The Managing Director of Dragnet Solutions Limited – Nigeria’s leading Computer Based Testing firm and people screening solutions provider – Mr. Robert Ikazoboh has been announced as one of the speakers at the forth coming Jarushub Career and Mentorship Conference.
According to the founder of jarushub.com and organizer of the event, Mr. Suraj Oyewale, the aim of the conference scheduled to hold in Lagos this weekend is to address topical mentorship issues and provide valuable information on career guidance for Nigerian youths.
A seasoned professional with a diverse background covering Technology, Logistics and Supply Chain, Consulting, Banking and Human Resources, Mr. Ikazoboh through his leadership role at Dragnet Solutions Limited has successfully championed the adoption of Computer Based Testing in catering for the varying needs of the education sector as well as graduate recruitment needs. He is expected to deliver a lecture titled Enhancing the Employability of Nigerian Graduates at theone day career conference.
Also expected to speak at the event are highly talented and successful professionals such as Head, Global Markets Sales, Stanbic IBTC Group, Mr. Akeem Oyewale, CEO, Accenture Nigeria, Mr. Niyi Yusuf, CEO, Global Analytics, Mr. Tope Fasua, an Investment Analyst, Mr. Obafemi Bamidele, CEO, Proshare, Mr. Olufemi Aowyemi, Suraj Oyewaleamong others.
Dragnet Solutions Limited is Nigeria’s first people based screening and Computer Based Testing (CBT) solutions firm.
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.
WASHINGTON — A manhunt was underway for two more possible shooters after six people were killed and several others wounded Monday at the Naval Sea Systems Command headquarters here, the Navy said.
Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier said a shooter was dead and one police officer was wounded in an "engagement" with at least one gunman.
"One shooter is deceased,'' she said. "We have multiple victims inside who are deceased. We potentially have two other shooters who have not been located."
Lanier said police are searching for a white male wearing a tan military-style uniform with short sleeves, a military beret and a hand gun. Police are also searching for a black man around 50 years old wearing an olive drab military-style uniform and carrying a long gun, Lanier said.
She said there was no evidence that the suspects were military members.
A federal law enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the fluid nature of the investigation, said authorities were investigating the possibility of other shooters, but there was no immediate evidence of more than one assailant.
Washington Mayor Vincent Gray called the incident a "horrific tragedy" and lauded police for their quick response.
Media outlets including CBS and the Associated Press, citing the Navy, said the number of dead had risen to six. Maj. Ed Buclatin, the public affairs chief for the Navy Installations Command, earlier had tweeted "four killed and eight injured."
FLIGHTS: Airport resumes operations after Navy shooting
Janis Orlowsky, chief medical officer at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, said the hospital was treating three victims — a male D.C. police officer and two women.
She said the police officer had multiple gunshot wounds to his legs and was in surgery. One woman was shot in the shoulder, and the other in the head and hand. All are expected to survive, she said.
The hospital had been told to expect additional victims, Orlowsky said. "We're pretty darned experienced at this."
Rick Mason, a program management analyst who is a civilian for the Navy, said he was at the Navy Yard when a gunman began shooting from a fourth-floor overlook in the hallway outside his office. He said the gunman was aiming down at people in the building's cafeteria on the first floor. Mason said he could hear the shots but could not see a gunman.
Mason said overhead speakers told workers to seek shelter and later to leave the building.
Patricia Ward, a logistics management specialist, said she was in the cafeteria. "I heard three shots — pow, pow, pow. Thirty seconds later I heard four more shots."
Then panic, as people tried to get out of the cafeteria. "A lot of people were just panicking. There were no screams or anything because we were in shock."
Dave Sarr, an environmental engineer, was walking down a nearby street when he saw people running from the Navy Yard. Sarr has seen an evacuation drill a few days earlier at the Navy Yard. "At first I thought it was another drill," Sarr said. "Then I saw an officer with his weapon drawn."
President Obama made a brief statement, describing the victims as "patriots" and promising a thorough investigation. "I made it clear to my team that I want the investigation to be seamless," Obama said.
The first news broke with the Navy reporting on its Twitter feed that there was an "active shooter" at Building 197 at the Navy Yard, and that three shots had been fired at 8:20 a.m. ET. The Navy later reported deaths and injuries, but details remained fluid.
