The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Uhuru

  • Well done Rohr but it is not yet uhuru

    SIR: SUPER Eagles head coach Gernot Rohr is currently the man of the moment after his wards beat Argentina 4-2 in Krasnodar, forcing the rest of the world to recognise the team, as happened in 1994. Coming on the back of a qualification campaign that saw the Eagles emerge from the group of death undefeated, Rohr is seen as the long-awaited messiah Nigerian football has been waiting for.

    To add the icing to the cake, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) has also got its act together, organising friendlies, sorting out training facilities well in advance and above all signing a bonus payment agreement with the players. For the first time since 1994, we have s semblance of organisation, a well-organised team and are hopeful of success going to the World Cup.

    What is most gratifying is that for the first time in a long while, we are seeing semblance of proper organisation on the pitch. No longer are we just a team of 11 talented individuals, everyone works hard to retrieve the ball, there is team spirit and we defend as a cohesive unit.

    Rohr has been particularly fortunate that over the last few months, several youngsters have come to the fore and been at his disposal. However, his inexplicable attachment to players like Akpeyi, Ezenwa, Echiejile, Musa and to a lesser extend John Ogu, despite the fact that they are not good enough to compete at this level, could become Nigeria’s downfall in Russia. I am of the view that the coach should be given the free hand to pick his team as he deems fit but like everything else in life, there has got to be limits to liberties.

    As things stand, it is not yet uhuru despite the spirited display and convincing win against Argentina. Yes, we have filled a few holes on the team but that should not blind us to its obvious shortcomings, which need to be fixed ahead of June next year.

    For starters, he needs to find targetman and I am perplexed as to why the likes of Olanrewaju Kayode, Victor Osimhen and Taiwo Awoniyi have not been battling it out for the number nine jersey of late.

    With Odion Ighalo injured, Rohr should have used the last two matches to discover which of them is best suited to the role of holding the ball up, playing with his back to goal and ploughing a lone furrow upfront. Given that he is only likely to take two targetmen to Russia, Rohr is not taking this matter seriously enough.

    The main priority facing Rohr now is uncovering a playmaker who can fulfil that vital role of opening up stubborn defences, playing one-twos on the edge of the area and delver defence-splitting passes. Without both playmakers, who skippered their teams to emphatic victories, Denmark and Croatia would have struggled against stubborn defences. Nigeria needs a similar player who can thread balls through to Victor Moses and the targetman and who can spot runs in wide positions by the likes of Ebuehi and Idowu come the big dance.

    For now, it appears that Alex Iwobi lacks the physicality for that role, Mikel no longer has the legs and Oghene Etebo is more comfortable as a holding midfielder.

    Rohr has six months to find a playmaker or if we want to be realistic, he has to find one by March and get him to play in the two friendlies during the Fifa window.  I would start off by suggesting the teenage sensation Kelechi Nwakali, currently on loan to VVV Venlo in Holland from Arsenal but other candidates can also be looked at.

    At the back too, our “Oyibo Wall” of Leon Balogun and Ekong has been solid but against Argentina, it exposed flaws that we did not know existed. For instance, for the first time, I noticed that Balogun can be susceptible to pace on the counter-attack and will struggle against pacy forwards.

    In addition, we know also know that both players struggle to distribute the ball effectively out of defence. Rohr should not allow them to become too comfortable due to the lack of competition, so should look for other quality centrebacks.

    In a nutshell, thanks to the emergence of Uzoho, Ebuehi and Idowu we no longer have a crisis in the goalkeeping and fullback positions, however, if we want to make an impact in Russia, we still need to find a targetman and a playmaker.

     

    • Ayo Akinfe

     <ayoakinfe@gmail.com>

  • Not yet Uhuru

    •Only justice can guarantee peace and true freedom in a divided Kenya

    Once again, there is another episode to illustrate the underdevelopment of Africa. Kenya, a sub-regional leader in the continent has demonstrated just why the world has little respect for the black man. The election of August, and the fresh presidential election ordered and conducted in October have shown that the electoral system is flawed and leaders continue to device tricks to hold on to power at all cost. The leading candidates are not new to each other, as Uhuru Kenyatta of the Jubilee Party, and Railla Odinga of ODM, went to the polls, both believing they stood a good chance of securing victory. But, the infamous incumbency factor that has been the bane of credible elections in most countries on the continent was used by President Kenyatta to manipulate the process.

