This is certainly not the best of times for the Bournes’ family which is currently mourning following the alleged killing of Olayinde Bournes’, by her boyfriend,last Thursday, in Aguda Ogba area of Lagos.
The deceased, a 22-year-old par time student of the Lagos State Polytechnic, was allegedly beaten to death by her boyfriend over an unknown reason.
Codewit gathered that the 200 level Business Administration student had gone to bid her boyfriend, Abuchi Cyril, 24, goodbye , as the latter was reportedly planning to travel to Malasia next day (Friday), unknown to her that would be her final sojourn on earth.
Although it could not be ascertained what transpired between the love birds behind closed doors but it was gathered that rather than being entertained in his parents’ apartment located on number 25 Shorimade Street, Aguda Ogba, Abuchi took Olayinde to a neighbours apartment, who at that time was away.
But apprehension, set in, after several calls on Olayinde’s phone by her father, met dead silence. Just as he reportedly stepped outside to see if his daughter was anywhere around, he met some persons in group discussing what was later discovered to be her daughter’s demise.
During a visit to the late Olayinde’s family’s house, her devastated father who offered to speak with us said, “ I was at home around 11am that fateful day while my late daughter was outside the house with her mother, all dressed up. I later walked up to them and asked when she would be going to work. And she said she would first go to the bank to submit her account opening form which would enable her receive her monthly salary because she was just employed by Cadbury Plc. Satisfied with the answer, I went back inside to rest because I haven’t been feeling very well for some time.
“ I later learnt that she told her mother she would first go and see her boyfriend Abuchi, who called her earlier to come and see his travelling documents, as he was supposed to travel next day to Malaysia. That was the last we saw of her.
“At about 12:25pm, I dialled her number. It rang but there was no response. I called again around 12:30pm, it rang and still no response. Later, the phone was switched off. I and my wife became worried at that point because we could not say what was wrong with her.
At about 4pm, I decided to stroll round. But when I got outside, I noticed a crowd which turned towards my direction but noone spoke to me. Confused, I went inside and told my wife about what I observed.
Later I sent her to go and purchase some ingredients to prepare super. When she came back, she also told me the crowd stared at her also. Just as we were contemplating on what to do, our fears was confirmed as a young man among the crowd rushed inside and yelled ‘ it has happened o! When we demanded what the matter was, he broke the news of my daughter’s demise. At that instant, my world was shattered. He also told us the corpse was just brought to a nearby hospital. I rushed to the hospital with them
hoping that I would see her alive. But no, I only saw her remains.
Tell me, should I start preparing towards having another child at this age?”, he asked , trying hard not to betray his emotion.
What went wrong?
Abuchi as gathered, was arrested by policemen attached to Area ‘G’ Ogba, command, from where he was transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department SCID, Yaba. In his statement to the Police, he reportedly said while he was with Olayinde, she suddenly screamed ‘my head’, before she slumped.
But findings by the police as gathered, revealed that the mattress in the room where Olayinde’s dead body was found was socked with blood. The mattress was reportedly turned upside down before the arrival of policemen. But during a search of the apartment ,blood , suspected to be from Olayinde, was discovered under the bed and later traced to the mattress turned upside down.
Another puzzle that needs to be unravelled was the report that a nurse was reportedly invited by Abuchi while he was with Olayinde. A resident who pleaded anonymity told us that :“ We suspect there could be more to all this than meet the eyes. First, the corpse was inside the room three hours before it was taken to the hospital. Why did it take him that long to rush her to the hospital? Abuchi even called in a nurse while he was inside with Olayinde. The nurse we learnt, carried out some treatment on Olayinde. What went wrong that made him invite the nurse? She was even the one that accompanied Abuchi to the hospital where she works, with Olayinde’s body. It was when Olayinde was pronounced dead that she bolted, pretending she was going to get a taxi”, the resident said.
The nurse with an undisclosed identity was reportedly arrested by the Police and later released, an action the bereaved family queried. The deceased’s phone as gathered, was also discovered to be missing.
Police sources hinted that some finger marks were discovered on the deceased neck and her camisole stained with blood. But sources could however not state exactly what led to the death of Olayinde, until the autopsy result will be out.
A Christian wake was held at the deceased apartment, located on 17, Muibi street Aguda Ogba, Thursday, while her remains was interred Friday at Atan cemetery, Yaba.
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.
Mr Oseloka Henry Obaze, until mid last year, was a United Nations employee. He is one of those who responded to Governor Peter Obi’s call to Anambra State indegenes in diaspora to come home to assist in building the state. He was appointed secretary to the state government in June last year. In this interview, Obaze speaks on the challenges of changing the mindset of the people in taking ownership of government.
As the coordinating office between the governor’s office and other ministries as well as members of the public, how has it been? I didn’t know I was coordinating the activities of the governor. I thought I was coordinating activities of government just to ensure that there is coherence in policy, coordination, delivery and implementation which is the running of basic bureaucracy. The challenge is that every bureaucracy creates its own weakness and what we encounter here is a national issue, one of the mindset where you have to convince people on what they are supposed to do and that is a challenge. Other than that, it is like running any other government. So you have to do what you have to do and hopefully get the rest of the team on board and that is basically what it is. Of course it entails very long hours and, because His Excellency the governor, Mr Peter Obi, works extremely long hours, we just toe the line and that is basically where we are.