James Killingsworth, a mason from Frederick, Md., was working on rebuilding a historic wall about 100 yards from the Navy Yard entrance when he heard two gunshots. If there were any other shots, he said, they were immediately drowned out by wailing sirens.
"Everything they had, Secret Service, federal police, everyone came speeding down the street. I've never seen so many police in my life," he said. "Scary morning."
Flights at nearby Washington Reagan National Airport were disrupted, with all departures temporarily halted at the airport.
The Navy Yard is located on the banks of the Anacostia River, a few blocks from the Nationals baseball stadium. It's in an urban area where the development of new parks, shops and apartments has been ongoing.
The Washington Nationals baseball team had not determined whether Monday night's game against the Atlanta Braves would be played. A parking lot at Nationals Stadium was being used as a site for families seeking to reunite with loved ones who work at the Navy Yard.
The city had not decided how long the area by the Navy Yard, including the baseball stadium, would remain closed to the public, said Keith St. Clair, communications director for the deputy mayor for public safety and justice.
Naval Sea Systems Command is the largest of the Navy's five system commands and accounts for a quarter of the Navy's entire budget. It builds, buys and maintains the Navy's ships and submarines and their combat systems.
NAVSEA headquarters' security requires guests to pass through turnstiles that are watched by security guards before entering. Visitors must also turn in their phones and other electronic recording devices upon entry.
Capt. Michael Graham, who works at NAVSEA, was running late this morning and by the time he arrived at work the base was already in a lockdown.
Graham said he had never seen a shelter-in-place drill in his five years at NAVSEA.
"I've never seen a shelter-in-place, I've seen the normal fire drills things like that, but never a shelter-in-place drill," said Graham. "Normally the drills you have are to get out of the building."
Marine Barracks Washington also put its base on a partial lockdown, only allowing Marines to leave if they were on official business, said Capt. Jack Norton, a base spokesman. A small contingent from Marine Barracks Washington's Guard Company serves at the Navy Yard, Norton said.
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 number of people unaccounted for in flood-ravaged Colorado rose Sunday to 1,254 as flooding spread to 15 counties and rain continued to fall.
Many of those unaccounted for were reported unreachable on the phone by family members.
"We don't expect to find 1,254 fatalities," said Micki Trost, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
Five fatalities — four in Boulder County and one in El Paso County — have been confirmed since the bulk of the rain began Wednesday evening. Still the number of fatalities could rise. An 80-year-old woman in Larimer County's Cedar Grove was missing and presumed dead after her home was washed away by the flooding Big Thompson River , the county sheriff's office said Sunday. The woman was injured and unable to leave her home Friday night, sheriff's spokesman John Schulz said. A second Larimer County 60-year-old woman is also presumed dead after the river destroyed her home the same night.
Some 1,500 homes have been destroyed and about 17,500 have been damaged, according to an initial estimate released by the Colorado Office of Emergency Management.
Some people just don't know what's come of their relatives. A Dallas man saw a photo of his mother's Big Thompson Canyon home in ruins on a Denver TV website. "I don't know that she's even OK," Rob Clements told The Coloradoan about his mother, Libby Orr, 73, with whom he last spoke on Thursday. "I presume she is. But her house, if not completely gone, fell into the river and is most of the way gone."
Many roads and bridges in the state are damaged or destroyed, said Amy Ford, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation.
Crews are assessing the extent of the damage, which will cost "hundreds of millions" of dollars to repair, she said.
The actual number of roads damaged or destroyed is unknown, Ford said. Sections of three U.S. highways — 34, 36 and 72 — and various mountain roads are heavily damaged, she said.
Thirty highway bridges are destroyed, 20 are seriously damaged, and transportation officials suspect 20 others are damaged.
"Our first priority is looking at roads to repair," Ford said. "We're also looking at roadways near water that weren't closed to make sure they are safe."
Recovery "will take weeks, if not months," she said.
Long-time Boulder resident Tom Kahn said there were some mudslides in his neighborhood near the base of a mountain that overlooks the city of Boulder, but his house did not suffer any major damage. Water "poured" into some nearby houses, he said.
"It's very sad," said Kahn, a Realtor who has lived in Boulder since 1967. "Our beautiful Boulder is hammered. Mother Nature wins."
He said Four Mile Canyon, one of several canyons where people live outside of Boulder, is "a total wipeout."
