Why is Ibrahim Babangida Running for Office?

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Read Time:5 Minute, 13 Second

Wonders, according to conventional wisdom, will never cease. Some nights ago, I was lying down on the sofa and watching the television. Then this gentleman appeared on television and began to interview people about why “IBB was running for office?” The responses were quite interesting and I present them here. Continue reading

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Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Dora Akunyili urges journalists to be courageous

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Read Time:2 Minute, 23 Second

The Minister of Information and Communication, Dora Akunyili, on Thursday asked journalists to promote “the courage to publish the truth and perish” and make it a professional canon.

Mrs. Akunyili said this as the special guest of honour, at a media stakeholders’ debate titled “150 years of journalism, how far?”

The debate was organised by the Lagos chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) to commemorate the 2010 Press Week.

As the 2011 general elections approach, Mrs. Akunyili called for “rigorous investigative reports.”

The minister noted that, after 55 years of the existence of the NUJ, the profession should bold, fair, and balance in its reports.

“The imperative need for electoral matters to be reported with a spirit and principle of dispassionate arbitration cannot be overstated,” she said. “For us to have the much desired free and fair election, reports on the event must be thoroughly and rigorously investigated to unearth and publicise truth and truth only.”

Better pay for journalists

Ray Ekpu, the event’s chairman, who is also the chairman of Newswatch, described Nigerian journalism as a giant with feet of clay. Mr. Ekpu said journalism has gone from being an “unprofitable, frustrating, and soul-depressing career in the 1930s,” according to the late Obafemi Awolowo, to being a profession where journalists now “wear nice clothes and drive exotic cars.”

On the other hand, Mrs. Akunyili condemned the poor remuneration of journalists, blaming same for the “unethical journalism in which practitioners, powerless to effect change within (their organisations), become outwardly oriented and begin to trade both media space and professional conviction for money and material.”

She promised to champion the cause for a separate and enhanced salary structure for journalists and appealed to “the ownership and management of the private sector journalism centres to urgently revisit their personnel policies, especially, as it relates to compensation.”

FOI Bill

Though Mrs. Akunyili avoided the long-standing call for the passage of the freedom of Information Bill into law, the Editor of THISDAY Sunday, Yusuph Olaniyonu, described the failure of the National Assembly to pass the bill as a lost opportunity.

Mr. Olaniyonu, in his remark, asked the minister “to use her good office to re-initiate the FoI Bill as an executive bill given its salience to achieve objective reporting.”

The guest lecturer, Ralph Akinfeleye, the head of the University of Lagos mass communications department, called for the immediate passage of the bill because more than eighty democracies in the world have passed the FoI into laws.

“If our leaders are serious about transparency, rule of law, and accountability, and good governance, this is the time to pass the FoI bill that has been with them for over a decade,” he said.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Shell Hoax Puts Spotlight on Big Oil’s Mess in Nigeria

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Read Time:2 Minute, 4 Second

If it seemed too good to be true when Shell Oil proclaimed this week that it was putting an end to its offshore drilling operations in Nigeria, that’s because it was. Monday’s announcement turns out to have been an elaborate hoax, put on by an ad hoc activist group calling itself the Nigerian Justice League.

Established solely for the sake of this con, the group put out a lengthy press release including details of the faux “Comprehensive Shell Remediation Plan for the Niger Delta,” along with phone numbers supposedly for the company’s media relations department — all under the oil giant’s iconic red-and-yellow logo.

The text of the release can be found on the group’s fake Shell website.

Shell is the largest oil producer in Nigeria, a country that holds one of the worst oil safety records on the planet. According to reports, last year alone the West African nation had 2,000 active spills.

People evacuate their homes by boat, as they pass smoke and flames blowing from a burning oil pipeline belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development Company,across the Opobo Channel in Asagba Okwan Asarama, about 31 miles southwest of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 2005.

George Osodi, File / AP

People evacuate their homes by boat, as they pass smoke and flames billowing from a burning oil pipeline belonging to the Shell Petroleum Development Company, across the Opobo Channel in Asagba Okwan Asarama, about 31 miles southwest of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, in 2005.

“Shell, Chevron and the others are perpetrating a massive, life-threatening hoax by claiming that they can’t quickly stop their gas flaring, reduce their oil spills and clean up their mess in the Niger Delta,” said Chris Francis, one of the Nigerian Justice League’s organizers. “Our press release revealed the truth: that there is a decent way forward, instead of the continual deceit we get from them.”

The “plan” outlined in the press release had Shell offering up a multibillion-dollar fund to clean the Niger Delta and compensate its inhabitants for loss of livelihood. It further said the company would gradually reduce its oil production in Nigeria to 10 percent of its current output.

A spokesman for Shell, which held its annual meeting Tuesday in the Hague, wouldn’t comment on the press release except to say that “it is a hoax.”

Meanwhile, at least one publication got that news too late.

