The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Southeast

  • Inside Southeast’s surviving zoo

    Inside Southeast’s surviving zoo

    It is not cheery that of all the zoological gardens in the whole of the Southeast, only one is operational. But it is heart-lifting that the lone survivor, the Nekede Zoological Garden in Imo State, is not faring that badly, thanks to the administration of Governor Rochas Okorocha.

    The Nekede zoo is located in Owerri West Local Government Area of the state.

    The zoological garden established in 1976 under the state Ministry of Agriculture as an animal park, the Nekede Zoological Garden which sits on 10 hectares of reserved forest, houses a variety of animals, including lions, chimpanzees, monkeys, pythons, ostriches and crocodiles, among other animals.

    Although the zoo had suffered obvious neglect under successive administrations in the state, it has managed to exist until the current administration of Rochas Okorocha intervened by providing funds for the upgrade of existing infrastructure and the upkeep of the animals.

    The zoo serves as a centre for recreation, entertainment and education across the five Southeast states and beyond. Families, schools and other professional bodies throng there to enjoy the beauty of nature and carry out academic research in nature and wildlife.

    With a massive land mass of rain forest, which has been guided strictly against any form of encroachment, the Nekede Zoological Gardens has a natural appeal which holds visitors spellbound, coupled with the nerve calming chirrup  from more than 1,000 species of birds that nest on the huge trees in the rich forest.

    Another interesting feature of the garden is its proximity to Owerri, the Imo State capital. This proximity provides a sharp contrast and a soothing escape from the noise and pollution of the city.

    The General Manager of the Zoo, Mr. Francis Abioye, who took over the management of the gardens a few months ago, said he inherited almost a collapsed zoo, adding that he had been committed to reviving the garden with the support of the state government.

    According to him, the importance of sustaining the zoo cannot be over-emphasised, adding that the best way to tackle natural disasters is to return to nature.

    “We are living in a society that is far from nature. Nature supports our existence. Forests and wild animals help to check climate change,” he said.

    Continuing, he said: “In advanced countries, infrastructure are giving way for nature. Infrastructure are demolished and gardens planted in their places to check the effect of climate change. But here, forests are destroyed to build infrastructure with its attendant effects on climate.”

    Further highlighting the benefits of the zoo, Abioye noted that it was not only established for revenue generation but also for posterity and conservation of animals and plants genetic pool, adding that, “our children will not forgive us if we allow these animals and plants go extinct. The zoo is one place everyone should be at least twice a week to have the quietness of nature. This helps to prolong one’s life span because study has shown that those living close to natural parks tend to live longer.”

    He said before he assumed duty, the zoo was in a very poor shape with the few surviving animals looking pale as a result of lack of care.

    “When we came in, the lions, for instance, were fed once in four days, which contravenes the rights of caged animals.

    “A mature lion should take about 35kg of meat daily or an average of two goats a day. But the management then could not meet the target due to paucity of funds. This resulted in the lions looking very pale. But today, they have bounced back and the visitors are happy.

    “Previous administrations did not invest in the zoo until Governor Okorocha, who noticed the good work we are doing, intervened and increased our subvention. Since then, the animals are well taken care of because we are aware of the criminality of punishing caged animals,” he said.

    He further revealed that “we have a proposal which is currently before the Governor, to turn the zoo into an Animal Team Park, where we will combine the zoo with a park where children and adults can come and have fun. This idea is conceived to maximise the economic potential of the zoo and to generate revenue for government.”

  • Committee recommends additional state for Southeast

    Committee recommends additional state for Southeast

    Proponents of a new state for the Southeast may have crossed a major hurdle.

    Members of the National Conference Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government agreed yesterday that the Southeast geo political zone should be at par with others. The Southeast has five states; others zones have a minimum of six states.

    Though the proposal is subject to the approval of the plenary, there were no dissenting voices from delegates from other zones. Jubilant Southeast delegates praised the magnanimity of the Committee.