"Life goes on, but it's so heartbreaking."
Boulder resident Rudy Harburg said the most prevalent problem in the city of Boulder is flooded basements. He said the local Home Depot sold 700 sump pumps in four hours.
"I have not seen as much rain in the 55 years I have lived in Boulder," said Harburg, who owns apartments in the city.
In front of a house on a hill above the University of Colorado campus, he said he saw people piling a couch and other furniture in front of the front door to keep water from rushing into the house.
A few days ago, a major street in Boulder, Baseline, was "a torrential river," and Boulder Canyon, the big canyon leading into and out of the city, is "a disaster," he said.
The Boulder Sheriff's Office has reported that mudslides, debris and water have destroyed or made impassable mountain roads in Boulder Canyon and other canyons west of the city.
Harburg said, though, that media pictures showing extensive flood-related damage – particularly in hard-hit, nearby Lyons — are not representative of downtown Boulder. He said he has encountered roadblocks blocking some city streets, but he has usually been able to drive without obstruction through the city.
He said many college students were making the best of the situation, "dancing in the rain and running around in bikinis" on the hill above campus.
He praised city officials, because "our infrastructure — roads, storm sewers and drainage systems — has held up."
About 14,500 people have evacuated from flooded areas in 15 counties, and 1,329 stayed overnight Saturday in 26 emergency shelters, Trost said.
Many displaced residents are staying with family or friends or in hotels, she said.
Rain fell intermittently Saturday, and 4 inches of rain were expected Sunday.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said Sunday he expects the weather to clear Monday morning or afternoon.
The state has "a lot of broken roads and broken bridges, but we don't have broken spirits," he said.
Hickenlooper said helicopters rescued more than 2,000 people in need of evacuation in flooded areas.
The size of the flood-affected area is growing.
Flooding has impacted the foothills on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains from Fort Collins in northern Colorado to Canon City, about 180 miles away in southern Colorado.
The hardest-hit counties are Boulder and Larimer in the north and El Paso in the south. The state's two largest public universities are in the two northern counties — the University of Colorado in Boulder and Colorado State University in Larimer's most populous city, Fort Collins.
In El Paso County, which includes Colorado Springs, the Manitou Springs area has been most affected by the flooding, Trost said.
Floodwaters have now spread east to the Great Plains in eastern Colorado. An emergency shelter has been set up in Sterling, about 102 miles east of Fort Collins and the Rocky Mountain foothills.
Want to help out Colorado flood victims? Trost says anyone wishing to send financial assistance should go to helpcoloradonow.net.
Liz Erley, chairwoman of the Lyons Community Foundation. , says anyone wishing to help Lyons residents whose homes were destroyed or damaged should send a check to the Lyons Community Foundation/Relief Fund, The Community Foundation, 1123 Spruce St., Boulder, Colo., 80302.
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.
WASHINGTON — The shooting Monday at the Navy Yard here took place in Building 197, the headquarters of the Navy Sea Systems Command, an essential component of the country's sea service.
According to the Navy, the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) is the largest of the Navy's five system commands. About 3,000 people work in the command headquarters at the Navy Yard.
It has an annual budget of almost $30 billion, and the command makes about 25% of the Navy's entire budget. The command has a total workforce of 50,000 civilian, military and contract support personnel. The command engineers, builds, buys and maintains the Navy's ships and submarines and their combat systems, according to the Navy. It has facilities around the world.
The building where the shooting took place is a high-security facility because of the sensitivity of the information handled by the command. It is inside the Navy Yard, itself a military installation that would not allow public access.
Most military bases require a sticker to get through the gates. Often base commanders will heighten security by requiring identification checks.
Visitors who don't work there would usually need to be cleared in advance and at some bases they might have their vehicle searched.
The Sea Systems Command headquarters has another layer of security, which requires an additional badge and has turnstiles similar to the Pentagon. The command works with sensitive documents, including equipment test results.
The Navy Yard was established in 1799 and is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy.
Washington's Navy Yard area has gone through a revitalization in the last five years since the completion of the stadium for the National League's Washington Nationals. It also close to Capitol Hill.
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.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — South Florida officials are considering improvements for a memorial and mass grave for hundreds of victims of the 1928 hurricane, still the deadliest natural disaster in state history.
