The Nation Newspaper

Tag: President Goodluck Jonathan

  • 2015 poll: PDP Governors demand N46b compensation from Jonathan

    Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are demanding N46billion worth of projects for their states for voting for President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015.

    They claim that the 23 states being controlled by the party deserve special treatment for standing by the President.

    However, the Chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees (BoT), Chief Tony Anenih, has pleaded with the Governors to avoid divisive tendencies.

    The Governors, according to party sources, resolved to seek project concessions from the President at a recent meeting.

    The idea was said to have been broached by Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom and Chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, who stressed the need for the Governors to approach the President to “site at least one federal project ranging between N1billion-N2billion (at the President’s discretion) in each PDP state.”

    He said the projects would be regarded as compensation for their support for the federal government.

    A delegation of the governors is expected to table the request to thePresident in due course.

    Party sources also said Anenih, at a separate meeting with the Governors, advised them to shun divisive tendencies.

    He told them to develop the spirit of give and take and forgiveness and to remain loyal to the party at all levels.

    He urged them to co-operate with the federal government in the bid to deal with the security challenges in the country.

  • Crisis in Rivers

    Crisis in Rivers

    PDP should not drag the judiciary down with it

     

    The turmoil in Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where there are two parallel executive committees is unhealthy for the judiciary and the polity. The verdict by Justice Ishaq Bello of the Federal Capital Territory High Court declaring the congress that produced Chief Godspower Ake as state chairman last year invalid has provoked angry reactions from the governor of the state, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, and those sympathetic to him.

    Indeed, the state government has argued that Governor Amaechi was the target in the move, which had all the trappings of high-wire politics. Ake enjoys the support of the governor, while the minister of state for education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, leads another faction believed to be working with President Goodluck Jonathan and the national secretariat of the party, in a bid to cut the governor, who is also the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF), to size. This is not the first time that President Jonathan would be flexing such muscles; he did the same thing to remove the former governor of his state, Bayelsa, Timipre Sylva, using legal and extra-legal means in the process. We seem to be in an era where vendetta has been elevated to national credo.

    Prior to the Justice Bello ruling, there had been power tussles involving the president and the governor, with a surprise move early in the year to whittle down the influence of the NGF chairman through the establishment of a rival PDP Governors’ Forum, with a fellow Niger Delta governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, as chairman.

    In all this, truth is the casualty and the polity is getting unnecessarily overheated. Governor Amaechi’s supporters insist that the Abuja judgment could be compared to the one delivered by Justice Bassey Ikpeme in Abuja in 1993 on the famous June 12 elections. Ikpeme, who was moved to the Federal Capital Territory just about one week before the matter to scuttle the presidential election was filed by the Chief Arthur Nzeribe-led Association for a Better Nigeria, ruled in favour of the unknown association without due regard for processes.

    In like manner, Governor Amaechi’s men also contend that the matter ought not to have gone to an FCT court when it involved the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a federal agency. More appropriately, they have argued, it ought to have been filed before a Federal High Court, thus raising queries about the motive and conduct of the judge who strangely assumed jurisdiction in such a matter.

    We are bothered that, almost 53 years after independence, we are still confronted with situations that query the commitment of our elected officials to the rule of law and due process. Leaders have failed to make a distinction between personal and public interest. Now, there are two executive committees in the state. While Ake has the backing of most of the local government chapters of the party and government structures in Port-Harcourt and the local councils, the Felix Obuah executive derives its power from the centre. It is seen by many in the state as an imposed leadership which may have to rely on the police to function. The stage thus appears set for conflict. The state police command seems to have realised this and has said it is duty bound to enforce the contentious Abuja court order.

    The judicial absurdity was further compounded by the ruling of a high court in Port Harcourt which purportedly reversed the judgment of the Abuja high court, with which it has co-efficient jurisdiction.

    This is our worry. If politicians want to go down, they should do that alone; they do not have to drag the judiciary into their political mud because when all else fails, it is to the judiciary that we would turn. We do not understand why a matter that should be tried in Port Harcourt would now be filed in a high court in Abuja. In like manner, we cannot understand the basis of a court nullifying the judgment of another court with co-efficient jurisdiction. A stage is being set for judicial anarchy, which is dangerous.