    Besides, the Committee has adopted a simplified procedure if states wish to merge.

    Members of the Committee were unanimous in supporting the creation of additional state for the Southeast.

    But Senator Nimi Barigha-Amange warned that the creation would lead to a deluge of demands from other parts of the country. This, in his view, may be difficult to manage.

    He said the viability of additional states should be considered as only five could be said to be viable of the 36 states. He said fiscal federalism would put a stop to agitation for state creation.

    Senator Ahmed Aruwa said the Southeast demand was legitimate as the request had been on for long. States, he said, should be created where necessary – in line with conditions spelt out in the Constitution.

    Yinka Odumakin supporting the Southesast demand, noted that frivolous demands for states would only cease when the injustice perpetrated by the government is addressed.

    Senator Femi Okuromu argued that the merger of states was not the same as the creation of a new one that has stringent conditions stipulated in the extant laws.

    He suggested that a referendum within the affected states should be enough to give legal backing to the merger.

    But Malam Sule Hamma pointed out that a merger would mean that the constitution that gives recognition to 36 states would have been tinkered with, meaning that a constitutional amendment is taking place with such a merger.

    Dr. Abubakar Mohammed said the committee should propose a process for state merger since it has to be initialed by the people of the states involved.

    According to the co-chairman of the committee, delegates decided that the process must be simplified for a merger of two or more states to occur and without prejudice to the federating unit, it must go through a referendum of 75 per cent of the people.

    In addition, two-thirds majority of the states affected must pass the resolution. A simple majority at the National Assembly should suffice.

    Okuronmu said the committee’s decision was a slow progress for it on the demands of various interests in the group and the triumph of dialogue.

    He noted that though the Southwest could not carry through its demand on regionalism, it gained some ground, with the adoption of merger of willing states.

    “That is something that allows the West, if it wants to have a zonal government without prejudice to the states as the federating units.

    “The implication is that each state would still get its dues from the centre as federating unit but they can come together as one, pool their resources to form a government for the progress and development of their people,” Okunronmu said.

    The leader of the Southeast delegation and co-chairman of the committee, Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, appreciating the “understanding” and “maturity” of the members on the demand of the Southeast for an additional state, said there might be a recommendation from the committee for equality of states in the zones.

    He said with agitations from across the country, there is a need to listen to eliminate marginalisation especially when someone may find it easier to aspire for national political office than from his or her own state.

  • Customs hails Southeast on N1b goods seizure

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced that over N1b worth of smuggled goods were impounded last year in the Southeast. But Mr David Dimka, Area Controller, Zone C, Owerri, said the NCS owed the seizure to the cooperation of residents in the region.Dimka said the Customs job was facilitated by residents who provided valuable information which led to the seizures made between January and December last year.

    He said such cooperation made it possible for the NCS to significantly reduce the menace of smuggling in the Southeast.Dimka reiterated the readiness of his men to tackle smuggling in the zone, noting that a formidable mechanism has been put in place to ensure that perpetrators as well as potential ones are caught and made to bear the full weight of the law.

    He informed that within the period under review 2,801 bales of secondhand clothing with duty value of N529, 512,000 were the highest seizure made, followed by 114 vehicles with duty-paid value of N355,311,800 and 609 bales of textile material.

    Others included 18,594 cartons of imported frozen poultry products valued at N208,286,250; 3,619 cartons of vegetable oil; 115,732 pairs of imported footwear, and 1,611 used tyres, among others. Dimka said, however, that the NCS are still grappling with diehard smugglers who often change their tactics in order to evade arrest, adding that the service has the capacity to neutralize such antics.

  • Southeast govts urged to encourage SME development

    Governments of the Southeast geopolitical zone of the country have been urged to provide enabling environment for micro, small and medium enterprises to grow.

    Victor Ugwu, south-east zonal coordinator of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) who gave this advice at the opening ceremony of the 2013 Abia State Small and Medium Investment forum, held in Aba, the commercial hub of the state, observed that governments of the region are paying lip service to SME development.

