The Nation Newspaper

Tag: politicians

  • Kwankwaso challenges politicians on development

    Kwankwaso challenges politicians on development

    Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwakwaso has urged political office holders to be committed to projects that will develop the country and help ameliorate the suffering of the rural poor.

    Kwankwaso, who was represented by the Commissioner for Housing, Mohammadu Yahaya, spoke at the second induction into Nigeria’s Construction Industry Hall of Fame ogranised by Construction and Engineering Digest Magazine at Sheraton Hotel, Lagos.

    The programme which was tagged: Sustainability Strategies for Energy Efficiency in Nigeria,  had over 200 accomplished engineers, surveyors and town planners drawn from different parts of the country. Among the guests were the founding president, Mr Otis Anyaeji, the chairman, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Mr Ezekiel Adeniji, former governor of Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel, National Chairman, Nigerian Society of Engineers, Prof David Esezobor.

    Kwankwaso said democracy can only thrive when there are meaningful improvements in the quality of life of the people, especially the rural poor.

    Citing the recent National Bureau of Statistics on poverty level in Nigeria which states that 112 million people are poor, he said it is obvious that Nigeria is in dire need of politicians who will bring hope to the people through well thought-out plans and infrastructural development.

    He noted that the administration of Kwankwaso has given birth not only to Kwankwasiyya city but also close to 50,000 service plots and drainage in all the 44 local government area in the state, as well as several roads and infrastructure that have upgraded the ancient commercial city.

    The governor noted that development programmes in education, health care, environment, and infrastructure have been the core of his administration in the last two years.

    Kwankwaso said that politicians should work hard to make Nigeria great again and avoid playing politics with taxpayers’ money “as we will all give account of our stewardship someday. We have built 5 km roads with concrete drain and streetlights across the 44 local government area in the state.”

    Also, the Chairman of FERMA, Adeniji who lauded the effort of this administration on infrastructural development, said “the collaboration of the people in the maintenance of our roads is very germane.”

    He also spoke about the commitment of the agency.

    “We don’t just want to build the players of the system but the system itself that will be able to manage our roads effectively across the country for the benefit if all Nigerians.”

    In his opening address, the Publisher of CED Magazine, Mr. Kenneth Odusol-Stevenson said that the initiative was borne out of the desire to indentify and uphold those professionals and corporate organisations who have stood the test of time in Nigeria, believing in Project Nigeria and withstanding all the challenges to remain focused on delivering value services to the construction industry and allied sectors.

    “We are focused not just on recognising individual achievements but in rewarding long-standing consistency and lifetime commitments to the goals of enhanced professional service delivery”, he said.

     

  • Politicians’ jumbo pay bad for economy, says NES

    The Nigeria Economic Society (NES) has said politicians’ jumbo pay impacts negatively on the economy.

    Its President , Prof Akin Iwayemi, said the jumbo salary was indicative of the huge gap between the poor and the rich as well as between the ruler and the ruled.

    He spoke with reporters yesterday at the NES secretariat in Bodija, Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

    Iwayemi noted that it was unfortunate that the country was running the costliest democracy in the world, adding: “Until Nigerians begin to ask themselves how much value they get from every naira spent by their political office holders, they cannot attain sustainable development.”

    He said 70 per cent of the country’s budget is allocated to re-current expenditure.

    He added:” It is regrettable that we are using a huge chunk of the nation’s resources to service just less than 1,000 people in a country of over 160 million people.

    “They should publish all the salary scale all these political office holders earn monthly. I do not understand why it should be a secret. It should be public information. So, this is a challenge to the Fiscal Mobilisation Committee to do justice to this issue and let the citizens know.

    “We are running the costliest democracy in the world. We cannot develop this way when we spend huge money to service a few people. How will you get money for productive activities to expand the economy? An average Nigerian cannot access good medical care, good roads and other basic things of life when the legislators are smiling to the bank.”

  • Makarfi to old politicians: prepare to vacate leadership positions

    Makarfi to old politicians: prepare to vacate leadership positions

    Former Kaduna State Governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi has urged the older generation of Nigerian leaders to begin a voluntary hands-off of leadership positions to the succeeding generation.