    We urge the National Judicial Council (NJC) to step into the matter before the Rivers crisis escalates and brings the roof down on our heads.

  • If

    If

    If we were truly as intelligent as we think we are, this will be the moment in which we understand that the choices we made had never served but impeached us. This is the moment in which we agonize over what consequences we shall get to endure or what indescribable joys we will get to enjoy, according to the choices we made.

    If we had truly given voice to our rage and pain by casting our votes for the candidates truly deserving of them, we would know, from this moment henceforth; if President Goodluck Jonathan is the Messiah that we had longed to find. This moment henceforth, we will get to know if every state governor, senator, local council chairman, among others, actually measure up to statesmanship we are yet to enjoy.

    This moment henceforth, we shall begin to understand the many aces and inadequacies of “If.” And so shall we finally come to terms with wantonness, folly, and cowardliness by which posterity will define and judge us.

    If only we could ever get past “If”and its politics of regret and expectation. If President Goodluck Jonathan would scorn the beaten path, he would offer us more than time-worn “life-boats”that basically, incapacitates and obscures.

    If Mr President-elect truly intends to be true to his words, he would be done with his promises of better life, free amenities and infrastructure for in the normal conditions of existence, it is the duty of the government to provide among other things; good roads and electricity, security and a stable economy; for we do pay for them – quite painfully too; from our income as tax.

    If President Jonathan would do his bit, then he would foster a prompt eradication of the canker of unemployment; then he would seek with intent to actualize, lasting solutions to the monstrosities of bad roads, substandard education and health sectors, insecurity, erratic power supply, redundant refineries, elephant projects, ill-equipped hospitals, pervasive poverty et al. Then he would motivate his associates and fellow public officers in power to hearken and seek determinable end to the people’s cries and grunts of pain.

    And if every serving state governor among others would aspire to the noblest deeds in statesmanship and ardour, then every city and every village would be a haven for tourists to explore. If Governor Babatunde Fashola would extend his politics of progress and expansion to the enclaves that no one could manage to accept, still, as dazzling emblems of his mega-city project, then every street and every neighbourhood in Agege, Abule-Egba, and Agbado-Ijaye to mention a few, would become attractions no one could ignore.

    If Governor Babatunde Fashola would accord his studious stare beyond the bounds of Yaba, Ikoyi, Ikeja, Victoria Island et al, then he would find that there are resources yet untapped within the enclaves no one would gallantly identify as brilliant archetypes of his mega-city project. Then every lane and every settlement in Ayobo, Iyana Ipaja, Ipaja, Ajasa-Command would be a sight for the living. Then every street and every neighbourhood in Ahmadiyya, Meiran, Iju-Ishaga, Akute, Ojodu and those impenetrable streets of Ajegunle, just before Ogun state would become more habitable for every visitor and every resident alike.

    And if Ogun state governor-elect, Ibikunle Amosu, is truly the Messiah the natives claim he would be, he would endeavour to reverse every anomaly that has been foisted upon the state. He would re-energise the state by repairing the damaged roads of Abeokuta, Sango-Ota and the link roads by which Itele meshes with Lagos. He would make the filth in Ita-Elega, Itoku, Itoko, Isale-Ake, Onikolobo, Quarry road, Adatan, to mention a few disappear; he would improve the lot of Abeokuta, the land of industry, paramount royalty and the cerebral.

    If every incoming governor, local council chairman, could aspire to such noble ideal as the provision of good roads among other vital infrastructure, then, the mountain dwellers of Sankwala and their neighbours in Gashaka-Gumti, Taraba state would have no further need to travel across the border into Cameroon to seek good medical care. Then they would have no need to emigrate to till other people’s lands in Cameroon, while our land lay fallow in our motherland.

    If every public office holder would accept that we do not live for the benefit and love of “lifeboats” and that no patronising politics would serve as fertile earth in which to sow our seeds of hope, development and prosperity, they could chance on the means to improve our lives. And they could learn to institute veritable means by which we could attain it, like conscientious leadership cum service in the interest of the people.

    If they all would accept that poverty, ignorance, illness, corruption and strife as other afflictions of their kind are hardly metaphysical emergencies as we have been made to believe, they could finally attain a grasp of true statesmanship and governance.

