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Tag: lost

  • I’ve lost a confidant, says Oyo deputy governor

    Oyo State Deputy Governor Moses Alake Adeyemo has said the death of the Borno State Deputy Governor, Zannah Mustapha, has robbed him of a confidant and a brother.

    Adeyemo, in his condolence message to the government and people of Borno State, expressed sadness at the passage of Zannah. He described the incident “as a tragic loss.”

    The deputy governor urged the bereaved family to seek solace that the deceased lived a good life and died in the service of his people.

    His words: “He was a personal friend, a complete gentleman and a devoted servant-leader. The deputy governor would be missed by all.”

  • We’ve lost a rare gem, says Ambode

    Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Thursday commiserated with the family, friends, associates, subjects and the government and people of Osun over the transition of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade II, saying the nation has lost a rare gem.

    Oba Sijuwade, who became the fiftieth Ooni of Ife in December 6, 1980, passed on Tuesday, July 28 in a London hospital at the age of 85 after a brief illness, but his departure was officially announced on Wednesday, August 12, by the Ife Royal Traditional Council in accordance with tradition.

    In a condolence message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Habib Aruna, the governor said the late first- class monarch will be sorely missed for his fatherly role and advice, describing his demise as a great loss to the nation.

    Extolling the virtues of the late Ooni, Governor Ambode recalled that the late monarch used his wealth of experience in tradition and commerce to better the lot of the Yoruba race.

    “Without any iota of doubt, Oba Sijuwade was a forthright traditional ruler and astute businessman who for decades helped to pursue and unite the common interests of the Yoruba race.

    “His timely interventions in communal and inter-state disputes in the past are remarkable strides that will forever remain in our minds”.

  • Re: The Army that lost its way

    Re: The Army that lost its way

    Last week ‘Snooping Around with Tatalo Alamu’ set the cat among the pigeons with the piece ‘The Army that lost its way.’ Today, some readers weigh in on the arguments in that article and manage to trigger an intellectual back and forth of their own

    From Goldoun

    Your assertion that “the Obasanjo post-military rule reform which saw to the prompt retirement of politically exposed officers was a brilliant exercise in de-militarization” was putting truth on its head. I daresay there is no brilliance in Obasanjo’s lopsided “demilitarization”. It was just a cunning move to prevent any meaningful challenge to his motives. Remember OPC happened along in the first hundred days of the tragedy that was O. O.’s misrule. More heinous crimes followed. We witnessed unprecedented and wide spread massacres on the Plateau and in Taraba as a result of heightened distrust among hitherto peaceful neighbors in the Middle Belt.

    One wonders at the much hyped “nationalist instincts” of O. O. especially in the face of the serial rape of all known and respected democratic tenets and of our common patrimony. As to the claim that O. O. “did not appoint a member of his own ethnic stock as army commander and neither did he unduly disrupt the chain of command”, I assume one needs look no farther than O. O.’s feeling of insecurity: he wouldn’t want a contender in his domain, would he? His tussle with the Jagaban was a fight for supremacy among the Yoruba.

    1. O. did not need to “disrupt the chain of command” in the military because he has already wrecked the institution as he has the nation.

    You succeeded in resurrecting the ghost of Mamman Vatsa. May Allah rest him, the usual bogey, while you white washed O. O.

     

    From Adejint

    Sir, today we have to take a contrarian view to certain points, which you explicated upon in this magnum opus on the military. First is the notion that “the military is the ultimate distillate of nation essence”

    If contemporary and comparative African history in general and Nigerian history in particular has taught us anything, it is that the military has the most fissiparous tendencies, inimical to what you call national essence, and to which we add coherent strategic ideological road map, to national redemption, salvation and prosperity. Being conservative by nature, they are always atavistic and obscurantist in their approach to national redemption and development. After all they as an institution acted as the catalyst that spurred us on to the road to national perdition, starting from precipitation of the civil war, cannibalizing a military institution Nigerian taxpayers spent an enormous amount of resources to build, through unending, atrocious and diabolical Machiavellian infantile coup-plotting decimating generations of the officer class.

