover of the South-west machinery of the party by Tukur’s men was well planned and skillfully executed like a civilian equivalent of a military coup d’état. In early February 2013, agents of Tukur cleverly lured chieftains of the party from the South-west into Abuja for a meeting. Though the ‘family meeting’ was cloaked in the façade of a reconciliation gambit, those at the meeting were dumbfounded when they discovered that they had voluntarily walked into a booby trap set for them by Tukur and his clique. In one fell swoop, all the contending groups in South-west PDP were all deposited inside the trash can. The only man left standing was Buruji Kashamu, who, apparently, had a fore-knowledge of the tsunami that was about to happen.

    A few days to the Abuja parley, Tukur, through a top legal practitioner based in Abuja, went round the courts and withdrew all the pending cases instituted against the PDP by some of the groups jostling for control of the party machinery in the zone. The dummy that was sold was that the withdrawal of all the court cases would pave the way for genuine reconciliation. But this was not to be. As soon as the cases were withdrawn, the leadership of the zone was ceded to Buruji and his group. That was how the other contending groups were led to the slaughter slab. With power now fully in Buruji’s kitty, the businessman turned politician has been calling the shot with the tacit support of the party’s National Headquarters.

    That was not all. On Wednesday, November 6, 2013, a Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja reinstated Olagunsoye Oyinlola as the national secretary of the PDP. The three-man panel, chaired by Justice Amiru Sanusi, upturned the January 11 judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which sacked Oyinlola. One would have thought that this judgement would provide a good opportunity for the party to resolve the intractable crisis that had enveloped it, but rather than find a solution, some desperate elements within the party, led by Tukur, went ahead to suspend Oyinlola and others under puerile excuses.

    The Presidency then came under heat from some stakeholders who felt that certain forces were exploiting the situation for their selfish motives. Some governors loyal to the President were also said to have made contacts among themselves and with the President to express deep concerns that the leadership of the party scuttled the opportunity for peace presented by the Appeal Court verdict. This is why Tukur may have incurred the wrath of Jonathan over his handling of the moves to resolve the crisis in the party.  Since then, Tukur’s days were numbered as the President was said to be unhappy with the unilateral decision he took to suspend the party leaders, including Oyinlola, who have been reinstated to his post by the appellate court. It was clear that instead of the party creating and getting more followers and friends, the hierarchy was busy creating more enemies for the party and the Jonathan administration.

    With the exit of the erstwhile chairman who is an ally of the President, the battle this time around, will shift to the agitation by certain elements within the PDP that Jonathan should not contest the 2015 election. But that would be against the President’s right to vote and be voted for as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution. Tukur’s tenure was characterised by intrigues and intra-party squabbles which resulted into mass exodus of prominent party leaders, five state governors, members of the National Working Committee and lawmakers in the National Assembly. Perhaps, only the President, for whom he was a cheerleader, will, most certainly, miss him.

  • Why Jonathan endorsed party chair

    Why Jonathan endorsed party chair

    The presidential endorsement of Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu as Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party was a way of paying back a favour granted President Goodluck Jonathan when the former was governor of Bauchi State, it emerged yesterday.

    Mu’azu, it was gathered, played a major role in ensuring the safety of Jonathan when his life was under serious threat following the plot to impeach his former boss, Diepriye Alamieyeseigha, from office and replace him with Jonathan.

    At the height of the crisis, Jonathan, who was the deputy governor of Bayelsa State then, was said to have called Mu’azu, seeking to move to a “secured environment” pending the resolution of the Alamieyeseigha saga.

    Mu’azu was said to have initiated Jonathan’s relocation to Bauchi State for two weeks after which he was sworn-in as the Governor of Bayelsa State following Alamieyeseigha’s controversial ouster by the House of Assembly.

    A source told our correspondent yesterday that Jonathan felt he was yet to adequately compensate Mu’azu for what he did, despite appointing him as the chairman of the Board of the National Pensions Commission.

    The source said: “Of course, the appointment of Mu’azu received full presidential backing and there is a bond between the two which is unknown to many. The fact is that they have come a long way together. You will recollect that Mu’azu refused to return from exile when the late President Umaru Yar’Adua was in the saddle. He knew he could not be protected by that administration even if Jonathan was the Vice President then.

    “Immediately Jonathan became the Acting President, Mu’azu returned and he was even received at The Presidency by Jonathan. It could not have been anything different because Mu’azu played an important role at a time Jonathan needed his help. Most people did not know that he spent close to two weeks in Bauchi State when the heat of impeachment of his then boss got to him in Bayelsa.”