At the time you were taking up the appointment, did you envisage it would be this enormous? Yes. Running a state, no matter how small, is and will always be a big challenge. Running a state where you have institutional and infrastructural challenges is even a bigger challenge. You must therefore anticipate that such challenge will be enormous but you also hope that you bring some degree of added value to problems solving which is basically what we do. The governor has the vision to do the things he does and our role as technocrats is to assist him to make sure he realizes that vision. But as someone said, the biggest challenge here is that sometimes you encounter a situation where there is a disconnect between the vision of the governor and those of the bureaucrats, even some of the political appointees and where that synergy is lacking or where there is a lacuna , you don’t move as fast as the governor wants you to move, the realization of the vision and the set goals are not articulated and pursued not for lack of vision or wherewithal but for lack of mindset and will of the people. One thing I encountered here, and I am sure the governor knows about it and it is not about the government but about the mind set, is that in trying to run government operation or business, everything has become so transactional. When you say you want to build a road, the contractor, the sub-contractor, the consultant, everybody is looking at what is in there for him, financially. When you say you have a policy to alleviate poverty, people are looking for what is in it for them. When you say you have an MDG grants or programme to run, people are looking for what is in it. Nobody is talking about what added value does this policy bring. That is a challenge. Other than that, we do what we need to do and sometimes we have to swim against the tide and still do what we need to do. And the governor is very supportive in what we are doing.
How sacrificial is this job to you as some people said you were practically dragged to Nigeria to take up this appointment? Chinua Achebe once said that if God, in His infinite wisdom, decided to make him African, Nigerian, Igbo from Ogidi, he has no intention of changing that. Likewise, if God, in His infinite wisdom, decided to make me African, Nigerian, Igbo from Anambra, I don’t intend to change that. I think I owe a lot to my people in my village, they did not train me, I did not go on scholarship, my parents did but to bring added value by being able to represent them and like wise for every person who comes from Anambra State and for everybody from this country. I have travelled around the world in over 60 countries and I have enjoyed the immense benefits of what developed countries have to offer.
I have also gone to countries that are not by any stretch of imagination comparable to Nigeria in terms of access to resources and infrastructure and even governance. And so you begin to ask yourself, those privileges and infrastructure we enjoy abroad did not happen overnight, some people built them. The efficient roads, airports, industries, some people made them happen. But there comes in one’s life and you begin to ask yourself, what have you done for your country? And if one were to paraphrase it, I am here because I grew up at the era when JFK was a role model to us. And remember, getting the Americans to be focused on the greatness of their country and its sustainability had to do with the question he asked, “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”. What can I do for Nigeria to make it a better place for my children and grand children? There are generations ahead of me who have considered that theirs is a wasted generation. I don’t want to be part of that generation. I have served and have a fulfilled life. And I think a life of contentment will even be richer and better enhanced if you can look back and say, “before my twilight years, I was able to give back to the society that gave me so much”, and that is why I am here. It is not about money, it is about the realization that the elite in this country which I consider myself one have not done sufficiently enough. They have taken the rights of the masses for granted. And the privileges we have enjoyed, we have not allowed it trickle down to the masses. I don’t just want to go to bed bearing the burden and the guilt of not having done what I am supposed to do.
What would you say are the high points of this administration? Since I was appointed, I think there is better coordination, better focal point focused on policy, implementation. There is a better focus on synergy, making sure that there is certain degree of completedness in the things we do. There is better articulation of ensuring that public expenditure is done in such a way that it has added value. We just submitted our budget for 2013 and we are looking at how we can have a result-based budget where what we budgeted for is accomplished and where we do not have the resources to attract grants and the only way you can attract grants is by showing what you are doing and how effective you are before your partners can buy in. Governor Peter Obi is efficient to attract international donors and our job, my job and my colleagues in the executive council is to ensure that every penny we get from outside is accounted for, is reflected in what we do. The other aspect is to look at where the pitfalls are and begin to plug those holes whether it is policies, in execution or even in every day life.
I was sworn-in, in June last year and on July 2, which was my first executive council meeting, the question I asked the governor was, who was responsible for the cleanliness of Awka?, and we found out that there were a core of people left, right and centre who the issue falls within their purview and they were not taking ownership of the process. Everybody assumed the other person was going to do it. And, at the end of the day, nobody did. And the first thing we did was to make sure that we cleaned up the capital and made sure that the waste management was up to speed in trying to do what they ought to do because they were not being challenged. Also I found out that we had a television station which had a bloated staff of about 400 and they were running programme from 4pm to 10pm. They have the transmitter, they had all the necessary equipment but it did not dawn on them that they could run programmes in the morning and, in doing that, attract advertisements. I spoke with the managing director about it and I told him that within a week I was going to be his first guest on the morning show.
And, within the week, they were running programmes in the morning. By the third of the programme, I was the first guest that showed on the programme and ever since they have been running. I also asked them why they were not broadcasting on satellite? I am glad that the challenge I put to them, within six months, Anambra State Television is now on satellite and we would probably go on DSTV which means you can garner revenue from people in Lagos, Ibadan because they can watch you and those abroad too.
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.
The avoidable but raging war among the governors, particularly those of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, which culminated in the birth of PDP Governors’ Forum from the all-influential Nigerian Governors’ Forum, led by the Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, last week, points to a crack in the political machinery of the PDP and threatens to cause a major leakage in the party’s umbrella, if the discontentment among the contending forces is not well managed before the dawn of the 2015 polls.
The war had long been declared from above but the foot solders did not know they would be recruited to work for and against one another. At the firing line is one man, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Governor of Rivers State, who has been fingered as not showing enough respect to President Goodluck Jonathan and his exalted office. Those who are shooting darts at him accuse the Obima-born fearless politician of joining forces with strangers to battle Jonathan and his political empire, not minding the fact that he is one of the governors from the President’s backyard. On the offensive is the President himself, aided and abetted by some loyal People Democratic Party, PDP, governors, his trusted political strategists and bystanders, who want to make a gain from the festering war of attrition that has largely been fought in the media than a real onslaught.
