The Nation Newspaper

Tag: protest

  • Alimoso residents protest shoddy PVC distribution

    Alimoso residents protest shoddy PVC distribution

    The collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and registration of voters is over in Lagos but most residents are still complaining of the shoddy performance of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Residents of Alimoso Local Government Area in Lagos have been complaining about what they described as an attempt by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to disenfranchise them during next year’s general elections. Although there has been complaints from many local government areas in the state over the performance of INEC, the loudest protest appear to be coming from Alimoso, which is the local government with the largest number of registered voters in the state, if not the country.

    It has been one complain or the other in many communities in the local government, especially during the registration of new voters. In communities like Ijegun and Abaaranje, the general conclusion is that there is a deliberate attempt by INEC to disenfranchise the majority of the people.

    There were long queues at the two communities daily, as people made efforts to ensure that their names get into the register. According to a community leader in the area, Alhaji Adeola Alase, “we have mobilised our people and they have complied, but it seems that INEC is not ready for this exercise or that it is a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise us. For the past three days, we have been using generating sets to supply power directly to the three computers on ground because their batteries are not working. Imagine INEC’s computers with no batteries, it is unbelievable.”

    An elderly woman, Mrs. Abigail Eleshin, who defied old age to attempt to register for the exercise, was left frustrated after waiting for four hours without even getting near the registration area. She had to go back home at the end of the day. “I can’t kill myself because I want to register, the organisers (INEC) seem not to be ready,” she lamented.

    The story is the same in other communities within the local government like Ilo, a border community with Ogun State; Ikola, Meiran, Ayobo, Ipaja, Ishefun, Camp David, Egbeda, Akowonjo, Shasha and Egbe.

    For instance, a resident of Ikola, Isaiah Oluwole, said there is need for the state government to take up the matter officially with INEC. His words: “I suspect a deliberate attempt to disenfrachise us, especially in Alimoso Local Government. INEC came to this local government with obsolete computers and equipment. I personally did my own investigation as I visited some of the registration centres as a community leader.

    “Most of the computers are not working. In some cases, residents have to obtain generating sets to power computers directly because some these computers don’t have batteries.

    “In all registration centres I visited, there was no security. For me, INEC has a hidden agenda.”

  • PDP governorship aspirants protest in Kebbi

    PDP governorship aspirants protest in Kebbi

    Eight out of the 13 governorship aspirants in Kebbi State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have petition the national headquarters of the party, disassociating themselves from the recent primary held in Birnin-Kebbi, the Kebbi State capital.

    In a two-page communiqué signed by the Deputy Governor, Ibrahim Aliyu and six others, issued, made available to The Nation, they said the process that led to the election did not conform to the guidelines of the party. Therefore, they called for a cancellation of the election and the organization of a fresh one as soon as possible.

    The petitioners argued that there was no screening and accreditation before the commencement of the primary, as stipulated in the PDP guidelines.

    They also stated that the delegates’ register provided by the national headquarters of the party in Abuja is not in sync with the one used for the conduct of the election.

    Voters were intimidated and coerced into voting for the candidate anointed by the government, while a parallel congress was conducted at the Race Course with only one aspirant in attendance.

    The aspirants also noted with dismay that the primary election, which was attended by the State Governor Saidu Dakingari, the Minister of Special duties Kabiru Tanimu and the Electoral Committee Chairman Celestine Omehia was marred by substantial irregularities.

  • PDP governorship aspirants protest in Kebbi

    PDP governorship aspirants protest in Kebbi

    Eight out of the 13 governorship aspirants in Kebbi State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have petition the national headquarters of the party, disassociating themselves from the recent primary held in Birnin-Kebbi, the Kebbi State capital.

    In a two-page communiqué signed by the Deputy Governor, Ibrahim Aliyu and six others, issued, made available to The Nation, they said the process that led to the election did not conform to the guidelines of the party. Therefore, they called for a cancellation of the election and the organization of a fresh one as soon as possible.

    The petitioners argued that there was no screening and accreditation before the commencement of the primary, as stipulated in the PDP guidelines.

    They also stated that the delegates’ register provided by the national headquarters of the party in Abuja is not in sync with the one used for the conduct of the election.

    Voters were intimidated and coerced into voting for the candidate anointed by the government, while a parallel congress was conducted at the Race Course with only one aspirant in attendance.

