The Nation Newspaper

Tag: responsible

  • Hold Jonathan responsible for attack on governors, says ACN

    Hold Jonathan responsible for attack on governors, says ACN

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has asked Nigerians to hold President Goodluck Jonathan responsible if the country slides into anarchy as a result of the worsening crisis in Rivers state.

    Reacting to the attack on four governors who visited Rivers State Governor Chibuike Amaechi in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the ACN National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement said the attack that took place under President Jonathan’s watch is unprecedented in the country’s history.

    ‘’We will not accept the usual sophistry that President Jonathan is not in any way involved in the Rivers crisis. It is also not an excuse to argue that the President did not know that the visiting governors will be attacked, because as the country’s Chief Security Officer, he has his ears and eyes all over the country in the persons of security agents. Therefore, if the argument is that he did not know of the attack, then he is not on top of his game,’’ it said.

    The ACN wondered when it became a sin for any Nigerian, including elected officials, to visit any part of the country as Governors Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Musa Kwankwaso (Kano) and Murtala Nyako (Adamawa) did.

    The ACN said “there can be no justification other than organised political rascality for a group of paid hoodlums to invade a secure environment like the airport and pelt the convoy bearing the governors with all sorts of objects.”

    The party wondered why the Police could not provide adequate security for the visiting state chief executives and restrained the “hired scallywags” from their audacious action.

    ‘’Would the police have allowed tramps to attack the governors if they were visiting the President? Would the police in Rivers have allowed vagrants to act freely if those visiting Port Harcourt had come in solidarity with the five renegade members of the State House of Assembly? The unprofessional behaviour of the police in Rivers is the reason that Nigerians have accused the state police command of bias and called for the re-deployment of its ‘political’ Commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu.

    ‘’The visiting governors were right to have visited their Rivers’ counterpart, in the face of the siege on him by renegades being teleguided from higher quarters. They are right to have expressed solidarity with Amaechi, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum. We salute the Governors as true patriots and the real sustainers of our Constitution, and we demand appropriate sanctions for those whose dereliction of duty put the Governors’ lives in danger,’’ it said.

    ‘’The politics of 2015 cannot be removed from what is happening in Rivers. We have had cause to warn Nigerians to be vigilant against those who will foment trouble where there is none, just to put in abeyance the 2015 elections, especially where the emerging signals point to the fact that they will be rejected by voters. Those who are afraid of free and fair elections in 2015 will do anything to prevent one. Therefore, we are repeating our call on all Nigerians to be vigilant, because eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,’’ the party added.

  • Sultan: leadership failure responsible for Nigeria’s stagnation

    The Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), Alhaji Mohammad Sa’ad Abubakar said yesterday Nigeria has stagnated because its leaders have refused to make things work.

    Also, Kaduna State Governor Mukthar Ramalan Yero urged Islamic scholars to refrain from using the Muslim holy month of Ramadan to cast aspersion on people without proper investigation.

    Both personalities spoke at a national conference on the role of Muslim scholars in fostering unity, peace and security in Nigeria. The event was organised by JNI.

    The Sultan said the nation cannot move forward when leaders are made to believe that they are always right.

    He said: “We cannot move forward when we tell a leader that he is always right. No leader is always right in this circumstance. So many things have gone wrong in this country, and they are still going wrong. So many things are not working because the leaders refuse to allow them to work.”

    Abubakar noted that the Muslim world was facing daunting challenges, adding: “We are very aware, just like any other people across the world, of the challenges facing us as Muslims, not only in Nigeria. We believe somebody somewhere is pulling the strings.”

    The Sultan, who is the Co-Chairman of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, also said: “We will not allow anybody to stop us from being Muslims because that is what God brought to us; that is what we chose to be. We will not allow anybody to turn our lives upside down…”

  • ‘Fayemi, others responsible for Christ’s School’s growth’

    Elder statesman Chief Deji Fasuan has attributed the development of Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, to its old students, including Governor Kayode Fayemi.

    Fasuan said the school would have deteriorated if not for the contributions of the old students in the last 30 years.

    He spoke at a news conference on the school’s 80th anniversary.

    Fasuan lamented the “entire neglect of the school by the old Ondo State”.

    At the news conference were old students, including Very Rev. Dr. John Aina, Dr. Ade Fasanmade, Chief Francis Daramola, Mrs. Idowu Ogunrinde (Principal, Christ Girls’ School) and Chief Olusola Bayode, President, Christ’s School Alumni Worldwide.

    Fasuan, who retired as permanent secretary in the old Ondo State, said: “Individual alumni members have built classrooms and sank boreholes in the school. There is a member who spent N20 million over a period of time on various projects in the school.

    “Even Fayemi, before he became governor, gave the school a giant size power generator and renovated some classrooms. The situation was worse when we were in the old Ondo State, when the school was virtually neglected.”

    Fasanmade, who is the chairman of the home branch of the association, said the alumni was not considering the return of the school to missionaries.

    He said: “If improvement in quality teaching and learning would be possible through the return of the school, we accept it. But we are not looking at the return of the school as a singular means to achieve this.

    “The anniversary would feature presentation of awards of excellence/honour to seven monarchs who are alumni members and others.”