A fence and marker were installed in 2003 at the West Palm Beach field where 674 victims of the hurricane were buried. Now, though, paint is peeling from those installations and while the city mows the grass every few weeks, the memorial is largely ignored by the public.
"It has never looked this bad in all the 14 years I've been on the board," said City Commissioner Ike Robinson, whose former district included the site.
City Commissioner Sylvia Moffett tells The Palm Beach Post that neighbors aren't sure whether adding amenities such as an amphitheater or restrooms would attract more park activity or constitute sacrilege.
"Even if it's not an active park, we owe it to people to maintain it," Moffett said.
Monday marks the 85th anniversary of the storm. The Category 4 hurricane knocked out the dike surrounding Lake Okeechobee.
At least 2,500 people died in the storm and flooding. Amid health fears, authorities dug mass graves or burned corpses in massive pyres.
Hundreds of black victims were buried in the West Palm Beach field, which was a paupers' cemetery. For decades, it remained empty and unmarked.
Robert Hazard, an advocate for the memorial site, envisions a park with tables for checkers and chess, space for yoga classes and educational kiosks. He also hopes Florida could make the site a state park.
City parks and recreation director Christine Thrower said the site was designed more as a memorial than as a public park. However, she said she was open to Hazard's ideas.
"There are many things we could do to honor what the area stands for," she said.
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 reason for the resignation of Alhaji Tanko Isiaku Gwamna, the New Peoples Democratic Party’s National Treasurer has emerged.
In a statement by the Baraje led PDP issued this morning by Mr Eze Chukwuemeka Eze titled “PDP Sacks National Treasurer, Alhaji Tanko Isiaku Gwamna, For Being a Mole and A Saboteur • Replaces Him with Engr. Abubakar Gambo Umar”, Eze said: “We have read with dismay the purported resignation of our erstwhile National Treasurer, Alhaji Tanko Isiaku Gwamna, while the fact is that he was sacked by the party. This unprincipled politician was sacked after being discovered to be a mole and has since been replaced by a seasoned and principled politician, Engr. Abubakar Gambo Umar, who has been an active grassroots politician and mobiliser in his native Taraba State since 1999”.
According to report, Alhaji Gwamna’s fate became sealed when a report on his true status was tabled before the National Working Committee of PDP during its inaugural meeting held at the residence of the party’s National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, in Abuja on 15th Sept, 2013. The damning report on Alhaji Gwamna was submitted by the PDP National Secretary, His Excellency, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola. According to the report, it was found that Alhaji Gwamna was a mole planted by the Tukur faction of PDP to monitor our activities and report back to it with a view to sabotaging our activities.
The statement stated that Prince Oyinlola’s report further indicted Alhaji Gwamna as one of those executing contracts for the Federal Government and under threat that to have all his contracts terminated should he fail to spy on us as directed. Like the Judas that he is, Alhaji Gwamna agreed to mortgage his conscience in his mistaken belief that he could successfully sabotage our mission to bring sanity to our party being hijacked by hawks whose aim is to destroy a party that they do not know how it was formed.
The rest of the statement reads thus:
“When Alhaji Gwamna got wind of his impending sack, this false democrat rushed to the Presidency to alert his paymasters that he had been discovered to be a mole and was at the verge of dismissal. To save his ugly face, the Presidency quickly drafted a press statement announcing his resignation and gave him to sign and immediately release to the press last night.
“To us, Alhaji Gwamma is rubbish meant for the dustbin and we sincerely thank all those who assisted us to discover on time this undemocratic personality only meant for a fading group like Tukur’s faction of the PDP.
“We are happy to announce the better qualified and more principled Engr. Abubakar Gambo Umar as his replacement with immediate effect. Unlike Alhaji Gwamma, Engr. Umar, who was twice nominated by his constituency to run for the House of Representatives, is a staunch believer in the rule of law, a democrat to the core and a man known for upholding justice and fair play.
“To Nigerians, we apologise for not properly investigating Alhaji Gwamma, a fellow who is ready to sell his conscience for a mess of porridge, before giving him such an exalted position of National Treasurer of a great party like PDP. As we bid him goodbye to his journey to political perdition and wilderness, we wish to urge all Nigerians to keep faith with us as we are very determined to flush out all the undemocratic elements that have constituted themselves a nuisance to our rescue mission”.