“Hands up, we were duped on this one,” the Financial Times says in a blog posting

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Niger Delta Militants Support Jonathan Goodluck

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Read Time:2 Minute, 19 Second

President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday got unprecedented support from a strategic stakeholder in the Nigeria project when the entire leadership of ex- militants in the Niger Delta region told him to count on their support as he pilots the affairs of state.After exhaustive interaction in Abuja to discuss and agree on the modalities for the implementation of the Amnesty programme, the group leaders of about 100 including militant kingpins like Ateke Tom, Chief Government Ekpemupulo, Faro Dagogo, Chief Ebikabowei Victor Ben, Boyloaf, among others declared, “he is one of our own; we have no choice but to back him”.
The spokesman of the ex-militants, who preferred to be called freedom fighters and who is also the President of Ijaw Youth Council, Dr. Chris Ekiyor said that the leadership of the militants has resolved to be committed to the amnesty programme.

The interaction, which was at the instance of the Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta, Mr. Timi Alaibe saw the ex- militants agreeing to abide by the non-violence principle training that would be given to them in the rehabilitation camps.
They also commended Jonathan for appointing Alaibe as his Adviser on Niger Delta, saying that his choice was timely because of his experience and commitment to the Niger Delta struggle.
Ekiyor noted that the core of the demands of the militants rests in sustainable development which the government through the Presidential Adviser on Niger Delta has agreed to implement.

Also speaking at the interaction, Alaibe expressed the enthusiasm of President Jonathan to the implementation of the amnesty programme, adding that the interaction was organised to ensure a seamless implementation of the programmes.
According to him, some modalities to ensure a hitch-free camping of the ex- militants have been agreed upon like the non- carriage of weapon of any type into the camp.

When asked to explain why the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, MEND continues to send threat messages, the spokesman of the militants said that who is who in the Niger Delta were at the interactive session and that anybody using the name of the organisation should be investigated.
He said that the index of peace in the region could be measured by the quantum of oil coming out from there as well as the fact that even foreigners are seen going about their normal businesses.

In a determined move to give impetus to the amnesty programme, one of the most significant achievements of late President Umaru Yar Adua, President Jonathan directed that all matters relating to the implementation of the programme be domiciled in the office of the Presidential Adviser.
Until now, the implementation of the programme had suffered a serious setback following the illhealth of the late President and the dissolution of the former federal cabinet.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Akwa Ibom Speaker Ignatius Edet and his deputy, Obong Okon Uwah Impeached

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Read Time:2 Minute, 35 Second

(Codewit News Agency ) Barely 24 hours after being suspended and given seven days ultimatum to resign or risk impeachment, Speaker of the Awka Ibom State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ignatius Edet, and his deputy, Obong Okon Uwah, were yesterday removed from their positions. Hon. Jack Udota was elected as the Speaker pro-tempore.
Addressing journalists in Uyo, Chairman, House Committee on Information, Obong Asuquo Darby Udo, said 21 out of the 26 members of the Assembly signed the resolution to impeach the two principal officers.
Udo said more than two-thirds majority of the members had Tuesday, May 18th, 2010, signed the resolution.
He said to ensure that there was no vacuum in the House, the Assembly members decided that “the Speaker pro-tempore is by this resolution empowered to reconvene the House for the purpose of electing the substantive Speaker and Deputy Speaker at the earliest convenient date”.

In reference to Edet, he said: “He is such an autocratic, non-transparent, non-accountable and selfish leader; a compulsive liar and an expert in distortion of facts and information who takes delight in divide and rule and other discriminatory system of administration.”
He listed the sins of the impeached officers to include total disregard and disrespect for the rules and standing orders of the House and the Constitution of Nigeria.
He said the impeached officers had committed offences ranging from “refusal to account for funds standing to the credit of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly since the inception of the House;

“Inability to convene the House of Assembly; a situation which has made the House not to sit for the constitutional 181 days in a legislative session; usurpation of powers and suppression of intellectual discourse and debates in the chambers;
“High handedness; uncontrolled arrogance; greed and insensitivity to the plight of members;  lack of transparency and disregard for due process in the administration of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly where he forcefully and illegally convened the House even when there is no quorum; and
“Engaging in incessant postponement and adjournments of the House to take care of his private business thereby allowing the business of legislation in the House to suffer.”
He said the decision to remove Edet and Uwah was taken in the best interest of the legislature, government and the entire people of the state.
Adjourning sitting of the House to May 25th, members said the tenure of Edet “can best be described as traumatic, only likened to a horrific nightmare”.

Darby had at the end of an executive meeting of the House Tuesday announced Edet and Uwah’s suspension from the House and issued a seven-day ultimatum to resign or be impeached.
He had described the actions of the impeached officers for the past three years as gross abuse of office, adding that members of the House were disappointed by their leadership techniques.
“The entire House is seriously disappointed with the leadership of the House with particular reference to the Speaker and his Deputy,” he had said.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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After All Political Speculations, Namadi Sambo emerged as a new Nigerian Vice President

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Read Time:3 Minute, 38 Second

AFTER weeks of low-key backroom jostling and shenanigans, the Nigerian political system has thrown up Alhaji Namadi Muhammed Sambo, who was until his appointment, the Executive Governor of Kaduna State, as the third Vice President in the contemporary phase of our democratic system.