Although no bullet has yet been fired, the ripples are already reverberating in the land like a hurricane and not many can perfectly predict how it will end and who the victims will be at the end of the combat. Not many of the foot soldiers can pinpoint to anything that Amaechi has said and done in practical terms to warrant being isolated as being at war with or disrespectful of President Jonathan and family. But the fact remains that the daring governor shoots straight and is not given to the reigning invidious survival strategy of most Nigerian politicians who say one thing but mean the opposite.
Amaechi, it appears, has failed the Nigerian political test by refusing or not knowing how to call black white and vice versa, all in a bid to be seen as a ‘’good boy” to his political godfathers. The governor has been, rather, indirectly and helplessly, plunged into the bad book of President Jonathan, clearly by political soothsayers, whose calculation is that with Amaechi in the saddle as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, the fortunes of the President may continue to plummet to a point that his 2015 ambition could suffer a discount. Those who made him the NGF leader two years ago, apparently out of selfish expectation that being a PDP governor and one of the six South-South governors, he would always dance to the tunes called by Jonathan, are rather disappointed by the turn of events. The President’s men and PDP leaders might have also expected Amaechi not to have a mind of his own but to sheepishly accept and chorus along any policy and programme fashioned by Aso Rock Presidential Villa and placed on the neck of Nigerians no matter how suffocating the effect may be.
But this has not been the case with Amaechi. He must have unwittingly rocked the boat of the leader of the PDP and the largest party in Africa by, first, disagreeing with the way the Presidency was managing the Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF, by dipping its hands and taking from it at will without involving the governors. He spoke out and when the Federal Government refused to stop pinching money from that fund, the NGF, under his leadership, went to court to stop the government from using the money the way it likes. This perfidy, despite the fact that a so called Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister for the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is a Bretton Woods protégé.
That action has paid off handsomely, at least. Now, the government has been forced to set up a corporate legal body to run the fund and Nigerians may soon begin to see more transparent usage of the SWF instead of being kept in the dark as was the case before.
Although the Presidency did not like the ‘’confrontation”, the 36 state governors, who are expected to also derive more benefit from the fund, are happy with the steps taken by the Amaechi-led NGF.
While that imbroglio was just settling down, then came the spat between Amaechi’s Rivers State and President Jonathan’s Bayelsa State over the ownership of some controversial oil wells, which the two sister states claimed were rightly theirs. Again, Amaechi, as the bastion of the Rivers people’s mandate, had to be put in the ring of contest, this time with the President, Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson and the people of his state. In the fight over the oil wells yet to be fully settled, many Nigerians also expected Amaechi to have backed-off, close his mouth and concede the wells, all because President Jonathan’s state is involved.
But, Amaechi decided to shout from his rooftop, insisting that he would not allow the commonwealth of Rivers people to be taken away on the altar of politics. He was quoted as saying that he would rather resign as governor than shy away from defending and protecting their interest in the controversial oil wells. The refusal of Amaechi to concede the ownership of the oil wells was immediately followed by a report that he had been anointed by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to run with his Jigawa State counterpart as vice president and president, respectively, in 2015 although the story bearers did not indicate on which party platform the two governors would run.
Despite strenuous denials by both men that they are not running, Jonathan’s men appear to have already marked down the Rivers governor as a ‘bad boy’ not loyal to the PDP leader and Nigeria’s helmsman, who has curiously found it rather difficult to openly declare his interest or otherwise in the 2015 presidency till date. His claim that he is working actively to fix Nigeria and does not want to be distracted with the next election while his hatchet men prod the land with unprecedented gusto, does not really catch fire, since his body language points to the opposite direction.
In a bid to keep Amaechi at bay and whittle his alleged influence, which the President’s minders believe stems from the NGF, Ijaw leader, Edwin Clark, who is regarded as President Jonathan’s godfather, openly taunted the governors platform but merely stopped short of calling for its disbandment.
In a strongly worded letter Clark sent to the NGF on January 24, 2013, the elder statesman noted, “The Forum has become a powerful tool in the hands of the governors who now use it to pursue and promote their individual and collective interests with little or no regard to the letter and spirit of the Party’s Constitution and supremacy.
“The PDP as a political party has lost control of its various organs and, for some time now, proper elections at congresses and conventions have not been held democratically due to the imposition of unqualified members on the good members of the party, contravening Section 87(4) of the Amended Electoral Act 2011 and the Independent National Electoral Commission’s law.”
Although the Ijaw leader did not mention Amaechi as committing any infraction in his personal letter to the NGF, the meaning was not lost however that he was making indirect reference to what was considered to be the overbearing influence of the governors’ platform under the stubborn leadership of the Rivers governor.
But to put the President’s anger and disappointment over Amaechi in proper perspective and put the heat on the governor, the Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Elder Godsday Orubebe, on February 2, 2013, knocked Amaechi almost below the belt. While on inspection of projects in the Niger Delta with reporters, Orubebe fired a debilitating shot at the governor, accusing him of not showing respect to President Jonathan.
“Today, Amaechi sees himself as the governor of governors and feels that he is even bigger than the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,”, an angry Orubebe roared while accusing the governor of leaving the governance of his state to poke nose into the non-completion of the 337-km East West Road, whose contract was awarded by the Obasanjo administration in 2006 but could not be completed before it was transferred to the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry in April 2009.
Not done with his frustration with Amaechi’s style of leadership of the NGF, Orubebe added, “Even governors from the South-South, particularly, Rotimi Amaechi, have no respect for the President of this country.” He did not however provide any evidence to support what Amaechi did to show disdain to President Jonathan.
Amaechi’s attempt to respond to the verbal assault on him by Orubebe, was already too late, as a lasting impression appears to have already been made in the minds of Jonathan’s men that the governor was not with them and should be taught some lessons to make him realise who controls the levers of power in Nigeria and the PDP where he belongs.
