The Nation Newspaper

Tag: jinx

  • Breaking another jinx

    President Muhammadu Buhari last week Monday broke another jinx especially in the fourth Nigerian Republic starting from the period when democratic rule was restored in the country in 1999.

    As part of marking the first 12 months of his democratic administration, Buhari hosted State House correspondents to a Presidential Lunch at the seat of power.

    That was novel as the previous administrations never saw the need to bring the media as the fourth estate of the realm closer in such gathering.

    Last week Monday was also the second time President Buhari was formally meeting the State House correspondents in such a gathering within one year. No past President or Head of State of Nigeria did that.

    Those past leaders were always shielded from journalists and most often made to believe that it was a taboo to meet with the group.

    To them, journalists were just in the Villa to cover and report any open public function in the State House.

    But President Buhari as a true democrat saw journalists as partners in progress and felt the need to engage them beyond their official reportage of activities and events in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, despite the group being the watchdog of the society.

    He sat for about two hours through the Presidential Lunch to dine with the journalists after brief speeches by himself and the Chairman of the State House Press Corps, Kehinde Amodu.

    A member of the State House Press Corps, 84 years old photojournalist, Ladan Abubakar, popularly called Baba Ladan, was specially presented to the President during the lunch.

    Baba Ladan, who has put in about 42 years as photojournalist with the Triumph newspaper, has been combining his career with tailoring.

    His joy knew no bounds as he was called out to pose for snapshots with the President along with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, and Kehinde Amodu.

    It was the first time Ladan was called out for such recognition since he started covering the seat of power from the regime of Late General Sani Abachi in 1994.

    A Director and Head of Department of Media and Publicity at the State House, Mr. Justin Abuah, who has served 8 Presidents and Heads of State since 1986 was also specially presented to the President by Mallam Garba Shehu, who served as the Master of Ceremony at the event.

    Abuah is often seen as a technocrat needed to make the engine room of the media office operate effectively from one government to the other.

    He has not only been a dependable hand in the concise and timely press statements the administrations have churned out, but he ensured members of the State House Press Corps, who needed to work on the statements, get them.

    To get the work done, Abuah has also severally followed some late night press statements with telephone calls to members of the Press Corps.

    The gathering was also the first time Abuah was being recognized by a sitting President at such a forum.

    At the end of the Presidential Lunch, President Buhari also stood to shake hand and posed for photographs with each of the 88 members of the Press Corps that attended the dinner. About 20 accredited State House correspondents did not attend the lunch.

    Many members of the State House correspondents present were elated by the President’s novel gesture and will not forget the experience in a hurry.

    Like stated above, the Presidential Lunch was the second jinx President Buhari was breaking as far as State House correspondents were concerned. The Lunch also broke a third record being the first time a sitting President will meet the Press Corps twice within a year.

    The first one he broke was his first meeting with State House correspondents on his first working day in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on 22nd of June last year after operating from the Defence House for about three weeks.

    Journalists were not just stunned by President Buhari’s sharp memory about each publisher or owner of any media organization introduced to him at that first meeting, but they could not help but compare him with the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, who did not find time to really fraternize with the group throughout his six years sojourn at the seat of power.

    Like Oliver Twist, majority of the journalists still want President Buhari to find time from his tight schedules to take the new gesture to the next level.

    They are looking forward to a regular interactive session like those held by the President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama with correspondents covering the White House.

    As such meetings, Obama not only fielded questions from the journalists but also expressed a good knowledge of the journalists by calling the journalists by their names and organizations.

    With time, we will definitely get there.

     

    Envy or Rivalry

    The Presidential Lunch for State House Press Corps last week Monday also had what can be referred to as its bad side.

    It brought to the fore a sort of rivalry or envy from some other workers in the Presidential Villa.

    To digress a bit, some of the other categories of workers at the seat of power apart from the media include protocol staff, security personnel, cooks and stewards, and drivers.

    Some of those workers who were envious of the journalists could not understand what made them special to enjoy such Presidential Lunch when they have not had such privilege.

    Apart from their sadness clearly showing on some of their faces, some of the workers made some unpleasant remarks in low tunes as they served journalists on their tables during the Presidential Lunch.

    Before last week Monday, they were used to having journalists stand or hang around to cover open public functions, but never at the centre of the President’s focus.

    The Presidential Lunch for State House Press Corps however ended on a good note that afternoon.

    But some of the envious workers became alarmed when they saw journalists again arriving to attend the Presidential Dinner for National Assembly members on that same Monday night.

    At the dinner, speeches were made by President Buhari and Senate President, Bukola Saraki, from which many newspapers published stories the following day. It is important for those workers to know that above every other consideration, journalists’ main role at such function is to get the news for the public.

    Many other happenings even under past administrations have shown the need for a kind of training or workshop to enlighten every category of staff on the roles being played by the various workers in the Villa.

    This, no doubt, will ensure harmony among workers in the Villa and also prevent any kind of rivalry or envy.

    Apart from journalists being the fourth estate of the realm, there is nothing wrong in dedicating and reserving some tables and seats, as the case may be, for journalists covering an open public functions, especially at the big old Banquet Hall of the State House.

    The era where non-journalists take the front seats while journalists stand during press conferences or other media events in any part of the country should be a thing of the past. Journalists should be accorded their deserved respect.

     

  • Breaking another jinx

    President Muhammadu Buhari last week Monday broke another jinx especially in the fourth Nigerian Republic starting from the period when democratic rule was restored in the country in 1999.

    As part of marking the first 12 months of his democratic administration, Buhari hosted State House correspondents to a Presidential Lunch at the seat of power.

    That was novel as the previous administrations never saw the need to bring the media as the fourth estate of the realm closer in such gathering.

    Last week Monday was also the second time President Buhari was formally meeting the State House correspondents in such a gathering within one year. No past President or Head of State of Nigeria did that.

    Those past leaders were always shielded from journalists and most often made to believe that it was a taboo to meet with the group.

    To them, journalists were just in the Villa to cover and report any open public function in the State House.

    But President Buhari as a true democrat saw journalists as partners in progress and felt the need to engage them beyond their official reportage of activities and events in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, despite the group being the watchdog of the society.

    He sat for about two hours through the Presidential Lunch to dine with the journalists after brief speeches by himself and the Chairman of the State House Press Corps, Kehinde Amodu.

    A member of the State House Press Corps, 84 years old photojournalist, Ladan Abubakar, popularly called Baba Ladan, was specially presented to the President during the lunch.

    Baba Ladan, who has put in about 42 years as photojournalist with the Triumph newspaper, has been combining his career with tailoring.

    His joy knew no bounds as he was called out to pose for snapshots with the President along with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, and Kehinde Amodu.

    It was the first time Ladan was called out for such recognition since he started covering the seat of power from the regime of Late General Sani Abachi in 1994.

    A Director and Head of Department of Media and Publicity at the State House, Mr. Justin Abuah, who has served 8 Presidents and Heads of State since 1986 was also specially presented to the President by Mallam Garba Shehu, who served as the Master of Ceremony at the event.