    Comparatively, countries without a standing army or semi-standing army are usually prosperous, stable and free. The first example that comes to mind is Costa Rica in Central America. Since 1949, the national army had been abolished, and in Panama the national army had been abolished since 1990. These two countries are the most prosperous in Central America. Coming to Africa, Mauritius has no standing army, yet it is one of the most prosperous in Africa. More than three hundred years ago, Morocco contracted its military obligations to France.  When Germany and Japan used to have a formidable standing army, they constituted themselves into terrors against human civilization. But today after they had been reduced to having a semi-standing army, they have become oases of peace, freedom and prosperity. Arguing in this fashion does not signify in any way that we are advocating that the Nigerian military be disbanded; that is not an option in any ramification. Nigeria is a regional power so we must at all times have a formidable, professional, disciplined standing army. It is a geopolitical imperative that we always do so.

     

    From Mohammed Eibo

    Nigerian Army used to be the bedrock of discipline but diffusion in it has incapacitated it long time ago. Certain officers are not promoted for no reason but political expediency. Time to change is now or never. Will the new COAS right the wrongs?

    Truly the army has some discipline problems but little did we know that the politics is more dangerous than we can think of. Fine officers like U. M. Ibrahim are not promoted thereby killing the morale of performing officers. What should we expect the expectation from Gen. Tukur Buratai? The usual stories? Nigerian Army should brace up and live up to the expectation.

     

    From Wisdom ok

    When PMB retired 25 generals and appointed service chiefs on tribal lines he was deliberately dividing the military hierarchy on ethnicity. This is a departure from the professional army ethos. PMB is dividing and setting the country on gun powder.

     

    From Obinnna77

    Saint OBJ did precious little to repair the deliberate post-Orkar coup rot that brought the Nigerian Army to this pass. Let’s call a spade by its name, if we can bring ourselves to. And, let’s say knowledge of the Niger-arean military is not one of your strengths. The same ex -Executive Outcomes private contractors you cavil against, were the architects of victory in Sierria Leone and Liberia. Let’s do away with this deluded military chauvinism and use what works. If it takes mercenaries, so be it.

     

    From Adejint

    Fellow compatriot, Obinnna77, it behooves you not to bring a pedestrian pen knife to an intellectual gun fight. It will also behooves you to refrain from desecrating the hallowed memory of our valiant patriotic soldiers and journalists, who pay the supreme sacrifice for the glory of our fatherland and for securing a free, peaceful and prosperous future for their fellow African brothers and sisters and their children.

    Though they may be unsung heroes in our fatherland, but nevertheless they are heroes in brother African countries they are instrumental in helping to liberate – contrary to your denigrating and ill-informed opinion that Executive Outcomes, greedy bands of mercenaries they are, are architects of victory in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

    For your education, Executive Outcomes were never in the theater of war in Liberia, they were never there, and in Sierra Leone, they were there for only one year – from March 1995 to March 1996.

    And for you to aver that a regional power with almost 180 million vibrant population, because it is currently going through a rough patch must contract its military obligations and duty to a bunch of bloody blood sucking racist mercenaries, is the height of acute geopolitical myopia.

    As someone I assumed is very versed in defunct Republic of Biafra history you must be familiar with the names of the following repulsive individuals: Colonel Steiner; Major Taffy; Captain Paddy; Captain Armand; Captain Alec; Marc Goosens.

    They are all notorious mercenary commanders that were hired to fight for the defunct Republic of Biafra. What good came out of their services?

    If all the above is not adequate to convince you of the error of your ways then contemplate the following words from Niccolo Machiavelli on mercenaries.

    “Mercenaries and auxiliaries are useless and dangerous; and if one holds his state based on these arms, he will stand neither firm nor safe; for they are disunited, ambitious and without discipline, unfaithful, valiant before friends, cowardly before enemies; they have neither the fear of God nor fidelity to men, and destruction is deferred only so long as the attack is; for in peace one is robbed by them, and in war by the enemy”

     

    From IskaCountryman to ADEJINT 

    And you think you won the Biafran War without mercenaries…

     

    From ADEJINT to IskaCountryman   

    If we did, please proffer the proof with photos and the names of the mercenaries, and please educate us as to circumstances that warranted this action, sans British cooperation in terms of arms supply which the Yankees refused to supply. We are ignorant of the facts, please educate us.