    He affirmed that the states can increase their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) if they support entrepreneurship growth in their areas. He identified multiple taxation and lack of infrastructure as some of the factors stifling business activities in the geo-political zone and advised the state governments to harmonise taxes paid in the area as well as invest more in road, water and electricity infrastructure,.

    According to him, a situation whereby an entrepreneur provides his own factory, electricity, water and at the same time pay huge taxes to government does not encourage people to start or stay in business.

    He did not also absolve business operators in the area, whom he accused of engaging in mundane practices, and urged them to register their business as well as partner with others to grow their businesses.

    “We in SMEDAN believe that it is only through an efficient SME sub sector supported by government and led by the organised private sector and encouraged by other stakeholders that Nigeria can realise her true economic potentials.”

    Records show that there are over 17 million registered small businesses in the country; however the sector contributes a paltry three percent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    Sam Kalu, chairman, Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) Abia branch, organisers of the forum, affirmed that it was organised to showcase Aba-made products to the outside world as well as debunk the insinuation that made-in-Aba goods are inferior.

     

  • ‘Southeast should produce president in 2015’

    The Southeast geo-political zone should produce the president in 2015, the leader of the ‘Nidigbo in Diaspora’, Geoffrey Nzeadibe, has said.

    He said power shift to the region would give its people a sense of belonging. But, the group’s leader was not categorical on the choice of the party to be endorsed by the Igbo abroad.

    Nzeadile condemned the recent deportation of some destitute of Igbo origin to Onitsha by Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN).

    Recalling that the quest for an Igbo Presidency started in 1999 when former Vice President Alex Ekwueme vied for the position, he said the project is feasible in 2015, if there is commitment.

    Nzeadile said in a statement that Igbo would not support a presidential candidate, who cannot provide the dividends of democracy for the race.

    He added: “If the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) refuses to support Ndi-Igbo and its agitation, we will have no other choice than to jettison the party. The world needs to understand that Ndigbo, which is predominantly Christian, is treated like second-class citizens.

    “In Nigeria, they are treated with ignominy by every government in Nigeria. Fashola has no justifiable reason to send any Nigerian away from Lagos State.

    “Fifty years after independence, no Igbo person has been president. Where is the equality, if Ndigbo cannot be President, as guaranteed by the constitution?”

     

  • Orji: Southeast safer with PDP

    The Southeast is safer under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abia State Governor Theodore Orji said yesterday.

    He urged the people not to be deceived that there is a better choice than the PDP.

    The governor spoke in a statement yesterday by his Special Adviser on Public Communication, Ben Onyechere.

    He said based on “past experiences the Igbo have undergone in the politics of this country, this is the reason we should stay away from people who may want to mislead us for selfish intentions.

    “In plain language, the PDP is a party that is not owned by anybody as against the rest, which are built on individuals and ethnic affinity that can never be considerate for Igbo interest.

    “When the chips are down, those behind the other political affiliations will certainly take decisions that will be inimical to the desired goals of the Igbo.

    “Let us tell ourselves the truth that the Igbo have suffered unjustly in the political calculus of this nation but with the amount of time and commitment we have invested in the PDP, the time to reap from what we have sown is near. The devil you know is better and a bird in hand is preferable than 10 in the bush, which predisposes that we should not waiver in our support for President Goodluck Jonathan because in the end, we shall be better for it.

    “The important point to note is that the PDP has laid a solid foundation whose future is predictable even though there may arise altercations once in a while.”

  • Jonathan and Southeast politics

    Jonathan and Southeast politics

    President Goodluck Jonathan and the southeast leaders gave commentators a lot to relish, when he visited Enugu recently, to inaugurate the remodelled Akanu-Ibiam International Cargo Airport, and lay the foundation for its international wing. Some of the commentaries, including this paper’s Hardball, used such sensual superlatives to describe the meeting, such that you could mistake the narrative as a scene in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Yet, the remodelling that took place in the southeast had been completed at the Lagos and Kano airports, without the President extracting from those political zones, the type of political capital that the southeast leaders effusively stuffed into his pockets.