    However, Odinga approached the Supreme Court that found merit in the petition and annulled the poll to the discomfiture of the President and his supporters. Since then, as has been the case in almost all elections in Kenya since she obtained independence in 1963, the polity has been troubled. The international community is watching closely and further steps taken have threatened the stability and peace of the East African country. The repeat election in October, boycotted by the main opposition leader, Odinga, proved a mistake with only a third of the almost 20,000 voters turning up at the polling units. At best, the mandate Kenyatta won was fractured and inadequate to give him legitimacy.

    The resignation, just before the repeat election, of Roselyn Akombe, a member of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), the inability of the Supreme Court to sit before the repeat election owing to inability to form a quorum, the withdrawal of monitors, and, especially the decision of Odinga to boycott the presidential poll all combined to rob the election of the desired credibility.

    This is a time for the political gladiators to think of the future of their country and close ranks. Kenya has not really known political stability since independence as the founding fathers, Jomo Kenyatta and Jaramogi Oginga Odinga were at each other’s throat till Uhuru’s father died in 1979. Both the older Kenyatta and his successor, Arap Moi, were intolerant of opposition. The bad blood has continued to haunt the political scene as their sons inherited the hatred and mobilised along the fault line of ethnicity. Ethnic and religious plurality are not enough to rob a country of unity, progress and development.

    Kenya, like Nigeria, is a potentially strong country. If the leaders realise the need to promote the spirit of patriotism and nationalism, Kenya could yet be the catalyst of growth in East and, by extension, central Africa. Uhuru Kenyatta, despite what happened in the wake of the previous election and the current, should begin to see himself as an elder statesman. He should be conciliatory and stand on the side of truth. The October election was a sham. The President should see himself as father of the nation and do nothing to stand in the way of justice. The fearless judiciary should be allowed to do its job, while, if the court so decides, the election should be yet again repeated, but not without acceding to the demand of the opposition for dissolution of the compromised election commission and its reconstitution with tested and truly neutral Kenyans.

    We call on the Supreme Court justices, as they prepare to hear and determine the fresh case filed by Odinga, to remain fearless and look strictly into the merit of the case. President Kenyatta has a duty to protect their lives. The international community, too, should exert pressure on the Kenyan leader to uphold the tenets of democracy, allow institutions of state to function professionally. All should realise that, where men fail, history is an impartial judge and will in due course deliver its verdict.

  • Once more Uhuru

    Elections in Kenya have the frills of a simulated war. They are hugely expensive undertakings, and so, it fits the billing that the just-concluded 2017 general election was reported to have depleted that country’s treasury by 49.9billion Kenyan shillings, KSh, (about $480million) in public spending. That is not counting private expenditures by political actors that saw the cumulative cost line topping $1billion – making the poll reputedly Africa’s most expensive on cost-per-voter basis.

    Kenyan elections are also typically not without collateral costs in lives and limbs. And the 2017 poll did not by any stretch come short of that profile. Barely two weeks to the August 8 voting day, the head of Information, Communication and Technology at the country’s poll regulator known as the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Christopher Msando, went missing. Few days later, the mutilated body of Msando, who was the mastermind of the country’s new electronic voting system, was discovered on the outskirts of the capital city, Nairobi, alongside that of an equally mutilated 21-year-old female: a condition which left no one in doubt that they were both tortured and murdered. Those deaths are ostensibly being investigated presently by relevant Kenyan agencies, with the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Britain’s Scotland Yard having offered help with the probe.

    Among other cases of pre-election violence was the July 29 siege on Kenyan Deputy President William Ruto’s house by a local man armed with a machete. Although Ruto and his family were said to be away at the time, the assailant laid siege on the house for some 18hours, holding hostage and eventually killing the guard on duty. Kenyan Police special forces subsequently showed up and shot the attacker dead. But it rankled with some members of the public that a single assailant armed with mere machete could sustain his siege for all of that time before being neutralised by security agents. Also, there were reports that a couple of days before the poll, a dressed coffin was dumped at night in the middle of main carriageway in Nairobi’s central business district, inducing mortal dread in city residents.

    Election Day and post-election skirmishes were all but predictable. Besides isolated disruptions of the voting process, there was the case of a politician said to be kidnapped by unknown persons on his way to report alleged irregularities that he witnessed at a vote-tallying centre. Also, a Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) student was reported killed by some knife-wielding marauders during an attack on a constituency tallying centre. And in the course of results collation, Al Jazeera broadcast network, among others, reported at least five persons killed in wildcat protests that trailed a post-facto claim by Opposition contender Raila Odinga that the IEBC’s database was hacked and emerging results manipulated to favour incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta. The poll regulator, in response, admitted an unsuccessful attempt to hack its IT system. “Hacking was attempted but it did not succeed,” IEBC chair, Wafula Chebukati, told journalists in the capital city.