  • Revisit the Oronsaye report

    Revisit the Oronsaye report

    SIR: It is disheartening that Nigeria, the sixth largest exporter of crude oil in the world, still has over 70 per cent of its estimated 170 million population living below the United Nations poverty threshold of $2 per day. It is in our country that more than 70 per cent of national resources are channelled into running a government that is unduly large and cumbersome to manage, while leaving behind, less than 30 per cent for the execution of capital projects and debt servicing.

    It is my dear country that continues to promote a bogus and corrupt system that can never bring about any development because we keep consuming and consuming and producing little. Our country is a nation that runs a bicameral legislature that is notorious for being the highest remunerated in the world, where the unemployment rate is embarrassing high and the attainment of all the known human development indices such as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals MDGs by 2015, which is barely a year from now, remains a mirage.

    As a way out of the quagmire, the Goodluck Jonathan administration came up with the idea of Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies, under the leadership of retired civil servant and former Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye. At the end of the assignment, the committee recommended the scrapping and merger of 220 out the existing 541 government agencies.

    Unfortunately, the Federal Government appears to have dumped the report. The Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy presented by the Presidency to the National Assembly point to the fact that all the money-gulping MDAs were still provided for in the 2014 budget to the tune of about N200 billion.

    This development is a clear demonstration of the government’s lack of political will to implement policies that can impact positively on the economy as well as the polity. The two untenable reasons that had been given for the inability of government to implement the findings of the committee are: the money to be saved from the exercise is negligible and so not worth the stress and secondly, the legal framework is not in place for its implementation.

    If this is the case, why did we waste money and precious time setting-up a committee when its outcome will never be implemented?

    The comatose economic situation calls for a fiscal philosophy that vigorously tackles corruption, waste, inefficiency, poor governance, bloated bureaucracy and inequitable distribution of wealth. Hence, implementing the report is capable of returning the economy to the path of restoration and rejuvenation. The money that will be saved from scrapping and merging these agencies can be used to set up industries in each of the geo-political zones of the country. These industries will be self-sustaining and without any yearly budgetary allocations. So many Nigerians will also be employed by these industries.

     

    • Adewale Kupoluyi

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta,

     

  • Jonathan: How not to play the deaf

    Jonathan: How not to play the deaf

    Rivers State is boiling and President Goodluck Jonathan is pretending nothing is happening.

    At the risk of sounding like an old gramophone, all well-meaning Nigerians and the opposition parties have been crying out, shouting and pleading with the president to call his rampaging Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mbu Joseph Mbu to order before he plunges the state into anarchy and imperils this democracy. But all their pleas have so far fallen on deaf ears.

    The story of CP Mbu and his ‘atrocities’ in Rivers State under the guise of maintaining law and order is known to all, but what is baffling is why the President and Commander-In-Chief has chosen to be silent on this matter.

    When, the other day, Mbu used his policemen to block the main entrance to the Government house, Port Harcourt, the official residence of the governor of Rivers State thereby preventing Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his guests from going in until they had to use the back entrance, the Federal Government found nothing wrong with that, even when that meant denigrating and/or humiliating the office of the governor. Not a word from Abuja cautioning Mbu.

    When he sent his ’mad dogs’ to scatter thousands of newly recruited teachers by the state government who were told to gather at a stadium to sign for and collect their letters of employment, under the excuse that they were to gather there to protest against President Jonathan; not even a finger was raised against Mbu by Abuja. He got a pat on the back instead.

    And when he vowed never to obey a court order over police illegal occupation of Obio/Akpor local government council secretariat, our president who promised to uphold the law of the land did not find anything wrong with this.

    The list of Mbu’s atrocities in Rivers State is very long and getting longer, but what is baffling is why nobody among his superiors seems ready to call him to order. When he was tear-gassing and violently dispersing any gathering supposedly in support of or at the instance of Governor Amaechi, what many thought was that he would limit it to just that. But the shock was to come penultimate Sunday when his men used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse a gathering of Save Rivers Movement in Port Harcourt under the excuse that the gathering did not have his approval. A serving Senator of the Federal Republic was hit in the chest by the bullet. He is presently recuperating in a London hospital. The presidency not only kept quiet over the matter, people close to the president said he dismissed the incident with a wave of the hand.

    Surprisingly, while the police dispersed supporters of the Senator, Magnus Abe, who wanted to protest the shooting, the same police welcomed another group that gathered in solidarity with its commissioner, Mbu, to its office.

    Buoyed by the silence of the presidency and a supportive police CP, a group of pro- Jonathan thugs unleashed violence on another gathering of the Save Rivers Movement again last Sunday, this time in Bori, the traditional headquarters of Ogoni and the seat of Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State. Senator Abe is Ogoni, and he is a known supporter of Governor Amaechi. Some people were feared dead while properties worth millions of Naira were destroyed; gun shots boomed sporadically while the mayhem lasted. The police did not lift a finger to stop them, and the presidency is again keeping quiet.

