Rejected Olympic sports: 5 new events you won’t be seeing in Sochi

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Read Time:3 Minute, 1 Second

The Olympic Village, Russia — If you have the feeling that the 2014 Olympic Games are a little short on activities, give yourself a medal. Five brand-new sports created for Sochi’s big show were shot down without getting as much as a singe from the Olympic flame.

 

Only “slopestyling” survived, but it looks like just another excuse for getting Shaun White off the couch. Meanwhile, five exciting events have been scratched due to politics, physics or a little of both. Here’s what you’ll be missing:

 

Ice Bowling

This innovation was to be played on the curling lanes, giving them a second purpose. Ice bowling combines the slippery qualities of curling with the mathematical challenges of scoring furious ten-pin action. Unfortunately, the curlers and the bowlers couldn’t decide who was going to bring the cigarettes and the Budweiser, so the  new sport was shelved.   Also: the Russian authorities were never thrilled with the notion of citizens renting their shoes.

 

Freestyle Bobsled

What happens when you take four-man bobsleds out of their restrictive course and get them out in the open?  What happens when you send them down one of the steepest peaks in Sochi, freestyle, letting the drivers find the fastest way to the bottom? 

 

Trees happen. Cliffs happen. Avalanches happen. Collisions between sleds happen. Don’t ever ask those questions again.

 

Pole Taunting

Children the world over can’t pass up a frozen pole in the winter without testing it with their  tongues. They make a game of it. The kid who can keep his tongue on the pole the longest without getting it stuck frozen is the winner.

 

The competition committee thought that the game would translate directly into an Olympic event simply by lengthening the time each contestant would have to remain on the pole. What they discovered was an immutable law of physics: “The length of time a body part remains in contact with a  sub frozen object is inversely proportional to the body part’s possibility of survival.” Donations can be sent to the Sochi School for  Speech Therapy. And don’t send soup. It’s hard to eat soup without a tongue.

 

Snowmobile Demo Derby

Fill an Olympic hockey rink with 50 snowmobiles, 50  hay bales, 50 snowmobile drivers and   a douche with a checkered flag.  Congratulations, you have just winterized  the classic demolition derby. Unfortunately, all those snowmobiles have motors that give off massive quantities of carbon monoxide, making them unsuitable for indoor use.

 

 â€œOur test audience alerted us to that fact by falling asleep shortly into the first event,”  said Herb Booker, director of Olympic ice surfaces and cocktail franks.  “We’re looking for work around. It’s not every day that a sport so violent that even the audience is knocked out.”

 

Show Dog Iditarod

This wanna be event combines the elegance of an uptown dog show with the grittiness of an Alaskan-style dogsled race.  Grizzled huskies and other powerful breeds are replaced in the harnesses by poodles, pugs and Pomeranians.  

 

“Sadly, our research into this event overlooked the fact that some participating countries value dog meet  as a delicacy,” said Sally Ramshackle, “That limited us to running the race only once, as a demonstration event, due to a sudden lack of contestants. But those who attended said it was exciting and delicious.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Peter Obi Antics Can No Longer Be Funny to Obiano

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Read Time:6 Minute, 6 Second
I was in court the other day, at the Anambra State Election Tribunal. And so was Chief Willie Obiano. I was seated on the same row, but an isle and one person away from him on my left, so I had a good opportunity to observe him. Poor guy! Throughout the course of the campaign for the Governorship election, I always thought that "the man has no idea what
 
Peter Obi is pushing him into" My observation of him in court on this day seem to prove me right. But, according to Shakespeare "there is no art to find the mind's construction on the face" so, I would never know what he is really feeling or thinking unless he tells me or Ndi Anambra. 
 
There are four Petitions in front of the Tribunal, and every last one of them is against Chief Willie Obiano, and each one of them has potentials of going all the way to the Supreme Court written all over it. In court on that day, Obiano had to stand up as the Tribunal's Clerk read out the Petitions.
 
As the only "Principal" in court that day, he was the only one doing the standing and sitting as the Petitions were read out. Like I said, poor guy! This was the second time I felt sorry for him in the course of this campaign and election.
 
The first was at the "Debategate" when Ifeanyi Ubah busted him at the second Debate for bringing in "expo" (cheat sheets) to the debate in clear violation of the rules. Although he did the same at the first Debate, no one showed him out like Ifeanyi Ubah did at the second Debate. Chief Obiano survived that and was declared "winner" of the election.
 