    If they all would seek to obliterate these anomalies and improve upon our lives within the bounds of conscious efforts in pursuit of those values we seek – particularly those we are too effeminate to seek, they could eventually become the worthy representatives we have always wished that they would become.

    If every incoming public officer would evolve a personal ethic wholly derived to elevate the fundamental nature of our universe, then they could be able to revert that time-worn and insidious altruism that has been our lot.

    Then the Nigerian state could be able to refute such menacing philosophy that that propagates the notion that every citizen by his nature and stature is helpless and doomed. Then every Nigerian could be able to rebut such manner of altruism that stresses that success, happiness and achievement are impossible to you and me; that emergencies and catastrophes are the norm of our lives and that our primary goal is to combat them with the least expectation of triumph while we expect altruistic lifelines, lifeboats and other pick-me-ups from our leadership and state.

    If every newly elected public officer would endeavour to scorn the allure of the beaten and yet most travelled path, they could attain such wisdom and honour their predecessors could never have. They could get to appreciate that no brilliant degree of sophistry or double-speak could ever justify or validate such politics that seeks to asphyxiate the aspirations and wishes of the man on the street however far-fetched they are.

    They could get to understand why like the altruistic philosophy from which it is derived, such politics rests on a plethora of myths that are as outdated as supernatural as edicts legitimizing“The Divine Right of Kings” over serfs.

    And if we could endeavour to be more mindful and assertive, we could at long last, re-invent ourselves as everything but the inconsequential social elements we have been labeled to be.

    We could divest our lives of the shams that incapacitates and obscures. We could learn how not to compromise our struggle for self-determination any longer knowing that if we do, more often than not, we will suffer a succession of familiar betrayals that has overtime emboldened and fortified the power of corrupt and wholly evil leadership that we had lacked the courage to fight and conquer.

  • National Assembly, Presidency may clash over 2013 budget

    National Assembly, Presidency may clash over 2013 budget

    THE amendment of the 2013 budget sought by President Goodluck Jonathan may re-enact a fresh round of bickering between the National Assembly and the Presidency as the National Assembly resumes plenary today.

    Jonathan, who signed the budget, forwarded a memorandum to the National Assembly, seeking an amendment of the Appropriation Act.

    Specifically, he accused the lawmakers of allegedly including clauses that may be injurious to the spirit of separation of powers in the budget, insising that these clauses could hamper the work of the Executive if not expunged.

    Besides, Jonathan also asked the lawmakers to amend the budget of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P).

    He listed three clauses, which he claimed, impinged on the separation of powers and could hamper the work of the Executive.

    He demanded a cut on the provisions made for personnel cost and change of some provisions made for capital projects.

    Though Jonathan explained that the proposed amendment was the outcome of various meetings with the leadership and committees of the National Assembly, this did not go down well with some Senators.

    The President said it became imperative that certain provisions be amended.

    The offensive insertions, Jonathan said, included Clause 6(ii) which states: “The Accountant-General of the Federation shall forward to the National Assembly full details of funds released to the government agencies immediately such funds are released; ”while clause 9 states: “All Accounting Officers of Ministries, Parastatals and Department of Government who control heads of expenditures shall upon the coming into effect of this Act furnish the National Assembly on quarterly basis with detailed information on the Internally Generated Revenue of the agency in any form whatsoever.

    “Both clauses run counter to established chain of reporting,” he said.

    However, a top member of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, told our correspondent that the implication of the proposal by President Jonathan “is that the National Assembly should overhaul and rework the budget.”

    The committee member who spoke anonymously, noted that they took so many things into consideration before the budget was passed.

    The lawmakers, he said, believe that what they did was for the best interest of the country.

    He wondered how asking the Minister of Finance to ensure that funds appropriated under the Appropriation Act are released to the appropriate agencies and/or organs of government, as and when due, offended the spirit of separation of powers.

  • Jonathan greets Olubadan at 99

    President Goodluck Jonathan has felicitated with the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana on his  99th birthday.

    In a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Reuben Abati, the president noted that “Oba Odulana has deployed his immense experience, knowledge and wisdom for the great benefit of his people since his assumption of the ancient throne of Ibadanland.”