    Abuah is often seen as a technocrat needed to make the engine room of the media office operate effectively from one government to the other.

    He has not only been a dependable hand in the concise and timely press statements the administrations have churned out, but he ensured members of the State House Press Corps, who needed to work on the statements, get them.

    To get the work done, Abuah has also severally followed some late night press statements with telephone calls to members of the Press Corps.

    The gathering was also the first time Abuah was being recognized by a sitting President at such a forum.

    At the end of the Presidential Lunch, President Buhari also stood to shake hand and posed for photographs with each of the 88 members of the Press Corps that attended the dinner. About 20 accredited State House correspondents did not attend the lunch.

    Many members of the State House correspondents present were elated by the President’s novel gesture and will not forget the experience in a hurry.

    Like stated above, the Presidential Lunch was the second jinx President Buhari was breaking as far as State House correspondents were concerned. The Lunch also broke a third record being the first time a sitting President will meet the Press Corps twice within a year.

    The first one he broke was his first meeting with State House correspondents on his first working day in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on 22nd of June last year after operating from the Defence House for about three weeks.

    Journalists were not just stunned by President Buhari’s sharp memory about each publisher or owner of any media organization introduced to him at that first meeting, but they could not help but compare him with the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, who did not find time to really fraternize with the group throughout his six years sojourn at the seat of power.

    Like Oliver Twist, majority of the journalists still want President Buhari to find time from his tight schedules to take the new gesture to the next level.

    They are looking forward to a regular interactive session like those held by the President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama with correspondents covering the White House.

    As such meetings, Obama not only fielded questions from the journalists but also expressed a good knowledge of the journalists by calling the journalists by their names and organizations.

    With time, we will definitely get there.

     

    Envy or Rivalry

     

    The Presidential Lunch for State House Press Corps last week Monday also had what can be referred to as its bad side.

    It brought to the fore a sort of rivalry or envy from some other workers in the Presidential Villa.

    To digress a bit, some of the other categories of workers at the seat of power apart from the media include protocol staff, security personnel, cooks and stewards, and drivers.

    Some of those workers who were envious of the journalists could not understand what made them special to enjoy such Presidential Lunch when they have not had such privilege.

    Apart from their sadness clearly showing on some of their faces, some of the workers made some unpleasant remarks in low tunes as they served journalists on their tables during the Presidential Lunch.

    Before last week Monday, they were used to having journalists stand or hang around to cover open public functions, but never at the centre of the President’s focus.

    The Presidential Lunch for State House Press Corps however ended on a good note that afternoon.

    But some of the envious workers became alarmed when they saw journalists again arriving to attend the Presidential Dinner for National Assembly members on that same Monday night.

    At the dinner, speeches were made by President Buhari and Senate President, Bukola Saraki, from which many newspapers published stories the following day. It is important for those workers to know that above every other consideration, journalists’ main role at such function is to get the news for the public.

    Many other happenings even under past administrations have shown the need for a kind of training or workshop to enlighten every category of staff on the roles being played by the various workers in the Villa.

    This, no doubt, will ensure harmony among workers in the Villa and also prevent any kind of rivalry or envy.

    Apart from journalists being the fourth estate of the realm, there is nothing wrong in dedicating and reserving some tables and seats, as the case may be, for journalists covering an open public functions, especially at the big old Banquet Hall of the State House.

    The era where non-journalists take the front seats while journalists stand during press conferences or other media events in any part of the country should be a thing of the past. Journalists should be accorded their deserved respect.

     

  • Breaking another jinx

    President Muhammadu Buhari last week Monday broke another jinx especially in the fourth Nigerian Republic starting from the period when democratic rule was restored in the country in 1999.

    As part of marking the first 12 months of his democratic administration, Buhari hosted State House correspondents to a Presidential Lunch at the seat of power.

    That was novel as the previous administrations never saw the need to bring the media as the fourth estate of the realm closer in such gathering.

    Last week Monday was also the second time President Buhari was formally meeting the State House correspondents in such a gathering within one year. No past President or Head of State of Nigeria did that.

    Those past leaders were always shielded from journalists and most often made to believe that it was a taboo to meet with the group.

    To them, journalists were just in the Villa to cover and report any open public function in the State House.

    But President Buhari as a true democrat saw journalists as partners in progress and felt the need to engage them beyond their official reportage of activities and events in the Presidential Villa, Abuja, despite the group being the watchdog of the society.

    He sat for about two hours through the Presidential Lunch to dine with the journalists after brief speeches by himself and the Chairman of the State House Press Corps, Kehinde Amodu.

    A member of the State House Press Corps, 84 years old photojournalist, Ladan Abubakar, popularly called Baba Ladan, was specially presented to the President during the lunch.

    Baba Ladan, who has put in about 42 years as photojournalist with the Triumph newspaper, has been combining his career with tailoring.

    His joy knew no bounds as he was called out to pose for snapshots with the President along with the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, and Kehinde Amodu.

    It was the first time Ladan was called out for such recognition since he started covering the seat of power from the regime of Late General Sani Abachi in 1994.

    A Director and Head of Department of Media and Publicity at the State House, Mr. Justin Abuah, who has served 8 Presidents and Heads of State since 1986 was also specially presented to the President by Mallam Garba Shehu, who served as the Master of Ceremony at the event.

    Abuah is often seen as a technocrat needed to make the engine room of the media office operate effectively from one government to the other.

    He has not only been a dependable hand in the concise and timely press statements the administrations have churned out, but he ensured members of the State House Press Corps, who needed to work on the statements, get them.

    To get the work done, Abuah has also severally followed some late night press statements with telephone calls to members of the Press Corps.

    The gathering was also the first time Abuah was being recognized by a sitting President at such a forum.

    At the end of the Presidential Lunch, President Buhari also stood to shake hand and posed for photographs with each of the 88 members of the Press Corps that attended the dinner. About 20 accredited State House correspondents did not attend the lunch.

    Many members of the State House correspondents present were elated by the President’s novel gesture and will not forget the experience in a hurry.

    Like stated above, the Presidential Lunch was the second jinx President Buhari was breaking as far as State House correspondents were concerned. The Lunch also broke a third record being the first time a sitting President will meet the Press Corps twice within a year.

    The first one he broke was his first meeting with State House correspondents on his first working day in the Presidential Villa, Abuja on 22nd of June last year after operating from the Defence House for about three weeks.

    Journalists were not just stunned by President Buhari’s sharp memory about each publisher or owner of any media organization introduced to him at that first meeting, but they could not help but compare him with the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan, who did not find time to really fraternize with the group throughout his six years sojourn at the seat of power.

    Like Oliver Twist, majority of the journalists still want President Buhari to find time from his tight schedules to take the new gesture to the next level.

    They are looking forward to a regular interactive session like those held by the President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama with correspondents covering the White House.