     

    From IskaCountryman to ADEJINT  

    Ask your new friend 77 about Egyptian pilots… I know he has a story to tell…

     

    From ADEJINT to IskaCountryman   

    Last time we checked, Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and Egyptian Wahabbi state and Wahabbi military don’t do mercenaries, they do suicide and carpet bombings. And the period in question was the 1967 Six-Day war during which Egyptian Air Force with its fighter jets were annihilated right in their hangers and on the tarmac. Following that was the debacle of 1973 Yom Kippur War and during all this epoch there was no credible Biafran Air force or fighter jets. So we wonder which plane or fighter jets the Egyptian pilots executed their nefarious mercenary contracts – maybe on a U.F.O. Chief Iska we are yearning to be educated, oblige us.

     

    From IskaCountryman to ADEJINT    

    Son… let’s leave the argument…

     

    From ADEJINT to IskaCountryman 

    Baba, I concur with your proposition. End of debate.

  • I lost a lot of money during election, says Muma Gee

    I lost a lot of money during election, says Muma Gee

    After losing out in the last General Elections, Nigerian songstress, Gift Iyumame-Eke, aka Muma Gee is back in the studio, even as it appears she is adding beauty business to her art.

    “I have gone back to the studio,” she reveals. “But then, I want to set up a spa/ salon. Apart from music, I love fashion. I am setting my hair line. But that doesn’t mean I have forgotten about politics. I will certainly come back again in 2019.”

    Perhaps the beauty parlour business is also meant to boost her financial status, after spending the made during electioneering campaigns.

    “I lost a lot of money. I am in red now but I know I will recover,” she said.

    She however said there were ‘no elections’ in Rivers State, as the event was full of irregularities.

    “All I know is that there were no elections in my State. I don’t regret that I wanted to salvage the ruins in my community and liberate my people. It was just that somebody robbed us of the chances of doing that. If the people had the privilege to vote, I would be representing them by now. There was so much violence,” she added.

    Muma Gee had contested for a seat in the Federal House of Representatives to represent Ahoada East LGA constituency in Rivers State.

    The actress came to limelight with her song, Kade, which became the title track of her first official album, released in 2006, and received five nominations, including two from the AMEN Awards (Best Picture and Best Costume) and one each from the Nigerian Music Video Awards, the Headies Awards, and the Sound City Music Video Awards.

    Her profile also rose to greater prominence in 2010 as a contestant on the celebrity edition of Gulder Ultimate Search.

    In 2011, she married actor Prince Eke, and gave birth to a set of twins on April 18, 2014.

  • How Kate Henshaw lost everything to fire, by colleague

    How Kate Henshaw lost everything to fire, by colleague

    Popular actress, Kate Henshaw, it is certain, cannot get over last Thursday’s inferno that gutted her Lekki Phase 1, Lagos home in a long while, going by recent report which says ‘she lost everything she worked hard for in this world’.

    The OngaSeasoning ambassador, we learnt, was on location of the much-anticipated Do-Good, a series which is bringing back the actress and BasorgeTariah Jr. as a screen-pair, when thick smoke was noticed from her bedroom area by neighours who quickly put a call across to her.

    The actress and her colleagues, who were said to have finished shooting for the day, and were taking fun pictures for Instagram, sped to the scene, but alas! It was too late.

    They had called the fire fighters, but the best that came of the effort was rescuing the home of the second occupants of the twin duplex.

    “Everything burn down for our korokoro eye,” said an eye witness. “Then the roof catch fire then collapse.”

    Corroborating the report, one of the colleagues of the actress said, “Her room started to burn first, then it burnt down completely everything she’s got in this world. It was a sad thing to watch your property going down. The situation was helpless. We couldn’t look the actress in the face. She was more than devastated. Everyone at the scene was distraught,” he said.

    When The Nation called the actress, pains pulsated her usually vibrant voice. “Thank you… my brother … thank you…,” she said inaudibly.