  • Jonathan’s govt not responsible for education decay, says Obi

    Jonathan’s govt not responsible for education decay, says Obi

    ‘57% of lecturers have no PhD’

    Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has said President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration should not be blamed for the rot in the education sector.

    Obi argued that the government has been trying to fix the decay with the support of states.

    He spoke in Abuja at a meeting of the review committee on the report of the Needs Assessment of Nigerian Public Universities.

    Obi, who is the Chairman of the committee, vowed to submit a proposal to the National Economic Council (NEC) for consideration in the next two weeks

    His words: “We have set up a technical committee that, within two weeks, will give us a proposal that we can recommend to NEC and subsequently to the Federal Government and the states.

    “President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is committed to changing the sorry state of our universities. We, the states, are committed; and we want those issues addressed as quickly as possible. We should start wking our talk; we can no longer continue to have committees upon committees without seeing results.

    “We may not achieve 100 per cent result, but we now want to put 100 per cent effort. Otherwise it will become the same committee report that yielded no result.

    Defending the establishment of new universities, Obi said Nigeria still needs more of them.

    “Nigeria needs more universities. If you look at our population, you will know that we need more. We cannot say because we have allowed the existing ones to decay, then we should not create more, same goes for primary and secondary schools. How can we allow our schools to be this deplorable? But the present government is taking a bold step to fix it.

    “What the Federal Ministry of Education is doing is to change from where we are today to skill-based education because we need to create the skill. We can no longer have people with certificates that make them unemployable.”

    A recommendation document given to the committee, and made available to The Nation, revealed that 57 per cent of lecturers in Nigerian universities have no PhD.

    It recommended that all proprietors of universities should be given a moratorium of five years in which 90 per cent of their lecturers should have PhDs, while visiting lectureship should be regulated.

    Present at the meeting were Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako; Deputy Chairman National Planning Commission, (NPC), Shamsudeen Usman and Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike.

     

  • Niger Deltans ‘responsible’ for rot in region, says Orubebe

    Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Elder Godsday Orubebe yesterday said the challenges of providing infrastructure for the Niger Delta were “deliberately or ignorantly caused by the people of the region”.

    Orubebe said disruption of projects by youths and excessive demands on contractors by communities and individuals constituted serious problems in the implementation of projects in the region.

    The minister spoke in Benin City, the Edo State capital, at a lecture organised by the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Benin (UNIBEN).

    He spoke on the topic: “The Challenges of Regional Development in Nigeria: The case of Niger Delta.”

    Orubebe said contracts awarded to local contractors were either abandoned or poorly implemented.

    He said non-indigenous contractors were often not allowed to implement projects and programmes in the region.

    “In the desire to empower local contractors and achieve the local content policy, the ministry often awards contracts to indigenes of communities where projects are located.

    “It is sad to note that most of such projects are either abandoned or poorly implemented.”

    The minister said the terrain in most parts of Niger Delta made infrastructure development a difficult task.

    Orubebe said advanced technology required for such projects was not available in the country.

    He also said the annual budget for the Niger Delta Ministry was “grossly inadequate.”

    Orubebe, however, explained that for regional development to thrive, the existing revenue allocation formula needs to be adjusted.

    His words: “I agree with the popular opinion that the non-observance of the principle of fiscal federalism in the country deprives the regions of the resources they need for development.”

    The minister said there was need for economic integration of states in the region to work in synergy with the ministry.

    On the controversial East-West Road, Orubebe said the project was stalled because of inadequate funding but that it has reached 53 per cent level of completion.

    Vice-Chancellor Prof. Osayuki Oshodin said the lecture series were geared towards public education and enlightenment.

  • Boko Haram responsible for Jonathan’s, Obasanjo’s rift, says Sani

    A civil rights activist and the president of the Civil Rights Congress, Mallam Shehu Sani, said in Kaduna yesterday that the rift between President Goodluck Jonathan and former President Olusegun Obasanjo might have been caused by the insensitive handling of the latter’s recommendation on how to end the Boko Haram crisis.

    He told reporters that when the government was searching for ways of ending the Boko Haram insurgency, it discarded the efforts of former President Obasanjo, who visited the families of some of the leaders of the group and made recommendations to the government.

    Sani noted that if the Jonathan administration had implemented the recommendations made by Obasanjo after the visit, insecurity would have been solved, adding that rather than do that, the government believed that the use of military force would end the insurgency.

    He said: “The problem between President Jonathan and Chief Obasanjo started with the issue of Boko Haram. I facilitated a dialogue with the former president and we went to Maiduguri to meet the families of Boko Haram members.

    “During the visit, they gave out a list of suggestions, which they thought if the government had carried out would have solved the crisis. We sat with them in the mosque of the founder, the late Mohammed Yusuf and they brought out photographs, documents and evidence on why their members took up arms against the state.

    “Former President Obasanjo promised them that he would do everything to convince the government to concede to the issues and see that justice was done. He wanted to get a promise from them that they would work towards ending the violence and restore peace to the country.”