    The aspirants also noted with dismay that the primary election, which was attended by the State Governor Saidu Dakingari, the Minister of Special duties Kabiru Tanimu and the Electoral Committee Chairman Celestine Omehia was marred by substantial irregularities.

  • RATTAWU plans protest over digital switch

    RATTAWU plans protest over digital switch

    The Radio, Television, Theatre and Arts Workers’ Union (RATTAWU)  is not excited by the digital switch scheduled for next year. It said the government is not prepared for the challenges of funding and legislative backing and called for the extension of the take off date to 2020.

    Its President, Comrade Yemisi Gbamgboshe, told reporters that there is no structure in place by for the proposed switch.

    He said: “We  are not in support of the Federal Government digitisation process because of the  challenges of funding, legislative backing, sensitisation of the public, the signal distributor and the  plan for workers as well as no proper structures on ground to suggest that the country is ready for digital switch over in 2015.

    “As a critical stakeholder in the broadcast sector, we have made it known, based on available information, that there are no proper structures on ground to suggest that the country is ready for digital switch over in 2015.”

    RATTAWU also called on its members to be at alert for mass action should the government go ahead with the planned digitisation process when it is obvious that there is no structure in place for the scheme.

    According to Bamgboshe, there is no African country that has switched over except Tanzania. He added that the situation in that country also suggest that the whole process has hit the rocks and may likely return to analogue. He said many European countries have not switched over despite the fact that they started long ago.

    Bamgboshe noted that all over the world, most especially in countries where the switch over have been successfully carried out, it was their governments that bankrolled the project including subsidising the procurement of set top boxes.

    “Although the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), saddled with the responsibility of supervising the switch over, kept assuring stakeholders of its readiness to switch over as scheduled, but the current situation on ground clearly shows that the country is far from ready,” he  said.

  • Protest: Security on guard

    Protest: Security on guard

    SECURITY MEN AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN ABUJA ON TUESDAY (4/11/14), AS STAFF PROTEST OVER NON PAYMENT OF SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES OF NEW STAFF Photo NAN
    SECURITY MEN AT THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS IN ABUJA ON TUESDAY (4/11/14), AS STAFF PROTEST OVER NON PAYMENT OF SALARIES AND ALLOWANCES OF NEW STAFF Photo NAN

  • Obi’s defection and a protest

    SIR: Long before the defection that has since become the buzz of many media houses, there were indications that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was in disquiet. The truce achieved by the party few months before the November 2013 governorship polls, perhaps for that particular purpose, failed soon after. The marriage of convenience has served its purpose and, for all it cares, could go kaput. And it did.

    The first post election crack in the party became visible with the resignation of APGA members in the National Assembly. This was followed by the resignation of former Governor Peter Obi as the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustee, a precursory warning to what turned out a furtive defection to the ruling People’s Democratic Party. Though he had betrayed tendencies that suggested he would soon be in flight to his real love (the PDP) like his public appearance at Awka during the Transformational Ambassador’s of Nigeria (TAN) rally, it was the stealth defection in his house in Onitsha that boldly asked the question: What manner of a political leader is Peter Obi?

    Watching the protesters on national TV converge at the graveside of the late Eze Igbo, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu to make a formal application against the actions of the former governor, I couldn’t but weep for APGA. It is true the party had had challenges in the past, but none could compare to Obi’s defection amidst constant assurances of loyalty to the party. All the speakers at the Ikemba mausoleum poured out their disappointment and urged the spirit of the departed leader to avenge himself and the party of the betrayal.

    However, it was the interview granted by the late Ikemba’s widow, Ambassador Bianca Ojukwu that tried to situate the defection in perspective. Though she rued Obi’s defection from the party, describing him as a precious son but she never failed to add that the requiem was for the man alone. “We have undoubtedly lost a precious son, but by no means does this sound the death knell for APGA. The requiem is for him alone.” She picked holes in the argument that Obi joined the PDP because he was whipsawed between loyalty to APGA and the re-election of the President. She reminded him of his past ambivalence and her own position as Nigerian ambassador even as an APGA card-carrying member. Expectedly, what followed as a response from the camp of Peter was timid. The lack of forcefulness in the rejoinder was to possibly restrain Madam Ambassador from further disclosures. That was vintage Obi.