    It is not clear what episode of the comic drama was being shot as at the time of the incident, but it is certain the actress who has moved to a temporaryabode is not in the right frame of mind to continue at the moment.

    Producers of the new Pidgin English sitcom, Mnet, have fixed the premiere of Do-Good for Monday, July 6, 2015.

    The drama is a spin-off of a popular Nigerian drama series of the 1990s, which features the exploits of the titular character Do-good, played by Tariah, who returns from a sojourn abroad to woo his sweetheart, Emem, played by Henshaw.

    The sitcom is said to also feature appearances from other popular comic actors including Tony Akposheri and Yibo Koko, and will be showing on the Africa Magic Urban channel (DStv channel 153).

  • ‘Imo governorship election has been won and lost’

    ‘Imo governorship election has been won and lost’

    The declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the April 11, 2015 governorship election in Imo State was inconclusive is generating controversy. A veteran journalist and former Special Adviser in the state, Evang. Ethelbert Okere, spoke on the matter in Owerri, the state capital.

    What is your take on the political logjam in the state?

    Logjam? Is there one?

    We mean the stalemated governorship election in the state…

    I don’t really see it as a logjam because as far as I am concerned, the matter is not difficult to handle. Re-run elections have been scheduled and once that is done, the whole problem would be over.

    A similar thing happened in 2011 and you were a key witness. Is history repeating itself?

    What happened in 2011 is quite different from what is happening now. In 2011, there was a grand conspiracy against the sitting governor. And the conspiracy was conceived and executed by outsiders. They merely used the good people of Imo State to commit a crime as I stated in the book I wrote on that episode. This time around, it is a straight fight between two top gladiators in the state, and the people are directly involved.

    You don’t see any conspiracy in the current case?

    I can’t see any conspiracy; if you do, show me one. For me, we have a clear case where the people have expressed their preferences. Unlike in 2011, there are no outside influences trying who determine who will win the governorship election in Imo. All the interests are internal.

    But, the results of the governorship election are being contested in several polling units and the INEC has scheduled a re-run in those units.

    That does not amount to a conspiracy. INEC has already accepted and announced the results that distributed more than three quarter of the total votes cast. So, we should focus on that to give the Imo electorate kudos for peacefully expressing their preferences. It is not good that the impression is being given that the governorship election in Imo is not successful because of about 127,000 potential votes. It is not fair to the people who toiled under the sun to take part in the exercise. The statement was unnecessary. As far as I am concerned, INEC in Imo over dramatised the matter. It should have declared a winner with what it already had.

    With over 144 votes in contention?

    Well, in principle, yes, but, as far as I am concerned, INEC was wrong in basing its calculations on registered voters. It should have used the number of PVCs collected across the state. And if that is used, a re-run would have been unnecessary. Although the electoral law says number of registered voters, but I feel that the INEC returning officer in Imo should have been more proactive and base his decision on the number of PVCs collected. What is the need talking about registered voters who cannot vote? The whole thing requires pragmatism. Across the country, INEC released PVCs for only 80 per cent of registered voters. In my view, it is superfluous to talk about registered voters in a situation like this.

    But, the two major parties concerned have agreed to go for a re-run…

    That’s ok, but I think Imo people should have been saved all that problem. As far as I am concerned, the governorship election has been won and lost.

    But, your party, the PDP is seriously contesting it. Are you not part of that?

    It is not about party now. I am basing my argument on what is on ground. Even party members concede defeat when they lose. That doesn’t make them bad party members. President Jonathan conceded defeat even before all the results of the March 28 presidential election were released. That does not make him a bad party member.

    The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Olisa Metuh, has called for the cancellation of the governorship election in Imo. What is your take?

    Well, Metuh, like any typical politician, is reacting the conventional way: cancel election if things do not go your way. I read the report where he claims that majority of Imo people wants the election to be cancelled. That is not correct at all. He was even making incorrect allusions, like referring to Owerri South Local Government Area. There is nothing like Owerri South Local Government Area in Imo State. This type of inaccuracy shows that he is not well informed about what is on the ground. You can see that the whole place is peaceful. Personally, I wouldn’t like anybody to mislead the people into taking untoward actions. The people have voted. Going by results released officially by INEC, the governor won in 20 out of 27 local government areas. Except in a few L.G.As, he won with very wide margin. The asymmetry is striking.