    He prayed that God  who has already blessed the Olubadan with such extraordinary longevity will grant him many more years of good health and commendable service to his community and the nation.

    “President Jonathan joins the people of Ibadan and the Olubadan’s friends and well-wishers across the country in looking forward with great anticipation to Oba Odulana’s historic attainment of the age of 100 years next year.”

    “The President assures Oba Odulana and the people of Ibadan of the Federal Government’s full support for the celebrations being planned to commemorate the landmark occasion which fortuitously coincides with Nigeria’s centenary year celebrations, ”  Abati stated

  • Between the devil and the deep blue sea

    Between the devil and the deep blue sea

    Until President Goodluck Jonathan buckled in spectacular fashion and surrendered to the amnesty lobby following a late night visit to Aso Rock by selected Northern elders, the growing impression was that the shadowy characters in Boko Haram-land were all falling over themselves to embrace peace and dialogue.

    Apologists for the terrorists suggested that the hardline positions adopted by many in the leadership of the security agencies was down to the fact that certain powerful persons were profiting financially from the continued conflict. We certainly cannot discount the fact that where there’s war, people will make money prosecuting it. But that clearly is not the entire story.

    Some reports even suggested intriguingly that when the Sultan of Sokoto came out strongly in support of the amnesty, Jonathan missed an opportunity to quicken the journey to peace and quiet by not inviting him for further discussions. Instead, he headed to Maiduguri to make his uncompromising speech about not doing business with ‘ghosts.’

    Those who created the impression the Sultan had the Boko Haram hierarchy on speed dial, as well as a clear sense of their thinking and mindset must surely now be cringing in embarrassment. Would the traditional ruler have stuck out his neck if he really knew the sect’s high command will pull the sort of stunt they just did? I doubt not.

    Now, the spine of the extremists for whom the amnesty is being sought has come out openly to throw the deal in the faces of their potential boosters.

    But rather being a tragedy, I take the position that Shekau and his goons did everyone a favour by spurning a government amnesty that is yet to be formally made. Their action will reduce pressure on Jonathan and help him retrace his steps to the right course in tackling the North-Eastern insurgency.

    I expect the government will continue with its wrong-headed amnesty process since it has committed itself in that direction. Ultimately, a declaration will be made that will draw in elements in the faction led by one Sheik Abu Mohammed Ibn Abdulazeez which has said they are fed up with the bloodletting and now want peace. What no one has told us is how many people this fellow has under his wings.

    You also have to factor in the Ansaru faction which claimed responsibility for the execution of seven foreign hostages a few weeks ago, and still shows no indication of wanting peace. With Shekau and his team still at large, the amnesty rejection means a large number of anarchists will still be out there bent on perpetrating mayhem.

    Again, we don’t know how dominant or large these forces are. But the government will have no option than to confront them because they will be outside the amnesty net – meaning a return to the military force option that many in the northern elite are increasingly leery of.

    Unfortunately, in our confusion we begin to get things muddled up. For instance, the greatest obstacle to dialogue and negotiations has always been the intransigence and unrealistic positions taken by the Islamists, not the reluctance of the Jonathan administration to do a quick deal. And let no one deceive themselves; these outlandish demands are not negotiating gambits – but clear statements of belief by a band of people dancing to a different beat.

    This is Shekau in his latest video spurning Jonathan’s hand of fellowship: “Surprisingly, the Nigerian government is talking about granting us amnesty. What wrong have we done? On the contrary, it is we that should grant you pardon.”

    This is coming from the leader of a sect that has killed over three thousand people in the last three years. Some of their victims were unarmed combatants worshipping in churches; some were travelers like those blown to bits at the Kano bus park not too long ago. With so much blood of the innocents on his hands, this fellow has the gall to ask ‘what wrong have we done?’ That statement couldn’t have been made by someone with a grip on reality.

    Negotiations and amnesties are not the sort of things you offer to the likes of Shekau. What will you give him in exchange for peace? A fistful of naira in order that he renounces his belief in jihad, or repudiates his demand for Sharia law in the land? Will Jonathan’s deal get sect members to disavow their belief that Western education is sinful? Will you get them to drop their visceral hatred of Christians because of the promise not to prosecute? Not likely! The demands of Boko Haram are non-negotiable.