    The former governor said the old leaders should guide the younger generation to mount the leadership positions.

    The senator representing Kaduna North at the National Assembly noted that when leaders get stuck to their various seats, they stifle growth.

    Makarfi spoke at a dinner organised by his political associates to mark his 57th birthday in Kaduna.

    The former governor gave notice that he would begin a gradual withdrawal from leadership positions from 2016 when he will be 60 to give way to younger ones.

    He said: “When I look around the world, especially the developed nations, I see that leadership is seamlessly being transferred to a new generation; that is, in its forties and, in a few other cases, early fifties. But here the story seems to be disturbingly different.

    “I believe that by the time I am 60 in 2016, my peers and I should have evolved a succession system that sees us begin to gradually disengage and give way to those who now look up to us. A system in which we get stuck to our various seats till tomorrow or beyond, even when we have been around since yesterday, in my opinion, is stifling our growth. This is because the dynamism that now rules the world requires leaders of the time who are in tune with the times.

    “I am by no means advocating that the older generation is losing its value. What I am saying is that they are more valuable where and when they gradually and voluntarily hands off leadership to succeeding generation in a deliberate and seamless manner such that the new leadership will be availed the opportunity of being guided by their various experiences.

    “My concern is that unlike in other places, we seem to ignore the fact that leadership transition is a process that should begin from day one with the training and preparing of potential successors. This is because since nature abhors vacuum, we must know that prepared or not, we must be succeeded one way or the other.

    “It is, therefore, my view that it is in the interest of the society and even our own enlightened self-interest to ensure that those who eventually take over from us are properly and adequately prepared and trained.”

     

  • 2015: Face your job, cleric tells politicians

    THE Prelate and Moderator of General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Nigeria, Most Reverend Emele Uka, has advised political office holders not to allow the frenzy of 2015 general election to distract them from tackling the critical problems facing the nation.He spoke during the meeting of members of the General Assembly Executive Committee,(GAEC) at St. Peter’s Presbyterian Cathedral, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki.He told politicians to acknowledge that only God can determine what would happen tomorrow and not man.Uka prayed that evil men in the country would not gain access to political power in 2015.

    He called on the federal government to honour its agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), saying the ongoing industrial action will further drag the nation’s educational sector backward.

    According to Uka: “For issues surrounding 2015 election, I want politicians to know that the future is controlled by God and not man. Let them be concerned with the problems of this country and leave 2015 alone.

    “We are tired of corrupt practices in Nigeria and it seems to be coming from top to bottom. We hear of High Court Judges engaging in bribery, and members of the House engaging in bribery and it doesn’t seem that those people are punished properly, because those persons who engage in corrupt practices are freed in Nigeria but jailed overseas.”

     

  • Female politicians to write Patience Jonathan on Rivers’ crisis

    Elected female local government officials and lawmakers in Rivers State will write the wife of President Goodluck Jonathan, Patience, on the political crisis in the state.

    The Elected Female Local Government Executives and Legislators Forum said the First Lady should be an ambassador of peace.

    The leader and spokesperson of the forum, Ms. Maureen Tamuno, who spoke in Port Harcourt, said: “We want to use this medium to tell her that she should preach peace and unite the country. It is these women seated here who moved from door-to-door to mobilise the two million votes her husband got from Rivers State during the 2011 general elections.”

    Ms Tamuno, who is also the Chairman of Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area, where Mrs. Jonathan hails from, added: “These women here own the grassroots. I went in helicopter to 19 local governments with Dame Judith Amaechi, wife of the governor to mobilise votes for the president.”

    The elected politicians also called for “the immediate transfer of Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu as resolved by the National Assembly” adding that peace would return to the state and democracy would thrive immediately after his transfer.

    On the continued detention of the House Leader, Chidi Llyod, the women condemned “the way he is being treated like a common criminal, which he is not”.

    The forum also condemned the botched attempt by five of the 32 lawmakers of the Assembly to impeach Speaker Otelemaba Dan-Amachree.