It could be recalled that last night, Alhaji Tanko Isiaku Gwamna resigned from membership of the nPDP saying that:
“As a lover of democracy, I am of the belief that the current impasse will not augur well for the unity, peace, progress and prosperity of our great party in particular, and the country in general,”
“I, therefore, enjoin all PDP faithful wherever they may be to unite and ensure the amicable resolution of the current impasse. Our desire is for the PDP to continue to lead while others follow.
“As such, we must eschew all vices capable of unnecessarily heating up the polity. I pledge my loyalty to Bamanga Tukur’s leadership while calling on all party faithful to do same.”
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.
ABUJA – As the meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the aggrieved G-7 governors and other leaders of the Abubakar Kawu Baraje faction of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, got underway last night to resolve the crisis in the party, there were indications that the nPDP may have adjusted its earlier demand that President Goodluck Jonathan should not seek a second term in office. This came as the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur has appealed to leaders of the new PDP to embrace dialogue saying the problem can be resolved in a family way.
The governors who were present at the meeting with President Jonathan which began at about 3.30 pm at the first Lady’s conference room, yesterday, were Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers), Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Sule Lamido (Jigawa), Abdulfattah Ahmed (Kwara) Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Ibrahim Shema (Katsina), Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe), Liyel Imoke (Cross River) and Idris Wada (Kogi). As usual, the meeting which was earlier scheduled for the presidential villa at 9.00pm Sunday was closed to journalists.
nPDP drops demand for Jonathan to go in 2015 Sources among the governors at the meeting disclosed at the weekend that in the place of the earlier demand that President Jonathan should not seek re-election, the nPDP was last night set to demand that he gives practical and irrevocable evidence of allowing due process in the nomination process for the party’s 2015 presidential candidate. Top of the evidence, it was learnt, is the sack of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur as national chairman and restoration of party executives in Adamawa and Rivers states.
Ahead of the crucial meeting with the president, the G7 governors aligned to the nPDP met at the Samora Machel, Asokoro, Abuja residence of the factional chairman of the party, Alhaji Kawu Baraje.
The G7 governors and their associates in the preparatory meeting at Baraje’s house rehearsed strategies on how to approach the meeting with the president and the faction led by Tukur especially on the crucial demand that the president reveal whether he would run or not in the 2015 contest.
The decision to readjust the strategy, it was learnt, may not be unconnected to the campaign by presidential aides that the governors were asking the president to commit himself to an unconstitutional demand by ruling himself out of the 2015 contest.
“This is not about 2015, but we want the president to provide clear guarantees that due process would be allowed to prevail in the party in all matters relating to the party and also the presidential contest,” one of the governors in the forefront of the nPDP told Vanguard.
Another source close to one of the nPDP governors disclosed that the governors were to be informed by the president whether or not he would contest in 2015.
At the last peace meeting last Tuesday, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State had reportedly demanded that Dr. Jonathan reveal to the nation whether or not he would seek the 2015 presidential ticket of the PDP, but he was rebuked by Governors Idris Wada of Kogi and Liyel Imoke of Cross River State who argued that the demand was uncalled for.
Appealing to the leaders of the new PDP, in a statement signed, yesterday, by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the National Chairman, urged the seven aggrieved governors and other members of the nPDP not to play into the hands of those who hate Nigeria and the nation’s democracy.
According to the statement, the ongoing political quagmire were designed to portray President Goodluck Jonathan in bad light, adding that no problem in the PDP family was insurmountable.
Tukur begs Baraje, others Metuh said: ”The Peoples Democratic Party has urged all its estranged members to fully utilize the window of dialogue and reconciliation offered it and avoid playing into the hands of those who do not wish the nation or her democracy well.
“The party also said the on-going muted skirmishes and well organized theatrics aimed at portraying the President in bad light were not necessary because as members of one big family, no challenge was insurmountable.
“This tactics is antithetical to democracy but not an unfamiliar rule of engagement. However, it is important that we avoid over-stretching it so as not to play into the waiting hands of the desperate, wishing to incite the people and destroy our common destiny.”
Resolving PDP problem The PDP spokesperson regretted that the problem in the party was a challenge which could be resolved within the ambit of the crisis resolution mechanism of the party but was being exaggerated by some politicians desperately looking for quick photo-ups through sensationalism in the media.
