The Nation Newspaper

Tag: presence

  • ‘I ‘ll attract federal presence to Akure North/South’

    ‘I ‘ll attract federal presence to Akure North/South’

    Afe Olowookere is a member of the House of Representatives from Akure North/South Constituency. In this interview with DAMISI OJO, he speaks about his governorship ambition and other partisan issue.

    Why did you embark on community development projects shortly after the inauguration of the eighth National Assembly?

    I want to appreciate God for the opportunity he has given unto me at this material time to represent the good people of Akure North and South. I also want to say that this rare opportunity is a grace from God. I believe that since it is a grace, you should not misuse it. That is why I decided to commit myself to serving the people, to give back to my constituents, because they gave me the opportunity to represent them.

    There are so many Akure indigenes that are qualified to represent the constituency in the House of Representatives. Since the people has chosen me, they deserve the best from me. They deserve very robust and quality representation. They deserve the good things democracy can offer.

    It is believed that you’re only softening the ground because you have a governorship ambition. What’s your reactionto this?

    Those having the impression that I am doing all the projects because I have a governorship aspiration are wrong. It is unfortunate that our people do not believe that an elected official can serve his people without any ulterior motive. I embarked on the projects without thinking of what to get in return. I do not have any governorship ambition for now. All I’m doing is just to serve my people and to represent them in words and in action.

    I will try my best to attract federal presence to my constituency. I will also use the little resources at my disposal to fulfil our campaign promises. My greatest ambition is to deliver on the mandate that has been given to me by the people.

    What has been your experience so far as a member of the National Assembly?

    So far, it has been interesting, as well as challenging. I am really enjoying it. I was once a member of the Ondo State House of Assembly. We were just 26 there. Comparatively, we have 360 members in the House of Representatives. as such, my experience in the House of Representatives is different from that of the House of Assembly. In the Assembly, you could be recognised whenever you signified or raised your hand to contribute. But, because of the large number of members in the House of Representatives, it is in our standing order that a member cannot speak on an issue more than two times.

    The challenge there is that a serious-minded representative has to get himself prepared for sittings every time. You read your book, you read journals and dailies. It is not a tea party for those who want to make impact.

    What is your assessment of Bola Tinubu’s contribution to the progressive politics in Nigeria, particularly the Southwest?

    Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a pillar of democracy in Nigeria. In fact, he is a force to be reckoned with. He is godfather of progressive politics in Nigeria today. I have my reasons for having this opinion about him. In 2003, when some of us failed our elections in the Alliance for Democracy, (AD) this man invited all of us to Lagos. All the senatorial, House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates on the plaform of Alliance for Democracy(AD) in the Southwest.

    Only Lagos State survived the PDP tsunami at that time.Tinubu encouraged us that we should go back to our states and work. He said he would do everything possible within his means to flush PDP out of the Southwest. He vowed to also lead the progressives to win the centre. When you sit down today and reflect on what he told us in 2003, I always say this man is a political wizard. He is a political juggernaut. There is no way to describe him more than that. He put people from Ondo, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo and Ogun into his cabinet. He made some of them commissioners and in 2007. He also sent them back to their various states to wrestle power of the PDP. He matched his words with action; by equipping people financially. He was able to achieve more than half of what he set to achieve in 2003. Today, we’ve seen the reality; Tinubu has led the progressives to capture the centre.

    Buhari had contested the presidency three times. He did not win until Tinubu decided to champion the cause and mobilise the progressives all over the country. Today, the progressives are controlling the centre. Some people may not agree, but to me Tinubu is a leader. He deserves respect from everyone of us. He deserves our loyalty, especially those of us from the Southwest.

    I was  impressed when some of my colleagues from the North were weeping when Femi Gbajabiamila lost the House Speakership election. They said Buhari would not have won the election, if not for Tinubu. And this is a reality. If northerners could appreciate his contribution to the liberation of Nigeria politically today, what stops us from also appreciating him. He is our political father. It is not a matter of age. I will continue to be loyal to him. I will continue to appreciate him. I will continue to respect him. I will continue to learn from his kind of politics.

    How did you feel when you moved your first motion on the first day in the House?

    It was not the first day I moved the motion. It was the third day. But, I made an attempt to raise the motion on the very first day the National Assembly was innaugurated. The practice in the National Assembly is different from that of the State Houses of Assembly. If you want to raise a motion under matter of urgent public importance in the House of Assembly, you don’t need to give it to the Speaker for him to sign. Under motion for adjournment, you can just stand up and raise your motion of urgent public importance.