Then he had to contend with Governor Peter Obi and Chief Victor Umeh conducting The since-ignored Local Government Council Elections with just two months to the end of Obi's tenure and with as much time for Obiano to supposedly take over.
 
Along the line the guy is slammed with four Petitions at the Tribunal, including one from his own party, based on a Max Okwu locus standi that Governor Peter Obi set up when he was at daggers-drawn with his new Man-Friday, Victor Umeh. And there are several other law suits outside of the Tribunal, each of which also has Supreme Court written all over them.
 
I am just curious to know if Governor Peter Obi explained the potentials of all these to Chief Obiano when he (Obi) drafted Obiano and imposed him on APGA over the likes of Hon Uche Ekwunife, SSG Oseloka Obaze and Barrister Chiedu Idigo before foisting him on Ndi Anambra with impunity in the grossly flawed election that now has the man doing sit-ups in court as he stood-and-sat in court as the Petitions against him are read out. Did Governor Obi explain these, and did Obiano himself anticipate any of these when he accepted Governor Obi's sales job on him for this Governorship business?
 
But going beyond this, if we assume that Obiano can weather the storm of all these litigations, or that he would able to steady his rocking boat enough to be sworn in as the next Governor of Anambra State, I am also curious to know what he would do for money in his first 100 Days in Office given the rate and zeal with which Governor Peter Obi is determined to empty Anambra State's treasury before his departure.
 
It cannot be Funny to Obiano
 
I would imagine that Chief Obiano is no longer finding it funny that Obi is continuing to be Father Christmas with Anambra State's treasury with just 37 days to go from office. Another N100 million given to Unizik? Would Obiano have enough money left to take-off with?
 
Would he have enough to stabilise his government? Would he have enough to meet immediate demands above and beyond regularly scheduled obligations? What would his cash-flow be like in the first 100 Days in Office? Would he have to come into office borrowing even before he sits down, or would he become delinquent on obligations from first day in office?
 
What is Obi's end-game plan here? Where and how does Obiano begin with their preached "continuity" program? What money would he "continue" with? After swearing in the illegally and hurriedly elected Local Council Chairmen, they were kept for weeks in an hotel in Awka with food, drinks, Unizik babes and security at the State's expense, some say until the January federal allocations were collected and cleared from the banks. Obiano and his handlers would be foolish to put stock in the line that "there is money" for all these things that Obi is doing.
 
If Obi had all this money all along, why did he not use it to give Anambra State a better looking State Capital City and Capital Territory? It remains a crawl in my stomach that after 8 years of an administration that Awka continues to look the way it does.
 
The entrance to Government in Awka is an insulting sore sight to behold. The stretch of road along the Enugu-Onitsha Express road that runs past the front of Government House Awka is a death trap that has cost me several thousands of Naira in vehicle repair. What is Obi thinking?
 
Or better, what is Obiano thinking with this last minute distribution extravaganza? I know that SSG Oseloka Obaze has tagged it "finishing strong" With all due respect, that is nothing but a sales job that can only come from American influence as Mr. Obaze has. How would the bridge along Agulu road be finished? Or the so called Agulu Lake Resort? The Shoprite Mall? And scores of other projects being commissioned at the eleventh hour of this administration? Then we hear "continuity" Where would Obiano get the money to continue with?
 
We also hear that "the money for these projects had been paid or saved" Really? What government anywhere in the world pays for projects in advance or "saves" money especially when we were told at the beginning of the Obi administration that there was no money, that he was trying to stabilise the government first which was why he did not fund his party, APGA then.
 
I remember Victor Umeh screaming blue murder then that Obi was "killing APGA by starving it of funds" Why was Obiano reading the constitution of Obi's "handover committee" for the first time on the pages of newspaper while we were in court last Tuesday?
 
None of the signs we see shows "continuity" to me, rather what I see and read is that we are being taken by a Master Salesman. Obiano cannot be finding this funny.
 
I am waiting for the wind to blow…….. the masterful deception called Peter Obi's administration would be shown.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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

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Read Time:7 Minute, 36 Second
In this age of globalization and technological innovations, some communities still exist as in the Stone Age era where all the modern amenities of life are absent and citizens rely on nature and human natural instincts to survive.
 