Reports say that although the Presidency had long nursed the game plan to deal with Amaechi by out-rightly removing him from the NGF or creating a splinter group to whittle his enormous power and influence among the 36 governors, the prosecutors of the agenda were mindful of the need to execute it with utmost diligence to avoid a backlash that could rob the Presidency of the needed sympathy and support for 2015.
Convinced by advisers that it would be difficult to oust Amaechi from his post, the Presidency and the leadership of the PDP settled for the more innocuous and ingenious idea of creating a splinter group to be headed by a ‘core loyalist’ from among the PDP governors, who would be willing to stand by Jonathan even if he is sinking. The President’s men settled for Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State. Akpabio is said to have fitted the bill because those close to him and Amaechi suggest that they are not the best of friends and do not intend to be so even in the near future. They seem to have fallen apart over disagreements bordering on the controversial 176 oil wells, which they claim belong to them until the court ruled that the wells were Rivers’.
Once assured that it could woo some PDP governors to its side and that Akpabio was willing to head the splinter PDP Governors Forum so as to cut Amaechi to size, the President summoned with some degree of glee a meeting of the PDP governors with him at the Villa last Sunday.
Insiders said as the meeting was in progress, Amaechi and Akpabio were excused to leave the venue of the meeting at House 7 only for Akpabio to be announced shortly as the new chairman of the PDP Governors’ Forum.
The President, his party and advisers were in a joyous mood when Akpabio, still basking in the euphoria of his election as the PDP GF, stormed the Wadata Plaza to present himself to the PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur, and other NWC members and made some heart-warming statements that obviously elated Jonathan’s camp.
Akpabio said he was on a rescue mission to sanitise the PDP and chase out untrustworthy members he described as Judases.
The governor noted, “What the PDP is trying to do now is to cleanse its house; to try to identify the ones they called Judas and whisper it to them and say ‘go out, the train is moving and you cannot stand otherwise we will crush you.’”
But even with such self-assuring boast, many of the PDP governors, especially those who are serving out their second term and do not have much to fight for politically, are not in sync with the party and do not seem to be in a hurry to do the bidding of the Villa as far as 2015 is concerned. They, too, are not willing to leave Amaechi to be swept away by the ill wind that is sweeping through from the President’s men.
To show the President that they mean their support for Amaechi, they still went ahead and prepared to re-elect him for a second term, before the tensed election, which was slated for Amaechi’s lodge in Asokoro, a stone throw from Jonathan’s Villa, was called off when it dawned on the President’s men that they could not secure the needed support from the governors to flush out Amaechi.
The election has been pushed to May this year apparently to enable the camp of the President and the PDP to use the Akpabio’s PDP GF to prevail on others to ditch Amaechi and elect Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina, who has been tipped as a Jonathan’s admirer, supporter and loyalist to the core, from the North-West.
That notwithstanding, the Northern Governors’ Forum, headed by vociferous Babangida Aliyu, who is also not in the good books of the President for daring to say that Jonathan signed a pact with them to serve only a term, may also not go along with Shema when he stands election as chairman of the NGF.
Aliyu is said to be nursing a presidential ambition and he does not appear to be in a hurry to reconcile with Jonathan. He is reported to have engaged in a shouting match with Akpabio for accepting to head the splinter PDP GF at a time the opposition is fusing to consolidate ahead of 2015.
What may spill the beans for PDP is that while its ranks is being split into groups, thereby weakening its unity and cohesion, opposition governors are working together to ensure that Amaechi retains his position as the NGF chairman. Their reasoning is that Amaechi is not fighting the President as alleged by some sycophantic elements but working for the overall interest of Nigeria.
“I am sure the Presidency is aware that it has lost the battle against Amaechi and that the latest attempt to force PDP governors to remove Amaechi has even attracted more support and sympathy from the governors for the NGF chairman,” a member of the NGF said. The furore generated by the emergence of the PDP GF is likely to shape the PDP political landscape for some time to come and may largely determine how far the party can go in the next general elections.
Although the Presidency and the PDP have dismissed the fusion of four opposition parties into the All Progressives’ Congress, APC, as a non-issue, the lingering war by PDP governors and the assumption by its leadership that it is a family matter that can be resolved as usual before the polls, may hasten its defeat at the polls and halt the advancement of the party in the country after 14 years of dominance.
Kano State elder statesman, Tanko Yakassi, has warned that the PDP GF is capable of weakening the party, saying that there was no justification for its formation in the first place.
Yakassi noted, “I do not know how the PDP came to the conclusion that the best thing to do at this point in time is to set up its own governors’ forum. As far as I am concerned, the move has no motive than to strip Amaechi naked and make him and Babangida Aliyu subservient to Akpabio.
“What those behind the action should know is that it does not speak well of the party especially at a time when the opposition parties have seen the need to work together and they have merged into one strong entity.
“Those who mooted the idea of the new PDP governors’ forum should remember the simple saying that ‘united we stand, divided we fall’.
“Whatever must have informed the decision to set up a separate PDP governors’ forum, I do not think that it is a healthy development.
“If PDP has been surviving as a single party, I do no reason for splitting into small units now,” Yakassi said.
But Bamanga Tukur, the PDP National Chairman, on Wednesday tried to play down on the resentment that has attended the formation of the PDP GF, saying that it was not meant to weaken the NGF, headed by Amaechi, who he praised highly during a flying visit to Port Harcourt during which he was taken round some projects by the governor.
Tukur also dismissed as a personal opinion the suggestion by Babangida Aliyu that Jonathan formed the PDP GF to kill the NGF.
