The Nation Newspaper

Tag: membership

  • Morocco seeks membership of ECOWAS

    The Kingdom of Morocco, in North Africa, has applied to join the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas). Its application was submitted to the Organisation at the 51st Ordinary Session of its heads of states in Monrovia, Liberia on June 4, 2017. It is under consideration by the15 member states of the Organisation, including Nigeria. No decision has been taken yet on the application, but there were media reports that the meeting had expressed ‘general support’ for Morocco’s application to join the Organisation. Now, this is no indication of approval or commitment on the part of members of the Organization to admit Morocco to Ecowas. The heads of state directed the Ecowas Commission to examine and advise them on Morocco’s application ‘in the light of the provisions of the Ecowas Revised Treaty of 1993″. The report of the Commission will be presented for consideration to the 52nd Ordinary Session of the summit meeting of the Organisation in December, 2017, in Lome, Togo. This will allow member states adequate time for multilateral consultations on Morocco’s application.

    Nigeria has officially maintained a dignified and studied silence on Morocco’s application. But there can be no doubt about its strong opposition to Morocco’s bid to join Ecowas of which, with Togo, it is a founding and leading member. The Foreign Ministry is believed to have advised the government against supporting Morocco’s application. Based on this advice, it is believed that Nigeria has made its reservations on Morocco’s bid for membership known to other member states. Given Nigeria’s political and economic influence in the regional organization it is unlikely that its views on Morocco’s application will be ignored, or treated lightly. Most of the member states of the organisation share Nigeria’s apprehensions about admitting Morocco to membership of the Organisation. It should not be too difficult to reach a consensus on rejecting Morocco’s bid for admission into Ecowas.

    Equally, two former Foreign Ministers, Professor Bolaji Akinyemi, and Amb. Ignatius Olisemeka, have in separate public statements, expressed their reservations and opposition to Morocco’s bid to enter Ecowas. The Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria (ARCAN), with a membership of over 200 retired career ambassadors, has also expressed its strong opposition to Morocco’s bid to join Ecowas. A few weeks ago, the Lagos and Abuja branches of the Association had a meeting with the Foreign Minister, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, at which they presented him with a joint memorandum outlining their objections to Morocco’s bid to seek membership of the organisation. The Minister assured the ARCAN deputation that its paper will be considered at the highest levels of the government, and will receive its due attention. There is broad support in the government for ARCAN’s reservations about Morocco’s bid to join Ecowas.

    Now, what are the grounds for objecting to Morocco’s admission into Ecowas? First, as its name implies, the Organization was established in 1975 to promote economic cooperation among states in the West African sub-region of Africa. Morocco is a North African state, not a West African state, as stipulated by the basic treaty establishing the Organisation which was concluded in Lome, Togo, in 1975. General Gowon and President Eyadema of Togo were the prime movers and initiators of the Organisation. When it was established, neither Morocco, nor any other African state outside the West Africa region, were invited to join the Organisation. The Abuja Treaty of 1993 also resolved that Ecowas was one of the five regional groups that should constitute the building blocks for the African Economic Community (AEC). Similar regional economic organisations have been established in the Northern, Western, Central, Eastern, and Southern regions of Africa. All these regional economic communities are in existence and functioning reasonably well.

    Morocco belongs to the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), of North Africa, with its headquarters in Rabat, Morocco, as well as the Arab League. In fact, the Abuja Treaty of 1993 is not in support of African states joining two or more regional economic communities. In effect, it is the objective of the African Union (AU) to eliminate and discourage multiple membership by its member states, as this could complicate the move towards both regional and continental integration.

    Now, it is clear that Morocco is not in the West African geographical zone as defined by both the 1975 Lome Ecowas Treaty and the 1993 Abuja Revised Treaty. It does not, therefore, meet the basic criteria for admission into EOWAS. It is, by virtue of its geographical location in North Africa, simply not eligible for membership of the regional organisation. It is not even contiguous to any West African state as defined by the AU.