Nzam Community, the headquarters of Anambra West Local Government, Anambra State fits into the above description.  A recent trip to the community by the reporter confirms the lyrics of the song by Afro beat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti that some people are “suffering and smiling.”   A land so blessed with rich agricultural produce but yet wallows under the throes of underdevelopment and government neglect.
 
In Nzam, most children have never seen electric light since they were born, while access to clean water, hospitals or accessible roads is like a luxury often dreamt of by the people but yet to feel it.
 
A turbulent two and half hours sail through the River Niger by boat from the Niger Bridge Head brought the reporter to the precincts of the community.  On berthing and anchoring at the bank of the river, one is confronted with weary villagers loading and offloading agricultural products behind mud houses and thatched roofs.
 
A narrow swampy road from the river bank leads to the community accessed by trekking or boarding of commercial cycle a major preoccupation of the youths in the area who have lost interest in farming.
 
Though there were few electric poles fixed on the narrow road which connects the local police post and an empty Health Post, the first response one gets on asking where to charge one’s phone battery through the public power source is a jolt on the real situation.
 
“My brother, maybe you are in a dream land,” the Okada rider said. “Ever since I grew to maturity, I’ve never seen electric light from NEPA here. These electric poles you see now are just fancy decorations on the road because that is where it ends. We have no light and our people only travel to Onitsha by boat to get the diesel, which we use to power our rice milling plants.  There is no telephone network too as you may have noticed that your phone has lost service as you alighted from the boat. We are like people living in another planet and what they do is to visit us with empty promises whenever election time is approaching. That is all we see or get from them,” he lamented.
 
At the market square, though it was a work day and schools were in session, many children were seen playing by the heap of sand beside the community rice grinding mill.   Farmers coming back from their rice farm all conveyed the yet-to-be-parboiled rice on bicycles. The local government secretariat, which was accessed by the reporter on a motorcycle through another narrow path with streams and locally made bridges, was like a ghost place.
 
The sign post bearing the inscription “Anambra West Local Government Headquarters, Nzam” was swallowed by grasses that it becomes difficult to view the signpost from afar. The secretariat, though deserted had some nice buildings. The old secretariat complex commissioned on 18th February 1999 was built by the military administration of Uwakwe Ukaegbu in Anambra. On enquiry about the state of affairs in the local council, a staffer who pleaded anonymity alleged  that the members of the transition council of the local government reside in Onitsha and only visit once in month when their entitlements is released by the state government. He said they immediately return to Onitsha in their speedboat after sharing the booty for the month.
 
 
 
‘Our local government is the worst in Anambra’
 
An executive member of the town union, Kenneth Nwabunwanne in a chat with Sunday Sun described their local government area as the worst in Anambra State.
 
“During the flood crisis in 2012, our community was ravaged beyond proportion and we are yet to recover from the immense destruction. But before the flood disaster, we were living as the dregs of the society here. We have a health center but nothing is inside so it is more like a monument. When people fall sick, we are at the mercy of patent medicine shops while there is no hospital or qualified doctors to handle emergencies.  We have no road and because of that, we are cut off from the rest of Anambra communities. There is no trade connection between us and others because of lack of access roads while those who can access this place through the river are very much limited. Our needs are numerous that we don’t know where to begin itemizing them but all I can say is that this place is the worst local government in Anambra State.”
 
Elizabeth Maduneme, a mother of five voiced the pains of mothers in the community thus: “Just last week, we lost a woman during childbirth, infant and child mortality is very high here because of absence of medical facilities. The woman had complications after delivery at home and before we could make arrangements to convey her to Onitsha, she died. We don’t have roads, water and light.  All of us are basically farmers here and we cultivate yam, rice and cassava in large quantities but we don’t get encouragement from any quarter. During the rainy season it is bye – bye to Onitsha unless you can use boats but if not, we are cut off completely,” she lamented.
 
A community and its unique culture
 
Nzam community is the Ijam and Igala speaking part of Anambra State. It is made up of seven villages, comprising of Etakolo, Odobo,  Udda, Urubi,  Enekpa , Ndiokpoliba and Echa.
 
Despite suffering from government neglect, the people are a happy people steeped in various cultural and traditional festivities and are happy for that. An elder in the community, Chife Amekwe told Sunday Sun the historical origin of the community and its cultural activities.
 
