The Nation Newspaper

Tag: inauguration

  • Mega School for inauguration

    Ondo State Governor Olusegun Mimiko will tomorrow inaugurate a Caring Heart Sub-Urban Mega primary school in Akure, the state capital.

    A statement by the Commissioner for Information Kayode Akinmade yesterday, the governor will inaugurate the Mega School at Famese, Isokan in Akure.

    The project is one of the many of its kind, provided by the government since Mimiko assumed office six years ago.

    At a record of over 50 scattered across the three senatorial districts, the mega schools come with free school buses, uniforms, sandals, bags and books, alluring architecture, electro-magnetic chalk boards and the computer laboratory with 50 internet-ready computers for Type 1 schools.

  • Aba Mega Mall for inauguration

    Aba Mega Mall for inauguration

    The first phase of the $300 million Aba Mega Mall project, expected to stimulate economic activities in the Southeast and Southsouth is set for inauguration.

    The project, which seats on 28 hectares, on completion, would consist of 5,830 ultra-modern shops, in four sizes of 12sq meters, 16sq metres, 24sq meters and 48sq metres.

    The facility will also have provision for banks, security post, 25,000sq meters climate-controlled warehouse space, restaurants, entertainment centres with six cinema screens, children play area and a massive parking space for over 5,000 cars.

    The South East Amalgamated Traders Association (SEAMATA),  an umbrella body of traders in the Southeast region, has endorsed the project, which they described as laudable. Consequently, it has urged its members across the country to support the project, arguing that it is good for the Southeast region, as it is providing the needed infrastructure to ensure that the region regains its pride of place in commerce in Africa.

    Group Managing Director, Geenfield Assets Limited, promoters of the mall, Paul Obanua, while  hosting Abia State Governor Theodore Orji, on a pre-inauguration inspection of the facility, explained that when completed, it would be the first mall with a dry port in Nigeria and Africa as well as the biggest mall on the continent.

    The dry port, according to Obanua, will be a 30,000 square meter bonded warehouse, which affords people of the Southeast the opportunity of clearng their goods on time. This means that they would no longer suffer time wastages due to perennial port congestion at the nation’s various sea ports.

    Obanua said: “We are also going to offer good storage facilities, automated climate controlled facility. So, this mall is going to be a one-stop-shop. And by the second phase, you are going to have a 100-room hotel come up here at the Aba Mega Mall. We are going to have a section that will be called the Aba Business Resort, so that you have your events here, like conferences and when you are in the Southeast, you can also lodge in and do your business. The other aspect of this mall is that we are going to have Aba Mega Mall online. So, the e-commerce of this mall will commence operation at the commissioning.”

    He said what this meant was that shoppers who couldn’t come to the mall to shop could shop online in any part of the country. “Even if you are in Lagos or Abuja, you can shop from anywhere and it will be delivered to you at your door steps by the Orji-led administration that encouraged the company venture into the project,” he said.

  • Ihejirika praises Jonathan at youth council inauguration

    Ihejirika praises Jonathan at youth council inauguration

    Ihanaeze Youth Council, the youth wing of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo has been inaugurated with Mazi Ikechukwu Isiguzo as its chairman. Isiguzo is the first elected chairman of the group since the previous leaders were selected.

    The ceremony attracted prominent Igbo leaders, youth organisations from the Southwest, Southsouth and North of the country. The occasion was co-chaired by former Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika and the publisher of Champion Newspaper, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu.

    Abia State Governor and Chairman, Southeast Governors Forum, Chief Theodore Orji was also there as well as the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo led by Enwo Gary-Igariwey. Traditional rulers and politicians were equally there.

    Ihejirika in his remarks urged Nigerian youths to fight insurgency and insecurity that is fast spreading in Nigeria. Making his case, he said that the Nigerian youths should understand the enormity of President Goodluck Jonathan’s effort in combating insurgency.

    The retired general urged the Igbo youths to liaise with the youths of other nationalities across the country to complement government’s fight against insecurity. He equally urged the youths to help inform the larger society so they could vote wisely when it comes to election time.

    Ihejirika said: “President Goodluck Jonathan is performing very well. There is so much we can do in this country but without security we cannot do much.

    “When you empower the youths, you fight insecurity, youths must not go to sleep. I therefore call on youths both within and outside the south east to wake up and help government quell insecurity in the country. Anybody who loves youths loves this country.”

    Governor Orji in his own speech stated that since his government embarked on laudable youth empowerment projects, kidnapping has reduced in his state.

    He noted that when it comes to war, it was always the youths that are used to fight wars and cited the instance of Biafra war which was fought mostly by the youths.