    The second reason for rejecting Morocco’s application for membership is that, for Morocco to be admitted, the basic legal instruments establishing ECOWAS will have to be changed. This will be a tedious legal process that could damage the unity and cohesion of the organisation as its members will be divided over any unwarranted change in its legal instruments. This will undermine the unity of purpose in the organization. It will be a totally unnecessary diversion of the organisation from its basic objective of promoting economic cooperation among its members. Virtually all members of Ecowas already have bilateral economic relations with Morocco. This will not necessarily be enhanced by admitting Morocco into the regional organisation. The Arab Maghreb Union of which Morocco is, more appropriately, a member should offer it an adequate platform for economic cooperation with its neighbours. So should the Arab League. Its admission will dilute the membership of Ecowas and weaken the organisation to which Nigeria has been fully committed since 1975 when it was established. The central issue involved in the admission of Morocco into Ecowas is not about Nigeria’s influence in Ecowas, but the integrity of the organization

    Thirdly. Morocco’s bid for admission into Ecowas is based on unjustified political and economic considerations that are incompatible with the objectives of the organization. Morocco wants to join Ecowas to use it as a political and diplomatic platform to promote its illegal annexation of Western Sahara and to subvert the legitimate aspirations of the people of the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) to their independence, despite the dubious claims of Morocco to sovereignty over the state. In 1984, when General Buhari was military head of state, he strongly supported the admission of the SADR to the OAU. This was to underscore Nigeria’s full commitment to the total decolonization of Africa. The decision to admit the SADR regrettably led Morocco to withdraw from the OAU immediately. In January, 2017, 33 years after it withdrew Morocco was readmitted as a member of the AU. Even in the Arab Maghreb Union and the Arab League, of which Morocco is a member, its membership of both organizations has been disruptive as it seeks to use both organisations to promote its political and economic ambitions in the Western Sahara. Morocco has for decades been in isolation and in open disagreement with virtually all its neighbours on the issue of independence for estern Sahara. Its current effort to join Ecowas should be seen as a part of its grand design to annex SADR for the exploitation of its huge natural resources, particularly phosphates. But the UN has declared as illegal the continued exploitation by Morocco of phosphates and other natural resources in the state. Any trade agreement with Morocco on the sale of phosphates from the SADR will be in violation of the UN ban. Its admission to membership of Ecowas will create a political and diplomatic conflict that will not be in the collective interest of the organization. It could lead to its break up.

    Traditionally, Nigeria has and should continue to have good bilateral relations with Morocco, including the promotion of economic relations. The two countries have strong cultural links that should be maintained. But for the reasons given, Nigeria should make it clear to both Morocco and member states of Ecowas that it is not in support of Morocco’s admission to membership of the organization.

    Amb. Oladapo Fafowora is currently President of the Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria (ARCAN), Lagos branch.

  • Global membership for researchers, others

    A global research group, the International Association of Research Scholars and Administrators (IARSA), will confer membership status on some eminent scholars, researchers, statutes, educationists and administrators in the academia.

    The beneficiaries are from the United States of America (U.S.A), Canada, the United Kingdom (UK), India, the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E)., Nigeria and other parts of the world.

    The membership categories include patron, senior fellow, fellow, associate fellow, senior member, member, associate member and student member.

    A pre-induction lecture will hold at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Conference Centre at Akoka, Yaba, Lagos.

    It will be performed by the renowned scholars in the academia on September 28 at 11 a.m prompt.

    The special guests of honour include governors, renowned jurists and dignitaries in the academia, private and public sectors from Africa, U.S.A, Canada and UK.

    In a statement by its General Secretary, Prof. (Mrs.) Ruth A. Inaolaji, IARSA said: “This well deserved honour is to recognise extraordinary intellectuals, outstanding achievers in the academic, research and professional advancement in the world. The finest and most useful method to recognise their accomplishments and to formally bestow upon the worthy scholars and researchers the respect they deserve is by the conferral of these membership status of the association.”