“The natives of Nzam were the descendants of General Ajida, a notable warrior of Idah origin in Kogi State. Ajida is the father of Field Marshal Ogbe who was married to Iyida Ogbe and Iyida had five children-Nzam, Anam, Anaku , Oloshi and Okpanam. Ogbe and his family lived around Ankpa in Igala Kingdom.  When the Apa and Jukun warriors invaded the Igala communities, Field Marshal Ogbe along with many others retreated with their families through the present Ibaji jungle moving Southwards along the course of the River Niger.  As they journeyed through their way, various children of Ogbe for one reason or the other settled themselves at their present locations. This movement from the Igala Kingdom explains the fact that there are Odobo , Enekpa, Igah , Iyano towns in both Ibaji local government area of Kogi State and also in Nzam town in Anambra West Local Governent Area of Anambra State.
 
“Between January and June, we have festivals like Ugwolegwu, Edo onu Ananwulu and Enachune.  In the month of January we call on the earth goddess to bless the children and bless our crops. The Ugwolegwu festival has to do with masquerades. It is more of masquerade feasts celebrated with different soups and rich fish sauces.
 
Enachune is the Iwa ji yam festival.  We do it religiously because without that, the yam will purge us if we don’t mark the festival.  The new yam festival proper takes place in August and we call it Uchuero.  By December, we mark the Eka ceremony which is more of thanksgiving to God for life and bountiful harvest,” he said.
 
 
 
‘Only Peter Obi administration remembered us but we want more’
 
While the people of Nzam regret the seeming underdevelopment and deprivation of the area, many of the residents who spoke to Sunday Sun said that the entire local government area was like a totally forgotten enclave before the Peter Obi administration. A list of projects done by the Obi administration for the local council obtained at the local government secretariat by the reporter included “Umueze Mmiata Anam road under construction, Iyiora Anam health center, new bridges at Utolu, Oroma etiti  Anam and egonwa bridge at Nzam, solar powered borehole at the local government secretariat, Nzam and completed Magistrate Court at Umueze Anam among others.
 
Jonathan Nwafee in a reflection on the development regretted that most of the projects executed by the Obi administration in Anambra West were sited outside Nzam, away from the local government headquarters. He lauded Obi for the developmental strides but expressed optimism that with the conclusion of the governorship and council polls in the state, the governor-elect, Chief Willie Obiano and the new Local Government Chairman in the area, Mr. Simon Mbanefo Okafor would give the area a new sense of belonging in Anambra State.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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APC may not extend membership registration Official

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Read Time:1 Minute, 43 Second

Lagos – Dr Garuba Abari, the Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Membership Registration Committee in Lagos State, on Saturday said the party might not extend the ongoing membership registration scheduled to end on Monday.

Abari told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the party’s secretariat in Ogba, Ikeja, that extension of the exercise was not being contemplated for now.

NAN reports that the membership registration which started nationwide on Feb. 5 is scheduled to end on Feb.10.

Abari said:“It is the national leadership of APC that can decide whether or not to extend the exercise.

“What we are doing here is to distribute additional registration materials to the units as most of them had ran out of materials due to mass turnout of people for the exercise.

“So far our records are beyond expectations as the rush necessitated demand for more registration materials.”

Also speaking, the APC interim Deputy Publicity Secretary for Lagos State, Chief Funso Ologunde, said additional registration forms were being distributed across the registration centres because of the turnout.

He told NAN:“We have gone round and what we witnessed was overwhelming.

“We saw people who are hitherto non members of any of the political parties on queues willing to register.

“The registration of APC is open to all Nigerians willing to join the party and all members are equal.”

Ologunde, however, said that the membership drive was a continuous one.

“After the ongoing registration at the units, the registration will be sustained at all APC secretariats for anyone who wished to join the party at any time.”

NAN reports that in some of the registration units visited there was a large turnout of people queuing up to register.

Some of the centres visited include Eti-Osa Ward 022/023, Ikeja-Adigun Junction unit and Ogba Sunday market junction.

A registration official, who pleaded anonymity, told NAN that officials would submit their records at the party’s state secretariat for final collation. (NAN)

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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2014 Budget War: House queries Okonjo-Iweala over N7.1trillion debt

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Read Time:4 Minute, 11 Second

The House of Representatives, yesterday, faulted the efforts of the Finance Minister and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to present the state of the economy in bright light.