    But with those sticking points in the elections last week by which Kenyan voters returned Kenyatta to a second, and by law his final term of five years, there were bright spots showing the country as embedding its electoral system in democracy’s global best practice. The East African nation, to begin with, seems resolutely down the road away from ethnicity-stoked tailspin of post-election violence: the kind that trailed its December 2007 poll and in which more than 1,000 people died, with hundreds of thousands more getting displaced from their homes. And then, all the foreign observer missions to the 2017 Kenyan elections adjudged the poll remarkably fair and the outcomes credible.

    Fears that the historically tribal disposition of Kenyan politics potentiated the country for another flare-up of violence had moved former US President Barack Obama, fathered by a Kenyan, to make a resonant appeal for calm ahead of the August 8 poll whose presidential ticket pitted 55-year-old Uhuru, from the Kikuyu ethnic stock, against 72-year-old Raila from arch-rival Luo stock. But other than spot outbursts of rage in Nairobi and the port city of Kisumu, Raila’s hometown, where supporters momentarily hit the streets to protest alleged tampering of the election outcome; and in the market city of Garissa, north-east Kenya, where loyalists of rival county (equivalent of Nigerian state) governorship contenders faced off over their candidates, Kenyans for most part buckled down on not going the route of the 2007-2008 carnage anymore.

    There were other exemplary features of the latest Kenyan elections. Citizens of the country have always seem typically zestful about exercising their franchise, and the voter turnout in last week’s poll made the cut as uniquely high in comparison to other countries. Official statistics posted a turnout of some 15.2million voters, representing 76.8 percent of the registered 19.7million electorate. In percentage terms, this turnout contrasted luminously with Nigeria’s 43.6 percent in the 2015 presidential poll, and the 54 percent that was recorded in 2011. Actually, voter turnout has stayed shy of 60 percent in all elections in this Fourth Republic of Nigerian democracy. In sheer quantum terms though, Nigerian voter turnout is higher, given an electorate population that is officially indicated as lately topping 71million.

    Also exemplary in the Kenyan poll is the case of a one-time bodyguard to parliamentarians who himself has now won a seat in the Parliament. According to reports by Kenya’s The Daily Nation, the former police officer trounced the incumbent candidate for Kitui East constituency seat, and will now join the man whom he used to guard as an equal after they were both elected members of the new National Assembly.

    Also, a 23-year-old university student emerged the country’s youngest MP after beating veteran politicians to win the parliamentary seat for Igembe South. He was reported to have achieved the feat despite running a modest campaign by walking from door to door in his constituency. “My joy is that the people of the constituency realised that even the young generation can lead. I would like to confess that I did not use even a single coin, everything came from people here,” John Paul Mwirigi was reported saying, adding that his win was a lesson to young people they don’t need a fat bank account to win political office. He is utterly right – where the people’s will invariably prevails.

    And there were reports of a woman who fought off a stiff call from her first-born son to regain her parliamentary seat for Bomet East constituency in south-west Kenya. Beatrice Kones had lost the seat in the 2013 election, and her return bid was challenged by her son, Kalya Kones, whom she alleged to have been sponsored by the region‘s former governor for selfish gains. “I wonder how the governor would feel if somebody sponsored his son to run against him,” she was reported saying. But her son, who came fourth in the poll, said his mother had promised in 2013 to support his bid this year, and that it was time to pursue his dreams. “I have no personal differences with her. We have not quarrelled and there are no disputes away from politics. She remains my good mother,” Kalya told the media ahead of voting.

    It was also reported that up to three female candidates crossed the finishing line ahead of other contenders in the county governorship races. In particular, Charity Ngilu won the Kitui governorship and celebrated her victory by throwing a feast for residents where she personally served the tables. The 2017 Kenyan poll was by all accounts a pageant of democracy worthy of emulation by other countries, Nigeria inclusive.

     

  • ‘Not yet ‘Uhuru’ for Plateau United’

    Plateau United head coach, Zachary Barajes has said there is work to be done before his side can climb out of the murky waters of relegation.

    The Tin City side pipped Abia Warriors 1-0 in Sunday’s NPFL matchday 25 clash at the Umuahia Township Stadium.

    Substitute Ibeh Johnson scored the match winner for the Jos landlords as they notched their first away win in the 25-week-old top-flight.

    Baraje said he will build on the away win to ensure his side win more matches.