    But, there are allegations that his party rigged the election…

    Allegations of rigging is not new in such elections. You and I know that rigging is never an exclusive act. All the parties usually get involved. Nigerians are no longer surprised when you allege rigging. If you read my article after the March 28 presidential election, I stated that it was obvious to Nigerians that the election was rigged in several parts of the country. Once the card readers failed to work, politicians saw another opportunity to write the results. The point I was really trying to make was that contrary to the assurances by INEC, the results of that elections were not error proof because the electronic voting system that was supposed to do that failed. The situation on April 11 might have improved, but parties still tried to sabotage electronic voting because it makes rigging easier.

    But, having said that, I am certainly not in a position to say where irregularities took place in Imo State during the governorship election. I can only talk of my own area. In my booth, there was no rigging. And I can assure you that there was no rigging in the whole of Ngor Okpala Local Government Area where I come from. If you go there today and say that the election should be cancelled as the likes of Metuh suggest, the people will be mad with you. The result was a close margin between the APC and PDP, but I can assure you that that is how it is in the area.

    The PDP candidate, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, has represented the people effectively for 12 years and our people like him. So, it is safe to say that it is not possible to rig election against him in Ngor Okpala. It is also not possible for our people to have voted the way they did because of money. We are not like that. We are steadfast.

    So, what do you think happened?

    The people simply decided to vote the way they did for reasons that are perhaps outside the scope of this discussion. If we extrapolate the argument, it is also safe to say that plus and minus, voters in other areas voted largely according to their preferences. Imolites generally do not allow rigging. Agreed, desperate politicians try to rig but we Imolites are not known for that.

    In other words, you believe the results reflect the real feeling of the people.

    If they are not, Imo people would have since reacted. As I said earlier, the whole place is calm. Imolites would have since reacted if they were not the people who gave the governor majority of the votes in 20 out of 27 local government areas. The result is quite striking. If the people were not part of it, they would have since reacted.

    Sir, your posturing suggests that you have sympathy for the governor.

    That is a very ordinary way of looking at it. Basically, I am an apostle of peace. I do not want what happened in 2011 to happen again this time around. The election in 2011 was too rancourous and at the end it was the people that lost. Because of the way things went, the incoming governor then, Okorocha, was perhaps too bitter that he took certain steps I still believe he should  not have taken. Take the sacking of the local government councils, for example. We are still suffering from it up till today. Those who advised him to do so were able to sell that idea to him because they discovered that given the way things went, his mind was receptive to such a thing. I was even a direct victim. He stopped our salary of two months even when we had already worked for that. Till date, he refused to pay our severance allowances. All that was because of the bitterness generated from the election. Imo people should not be made to go through that type of thing again. They expressed their preference and from what we have on ground, that  preference was Governor Okorocha. To drag the matter is for me needless. I agree that the election should be re-conducted in the problem wards but I am against creating the impression that the entire election is of no use. That is creating unnecessary tension and rancor.

    Contrary to the posturing of some politicians, it is an assault on the collective psyche of the people to say that Governor Okoorcha has lost the election even after they have given him majority of the votes in 20 out of the 27 local government areas. Now, I understand that going by the latest release by INEC just about 127 votes are to be vied for at the re-run. Technically, none of the candidates has been declared winner but at the same time it is misleading to tell the people that it is not actually Okorocha that is leading. Imo people are too sophisticated for such lies.  INEC in its wisdom accepted the results that gave the governor the lead with almost 80,000 votes. The least we can do is to accept the situation as it is now.

    If the table turns after the re-run, the people will also see.

  • ‘Jonathan lost because of PDP’s arrogance’

    ‘Jonathan lost because of PDP’s arrogance’

    Dr. Steve Egbo is the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship running mate in Ebonyi State. In this interview with OGOCHUKWU ANIOKE, he says the party must avoid the mistakes of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to remain popular.