    At the so called town hall meeting at Enugu State Governor’s Lodge, major political leaders from across the five states of the region were excited to be associated with the event. Indeed, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, who gave the vote of thanks had a herculean task going through the protocol list of the past and present eminent personalities present; and those he left out, Governor Peter Obi, had to be quickly recognised. On the high table with all the governors from the region, were the preeminent leader of Ndigbo and, indeed, Nigeria, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, who from the comments appeared to be the convener of the political event, passed off as the inauguration of Federal Government’s project.

    As the eminent persons at the meeting kept pouring encomiums and edifying President Jonathan, by their words and conduct, one thing kept agitating my mind: for what price? To put it more succinctly, what has President Jonathan done for the southeast geo-political zone since he became the President, which according to his own confession at the town hall meeting, gave him the highest number of votes in 2011, to merit all the attention? Of course those votes are without prejudice to millions of other votes he garnered from Ndigbo across the country. Again, while eulogising President Jonathan and promising him the support of Ndigbo in 2015, I again asked: for what price? To put it clearly again, what has the leaders extracted from Mr President in exchange for their support and vote in 2015?

    I just hope that Igbo political leaders are not selling on credit? No doubt the people of the region had been done-in by the Federal Governments since after the civil war, otherwise an international appoint would have been built in the region, just like in other regions, during the oil boom of the 1970-80’s. As President Jonathan correctly stated at the ceremony, the southeast is home to commercial entrepreneurship in Nigeria, yet the region had been deliberately denied a platform to practice their trade. Notably, with the southern fringe of the region in present Rivers state forcefully appropriated out of the zone by the Nigerian state, the region is doubly jeopardised as a landlocked region. To make matters worse, the dredging of river Niger as an alternate access for the zone has been deliberately frustrated.

    I guess that it is in this state of frustration that President Jonathan’s promise of an international cargo airport has become a big tantalizer. Of course with time running out for the major beneficiaries from the ruling party in the zone, over all the unfulfilled promises made to Ndigbo by President Jonathan prior to 2011, and with the new political realignments that are seriously threatening President Jonathan’s reelection in 2015, both groups also saw the airport project as a saving grace. As I have argued on this page, I condemn the deliberate holding down of Ndigbo and other regions through duplicitous and skewed federal system of government, as that is the cause of our national underdevelopment.

    A dysfunctional Nigeria is a zero sum game. No region, including the temporally advantaged southsouth, will make a genuine progress with the debilitating political structure in place. While I will be happy to fly directly to Europe or America from the long deprived Enugu airport, instead of through the existing international airports in Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt or Kano, I do not believe that the entire Ijele of the south-east should assemble to celebrate just a promise of that fundamental right. Now if Jonathan fails to deliver, as he has failed to deliver the second Niger Bridge and a dredged River Niger, what will happen to all the goodwill already extended? Indeed, who will come out from the alternate political stable to lead the battle in another direction?

    This wholesale alignment with Jonathan’s politics brings me to the reaction of the predominant political leaders of Ndigbo to the realignments that gave rise to the All Progressive Congress (APC). In my view, it is yet again unfortunate that the famed handshake across the Niger has failed to fully materialise, leaving the southwest and the core north as the major drivers of this new alliance to provide an alternative to the bumbling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). My hope for a new Nigeria, however, remains the emergence of a new political movement based on clear templates for solving the demons plaguing Nigeria, and drawing power from the scandalised youth, to birth a new country.

    Unfortunately, President Jonathan understands the Nigeria’s underbellies and is working hard to exploit it. Again, unfortunately, a nation ran on patronage over the nearly four decades of military and quasi-military ascendency had left Ndigbo the most vulnerable, and they are hasting to recoup. However, despite the glaring challenges from that era, there is need for clear-thinking in the effort to gain momentum in the emerging Nigeria. One sure way is for the zone to agree on where they stand on the core national questions and compare notes in seeking alliances.