  • NIGERIA MAKES HUGE PRESENCE AT MIPCOM

    NIGERIA MAKES HUGE PRESENCE AT MIPCOM

    AS migration from analog to digital television broadcasting takes center stage in every entertainment discourse, the just concluded Marche Internationale de Programmmes Communications, MIPCOM, the biggest entertainment content market in the world, taking place in Cannes, France, was an unprecedented gathering, despite the ravaging flood that disturbed the arrival of participants to Cannes, penultimate Friday.

    Nigeria was not left out of the 112 countries at the annuals event, with the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission leading a delegation comprising of the Electronic Media Content Owners of Nigeria, EMCOAN; Africa International Film Festival, AFRIFF; Nigerian Television Authority, NTA; Continental Satellite Television, CONSAT; MultiChoice Nigeria; Ebony Life TV; Multimesh Broadcasting Company Ltd; and Inview Nigeria among others.

    Director General of the NBC, Mr. Emeka Mba, noted that despite the delay by Nigeria to migrate on June 17, 2015, being the International Telecommunications Union’s deadline for digital migration, the wait has afforded the Commission the opportunity to be better prepared, having set a new date for June 2017.

    According to Mba, for his part, the Set Top Boxes, STB, would revolutionalise television viewing in Nigeria.

    He said the Set Top Boxes have various applications which give the viewer opportunity to choose from. “This is the point where any observation can be worked into the box; it uses an operative system that can be upgraded from time to time,” he said, adding that, “one of the most incredible features is the government information service feature that is on the box enables ministries or government agencies or even state governments to localize or create specific information portal for themselves to inform members of the public, that’s a major highlight of the box.

    “The other one obviously is helping Nollywood to better distribute their films and hopefully that way we can deal a blow to piracy.

    “We are working faster than we thought; what you find hear is a live box that has been produced by a Nigerian licensed Set Top Box manufacturer and there are 13 companies in total. The boxes have actually been manufactured but the delay is that they need to test the boxes. It takes time to test it, we need to be sure that we don’t bring something into the country that one month later, it will be a big tragedy.”

    He however assured that although the testing takes time, once it is concluded, it would be launched in about three weeks from now.

    According to Mba, the manufacturing of the Set Top Boxes by indigenous companies was a high value project which had enormous economic benefits for the country especially in creating employment for Nigerians.

    The NBC boss said Nigeria’s participation at MPCOM this year is fruitful as the major content providers in the world like British Broadcasting Corporation, Turner Network and Discovery Network have indicated interest in coming on board the Digital Terrestrial Network which was launched this year. Mba noted that with the launch of the Free to View digital platform and the interest by the biggest global content providers, all Nigerians will now have access to international programming no matter their status.

    Interestingly, Nigeria showed its strength of dominance in African entertainment space as the only country in the continent with huge visibility at the global event. Between the series of joint and independent meetings by the Nigerian delegation at the four-day event, the Nigerian Day, at its regular P1-A2 pavilion, provided a robust opportunity for business partners to network in a relaxed atmosphere that also provided a taste of  Nigeria’s music as rendered by Nigerian-American singer, songwriter and composer, Kuku Adebola and his band. So was the Trace TV gig that took place Wednesday night.

    It was a busy moment for the Nigerian participants, seeing how engaged the likes of Mo Abudu, CEO of Ebony Life TV, Chioma Ude, Founder/CEO of AFRIFF, Eugenia Abu, Executive Director, Programmes, NTA and Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu, Regional Director, m-Net/Africa Magic were with guests at the Nigerian pavilion.

    In another move that intends to draw the world attention to Nigeria, a tripartite arrangement between the NBC, AFRIFF and organisers of MIPCOM was given attention at the event, with a take-home that will see key officials of MIPCOM at the 5th edition of the annual AFRIFF taking place in Lagos, from November 8 to 15, 2015.

    Also present at the film and television content market was the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Information, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan who praised the outing of Nigeria at the festival, disclosing that the first consignment of the STBs would be used to test run the process in Jos, Plateau State, for the for the pilot state of digitization in Nigeria.

    “The demonstration we had was on the use of Set Top Boxes, I think we are now set to roll out in Jos which is the pilot phase. With what we have seen, I am sure the pilot can go on as soon as the Set Top Boxes come in,” said Dr. Yemi-Esan.

    She expressed optimism that Nigeria would digitize before the June 2017 deadline set for ECOWAS countries. “Jos is just the pilot phase, there are lots of lessons we will learn from the pilot phase before we roll out nationally,” she explained.

    Some of the participants from the entertainment industry include Mr. Toyin Subair, Mr. Tunji Amure, Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa, Mr. John Ugbe, Mr. Femi Odugbemi, Mr. Makin Soyinka, Mr. Kunle Afolayan and Miss Chioma Onyenwe among others.