    Orji said: “If you have not taken care of the youths, then you have not done anything. We don’t want war again but the unity of this country because Igbos lost all for the unity of this country.”

    Governor Orji urged the Igbo youths to be proud of their heritage, the values and the culture, while reminding them not to be intimidated by anybody since the country belongs to all Nigerians.

    The chairman of the Ohanaeze Youths Council, Mazi Isiguzoro vowed that the council under his leadership “shall fight insecurity in Igboland, both South East and beyond to standstill.” He noted that kidnapping, armed robbery and other criminal activities were being perpetrated by mainly Igbo youths.

    He added: “We have what it takes to go after these miscreants who give Igbo youths a bad name. With the collaboration of our governors as chief security officers of their various states and in partnership with security agencies, insecurity in Igbo land shall be reduced to to the barest minimum within one year.”

    Isiguzoro said his second point in his agenda is youth empowerment which he said is a panacea to insecurity. The Youth Council in that regard launched the Igbo Youth Development/Skill Acquisition Centre. Governor Orji of Abia State granted the centre N1.5million for take off. The centre shal have sections on ICT, entrepreneurship training, skill acquisition etc.

    The youth leader also hinted that he planned to embark on a re-orientation of Igbo youths. “One of the basic problem facing today’s Igbo youth is that of internalizing Igbo cosmology as seposed by Igbo ethos such as igwebuike, onye aghala nwanneya, ezi aha ka ego etc,” he stressed.

    There were goodwill messages from the Ijaw Youth Council, IjawNational Congress led by Charles Ambiowei, Yoruba Youth congress and others.

  • Funmi Olayinka Centre for inauguration

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi will inaugurate the Funmi Olayinka Diagnostic and Wellness Centre today by 10am.

    The centre was built in the memory of former Deputy Governor Funmi Adunni Olayinka, who died on April 6 after a protracted battle with cancer.

    The centre, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, will focus on the early detection and treatment of cancer. It is on the premises of the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital.

     

  • Youths stop project inauguration

    Officials of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) were on Wednesday chased away from the inauguration of the Obazogbe-Abudu road project at Orhiomwon Local Government Area of Edo State.

    Youths from several communities in the locality stormed the venue with placards, saying the project was not completed.

    The youths, led by Felix Oshodin, said the 24km project terminated at Abudu and not Obagie, where the contractor stopped work.

    Canopies and seats were arranged for the entourage of the NDDC Managing Director while musicians and cultural troupe from Benin were entertaining guests, when the protesters stormed the venue.

    The refreshments to be served were taken back to Benin by NDDC officials and the protesters waited till the canopies were brought down.

    Inscriptions on the placards read: “No to commissioning of roads”; “Our road is yet to be completed”; “The 24km road ends in Abudu”; ”We will not allow the commissioning of half road”; “Federal Government should come to our aid”; “We say no to embezzlement of public funds”; “We will not allow cheating again”; “The contractor should do a good job”.

    The monarch of Obazagbon, Moses Omobude, said a borehole and electricity projects being executed by NDDC for the past seven years are yet to be completed.

    “How can they inaugurate a road yet to be completed? The slabs on the gutter leading to our houses are yet to be covered,” he said.

    The Enogie of Ugboko, Solomon Ojiomade, urged the NDDC to complete the project before inauguration.

    He said, “The era of deceit is over. If we allow them to inaugurate the half job, they might not come to complete the job again.”

    A NDDC bill board on the road showed that the project was Obazogbe-Abudu road but the commission’s Director, Project Monitoring and Supervision, Alexander Okenwa, said the scope of the project awarded has been completed.

    Okenwa, who spoke in Benin City, yesterday said the first phase terminated at 24km.

    He said he wanted to use the opportunity to appeal to the MD to consider awarding the remaining few kilometres.

    “The project was done to specification. I think the protesters might have been sponsored to stop us.”

  • Inauguration mass held for Pope Francis

    Inauguration mass held for Pope Francis

    The inauguration Mass for Pope Francis is being held in St Peter’s Square in Rome, marking the official start of his papacy.

    BBC says Francis earlier toured the square in an open-topped vehicle, descending to bless pilgrims behind the barriers.

    Up to a million people, along with global political and religious leaders, are attending the Mass.

    Francis was elected by a conclave of cardinals last week to take over from Benedict XVI.

    Benedict became the first pontiff in 600 years to abdicate last month. Citing his age, 85, he said he could no longer continue in the post.

    The first pontiff from the Americas, Francis has suggested he will take a more modest approach than predecessors.