“Well, it is an opinion by the Niger State governor. It doesn’t mean that all our governors agree with him,” the PDP Chairman said. Whether the crisis that has engulfed the PDP governors on one hand, and the NGF on the other, is real or imaginary remains to be seen in the days ahead and only then will the nation know who wins or loses the war of attrition that has just begun in earnest.
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.
A six- year- old girl, Edidiong Etok Akpan, who was subjected to a harrowing treatment by her father, Edet Etok Akpan, was rescued after she had been locked up in a room with her hands tied and mouth covered with a piece of cloth for five days.
Edidiong said her 42-year-old father started beating her on Tuesday,19th of February, after one Prophetess Endurance, the pastor of the church they attend, told “my father that I was a witch and I was the one making him not to progress in life”.
She said after the severe beatings, which, according to her, lasted for two days, on Thursday, 21st February, her father tied her hands with a cord and covered her mouth with a piece of cloth and “locked me in the inner room of our house and he never gave me food and never allowed me to go to school ”.
The girl, who said she attends Femos Nursery and Primary School, located at 24 Etyin Abasi Street, Calabar, was dying after days without food or water when luck came her way on Sunday, 23rd February, at about 11 am, as another child who lives in the same with her family came to their veranda, looked through the window and saw Edidiong bound on the floor and screamed. “The girl called her parents and neighbours to come and see Edidiong tied like a goat inside their house”, Mr James Ibor of the Basic
Rights Counsel, a child rights advocate lawyer, who was called to the scene, said.
Ibor said that when the neighbours saw the girl in that state, one of them called him and he, in turn, informed the officer in charge of legal matters at the Cross River State Police Command headquarters, Superintendent George, and they both drove to the place.
“As we were going there, we also informed the police at Efuk, Mbukpa to join us.When we got there, we saw a crowd outside and we knew that,that was the place and we went in and carried out the rescue by breaking the door”.
He said the girl was “very weak because she had been without food for days and so we had to give her water first, then, after about ten minutes, we gave her milk before solid food an hour later”.
Ibor said the father and mother had locked up the girl in the inner room of their two- room apartment and went to church in the hope that by the time they came back, the girl may have died. “God saved her and she is now living with her grandmother in another part of town,”the lawyer said. DSP John Umoh, Cross River State Police Command spokesman, said the father, from Akwa Ibom State, had been arrested and would soon appear in court to answer charges of felony. “To tie a small girl hand and mouth and lock her in a room for days without food is a grievious offence; he (the father) will soon appear in court”, Umor added.
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.
Local and international road runners are angling to participate in the maiden Okpekpe road race billed for April 13 in Okpekpe, Edo State.
The 10km race, which will be flagged off by an IAAF representative, will attract a cash prize of N2.5m for the top winners.
And the promoter of the race, Mr. Mike Itemuagbor is hopeful that the race will make the IAAF road race label events list after the first edition. Okpekpe, a sleepy town 25km from Auchi, is famous for its hilly scenery. The race course will wind around these hills.
“Come April, we are looking forward to seeing an interesting race. We are expecting a good turn-out of athletes for the maiden event.
“The Edo State govern-ment is involved in the organisation, they are looking forward to visitors coming for the event and exploring the State,” said former Africa long jump champion, Yusuf Alli.
The IAAF road race label events are annual running competitions which have been granted recognition by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Races are divided into three categories: Gold, Silver, and Bronze Label Road Races. Furthermore, they are divided into three types – marathon, half marathon, and other classic distances (e.g. 10 kilometres).
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.
After the disappointment of not participating at the London 2012 Olympics despite earning qualification, Nigeria Aquatics Federation president, Babatunde Fatai-Williams declared that Nigeria swimmers will return to the Olympics and make an impact in Rio 2016.
Two Nigerian swimmers qualified for the London 2012 Olympics, but they were prevented from participating by the National Sports Commission on the ground that they will not be able to fetch medals for the country. This was something that infuriated the swimming community, including Nigeria’s Olatokunbo Thomas who is a member of the executive board of the world swimming governing body, FINA.
“Our swimmers gained qualification through the universality slots. This meant that they were not given wild card entry, they earned their qualification by merit having participated in qualification trials.
“We were really taken aback when the two swimmers were left behind. Even we had to answer query from FINA as to why we did not make use of our qualification ticket, when other countries could have benefited,” said Fatai-Williams However, he submitted that the NAF has moved ahead from that let down, arguing that Nigeria has talents that can hold their heads high at international events.
“The only thing we need to do is to invest in the sport. It takes eight to ten years of continuous training to groom a young talented swimmer to Olympics standard.
“These talents have to train twice a day and six days in a week excluding competitions. Micheal Phelps didn’t come from nowhere, he was a product of continuous training and development. We can do the same too here in Nigeria. There has to be facilities, coaches need to be trained and there are other related aspects like sports medicine that has to be put in place. We cannot achieve this without funding,” stated Fatai-Williams.
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.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Saturday, said Nigeria lacks good leadership to administer her enormous potentials.
Obasanjo, who identified lack of quality leadership, among other factors, as major hindrances to development in Nigeria as well as other African countries, lamented the lack of leadership that could harness the resources to the point of noticeable development.
The former president spoke in Abeokuta during the final of Africa Region Inter-collegiate Debate on Human Security Africa, organised by Centre for Human Security (CHS), an arm of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.
The occasion featured universities and secondary school students from Nigeria and other African countries who participated in a debate as part of the activities marking Obasanjo’s 76th birthday.
The former president opined that there were not many good leaders in the country, stressing that leadership in any country was very important to development and growth.