    Other participants from Nigeria include Mr. Awwalu Salihu, Director and Head of Public. Affairs of the NBC and other top executives of the Commission such as Mr. M.M. Shaba, Director, Broadcast Policy and Research; Mr. Armstrong Idachaba, Director, DG’s Office; Mrs. Maimuna Jimada, Deputy Director, Public Affairs;  Mrs. Folake Moses Ikhile, ACEO, Public Affairs; Mr. Felix Ejike-Ume, Key MIPCOM contact and SA to DG, NBC; Mr. Abubakar. Ndadama, P.A to DG NCC; Mr. Peter Omoerah.

  • Samsung expands retail presence

    Samsung expands retail presence

    Samsung Electronics West Africa, in partnership with accredited local partners, has stepped up its nationwide market expansion drive with massive roll out of Samsung brand stores across the country.

    In a statement, the firm said the retail expansion drive is designed to provide Nigerians with an exciting avenue to interact with Samsung’s full range of audio visual solutions and an extensive range of premium household appliances in one easily-accessible location, whilst creating widespread destinations where consumers can experience firsthand Samsung’s extensive product ecosystem and receive personalised service from trained sales consultants.

    Its Director of Consumer Electronics, Mr. Sunil Kumar, described the move as a confirmation of Samsung’s effort to make connected lifestyle products and solutions more accessible, and to offer the most consumer-centric engagement in a retail environment.

    “Over the years, Samsung has made strong in-roads with its consumers in Nigeria. We consider the country as a key entry point into Africa. With the growing importance of the region as a primary world market for our premium consumer electronics, maintaining a strong top-of-mind position in Nigeria holds considerable importance for us from a business perspective. Our ongoing expansion drive in the country marks our commitment to delivering excellent products and services to our consumers. We see bright prospects for Nigeria’s future economically, and we expect consumer sentiment to remain positive and indeed move from strength to strength.

  • ‘There’d been Boko Haram presence in Kogi before church killings’

    A community leader in Kogi State, Alhaji Majid Dahiru, has said there had been Boko Haram presence in Kogi State before the Deeper Life Church bombing in Okenne.

    The Ebira businessman said there had been traces of the sect in the area since the 1990s.

    Speaking with The Nation, Dahiru recalled that some Islamic clerics had been using inciting language in their sermons in the past 20 years.

    He said: “Before the church killing, the police had uncovered many bomb factories and dangerous weapons in Ebira land. Those arrested were linked with Boko Haram.”

    The community leader wondered why security agencies have not concluded their investigation on the church killings.

    Dahiru is the founder of a socio-political group, Kaneri Movement, in Okene.

    He urged the Special Tax Force (STF) on security to avoid being used for vendetta by those he called self-seeking politicians.

    The community leader alleged that some politicians had hijacked Kogi State to victimise their perceived enemies.

    Dahiru said the continuous hunt on former Okene Local Government Area Chairman, Alhaji Yahaya Karaku, by the STF is unnecessary.

    According to him, security agencies handling the church killing have exonerated the former chairman.

    Despite his release by the police on the grounds that he had no case to answer, members of the STF are said to be searching for Karaku on his alleged connection to the killings.

    The commandant of the STF last week said the task force wanted to ask the former council chief some questions on the killing of two soldiers.

    But Dahiru said: “In a case like this, only the police have the right to hunt a suspect, not the Army. In Karaku’s case, he was arrested by the police and eventually freed of complicity.

    “It baffled me when I read in the papers that soldiers were hunting this man to take him to the Department of Military Intelligence (DMI). They have forgotten that the DMI is specifically meant for accused soldiers and not civilians, especially as this has to do with a civil case.”

    The businessman noted that there had been killings of prominent soldiers, policemen and political leaders in Ebira land without anyone being fingered or hunted.

    He wondered why Karaku is being hunted when the police have arrested some suspects on the church killings.

    Hailing security agencies for curtailing the Ebira crisis, Dahiru urged the STF to widen its investigation and avoid being fed with false information and lies.

    Dahiru said: “When Karaku held sway in Okene Local Government Area, he performed excellently. Apart from hisachievements, for the first time, he brought peace to Ebira land. His performance made him more acceptable to his people.

    “Anyone who feels Karaku’s political pedigree is threatening his ambition should try and emulate him so that he or she will be more accepted by the people. Telling lies against Karaku before the soldiers will not help but rather build hatred.”

    He urged the military to also investigate those “feeding them with lies” to get the truth about what is going on in Kogi State.