The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Moments

  • Igwe’s last moments, by eyewitness

    Igwe’s last moments, by eyewitness

    For many friends and relatives of Dimgba Igwe, former vice-chairman of The Sun, his death in the early hours of Saturday was still like a well scripted movie, with its suspense and happy ending.

    Details about his death have been revealed by eyewitnesses while his immediate family has found solace in God.

    When The Nation visited his Dele Orisabiyi, Okota. Lagos residence yesterday, a steady stream of sympathisers which included members and pastorate of his Pentecost Assembly Church-where he was Deputy General Overseer (DGO)- was visible.

    The house, in spite of its external extravagance has a modest furnishing inside. It was a basic living room which exemplified a humble living.

    A condolence register which was opened late on Saturday had 77 registered visitors many who were former workers with the late journalist. Many of them praised the faith, courage and kindness of Igwe. It was not the sort of painful farewell which is often associated with such a loss, but one which conveyed hope of a kind. Pastor Ajibade Ademoroye said: “ Not a loss but a gain. You lived well for the Lord and His church, see you later bro.”

    Linda Osareren said: “Dimgba, some of us have agreed that you have to come back to take care of your family.”

    Inside the house, Mrs Obioma Igwe was surrounded by sympatizers. But none of them was crying and if one didn’t know beforehand, it will be difficult to guess a tragedy of such proportion had befallen the house.

    A pastor prayed. He thanked God for Dimgba, saying he was alive. “ Pastor Dimgba is alive, we know he is with you. He has been promoted, we are consoled,” he said.

    Mrs Igwe also exhibited a rare spirit of courage, as visitors continued to gather in the house, she took her time to ask after the welfare of those who came.

    When a group of young girls came, she laughed, clapped and offer consoling words to them. Many visitors with intention to console her left perplexed seeing her jovial and happy spirit, one which refused to yeild to depression and sadness.

    The late Dimgba was a man of faith and courage until his death. This was also corroborated by eyewitnesses who told Hanson Igwe, brother to the deceased, about his last moments.

    “I met some eyewitnesses here today. They said they helped Dimgba when the accident happened. They said he was still praying for them as they helped him into the vehicle.

    “Someone who was jogging close to him said they saw a car misbehaving and they all jumped out of the way. But she said they saw the car hit him and he sustained serious wounds. I was in Aba and around 10 o clock, I learnt we have lost him,” Hanson said.

    He said eyewitnesses told him the car was a Toyota Corolla and the driver was male. According to another insider who said his brother witnessed the accident, the driver who killed Dimgba was avoiding a pothole.

    The source a employee of Dimgba’s company said his brother had jogged on the same Ibe road that morning. He said the car came into a corner on high speed and in an attempt to avoid a pothole hit Dimgba.

    “ My brother said when they saw the car swerved, they all jumped to the culvert but Dimgba was not fast enough. The car hit him and ran him over the culvert. The side mirror of the car came off as well as the wheel cover of the tyre.”

    He said: “ My brother and other joggers ran to him, he had bruises on his leg but they didn’t know he had serious internal injury. He asked for a phone and called home. They got a car and lifted him inside. But when they touched his legs, he screamed.”

    Many of the sympatisers described the deceased as one of the kindest men on earth. Hanson ruled out a case of assasination. “ I know him, he was a gentleman who had no enemies that may want him dead.”

    “My boss was a fun man, he was kind and I loved him so much. It is like a movie because he didn’t die during all his travels and died just here near his house,” the  former employee said.

    Dimgba was said to have a habbit of jogging on Ibe road early in the morning. He was not alone as many other residents of Okota also excercise on that stretch of road everyday.

    “It was his routine, not anything out of the ordinary,” said Hanson.

  • Ogunbote blames careless moments for Sharks’ exit

    Ogunbote blames careless moments for Sharks’ exit

    Sharks coach, Gbenga Ogunbote has blamed their Nigerian football federations cup exit on some ‘careless moments’, after they lost 2-0 to defending champions, Enyimba.

    Two goals in the 23rd and 37th minutes from Kingsley Sokari and Raphael Boumsong respectively ensured Enyimba progressed to the semi final and halted Sharks’ hopes of winning the title this season.

    And Ogunbote told SL10 they should have won the game, “It was a game I thought we should have won, but for some careless moments,” he said.