    Did Obi commit any crime by defecting to another party after assurances to the contrary? Are the grouse of APGA faithful who mounted the protest at Nnewi, and others who still express shock, justifiable?

    I have always insisted on the distinction between leadership and opportunism. A leader should be void of opportunism. Obi might have excelled in the business world but not in political leadership. All what he has achieved in politics is what is called Reflected Glory. He did the first time through the late Ikemba. He tried to further it with Obasanjo, but the Ota farmer would not allow that. He got impeached instead. The Ota farmer takes no prisoners. Today he does everything to ingratiate himself with the President.

    I have never been an apostle of Peter or any other politician for that matter. Where those who defend him got it wrong is that they don’t know the enormous responsibility leadership exerts on a man. Nobility is a responsibility of leadership. The furtive defection cannot be called noble by any stretch of the imagination. Neither can the hurried exit from the party without recourse to those who look up to him for direction. Playing it by ear is not an attribute of leadership. There may be thousand and one reasons why the defection might be exigent, but not necessary at all. Even when a leader is under compulsion to move in a certain direction he must do so conscious of the implication on the led.

    There is no arguing the fact that the defection did not take into cognizance the feelings of the led who looked up to Obi for direction. He simply sacrificed nobility when he acceded to the “pressure” to defect. The first test of true leadership he failed hopelessly and may live with the aftermath until he shuffles off this mortal coil.

     

    • Emeka Okelo

    Ikeja, Lagos

  • Delta community protest excessive bills, epileptic power supply

    UGHELLI community and its environs embarked on a mass protest along the East/West Road in Ughelli, Ughelli Local Government Area of Delta State against Benin Electricity Distribution Company BEDC in charge of Edo, Delta, Ekiti and Ondo States over excessive estimated bills, epileptic supply and unsual disconnection, calling on the Federal Government to revoke the company’s license.

    The protest, which lasted for hours with placards calling on the federal government to take over the Benin zone electricity company from the Benin Electricity Distribution Company lamented over what consumers are suffering in the hands of their suppliers, saying that they cannot be working and paying all they earn for electricity supply.

    One of the protesters, Mrs. Mary Akpofuare who spoke to journalists during the protest said that the Edo Electricity Distribution Company, BEDC, is not rendering any service that is commensurate to what they are collecting from their consumers in Ughelli community and its environs, saying that they have not seen where someone has a meter and still be paying estimated bills of between seven and eight thousand naira monthly.

  • Isoko land owners protest oil surveillance contract

    A group known as Indigenous Landlords Association in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State has given the Federal Government a 21-day ultimatum to redress the injustice over what they termed “illegal award of oil surveillance contract/oil mining (OML 30).

    In a petition sent to President Goodluck Jonathan, the group alleged that without due consultation with their traditional institutions, chiefs, youths and opinion leaders in Isoko Kingdom, the Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Shoreline National Resources Limited and Heritage Oil awarded oil mining lease surveillance contract to several contractors.

    In the petition, copies of which were sent to the  Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Allison-Madueke,  Delta State Governor  and other stakeholders.

    The group said more than one year after awarding this contract, there is no evidence on ground to show that the contractors are working in  Isoko land. The group said: “What we have noticed is that the Isoko Local Vigilante Group led by Hon. Victor Egbo, who is the co-ordinator as well as the state co-ordinator, is the one securing the oil pipeline as well as gathering intelligence, while those who got the pipeline surveillance contracts are just taking the money without doing anything.”

    The group also alleged that they have not received any commendation or recommendation for employment from these contractors, a situation that is a total disregard for the Nigeria Local Content Act, 2011.

    This, they said, amounts to “Baboon dey work, monkey dey chop” and in their opinion, “no reasonable man in this 21st century will permit such injustice.” Quoting copiously from an extract by John Ralw, the group said, “Justice is the distribution of the advantages and the disadvantages of the society equally among its members.” Going by this, they said, “it is right for us to also share the advantage of the society and not only the disadvantage that oil explorations has brought to our people.”