“We wish to assure our members therefore that we are still capable of resolving our challenges and urge them to be more committed to our progress. We shall emerge stronger.”
The party said that the nation would benefit the more should detractors of the President pick him or the party on issues of development.
“Very unfortunately, the easiest way to gain prominence today is to attack the President and the leadership of his party, not on issues of governance or on alternative direction of governance but on the pedestrian that borders on sheer mudslinging.
“While the inconsequential makes the banner, the essentials and the substantial in the consistent though quiet transformation of the nation are tucked away in obscure riders. The media are critical building block of democracy and the Nigerian media have stood firm across the decades. It must not relent.
“In all these, our firm support for the President as the leader and symbol of our party in government remains total. We shall neither waver nor allow narrow sentiments stand in the way of the absolute resolve of our great party to better the lots of all Nigerians.”
2015: Dokpesi intensifies lobby of Northern leaders for Jonathan
In a related development, there were indications, last night, that the special emissary raised by President Jonathan to woo opposition politicians in the North to his side, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi, had made some progress in that regard.
The media executive and businessman, it was learnt, had been on a solo mission to win opposition northern politicians for the President’s re-election, having been saddled with the arduous assignment by Jonathan last month.
The decision to recruit Dokpesi into the mobilisation of dissenting Northern political leaders for Jonathan is said to have been taken by the Presidency because of the perceived widespread respect said to be enjoyed by the businessman in the region. Vanguard gathered that the Presidency opted for a neutral person to drive the campaign since the initial meeting between one of his aides and some chieftains of the Northern Elders’ Forum, NEF, in Abuja did not produce the expected result.
The leaders of the NEF led by its scribe, Prof Ango Abdullahi, were said to had questioned the aide, whom he had worked with during former President Obasanjo’s regime, what pedigree he had to summon him for a meeting on behalf of his boss, a development that led to a deadlock.
But learning from that spat, the Presidency dispatched Dokpesi to meet with those in the north known to be opposed to the second term ambition of President Jonathan in 2015.
Dokpesi met with some of the northern politicians in Kano and Jigawa states before breaking off for an overseas trip and is expected to continue to dialogue with the politicians and key northern stakeholders whose support is germane to Jonathan’s re-election.
One of the northern politicians, who met with Dokpesi, described their meeting as ‘cordial and frank’ but added that they were cautious as they did not trust the motive of the dialogue.
“It is a good thing that the President has begun to speak with the critical stakeholders in the North,” the respected northern politician said. He added that, “the meeting between Dokpesi and some of our people is a step in the right direction and goes on to support our position that the move is even overdue”.
Another northern politician said: “What the High Chief is trying to do in the north for Jonathan is what his aides should have been doing long ago. Unfortunately, some of them began to abuse us once Jonathan was elected into office in 2011.”
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 old adage has it that the taste of the pud-ding is in the eating. Indeed such should be the apt description for the recent giant strides recorded by Abia State government in the education sector. Just recently, the state came out tops in science and mathematics exhibition ratings organised by the Science and Mathematics Teachers for primary schools in the country. The event held at Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
Probably because it is Abia, it is most unlikely that the feat will not dominate public discourse, lest the state will be accorded its due and such ripple effect may likely alter the plan of detractors.
Be that as it may be, one glaring thing is that the feat has rekindled the confidence of stakeholders, especially in the education sector, moreso with the damage-control by stakeholders in the sector globally. It is equally a boost to the untiring efforts of the state governor to leave legacies in the state during his stewardship.
Before now, the fate of education in Abia was nothing to write home about. Even though it is not really an isolated case, but since the damage was not done by the present government, we can ignore and overlook it, yet we will not give the present government its due.
I was to stumble on the comment by one of the arm-chair critics who takes delight in casting aspersions on the state government and its officials. This time around, his grouse was that the government was giving out vehicles to some jobless youths as a means of empowerment when states in the North made plans to sponsor their citizens for overseas training. But I know he was simply advertising ignorance.
It is not unlikely that his sentiments are buoyed by our traditional penchant to give preference to paper qualification without any adequate back-up in terms of practical and basic knowledge. At best our people are in dire pursuit of those “ core” professional disciplines not for anything else but the misconceived values the society has placed on them at its own detriment. Little regard is given to the salient but very vital areas that lubricate the wheels of the economy. We are also burdened with the class regimen of salutary academic degrees.