    “We are not completely out of the relegation zone. The outcome of the next match against Akwa United will decide whether we have achieved the breakthrough or not, but that aside we are really happy about the win at Abia Warriors and our first on the road this season.

    Teams are tightly parked on the league log; any small slip and you will find yourself way down the base so there is no celebration or relaxation right now.

    “We will definitely build on the success to ensure we win our next match against Akwa United and other matches.

    “Neither side played particularly well, but I think my match plan worked as we tried to frustrate them, then look for a small opening to throw the killer punch.

    “The key thing is that we are heading home with three points ” said the former Akwa United and Enyimba coach to supersport.com.

    The away win at Abia Warriors takes Plateau United’s points haul to 29 from 24 matches.

  • Not yet Uhuru

    Not yet Uhuru

    Say oh Lord! The Sovereign of all dominions! You bestow power to whomever You wish and withdraw power from whomever You wish; You exalt whomever You wish and abase whomever you wish; In Your Hand lies all that is GOOD. You embed the night into the day and the day into the night; You bring forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living. You grant sustenance to whomever you wish beyond reckoning” Q. 3: 26-27

    Life is like a horse that surrenders itself to humans for riding. If it surrenders itself to you today do not be reckless in riding it. You may become the horse for life to ride on tomorrow. Nights are pregnant. They invariably give birth to wonders during the days. All pleasant or unpleasant events found in the records of history were conceived in the night. The belly of nights is a mystery that cannot be easily explained through the successes or failures of human dreams.

    Man is a mere spectator watching the environmental drama going on around him in the theatre of life. He only reacts to that drama randomly as it affects his immediate interest. The main actor in that drama is the phenomenon called destiny. And the only antidote for the poison that destiny may sometimes constitute in the life of man is to be firmly clad in the armour of faith.

     

    Rein of power

    In history, great empires and nations have reputation for rising to the peak of their glory at a time. They are also known for falling unexpectedly to the abyss of life’s dungeon at another time when they might have reached the elasticity limit of their power wielding. And as it is with nations so it is with rulers. In this, what obtained in the past still obtains in the present. This confirms that humans are like flakes of history they rise today and fall tomorrow according to the dictates of momentary tempest.

    Nigeria is fortunate as a nation to be endowed with large-hearted men and women who take it as a duty to further enhance that rare fortune.

    “The occurrences of life, as you can see them, change from time to time like weather. A person gladdened today may be saddened tomorrow”. In that circumstance, how much a man is able to cope with the harshness of life largely depends on the treatment he gave clemency when the latter was at his disposal. Yet the world surges ahead without looking back at actions or reactions that dot the various circumstances of life. Thus, within the twinkling of an eye, the Almighty Allah may change many things in human life to the amazement of man.

     

    Heroes and Villains

    Among the rare, large-hearted men with whom Nigeria is endowed today are two principal personalities (President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and President-elect Muhammadu Buhari) in the recently concluded presidential election. The one is gallant enough in vanquishness to concede defeat while the other is magnanimous enough in victory to embrace his political rival. Thus, with their large hearts, the great duo has saved Nigeria of a hitherto impending calamity that would have afflicted the country and probably spelt her final doom.

    That election has thrown up some heroes with historic fame just as it has exposed some villains with indelible notoriety. One of the great heroes of this time is Prof Attahiru Muhammadu Jega who served as the chief umpire (Chairman) of the Independent National Electoral Commission in the historic election. His comportment and display of maturity, civility and experience was a saving grace against the truncation of the democratic process at very delicate stage of the presidential election.

    The chief villain in this case is the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Sulaiman Abba, whose viciously avowed partisanship throughout the 2015 electoral process has further dented the image of the police. Posterity will take care of the heroes and the villains.

    Efficacy of prayer

    At a time in Nigeria when the elasticity of hardship unleashed by the country’s leadership was fast approaching its elasticity limit, we, Nigerian Muslims and Christians raised up our hands in prayer to the Almighty Allah to grant us a leader who would truly and sincerely serve the nation rather than someone who would turn himself into a master to be served by the nation. This was in response to Allah’s covenant with mankind when He said: “And when my servants ask you (Prophet Muhammad (SAW) about me, tell them that I am very close to them and I answer the prayer of any well intentioned seeker if he/she seeks my favour. Let such seekers trust in my ability and willingness to accept prayers so that they may be guided aright”. Q. 2: 186

    Based on the above, we raised up our hand in prayer thus:

    “Oh Allah! Give us a leader who will know that the greatest wealth of a nation is her human resources and develop such wealth for the future of the Nigeria. Imbue us with a leader who will know the meaning of education and therefore give our schools and Universities priority in government policies. Appoint a leader for us who will who will be a good example for the country, abiding by the law and not choosing which of the court rulings to obey. We pray for a leader who will hold security of lives and property sacrosanct, not one who will be indifferent when his personal interest is not affected.