    Why did the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lose to the APC?

    At a point in time, after uninterrupted control of power at the centre, the PDP became over bloated; it became arrogant and pompous. They had no respect, no regard for anybody. Such things were not supposed to obtain in the society at this age. The PDP was the architect of its own downfall. The PDP lost all focus and every form of integrity. So, I really don’t wish to sing ‘Nunc Dimitis’ for the PDP, but what has become has inevitably come to become. They saw it coming, but it was too late. In life certain situations when they occur are not reversible. When a bullet leaves the barrel of the gun, you cannot recall it. It has become a self-propelled magnet and it must find a spot to rest. The collapse of the PDP was like a bullet that has left the barrel of the gun and no magic, no miracle or voodoo could have stopped it from self destruction. Let me hope that the election of March 28 will be a lesson not only for the remnants of the PDP, but for other ruling parties across Africa. I also want to say that the APC must also have something to learn from what happened to the PDP, so that it does no fall into the same trap of delusional invincibility. I know that sooner or later, some of these hawks in the PDP would like to come into the APC and do to the APC what they have done to the PDP. Indeed, if the information available to us so far is correct, their applications are already piling up. So, those of us who laboured to create the APC must be careful to know that we have a contract with the Nigerian people and that contract must at all times be kept with care, tenderness and attention to details. The APC has a job to do and every hand must be on deck to accomplish that job.

    PDP members who purportedly won the National Assembly elections are planning to join the APC for the fear of losing their elections at the tribunals. What are your comments?

    As far as am concerned, there was no election in Ebonyi State on March 28 and our investigations reveal that it was a similar scenario across the entire Southeast and Southsouth. I stand boldly to say that what happened in the state and across the entire former Eastern Region was a grand plan, a well articulated plot to scuttle democracy in the Southeast and the Southsouth, in order create a situation that gives massive victory to the PDP. What we had was allocation of votes. There was no way Muhammdu Buhari could not have attained 25 per cent in most of the Southeast and Southsouth states, especially in Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia, Anambra, Rivers, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States. It was an absurdity for anybody to imagine that Buhari could not gain 25 per cent in these states. In fact, the case of Imo State is an embarrassment to everybody. A state that is controlled by a very capable APC governor cannot give APC 25 per cent? The so-called PDP winners should be jittery because the victory they had was stolen. Some of them are not even receiving congratulatory messages because they are afraid of what will happen the day after. APC has a strong foundation and believes in legitimacy and the rule of law. I wouldn’t want to preempt anything, but believe that the courts would be busy in the next few months and would determine who won and who lost. Can you imagine a situation where the APC cannot have a National Assembly member in Ebonyi and some other parts of Ibo land. It is a situation that does not portend well for Ibos because our so-called Ibo leaders have taken us to the depth of the abyss. I believe that the March 28 election was not a reflection of the wishes of the Ibo people. Rather, it was that of those who felt they can mortgage us to achieve their personal interests of greed and avarice. They sold us and have pocketed millions of naira and dollars. But, as I said earlier, there is always the day after and as we walk steadily towards that day. Many people would have a lot of questions to answer.

    What stunned the people was the alleged involvement of the military in the election rigging. What is your reaction?

    Let me say this, in the nation’s history from 1964 after Nigerian first independence elections, the military has always operated as the terrorist wing of the party in power. I want to underline this. It happened in 1964 when the military institution was unscrupulously deployed to do the dirty work of the ruling NPC. In 1983, it was the same show of shame replicated. It has been so since 1999. I believe that with the recent exposure of the military underbelly, there is bound to be a change. When you talk about fear being expressed on the elections of April 11, let me tell you the scenario. What we saw on March 28 will not repeat itself because some people are already looking behind their backs. Already asking; can I do this again? Can I get away with the ones I have done? Is it still the same old story? Can it still be business as usual. The role of the military in the march.28 elections was more orchestrated in the south east and south-south parts of the country and maybe reasonably Ekiti state. But I am happy that despite all they have at their disposal, they were not able to defeat the will of the Nigerian people. I salute the Nigerian people for the courage they have shown. The election of March 28 was Nigeria’s revolution. It was a very quiet revolution. Their ballots have created a new nation. I make bold to say that March 28 is Nigeria’s independence day. If you ask me I will say lets relocate from October 1 to March 28; it was the day Nigeria for the first time in 55 years, gained its independence and freedom. The PDP placed on the head of every Nigerian, a crown of thorns and went a step further to crucify us all on the cross of red-hot iron. We can now say no more crown of thorns and no more crucifixion. I am happy for the country and every citizen that made sacrifices to get us to this beautiful Easter period.