    I can understand the fear and frustration up north, and appreciate how desperate people are for a return to normalcy. However, we need to address our minds to the reality that there begin to will be no pain-free way to deal with this problem. That is why those passing off the amnesty as a sure-fire cure are guilty of selling their people a badly-packaged brand of false hope.

    Ultimately, some form of talks will take place between the Islamists and the authorities, but that will only come after they have been significantly broken militarily. It will take time, and the traumatisation of local communities by the actions of both sides with continue, until the forces of law and order prevail.

    It happened in Algeria. Some estimates say between 70,000 and 150,000 lives were lost as the government battled Islamists in war that lasted between 1991 and 2002. No one is wishing that sort of calamity on Nigeria.

    What started with legitimate grievances following the annulment of elections which the Islamists looked set to win soon snowballed into something else. The terrorists launched a brutal campaign of bombings and indiscriminate slaughter not just against security forces, but against unarmed villagers in the countryside. Several presidents came and went while the war lasted. In the end, the commitment of the security forces led to the collapse of the insurgency, and the unilateral ceasefire by some of the more notorious bands of Islamist guerillas.

    Some form of amnesty was introduced towards the tail of the conflict, and it is credited with hastening the end of the violence, as the holdouts could easily be isolated for the security forces to deal with.

    And that is part of the problem with our so-called amnesty. In our indecent haste to buy peace at all costs we are offering deals to a group that still feels it is in a position to call the shots – a clear case of insult compounding our injuries.

  • Local investors still at foreigners’ mercy

    Local investors still at foreigners’ mercy

    The Presidential maritime retreat that was held last year was aimed at revamping the sector this year and it was laudable.

    Although it was attended by many operators from private and public sectors, some of the operators said they are yet to see any significant effort by the government to turn around the fortunes of the indigenous operators despite the the fact that the retreat was chaired by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    For instance, the retreat, operators said, has failed to bring significant development to indigenous participation as over 80 per cent of shipping companies have closed shops and more are threatened.

    The remaining 20 per cent ships owned by Nigerians that engaged in the coastal trade are also rotting away on the nation’s waters, while foreign ship owners are smiling to the banks due to the non release of the Cabotage Vessel Finance Fund (CVFF) meant to empower indigenous shipowners to meet the capital intensive and competitive needs of the shipping sector.

     

    NIMASA and CVFF

    Observers say the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) performed well during the first quarter of the year.

    The agency, they said, showed enough comitment to combat piracy and oil theft on the nation’s waters. The agency also sent 1,000 Nigerians abroad for seafarers training in January. The programme, operators said, is laudable as the students would be trained up to degree level in the Nautical Sciences, Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture.

    The draw back to the programme, they said, is the non-involvement of many youths outside the Niger Delta Region and they urge the management of the agency to address the mistake.

    Also, indigenous participation in the shipping sector which is the core responsibility of the agency was at its lowest ebb during the first quarter of the year because of lack of fund from the government and the non-implementation of the far reaching recommendations made during the Presidential retreat, which included disbursment of the Cabotage fund to indigenous ship owners.

    Against this backdrop, stakeholders have urged President Jonathan to prevail on officials of the Ministry of Transport to support NIMASA to disburse the fund.

     

    NPA and Channel management

    The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has fixed over 80 per cent of ports access roads in and outside Lagos.

    NPA said Apapa port access road would be completed before the end of the second quarter. NPA has improved on its channel management. It has been able to remove 100 per cent of wrecks on Lagos channel, and is already working on the ones at Calabar port to make it attractive for business.

    NPA also recorded successes in good investment by local and foreign investors in port concession, Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) and project funding through amortisation.

    The Managing Director of NPA, Mallam Habib Abdullahi and new board members of the authority are working on a 25-year-port development plan as a strategic policy for effective utilisation of resources and efficient service delivery in the industry.

    But NPA staff also joined the fray over the plan of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) to concession NPA’s marine service. The exercise, they said, would increase the cost of doing business.

