The Nation Newspaper

Tag: support

  • PDP senators to support Mu’azu

    PDP senators to support Mu’azu

    Some senators of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have promised to assist the new National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Adam Mu’azu, to reposition the party for better efficiency.

    In a statement by its Secretary-General, Abubakar Gerei, the forum said the new chairman was a man of integrity and an achiever, as he demonstrated when he was Bauchi State governor.

    The statement reads: “I, on behalf of myself and the Senators’ Forum, congratulate you on your election as the national chairman of PDP.

    “We promise our support, loyalty and cooperation to your leadership and wish you God’s guidance and protection as you strive to reposition the party for greater achievements.”

    The forum noted that if the party’s new chairman used his political wealth of experience, the PDP would not only be strengthened but be saved from the challenges confronting it.

    It said: “We are optimistic that with the new leadership of the party under Alhaji Mua’zu, he will bring into practice his wealth of experience and transform the party, reposition it and sustain its present enviable position in the polity of the country.

    “We also implore him to leave up to his words of doing everything possible to see to it that aggrieved party members are reconciled back into the party while internal democracy and discipline are not compromised.”

     

  • Re: In support of Fashola on Tobacco

    SIR: The above titled piece published in The Nation of Thursday October 10, page 18 refers. Intellectual honesty requires a declaration of interest. This writer in spite of his lifelong opposition to capital punishment has inadvertently sentenced himself to death by indulging in tobacco smoking for over four decades. I will therefore like to save others from an indulgence which does not do anybody any good. Mr. Adebayo Thomas, the writer of the piece in reference, should also show the same intellectual honesty. He should have stated whose interest he is serving.

    The inconvenient facts which Thomas glosses over include the well known fact that tobacco use is the leading cause of death worldwide. The grim reality is that tobacco uses cause more than five million deaths per year. This is serious stuff. Even more disconcerting is that with the market drying up in the developed countries, the tobacco merchants (of death) have shifted their marketing focus and campaign to the third world.

    This marketing strategy makes sense. The developing world has a demographic bulge tilted in favour of a younger age group. It is an enticing promising market. The problem here is that these are also countries which have weak institutions. They cannot stand up to the tobacco companies and stop them from marketing or advertising. More ominously these countries simply do not have the public health facilities to cope with tobacco related diseases. Their public health budgets are already inadequate and the medical personnel are fleeing to the developed countries for a myriad of reasons.

    Thomas’ analogy on prohibition is also incorrect. No one is asking for an outright ban on tobacco. It is not practicable to set up the necessary administrative mechanism to enforce such a proposition. Such an action will not even be compatible with the spirit of a democracy. What is actually needed is enlightenment and moral suasion. This is why the greatly admired and much respected Governor Babatunde Fashola should not have inadvertently conferred a veneer of respectability on the tobacco lobby and companies by granting them audience. It was a faux pas.

    Everyone is in love with the get-up-and-go Fashola. Like his predecessor he has made giant strides in uplifting the quality of life in Lagos state. Nevertheless, every human being has the occasional off-day. So did the great soccer exponents, Pele, Maradona, Lionel Messi; fantastic players but occasionally they miss an open goal scoring opportunity which my grandmother might have tucked in. That however is the nature of the human condition. Humans are error prone.

    Governments at all levels have a moral imperative to distance themselves from the Public Relations antics of the tobacco companies. It is not just a question of moral suasion. It is also predicated on even the most rudimentary of cost/benefit analyses. Since Thomas is not going to help Fashola to fund his health budget, he should face up to inconvenient facts. This is that Fashola simply does not have enough funds or the personnel to cope with tobacco induced or related diseases. And let’s face the facts, the World Health Organisation projection is that by 2030, 80% of projected tobacco related deaths will be in the third world.

    Adebayo Thomas should do Governor Fashola a favour. He should give him a paper on how he and his successors will fund the public health sector. The use of tobacco is a dangerous, suicidal indulgence and should be discouraged. I have made a declaration of interest as a victim. Thomas should declare his own interest. Whose side is he on?