“On the topic you have chosen for this debate, ‘Human Security in Africa’, whether it is a myth or reality, threat to human security, high economic growth, whether it is flash in the pan or sustainable, it all comes to one major thing and that one major thing is leadership. Very soon, I do hope that we’ll bring leadership in all dimensions and in all ramifications.
“I realise that we have many Nigerians and there are not many good leaders in Nigeria. Whatever is the reason, it is something we have to tackle because we cannot continue the way it is.
“That brings me to the hope and the bright future that I see in what Profs. Akin Mabogunje and Peter Okebukola are putting together (the debate).
“It’s to try and prepare African youths, boys and girls, together that future belongs to you youths.
“Nobody will help Africa, nobody can help Africa and that is the truth. If we expect others from outside to come and help us, it is a second class help.
“What do I see for the future? We have caliber of women, men, young and old that Africa needs to put itself up and to make its voice heard in the world today and tomorrow.
“Alfred Mills explains in his book, ‘Why Africa is poor’ but it’s a choice, a choice that our leaders have made.
“But here watching you (students) at the college level and university level. I believe that the materials are there.“
Obasanjo said he was shocked when Alhaji Aliko Dangote told him that six Ph.D holders and 600 master degree holders were among applicants for truck drivers in his (Dangote) company.
He stated that the issue boils down to the problems of job creation, wealth creation, among others.
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.
It was a gathering of the creme de la creme of society on Sunday, 24th February, 2013 at Oriental Hotel, Lekki, Lagos when star actress, Halima Abubakar premiered her much anticipated movie, Mistresses. The event which came up in the evening of that day was attended by people from far and wide.
The guests at the event were thrilled to special musical performances by Jaywon, Oyinkansola, Splash, Yung Issy and Ozzy Bosco with Dee Jay Puff Lala churning out the best of tunes. There were also lots to eat and drink.
The evening also afforded Kogi state born Halima the opportunity to talk about her foundation, her charity projects, her philantropical gestures as well as other areas where she has been able to put smiles on the faces of people; cutting across the rich and the less priviledged in the society.
Guests at the premiere included the publisher of Ovation International Magazine, Basorun Dele Momodu, the publisher of News of The People Magazine, Loye Amzat, Boss of Core Media Services, Jide Adediran, the president of Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ibinabo Fiberesima, Innocent Idibia aka Tuface and wife Annie, Hakeem Rahman, Oge Okoye, Ufuoma Ejenebor, Susan Peters, Iyabo Ojo, Mercy Aigbe-Gentry, Emem Isong, Ify Okeke, Doris Simeon, and Grace Amah.
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.
The Maxi Okwu led interim national leadership and chairmen of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 36 states, have declared that they are not a party to the alleged merger between major opposition parties in Nigeria saying they’ll not be bound by whatever agreement entered on the party’s behalf. Plateau State chapter chairman of APGA; Dr. Isah Arzyka Jega, who read the communique at the end of the meeting of the state chairmen in Abuja, said the party did not consult or participate in any discussion about merger or alliance with any political party in Nigeria. The caucus also challenged the national leadership of the party to immediately work towards fixing a date for new membership registration drive and to review the membership register of the party with a view to holding a congress, which will herald the national convention of the party which it suggested should be held in Enugu.
They also resolved to unconditionally admit all former members who expressed genuine desires to return to the party, adding that all those who were previously sanctioned by the party are pardoned to allow for rebuilding the party. While commending the policy thrust of the Maxi Okwu’s led interim National Working Committee of the party, the caucus also said his idea of rapprochement, reconciliation, and re-integration could not have come at a better time than now.
Speaking earlier Maxi Okwu, urged Chief Victor Umeh, to join the train in rebuilding the party, saying the party has no other choice than to forget the past and move forward.
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.
For a politician who believes in the sanctity of the state and its machinery, perhaps many have come to confuse the role and personality of Chief Anthony Akhakon Anenih. But to those in the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, he epitomises experience and loyalty. Since 1998 when the party was formed, Anenih remains perhaps one of the very few – very, very few – members who have never contemplated decampment as a directive policy of politicking.
Therefore, when last Monday night – indeed into the very early hours of Tuesday – it was time to vote for the new chairman of PDP’s Board of Trustees, BoT, the set criteria could only fit one bill: Tony Anenih. It wasn’t by design; it was just time for the qualities of hard work, loyalty to party discipline, experience and leadership, to yield dividends.
Sunday Vanguard learnt that the Jerry Gana Committee that had been set up last month to harmonise the membership of the BoT as well as fashion out a selection/election process, came up with its report, presented and read it for all members present. The meeting, which began at 8.45 pm and ended at 1.10 am, commenced with the adoption of the report.
Thereafter, aspirants who had been disqualified ab-initio by the guidelines for eligibility to be chairman, as contained in the report, began to step down, one after the other. But why did they step down?
The guidelines made it so. Tagged CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING BoT CHAIRMAN, and divided into two parts, Criteria For Screening The Aspirants and The Selection Process, (see box), the Gana Committee enumerated a number of factors and conditions to be met (unlike the amendment by former President Olusegun Obasanjo at the PDP’s 2005 National Convention, an amendment which made him the only qualified person to become chairman of PDP’s BoT) which narrowed the number of qualified persons for the seat by half, from the earlier multitude of almost a score.
Thereafter, aspirants who had been disqualified ab-initio by the guidelines for eligibility began to step down, one after the other. Sunday vanguard gathered that the first to step down was Chief Don Etiebet from the South-South zone, the same zone with Anenih. He was followed by Chief Shuaibu Oyedokun and Yekini Adeojo in that order, from the Southwest zone. Both were caught by the one of the criteria for selecting chairman of the Board which disqualifies any member of the Board who left the party for another party and returned thereafter to the Board.