    The ‘Blue Angels’ dominated possession within the first fifteen minutes, and probably should have taken the lead, but failed to create enough goal-scoring opportunities, which Enyimba capitalised upon to score their first goal through Sokari, who has been in impressive form for the People’s Elephants.

    And Ogunbote has rued their failure to make their possession count.

    “We controlled the game at some point, and I thought we should have created chances, but we didn’t. In the end, we paid dearly for it.”

    Ogunbote went on to allude that referee Benjamin Odey from Cross River State may not have been fair in his officiating, sarcastically describing both Enyimba goals as ‘fantastic’.

    “The first goal was fantastic, the second goal was fantastic as well. You can analyze them yourself,” he said.

    And when pressed if he thought the officiating should have been better, he said: “It’s your opinion, but you saw the game, did you think it was poorly officiated?” he asked rather sarcastically.

    “On a normal day we would have won,” he ended.

    Meanwhile, Enyimba captain Chinedu Udoji says they just have to take the games as they come before thinking of playing in the final again.

    “We’re not thinking of the final yet, we just have to play the next game and then see how it goes. We hope to win it again, but we can’t think about that now. The next game comes first,” he told SL10.

  • ‘My memorable moments’

    ‘My memorable moments’

    Kate Ijeoma Ibeanusi is a two-time graduate of Anthropology from the University of Ibadan and an alumnus of the Enterprise Development Centre of the Pan African University. She is currently in charge of the Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action Lagos Office and working in the area of Social Development and Rehabilitation.
    For about 20 years, her organisation has been instrumental in pushing for reviews in the prison acts, training and re-training of prison officers on human rights best practices in Nigeria and in five other countries of Africa. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, she talks about the achievements, challenges, safety, insecurity in the land as well as reforms in the justice sector.

    WHAT are the things that you are passionate about?

    For me, working with the less privileged, vulnerable and downtrodden persons in society is a passion. I am a women’s rights advocate with years of experience working with abused women and children. Working with the prisons naturally falls within this passion, especially considering that the prison and prison system is not a popular area of work. It especially gives me joy to see a prison inmate released, rehabilitated and reunited with their family. On another hand, it is challenging when we do not get funding support to follow through with all these laudable plans and interventions.

    What is the focus of your organisation?

    PRAWA is a non-governmental organisation set up in December 1994 to promote institutional reforms in the formal and informal sectors for access to justice, rehabilitation and social development of prisoners, ex-prisoners, torture victims and youths at risk. Our work cuts across actual reforms in practices and policies within the justice sector, to the promotion of safe societies where persons and communities are empowered to reduce crime, offending behaviour and torture as well as research, document and raise awareness about gaps in upholding rights and effects of practice and policy implementation in the justice and security sector. We are situated with headquarters in Enugu and offices in Lagos and Abuja.

    The organisation initiated the Prison Link Project where family members of inmates are contacted and informed of their relatives in prison. More recently, we have been involved in activities to reduce the number of awaiting trial persons across Nigerian prisons through the ‘Speeding up of Criminal Justice for Awaiting Trial Persons’ which is ongoing in Enugu and the FCT, Abuja. The Illegal Migration and Awareness Project, I-MAP, is a youth-based initiative to creatively engage young persons for the purpose of identifying their skills and talents and promoting the development of such for the prevention of crime and illegal migration. This project currently works with secondary schools in Lagos and Enugu to raise awareness on the ills of illegal migration. There is also the Crime and Human Rights Awareness (CHAT) project currently working with a secondary school in Lagos as a pilot. We have also, as part of our support to female inmates in Lagos, started a periodic provision of sanitary items for women prisoners through our ‘Live Clean in Prison campaign’, among many others.

    Tell us about some of the challenges you face on the job

    The major challenge is in the area of funding. Especially funding for youth empowerment initiatives, crime prevention and drug awareness programmes. Our rehabilitation work is the least funded and this is a major challenge. The inability of corporate Nigeria to see the need for investing in crime prevention and rehabilitation interventions leads to increase in insecurity as is being experienced today in the country. As a people, the responsibility of building our society through support for laudable and credible initiative lies with us.

    How do you cope with these challenges?