  • Jimoh Ibrahim’s ward chairman denies his membership of PDP

    Jimoh Ibrahim’s ward chairman denies his membership of PDP

    Ward Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Igbotako II Ward 04 in Okitipupa Local Government Area, Ondo State, Alhaji Usman Lawal, has thrown spanners in the move by businessman, Jimoh Ibrahim, to restrain the Ahmed Makarfi-led faction of the party from presenting candidate for the November 26 governorship election.

    Ibrahim, in a suit filed before the Federal High Court, Abuja, urged the court to among others, restrain the Makarfi faction from organising primary and presenting a candidate for the party in the governorship election.

    Lawal has applied to be joined as defendant in the suit filed by Ibrahim in his name and PDP, with Makarfi, Ben Obi, Odion Ugbesia, Abdul Ningi, Karibu Usman, Dayo Adeyeye, Alhaja Aisha Aliyu and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as defendants.

    Lawal, who claimed to be Ibrahim’s cousin and the PDP Ward Chairman in Igbotako II Ward 04 in Okitipupa Local Government Area, Ondo State, questioned his right to sue as a member of the PDP and in the party’s name when he is not a member of the PDP.

    The party’s chairman, who exhibited the register of the party’s members in his Ward, said Ibrahim’s name is not contained in the register.

    He said Ibrahim belonged to a party called Accord and has not obtained any “waiver” to contest the forthcoming governorship election under the banner of the PDP.”

    Lawal has also filed a notice of preliminary objection to the suit and urged the court not hear it for lack of jurisdiction.

    He also queried Ibrahim’s locus standi (right to sue in relation to an issue) to institute the case.

    Yesterday, Justice Okon Abang could not hear the case owing to the plaintiffs’ failure to effect service of the processes and hearing notice on the defendants.

    Plaintiffs’ lawyer Oladele Oyelami said he was unable to serve Senator Makarfi and the other defendants.

    He acknowledged that the case was slated for hearing yesterday, but that he was unable to serve the defendants with the originating processes and hearing notice. He sought time to effect proper service of processes on the defendants.

    Ruling, Justice Abang noted that an earlier vacation judge, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba, granted the plaintiffs leave for the case to be heard during vacation. He said he could not review that order because he is of equal jurisdiction with the judge that made the earlier order.

    The judge, who noted that service was important, said he could not hear the suit when proper service has not been effected, despite the leave earlier granted the plaintiffs by the court.

    He adjourned to September 1, 2016 for hearing of pending applications.

     

     

     

  • Four youths docked for alleged cult membership

    Four youths have appeared before an Ikorodu Magistrates’ Court for allegedly being members of “Eiye Confraternity”.

    Akinyemi Osemuyiwa, 26, Adeolu Olowoye, 26, Shina Akinleye, 23 and Nureni Ogundare, 23, are facing a three-count charge of membership of a secret cult, disorderly behaviour and conspiracy.

    They denied the charge, saying they were framed up.

    But the prosecutor, Corporal Kemi Adeniran, insisted that the accused with others still at large committed the offence between May 27 and June 5 in different areas of Ikorodu between 11pm and 2am, saying: “They were caught engaging in acts similar to that of `Eiye Confraternity’ terrorising innocent citizens.”

    Magistrate A. Oshodi-Makanju granted each of the accused N300,000 bail with two sureties each and adjourned the case  to July 28.

  • Membership verification threatens NSE’s ownership change

    Membership verification threatens NSE’s ownership change

    A simmering disagreement between the council and management of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and majority of its members over the accurate list of its members is threatening the implementation of the change in the ownership structure of Nigeria’s only stock exchange.

    The NSE started the conversion from a member-owned limited by guarantee to a share-based company limited by liability, which shares can be listed and traded on the stock market, in a process known as demutualisation.