    As such meetings, Obama not only fielded questions from the journalists but also expressed a good knowledge of the journalists by calling the journalists by their names and organizations.

    With time, we will definitely get there.

     

    Envy or Rivalry

    The Presidential Lunch for State House Press Corps last week Monday also had what can be referred to as its bad side.

    It brought to the fore a sort of rivalry or envy from some other workers in the Presidential Villa.

    To digress a bit, some of the other categories of workers at the seat of power apart from the media include protocol staff, security personnel, cooks and stewards, and drivers.

    Some of those workers who were envious of the journalists could not understand what made them special to enjoy such Presidential Lunch when they have not had such privilege.

    Apart from their sadness clearly showing on some of their faces, some of the workers made some unpleasant remarks in low tunes as they served journalists on their tables during the Presidential Lunch.

    Before last week Monday, they were used to having journalists stand or hang around to cover open public functions, but never at the centre of the President’s focus.

    The Presidential Lunch for State House Press Corps however ended on a good note that afternoon.

    But some of the envious workers became alarmed when they saw journalists again arriving to attend the Presidential Dinner for National Assembly members on that same Monday night.

    At the dinner, speeches were made by President Buhari and Senate President, Bukola Saraki, from which many newspapers published stories the following day. It is important for those workers to know that above every other consideration, journalists’ main role at such function is to get the news for the public.

    Many other happenings even under past administrations have shown the need for a kind of training or workshop to enlighten every category of staff on the roles being played by the various workers in the Villa.

    This, no doubt, will ensure harmony among workers in the Villa and also prevent any kind of rivalry or envy.

    Apart from journalists being the fourth estate of the realm, there is nothing wrong in dedicating and reserving some tables and seats, as the case may be, for journalists covering an open public functions, especially at the big old Banquet Hall of the State House.

    The era where non-journalists take the front seats while journalists stand during press conferences or other media events in any part of the country should be a thing of the past. Journalists should be accorded their deserved respect.

     

  • As Buhari breaks subsidy jinx

    As Buhari breaks subsidy jinx

    After  years of toying with the idea, Nigerians woke up on Thursday to the news of removal of Federal Government’s subsidy on the pump price of premium motor spirit (PMS), popularly called petrol. The move announced by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, spelt an end to years of debate as to the propriety of retaining government’s subsidy on fuel.

    Breaking the news to media men and women at the presidential Villa in Abuja after a stakeholders’ meeting in which the leadership of the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Nigerian Governors’ Forum and labour unions like the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association (PENGASSAN), Kachikwu said will ensure increased supply and stabilise the quantity of the product.

    But protests from a section of labour and civil society groups has continued to trail the deregulation or removal of petrol subsidy and the eventual increase in the pump price of petrol to N145/litre. However, the overwhelming position of experts is that by doing so, government has finally taken the bold step to reposition the economy. The consensus is that full deregulation will put an end to the incessant fuel scarcity, reduce pressure on foreign reserves and encourage investors to build refineries, as well as boost investments and create jobs.

    For those who had long been agitating for full deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil and gas industry and the removal of subsidy on petroleum products, the move by the Federal Government is an idea whose time has come because the current global economic realities had made subsidy unsustainable. “Subsidy doesn’t make economic sense anymore. It has become unsustainable. We will never come out of the wood as long as we continue to subsidise the price of petroleum products. We cannot continue to postpone the evil day,” the Director-General (DG), Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), Sir Emeka Okereke, said.

    Although, the payment of an estimated N1 trillion annually as subsidy by the Federal Government had in the past pitted the government against oil marketers on one hand, and against Nigerians on the other, Okereke is one of those advocating that the government must muster the political will to push through the deregulation policy.

    “The government has no business in business. Put the right policies in place so that private investors can come in,” he said, recalling that because of political exigency, the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan failed to take the bull by the horns and deregulate the sector.

    In 2012, a nationwide protest by labour and civil society groups against the removal of petrol subsidy forced down the hand of the Jonathan-led administration. The former president buckled under the pressure by labour and civil society groups, apparently due to political exigency. However, the thinking by development experts was that subsidies, which the Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF), Ms. Christine Lagarde, described as “hard to defend” would sooner or later be removed.

    The IMF, during her recent visit to Nigeria had urged Buhari to tinker with fuel subsidy as “only seven per cent of the benefits go to the poorest 20 per cent.” The Federal Government eventually heeded the call on Wednesday when it announced the removal of fuel subsidy, with a new petrol price band of N135 to N145 per litre, up from N86 and N86.50.

    Although, labour, as usual, literally reached for Lagarde’s jugular for asking Buhari to discard subsidy, Wednesday’s increase in the pump price of petrol to N145/litre by the Federal Government may have again underscored the fact that arguments in favour of subsidy are no longer sustainable.

    While Okereke and indeed other analysts and commentators expressed fears that the new fuel price regime will, in the short term, further push the economy into recession and aggravate the sufferings of Nigerians, they were however, quick to note that the benefits of deregulation will, in the long term, far outweigh the initial pains.

    Private sector operators speak

    For the Director General of Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, government’s decision to liberalise the petroleum downstream sector was inevitable given the acute resource constraint that the country is currently facing. “The overregulation of the sector and the subsidy regime had put enormous pressure on government finances and on our foreign reserves. It was evident that the policy choice was not sustainable. The review is in the long term interest of the economy and the people,” he said.

    Yusuf said petroleum subsidy management has been characterised by serious transparency issues for several decades. According to him, there are two components of the subsidy phenomenon. The first is the actual subsidy, which is the differential between the pump price and the landing and other costs of fuel. The second {and more disturbing component} is the blatant corruption inherent in the fuel subsidy regime.

    “For several years, the Nigerian economy suffered severe bleeding from this phenomenon, with subsidy payments in the one trillion naira threshold, and even more. In an economy with huge deficit in economic and social infrastructures, it was simply scandalous. It is in the overall interest of the economy and citizens for it to be discontinued,” the LCCI DG said, adding that doing away with subsidy will create a number of advantages for the economy.

    One of the positive spin-offs, Yusuf said, will be the free up of resources for investment in critical infrastructures such as power, roads, the rail systems, health sector, education sector etc. “The deficiency in all of these infrastructure areas is phenomenal. Fixing infrastructure will greatly improve productivity and efficiency in the economy and impact positively on the welfare of the people,” he said.

    Also, discarding subsidy, he pointed out, will boost private investment in the downstream oil sector especially in petroleum product refining. This will ultimately reduce importation of petroleum products and ease the pressure on the foreign exchange market as well as foreign reserves. It will also eliminate the rampant patronage, rent seeking activities and corruption that currently characterise the downstream oil sector, while also improving product availability and eliminate fuel queues.

    Because of the nation’s dysfunctional refineries, Nigeria loses a staggering N10 billion to the importation of petrol yearly, according to Kachikwu. With such huge capital flight, he said the only option left to the government was fuel subsidy removal or deregulation of the downstream. He said government does not have the funds to adequately import due to lean income caused by crashing oil prices at the international market.