     

    Shippers’ Council

    The appointment of the Acting Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Mr Hassan Bello by the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar was seen as a roud peg in a roud hole.

    Bello said is set to attract over three million metric tonnes of cargo to Nigeria’s sea ports from Niger Republic.

    The Council is also working to ensure that the Federal Government and government of Niger Republic discharge their international law obligations as coastal transit state and landlocked state.

     

    Customs and

    destination inspectors

    The plan by the Nigeria Customs Service to take over the destination inspection scheme during the first quarter of the year did not matrialised based on the extension by six months of the contracts of Destination Inspectors (DIs) in January by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The service providers are Cotecna Destination Inspection Limited, SGS Scanning Nigeria Limited, Global Scan Systems Limited and Webb Fountain (Nigeria) Limited.

    During the period, the House of Repre-sentatives directed its Committee on Customs and Excise to probe the extension of the N275 billion contract.

    Stakeholders said the country’s revenue potential is not being realised because the DIs are not paying the correct taxes. Over $1 billion, they said, was lost.

    Operators are waiting for the Comptroller-General of Customs Alhaji Dikko Abdullahi to take over in June.

     

    Foreign ship

    domination

    Durin the first quarter, foreign ships owners still dominating the nation’s waters. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo is one of the stakeholders that bemoaned the dominance of foreign-flagged vessels.

    Speaking at the opening of the Nigeria Maritime Expo (NIMAREX) in Lagos last month, Obasanjo said the domination costs Nigeria huge revenue losses yearly.

    “At present, the maritime sector is characterised by the domination of foreign-flagged vessels, especially those of developed market economies of Western Europe and America. This situation has led to a loss of billions of naira annually in freight revenue,” he said.

    ISAN General Secretary, Niyi Labinjo said his members are not expecting anything good to come out of President Jonathan’s administration this year.

    “It will be disaster as usual. Our investments continue to diminish, more and more shipping companies continue to fold up,” he said.

    Labinjo accused the government of deliberately taking actions that continue to stifle the growth of the maritime industry.

     

    Stakeholders

    condemn FoB policy

    In the review period, the country was said to lose about $500 million yearly due to the use of Free on Board (FoB), a trade policy in the lifting of crude oil, that has been faulted by experts.

    FoB specifies, which party (buyer or seller) pays for the shipment and loading costs, and/or where responsibility for the goods is transferred.

    Stakeholders stressed the need for the Federal Government to adopt Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) for the lifting of crude oil.

    CIF is a trade term, which requires the seller to arrange for the carriage of goods by sea to a port of destination, and provide the buyer with the documents necessary to obtain the goods from the carrier.

     

    24-hour port operation

    Despite the euphoria that greeted its introduction, the attainment of a 24-hour port operation policy of President Jonathan is still a far cry from reality.

    The dearth of officials to carry out the night pilotage scheme remains a challenge. Poor infrastructure, lack of proper education of importers and clearing agents, high level of insecurity and inconsistency in government policies, are also cited as others contending issues.

     

    Wrecks and

    abandoned vessels

    The issue of abandoned vessels and wreck removal on the Lagos waters became serious issue during the quarter.

    Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola urged President Jonathan to remove the wrecks because of the dangers they pose to over 18 million Lagosians and the eco-system.

    NIMASA’s helmsman, Akpobolokemi, told The Nation that the agency was ready to partner the Lagos State Government to remove the abandoned vessels immediately the government awards the contract.

    The minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, has promised that the contract for the removal of the wrecks would soon be awarded.

    Stakeholders hope that the wrecks would be removed before the end of the second quarter of the year.

  • Jonathan, Atiku, Oshiomhole, others mourn Tribune Publisher

    President Goodluck Jonathan and other eminent Nigerians have paid tributes to the Publisher of Tribune Newspapers, Chief Oluwole Awolowo who died on Thursday in London.

    Jonathan said  in his condolence message to the Awolowo family said  the death Chief  Awolowo as sad and painful, noting that he was a distinguished evangelist, humanist and community leader.

    Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole and former Vice President  Atiku Abubakar also sympathized with the bereaved family.

    The President described the late Chief Awolowo as a worthy and honoured member of the Awolowo dynasty who diligently served God and humanity to the best of his abilities.