  • PDP lost to APC ‘s brilliance – Agbakoba

    Former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Chief Olisa Agbakoba, has attributed the defeat of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) at the presidential poll to the brilliant performance of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    “To me, PDP seem to have concentrated more on hate campaign which of course, the APC also did and we condemned it. But what I saw was an APC as an absolutely brilliant football team, if I should use the analysis of a football team.

    “APC is like a good football team with best players in the like of Governor of Lagos State Babatunde Fashola, Dele Alake and Wale Edun. They were the thinkers of the party; they were the ones that made the difference and that is why APC defeated the PDP. The PDP was a weak football team with a weak manager and that was why the party and its candidate, President Jonathan lost the election.

    He explained that ethnicity was the major cause of the huge votes recorded in the South East, South South and North East of the country for Jonathan and Buhari.

    “It is incredible for Jonathan to have won the type of votes he won in the South East.It doesn’t do the leaders of the South East any good, neither does it do leaders of the North East any good that Gen Muhammadu Buhari scored the huge numbers there. It was the failure to understand the need for balance voting pattern that cost PDP and its candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan victory at the poll. On the contrary, the consistence of balanced voting pattern garnered by General Buhari in the North and Southwest zones got him victory during the election. “

    Agbakoba praised President Jonathan, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof  Attahiru Jega and APC for their heroic performance during and after the election.

    “Indeed, President Jonathan, Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega and APC are the heroes of the election. I picked Jonathan because of the way he maturely conceded defeat; Jega for the calmness and seriousness with which he conducted the election and made it a success. Jega has also done well by responding with maturity to the misbehaviour of former Minister of Niger Delta, Godsday Orubebe, while APC made the cut for its brilliant transformation from an opposition party and taking power at the centre for the first time.”

    He urged Gen. Buhari to overhaul the civil service and restructure anti-graft agencies for effective performance.

    “The Buhari administration should decapitate the civil service because the civil service as it is now is over bloated and should be cut down so that government can have more money. The era of federal lawmakers receiving huge salary should also be discontinued.

    “I also want to see the enactment of a new counter-corruption framework for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for effective performance because the present framework is not working. Once people realise that a new anti-corruption frame work is working, they would behave themselves and stay off corruption, “he added.

  • ‘She was my long lost crush’

    ‘She was my long lost crush’

    A pharmacist, Mr Paul Ndukwe, from Awka in Anambra State has given out his daughter, Vivinne Nkechi, in marriage to  Oluyomi Daniel, son of Chief Josiah Odofin, who hails from Ilesa, Osun State. NNEKA NWANERI was there.

    •Fate brought us together

    Oluyemi was beside himself with joy when he related to this reporter how he met his heartthrob, Nkechi, whom he had a crush on  the first time they met 15 years ago. They met in same neighbourhood and struck each other as acquaintances. But Oluyemi wanted something more than being an acquaintance.

    Fortunately, in 2004, they both worshipped at the same fellowship centre, Believers’ World Fellowship, of the same campus of Onabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, where they both studied. Oluyemi was studying Geography and Town Planning and Nkechi was studying Law.

    “She sat in front of my friend and I and when she looked back, our eyes met and she was convinced she has met me somewhere. Before the final grace, we talked and she tried explaining who she was to me to no avail. I just could not remember.

    “The next day, while having my bath, I remembered her. She was my long lost crush. I ran out of the bath in excitement to tell my friend I had found my wife. On same day, as we drove into the campus, there she was at the gate. We stopped the car and that was it. Since then till now, we spend every weekend together and I’m glad we began as friends because since 2004 till date, we are still together because it is a mutual thing.