    Apart from the impetus the new regime would give to product refining, the LCCI chief said it will also create more jobs for the teeming youths in the downstream oil sector as investment in the sector improves. Industry operators, who spoke with The Nation, put in perspective when they projected that the new regime will create at least additional 200,000 jobs through new investments in refineries and retail outlets. It will also prevent potential loss of about 400, 000 jobs in existing investments in petroleum assets.

    One of the operators, who declined to be mentioned, also stated that it will on sustainable basis solve the recurrent fuel scarcity crisis that had lingered since the beginning of the year by ensuring product availability in all locations across the country. He said the envisaged market stability and improvement in supply will come through private sector participation.

    According to him, all the players including the major and independent marketers as well as the retail arm of the NNPC and other interested parties will be free to import and sell. It will also drastically reduce hoarding, smuggling and diversion of petrol and stabilise price cost-efficiently.

    Speaking further, the operator said the estimated proper cost of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS) to an average consumer in a period of scarcity was N243.05 per litre. The estimation factored average money spent to buy petrol at the former official price of N86.50, the average price of PMS on the black market and the estimated average volume bought per visit to the filling stations.

    As he explained, “the unavailability of foreign exchange and inability to open letter of credit, forced marketers to stop product importation and this imposed over 90 per cent supply of national fuel requirement on NNPC since 2015 as against the 48 per cent NNPC used to import. Apart from the huge import burden imposed on NNPC, it doesn’t have the resources, logistics and a distribution facility to discharge the responsibility in view of government’s shrinking revenue caused by low oil price.”

    He therefore, said the new price regime will allow marketers source their foreign exchange independently of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and ensure adequate product supply in all parts of the country, whilst catering for full cost recovery and averaging of prices across the nation.

    “Clearly the continuation of subsidies in any form for PMS limits the ability of government to deliver its statutory functions of providing power, security, education, and healthcare, among others. The new price regime will enable government focus on these critical sectors and free up the scarce foreign exchange via CBN to be used in these other sectors. Besides, there is no provision for subsidy in the 2016 budget,” he told The Nation, noting that even with the new price regime, Nigeria remains one of the cheapest fuel markets in Africa, and this will get better once competition begins.

    Sufficiency in local production, monitoring are key

    Experts say that Nigeria will only stop products importation when it attains self-sufficiency in local production. The Nation however, learnt that the present administration is working assiduously on key initiatives to boost local refining capacity. The overall objective is to create a competitive downstream petroleum market, and also make Nigeria a net exporter of petroleum products by 2019.

    Apart from the need for sufficiency in local

     

    Refining, experts also say that the Federal Government through the oil industry regulators, namely the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA), should ensure that the new price regime is not abused by monitoring the retail outlets properly.

    “Such efforts will help to mitigate market uncertainty, supply disruptions, and ensure consistent product quality across the market. The regulators should also carry out random quality controls to reduce risk of fuel adulteration, a knowledgeable industry source, said

    That is not all. Yusuf said for the objectives of the new policy to be achieved, the current foreign exchange policy needs to be urgently reviewed to improve liquidity and transparency in the foreign exchange market. “Only a limited success will be achieved if the current rigidities in the management of the foreign exchange market persist,” he pointed out.

    For the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), it was pertinent to note that deregulation with the influence of government in pricing is not good for the economy. NACCIMA in a statement signed by its National President Chief Bassey Edem and made available to The Nation, said “We therefore, counsel that government should allow market forces to determine price instead of fixing a ceiling of N145 per litre. Accordingly, we counsel that the DPR PPPRA be restructured and merged into one regulatory body for better monitoring and efficient service provision.”

    Edem, who noted that deregulation would put an end to the incessant fuel scarcity being experienced in the country, while reducing the pressure on the nation’s foreign reserves as a result of huge demand for petrol imports, added that “in view of the expected reduced pressure on our foreign reserves, which this policy will bring about, it is also important that the resultant benefit be directed more towards the real sector to hasten the development of our economy.”

    He commended the Federal Government for “finally taking the bold step to remove subsidy on petrol” and counselled Nigerians to support the policy so as to block all the loopholes that have been hampering the rejuvenation of the economy. He said the policy decision was an attestation to the political will of the present administration.

    He also reiterated the need for government to ensure the quick commencement of budget implementation to alleviate the negative impact of the policy on the purchasing power of the average Nigerians.

    Indeed, as Okereke observed, the purchasing power of Nigerians had ebbed in recent time. He said with the new fuel price, inflation rate would hit the roof. In fact, he predicted that between now and next year, inflation will go up as high as 11 to 12 per cent.

    “It’s a worrisome development. Government should do a rethink. Let’s do it (deregulation) totally. Don’t rob Peter to pay Paul,” he said, pointing out, for instance, that the refineries ought to have come on stream before deregulation.

    Labour spits fire

    The atmosphere is charged, as the coalition of labour and civil society groups may have started mobilizing their members for a possible showdown with the Federal Government over the new fuel price increase of N145/litre. As at Friday, labour leaders said they were planning to meet on the next line of action. Should they decide to take on the government, it means that the coming days and weeks, socio-economic activities will grind to halt and this will result to increased suffering of the Nigerians.

    The grouse of the Nigerian Labour Congress and its affiliates, The Nation learnt, was that they were not consulted before subsidy was removed and price of petrol jacked up.  They were particularly peeved that government failed to engage and carry along all the relevant stakeholders to prepare the minds before announcing the new price increase from 86.50 per litre to N145.

    Government reassures Nigerians

    On the strength of the new regime, Kachikwu has assured Nigerians that the price of petrol will come down in the next six to eight months. “As it gets better and it gets to a point where we find that the market has stabilised in terms of supply, we will begin to pull back a bit in terms of determinants for pricing. We want Nigerians to understand that we feel their pain….,” he said on Thursday.

    Will Nigerians, particularly labour and civil society see reasons with Kachikwu? Will they bear the initial pains that will certainly come with the new order while hoping for better days in the long run? The coming weeks and months will say

  • Kano Pillars break Sunshine Stars three years jinx in Akure

    Kano Pillars break Sunshine Stars three years jinx in Akure

    Kano Pillars broke a three-year jinx in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) when they defeated Sunshine Stars 1-0 at the Akure Township Stadium on Sunday on the Match-Day 14.

    Adamu Mohammed’s 82 minutes goal was all Sai Masu Gida needed to secure maximum three points in the match and the only away win this weekend.

    It was a game that saw both sides create several scoring opportunities but the visitors made use of one out of many.

    The win was a boost for the four-time champions to reclaim NPFL title they surrendered to Enyimba last season.

    The home side made the first attempt in the 4th minute but Pillars goalkeeper Yusuf Muhammad rushed out to clear the danger before Quadri Samad pounces in.

    Yusuf made another fine save to deny Sunday Abe’s effort from a well taken free kick.