According to the parliament, the economy cannot be bright when government has earmarked N572 billion to service N7.1 trillion domestic debt in the 2014 Budget.

The House was responding to the minister’s office’s claim of last Thursday when it explained that the Federal Government had been instrumental to a reduction in domestic borrowing while speaking on the “uncontrollable rise in government recurrent expenditure in the budget.”

Tasking Okonjo-Iweala, the House said no one was excited about “the celebrated insignificant decline in domestic borrowing.”

It added: “The questions the people are asking are, ‘borrowing at what cost? What is the cost of the so-called reduced domestic borrowing? How is it serviced? How are the decisions taken?”

The House of Representatives spoke in a statement by the Clerk of its Committee on Finance, Mr Farouk Mustapha.

Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

The statement hinted that the minister would face the House at a public hearing scheduled for March 3 to 6.

“For us, we have carefully refrained from responding to the Minister’s assertions and claims over the past couple of weeks in view of the fact that a public hearing at which the actual state of our economy will be known has already been scheduled for March 3-6, 2014,” the statement started.

It continued: “Nonetheless, we are compelled to say, as we have often stated, that no one is excited about the celebrated insignificant decline in domestic borrowing.”

” The questions the people are asking are, ‘borrowing at what cost? What is the cost of the so-called reduced domestic borrowing? How is it serviced? How are the decisions taken?’

” Beyond that, since the minister is in the habit of comparing our situation with those of other countries, why would she not tell Nigerians that the cost of our domestic borrowing remains one of the highest in the whole world?

“In 2011,our domestic debt stock was N5.6trillion. It rose to N6.5trn in 2012, and, by 2013, it climbed higher to N7.1trn.

” Domestic borrowing for 2011 stood at N852billion, N744bn in 2012 and N588bn in 2013. For 2014, it is put at N572bn.

” The cost of servicing the debt was N495bn in 2011. In 2012, it increased to N559bn and jumped to N591bn in 2013.

In 2014, a whopping N712bn has been earmarked for debt servicing.
“On the issue of rising recurrent expenditure, the minister should tell Nigerians her accomplishments in the drive to lower it instead of repeatedly passing the buck.”

” It does not help to keep laying the blame at the doorsteps of previous administrations or attempt to drag late President Umaru Yar ‘Adua and President Goodluck Jonathan into the problem.

“The minister said cuts have been made in the recurrent expenditure but in what areas and by how much? Are the cuts made anything to be proud of?”

The Thursday statement by the media aide of the Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr  Paul Nwabuikwu, had said his principal was not responsible for the rising recurment expenditure of the Federal Government. The statement said: “Though government is continuous and the minister has no desire to shirk her responsibilities, the effort to personalize these issues on the basis of inaccurate information must be roundly refuted.”

It explained: “The first point made by some senators is that she is responsible for the rising recurrent expenditure which, according to them, rose ‘from 69 per cent in the 2013 Budget to 76 percent in the 2014 is inaccurate.’” He said the decline in the budget base is one of the factors responsible for the upsurge in the recurrent budget.

“The total expenditure of N4.64 trillion in the proposed 2014 is about a 7% decline from the 2013 budget level of N4.98tr. From a mathematical standpoint, this reduction in the budget base will result in a slight increase in the weight of the recurrent expenditure in the budget, which in absolute terms, has increased from 2013 levels”, the media aide said.

On the pensions factor, he said, “It is also important to note that the country is yet to fully absorb pension’s implications of the 2010 wage increases. Starting with the 2013 Budget, this administration commenced tackling the payment of outstanding military pensions, and the 2014 Budget will further address civilian pensions. We have been under pressure from many quarters, including senators, to integrate the civilian component of pension, and doing so will further increase the recurrent budget. Will the senators blame Okonjo-Iweala for this”?

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Nigerians never agreed to live together as a nation – Mike Ozekhome

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Read Time:16 Minute, 54 Second

Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), the Akpakpavighivighi of Edo land, was recently honoured by the palace of the Oba of Benin with the chieftaincy title. In his joyous mood at his Benin City residence,   he bared his mind on the proposed National Conference, saying that though President Gooduck must be commended, the conference will be another jamboree if several issues are not taken care off before the kick off.
Excerpts:

How would you describe the modalities spelt out for the proposed National Conference by the Okuronmu Committee?
No matter the shortcomings of the National Conference as we have it today, we must give kudos to President Goodluck Jonathan for initiating the conference; for being able to brave the odds, to decide that Nigerians must talk. I  am ashamed to see  some campaigners for  National  Conference, even  Sovereign National Conference  turn their back to it because of political advantage.