    The attitude of the president in feigning deafness to all the noise coming out of Rivers State is unfortunate. He swore to protect lives and properties in all parts of the country but he is failing to do this in Rivers State just because of his political differences with the governor. But the president needs to be reminded that whatever happens in Rivers or any other state in the country for that matter would have effect on the rest of the country.

    He should also be reminded that the road to which Mbu is leading Nigeria in Rivers State with his (president’s) support was one of the reasons the second republic collapsed. In fact, the police contributed in no small measure to the demise of that republic and what Mbu is doing now is a near replay of what happened then.

    One could recall that a certain Umaru Omolowo, the then Commissioner of Police in old Oyo State was giving protection to thugs of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) to fight a cause mayhem in Oyo State and create problem for the ruling Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) government in the state then. The NPN controlled the Federal Government then and President Shehu Shagari, just like President Jonathan now, was seeking re-election and had penciled Oyo State down as a must-win state. The national Chairman of the NPN then, Adisa Akinloye, now late was from Oyo State, so also was the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Richard Akinjide. They told Shagari not to worry that Oyo was for him, and the president in turn used the police effectively to back them even when they were unpopular on the ground in the state. Election came, they rigged and won, but we all know what happened few months later.

    Now Jonathan, like Shagari is desperate to win re-election and he has identified Rivers as a must-win if his hope of returning to the presidential villa next year is to be realized. Why is Rivers so important? Simple. With two million solid votes in his pocket, Jonathan believes or is being deceived to believe that with Rivers solidly behind him he can neutralise whatever votes his opponent, expectedly from the north, could garner from that zone (north) in 2015; then he can struggle to pick few votes here and there, especially from Christians in the North/Middle Belt, and may be the south west apart from the South east and South-south.

    But with Governor Amaechi no longer in his corner, the two million votes are under threat, so everything must be done to prevent this, even if it means killing the people of Rivers, so be it.

    This is what is playing out in Rivers State today and the president has found a willing tool in Nyesom Wike, his Coordinating Minister of Education who wants to be governor in 2015; his wife, Patience Jonathan, who wants to produce the governor in 2015 and CP Mbu who wants to make as much money as possible from the crisis. Governor Amaechi expectedly, would also want to protect his legacy by wanting to produce his successor. So where does that leave the people of Rivers State and in the long run Nigeria’s democracy?

    While the people of the state should be able to and left alone to decide what is good for them, the President and Commander-in-Chief should not allow his selfish interest to override his sense of responsibility to Nigerians as a people and the Nigerian nation. He should listen to the voice of wisdom and stop his supporters in Rivers, including Mbu from plunging this nation into avoidable political crisis which end nobody can foretell. Enough of playing the deaf.

  • Ajimobi: why we won’t return schools

    Ajimobi: why we won’t return schools

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has explained why his administration will not return Christian and Muslim schools.

    Speaking at the inauguration of Rev. Amos Ajiboye as the diocesan bishop of the Agodi Methodist Cathedral of Light in Ibadan, Ajimobi said the return of mission schools has become so contentious that any attempt by the government to please one religious group could set it against another.

    He urged religious organisations to partner his administration to establish more schools and improve education, adding that the government cannot do it alone.

    The governor urged those in authority to always fulfill their promises to the people and show love to their neighbours in conformity with the religious injunctions.

    The Archbishop of Ibadan Methodist Archdiocese, Most Rev. Kehinde Stephen, hailed the governor on the construction of roads and urban renewal, which he said had been attracting investors to the state.

    He said: “I was one of those who used to describe Ibadan as the dirtiest city, but I say confidently that since you arrived, the transformation of the environment has been obvious.

    “You have set the pace in areas we thought would never be possible. Ibadan is becoming green and beautiful and people are now coming to invest in Oyo State.

    “I thank you also for the good road network that is giving the state a new picture under your dynamic administration. You have done well and you will continue to do well. You must continue the work of transformation without fear or favour and be courageous, so that this development can continue.” In his sermon, Rev. Ajiboye urged President Goodluck Jonathan to proffer a long term solution to unemployment and insecurity.

  • Govt may appoint Nellie Mayshak PENCOM DG

    Govt may appoint Nellie Mayshak PENCOM DG

    BARRING any last minute changes, the Federal Government would send the name of Mrs. Nellie Mayshak to the Senate for confirmation as the new Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM).

    The Nation gathered that President Goodluck Jonathan has okayed the appointment in the “absence of any strong objection”.

    It was learnt that the choice of Mrs. Mayshak was hinged on the fact that she has the requisite experience and exposure in the relevant field, and adjudged suitable to hold the office of director-general of PENCOM.

    In September, last year, Mayshak was appointed Director-General of the new Pension Transition Arrangement Department (PTAD).