    Sunshine Stars goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa was called to action in the 48th minute as his fingertip save denied Omo Johnson the chance to put Pillars ahead.

    The visitors had another chance to take the lead in the 59th minute but Prince Aggreh surprisingly missed a one-on-one chance with Ezenwa.

    Sunshine Stars Dele Olorundare went close to giving the home side the equalizer but his efforts only hit the side netting and despite a late pressure Kano Pillars held on for a vital win in front of 5,498 spectators in Akure.

  • How Ajimobi broke second term jinx

    How Ajimobi broke second term jinx

    Oyo State is a politically sophisticated state. It is a complex state to govern. This assertion was made by the late Chief Bola Ige in his book: People, Politics and Politicians of Nigeria.

    Governor Abiola Ajimobi experienced the complexity in his first term. The governor encounted serious challenges due to the opposition to his policies and programmes from unexpected quarters. Some of the challenges include the upsurge in political violence, the unrest over the increment in tuition fees of state institutions, the opposition to his second term bid and the socio-economic implications of the flooding in the state, particularly the capital city of Ibadan.

    A day after his inauguration in 2011, students of The Polytechnic, Ibadan took to the streets to protest the hike in their tuition fees. Ajimobi inherited unpaid salary of the workers. He also inherited the face-off between Oyo State Government and the Osun State Government over the ownership of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho (LAUTEC).

    The governor described the move by the students as a politically motivated protest because they did not allow the new government to settle before embarking on the protest. Analysts said it was a good protest at the wrong time. The governor was compelled to order the management of the institution to revert to the old school fees to avoid chaos.

    The Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, said the discontinuation the outrageous fees was meant to end the crisis. He explained that the governor gave the order following the misunderstanding of the details of the earlier order for a reduction of the fees by 50 per cent, by the authorities of the school. On the other hand, the LAUTEC crisis, which had lingered for close to three years, was resolved in less than six months of his assumption of office.

    As the government was settling down, some Ibadan residents were displaced by heavy rains and flooding, which also destroyed some bridges, on July 16, 2012. The government, in collaboration with some private sector operators, lodged the displaced persons in some school premises before reconstructing their houses.

    Areas worst hit included Apete and a link road that leads to Army Barracks, Odo-Ona Elewe and Sabo area of the state. The Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Bosun Oladele, said there was no casualty. He said government had to demolish some structures that were damaged as a result of the rainstorm.

    Oladele added: “It seems as if we are driving the water; it is finding its way. Some of the structures that were not marked for demolition before were being exposed and the government would have no choice than to continue with the demolition. But, on the whole, we thank God that no casualty was recorded.”

    In 2012, there was a rumour that the governor’s wife, Mrs. Florence Ajimobi, was arrested by the London Metropolitan Police for money laundering. Mrs. Ajimobi arrived Nigeria the following day, saying it was a mere rumour. She told reporters on arrival: “I am here live as you can see. I have never had any encounter with the London Metropolitan Police and I know I will never have.

    “This has shown the true test of any human being’s ability to stand firm in times of crisis and controversy. My arrest is just a rumour and I think the time has come for us in Nigeria to stop playing dirty politics.”

    Ajimobi courted more controversy in his effort to embark on his urban renewal programme. In the process, some structures affecting the free-flow of traffic in the capital had to be demolished to ease traffic.

    As a result, traders took to the streets to register their displeasure. The Otun Iyalaje of Ibadanland, Chief Victoria Coker, led the traders to the Governor’s Office to register their grievances.

    Ajimobi had challenged those whose houses were mistakenly demolished by agents of the government to come forward. The governor said on his last appearance on his monthly programme on television, E pade gomina (meet your governor) before the recent general elections that, since he has been urging people to come and lodge complaint about houses that may be unjustly demolished, nobody responded because his administration did not actually demolish houses that may have been unjustly, but rather had built more houses and shops. He called on the people playing dirty politics to desist from such behaviour.

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has made history by breaking the second term jinx. JEREMIAH OKE highlights the factors that aided his victory at the poll.

    When former Governor Alhaji Lam Adesina died after a brief illness Ajimobi became the party leader and he was of settling disputes in the ruling party. This is because the late Adesina was also the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state. This made governance and party affairs tedious for  the governor. Thus, during the campaign for his second term, Ajimobi was playing dual role of the leader of party and government in the state.

    The governor was accused by opponents of inflating projects. Former Governor Rashidi Ladoja, who later contested the governorship election against Ajimobi, alleged that the governor inflated the cost of the fly-over at Mokola Roundabout, in the capital city. Drama ensued at a Governorship Debate organized by Ibadan’s first private radio station, Splash 105.5 FM, when the moderator, Mr. Edmund Obilo, called on Ajimobi to confirm or refute the allegation.

    The governor was calm in his response. He said: “I think there is the need for education here. Now, if you go and check the records, Mokola Bridge was conceived in 1976. It was in the report of Dr. Olunloyo (former governor); it’s not even a bridge. It is a flyover, and the flyover should be constructed. And during Senator Ladoja’s government, they produced estimates and so on and so forth. Based on what they produced, we called the engineers, the same engineers in the ministries and they studied it and they brought their estimate. In fact, it was very close to each other, except that inflation of cost, the price of cement in 2004 and 2005 is different from the price of cement now. So, you don’t expect the same price. However, every contract must be done at an estimated cost by the ministry. So, the ministry provided the cost of N2.1 billion for that flyover. In between the cost estimate, there was a price increase of petroleum products. Hence, the price jumped by about 40 per cent. When I was building my house, cement was N3; today cement is no longer N3. So, the price was adjusted. The cost of living index also increased by over 50 per cent. In this case, the price with all the other adjustments became N2.9 billion. When you compare your cost of projects, if you are an engineer, and, if you understand project costing, you will know that the cost of any project depends on so many factors and your cost elements, the infrastructure of the road you are doing, the furniture of the road you are doing, the areas of requirement, in terms of moving. So, generally speaking, my answer is without any reservation, the price of that flyover, when you compare it, relatively speaking, even with Ogun State, is a very competitive price.”

    When Ladoja was given the chance to respond again, he said: “I want to say that my brother is very good at giving statistics. But, what we are saying is that we compared Ogun State flyover, which is double lane and one and a half times our own, and we discovered that, for every N1 Ogun State spent, we spent N6. That is why we cried out. Secondly, we said Ogun State allowed trailers to pass through theirs because it was pile foundation, ours was raft foundation. Two things we complained about: the Molete Bridge was built decades back; they provided for trailers to pass through, it was double lane and Ogun State was also double lane, nearly one and a half times our length here and it cost them less than our own. That is what we are saying. Is he saying the terrain of Mokola is worse than that of Ogun State, which is very close to the Ogun River? I still insist that the price was not correct.”

    He said, some people were sacked in the ministry because they refused to endorse the bills.”