Whereas it is the obvious absence of the basic technical know-how that has plunged our country into the pitiable abyss of condemnable status of a consumer-society, we have often misplaced knowledge with paper qualifications. We have even upped the stakes today to include complementary foreign degrees to announce our accomplishments just as those who do not understand the essence of vacation now use Western summer peak to show “they also belong”.
That is the Nigerian slavery mentality though. Nevertheless, it is unarguable that avalanche of suspicious manpower or personnel without commensurate infrastructure is akin to a bishop without a diocese. It is at best no more in worth than the paper on which that so-called qualification is written.
The onus is on government to provide the infrastructure upon which the other goals would be realised and anything outside that is like putting the cart before the horse.
Let us take the Abia example of empowerment. It is a cause that in my judgement has served the dual purpose of getting the direct impact of governance on the citizen via the channelling of resources towards the upliftment of the standard of living of the people.
It has also resuscitated the near lost advantage of vocational and technical training which is the sustaining force of the economy.
TO the best of my knowledge and in true practice, the scheme has covered other areas like skills acquisition and technical training which are germaine to the growth and sustenance of a buoyant economy. Until we are personally hit by the stark reality, it may not occur to us that there are no more apprentices for many of our skilled vocations like carpentry, automobile engineering and other allied professions. A friend lamented his frustrations in finding it hard to get a hand to assist him assemble an ordinary office table he bought from a showroom.
I recall when in our academic curriculum we had subjects like Technical Drawing, Introductory Technology and even Woodwork. There were days of the glory in public schools when our time tables were structured to enable us attend handcraft lessons in primary schools while the girls had their domestic classes.
Those experiences did not turn all of us into George Stevensons or Bill Gates, but it afforded a route of self discovery to those who were not academically endowed to realise their potential within the ambit of formal technical training, and remained persons to reckon with. That was one of the beauties of those famous technical colleges. There is no argument again on the dearth of the once highly rated technical schools of record that produced self-made professionals after formal apprenticeship.
The decision of the state government to remain unrelenting in the provision of opportunities for citizens to acquire formal and non-formal training is one that would ensure no missing link in a stable economy. Perhaps not many are aware that as sound, popular and deft as he is politically, Jacob Zuma of South Africa did not go through formal education to attain his desired goal. And there are very many of them. Yes, Abia does not believe in singing its own praises like other states take delight in doing. And some times I ponder why. If it does, perhaps it would have created a swan-song of what the present administration has done in the area of education. I am aware that it is to the credit of the present administration that the moribund state scholarship board was revived and scholarship awards given to deserving indigenes of the state studying in various universities in the United States of America, United Kingdom and South Africa. The Mass Literacy Programme of the administration has been sustained and many beneficiaries have emerged.
The state government has undertaken quiet but constant and consistent rehabilitation of all the infrastructure in affected public primary schools in the state. In many cases, new befitting structures have been erected alongside the upgrade.
It might not be news, but it is pertinent to mention it that under many past administrators, Abia State, for 22 years, had no state library beyond the Divisional Library it inherited from the old Imo State squeezed obscurely in the ever-busy Bank Road Umuahia.
Today, not even many residents are aware that the state government is constructing and has nearly completed a state-of-the-art ultramodern e-library that is located in a very serene and conducive area within the state capital most apt for research and study. Before now the State Universal Basic Education Board under a thoroughbred educationist, Sir Micah Onyebuchi, has been recipient of various awards and commendations for giant strides in the education sector yet no drums are rolled out.
Today statistics have revealed that 10.5million of the 31million “out-of-school” children in sub-Sahara Africa are from Nigeria, with the North accounting for a whopping nine million and 1.2million classroom deficiency. Appeals have gone from major actors like Senate Committee chairman on Education, Uche Chukwumerije, who want stakeholders to show greater responsibility to the challenges by matching result with action in the quest for education for all by the year 2015.
The problem is really endemic and the United Nations as represented by former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown believes the solution could start with the government paying a counterpart fund of $250million to meet up the $500million from international donors to give the Nigerian youth access to basic education.