    We are not coping, we just keep doing what we know how to do best. We cannot do without funding, but in any case we keep putting out necessary information in the public and social space and work closely with the agencies to strengthen their capacity to do their work better. Provide pro bono services to inmates and so on. The donor sources are not sufficient to support all the numerous efforts. We are reaching out to corporate Nigeria for support and sponsorships of our programmes. Until as a nation we recognise that donor funding will not solve all our problems and begin to support our home grown initiatives, then we are bound to be continuously harassed daily with the disturbing news of rising insurgency and terrorist activities. As corporate bodies operating within the Nigerian society, your continued existence and progress are hinged on safety and security in the land hence the need to support youth based initiatives especially around crime prevention and empowerment.

    Let’s talk about some of the memorable moments at work

    The recent release of a female inmate by an Ijebu-Ode magistrate court was not only memorable but also commendable considering the various challenges encountered in the process. This is only one among the several other land mark cases being handled by the other offices of PRAWA. Recently in Enugu, PRAWA secured the release of a man who has been on awaiting trial for over 17 years. It was also a memorable experience for the organisation.

    Who or what do you consider as the greatest influence in your life?

    Hmmmn, my greatest influence has been family relationships. I have enjoyed unimaginable family support and this has greatly influenced my resolve in my area of work.

    How would you describe government’s support for the sector?

    Government efforts at supporting civil society groups are very minimal. But sincerely, they have shown commitments in some areas especially where it relates to reforms. I will speak about the sector where we operate. The Prison Service, the Judiciary, Police, Legal Aid Council have all been receptive to the reforms we are proposing. As for other civil society groups, everyone is doing their best. Nigeria is a vast entity; no single group can address the myriad of social problems facing the country. We just need to work together in a more coordinated manner to achieve our goals.

    If you had to compare your work with colleagues in other parts of the world, what would you say?

    I would say we are making an effort. On the grounds of comparison, we are all operating in different terrains with diverse challenges. Our society is still trying to understand the work of social advocates and civil society groups. For a million and one Nigerians, civil society groups are all charitable organisations who do not need to be supported and this hampers work, unlike in other climes, where ordinary citizens support causes and donate towards them. You find that impact and value of work is felt more over there. But I am optimistic, that with our continuous engagements with other societies, knowledge sharing, we can only get better in time.

    What changes would you like to see in the sector?

    First, I would want to see that the problem of awaiting trial persons is reduced to not more than 10% of the total prison population and those in the system are processed within the shortest time possible, not exceeding three months and moved to the next stage. This will be possible where the options of alternatives to imprisonment, community service is fully developed and in full force.

    I would also want to see a society that places a higher premium on the value of its citizens with a greater commitment towards protection of lives and properties.

    More importantly, I want to see a Nigeria where women will be allowed to function at their optimum, having access to quality education, health facilities and unfettered economic opportunities.

    Who do you consider as your mentor or role model?

    I greatly admire Mrs. Obiageli Ezekwesili. She is bold, forthright and unpretentious. She is an inspiration.

    If you had to advise women, what would you tell them?

    Women, women, women. My simple advise will be ‘Woman, know thy self’. This for me is borne out of the fact that you are who say you are. The desire of women to be defined by any other thing outside of themselves places an unseen shackle on all that the woman represents. As women, we must first recognise our potentials, if you wait for another human person to define you, then you are bound to operate and function below your best.

    What do you look forward to in the next five years?

    Continuous learning. I want to be better at the things I do, with every passing day, so I keep learning. As I earlier said, I am a gender, equal rights and opportunities advocate with interests in women’s rights and child protection. A counsellor, workshop facilitator, public speaker and promoter of equitable relationships and a balanced family life.

  • ‘Our last moments…’

    Thank God, Aunty didn’t arrive before me,” I told myself as I walked into the newsroom, sweating profusely. It was 9:15am on Tuesday. Her ‘lateness’ on the day was unusual, so I sat gently and hurriedly turned on our computer to ‘convince’ her that I had been in the office since 8am.

    Barely 15 minutes later, Aunty hollered behind the entrance door to the newsroom: “Bikko Wale, come and open this door for me jare.” I ran to the door but Mr Daniel Essiet, The Nation’s Agric Correspondent, was faster. “Ha, see these two men rushing to open the door for a small girl like me,” she quipped jovially.