Then a small drama ensued. Former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, asked that President Jonathan should request that he should step down; that way, it would be easy for him to explain to his supporters outside that he stepped down at the instance of the President and Commander-in-Chief and leader of the party.
President Jonathan was said to have smiled and calmly replied: “Senator Nnamani, please step down.” And Nnamani did. It turned out to be one of the comical moments of the meeting, with the admixture of intrigues and cold calculations to push through the agenda of Jonathan’s presidency.
Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, publisher of Champion Newspapers, who claimed to be the endorsed candidate of the Southeast zone for the position, took his turn to explain how the Igbo had been marginalized and how he had spent time and resources on the process. In fact, Sunday Vanguard learnt, he was said to have wondered why the President did not let them know early that he was interested in one of the aspirants. He suggested that instead of prolonging the process, the National Chairman, President, Vice President, Senate President and Speaker should constitute themselves into a small committee which should meet separately to agree on a candidate who would be presented to the meeting for endorsement as consensus candidate. It was a good suggestion. The advice was taken.
In addition to the five persons, Chief Olabode George and Governor Ibrahim Shema were co-opted into the committee, which met for some time and its decision to present Anenih as consensus candidate to the meeting for endorsement was announced by Shema. The meeting unanimously endorsed the consensus candidate. And the Iyasele (prime Minister) of Esanland emerged as Chairman to begin his second missionary journey, having been suddenly shoved out in 2007 by Obasanjo in a coup-like manner.
The Agenda Sunday Vanguard has exclusively gathered from sources very close to Anenih that in the build-up to last week’s meeting of the BoT, the man popularly referred to as Leader by his loyalists and Mr. Fix It by his adversaries, had made his plans and agenda for the party known in no uncertain terms.
Concerned about the widening chasm in the party, especially between the members and the leaders on the one hand, and the damaging consequences of the ceaseless bickering among members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party, Anenih had set for himself, targets.
In private meetings at the very highest levels, Anenih, information available to Sunday Vanguard suggests, had made it clear that he would be focusing on the following: 1. Unity & Fairness 2. Oneness 3. Progress 4. Rancour-free party 5. Assisting the NEC in bringing everybody together 6. Assisting the NEC in resolving the plethora of challenges and crises confronting the party in the state chapters 7. Working with members of the BoT to live and act the spirit of the conscience of the party 8. Re-positioning the party for the challenges of 2015 9. Ensuring adherence to strict party discipline 10. Keeping faith with the legacies of the founding fathers of the party
Sunday Vanguard gathered that whereas this has not been codified and formally presented to the President and the BoT, the source said “the list encapsulates the agenda of the new BoT Chairman.
“The reason is simply because when you look at the happenings within the party, a wise leader like Chief would be interested in ensuring what you have in the 10-point agenda.
“In fact, it even becomes more pressing now with the opposition forming a coalition with the sole purpose of dislodging the PDP from power.
“The BoT Chairman believes that if every member and leader of the party at the different levels key into these points and make them cardinal objectives to be achieved, the party would be better positioned to silence critics. “Even the President is also very worried especially against the backdrop of the bickering in the NWC, a situation which pitched the national chairman against his national secretary. Strict adherence to party discipline would be the watchword and the chief is eminently positioned to deliver on that”, the source concluded.
All attempts made by Sunday Vanguard last week to get Chief Anenih to talk ran into a stone wall. But feelers from the camp loyal to Anenih, as of press time, indicated that the old and tested political warhorse is determined, in the face of burgeoning opposition against Jonathan by the other parties, to give the president’s 2015 re-election bid his all.
It is believed that primordial issues and ancient allegations of some perceived wrongdoings while in office as Minister of Work would be incrementally revisited and raked up, it was learnt that there is a resolve by him and members of his camp not to be unnecessarily distracted by such antics and political shenanigans.
Politics, thy name is Anenih From his days in the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, in the defunct Bendel State, Anenih’s politics has been variously described as one of pacification. However, beneath that pacifist paradigm of Anenih resides a very strong vice-grip mentality of loyalty to the general cause of party position. An example can be drawn from the very turbulent days of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, when the party was forced to agree to go for another presidential election. The pillar of the then SDP, the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, had agreed to another election as a way out of the emerging crisis of the June 12, 1993 Presidential Election. Indeed, the leadership of the party at that time had seen the hands of General Sani Abacha, eager to wrest power and, therefore, had hoped that an early resolution would checkmate Abacha’s adventure.
But the gale of antagonism to that decision, coupled with the short-sightedness of a section of the political class first gave way to an Interim National Government, ING, which was made to look all the more interim by Abacha’s dismissal of Ernest Shonekan, the then head of ING. But Yar’Adua and Anenih’s position for another early election which was pooh-poohed led to Abacha’s five-year disaster as head of state. During February 1999 National Convention of PDP in Jos, from where Obasanjo emerged, the victory recorded by Obasanjo over Alex Ekwueme, his closest rival, was made possible by a combination of factors from which you cannot divorce Anenih.
In fact, as early as 6:45am on voting day, apart from Sunday Vanguard, the only person who sat in the VIP section of the Jos Township Stadium that Sunday morning was Anenih. Clad in his now familiar blue jeans jacket and trouser, he kept making sorties between the VIP section of the stadium and the delegates’ stands, each time to nip suspected emerging crisis in the bud when voting was about to commence.
In 2002, at the height of the attempt to impeach the rambunctious Obasanjo as President and Commander-in-Chief, it was to Anenih the latter turned.