    The governor responded, saying: “Ah, egbon, nobody was sacked for not signing. If you look at the papers, everybody signed but let me answer your question. The difference between a flyover and a bridge…” Ladoja however briskly interjected that “Ogun State was also a flyover”.  Ajimobi later said: “When you are doing comparisons, you must compare apples and apples”. It got to the peak when the governor pointed out that the flyovers being compared were handled by the same contractor and Senator Ladoja described that as “the pity of it”. Ajimobi explained further: “Let me explain now. Ee ni information egbon. (You are ill-informed my elder brother). I want you to go and check the records, the width for our own flyover is about 10 metres, Ogun State flyover is 11.2 metres, our own length is about 540 metres, their own length is 360 metres. Go and check, you are lying egbon, iro le npa.

    Ajimobi also revealed how political opponents forced him to flee from the Government House to his private residence, in Ibadan.

    He said opponents directed evil traditional sacrifices (known as ebo in Yoruba) at him. Speaking during the eighth-day Fidau prayers for the late Chief Imam of Ibadanland, Sheikh Baosari Haruna, Ajimobi said some desperate politicians tried to send him out of the Government House through many devilish means.

    His words: “They first came to you as Alfas to give them prayers that will send me out of office. But, my own Alfa’s prayers superseded theirs. Every morning, I go out for exercise. If you know the Government House very well, it has many interchanges, popularly called orita, I see all kinds of sacrifices (ebo) placed at these junctions.

    “Worried by these developments, some of you, my Alfas here, advised me to move out of the Government House to render their evil plots useless.’’ The governor said he had to leave “to thwart the evil plots of these desperate politicians.”

    All these factors almost affected his second term ambition. But, his achievements helped him to overcome the challenges. But, with all the gimmicks by his opponents, Ajimobi recorded unprecedented achievements in the last four years.

    Oyo State used to record a high number of violence before Ajimobi became governor. But, today, people can go to bed with their two eyes closed. A members of the House of Assembly, Hon. Abiodun Adigun-Hammed, said, if the present administration did not achieve anything, it achieved peace. He added: “If Ajimobi did not achieve anything, at least he achieved peace which is the bedrock of development in any given society. In terms of road network, Ajimobi has done well. Education has improved, compared to what we used to have in the past. Ask those who are campaigning against Ajimobi the rate of violence during their time. Ask them what they were able to achieve during their time. Their machinations did not work during the last elections. I think we are ripe enough to see through the politics of bitterness that was unleashed against the governor.”

    A member of House of Representatives from Ibadan North Constituency, Hon. Abiodun Dada-Awoleye, hailed Ajimobi’s achievements, saying it was the main reason why he was re-elected.

    According to him, the road constructed by Ajimobi is of international standard and cannot be compared to the sub-standard ones constructed by his predecessors. He said: “Ajimobi has set a prototype of governance for those who are coming behind on how to be a leader. What we are experiencing today is beyond what people expected. Let me start with the Mokola fly-over, nobody believed that place could be managed well, in such a way that eased traffic flow. The people of Oke-Ogun voted for him because of the standard of the roads he constructed in the area. The three campuses of the Polytechnic, Ibadan have been given autonomy, so as to stand on their own.

    “The transportation scheme in the capital and other major towns has also helped to ease the movement for our people. He built markets across the state and promised to build more. A trader from the South Camp, prayed for the governor, saying he is a man of God. Ajimobi bought vehicles to convey the civil servants from the secretariat to their houses. Before he came on board, Oyo State used to be among the dirtiest cities in Africa. Today, we have improved. Nobody has ever done such a thing in the annals of the Oyo State history.”

    A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who pleaded for anonymity, disagreed with the lawmaker on the issue of education. He however, commended the administration in other areas. He said: “The problems we had during our (PDP) time were that we did not get our priorities right. In that respect, I want to give it to Ajimobi and his party. But, on the issue of education, I disagree with you. Are you telling me that primary and secondary education have improved, when some of our teachers are yet to receive their salaries? When most of our students are going to school with their chairs and tables? When the school structures are dilapidated. When our position in the West African School Certificate Examination (WASCE) is dropping? Let me tell you, any government that failed in the area of education has failed in all aspect.”

  • Will Ajimobi break the jinx?

    Will Ajimobi break the jinx?

    Two former governors, the incumbent and a former Senate Leader will lock horns on Saturday for the right to occupy the government house at Agodi, Ibadan as the governor of Oyo State. The four, and a businessman, Seyi Makinde, are the top contenders for the job.

    Except for the former Senate Leader, Teslim Folarin, who is the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Makinde, who is the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), any of the other three  that wins the election will be breaking the second term jinx in the state. They are the incumbent, Abiola Ajimobi of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rashidi Ladoja of Accord and Adebayo Alao-Akala of Labour Party (LP).

    Since the Second Republic, no governor has been re-elected in the state. All attempts by previous chief executives of the state have been futile. Hence, it has become a popular saying that no governor gets a second term in Oyo State. Judging by the results of the National Assembly election on March 28, none of Ladoja and Alao-Akala can be easily wished away in the race to take Ajimobi’s job, meaning that the jinx is about to be broken on April 11 by one of them.

    The National Assembly election naturally puts the APC far ahead of others as it produced the three senators and 12 out of the 14 House of Representatives members in the state.

    Though they were beaten, Ladoja and Alao-Akala look undefeated by the bravery they have been displaying since then. But can either of them or Folarin spring a surprise?

    How they stood in the 2011 governorship election

    Ajimobi, who stood on the platform of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), polled 420,852 votes to dislodge the then incumbent, Alao-Akala, who scored 387,132 votes. The latter contested under the platform of the PDP. Ladoja scored 275,773 to come third in the election.

    Factors that shaped the 2011 governorship election

    The administration of the then sitting governor, Alao-Akala, was associated with thuggery and violence. It was also seen as a profligate government which undertook so many projects that were poorly executed due to lack of commitment to quality and alleged collection of kickbacks by key functionaries of the administration.

    The crisis that rocked his party, the PDP, also grew sharply during his tenure so much so that many of the party stalwarts, particularly in Ibadan zone, worked against his re-election.

    Besides, the wave of change represented by the then ACN, was blowing through Ekiti and Osun states which had their PDP governors removed by the Court of Appeal for ACN governors.

    But Alao-Akala was generous to people around him, a factor that helped him retain so many people who patronized political power and its privileges.

    In the growing discontent against Alao-Akala’s government, Ladoja, who was his predecessor, began to make wave again, rendering the political turf more complex with his defection from PDP to Accord and speedy growth of the party before the April 26,2011 governorship election.

    But the wave of change in the region and Ajimobi’s personal popularity combined to earn him the victory in the election, defeating his closest challenger, Alao-Akala, with 33,720 votes. To earn the victory, Ajimobi defeated Akala in Ibadan and Oyo zones with a wide margin and also gave him a very close marking in Oke-Ogun area where he polled 96,667 to Akala’s  97,398. Ladoja occupied a distant third position with his 275,773 votes. As tough as it was, Ajimobi dislodged the then incumbent governor whose party was also controlling the Federal Government.