    They also flayed a statement credited to the Chief Edwin Clark-led Elders of Southsouth Assembly, saying that it was wrong for the elders to be “criticising our performing governor as such does not reflect the wishes of the people of the region because Elder Clark is expected to be a father to all”.

    They appealed to Jonathan, the Senate, the House of Representatives and elders to bring peace to the state.

    On Amaechi, they said: “He has returned Port Harcourt back to its Garden City status as all public utilities in the metropolis which enemies of the state dishonestly appropriated have all been recovered and transformed to international standards.”

     

  • No ‘Resit’ for politicians who failed electric power exam; Berger: Emergency Repairs now pls!

    We sit in the national disgrace of darkness from a 30 years power grid failure, victims of PHCN’s TOS, ‘Temporarily Out of Service’ with the power switch in PHCN offices nationwide. We are deafened and stifled by the noxious, noisy generator polluting the atmosphere and draining our pockets. Many families and offices could easily afford a new car monthly; forget Tokunbo, with the money wasted on ‘power substitution. But let us not be too hasty to celebrate this or any government for any slight improvement. Government is making a poor showing at doing what it should have done throughout its tenure- provide power, emergency and long term and not just long term. During the last 30 years successive governments should have added 1,000Mw/year to the grid or gotten that needed emergency power from generator ships etcetera like the Fujiyama nuclear plant was substituted within three months. All our governments have done over the 30 years is to use and abuse government taxes and budgets, to selfishly substitute the government-induced power failure in their offices and homes. They have abandoned the 99.5% of the population which is non-government who have to substitute on their own.

    In fact do you know that governments and political leaders have subjects and examinations just like secondary school students? This power is a subject they tackle for four years. Electricity is a combined physics and commercial subject exam and all governments have failed. Of course they also failed almost all other subjects from environment, sanitation, health, agriculture et cetera. The one subject they think they passed is ‘Politics and Social Studies’ but they failed that too.

    So all past leaders failed woefully their leadership practical exams. Unfortunately some political parties are recruiting an army of failed political octogenarians, and some politicians of odoriferous history in an ‘Exam Resit’. Anenih@80, Bamanga Tukur and Umaru Dikko of the ‘crate’ infamy spring to mind. Imagine the national horror when our new governors are trying to offer old military political leaders like Babangida and Abdulsalami a ‘Resit Exam’ to launder their tattered image. Some images cannot be washed clean and some exams will always be failed by certain students. We shouted about the Benin-Ore road while the Lagos-Ibadan road decayed and collapsed under the weight of our trucks and poor maintenance while our trains were killed ‘on’ their tracks – all by government neglect too busy carting money from contractors for their multi-billion naira election war chests.

    We are on a slow coach to nowhere. It is a month of heavy suffering since the multi-billion dollar contracts for Lagos-Ibadan road were signed and there is still no Julius Berger, JB or RCC ‘Emergency Pothole and Road Edges Teams’ working on the worst potholes and stretches. Where is the love and the ‘Best Practices? The most atrocious sections of the road at Ibafo and Redeem cause 4-5 hour delays and 25-50km traffic jams. But who cares? FRSC cannot even save lives by controlling the speed of commercial vehicles or the side on which trailers drive. Giant contractors, Julius Berger and RCC, have new contracts with and for human beings –Nigerians- in need of saving from government neglect. Government signs on behalf of the citizens but the contracts save lives. JB, urgently fill these potholes! RCC, urgently make smooth our path, now, not in four years’ time! Government has failed, you must pass the exam!

    But who is government? People, not buildings, people not institutions. I am insulted when those seeking solutions to Nigeria’s myriad infrastructural and political problems have the naivety, short-sightedness and effrontery to visit Babangida and Abdulsalami, the midwives of our problems who helped deliver a nearly stillborn baby called ‘Nigeria’ bereft of any civilised infrastructural amenity for ‘miracle cure’. It is time to put these people in their place, in the retirement home, on the sidelines. It is too late for them to ‘Resit’. We have not heard them lamenting any action of theirs. Only the people lament their rule. Could their business empires, built during the time of Nigeria’s maximum corruption, destabilise Nigeria? Can they reverse what they did and failed to do for Nigeria? No, and would they undo their bad deeds if they could rewind the clock? I doubt it.  Power supply is not nuclear physics; the countries with power have good governance, not criminal politicians with two heads.