    “Ngozi, you know we have to respect the two hefty boys inside,” was Essiet’s repartee, pointing to her protruded tummy. Paroxysm of laughter greeted the banters.

    I helped her with her handbag but she needed to use the restroom. As she came out, I saw her opening the Editor’s office to fetch her laptop. “Oh my God! Aunty came before me,” I whispered to myself as though there was ever a time she met me in the office, something she had complained about several times. Aunty Ngozi had arrived in the office by 6:40am, when I was still tossing on my bed.

    I was waiting for her to say something on my lateness but Aunty Ngozi blurted: “Wale, you won’t believe I had to go to the bank to make part-payment for the hotel we are using this weekend in cash. The cheque I gave to ‘Citilodge people’ bounced because the money in my GTB account was not up to N1.5 million. I had to go to bank immediately to cash The Nation’s cheque; I was the first person that entered the banking hall of Diamond Bank (Ladipo Branch) this morning. But I was delayed because of this CBN cashless policy wahala.”

    We both laughed as I set up her laptop for her to write Pushing Out, her column for her, for the week. I asked why she didn’t call on me to do the running around, she replied: “I didn’t want to disturb you, young man. I knew you left here late yesterday.” That was the end of Solomon Gandhi, as she would always end all her conversation.

    The scenario painted above took place exactly two weeks before her death. The following Monday after the Campus Life Workshop held on May 18 – 20, 2012, Aunty Ngozi could not come to office due to stress. She told me to send stories to her personal email; she would work from home. I did.

    But on Tuesday, she was in the office. As usual, she arrived before me. When she called to know where I was, I told her my dad sent me on an errand to Surulere. She said: “No problem, just be quick.”

    About 30 minutes later, she called me back. “Wale, I need to leave the office now; I am going home. One of my neighbours just called me that the girl I brought from the village has allowed a stranger into my house. I don’t know the person. I must go home now. I will send my column from the house.” That was it. I came to the office later to finish the production.

    On Thursday, she telephoned me to ask if I had been given my appointment letter. I told her there was none. She promised to see the Editor the following week about my employment. On Sunday, she sent an email to me, detailing how the week’s production would look like. She later called to add that she would not come to the office because “I am in my week”. I decoded the meaning of the expression.

    On Monday, May 28, I resumed for work early. I called her two mobile phones, but both had been switched off. “This is unusual,” I said as I put a call through to her husband, who simply told me: “You can’t talk to her now. She will call you later.” I understood the expression. I prayed for her “safe delivery” and continued with production.

    In the evening of the same day, I noticed a strange stare from everyone in the newsroom. A page planner asked me if I had spoken to Aunty Ngozi on the day. Since I didn’t want anyone to know she was in labour room, so I answered ‘yes’. Later, Chidiebere Umeorizu, Aunty’s niece, also called me and asked where I was. I told her I was in the office. She ended the call right away. I didn’t sense what was going on.

    Who broke the sad news? It was around 9:45pm. I was about leaving the office. Mr Olukorede Yishau, Assistant Editor (News), asked me to see him in his car. I sat gently but he asked me if I had spoken to Aunty Ngozi that day. I opened up: “She was in labour room when I called her husband this morning.” Swiftly, Yishau said: “Ngozi gave birth today….” I was happy. “…but we lost her”.

    “We lost who, sir?” I asked, shuddering. “Wale, Ngozi is dead!” Oh my God, what a sad news to end a very busy day. For 20 minutes, tears rolled down my cheeks without a sign that the ducts would go dry any moment. A better part of me had just been pronounced dead.

    Then, my mind raced to the day I first met her in 2009. The circumstance and the personality that made our paths to cross. My first day at work with her; why she wanted me to be a journalist and not an industrial chemist.

    Her relationship with my parents; her instistence that, despite being a Muslim, I must attend her youth programme in her church without that stopping me from going to the mosque to observe my solat (prayer). Her care and affection for my nephew, whose mother died five days after childbirth.

    The secret she told me about her past and personal life three weeks before her death; her struggle in the newsroom with colleagues; the philosophy that propelled her personality and her dislikes. But all these are all discourses for another day, which I will write about by God’s grace.

    The sad affair became more poignant not because Yishau broke the news to me, but because I opened the newspaper hours after to see the tragic prefix that reads “late” before Aunty’s beautiful name, which means “blessing”. It was then it dawned on me that I would not see my boss again.