    • Ayo Badmus

    Lafiagi, Lagos

  • In support of Fashola on tobacco

    SIR: In a recently published report in The Nation of September 25, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth and the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) requested Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola to distance his administration from the activities of tobacco industry. This call is not only repulsive, it is also disrespectful. It also shows a lack of understanding or a very low understanding of public policy and governance. The request is essentially paternalistic. The writers were trying to impose their values by assuming that what is good for them is good for the whole society.

    By extant laws, tobacco is a legal product. Despite the several anti-tobacco sentiments based on several emotional arguments and reasoning, it is obvious to reasonable individuals that banning a product like tobacco will not stop its circulation. The recent activities of the anti-tobacco campaigners suggest clearly that they believe that the only way to stop people from smoking is to ban tobacco production completely. This belief is illusionary. It is illusionary because it will lead to the exact opposite of what they have in mind.

    There are presently two bills at various stages of passage in the National Assembly. These bills seek to regulate tobacco by creating more restrictions to the distribution and smoking of cigarette. This is in addition to the proposed ban on any form of advertisement and promotions.

    The ultimate trajectory is to eradicate cigarette production. What the bills and anti-tobacco campaigners fail to understand is that laws cannot really kill demand for a product; it will only lead to market distortions in terms of its impact on the supply-side. The distortions that would arise from this bill would create a premium for black market to exist and thrive. While the legal tobacco industry in Nigeria will suffer, an illegal market will rise to fill the demand-supply gap.  In fact, the market losses that will arise from the numerous laws and ban will be gained by smugglers and bandits.

    The Environmental Rights Action and other anti-tobacco groups should understand what they advocate would result in pushing tobacco out of the legal and regulated market to an illegal and black market. Black market is generally bad but for a product like tobacco, it is dangerous. It is dangerous because the high profit margin that will come from smuggled and unregulated tobacco will be used to create and fund activities of criminal gangs and cartels. Many developed nations with drug problems have learnt this lesson and that is why there are global moves to de-fund the drug cartels by legalising cannabis and other drugs.

    Smuggled tobacco should be more worrisome to policymakers. This is because they are not amenable to regulation. They are often of less quality since you cannot trace the manufacturer and the distribution ring is mostly nocturnal. If you say regulated and legal tobacco has health risks, what would you now say of unregulated and smuggled cigarette?

    For several years now, the face of tobacco advertisements and promotions have changed considerably.   In the 80s, one is likely to see colourful cigarette packages, and there are many massively promoted publicly held musical shows. This is not the case in the present time.

    Governor Fashola should be commended and shouldn’t be seen to be partial on any legal investment. Like he said at the reception, life is about choices and preferences. It is improper for some people to arbitrarily impose their non-smoking preferences on others. We ought to speak up because this stigmatization on BAT may soon be extended to non-smokers and of course other products not related, choices and preferences.

    • Adedayo Thomas

    Lagos

  • ‘Ekiti govt’ll support community projects’

    Ekiti State Deputy Governor Prof. Modupe Adelabu has said the government will support community self-help projects.

    She spoke at Orun-Ekiti at the presentation of the Instrument of Office to Oba Joseph Oluwasola Osalusi, the Oloja Orun in Irepodun/Ifelodun Local Government Area.

    Mrs. Adelabu said: “The government is willing to support viable developmental project embarked upon by communities.”

    She urged Orun-Ekiti indigenes to support the monarch to develop the community.

    The deputy governor said the granting of autonomy to some towns and villages by the government was not to create division but to ensure development.

    She said: “Granting of autonomy to any community is not an attempt to factionalise or disintegrate a hitherto compact community for ulterior motives.

    “It is a response to the genuine demand of a people, who felt their deserved recognition would enhance development in all facets of life. It is not designed to breed hatred, rancour, nepotism and other negative disposition that can negate harmonious co-existence with their former allied communities. It has no political colouration.”