     

    With this result, however, the three parties produced seven, 13 and 12 members in the state’s House of Assembly respectively to operate as a strong party each. They also produced members of both houses of the National Assembly except Accord which did not produce a senator. But it went to the March 28, 2015 election with one senator, Olufemi Lanlehin, who defected from the ACN.

    Yet, the dynamics have changed within the last four years. Because human beings and the society are not static, politicians have criss-crossed the parties to find better comfort and advantage in realizing their personal ambition. New issues and developments have also reshaped the polity to alter voting patterns and interest that determine voters’ choice.

    It is, therefore, no surprise that in the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections, the APC produced the three senators from zero level, and also produced 12 out of the 14 members of the House of Representatives.

    How the zones voted in the March 28,2015 National Assembly elections

    Senate

    The APC won the three senatorial seats. Results of the senatorial election may not be fully suitable for this zonal analysis. However, the results are given below for a better insight.

    As shown above, aside keeping its lead in its traditional zones of Ibadan and Oyo, the APC has gained more popularity in Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa zones where Alao-Akala came tops four years ago.

    The party did not only gain an inroad into Oke-Ogun and Ibarapa, it’s popularity has increased in Ogbomoso, Alao-Akala’s home town.

    The APC chairman in the state, Chief Akin Oke, attributed the gains to what he described as the unprecedented performance of Governor Abiola Ajimobi in the last four years across the state. Oke emphasized that the governor succeeded in touching all the five zones with unique projects that meet their needs and generally improved the standard of living of residents in the areas. For instance, the politician cited dualization of roads in Ibadan, Oyo, Ogbomoso and Iseyin (Oke-Ogun) as one of such projects.

    But Accord did not agree with him. The Director General of the Sen. Rashidi Ladoja Campaign Organization, Hon. Adeolu Adeleke, described the result of the election as sham, saying it was rigged in favour of the APC.

    The Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kehinde Salawu, also attributed APC’s victory in the election to the overwhelming popularity of Gen. Buhari. He said the governorship election would be different.

    Alao-Akala also attributed APC’s performance in the March 28 election to the popularity of its presidential candidate, Gen. Buhari (rtd).

    Speaking through his spokesman, Oludare Ogunlana, the former governor said that most voters are illiterate who could not differentiate between presidential and National Assembly elections.

    April 11 governorship election

    Interestingly all the major parties are approaching the governorship election with confidence. They largely believe that the tide will turn in their favour, hence, they have stepped up personal campaigns.

    In an interview with The Nation, Hon. Adeolu Adekele said in spite of the result of the National Assembly election, “Accord remains undaunted and psychologically stable with optimism of winning” the Saturday election. He said the March 28 election only encouraged the party to strengthen its campaign to prevent rigging in the governorship election.

    In his own comment, the PDP candidate, Teslim Folarin, asserted that voters would choose him because the party had educated its supporters to vote only for the PDP this time. He spoke through the State Publicity Secretary, Kehinde Salawu.

    He said: “We have educated our people to vote right this time because governorship election is crucial in any state. That is the government that is closer to the people. And we believe we will do wonderfully well on Saturday.” He said.

    The LP candidate, Alao-Akala, also insisted that he would gain people’s votes across the state to return as the next governor because, according to him, Oyo State people are tired of the Ajimobi administration.

    But APC chairman, Chief Oke, said it is very clear that voters are very pleased with the transformation, restoration and the repositioning agenda of the Ajimobi administration as shown in the results of the last election.

    Factors that will shape the April 11 election

    Buhari’s victory

    Never in the history of the Yoruba has its party of choice won at the federal level. Oyo State was among the states that rejected PDP’s president Goodluck Jonathan. Buhari polled 528,620 votes to defeat Jonathan who scored 303,376 votes, leaving him with a deficit of 225,244 votes.

    The APC’s victory at the centre will play a key role in putting Ajimobi ahead of other candidates because a lot of voters would reason that the state deserves to enjoy the privileges of having the progressive party controlling the centre.

    Besides, Oyo State has always been home to the progressives’ party. Except in 2003 and 2007 when it is generally believed that the PDP rigged massively to take over Southwest states, Oyo has always been controlled by the progressives’ party. It partly accounts for the reason Ajimobi defeated the incumbent Alao-Akala of the PDP in 2011.

    Secondly, Ajimobi’s performance in the last four years is unparalleled. He has succeeded in changing the face and the name of the state among committee of top states through his cardinal programmes including urban renewal, environmental sanitation, integrity, laudable welfare for civil servants and infrastructural development, among others.

    His footprints are visible in major towns across the state. This is perhaps the strongest factor that will count for the incumbent governor.

    Thirdly, results of the National Assembly election has punctured assumption that Accord was next in strength to the APC in the state, and that it might upstage the former. In the result, while the APC won three senatorial seats and 12 out of 14 House of Representatives seats, Accord did not win a single seat. Only the PDP and LP won one seat each, and both are in Ogbomoso land.

    With a total of 357,017 votes in the Senate and 349,618 in the House of Representatives, APC is poised to trounce, once again, other parties who came in distant second, third and fourth positions.

    Accord that came second overall, scored 213 votes for the Senate and polled 171,675 in the race for the House of Representatives. It’s total of 384,826 is barely about 53 per cent of APC’s 706,635.

    The PDP came third with a total of 325,251 votes, which is less than half of the APC’s.

    With this result, the majority of voters are likely to see other parties as weak while seeing the APC as strong, and even waxing stronger by the day.

    Already, some members of Accord in Ibadan North East Local Government have defected to the APC in a display of death of hope in their previous party. More of such defections are likely before the April 11 election.

    In another perspective, the LP may not record another landslide victory in Ogbomoso as it did in 2011 because of Akala’s defection from the PDP. As shown in the March 28 elections, voters in Ogbomoso are now divided into LP, PDP and APC, with the profile of the APC rising sharply in the last four years.

    The result has largely shown that both Alao-Akala and Ladoja, who were considered very strong contenders prior to last month election, no longer possess the electoral strength assumed. In fact, APC defeated Ladoja in his Ibadan North Local Government while Alao-Akala was unable to win all the seats in Ogbomoso or additional seat in Oke-Ogun as he did in 2011.

    Fourthly, with three senators, 12 representatives mobilizing support across all the zones, combined with the power of incumbency, Ajimobi is most favored to break the second-term jinx in Oyo State on April 11,2015.

    How the election will go

    Oyo Zone

    Judging by results of the 2011 governorship election, the March 28,2015 election and the presence of a senator and House of Representatives member, APC’s Ajimobi is projected to coast home to victory in the zone.

    Ibarapa Zone

    Going by the result of the National Assembly election and the projects Ajimobi undertook in the zone such as granting autonomy to two tertiary institutions in the area, Ajimobi is projected to comfortably lead other candidates in the zone.