    Check the web for the Wikipedia list of countries by electricity consumption. You should know where Nigeria stands or stoops. Top countries with 500-1,700 watts per person include all G-8 countries, most EU and Middle and Far East countries. Top African countries include Libya 460, South Africa 457, India 90, Namibia 213, Egypt 147, Ghana 29, Cameroon 29, , Kenya 25, Senegal 16, Republic of Congo 14, Sudan 14, the Gambia 13,  , Lesotho 13, Nigeria has 12 watts /person boastfully above Malawi 11, Guinea 10, Democratic Republic of Congo 9, Burma 9, Mali 9, Benin 8 East Timor 7, Comoros 7, Uganda 6, Equatorial Guinea 6, Guinea –Bissau 5, Madagascar 5, Burkina Faso 5, Ethiopia 4, Niger 4, Haiti 4, Burundi 4, Eritrea 4, Central African Republic 4, Somalia 3, Rwanda 2, Afghanistan 1, Chad 1.

    It is a criminally culpable admission of government that 10,000Mw will have to wait till Dec 2014 to be achieved. Enough of power supply corruption. Emergency power substitution for the 100,000MW needed is the only way forward.

  • When politicians play the hide and seek game

    SIR: The drama that took place between President Goodluck Jonathan and the four northern governors in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital is an ominous sign of what to come. Both actors in the scene arrived in the capital city separately to be anointed by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo. But the show got twisted when the four governors decided to hide in order to avoid their own President who was holding secret meeting with the same Obasanjo they came for. The drama got more interesting when Nyako said “we have come to greet the most accomplished Nigerian and to consult him for very important matters”. President Jonathan also visited the Hilltop to greet the “Father” and of course, for consultation as well while Obasanjo remain the consultant.

    The irony here is that both actors are from the same PDP and at the same time dribbling themselves using hide and seek tactics to achieve their ambition. It is obvious from their desperation that the actors at Obasanjo’s house are working towards presidency come 2015.

    Why the hide and seek politics if both actors are working towards pushing Nigeria from political and economic doldrums? Why is everybody working in different directions? In the National Assembly, Speaker Tambuwal is accused of playing double standard. In Rivers State, Amaechi is seen as a traitor and a betrayer simply because somebody wants to achieve a personal goal. 2015 is still some miles away, but the political atmosphere is heavily pregnant; the North singing war tune to take over power; President Jonathan is hanging on by all means even though there are clear evidences that he is struggling. But the stark reality is that all these individuals are seeking sectional agenda, not the interest of a decaying generation.

    The quest for personal agenda is our problem. A United States report has just warned Nigeria’s leaders to beware of another civil war. The report says that “parochial interests, cultural, ethnic, economic, regional and political secessionist tendencies are endemic in Nigeria”.

    The birth of the insurgent in the north that is now spreading like wild fire is not accidental. The fact remains that the youths that transformed into the terrorist group in the North and other parts of the country today were used by politicians to outsmart their perceived opponent or enemies, but dumped thereafter.

    Can we ever win the war against the menace called selfishness, the disease that has eaten deep into our marrow? Isn’t the more reason why human beings are slaughtered like Christmas chicken across the country? Governors conducting minor election among themselves only to have the result disputed; a member of parliament using the mace as a weapon against fellow lawmaker?

    How do we move the country beyond where we are when our thoughts and permutations are on how to milk available resources while leaving the masses in the grave yard of poverty? Nigeria is rich; the God-given resources can simply go round if it is not left in the hands of few insatiable and greedy individuals.

     

    • Sunday Alifia,

    Ibadan, Oyo state

     

  • Fayemi urges politicians to eschew violence

    Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi has urged politicians to eschew violence and other acts that could breach the peace.

    He spoke against the backdrop of Tuesday’s clash among factions of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other clashes in the state.

    Fayemi said in a statement in Ado-Ekiti yesterday that it was important for politicians and those who aspire to occupy public offices to restrain from violence, regardless of the level of provocation.