    Reliable sources at the weekend confirmed that the a disagreement between NSE management and stockbroking chiefs, who formed the largest group of its members, was at the core of the decision to step down two vital resolutions that would have kick-started the demutualisation four weeks ago.

    The disagreement, according to sources, centred on two vital issues – the accurate list of members of the NSE and the sharing ratios between the two distinctive groups of members.

    Member-owners of the Exchange consists of dealing firms – mainly stockbroking firms that trade on the Exchange and ordinary members-influential individuals that make significant contributions to the growth of the Exchange, who were conferred with membership because of such contribution.

    While the list of dealing members is not in contention because of the traditions of registration of stockbroking firms and membership of other confirmatory groups, such as the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS) and the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), the list of ordinary members is at the core of the controversy threatening the conversion.

    Sources said stockbroking chiefs had raised alarms over the secrecy surrounding the list of ordinary members, alleging that there were concerns that the list of ordinary members has grown since the demutualisation gathered momentum.

    A 2009 membership list published by the then management of the Exchange showed that ordinary members were less than a quarter of the total members of the Exchange. Out of a total membership of 327, some 79 were ordinary members.

    Sources said there were allegations that the list of ordinary members had more than doubled, allegations that were further fueled by the refusal of the management of the Exchange to tender the full list of ordinary members for scrutiny by the stockbroking chiefs.

  • Dawaki: Legislators rejecting committee membership are after money

    Dawaki: Legislators rejecting committee membership are after money

    House of Representatives member from Kano State Hon. Mustapha Dawaki, in this interview with VICTOR OLUWASEGUN and dele ANOFI, says that legislators rejecting committee appointments are unpatriotic.

    Four party members are rejecting their appoitments as Chairmen and Deputies Chairman of committees. How do you feel about the development?

    Any member of the House of Representatives, who rejects his appointment to chair any committee, is after money and not service because the primary motive of members should be service to the nation, not their personal interest. No committee is useless and it is not the right of any member to chair specific committees. The leadership reserves the right to place members of parliament into committees. So, if their primary motion is service, they have no reason to reject such appointment. If any member who thinks he or she is in the House to make money will be in for a shocker as the Speaker will not tolerate such behaviours and will wash its hands off anyone found wanting.

    The complaint was that the distribution was not fair to the majority party that has the responsibility to assist the government in power.

    Mr. Speaker wants this Assembly to work and pass a record number of bills. Members must sit up and do the right thing. It will no longer be business as usual. That said, we only need to look at the breakdown to see whether the Speaker was fair or not. Ninety six committee Chairmen and their Deputies were appointed. APC got 48 while PDP 45. APC got 55 Deputy Chairmen while it wws 38 for PDP. Of the 48 APC Chairmen, 26 are Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila’s supporters. Of the 54 Deputy Chairmen, 29 are Femi Gbajabiamila’s supporters

    Furthermore, some of the grade A committees allocated to Hon. Femi’s supporters include Customs and Excise with both Chairman and Deputy coming from Femi’s group. They are Faleke and Hon. Chanchangi. Agriculture and many others are also Grade A committees that went to Gbajabiamila’s group.

    There are some committees that naturally belong to some zones as obtained in previous Assemblies, which include Petroluem Resouces and Gas, those committees were retained in those zones. Again, the APC got Grade A committees such as Agriculture, Appropriation, Finance, Police Affairs, Navy, Defence, Interior, FCT, Basic Education, Tertiary Education, Customs, Judiciary, Electoral Matters, Emergency and Disaster Management, Housing, Land Transport, Marine,  Pensions,  Public Safety and Intelligence,  Rules and Business, House Services, Telecommunications, Water Resources and Solid Minerals.

    The grouse was that, if so much was given to the opposition, won’t your governemnt have problems later from these Chairmen?