Mr Kingsley Emereuwa, a political analyst, wrote from Umuahia, Abia State
For what it is really worth, this latest feat by the state as confirmed by Science and Mathematics Teachers is a clear indication that diligence and total commitment to a course have their reward. And the story should be told lest others will take the glory. Chimamandah Ngozi Adichie, in one of her presentations, charged Africans to learn to tell their own stories so that others would not distort their story for selfish actualisation.
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.
First Lady, Mrs Patience Jonathan has denied reports that she involve in the sale of the Enugu Disco an electricity distribution company.
The statement signed by Ayo O. Adesugba (Mrs.) Director of Information, Office of the First Lady said that the repot was devoid of facts.
The statement read thus
Our attention has been drawn to an online article published in Sahara Reporters titled
“Nigeria’s First Lady, Vice President behind the Enugu Disco Sale Fiasco.” Normally, the hearsay and conjectures in the article should have been ignored due to the fact that it is speculative journalism at its worst. Additionally, the article as it pertains to the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is devoid of any concrete evidence or supporting documents. However, since the First Lady’s name has been mentioned in the article we are duty bound to respond so that the public will not be unwittingly misled.
According to Sahara Reporters “A major source in the Presidency disclosed that Mrs. Jonathan is the unseen hand behind the constant bending of rules for Interstate by both the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the National Council on Privatization (NCP).”
The report further states that, “The reason for the First Lady’s meddling is that Emeka Offor, leader of the Interstate consortium, has convinced her he would protect her secret business interest in the consortium.”
The article goes further to claim that, “Mr. Offor confided in associates early this week that he had advised Mrs. Jonathan, who hails from Rivers State as Peterside, to put pressure on the NCP technical committee chairman to “take it easy because this is Nigeria, and not America or London.”
We state categorically that there is no truth or veracity whatsoever in these aforementioned statements. The First Lady is not interested and has no link whatsoever to the sale, or bending of rules, if any, for the sale of any public enterprise. The article is not only speculative and uncharitable but also extremely unfair and provocative.
The report runs counter to the basic ethics of journalism by failing to be fair and balanced. Nobody from Sahara Reporters requested the First Lady’s own side of the rumored story.
It is our hope that in future Sahara Reporters will present concrete facts to buttress whatever claims it has, so that we can examine facts and not respond to hearsay or rumour from unidentified sources.
We wish to reiterate that there is no truth in the report. The First Lady’s attention is firmly focused on her philanthropic roles through her NGOs and on promoting peace in her capacity as the President of the African First Ladies Peace Mission.
Dame Patience is also working with commitment to ensure greater online security for Nigerian children in her capacity as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Child Online Protection Champion. Unfounded and speculative reports such as the one carried by Sahara Reporters are unnecessary distractions which we hope all well-meaning Nigerians should ignore.
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.
All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday said President Goodluck Jonathan should be held responsible for the last week’s blockade of the Rivers State Government House.
APC said the President’s unbridled disposition toward political vendetta had pushed him to commit impunity and unconstitutionality more than any other president in the country’s history.
Its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement said the police could not have had the temerity to act the way they did in blocking Governor Chibuike Amaechi and his guests from his residence if they were not assured of support from higher authorities.
It warned that giving presidential backing to the police – or any national institution at all – to commit impunity and violate the nation’s constitution was the fastest means to destroy such institutions and erode public confidence in them.
The party said: ‘’In the case of the police, what is happening in Rivers is sending a wrong signal to the polity concerning the role of the force in 2015.
“How can a malleable police be trusted to be neutral and to help ensure the conduct of a free and fair election – with the President as a candidate – in 2015?.’’
APC claimed the Nigeria Police Force under President Jonathan had increasingly become a lawless force whose allegiance was only to the President and not to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a force that had become a tool in the hands of the President to harass, intimidate, arrest and persecute all his real and perceived political enemies.
According to the statement: ‘’Since the onset of the President Jonathan-inspired political logjam in Rivers State and the implosion of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, the President has been depending on the Nigeria Police to shore up his dwindling political fortune.
The insubordination of the Rivers State Super Police Commissioner Mbu, the police-sponsored fracas in the Rivers State House of Assembly; the assault on the five visiting governors by thugs working under the direction and protection of the State Commissioner of Police and the unlawful occupation of the new PDP Secretariats at Abuja and Lagos, are clear examples.
’’President Jonathan, however, should be told in clear and unambiguous language that Nigerians will resist all machinations by him to turn Nigeria into a police state.’’
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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