    The group  said  in order to address the alleged  injustice, the Isoko Development Union (IDU), the apex decision making body in Isoko Land, led by its President, Maj-Gen. Paul Ofuoma Omu (rtd), scheduled a a meeting between the Isoko people, Shoreline Natural Resources (Ltd), the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) and Heritage Oil for March 5. According to them, though due notice of the meeting was given, none of the representatives of the companies showed up at the meeting. As a result of this, they said, another stakeholders’ meeting was slated for April 29,  at the Isoko South Local Government Area Secretariat.

    In attendance at that meeting were  Hon. Idele Goodluck, traditional rulers from Oleh, Uzere, Ewhe, Emede, Emevor, Ozoro and all opinion leaders in Isoko land. The meeting was also attended by the Isoko Development Union led by its President, Major Gen Paul Ofuoma Omu (rtd), representative of the Nigeria police force, members of the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps and representatives of Shoreline Natural Resources, the Nigerian Development Petroleum Company (NDPC) and Heritage Nig (ltd). At the meeting, the group said, the IDU President Major Gen Paul Ofuoma Omu (rtd) OFR, made known the collective resolve of the Isoko people that the oil surveillance contract should be re-awarded to accommodate the interest of the entire Isoko people. According to the group, after about four hours deliberations, Shoreline Natural Resources, Heritage Oil and the NPDC promised to look into their demand, but up till today, the companies have refused to keep their promise.

    Consequently, the group said, since Shoreline Natural Resources, Nigerian Petroleum Development Company and Heritage Oil Nig (Ltd), have chosen to walk the path of injustice against the collective interest of the people, they have “resolved from now onward, that there shall be no peace until this ugly injustice is addressed.”

    The group issued  a  21 days ultimatum, starting from September 1,  till September 22 within which the Companies involved should address the anomaly, failure which all oil wells connected to OML 30 in Isoko Land will cease to flow.

    The OML 30 (Oil Mining Lease) covers the largest ever upstream asset in Sub-Sahara Africa. The block is the second largest as well as the third largest on-shore Block with a lease covering 109 square kilometers which comprises of the following communities in Isoko Kingdom of Delta State: Oleh 21 Oil wells, Olomoro 17 Oil wells, Emede 4 Oil wells, Uzere more than 12 functional wells, Owhe 9 Oil wells, Igbide 8 Oil wells, Okpolo-Enwhe 6 Oil wells, Ozoro 7 Oil wells, Ellu/Ovrode 10 Oil wells, Ofagbe 4 Oil wells, Isoko Deep.

    Currently, the block has 8 producing fields of 395, 000 bpd, with an existing 850 bpd of pipeline segment to Forcados Export terminal. Its current gross production is 45, 000 bpd. It has over 2000 wells drilled with 120 in production. The block associated gas facilities can handle forth two MSCF/ day collected from 6 flowing stations. Its proven reserve includes 3 of 2 bb/s of crude oil and 2:5TCF of gas is a long asset with 8 years life reserved at production rate.

     

  • Photo: Pensioners protest in Abuja

    Photo: Pensioners protest in Abuja

    Ex-Military Pensioners protesting against non payment of their allowances at the Federal Secretariat Entrance to the Presidential Villa in Abuja Wednesday. PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN.
    Ex-Military Pensioners protesting against non payment of their allowances at the Federal Secretariat Entrance to the Presidential Villa in Abuja Wednesday. PHOTO AKIN OLADOKUN.

  • Poly resumes after students’ protest

    The Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO) in Ondo State resumed on Monday after a compulsory two-week break, following the students’ protest over fee hike.

    The students are returning to write second semester examination, which will start on Monday.

    The management warned that only students with evidence of school fee payment and N2,000 reparation charges would be allowed to sit for the exam.

    The students are also asked to bring letter of undertaking with them, which must indicate their readiness to be of good conduct. The letter must be signed by each student and counter signed by the parents, a civil on Grade 12 upward or a traditional ruler.

    The management has earlier claimed that students were not responsible for the violent protest that rocked the campus. But, the authorities made a u-turn, accusing students for the destruction on the campus.

    Some students, who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, said management had ignored the issues that led to the protest and the demands of the union leaders, which included reduction in fees and removal of Agric 002, a manual form for farm labour in the curriculum.

    “The situation in RUGIPO is a victory for the management. They have not only succeeded in defeating students of the polytechnic, but all Nigerian students under any aegis, including the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the National Association of Polytechnic Students (NAPS) ,” a student said.