    A year after, my tear ducts have not dried for the loss of a mother, sister, boss and confidant, (Aunty) Ngozi Theresa Agbo. Farewell Aunty!

     

    Wale, who worked with the late Mrs Agbo, now co-ordinates CAMPUSLIFE

     

  • 2012: Moments of rows, drama in Senate

    2012: Moments of rows, drama in Senate

     There were many dramatic moments in the Senate in 2012. Correspondent SANNI ONOGU revists the high and low moments in the Upper Chamber.

    The Seventh Senate is made up of seasoned technocrats, prominent politicians, retired Generals, and other professionals. These diverse backgrounds and perspectives shaped proceedings in the Upper Chamber last year.

    Senators who dominated debates included Senate President David Mark, his deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, Victor Ndoma-Egba, Abdul Ningi, George Akume. Others are Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Ganiyu Solomon, Enyinnaya Abaribe, Hayatu Gwarzo, Bukar Abba Ibrahim, Ita Enang, and Uche Chukwumerije.

    Also, Senators Smart Adeyemi, Ayogu Eze, Awaisu Kuta, Zainab Kure, Olubummi Adetunbi, Sola Adeyeye, Ahmad Lawan, Hope Uzodinma, James Manager, Oluremi Tinubu, Esther Nenadi Usman, Helen Esuene, Nkechi Nwoagu, Ifeanyi Okowa, George Sekibo, Benedict Ayaade, Emmanuel Paulker made waves.

    In their absence, the chamber was usually dull. In the senate, an innocuous motion or bill listed for consideration can ignite passion and verbal fireworks. Also, a seemingly harmless contribution can lead to a long debate.

     

    Exhilarating ritual

     

    Senator Mark often lit up the stage during his procession into the chambers. As soon as his arrival is announced, senators quickly move from their seats to line the aisle. Handshakes, banters and chitchats would follow. Senators across parties would want to make sure that their House Leaders have taken their seats. Then, the Senate President opens the proceedings with invocations and holler: “The Chief Whip of the Senate!”

    From that moment, the Chief Whip Senator Hayatu Gwarzo, moves swiftly to assist Mark in calling the House to order.

    Gwarzo was associated with refrains such as: “Senator Smart Adeyemi, take your seat. Senator Ayogu Eze, take your seat. The Senate is called to order. Senator Nkechi, go back to your seat. Senator Uche Chukumerije, stop talking to Senator Nenadi Usman, go back to your seat. Ayogu Eze, go back to your seat. Senator Smart, the Senate is hereby called to order. Senator Heineken, please go back to your seat. The Senate is called to order please. Mr President, the Senate is set.”

    However, hilarious atmosphere would vanish. Some moments evoke smiles, others provoke anger. There were predictable, dull and boring sessions. There were critical moments when weighty issues were debated on the floor and in committee rooms.

     

    Pension reform drama

     

    One event which was full of drama in the Senate in 2012 was the invitation of the Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT), Alhaji Abdulrasheed Maina. He was invited by the Senate Joint Committee on Establishment and Public Service, States and Local Government probing the mismanagement of pension funds in the country. But Maina failed to honour the invitation. The committee issued a warrant of arrest and mandated the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, to arrest Maina and bring him to the venue of the public hearing.

    However, the warrant never left the the precincts of the National Assembly. At 11.00 am, on the day the committee was to reconvene, Maina was nowhere to be found. The other invitees waited patiently for over three hours.

    Suddenly, the chairman of the committee, Senator Aloysius Etok and Senator Kabiru Gaya walked into the venue at exactly 2pm. Etok proceded to announce another round of adjournment. Just then, Maina walked briskly into the hall. He was flanked by a horde of heavily armed policemen and some operatives of the State Security Service (SSS). To the surprise of all, the committee adjourned after reading a signed warrant of arrest on Maina to his hearing but failed to arrest him.

    Soon, Maina accused the committee of demanding N2 billion bribe. In apparent effort to defend the integrity of the committee, Etok offered to be shot if the allegation was proved to be true. Etok swore that members of the investigative panel did not seek N2 billion bribe from the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT). He described the allegation as a decoy to draw attention from the mismanagement of the pension funds by his team. He declared that the committee could not ignore the “foul alarm and cheap blackmail as a mere ranting since such is orchestrated to divert attention from the bare facts and incontrovertible evidences of fraud, misapplication, mismanagement and outright stealing of pension funds by the Pension Reform Task Team.”