    Oke-Ogun

    Judging by the results of the last election and the fact that the zone is traditionally progressives inclined, Ajimobi is projected to win convincingly in the area.

    Ogbomoso

    LP’s candidate, who hails from the town, is projected to have a clear lead in the zone. But APC and PDP candidates are also projected to follow him within a reasonable gap. This is because his defection from the PDP has broken his absolute following in the area. The deputy governorship candidate of the PDP hails from Ogbomoso while an APC senator has also emerged from the town. All these would combine to reduce the total votes he will garner from the zone.

    Ibadan

    Though Ibadan zone is a loose ground for all the four major parties, Ajimobi is projected to lead other candidates given the 2011 result and that of the last election. He is most likely to be followed by Accord candidate, Ladoja, who is popular in some of the councils.

     

  • ‘Bafana will end Eagles jinx’

    ‘Bafana will end Eagles jinx’

    As another day of reckoning between Nigeria and South Africa draws near in an international friendly, South Africa Football Association (SAFA) Media Officer, Matlhomola Morake, says its about time for the Bafana Bafana to finally break the jinx with a win against The Super Eagles on Sunday in Mbombela.

    In an exclusive interview with www.footballlive.ng, Morake recounted the recent meetings of the sides where he claims the Eagles barely escaped with their feathers.

    ”In Cape Town we played a goalless draw, we did very well in that match, a game we thought we could have won but we fluffed several chances even though Nigeria were solid defensively.

    ”Then there was another close shave for the Eagles in Uyo. We led 2-0 until the latter stages of that game and the whole team rued the missed chances, so we’re looking forward to correcting all of that when we meet on Sunday in Mbombela.”

    Nigeria will face South Africa in the second and concluding fixture of the March friendlies, but have started poorly with a shocking 1-0 loss at home to Uganda.

    Daniel Amokachi’s team got some stick from fans after their lackluster showing at the Nest of Champions in Uyo.

    On the other hand Shakes Mashaba and his Bafana Bafana team raced past neighbours Swaziland 3-1 and are fired up as they look to build after a poor showing at the AFCON in Equatorial Guinea.

    However, Morake expects a tough encounter regardless of the Eagles’ current fortunes.  Hear him:  “We expect a difficult game as Nigerian teams always seem to be tough to play and it’s going to be very hard to ask the players, but we believe it is time to get our win this time around.”

  • Pohamba shattered the jinx

    SIR: Many of Africa ‘s political analysts had expected the 2015 Mo Ibrahim ‘s prize to go the same way it had gone five years ago. To their utter disappointments, someone was there working unnoticed for it. His name is Hifikepunye Pohamba, the Namibian president.

    In a continent characterized by political highhandedness, criminalization of opposition, enthronement of mediocrity and political impropriety, Pohamba stands out to be a model.

    He broke the four years unclaimed jinx that has griped the prize – the highest leadership  award. His success really  showcased the foundation ‘s rigorous cum value-free processes of selection.

    This feat by Pohamba has shown the speed at which southern African states are racing in the wheels of responsive and people’s oriented government. The three out of four Ibrahim laureate came from SADC states. So what’s the problem with East, West and North Africa? Why is Africa suffering from poverty of leadership?

    Pohamba – though dominant figure in Namibian politics – is relatively unknown outside Namibia. He is not Jacob Zuma that always want to dominate all the issues in Africa or a president of a strong country like Nigeria. He remains himself, a gentle soul – working to better the life of his people.

    ‘During the decade of Hifikepunye Pohamba’s presidency’ -the award citation runs, ‘Namibia ‘s reputation has been cemented as a well governed, stable and inclusive democracy with media freedom and respect for human rights’. Thus the award was really a recognition for a job well done – a thumb up for Mo Ibrahim foundation.

    Of course, the $50million (which is the annual $5m for10 years ) and annual $ 200,000 for life could be unattractive to Nigerian and other African leaders who can make all the money in a day by mere signing of signature. But what they seem to have quickly forgotten is the global respect it places on their reputation.

    Festus Mogae, Pedro Pires because of the award had been and will still be invited to lecture the world on how best to democratize Africa. But who can say the same about Paul Biya of Cameroon, Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Museveni of Uganda, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, Kibaki of Kenya, Obasanjo of Nigeria or even President Goodluck Jonathan?

    The primary aim of Mo Ibrahim prize is to spark up competition among African leaders on who will be top in  the good leadership strata but many of them don’t even notice the prize -little wonder it had gone for four years unclaimed.

    Pohamba and other Mo Ibrahim laureates have tried to answer the question – can any good thing come from African politics?  Let’s pray that the 2016 prize won’t go  unclaimed.

     

    •Asikason Jonathan,

     Lapai, Niger State.

  • Ajimobi and second term jinx

    SIR: In recent political dispensations in Oyo State, what started as a mere political routine was allowed to be turned to a jinx. Unfortunately, that jinx has almost graduated to a taboo. That is the so-called second term syndrome. It is very ridiculous that those who are now attempting to turn it into a taboo did not deify it until they themselves failed in their second term bid. If it was a taboo, why did they themselves seek a re-election bid the first instance?

    First of all, the record must be put straight. Between 2003 and 2011, the PDP had a second term in Oyo State. If because of his administrative ineptitude, Rasidi Ladoja failed to get the second term ticket of his party, should the gods of Oyo State be blamed for that? Should the burden of his inability to manage his success between 2003 and 2007 be put on the people of Oyo State? Certainly not. His political indiscretion at that time indicated his inability to manage a cordial relationship with the state House of Assembly.

    In the case of ex-Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala his successor, his priority was the consolidation of his grips of the party structure in the state. He did that bearing in mind the fragile nature of his emergence from the moment of Ladoja’s impeachment. This was further complicated by his sudden political orphanage with the death of Adedibu. Suddenly, he found himself in the forefront of the battle against Ladoja.

    At that stage, he had to resort to extraneous agencies of political pressure groups in order to fortify himself on the political landscape. The first port of call was the drivers union – the NURTW. That group was not only factionalized but polarized. The state of unease in which the state was thrown into can never be forgotten by the good people of Oyo State in a hurry. It was in that state of socio-political insecurity that the 2011 election took place. The people of the state who were eagerly looking for a respite from their heightened anxiety found solace in the then ACN and Ajimobi, its flag-bearer.

    The question to ask in respect of the much talked about continuity in Oyo State is what is it for Ajimobi to continue in Oyo State. The first and the most precious is the peaceful serenity across the state at the moment. The point must be stressed that it is this serene atmosphere in which the state has been breathing that gives room to the socio-economic stride of the state in the last four years of Ajimobi administration.

    There is also the need for continuity in the road networks which Ajimobi had opened across the state. This can be quantified in various dualizations and over-head bridges which he had embarked on. Another area where continuity is desired is in the attraction of business investments. The Technical University which remains a pet project of the Ajimobi administration also needs to be brought to fruition.

     

    • Agboola Sanni,