     

    Give us a leader

    Give us a leader who will sincerely stand by his oath of office and not one who will rule by his wills and caprices on the basis of religious bias and ethnic sentiment to the detriment of the constitution.

    We pray for a leader who will not crudely and greedily discard certain provisions of the constitution in a desperate bid to rule us despotically forever. We pray for a leader who will see himself as a servant rather than a master of the nation and therefore address the citizenry with due respect in decency and gentleman’s language.

    We pray for a leader who will be just enough to spread the privileges and opportunities in the land across board without treating non-members of his political party or religious belief or ethnic clan as enemies to be kept at bay. We pray for a leader who will not destroy the legitimacy of his leadership and start running away from his own shadow at the tail end of his tenure. And, finally, we pray for a leader who will be large-hearted enough to be gallant in defeat and magnanimous in victory; not one who will be so vindictive as to play tribes against tribes, unions against unions and Muslims against Christians.

    We believe that the leadership qualities for which we are hereby praying are those that embody civilisation in all its ramifications. And, we are confident that You will be merciful with us in accepting this prayer. Here we are at your door oh! Allah, raising up our hands to You in prayer and placing our final hope on You without an iota of doubt. Kindly appoint for us a leader who will be loved and admired by all and not one whose natural trade in stock is hidden hatred and open indignation. To You we pray oh! Allah and from You alone we expect mercy.

     

    Oliver asks for more

    With the latest political development in Nigeria today, we believe fervently that our prayer has been divinely accepted. And we thank the Almighty Allah for this wonderful gesture. But like Oliver Twist in Charles Dickens’ novel, we shall ask for more as follows:

    Oh Allah! Please, guide our leaders aright and endow them with wisdom knowledge and equanimity with which to sail our shaky ship through the stormy sea of life. Enrich our leaders in conscience and in faith that they may know the evil effect of greed and distance themselves from it. Imbue them with the spirit of truthfulness, contentment, meekness and justice that the strong and the weak alike may free from becoming victims of injustice through tribalism, nepotism and religious discrimination. Give those leaders the courage with which to fight corruption and deal with corrupt elements in the land. We pray to You oh Allah and we believe that like the earlier prayer You will also accept this. Otherwise, it can be concluded that the current situation of Nigeria, despite the pleasant change experienced so far, there is yet no reason to claim Uhuru.

     

    MUSWEN’s gratitude messages

    Meanwhile, the Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN) has issued a press release to show gratitude to Allah for accepting the series of prayers led by that apex body of the Southwest Muslim organisations. It went as follows:

    “If you are grateful, We (Allah) will surely grant you more (of Our favours) …”(Q 14:7). Coming from Allah (to Whom be all praise), those words of guidance and assurance should serve as Reminder and Incentive for the whole of our nation.

    The Muslim Ummah of South West Nigeria (MUSWEN) cannot afford to wait any longer before congratulating the entire Nigerian nation on Allah’s quick and full response to our prayers for FREE, FAIR, CREDIBLE and PEACEFUL elections. Despite all pessimism arising from our past experiences, Allah has granted us a presidential election that had all the features of FREEDOM, FAIRNESS and CREDIBILITY as well as those of PEACE. The eyes of the whole world were on us and, by the special grace of Allah, we did not disappoint them.

    We congratulate the humble winner, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari on his resilience and his humility even in victory. But we also congratulate Mr. President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan on being such an honourable loser. His statesmanlike gestures in conceding victory to Major-General Buhari even before the announcement of the last results, and in appealing to his own supporters to accept the verdict of the people deserve acknowledgement and kudos.

    Obviously, the commendable role of Prof Attahiru Jega and his team at INEC in bringing about this success is by no means a mean one. Allah has used them as worthy instruments to bring about free, fair and credible elections the first set of which has been concluded. We congratulate them too.

    However, it is the people of Nigeria who are the ultimate victors, by the special grace of Allah. They are the ones who have thus been saved from potential danger the kind of which usually characterised past elections.

    We appeal to the people of this nation to reflect profoundly so that we may see the success of the elections as a mark of Allah’s favour and His merciful response to our prayers. It is only then that we would truly deserve further favours from Allah as promised by Him in the above statement. And obviously, we do need further grace from Him, particularly for the success of the elections of April 11.