    The establishment of the new pension department was in line with Section 30, sub-section (2a) of the Amended Pension Reform Act, 2004, as the department would take over the management of the three offices handling the old pension scheme.

    These are the Civil Service Pension Department, the Police Pension Office and the Customs, Immigration and Prisons Pension Office.

    The DG of PTAD “is expected to spearhead the smooth transition of the three offices into one pension administration and management under the supervision of the National Pension Commission, which will report to the office of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance for coordination and control.”

    Before her appoitment, Mrs. Mayshak was the National Programme Manager of the Federal Public Administration Reform programme (FEPAR).

    In November, last yaer, President Jonathan forwarded the name of the Acting DG of PenCom, Mrs. ChineloAnohu-Amazu, to the Senate for confirmation as commissioner.

    In that letter, President Jonathan also nominated former Bauchi State governor AhmaduAdamuMu’azu as Chairman of the board along with three other full-time commissioners, namely Omotowa Reuben Gilbert, Mohammed Ka’oje Abubakar and Adesojo Olaoba-Efuntayo.

    The Pension Reform Act of 2004 stipulates: “The commission shall comprise a part-time chairman, a director-general, four full-time commissioners and seven part-time members. The appointments shall be made by the president subject to confirmation by the Senate.”

     

     

    In addition, the six geo-political zones of the country are to be represented on the board of PENCOM. The list of nominees did not include a representative from the South-South geo-political zones which Mrs. Nellie Mayshak might represent on the board.

     

    However, this board nominations for PENCOM was made almost a year after the expiration of the tenure of the former director general and other commissioners of PENCOM all of whom left in December 2012.

     

    The President’s letter to the Senate was silent on who would become the substantive director general, apparently because there is a bill before the National Assembly seeking to reduce the years of experience required to become DG.

     

    The existing pension law requires the director general of PENCOM to have 20 years’ experience, but the amendment bill wants to lower this to 15 years because there is no Nigerian with that number of years of experience in pension matters given the year Nigeria adopted the new pension plan.

     

    The President’s list of nominees also met with strong objections from the Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) which said it was astonished and peeved by this move of the President, especially in the light of the fact that the nominated PENCOM board chairman and former Governor of Bauchi state is yet to be cleared by the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of the corruption charges he is facing for allegedly defrauding the coffers of Bauchi State to the tune of N19.8billion when he was Governor of the State.

     

     

  • Jonathan, PDP governors meet ahead of Monday meeting

    President Goodluck Jonathan Sunday night  met behind closed-door with governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at State House, Abuja.

    Journalists were asked to leave the arena of the venue of the meeting which was said to be not for coverage.

    Details of the discussions at the meeting, which started around 9.p.m, was unknown as at press time but it may not unconnected with Monday’s selection of the new PDP National Chairman following the resignation of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

    Some of the state governors at the meeting Sunday night included Gabriel Suswam (Benue), Saidu Dakingari (Kebbi), Seriake Dickson (Bayelsa), Idris Wada (Kogi), Jonah Jang (Plateau), Aliyu Babangida (Niger) and Martin Elechi (Ebonyi).

    Others are Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Ramalan Yero (Kaduna), Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe)  Sullivan Chime (Enugu), Liyel Imoke (Cross Rivers) Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom), Garma Umar (ActingTaraba) qne  Bala Ngilari (Deputy Governor Adamawa).

    Also at the meeting were the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, PDP National Deputy Chairman, Uche Secondus, and the Senate President, David Mark.

  • Most politicians are in it for what they can get, says Jonathan

    President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday admitted that many politicians are in politics for want of other things to do.

    Speaking during the post National Pilgrimage Thanksgiving service at the Aso Villa Chapel, Abuja, President Jonathan noted that half of Nigerian politicians are in the trade for what they can get.

    “Politics is just like some kind of trade. More than 50% of us who are into politics are not supposed to be politicians. E.g in the profession of nursing and teaching if people with wicked heart and unforgiving spirit are not the kind of people who should be nurses or teachers, but we find them there.

    “So most of us who are in politics are not supposed to be there but because we have no other thing to do. So if you see a politician that cannot forgive, he is an impostor.” He added.

    Jonathan was responding to the remark by the Aso Villa Chaplain, Obioma Onwuzurumba that most politicians are often very unforgiving.

    He said: “These days we learn not to talk, or we talk very little. The chaplain accused us politicians that we do not forgive, or that some politicians don’t forgive. Apparently the bible said this, that politicians are the people who forgive.”

    “Politicians, I would not say much are those who forgive because in politics whether local politics or national, the bible word is that you don’t have permanent friends or permanent enemies but permanent interest.”

    “If somebody is your enemy today and there is a change of interest and he becomes your friend first of all you have to forgive otherwise you cannot have a friend that you cannot work with.”