Working tirelessly with a handful of other committed leaders of the PDP, Anenih became the arrow-head of that rescue mission, negotiating, conciliating and making compromises with a view to saving a situation which had pitched the North of Nigeria against the South. That Obasanjo could survive the onslaught and later serve out his first term and even secure a second term, was due, in part to Anenih’s role. Worse for Obasanjo, on the eve of the PDP National Convention in January 2003, when a majority of the state governors in the party almost threw Obasanjo to the dogs, preferring, instead, then Vice President Atiku Abubakar, it was the same Anenih who again threw himself into the battle to save Obasanjo.
However, between the selfsame Obasanjo and Anenih, the centre could not hold when the issue of Third Term began to gain fervency. The latter objected to the move and this angered Obasanjo. And whereas the former president recruited some political upstarts to drive his Third Term project, the effort ended as a fool’s errand. Had Obasanjo adhered to good sense and wisdom, he might have spared himself and his presidency the odium of the embarrassment that trailed his failure to secure the Third Term, which still haunts him till today. Presidential watchers insist that when the issue of zoning became very contentious in the run up to the 2011 presidential contest, it was Anenih who brought out data, showing how zoning had almost always been breached since 1999 whenever the party wanted a presidential convention, citing the instances of the late Abubakar Rimi in 1999 and 2003 (when the slot was supposedly reserved for the south); and 2007 (when some southerners contested against Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a time when the slot was supposedly reserved for the North).
For the BoT Chairman, he accepts the praises where due and takes the bashings which are sometimes caustic with quintessential equanimity when they come – as they often do, especially in his home state of Edo, where another political party is in control. Some may never agree with his politics, but for a man steeped in his ways, some phrases commonly used by Anenih in the face of party indiscipline are, ‘things are not supposed to be done this way’, ‘You cannot behave like this’. Anenih has his multitude; and he still leads. It was in 1992 that the late Shehu Yar’Adua christened Anenih, “The Leader”. The title has since stuck.
That he has returned as BoT Chairman to lead is, therefore, not by accident, especially at a time when the PDP needs leadership with character to resolve its crisis. Anenih turns 80 in August.
THE SELECTION DOCUMENT DEVELOPING CRITERIA AND GUIDELINES FOR SELECTING BoT CHAIRMAN After concluding the verification exercise of BoT membership, the Committee examined some modalities and drew up criteria to serve as guidelines for selecting a suitable Chairman for the Board of Trustees. Our recommended process is in two parts:
PART A: CRITERIA FOR SCREENING ASPIRANTS 1. A candidate for the position of Chairman of BoT must be consistent in his loyalty to the Party, in terms of stability of sustained support and integrity of character, such that there is no record of having left the Party.
2. An aspirant must not be one of those who have brought the Party into public ridicule and disrepute.
3. An aspirant should be well grounded in politics both at the national and local levels, with a good reputation for excellent leadership.
4. An aspirant should possess the necessary charisma and instinctive leadership skills to move the Party forward.
5. Any aspirant who is keenly interested in contesting for elective office in the executive and legislative arms of Government, or Executive office in the Party, should stand disqualified.
6. Any aspirant with a case of criminal misconduct in Court, or with any of the anti-corruption agencies (EFCC, ICPC, etc), or facing Party disciplinary action, should stand disqualified.
7. Aspirants should have good relations with Party leaders, Party Elders, State Governors, etc, and should enjoy the goodwill of Party members.
8. It should be an added advantage if an aspirant is a founding member of the Party, with good experience in Party administration and management.
9. Any aspirant with a terminal date to his or her BoT membership may stand at a disadvantage for lack of continuity.
10. Regular attendance at BoT meetings should be a basic requirement for any aspiring candidate for BoT Chairmanship.
PART B: THE SELECTION PROCESS 1. Since the Board of Trustees is the moral guide and conscience of the Party, it would be ideal and preferable for the Board to produce its Chairman through a process of democratic dialogue and consensus. But if all efforts fail, the BoT elective process of casting votes may be adopted.
2. Since the BoT is basically the Upper Chambers in the Party hierarchy, comprising a remarkable body of people with profound experiences, good reputation and demonstrated knowledge, members are expected to relate among themselves with accustomed dignity. They must at all times be perceived in uniform voice and spirit as symbols of our unity. They must never be seen in the disruptive and inelegant role of electoral divisiveness.
3. It is suggested that a high powered Committee be established to dialogue with illustrious members of the BoT who are aspiring to serve as the Chairman of this august body, with a view to arriving at a consensus.
4. After the interactions with their colleagues, the Committee should recommend the most suitable candidate to the larger house for endorsement as the BoT Chairman. We consider this to be the most honourable and edifying process.
5. If achieved through proper consultations at all levels in the BoT, and especially with the aspirants, this process of building consensus will bind the entire BoT together as an undivided conscience of the Party. Reality confirms that a divided conscience is of no use to anybody.
Present at the meeting were President Goodluck Jonathan; Vice President Namadi Sambo; Secretary to Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; Senate President, David Mark; Speaker Aminu Tambuwal; Kano Governor, Dr Rabiu Kwankwaso; Prof Jubril Aminu; Mrs Josephine Anenih; Dr. Bode Olajumoke; Don Etiebet; Prof Jerry Gana; Chief Banabas Gemade; the party women leader, Dr. Kema Chikwe; Dr. Hassan Adamu; Dr. Dalhatu Tafida; Prince Vincent Ogbulafor; Alabo Graham Douglas; Chief Alex Ekwueme; Chief Jim Nwobodo and Dr. Sam Sam Jaja. Others were former Senate President, Chief Adophols Wabara; Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State; Alhaji Bunu Sherif; Chief Olabode George; Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu; Dr. Mohammed Bello Haliru, Dr Ahmadu Ali; Maj Gen David Jemibewon; Shuaibu Oyedokun; Okwesiliese Nwodo; Alhaji Ibrahim Mantu; Ken Nnamani; Adamu Muazu and Danjuma Goje.
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.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