    “I believe it was fate that brought us together because she was meant to have studied in the University of Lagos, but was declined an admission into Law. That was when she opted for her second choice so that she could meet me. Can’t you see it was divine intervention?”

    The Classique Events Centre on Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, played hosts to the family of the lovebirds from Anambra and Osun State at the traditional wedding ceremony, Igba Nkwu of Nkechi and Oluyemi.

    It was a day both families had longed  for to and they  left no stone unturned in ensuring that it was not only memorable, but exciting.

    Passersby wondered if there was a dance troupe rehearsal going on as various traditional dancers tried to show their skills.

    Those, who made it into the tastefully decorated hall, venue of the event, after being thoroughly checked by security officials, wowed at the massive parking space at the venue. They were greeted by an Igbo traditional troupe dancers, who entertained with flutes. On each table was a candle stand with lighted candle stick. There were big television screens placed strategically on the walls around the hall to give guests a better view of what was happening.

    The tables were exotically decorated in gold and shiny overlays.  An Indian lantern was equally placed in the centre of each table.

    The Ndukwes were already seated, awaiting the arrival of their in-laws and guests.

    Along came a group of people, announcing the arrival of the long expected guests from Osun State. They  refused to take their seat untill they achieved their mission. They told the gathering why they came to pluck a beautiful flower they described as shiny and respectful.

    Oluyemi, who was decked in an Igbo attire, looked more like a traditional Igbo chief. He held a title-less hand fan, which he waved around with a sense of pride.

    He made straight for the high table, himself and his friends, prostrated before his family members and in-laws, showing how Yoruba men greet their elders.

    The bride’s mother, Grace, had  kolanut trays to present to her guests. As they moved forward into the hall, praise songs in honour of women rented the air. The cultural dancers added colour to the event with their dance steps.

    Nkechi also danced with maidens and friends, bearing a tray filled with garden eggs. She was sprinkled with red rose petals every step she took.  She then took the tray to where her in-laws sat and served them. Her dress and her charming smile caught everyone’s attention.

    When it was confirmed that her in-laws have met all the requirements expected of them, Nkechi went in and changed into a beautiful skirt and blouse made from a shiny sequence. She collected a glass of palmwine from her father and began to search for her beau in the crowd. She found him, knelt and presented him with the drink, which he hurriedly gulped down his throat.

    She then led him to her father and they both knelt before him. The old man then prayed that the young couple would have a prosperous marital life.

  • Over $6b lost yearly to oil theft, says labour

    Nigeria loses over $6billion yearly to crude oil theft, Chairman, Rivers State chapter of Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Comrade Hyginus Chika Onuegbu, has said.

    “In fact our concern is that hardly does any day go by in Nigeria, without the story of how large sums of money are stolen by Nigerians who are in positions of trust.

    “Hardly does a day pass without the stories of how Nigerian crude oil is brazenly stolen by oil thieves assisted by their collaborators in high places.

    “It is on record that by government’s own admission, which is very conservative, about 10 per cent of Nigeria’s total crude oil production of about 2.5million barrels per day (MMbpd), which is about 250,000bpd is stolen, this is almost two and a half times the total production of our neighbour, Ghana.

    “We are of the considered view that the falling crude oil price provides a good opportunity for government at all levels to block all leakages in the system such as corruption, inefficiency, oil theft and the huge cost of governance in Nigeria,” he said.

    Onuegbu said  the volume of money lost to corruption and inefficiency in Nigeria may be more than 40 per cent of the annual budget, adding that the amount of money lost to oil theft and pipeline vandalism is humongous.

    He said the revelations at the various probes by the National Assembly, are heart-breaking as billions of naira, and now trillions of naira meant for the improvement in the welfare and condition of living of ordinary Nigerians, have been stolen by those who are entrusted with the treasury.

    Onuegbu called for the quick passage of Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), saying that this will address so many things in the sector.

    “Wha the government should do is to immediately pass the PIB into law because Nigeria has lost hundreds of billions of US dollars in oil and gas investment due to the non-passage of the PIB,” he said.