    He commended his steadfast, life-long commitment to upholding, maintaining and continually improving the Tribune newspapers which ensured that the paper and its sister publications have remained an objective voice of reason in Nigeria’s media space and continue to offer invaluable services to the nation.

    Governor Adams Oshiomhole said the death of Publisher of the Tribune Newspapers was  painful.

    In a condolence message to the matriarch of Awolowo family, Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Peter Okhiria, Oshiomhole said:  “We share in the grief and pain of the Awolowo family at this very difficult period, knowing how closely knit the family is.

    “Oluwole upheld the Awolowo name till the end and kept the dream of the sage alive through his prudent management of the Tribune newspapers. He will always be remembered for his forthrightness.

    “Much as his death is painful to bear, we urge you to take heart and trust that the Lord whom he served faithfully cannot be wrong in His judgment. Be consoled by the fact that he devoted his life to the service of God and mankind and has gone to rest with the Lord.”

    A statement from the media office of the former Vice President described the late Chief  Awolowo as a peaceful person, who did his best to keep the kite of Awolowo’s heritage flying through decades after the death of the late sage.

    Atiku noted that the death of Chief Oluwole Awolowo is a loss not only to the Awolowo family, but also to all the supporters of the late sage himself.

    He described the deceased as a man who was at peace with his God and fellow humans, a demonstration of a modest life that he lived.

    “Decades after the death of his father, Chief Oluwole Awolowo did his best to keep the kite of the African Newspaper of Nigeria, publishers of the Nigerian Tribune flying. He will be remembered as a man of peace, who was committed to his family,”  the Turaki Adamawa added.

    He prayed that the Almighty God would grant the Awo family particularly its matriarch, Chief (Mrs) HID Awolowo the fortitude to bear the loss.

  • Mr. President, remember January 2012

    Mr. President, remember January 2012

    Nigerians are not ready for high fuel prices under whatever guise

    Even as the fury generated by the presidential pardon granted ex-convict Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, former Governor of Bayelsa State by President Goodluck Jonathan was yet to subside, the President sprang another surprise: Nigerians should get ready for full deregulation of the downstream sector of the oil industry. In our context, they should be prepared to pay more for fuel. The President spoke in Abuja when he received the report of the graduating participants of the Senior Executive Course 34, 2012 of the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, at the Presidential Villa.

    “Why is it that people are not building refineries in Nigeria, despite that it is a big business?” President Jonathan asked. He provided what seemed to him the answer: “It is because of the policy of subsidy, and that is why we (emphasis mine) want to get out of it”. But who are these ‘we’? For me, the word ‘government’ would have been better in place of the ‘we’ because it is only the government and those feeding fat on public funds that are complaining about fuel subsidy. If President Jonathan is in doubt, he should call for a plebiscite.

    It is however instructive that, at about the same time the President was dropping the bombshell on Tuesday, the Federal High Court, Abuja, also dropped the knockout when it declared as unconstitutional, illegal, null and void, the controversial government proposal to deregulate the prices of petroleum products. Gratifying as this might be to the millions of Nigerians already traumatised by the misrule of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government in the last 13 years, I would not want us to rely much on this victory for reasons I would mention shortly.

    The fact is that, nothing the President says can ever justify the so-called deregulation on the present template of importation. The question is, why has the PDP government not been able to construct more refineries in the last 13 years? It takes about 12 months to construct a skid refinery of about 30,000 bpd capacity. On the other hand, a mega refinery with about 100,000 bpd capacity and above takes between three and four years to construct, with an estimated cost of about $3.5 billion. With fuel subsidy now gulping more than one trillion naira annually, would it not have been better for the government to invest in refineries, even if it would later pass them on to private investors to manage?

    One of the questions that the President has not satisfactorily answered is why an oil-producing nation like Nigeria continues to import fuel. This is a country having four refineries with a combined capacity of about 445,000 bpd but which are operating at about 30 percent capacity. How do we explain this? And the government wants us to believe that they can never work well due to corruption or whatever. What kind of spirit is that? And we are being told stories about these refineries as if they never did well at any point in time. If they once did well, why are they the way they are now?