    The Maina episode was not the only one that was fraught with controversies. The process that led to the passage of the 2013 budget was another. Shortly after President Goodluck Jonathan presented the N4.92 trillion proposal to a joint sitting of the National Assembly in October, intense lobby from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) began with countless meetings between heads of the MDAs and chairmen of standing committees.

    For the record, a major point of disagreement between the National Assembly and Presidency was the benchmark of crude oil pegged at $75 per barrel. But after much debate, the National Assembly pegged it at $79. Essentially, it was historic that the National Assembly passed the budget in December in the hope that it would pave the way for a faithful implementation.

    Again, for the first time in the history of budget defence, the Senate President personally appeared in two sessions. Mark, whose visit was unusual, said he was uncomfortable with the poor level of budget implementation across the MDAs. He described as a contravention of the agreement between the Executive and the Legislature. The Senate President noted that implementation figures claimed by most MDAs were “mere statistics” as they “do not reflect realities on ground.” He accused the heads of the MDAs of complicity for the low budget performance, adding: “There is no justifiable cause for such; we would not take it any longer.”

    Mark insisted further: “People believe that budget is a mere document; if you like it, you implement, if you don’t like it, you reject it. Finance Ministry is a problem. People are not concerned about implementation. That is not a correct attitude to budget. Once a budget is signed, it becomes law and it is binding on all of us. Statistics given by percentage never gives any real figure or perception or what is practically on ground.”

    Another high point in the Senate in 2012 was the way the lawmakers reacted to the planned introduction of N5000 banknote by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. The lawmakers, who were on annual vacation when Sanusi dropped the idea for the project, vowed to stop the move. And they made good their threat.

    On their first day of resumption, the senators unanimously resolved “to urge President Goodluck Jonathan and the CBN to stop issuance of N5000 note and all issues connected therewith”. The decision was as a result of the unanimous adoption of a motion entitled: “Introduction of N5000 notes by the CBN.” It was sponsored by Senate Chairman, Rules and Business Committee, Senator Ita Enang (Akwa Ibom North East). The lawmakers described the CBN boss as exhibiting “arrogance, high-handedness and claim of monopoly of knowledge.”

    Mark fumed that the argument for the introduction of the N5000 note “is not convincing”. He literally sealed the fate of the proposed banknote when he summed up the mood of the Senate thus: “The disadvantages of the N5000 note, at the moment, far outweigh not introducing it, and, on balance, we should not go for it. I also heard it from the news the way you heard it. I was not briefed. The only briefing I had about this issue was in the national dailies.

    “The important thing is that if Nigerians say they don’t want a particular policy at any given moment, there is no harm in government retracing its steps on the issue and I think that is the situation that we find ourselves.

    “I have listened to the arguments from those who support it, but those arguments are simply not convincing. There is no ambiguity in our stand on the issue. I am not sure that Sanusi is aware of the Constitution. If he was, he would make reference to us before addressing the issue.”

     

    Criticisms

     

    The Senate and indeed the whole National Assembly came under heavy criticism by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the course of the year. The lawmakers were so infuriated by his comments that they immediately challenged him to name lawmakers he had alleged to be corrupt. Had it not been that Obasanjo had spurned previous invitations, perhaps, they would have asked him to appear before its committee on Ethics and Privileges to explain himself.

    Obasanjo had declared at the Fourth Annual Conference of the Academy for Entrepreneur Studies Nigeria (AES) held at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos that important institutions in the country are corrupt, including the National Assembly.

    “Integrity is necessary for systems and institutions to be strong,” Obasanjo said, adding: “Today, rogues, armed robbers are in the State Houses of Assembly and the National Assembly. What sort of laws will they make?”

    But in a quick reaction, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, challenged Obasanjo to name the rogues and criminals in the spirit of transparency. He lamented that the Senate had been inundated with calls over the statement credited to Obasanjo.

    As the senators settle down to business of lawmaking, more of these developments are likely to feature this year. But the desire of Nigerians would be that such actions will deepen democracy in the country.