    While describing the move by the former President as a patriotic step to end insurgency, he lamented that Obasanjo’s struggle and effort toward the goal was later frustrated and this could have led to the present rift between the leaders.

    “I was there with Chief Obasanjo. They (Boko Haram) brought pictures of their members and gave them to Obasanjo; they brought several documents of military and police brutalities against them and members of their families. How they were molested and killed. They gave them to Obasanjo.

    “The former president then promised that he would do everything to ensure justice was done. We left Maiduguri in a helicopter and he went back to Abuja. I know that he delivered the demands of the Boko Haram to the government.

    “They were thrown away. I think the person that played a key role in frustrating that effort was the late Andrew Azazi. Because he, at that time, believed the Nigerian security force would silence the group once and for all.

    “He misinformed the President to go to South Korea during a nuclear summit and tell the world that by June last year the problem of Boko Haram would be solved. The government miscalculated because till today the insurgency has persisted. Violence is going on in Kano, Gombe and Maiduguri.

    “I believe that was the beginning of the problem between Jonathan and Obasanjo. Since then, there has not been cordial relationship between them. Obasanjo later resigned as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    “For Obasanjo, I believe he has seen that he is no more relevant in the party and government. He had his godson, Jonathan, who has now found his feet and created his own caucus. The PDP is such a party that dances to the tune of an incumbent President. This is part of the problem of the party today.”

     

  • ‘Bad leadership responsible for poor health care’

    Senator Olorunimbe Mamora has said bad leadership is responsible for poor health care delivery in Nigeria.

    He said a leadership that relies on pathological sycophants and professional praise singers as advisers cannot improve the country.

    The senator, who used to represent Lagos East District, spoke yesterday at the University College Hospital (UCH) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, while delivering a lecture, entitled: “Health service delivery in the 21st Century: Achieving world class standards”. The lecture was part of activities marking the end of the Association of Resident Doctors’ (ARDs’) Health Week.

    Mamora said various health indices, such as maternal mortality, infant mortality and life expectancy, among others, are very poor.

    He said they are worse than what obtains in war-ravaged countries.

    Mamora said Nigeria’s administration has been left for too long in the hands of charlatans and mediocres, who are feeding heavily on the country’s resources, while the system has become a victim of multiple organ failure.

    He said: “Is it not pathetic that after half a century, post-independence Nigeria is yet to have a National Health Policy? It is not that efforts were not made in the past, but they were feeble and, in the typical Nigerian parlance, were not backed up by political will.

    “To achieve world-class standard in health service delivery, Nigeria’s political kingdom must be fixed and it requires visionary, honest, selfless, committed and transformational leadership at all levels of government; a courageous leadership that will enthrone merit.”

    Citing Dubai and Singapore as examples of countries with excellent health service delivery, Mamora said Singapore has no resources beside human capital, but has a good leadership that has transformed its limited resources into abundance.

    He urged government at all levels to speedily address the challenges of the health sector, adding that “health care financing must be revolutionised and sustained to achieve world-class standard”.

    ARDs’ President Wale Ojediran said the symposium was organised to find a lasting solution to the country’s deteriorating health sector.

    Ojediran said: “We know the health care indices in the country is very poor and we are thinking of how to improve it. The whole thing boils down to poor policy implementation.”

  • Lack of enforcement responsible for increase in deaths

    Lack of enforcement responsible for increase in deaths

    African countries need to tighten their road traffic enforcement laws or risk losing more lives in avoidable road accidents, the South Africa chief executive of Road Traffic Management, Mr Collins Letsoalo, has said.

    Letsoalo, who disclosed this while presenting a paper at the Africa Road Safety Conference last Wednesday in Johannesburg, said South African drivers were the worse culprits in terms of not wearing seatbelts and adhering to road safety laws.

    He said lack of enforcement of traffic laws was responsible for the high number of deaths on the road in the continent.

    “There is need to understand that killing people on the road was murder. South Africans are not doing the simplest of things, like wearing a seatbelt and they don’t see it as a problem. It has been proven that if we can double our seatbelt wearing rate from what we have now, we will have a 30 per cent reduction in road fatalities,’’ Letsoalo said.

    He said that some of the countries in the continent had done the simplest of things to reduce road accidents.

    “They focus on drunk driving and seatbelt usage. Speeding, drunk driving, and failure to wear seatbelts and helmets are the most critical challenges facing most Africa countries,’’ Latsoalo said.

    He said that South Africa was losing between 280 and 350 people to road crashes every week.

    “About 40 per cent of those killed were pedestrians. At present, 14, 000 people a year die on South Africa’s roads, with accidents reportedly costing the country 307 billion rands a year,’’’ he said.

    Letsoalo added that the issue of road safety could no longer be left to government authorities alone.

    “We have reached that stage now where we are calling on society to work with us. It cannot be a government thing. People need to understand that if they behave the way they are doing and continue to do so, they are likely to lose more lives,’’ he said.

    He noted that the laws were not lenient but enforcement was lacking.

    Letsoalo said that the communities needed to understand that, “today it can be me and you and tomorrow it will be somebody else.’’

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that South Africa National Prosecuting Authority charges irresponsible drivers with murder instead of homicide and this has been welcome by some people in the country.