    She explained that Orun-Ekiti was granted autonomy in line with best practices, saying: “Orun-Ekiti was one of the five communities granted autonomy by the state government last December 19 in line with Section 6A (1) and (2) of the Chiefs Laws of Ekiti State, CAP C5 of 2012.”

    Mrs. Adelabu urged Oba Osalusi to see his installation as a divine call to service, which requires diligence, sacrifice and perseverance.

    Assuring his people that his reign would facilitate growth and peace, Oba Osalusi listed the community’s needs and pledged to cooperate with the government.

    He said: “Here in Orun-Ekiti, the best has happened to us through your Solomonistic wisdom and, by the law of reciprocity, our covenant with your government is absolute, as well as total deliverance of our responsibilities on the day of reckoning.”

  • ‘Middle Belt ‘ll not support power shift to North’

    ‘Middle Belt ‘ll not support power shift to North’

    Former Plateau State Military Governor Major-General Lawrence Onoja is the Chairman, Strategic Mobilisation Committee of the Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF) and chieftain the Congress for Equality and Change. He told reporters in Lagos that the Middle Belt will not support the agitation for power shift to the North in 2015. EMMANUEL OLADESU reports.

     

    What is your reaction to the crises rocking the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)?

    I am one of the original founders of the PDP. I started with the activities in the G34. I was sympathetic to their cause that time, even when I was in uniform and later, it became the PDP. So, I can comfortably say I am an original member of the party. What is happening in the PDP today is not new. It has happened to many political parties. But I believe that the party has got very eminent personalities and respected Nigerians that are willing to ensure that the mechanism provided in the party is effective to settle all the crises in the party. I am particularly glad to hear that somebody like our former respected President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was my General Officer Commanding in 1969 in Port-Harcourt, when I was a Second Lieutenant, is now trying to reconcile the governors. That approach is what I have been waiting for, that such an eminent person would come into the PDP crisis for the benefit of ensuring that there is peace in Nigeria and also for the benefit of assisting the President to ensure that we get what we have always wanted, which is good governance in the country. So, the reconciliatory efforts by the former President are really appreciated by me. And I believe that is what other elders like Obasanjo should do. We all should ensure peace and tranquility. A situation where the President can function effectively and give us the required good governance that we deserve is what is important.

    Do you think the APC, ahead of 2015, can give PDP a run for its money?

    I think that a couple of Nigerians were happy that we are having what is looking like an opposition because, in democracy, you cannot enjoy it without a true opposition. There has to be an opposition for the game to be interesting. What the APC now represents in the eyes of many Nigerians is that, at least, an opposition that may likely be formidable is being formed in Nigeria to compete with the PDP. Whether it would match the might of the PDP as a viable political opposition, that is too early to predict. And I think it probably could in the future, if it does certain things right. The party should present itself as a viable opposition to Nigerians, by saying that it can do better in education, economy. That is what Nigerians want to hear. So, I believe what they should do is let Nigerians know their manifesto; what they would do in Nigeria, in terms of poverty alleviation, what they intend to do with the security situation. Do they intend to do better than what Mr. President has done, the amnesty program, the emergency rule declared to combat the menace of Boko Haram in some parts of the country? Do they have better suggestions? That is what Nigerians want to hear. Even if you are going to criticise the President, let it not be like a personal insult.

    One other issue in the PDP is power shift to the North. Don’t you think it is ripe time to return power to that zone?

    Every group has a right to ask for power, but I believe power is not given that way. You work for it. I want to let you know categorically here that it is not yet time for power to shift to the North. Mr. President has not done his second term. All the other Presidents were given opportunity to do their second term and Mr. President, by virtue of the fact that he is a minority like me, it would be unfair and injustice to stop him from doing his second term. If he finishes his second term in 2019, then, other areas or blocks can now begin to agitate for power shift. I think it is only fair to allow Mr. President do his second term.