    The governor, in the statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Olayinka Oyebode, said it was important for political leaders to work towards sustaining the level of peace being enjoyed.

    He said political leaders should be tolerant of opposing voices and views, irrespective of differences in party affiliation and political ideology.

    The governor stressed that political aspirations should be pursued legitimately and with a sense of responsibility.

    Governor Fayemi said Ekiti people are known as honourable men and women, hence resorting to violence as a way of settling political differences does not augur well for the state.

    “I enjoin our politicians and leaders of political parties to stay clear of actions capable of throwing the state into crisis as we approach electioneering period. The peace and well-being of the state should remain a priority to all who aspire to public offices.

    “While there is bound to be differences in views and ideology, ability to appreciate and manage these differences is also critical to the credentials of every leader and would-be leaders.

    “Government will not relent in its effort to promote peaceful coexistence among the indigenes, including consultations with political leaders and other relevant agencies of government”, the statement added.

  • WOLVES TO DELTA POLITICIANS Come watch us play

    WOLVES TO DELTA POLITICIANS Come watch us play

    AN appeal has gone to members of the Delta State House of Assembly and functionaries in the Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan-led cabinet to watch the new-look Warri Wolves in one of their home matches.

    Wolves began this league season with mixed results and were bottom of the table for some weeks despite only losing a match in the first nine games of the season, but results appreciated during the latter part of the first stanza and the Seasiders are now second on the log with 34 points from 20 games with a tie at hand.

    Media Officer Moses Etu told SportingLife from Ilorin where the club has a must-win 2013 Federation Cup Round of 32 encounter against Spotlight of Katsina, that Warri Wolves have been playing their home games at the Warri City Stadium without the presence of most of the state’s dignitaries.

    He appealed to the law makers and other cabinet members including commissioners to attend their matches and see the renewed zeal within Warri Wolves’ players in their quest to bring national and international accolades to the state.

    “I am appealing to our honourable members in the House of Assembly and other important state dignitaries to grace our home matches. They should come and watch the best of Warri Wolves. The new-look Warri Wolves are are ready to do the state proud. Let them come and watch us,” Etu said.

    Wolves arrived at Ilorin for their Federation Cup tie with Spotlight on Monday afternoon and immediately went to the Kwara State International Stadium for a training session. They trained again yesterday evening ahead of today’s encounter.

    The Delta State-owned club are seeking an end to bad results in the Federation Cup, a competition where they are yet to reach the quarter final in the club’s history.

    They were eliminated without kicking a ball last season after they chose not to travel to Bauchi for security reasons, leaving Enyimba and Sharks to progress from the centre.

     

  • Emulate the nationalists, MURIC urges politicians

    THE Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has called on politicians to toe the line of the nation’s nationalists in piloting the affairs of the country.

    Its director Professor Ishaq Akintola, reminded Nigerians of the main purpose of Ramadan fast, namely, to refill man’s cup of piety. Akintola called their attention to signposts of piety and the effect it can have on the Nigerian body polity.

    His words: “Whereas the founders of the Nigerian nation neither amassed wealth nor did they misappropriate public funds, the leaders of today sleep on beds of gold with public funds stashed inside their pillow-cases. Whereas Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo are not known to have stolen one kobo, Nigerian politicians of today have the noun ‘thief’ and the verb ‘to steal’.

    “Today the Nigerian proletariat is overworked, underpaid and overtaxed. Workers’ take-home pay cannot take them home. The price of food items have skyrocketed. Hundreds now sleep under the bridge. Most Nigerian hospitals are sheer public mortuaries. The education sector is in crisis. Power supply remains epileptic.”

    MURIC appealed to Nigerian leaders to seize the opportunity of the Ramadan period to change their ways.

    Ramadan, he said, offers the opportunity for sober reflections.

    “This is the time for leaders to adopt altruism. Nigeria’s proverbial milk and honey belongs to the working class and to those who have toiled for this nation, namely, the retirees. It is also the period for the citizenry to look inwards and show remorse. Nigerian must change their mindset. We must rise up again to promote those values that are capable of turning our country around: Honesty, transparency, accountability, diligence, tolerance, forgiveness and love,” he said.