    I don’t think so. Unlike in the previous Assemblies, this time around, the ruling party, the APC, does not have two-third majority in the House. The PDP  has the numerical strenght to block or frustrate any bill or motion, which requires two-third majority vote. The implication is that they must be carried along in the scheme of things as we cannot afford to run an all exclusive government. And that is why they too must be given committees to chair. As i said earlier, if the motivation of these lawmakers is service, why are they insisting on chairing certain committees? Why are they rejecting some committees? It means that their primary motivation is not service but personal interest. It should be noted that there 360 members in the House,10 are principal officers, while 192 are either chairmen or deputies leaving out 158 others who do not have any position to hold. It is, therefore, a great favour and privilege for any member to be appointed into position of Chairman or Deputy as 158 of his/her colleagues wont have any responsibility. Are they saying that they are better than those ones? Hon. Gideon Gwani is a third termer and is nether a Chairman nor Deputy and he remained loyal and supportive of the leadership and did not raise any issue. Are they better than him? To tell you that the Speaker is not a selfish person, his region or zone of the North East has the least number of committees just about eight. Kano State, my state, has six Chairmen and eight Deputies. These Chairmen include Appropriations, House Services, SDGs, Housing, Poverty Alleviation, Tertiary Education. No Speaker has ever given Kano this much in the past.

  • Ekiti teachers condemn seizure of membership dues

    •Unions clash over Teachers’ Day

    The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) in Ekiti State  has decried its exclusion from the World Teachers’ Day celebration today.

    The union said the  government owes its members arrears of 13 months of membership dues.

    ASUSS accused the state wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) of blackmailing it before Governor Ayo Fayose, which made his administration not to recognise the union.

    State ASUSS Chairman Olusola Adigun, in a statement yesterday, said the “union was worried that the governor had allowed the NUT to influence him to openly hate us as we celebrate our day”.

    Adigun affirmed that ASUSS has been legalised to unionise secondary school teachers through the approval of the  Ministry of  Labour and Productivity.

    The state NUT Chairman, Kayode Akosile, at a briefing last Wednesday,  described  ASUSS “as an illegal body”.

    He accused “ex-governor Kayode Fayemi of breaching the law to recognise it ”.

    Akosile said: “Before any union can operate, it has to be registered by the Registrar of  Trade Unions in Abuja.

    Former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola did not recognise ASUSS. He told members that as a senior lawyer that he could not breach the law. So, ASUSS to us,  is an illegal body.”

    But Adigun countered: “It is highly disappointing to see our governor`s preference for NUT,  particularly in the  preparation for the Teachers’ Day celebration.

    “Our members have complained bitterly of their exclusion from the last education summit,  even though our members are the ones to implement the outcome in  secondary schools.

    “In view of the wicked roles which the NUT has been playing to make sure that we are not recognised in the  Fayose administration, we want to state that Ekiti NUT is the biblical Cain, who killed his brother Abel, ASUSS .

    “The NUT has been inciting the people against us, telling them that we are not legally constituted and that we don’t have the legal rights to membership dues.

    “We wish  to point it out that ASUSS has won more than 50 court judgments  against the NUT and the most recent one, at the National industrial Court of Nigeria, Enugu, last December 2.

    “In that judgment, Justice A. Ibrahim held that ‘the rights of the claimant (NUT) to collect checkup dues; or subscription; is limited to its members; it is only the claimant’s members who are obliged to pay membership dues or subscription dues’.

    “The court pointed out that ‘there is nothing averred to show that secondary school teachers are members of the claimant and therefore their contributions,whether as check off dues or subscriptions, belong to the claimant and cannot be taken away from it (ASUSS)’.

    “The judge, therefore, submitted that ‘on the whole the preliminary objection of the first defendant succeeds as I uphold the submission that the claimant lack locus standi to bring this action. I further uphold the interlocutory order of the court on the funds kept in an account on the orders of the court made on July 27, 2012. The suit is accordingly hereby struck out’.

    “Equally, the Ekiti State Ministry of Justice has given two  legal advice in 2011 and 2012 that ASUSS has the right to exist and to collect dues from its members, and which the government has obeyed until recently.