Sambo, whose appointment was ratified on Tuesday by both Houses in the National Assembly, was sworn-in yesterday, thus filling the vacuum created in that institution by formal ascension to the Presidency of his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Considering the political tempest, which accompanied the debacle and dissension over the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s incapacitation in the context of the politics of succession, Sambo’s main role will be that of a stabiliser and balancer of the institution of the Presidency in the unusual times we find ourselves.

Fortunately, Sambo comes to his new turf, not just with the impressive credential of having successfully governed the multi-ethnic and multi-religious state of Kaduna, but also as one who has had diversified and rich experience in several bureaucratic and political positions. His relative anonymity and reticence are ideally suited to an office created as second fiddle and to which the constitution assigns very few specific duties. A more colourful and emphatic political gladiator would probably, in our circumstances, have been inappropriate if not counterproductive, considering President Jonathan’s own placid, but far from colourless mien and disposition.

As is well known, a Vice President in a presidential system where the president is both head of state and head of government, is only as powerful as the President chooses to make him. In the best of circumstances, the Vice President becomes the President’s close confidant and adviser, in the process extending and complementing presidential imprimatur on the national and international terrains. This kind of constructive symbiosis was a hallmark of the former American President, Bill Clinton’s presidency, where Vice President Al-Gore was given charge of several aspects of domestic and international policy, a feature replicated under President George Bush with Vice President Dick Cheney. Here in Nigeria, former President, Olusegun Obasanjo’s first term provided a nice illustration of the rewards of a cooperative relationship between the President and his Vice. The intragovernmental tumult witnessed in his second term was in part a sorry testimonial of the conflictual relationship between himself and his Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

In sum, the constitution mandates the Vice President to work in tandem with the President, who in the final analysis, determines whether the Vice President would be consigned to irrelevance or will constitute a backstage dynamo for extending the creativity and productivity of the President. There is no reason, given the antecedents of the occupants of the highest offices in the land why nice blending rather than factious disagreeableness should not become the defining factor of the Presidency viewed corporately. Working together, the two of them should give Nigeria decent elections in 2011 and make a mark on rolling back our infrastructural and social debilities. Which is to say that in the remaining months between now and handover in 2011, the Vice President could either mark time by indulging in the ceremonies and protocols of his office, or he could, in a purposeful manner, join forces with the President to redeem Nigeria from its current morass of arrested development and electoral misadventures. As we have indicated, for him to make a real difference, he will have to maintain a cordial, but not unduly subservient, relationship with the President.

As he begins his work, he already has his job cut out for him in the sense that the preeminent agendum of the hour is to take the nation smoothly to the next elections and transitions. The emergence of those we may call political titans as aspirants in the race suggests that there is need for an umpire standing above the fray as well as providing a level playing ground for contestants; ensuring, in the process, that the system does not career off-course nor its stability overly threatened.

The Nigerian Compass congratulates the new Vice President and wishes him a successful tenure as he and the President seek to implement their vision for a reinvented Nigeria, while keeping a tight leash on forces and factors that have the potential to torpedo the ship of state.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Namadi Sambo, Nigeria’s new vice-president

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Read Time:2 Minute, 9 Second

Nigeria’s new Vice-President Namadi Sambo has a good head for business, which might serve him well in a country where the line between politics and business is often quite blurred.

He owns three companies and is a qualified architect, but he has yet to prove himself as a political heavyweight.

Indeed, some believe this is precisely why he was chosen as President Goodluck Jonathan’s deputy.

Mr Sambo is not seen as a great political threat should Mr Jonathan decide to run for president in elections in 2011.

Although an ally of former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida, who himself intends to seek the presidency, Mr Sambo does not have a large power base.

Presidential candidate?

But even so, he might still be a strong presidential candidate for other reason

NAMADI SAMBO
Born: 1952
Married with six children
Elected Kaduna governor in 2007
Qualified architect
No personal power base
Ally of former military ruler Ibrahim Babangida

Born in Kaduna state in 1952, Mr Sambo is a northerner – and a practising Muslim.

Mr Jonathan, meanwhile, is a Christian southerner.

The two men’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has said its candidate will be a northerner – continuing its practice of alternating power between north and south after two four-year terms.

Former President Umaru Yar’Adua, whom Mr Jonathan succeeded when he died in May before his first term had ended, was a northerner.

So the spotlight is now on Mr Sambo – which is a first for a quiet man whose political aspirations are not immediately apparent.

Before becoming Kaduna’s governor in 2007, he had stints as the state’s commissioner for agriculture, and works, transport and housing in the 1980s, and spent several years in private practice as one of the country’s most prominent architects.

Mixed record

On becoming governor, Mr Sambo made several ambitious promises, but was criticised for not managing to keep some of them.

For example, he failed to make much progress on plans to improve the state’s health and education facilities, water supply and roads by the time he was chosen as President Jonathan’s deputy.

His main success was in the area of security – a big issue in Kaduna, which has suffered in the past from ethnic violence.

Mr Sambo presided over Operation Yaki, a task force which brought together the police, the military and other security services to deal with crime in the state.

But after three modest and relatively obscure years as a state governor, there is still a lot to learn about Mr Sambo’s political skills and his motivation to use them as a possible future president.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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