    But we understand that the power shift is a Northern agenda and you are from the North

    There is a misconception. The North of the sixties when Sarduana was alive is no long the same North today. Let me correct that misconception. I am from the Middle Belt, which is a geographical reality today. I am an active member of the Congress for Equality and Change, which is a non-political association. I am also a member of the Middle Belt Forum. So, if you say I am from the North, and you are referring to the old North yes, I am from the North. But now, the Middle Belt is a geographical reality and I am a member of the Biddle Belt. I am not from the core North.

    When did the demarcation start?

    The demarcation has been there all along. It is just that the leaders that we had before, had the responsibility of making sure that we work together as the same North. But yesterday is not the same as today. People have been educated, exposed. So, if yesterday some group of persons were dictating to us, today, people will not accept the dictation of anybody again. We, in the Middle Belt are strong enough to go on our own in any situation.

    You said the President should be allowed to go for second term, but people will ask whether it is a question of second term or performance?

    I believe Mr. President is doing well. This is my own opinion. Anybody has right to express his or her own opinion. I believe Mr. President is doing well. Look at the situation, those who have been there before what is extra ordinary in their performance that Mr. President has not done. The President is rehabilitating the railway system which everybody is yearning for and they are very grateful. If he can complete it in a couple of months. The power situation has improved. Look at the steps he took to restore security in some parts of the North. Those steps are welcomed by me and they are very adequate now. While the military are doing what they are trained for, there is a committee on amnesty trying to appeal to those who are belligerent in the North. With time I am sure these things will yield peace and peace is already coming back to the North. We will still have pockets of these militants who will be resisting but after some time with the appeals being made by many Nigerians, and the amnesty committee working, day and night to ensure they attract them. The governor of Borno is already rehabilitating the children of the militants. The military there in Borno are even trying to embark on winning of hearts and minds of the people through pamphlets, through propaganda. So with time what Mr. President has put in place will yield results.

    The agitators for power shift to the North are insisting that there is an agreement that the President would do one term and that the President also confirmed it in Ethiopia.

    I am not privy to any agreement. I do not know, if any agreement was signed. And I don’t think Mr. President signed any agreement with anybody. This is politics. Why there is unpredictability in political events always is because you have the mind as an individual to change your mind, if you do anything depending on the situation. All I am saying is that he should be allowed to do his second term before any group can lay claims to power. I am not privy to any agreement he had with anybody.

    What are your thoughts on the five Northern governors who are not yielding to calls by the party to seek reconciliation using party mechanisms?

    It is unfortunate, if it is true that the five governors are insisting on having their way. I am not in the Governors Forum, but from what we read in the papers, the five northern governors went to Alhaji Bamanga Tukur’s house, which is a show of the fact that peace is returning, maybe because of the efforts being made by our leader, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, to bring peace among the governors. The visit they made to Rivers State is unfortunate. I would not endorse that kind of visit. We believe that, with time, the mechanisms provided by the PDP will solve these issues. Everybody is supporting Mr. President. So, he must be allowed to do his second term. Those governors with time will come back to the fold. It is like a few people who are getting lost in the bush. They will come back to the town.

    Still on the North, will there ever be one North again?

    You cannot precisely give an answer to a political situation. It is difficult to say there will be one North again because in the sixties, due to the leadership provided by Sarduana of Sokoto, from what I was told, because I was in primary school then, I woke up one day to see light and water in my home, Otukpo. Then, we had ministers from our place, but our people say these things were provided by Sarduana. And most of the people working around Sarduana, the Sunday Awoniyi’s and a number of people, were Christians. So, the picture I had as a young man then, was this man is a detribalised leader. This is the kind of leaders we are looking for. Then, the North had the concept of the North. But the times have changed and the, elders we have in the North today are not the same with Sarduana. So, I have my doubts, if the North will be one North again because of events that have occurred between 1960 and now.

    Are you saying that Prof. Ango Abdullahi and northern elders are not speaking for the generality of the people in that zone, in view of perceived anger against President Jonathan in the area?