    Pope Francis, formerly Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, left his temporary residence at Casa Santa Marta shortly before 09:00 (08:00 GMT) and began touring St Peter’s Square.

    He waved to the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, who flew flags and shouted: “Long live the Pope!”

    Rodrigo Grajales, a 31-year-old Colombian priest, told AFP news agency: “With Pope Francis, the Church will be closer to the people and to the modern world.”

    Francis then entered St Peter’s Basilica and donned his vestments.

    One of the Pope’s first duties was to go down to the tomb of St. Peter to venerate it.

    Francis was then presented with his papal pallium made of lambs’ wool – symbolising his role as shepherd of his flock – in the main square.

  • Remodelled Kano Airport Terminal for inauguration tomorrow

    The remodelled terminal of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano will be inaugurated tomorrow.

    The General Manager, Corporate Communications, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Mr. Yakubu Dati, said the Kano airport is the fourth remodelled terminal to be inaugurated in the last five months.

    He said it has a full complement of modern facilities, including a walkway on the airside, a new cooling system, conveyor belt, check-in counters and modern VIP lounge.

    Dati said the remodelling involved the extension of the departure lounge, to increase its seating capacity and refurbish upper floor.

    Mallam Aminu Kano Airport, Kano, is one of the 11 airports earmarked for remodelling in the first phase of the Airport Remodelling Project of the Federal Government, designed to modernise airports in the country, in line with existing international standards and practices.

    Those already inaugurated are Domestic Terminal I, MMA, on October 22, 2012; General Aviation Terminal, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, January 4, and Benin Airport Terminal on March 8.

  • Inauguration flip-flop

    Inauguration flip-flop

    Despite denouncing it in the past, Obama is taking corporate money to pay for events Jan. 20.

    Time and again, President Obama has promised to curb the power of special interests, a stance more consistently breached than honored. The latest — which comes after Obama reneged on his pledge to accept only public financing for the 2008 general election if his GOP opponent did the same, and after his re-election campaign in early 2012 began urging donors to send money to a super-PAC, a financing mechanism he had spent years decrying — is his decision to accept corporate money to pay for events at the presidential inauguration this month.

    It’s a notable shift from four years ago, when the newly elected president limited individual contributions to $50,000 and barred corporate entities entirely; this year, the Presidential Inaugural Committee cares less about where the money comes from than whether it’s green, accepting unlimited donations from corporations or individuals. This has good-government organizations up in arms, not to mention conservative groups that accuse the president of hypocrisy. They aren’t wrong, even if their cause is a little overblown.

    On the subject of hypocrisy, Obama does have a disturbing tendency to harshly criticize his opponents for behavior that he later imitates; that may not be terribly unusual in presidential politics, but it at least seems worthy of note, or an explanation, or even an apology. On the subject of good governance, the inauguration decision sets yet another terrible precedent, signaling to insiders that the president’s rhetoric about curbing special interests is nothing more than campaign blather to be swiftly ignored after the oath of office is administered — or in this case, even before.

    Yet now that we’ve almost managed to work up a head of steam about the inauguration switch … comes the crashing realization that it doesn’t really make much difference. The events hosted by the Presidential Inauguration Committee — the swearing-in ceremony, a parade and assorted balls — represent only a tiny portion of the Inauguration Day activities. They will go off without a hitch just as they did in 2009. And despite the committee’s precautions that year, it’s unlikely that the ban on corporate contributions led to much of a reduction in lobbying; most of the money raised by the inauguration committee came from bundlers working for Wall Street firms such as Goldman Sachs that were then in need of government assistance.

    Symbolism is everything. In 2009, corporate America was being blamed for causing the economic downturn and Obama was elected with a mandate to crack down. Today, he may be seeking to mend fences and bring CEOs back to the negotiating table after a bruising campaign pitting “job creators” against the working man and woman. Or maybe he’s just being two-faced.

     

    – Los Angeles Times

     

  • Opposition boycotts inauguration

    GHANA’S opposition party – the New Patriotic Party (NPP), whose leader, Nana Akufo-Addo, trailed second with 47.7 per cent at the last election, made good its threat to boycott President John Dramani Mahama’s inauguration yesterday. Its stance was a rejection President Mahama’s call for political unity.

    Akufo-Addo’s decision was expected as his NPP has approached the Supreme Court to seek the annulment of the December 7 presidential election results that declared Mahama winner with 50.70 per cent. The opposition believed there were enough irregularities in the process to compromise the outcome.