    So, as MUSWEN congratulates the nation on this great event in the history of our country, we urge all Nigerians to continue with our prayers with the trust that Allah will respond favourably as He did to our previous prayers.

    Prof Dawud O. S. Noibi OBE, FISN, FIAC

    Executive Secretary, MUSWEN

  • Akwa Ibom: Not yet uhuru for Emmanuel

    Akwa Ibom: Not yet uhuru for Emmanuel

    An ex parte order and a petition appear to have become obstacles in the quest of former Akwa Ibom State Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Udom Emmanuel, to fly the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in next February’s elections, writes OLUKOREDE YISHAU.

    When names of governorship candidates are submitted by political parties to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) later this week, the name of Udom Emmanuel, former Akwa Ibom State Secretary to the State Government (SSG), is bound to be missing, unless the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Adamu Mu’azu does not mind being jailed for contempt of court. Last Thursday, Justice Y. Halilu of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) restrained Mu’azu and the PDP from submitting Emmanuel’s name or the name of any other person as the winner of the PDP governorship primary in Akwa Ibom State. After giving the order, Justice Halilu adjourned the substantive suit till January 5, 2015 because of the Christmas and New Year break.

    Until then, the propriety or otherwise of the December 8 primary in which Emmanuel was declared winner is suspect.

    The kernel of the suit filed by a PDP chieftain and governorship aspirant, Ime Effiong Ekanem, is also the subject of a petition by the 22 PDP governorship aspirants to Mua’zu and the PDP leadership. The petition dated December 9 described the primary, which produced Emmanuel, though broadcast live on television, as a “sham” and “scam”.

    In the petition, the aspirants, which include two men who served Governor Godswill Akpabio as deputy, Nsima Ekere and Patrick Ekpotu, said the primary violated the party’s rule on accreditation of delegates. They said no delegate was accredited at the venue of the primary, adding that they were told by the chairman of the Electoral Panel that the accreditation of delegates was done at the Government House, where the delegates were conveyed in buses to the venue of the poll. They alleged that unqualified persons were smuggled into the venue as delegates, thus rubbishing the process. The non-accreditation of delegates, they said, broke the 19th paragraph of the Electoral guidelines.

    The aggrieved men said the delegates’ list was contrived because there was no proper election of delegates from the ward level on November 1.

    Another issue the aggrieved have against Emmanuel’s emergence is that delegates were not given ballot papers in public glare to vote during the election. They said the delegates arrived the venue with already marked ballot papers and only deposited them in the boxes when it was time to vote.  They also alleged that their agents were not accredited to be part of the exercise. Their prayer to the court and the party is simple: cancel the exercise.

    They said: “It is our prayer that the fraudulent exercise, herein complained of, be nullified for the sake of the party’s credibility and a transparent process be deployed for the emergence of a gubernatorial candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in Akwa Ibom State.

    “The enormity of a combination of the above irregularities on the entire Gubernatorial Primary Election and the ultimate fortunes of the party in  general election cannot be over emphasized. We believe that your intervention , can save us from the avoidable cataclysm we are won’t to face if this fraud is condoned.”

    Instituting a court case after petitioning the party and the Appeal Panel, said a source, was borne out of their belief that they might not get justice from the party, which agreed with Akpabio to zone the governorship to Eket when elders such as former Governor Victor Attah and former Minister Don Etiebet were calling for open contest.

    The group, which has visited the Wadata House headquarter of the party severally to register their grievances, said they have only received “minimal attention” from the party’s leadership. This, said Ekanem, was why he headed for the court, adding that the PDP has not found it necessary to address their grievances with the urgency it requires given the time limit allowed by the Electoral Act for candidates to be forwarded to INEC.

    He said: “I cannot allow the will of majority of Akwa Ibom people to be swept under the carpet as if they do no matter. Democracy is the government of the people by the people. Therefore, we will not allow a few people to impose their will against the interest and the overall good of the people.

    “It is the will of the good people of Akwa Ibom that the process of electing their leaders must be transparent, credible and civil. That was not what was witnessed on December 8 in Uyo. We say no to a system that attempts to subvert the will of the people. This struggle is not our personal struggle but that of every Nigerian who believes in democracy, in the purity of its meaning and essence.”

    Akpabio has continued to insist the process which produced Emmanuel was transparent. He congratulated the Chairman of the Electoral Panel of PDP, Mr. Bola Ayebowale and members of the PDP for a successful conduct of the primaries, adding that Emmanuel’s victory was assured.