    “Despite our financial constraint, we went ahead to celebrate our annual award day amidst funfair in commemoration of the  teachers day, where 40 ASUSS teacher-retirees were feted with gifts, 16 students who emerged the best in the ASUSS annual essays in each local government were given both cash and books. e ASUSS also paid for the WASSCE fees of the overall best pupil in the state”.

  • Institute offers direct membership

    The Institute of Capital Market Analysts has announced the commencement of its direct membership programme designed to admit members into fellows and associates categories.

    Speaking to journalists in Lagos, the institute’s Coordinator, Omotayo Gbede explained that qualifications for direct members ship shall be available to professional capital market operators with requisite professional qualification and at least five years relevant experience in the top management cadre of a capital market/financial institution, financial regulator or financial services market firm for associate membership and 10 years of experience for fellows.

    Chief executives and senior management of financial institutions are given special consideration based on their years of experience in the financial market.

    The institute also announced its two-week accelerated membership programme beginning on November 1st, 2014 and ending 9th November, 2014 for prospective members having a minimum of HND/B.Sc. or equivalent as well as those with finance related professional qualifications.

    The institute’s main objective, Gbede stressed, is to accelerate the development of top level capital market professionals equipped with cutting edge skills in financial and capital market analysis.

    Approved by the Federal Ministries of Education and Justice, its mission is to deepen the knowledge of financial markets among its members and provide the technical expertise in market analysis, financial modelling, forecasting, financial engineering as well as management of institutional frameworks.

     

  • Institute offers direct membership

    The Institute of Capital Market Analysts has announced the commencement of its direct membership programme designed to admit members into fellows and associates categories.

    Speaking to journalists in Lagos, the Institute’s Coordinator, Omotayo Gbede explained that qualifications for direct members ship shall be available to professional capital market operators with requisite professional qualification and at least five years relevant experience in the top management cadre of a capital market/financial institution, financial regulator or financial services market firm for associate membership and ten years of experience for fellows.

    Chief executives and senior management of financial institutions are given special consideration based on their years of experience in the financial market.

    The institute also announced its two-week accelerated membership programme commencing on November 1st, 2014 and ending 9th November, 2014 for prospective members having a minimum of HND/B.Sc. or equivalent as well as those with finance related professional qualifications.

    The institute’s main objective, Gbede stressed is to accelerate the development of top level capital market professionals equipped with cutting edge skills in financial and capital market analysis.

    Approved by the Federal Ministries of Education and Justice, its mission is to deepen the knowledge of financial markets among its members and provide the technical expertise in market analysis, financial modelling, forecasting, financial engineering as well as management of institutional frameworks.

     

  • PDP youths burn membership cards in Rivers

    PDP youths burn membership cards in Rivers

    Hundreds of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youths in Rivers State burnt their membership cards yesterday, rejecting the party.

    They were led to the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat in Port Harcourt by the party’s Youth Leader, Sogbeye Eli, a lawyer.

    The defecting youths said they wanted their burnt cards to be replaced with APC membership cards.

    The exercise was witnessed by the chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya and other party officials.

    Speaking on behalf of the defectors, Comrade Hart Lawson Atemie said the absence of internal democracy, infighting, selfishness, the need for a change in the country, among others, were their reasons for dumping the PDP.

    He accused the party’s leadership of self-centredness, saying it did not give them hope.

    Atemie said: “The money they distribute is to control the souls of helpless Rivers people born in riches but are poor.

    “Rivers is a Christian state and we would not support those who trade with the devil.

    “The PDP is finished and in disarray. There are crises in the party which will worsen as 2015 approaches.

    “It is their bid to corner the state’s resources, which led to their disagreement with our visionary leader and Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.

    “We are tired of staying in a party where our so-called leaders are not concerned about improving the relationship between the leadership and the followership.”

    Hailing APC for being better organised and capable of providing change, he lamented that despite the corruption in the country, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has been turned to a lame duck.

    The security situation, Atemie also said, has deteriorated.