    On Friday, December 28, the NPP filed a petition at the Supreme Court, claiming that Mahama was invalidly elected. The party said its standard bearer, Akufo-Addo, according to its calculations; polled 50.28 per cent and not 47.74 per cent as declared by the Electoral Commission.

    The NPP claims in the petition that Mahama scored 48.26 per cent as against the 50.70 per cent announced by the electoral umpire. It urged the apex court to declare its candidate the winner of the election.

    The appellants are: Akufo-Addo, his running mate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and party Chairman, Jake Obetsebi Lamptey.

    Respondents to the petition are: Mahama and the Electoral Commission. They have till January 18 to respond.

    Two lawyers of the NPP, Egbert Faible and Godfred Dame, filed the papers at the apex court. Its supporters have staged a series of demonstrations, some of them were violent, to express their rejection of the results. In some of the demonstrations, supporters of the NDC and reporters were attacked.

    International and local observers said the December election was free and fair despite problems that extended voting into the second day.

    All eyes are on the court to see if 68-year old Akuffo-Ado, whose father, the late Edward Akuffo-Ado served as President from 1970 to 1972, could get a judicial victory.

     

  • Mahama’s battles after the inauguration

    A GLORIOUS day it was yesterday for Ghana and its President John Mahama. But after the razzmatazz of inauguration, it is time for John ‘The Fourth’ to settle down to business. He also has the opposition’s legal challenge of his election to tackle, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU from Accra

    SUPPORTERS of the opposition party had threatened to throw stones at the former president. Their grouse with him was John Kufour vowed to honour the invitation to President John Dramani Mahama’s inauguration. As a strategy, they stormed his residence in Accra yesterday, saying that as a leading member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), he must boycott the inauguration.

    Dressed in white and black t-shirts with the picture of the party’s candidate, Nana Addo, they chanted songs of displeasure and vowed to do everything possible to stop Kufour from attending the inauguration. But the police repelled them.

    The NPP has a petition pending at the Supreme Court against Mahama’s election. Mahama’s party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), has picked a leading lawyer, Tsatsu Tsikata, to argue its case.

    In the days to come, the legal battle will surely take the time of the party, the President and the legal team.

    However, what matters to the people is what Mahama does with the mandate to improve their lives. Ghana is faced with rising youth unemployment and a widening development gap between the oil-rich coast and the poor-arid North, Ghanaians will be more concerned on how the President improves scary realities, which have seen Ghana, with a per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the bottom third of the world, life expectancy in the bottom 15 per cent, infant mortality in the bottom fourth and corruption a no mean problem.

    The country still faces a major challenge in the education of children. The ‘schools under trees’ phenomenon, non-availability of teaching and learning materials and low remuneration for teachers, which pose serious threats to the provision of quality education, are hurdles that must be scaled by the new administration.

    By the government’s admission, only about 40 per cent of the over 4,000 “schools under trees” have been replaced in the last four years. Hundreds of thousands of Ghanaian school children are yet to be moved into decent classroom blocks.

    Mahama has promised to work hard towards the eradication of the operating ‘schools under trees’.

    Despite the fact that Ghana had celebrated a decade of uninterrupted power supply, many households, especially those on the lower rung of the financial ladder, remain in darkness, with no access to electricity supply. They constitute 18 per cent of the population, who have no access to electricity.

    Mahama, who until the death of the former President John Atta Mills last July operated under his shadow, now has a mandate of his own.

    The reality of this fact was on global focus yesterday at the Black Star Square, where Mahama was the cynosure of all eyes. Since July when the responsibility of piloting the affairs of the state became his, he has shown glimpses of what he would do with power post-January 7. Many are looking forward to seeing the configuration of his new cabinet.

    The President, in his State of the Nation address last December, identified the work ahead.

    He said: “Let us not forget that hardwork lies ahead of us. Keeping the nation safe; anchoring our constitutional and democratic legacy on stronger moral and cultural values; growing stronger institutions; delivering on infrastructural development and social services, infrastructure and amenities to all parts of this nation; as well as affirming our status as a Pan African giant remain far from finished, and it is our shared responsibility to work towards the achievement of these goals.”

    Significantly, when the late Prof. Mills took office, with Mahama as deputy in 2008, the economy was in distress.

    Mahama, in the State of the Nation address, said of the economy: “Through hard work and implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies, we were able, over the last four years, to stabilise the macro-economic environment. This resulted in remarkable acceleration of our growth.

    “And today, Ghana’s GDP growth rates continue to be among the highest in the world. With the record-breaking growth of 2011, occasioned partly by the commencement of oil production, this year again we expect an eventual positive out turn of growth between 8.5 and nine per cent.”