    The governor said more than 99 per cent of PDP faithful in the state came out to vote, stressing that the state would do the same by giving President Goodluck Jonathan their full support in 2015. Akpabio added that the transparency of the election was an indication that peace thrives in the state.

    Emmanuel said the people have ushered him into the next level, thanking Akpabio and the people for coming out en-mass to support him. He lauded the PDP for the peaceful conduct of the primary.

    Oyebowale also said the process was transparent, explaining that PDP believes in a level-playing ground for all aspirants.

    By their suit and petition, the aspirants have queried the process Oyebowale, Akpabio and Emmanuel have spoken so glowingly about. Will the court agree with them? That will be known on January 5. But until then and as a result of the injunction, the PDP cannot present a valid candidate from Akwa Ibom State to INEC. Doing so will mean risking having Mua’zu committed to the prison.

    The waiting game has started and while many will be busy enjoying the Christmas and New Year break, the aggrieved aspirants and the governor’s camp will be busy perfecting how to convince the judge to look their way.

  • Power supply: Not yet uhuru

    SIR: Let me start by accepting that the level of power supply in Nigeria by the present administration is better than what obtained in previous administrations. Nonetheless, one cannot say it is yet uhuru in the sector given the level of power supply in the country.

    Right from Nigeria’s independence, power supply has been a major problem. It has been tales of woes in the sector. All the  past and present leaders keep promising Nigerians  stable power supply but the more they talk, the less  Nigerians enjoy power supply.

    In his inaugural speech President Goodluck Jonathan noted that “the era of lamentation in the power sector is over”. This was widely reported in the print and electronic media. Since then however, it has been lamentation upon lamentation in the sector. If all  the talk about the  amount of megawatts being put into the national grid  is matched  with action, epileptic power supply in the country  would have been a  thing of the past by now. One is not saying that the president is not keeping his promise, but simply put, there is too much talking without corresponding results and that is not what Nigerians want.

    Nigerians are paying for electricity not consumed as PHCN officials these days have adopted the estimated billing system for consumers. It is no longer news that for a whole month one pays for light, the consumer enjoys power supply for only one or two days.

    Recently, it was reported in most newspapers that there was going to be power outage  in Abuja  on a particular Saturday as  PHCN officials were to work on one of  the  transmission stations in Katampe.

    The question that readily came to mind was: what of other days that residents of the Federal Capital Territory don’t enjoy power supply? Do the PHCN officials work on the transmission station on such days?  On that particular Saturday, there was no light in most parts of Abuja.  Was it to imply that work was still on-going or what has PHCN got to offer? In Abuja, most   residents use alternative sources to powers their homes because of epileptic power supply.

    My humble appeal is that the present administration should talk less and ensure steady power supply to citizenry because power is the bedrock of national development. The time for action is now.

    • Awunah Pius Terwase

    Abuja.

     

  • Not yet Uhuru for construction

    Not yet Uhuru for construction

    The construction sector is yet to realise its potential, despite Nigeria’s huge infrastructure deficit. Over the last three decades, according to a research by Vetiva, crop production, crude oil production, wholesale and retail have recorded a 27-year Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 28 per cent, 29 per cent and 26 per cent, while the sector’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew at CAGR of 21 per cent during the same period. It is, therefore, evident that Nigeria is far behind in the construction sector. Below are the developments that have taken place in the past three months, writes OKWY IROEGBU-CHIKEZIE.

    The Federal Government has made good its promise of building a second Niger Bridge linking Asaba, Delta State capital, with the Southeast and Southsouth. It has mobilised the contractor with N100 million, which according to the Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, is for ‘procurement’.

    The ministry has also reconstructed the ‘Bridge Head’ in Onitsha, the Anambra State commercial hub. But, the drains, unfortunately, are filled with sand and refuse which, if not cleared before the rains start, will exacerbate flooding in the state, according to scientific predictions.

    Last week,  road contracts worth N47.8 billion were awarded by the Federal Government for 13 roads across the country.

    The minister said though the contracts were awarded at the end of last year, the contractors were only mobilised to site last January. Some of the roads are in Cross River, Benue, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi states. The Port Harcourt/Enugu Road has become an albatross for the government as the patch-up work executed  by the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) at some portions have not offered succour to those who ply the highway. Users of the road are clamouring for its total overhaul and reconstruction.

    After the cancellation of the concession agreement on Lagos/Ibadan Expressway last year, observers had expected that the contract would have been awarded to a competent contractor. But, to their dismay, nothing has been done to allay the fears of the public on the fate of road users in the first quarter.