    There could be anger in certain parts of the North. But there is no anger against Jonathan in my own Middle Belt part of the North. We support Jonathan for his second term. Every group has the fundamental right to agitate for power. The groups that are talking, the Northern Elders, Arewa, they are not political parties. They are socio-political cum cultural associations. So they probably cannot install a President. At best they are talking of supporting a candidate from the North. You don’t blame me for saying that my own people support Jonathan. This is because assuming the power comes to the North today would you tell them to concede power to the Idoma people where I come from because I am a minority in the North and Jonathan is a minority form South South. Why don’t you allow him finish his second term then after that any other group can now begin to agitate for power.

    The argument of some other groups in the North is that the North Central is not marginaliSed as alleged. They say Gowon ruled for nine years and Babangida ruled for eight years and they are from Middle Belt, whereas Yar’ Adua did two years and Shagari did four years plus three months. As such, they believe that the core North still has deficit in the power ratio.

    What about the people that were politically elected from the Northeast in the sixties?Add their own. You mentioned Gowon and Babangida, those were military Presidents. I am talking of democratically elected situation. That is what I am talking about. Gowon was there to serve the country, there was war. I fought the war as a young officer. The Idea was that we wanted the country to be united. So, if he stayed for nine years, it was because of the exigency of the situation that made him to stay there. And in Babangida’s case, it was a military time. I am talking about democratically elected President. Jonathan, having served four years, should be allowed to serve another four years. It is a very simple thing. In 2019, any group in the North can now try towards capturing power. Like you said, if it would come to the Middle Belt, by that time it would be decided by Nigerians and the political parties that are working for the good of this country. It cannot be decided by me and you. But everybody has a right to agitate, even the Northern elders, but we from the Middle Belt support Jonathan and we are saying he must do his second term. I am from the minority. With strict elections in this country, Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo, they keep winning because of numbers. God has brought us somebody from the minority who is now our President. After four years, you are asking him to go and that power should return to another place. I am saying I don’t support it as an individual. I support him doing a second term. And then, after that the power can now go to any where. Then, if we in the Middle Belt want power, we fight for it, campaign for it by telling Nigerians why power must come to us. And, if the core Northern elders want it, they have to convince Nigerians with all the available statistics as to why they want it.

     

  • ‘Mama was a big support to us’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Ali Wakili, has described the late Alhaja Abibatu Mogaji, mother of the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as a pillar of support worthy of emulation.

    The retired Comptroller of Customs recalled his days in Lagos as a Customs officer. He said the deceased ensured that traders in the state did not engage in smuggling of prohibited goods, especially textile materials and turkey.

    “She would be remembered as a crusader, who waged war against smuggling in Lagos.

    “She was a mother to all, irrespective of one’s ethnic group or religious belief,” Alhaji Wakili said.

    He added: “I am sad on the demise of Alhaja Mogaji. I pray that Almighty Allah will grant the family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.”

  • Support us to improve Ekiti, Fayemi tells opposition

    Support us to improve Ekiti, Fayemi tells opposition

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has urged members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to see his victory at the Supreme Court as a call to put aside partisan interest and support his administration in rebuilding the state.

    He spoke yesterday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, during a thanksgiving service held at the Government House chapel to mark the victory, after six years of litigation.

    Attributing his victory to God’s mercy, Fayemi said God allowed the long judicial tussle to show His mightiness and prove that though the journey may be rough and tortuous, when one is on the path of truth, there will ultimately be triumph.

    He said: “The lesson I take from this is that truth will ultimately triumph and also that God is interested in us when we go astray and pulls us back from the brink to come home and take ownership.

    “I hope my brothers and sisters on the other side of the divide will see this as a golden opportunity to join hands with this administration to take Ekiti to a greater height. That, for me, is the most important lesson we should all take away.”

    Fayemi said the victory also showed that God wanted the administration to continue the good work it started and take it to completion.

    In his sermon, the Bishop of the Ekiti Anglican Diocese, the Right Rev. Christopher Omotunde, said Fayemi’s victory was the handiwork of God, adding that the victory was not brought about by the competence of Fayemi’s legal team.

    He said God wanted His agenda to be fulfilled in the state, hence the peace that followed the verdict.