     

  • Jonathan’s enduring love affair with the Southeast

    Jonathan’s enduring love affair with the Southeast

    Less than a year ago, President Goodluck Jonathan visited Anambra State to, among other things, commission Chief Arthur Eze’s oil production facility. When he got to the state, it was love at first sight. Dr Jonathan smooched Anambra, and the state in turn serenaded him. Both gushed so openly and so unabashedly that theirs seemed a marriage made in heaven. The relationship was of such intensity that on September 7, 2012 Hardball had this to say: “It didn’t take careful reflection or any logical consideration before Anambra began to serenade the president with their own promises. Since his project was among those commissioned by the president, Chief Arthur Eze, boss of Orient Petroleum Resources (OPR) production facility, needed little prompting to open the floodgates. Said he to the president with cold calculation: ‘Obasanjo took eight years; we are calling on you to take another four years as one term is too short for you to finish the job you have at hand. You can consider giving power to the north after your eight years, so that they will return it to the Southeast after their own eight years.’ The ordinary Anambrarian, and possibly the ambitious south-easterner, must wonder how easily and how cheaply approbation can be secured in those parts. Eze was not content ceding 2015 to Jonathan, he also worked the ratios out and conceded eight more years after 2019 to the North. Only then, he said with self-flagellating bashfulness, should power rotate back to the Southeast. How very considerate of him.”

    Dr Jonathan’s visit last year was to Anambra. This year, the president berthed his love boat in Enugu State for a one-day visit to, as usual, commission projects. Like the August 2012 Anambra visit, the latest one witnessed a replay of the attraction between the impassioned president and the ingratiating Southeast. For as in the Anambra visit, the top hats in Igboland gathered in Enugu to receive the president. The hosts reminded the president of the ties that bound the Igbo people to the president. Last year, it will be recalled, Dr Jonathan promised he would build the 2nd Niger Bridge or go into exile if he failed. As he put it elegantly and heroically, the 1st Niger Bridge was commissioned by the first Azikiwe, that is, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe; the second one would be commissioned by another Azikiwe, that is, Dr Jonathan. When he swore to an oath to build the second bridge, Anambra erupted into raptures and were only restrained by their eager Catholicism from promising the president eternal life.

    On Saturday, the lovebirds replayed history. Dr Jonathan had his trembling hands all over his lover, and his lover, or more appropriately, his lovers, moaned and groaned. Dr Jonathan was kind enough to appoint illustrious Igbo people into his cabinet, their spokesman, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra ululated, and the Southeast was indebted to the president. Dr Jonathan was captivated by the sweet words of his host, and he also began to rhapsodise. “I thank you for the kind of support you have given to me since I indicated interest in national politics,” gushed the president to the Igbo at a town hall meeting at the Governor’s Lodge. “Till today, I have the strongest support from the South-East; I want to thank you for that. I am very grateful. I am part of this part of the country and I will continue to remain so even after national service.” Dr Jonathan is not just the new Azikiwe, he has become an integral part of the Southeast, an inseparable part.

    And in a tone designed to make other zones green with envy, the president summed up his love affair with the Southeast with this pithy statement: “No other zone has equaled the Southeast zone in terms of support for me and my administration.” Move over, the turbulent Northeast for your infidelity. Move over, the Southwest for being such a sanctimonious handful to the lovelorn Jonathan. Move over, the Northwest for being a smorgasbord of impassive, inscrutable and conservative consortia of opposition figures. Indeed, Nigerians should pray for 2015 general elections to come quickly or else Dr Jonathan would trade off the entire country for love; for judging from his embroidered love poems, he is so smitten by the Southeast’s perfumed so-and-so that no magician or druid can be found to neutralise the talisman that fetched him.

     

     

  • UBEC ranks Southeast states low

    UBEC ranks Southeast states low

    The five Southeast states are not doing well in the implementation of the nine-year Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme, says Director of Quality Assurance, Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Abuja, Dr Chukwuma Agomoh.