    The East/West Road in the Niger Delta is also not free from controversy.Allegations of insufficient funding and sacking of incompetent contractors delayed its unveiling in the first quarter. It is hoped that those in charge would do the needful and deliver the project on schedule.

    The restiveness in the northern part of the country has equally delayed projects or made  contractors to abandon them as they are abducted and killed indiscriminately by the ‘terrorist’gangs.

    Observers said except the activities of terrorists are curtailed, roads in the zone may be worse for it.

    The rumoured near collapse of the third Mainland Bridge was also dispelled as the Federal Government dispatched bridge experts to investigate the alleged tremor on the bridge, which was given a clean bill of health.

     

    Housing

    Nigeria with a population of over 160 million, advertising the construction of  8,069 houses  with 58,632 persons as beneficiaries and the supposed 1,703 projects on ongoing, is not only ridiculous but alsoa far cry from national demand. One of the key achievements of the ministry recently, is the review and approval of new housing policy and the drive to deliver housing through public-private partnership (PPP).

    On the heels of this, the ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development is partnering with the private sector to seek alternative housing models, such as dry housing construction models and form technology, which has the capacity to produce high number of units in the shortest possible time. The minister said her ministry is working tirelessly to create an enabling environment for developers to operate by asking state government to built infrastructure that will aid the private sector to operate.

    To underscore the seriousness of the government, the Land, Housing and Urban Development Minister, Ama Pepple, in Abuja vowed not to inaugurate any estate project with less than 500 housing units. She said it was necessary if meaningful contributions towards reducing the nation’s huge housing deficit are to be achieved.

    Similarly, Pepple restated her commitment to the provision of low-cost housing for the teeming populace. To accomplish this, she said she had started discussions with state governments to make land available for the construction of low-cost housing units across the states of the federation.

    “The challenge of providing affordable houses to our teeming population has continued to engage the attention of this administration. We have re-energised and re-focused, but we do have challenges relating to cost of land, cost of building materials and the cost of interest on mortgages that make it difficult for houses to be cheaper than what they are today,” she said.

    But stakeholders are of the opinion that with all the challenges enumerated by the minister in the housing sector it may yet be a while before appreciable success can be recorded in the sector.

    However, a fortnight ago, the Federal Government approved N1 billion for the upgrading of slums in Kano, Lagos, Rivers, Kogi and Abia states to improve the quality of housing and living standards of  the majority of the people in the country.

    She revealed that the ministry is running a housing census with a firm with a view to having an accurate data on the nation’s housing deficit and regretted that the government does not have a reliable data to ascertain the actual gap in the housing stock of the nation.

     

    Environment

    Nigerians are still waiting for carefully thought out national environment policies especially action plan on climate change. Officials from the ministry have attended international conferences on environment and the public are waiting anxiously to see the implementation of negotiations from such world foras.

    Some schools of thought believe the Federal Ministry of Environment may just exist in name with nothing to show for it. Their impacts were only felt in press clips during the massive flooding of some states. Conversely, Lagos State has held international conferences on climate change where experts presented papers with the fifth in the series held last month.

    The state went to the extent of forming climate change clubs in secondary schools and spreading its good news of climate change mitigating tactics amongst all strata of the citizenry. It also formed advocacy groups to reach target audience, such as traders, artisans and others which is not the same at the federal level.

     

    Water/sanitation

    The government has done very little in this sector as the majority of the urban dwellers depend on boreholes as a major source of water supply while the rural dwellers depend largely on streams and non-safe water sources for their domestic use.

    This lack-lustre attitude of the Federal Government was evident when the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, at an event in Plateau State assured participants that the challenges facing the water sector in the country would be over by 2025 without giving the basis for such assumption.

    The inadequacy or lack of safe water and improved sanitation services in the country is manifested in the prevalence of water and sanitation related disease such as diarrhea, which results from poor sanitary/hygiene habits and consumption of water of poor quality.

    It is the second major cause of infant mortality after malaria and the third major cause of under-five mortality.

    The prevalence of diarrhea is higher in the rural setting than urban areas and in the northern zones than the south. Reports say an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 diarrhea-related deaths occur among children below five each year.

    One major problem in this sector is the wide disparity between the demand for water and sanitation.

    Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) studies reveal a wide disparity in the priority ranking of water supply and sanitation by communities where water is considered the topmost priority of most communities and pit latrines (as an indicator for sanitation demand) is viewed as the least problem.