    The bishop said without peace, there would be no development.

    He urged the governor to shun sycophants and focus on developing the state.

  • Community leader seeks support

    THE Onoje of Ihuevbe-Ogben in Owan East Local Govt Area of Edo State, Chief Andrew Eboh Otokhua, has solicited the support of his people to take the community to greater heights.

    At a reception in his honour marking his installation as the Onoje of Ihievbe-Ogben, Chief Otokhina advised residents of the community to be wary of those bent on margilising and denying them of their rights. While calling on the indigenes to remain united and formidable as the biblical Israelites who conquered the world through a small nation, he reminded them that their resolve to make their community better economically and politically should be their guiding philosophy. He also admonished thoem them to hold on to God. Chief Otokhina was installed on February 25.

     

  • Kano to support all-season farming

    The Kano State gvernment says it is determined to support dry and wet season farming to boost agricultural production in the state.

    The state Commissioner for Commerce, Dr Damburam Abubakar, made the pledge at a sensitisation programme on new technologies for tomatoes drying held at Kura export production village, near Kano.

    Abubakar said the state government had placed high premium on the initiative of tomato drying, and urged the farmers to patronise the exercise for the good of the society.

    According to him, the initiative will enhance food production as well as boost the income of the farmers.

    In his speech, chairman of the export village, Alhaji Wada Kura, praised the government for its support and assured of the cooperation of farmers.

     

  • Fed Govt to support Olubadan’s 100th year

    Fed Govt to support Olubadan’s 100th year

    President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday congratulated the Olubadanof Ibadan, Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade, on his 99th birthday.

    In a statement by his media aide, Mr. Reuben Abati, Jonathan said: “On behalf of myself, my family, the Federal Government and Nigerians, I wish the Olubadan a happy birthday celebration.

    “Oba Odulana has used his immense experience, knowledge and wisdom for the benefit of his people since he assumed the ancient throne. May God Almighty, who has already blessed the Olubadan with such extraordinary longevity, grant him many more years of good health and commendable service to his community and the nation.

    “I join 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.

    “I assure Oba Odugade and the people of Ibadan of the Federal Government’s support for the celebration planned to commemorate the landmark occasion, which fortuitously coincides with Nigeria’s centenary year celebration.”

    Also yesterday, the call for the creation of Ibadan State out of the present Oyo State returned to the front burner. The Bishop of Oke Ogun Anglican Diocese, Rev. Solomon Amusan urged the people to remain committed to the demand.

    Rev. Amusan urged the people to build a new palace in honour of Oba Odugade.

    He spoke at the Oba’s Monatan Palace at the thanksgiving service marking the Oba’s 99th birthday.

    The cleric said the people have a lot to do to ensure the creation of Ibadan State.

    He said: “I urge sons and daughters of Ibadan to take the struggle for the creation of Ibadan State seriously. The creation of Ibadan State is long overdue and we should do all within our capacity to bring it to reality.

    “The people of Ibadan should rally round to build a befitting palace for the Olubadan. This will be a great mark of honour. Those of us who know what the Olubadan has passed through and what he stood for, know that the fact that he is alive at 99 is the grace of God.

    “The Olubadan is a straightforward, disciplined, honest and trustworthy person. He is a man of extreme immunity and a student of the Bible.”

    The Bishop of Ibadan Diocese Anglican Communion, Rt. Rev. Segun Okubadejo, who prayed for the monarch and Ibadanland, said Ibadan has witnessed remarkable development under Oba Odugade.

    Dignitaries at the occasion included Bishop Wale Oke of the Sword of Spirit Ministry; Right Rev Amusan, the Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland, Alhaji Abdulazeez Arisekola Alao; Chief Lekan Balogun; Chief Eddy Oyewole; Chief Lekan Alabi; Chief Tunde Aboderin; Olubadan’s children; Prof. Lana and Mrs. Sade Bankole.

    The Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII) presented the 99th anniversary cake and gifts to the Oba Odugade.