    Charging the governors of Anambra, Abia, Enugu, Imo and Ebonyi to revamp their education systems, at the Southeast Education Summit held at the Concorde Hotel, Owerri, Agomoh counselled them to learn from Rivers State which topped the UBEC good performance ranking for 2010/2011.

    Rivers beat Katsina and Adamawa states as the Best Performing State in the implementation of UBEC programmes in the country.

    In contrast, Agomoh said the Southeast states were nowhere to be found on the UBEC rankings – with two of them, Ebonyi and Imo at the bottom. Imo came 36th, Ebonyi came 37th among the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

    He said this was happening because the Southeast governments did not implement the budget properly.

    “The Southeastern states are nowhere to be found in the UBEC rankings, both in the good performance and teacher training. The Southeast governors should rise to the challenge of taking education serious in the geo-political zone by increasing the budget in education. Most commissioners for education in the Southeast do not implement the amount they budget to education,” he said.

    Dr Agomoh, however, praised the Rivers State government for its investment in the education sector.

    He said UBEC has launched a campaign to boost boy-child enrolment in the east, while the girl child campaign is on-going in the North.

    Former Minister for Information and Communications, Prof Dora Akunyili in her address delivered by her husband, Dr Chike Akunyili, lamented the dearth of infrastructure in southeast schools, and decried the high rate of male dropout in the region which she attributed to the get-rich syndrome among the youth.

    Dr Akunyili noted that the region cannot make any progress until they start honouring people who have made great contributions to educational development.

    In a paper titled: “Funding, a Vital Tool for Educational Development in the Southeast Geo-Political Region,” the Rivers State Commissioner for Education, Dame Alice Lawrence-Nemi, noted that the much needed transformation of the education sector can only be achieved through adequate funding.

    The Commissioner, represented by the Director Higher Education, Mae Solomon, said: “Education is the only channel we can use to transform the Southeast geo-political zone. Through the provision of qualitative and sound education, the zone can take back its true position in the country. We can recall that graduates from this region dominated the major positions in the civil service, corporate organisations and the military in the 60s because of the zeal of the youths to get educated.”

    Meanwhile the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, NUC, Prof Julius Okojie represented by Prof Akaneren Essien, said the commission is always ready to contribute to the education advancement in the Southeast zone.

    Okojie, said the NUC will continue to keep its doors open to state universities in the region and promised to organise interactive forum for university proprietors (the state governors).

     

  • Southeast students get leaders

    The National Association of Southeast Nigerian Students (NASENS) has elected new leaders. The election took place at Ohaneze Ndigbo Secretariat in Enugu State.

    Peter Edeh, a student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka, was elected president of the association. Georgette Ekechukwu, a student of Abia State University (ABSU) became the Vice President (Internal), while Gloria Okolikeotti, student of Institute of Management Technology (IMT), Enugu, was elected the Vice President (External).

    Others are Secretary General, Nnanna Ezichi-Iko, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), Assistant General Secretary, Uchechukwu Awagu, Federal Polytechnic, Oko (OKO POLY), Public Relations Officer Franklin Agu, Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT), Director of Transport, James Uduma, UNEC, Director of Mobilisation, Kelechi Idemili, UNN, Director of Academics, Shedrack Akaa, UNEC, Director of Finance, Chukwuemeka Otta, Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), and Michael Ede, Ebonyi State University (EBSU), who is the Treasurer.

    Peter thanked his supporters for their efforts towards his election. He promised to protect the image and integrity of the association. Former President of the association, Kingsley Chidozie, welcomed the new leadership.

    He charged them to fight and protect the interest of students. Kingsley thanked Ohanaeze Ndigbo Leadership for making the election peaceful. He commended Enugu State Command of the police, State Security Service and Nigerian Army for their assistance during the polls.

    The leaders have been sworn in. The event witnessed the presentation of awards to some Igbo leaders.