    Obviously the refineries have not worked well over the years not necessarily because they are owned by the government, but because their managers, in conjunction with successive governments, ran them aground, essentially through corrupt practices. I had to say this in response to President Jonathan’s allusion to the fact that refineries in Canada are working well because they are all private sector-driven. There are refineries in, China, the world’s second largest refiner, that are owned by the government and they are doing well. Why is ours different? Another reason why our refineries are dying is because those benefitting from fuel importation will never allow them work well for their selfish reasons.

    Unfortunately, the PDP government has not done much to address the issue. And it cannot because it is steeped in iniquities itself. When people donate billions to facilitate the building of a presidential library, or to facilitate the construction of a church in the President’s town, or to fund elections; that is the kind of result we get because the donors are not fools. Whatever they donate must be recouped somehow, and it is one reason why we may never get to the root of the fuel subsidy scam. How can government look the people it got money from to finance elections in the face and allow such people to be sent to jail? When that happens, the source of such slush funds will dry up.

    We should thank Bamidele Aturu for instituting the deregulation suit, and the judge for his courage. But we should not over-celebrate the victory because, as we know, our judiciary is not there yet. Lest we forget, the court where the matter has been decided is not the court of last resort. We still have the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court to contend with, and, trust the Jonathan government; it would want to appeal the judgment, especially if it is sure somehow it will have the last laugh at the Supreme Court. The point is that the matter is more of a political issue than legal. By the time we make it a completely legal issue and the government gets a favourable judgment at the Supreme Court, then it would make any action against its decision look like an illegality, which all right-thinking persons know is not true. This is not to say that the protests will not come irrespective of whether the government loses in court ultimately or not; with the trigger being high fuel prices.

    I find the President’s likening of deregulation to surgery, which initially is painful but leaves sweet memories thereafter, rather amusing. But the allegory is misplaced. Hear him: “To change a nation is like surgery. If you have a young daughter of five years who has a boil at a very strategic part of the face, you either, as a parent, leave that boil because the young girl will cry or you take the girl to the surgeon. So, you have the option of just robbing mentholatum on the face, until the boil will burst and disfigure her face, or you take that child to the surgeon. On the sighting of a scalpel of the surgeon alone, the child will start crying .But if she bears the pains, after some days or weeks, the child will grow up to be a beautiful lady.”

    This is highly witty, but the minus there is that President Jonathan did not tell us that the beauty can only manifest, other things being equal; that is if the surgeon to perform the operation is not a quack, for instance. For more than 13 years, the way successive PDP governments at the centre have been handling the ‘scalpel’ is enough to convince Nigerians that they will all end up in the morgue by the time the ‘surgery’ (deregulation” is completed by a government they have come to see as insensitive and inept, and one that is too tainted to fight corruption.

    I also agree with the President that “… you do not need a lifetime to change a nation. Under 10 years, Nigeria can change and people will not even believe that this is Nigeria again. Immediately you come up with strong policies in key sectors of the economy and keep it for 10 years, the change will be astronomical.” But his Papa Deceive Pikin party (apologies to Reuben Abati) has been in government for close to 14 (not 10) years now. Do we then take it that the ruling PDP has been feeding us with the wrong policies since then, hence our present sorry pass? And is that the party to trust to handle deregulation to our common advantage? I doubt. And I have the feeling I am on the same page with many Nigerians on this. That is why they must be ready to return to the trenches. It is not yet Uhuru. January 2012 beckons again!

  • Jonathan condemns Kano bomb blast

    President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned Monday’s bomb blast in Kano.

    According to a statement issued  by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Rueben Abati, the President said that the barbaric incident will not deter the Federal Government from its strong-willed determination to overcome those who do not mean well for the nation.

    The Federal Government, he said, will not be stampeded, for any reason whatsoever, into abandoning its unrelenting war against terrorists in the country.

    The statement reads in parts: “President Jonathan reassured Nigerians and foreigners in the country that the Nigerian Government will continue to do all that is required to ensure the safety of lives and property, including continued collaboration with local and international partners and stakeholders to check the menace of terrorism.”

    “President Jonathan commiserated with the victims of the Kano explosions, their families and friends, and assured the Kano State government of the Federal Government’s continued support.” It stated