But in congratulating Jonathan for having the courage  to organize the conference, let me point out some problem areas that he needs to look at for us to have a formidable and successful  conference, otherwise we may be treating a serious ailment like leprosy with medicine meant for eczema or headache. The first challenge, which is one major hurdle that the conference will have to   cross, is that as at today, there is no legislative law backing the National  Conference. The more rational thing would have been that there will be a bill before the National Assembly from  Mr President which will give the structure for holding the  conference.

The only thing Mr President has done  (setting up the Okuronmu Committee which has submitted a report  is strictly by him and on him alone as a person. It could be argued though, and I think this is the argument the advisers of Mr President has given to him, that Section 5 of the Constitution gives the executive powers of Nigeria to Mr President. Having a  National Conference is part of the ingredients that will lead to peace, good governance and stability and security in Nigeria. That is hurdle number one.

The 2014 Budget challenge
The second challenge the National Conference will have is, where will the N7 billion for the project come from? The national budget is still before the National Assembly and with the tug of war of filibustering or not filibustering, numerical strength or no numerical strength, going on between the PDP and the APC, with the Labour Party, APGA being interested parties, nobody knows when the budget is going to be passed. And if it is not passed, where will Mr President get the money to carry out this confab?

But I want to believe, unlike many  other people, that N7billion is a small amount for us to talk and bring about peace to Nigeria, after all, that is the amount that some Permanent Secretariats and some Deputy Directors have been found to have pocketed in Nigeria. So I do not have problem with that amount  because it is from that amount that stipends will be paid to delegates  for the three months that the conference will last and  will have to leave their businesses to be in  Abuja.

The third challenge is the duration of this conference which has been put  at  three months. From my  experience, as a member of the National Political Conference in 2005, as the Chairman of the Sub- committee on Civil Society and Media , from  where I was later elected as the spokesman of the South- south delegates, three months, which was also earmarked for that conference, was definitely not enough; we had to write for  extension to Obasanjo.

Why? The conference is going to convene  a plenary session, the first one to three weeks will be used at plenary session debating the modalities for the conference, what committees should be set up, what will be the object of each of the committees, you will need not less than one month for committees to sit down and do a clean job, two months already gone. Then the work of the committees will be brought back to  plenary,  each committees will bring out the items and each item will be debated one by one, and a conference that has about 496 members, each person will want to speak because any one who is not allowed to speak will say the conference has a hidden agenda.

By the time 496 people are debating several issues, you will need about one and  a half or two months for that. After the debate and agreements are reached by these committees, they will again go back to the plenary  for voting for each of the committee’s findings item by item. How do you  spend three months to do all these? That is challenge number three. Challenge number four is  the method of voting.  Mr President said you must have a consensus on each subject matter. Consensus? Are we ever going to have a consensus on the issue of fiscal federalism , resource control, devolution of power from the center to the units? If we are not going to have  consensus,  how do we vote? Mr President and his people said 75 per cent of the people have to vote for each item to be agreed upon, that is a tall order.

Two problems with 75 per cent voting strength
There are two problems with 75, voting strength. One, some minorities from the Niger Delta who have been clamouring for resource control and who their northern counterparts have been telling to even show gratitude for  the 13 per cent already given to them by way of revenue allocation, it will look like climbing Mount Everest for them to be able to get 75 per cent of members of the conference to vote that we should have resource control. I can’t see it happening. Problem number two  is that we may end up with having a radical minority, against a helpless majority.

Let us assume that 74 per cent has  voted for an issue, that we want this issue resolved this way and the 74 per cent is one per cent short of the 75 per cent needed to pass this issue, it means  voting  on  that issue has  been defeated and if the voting  is defeated, it means that 26 per cent, which is the silent but not tyrannical minority,  has carried the day against 74 per cent majority just because the majority was one per cent less than the 75 per cent required. So head or tail, you are going to have a lot of injustice coming into play. The truth is that all Nigerians are equal stakeholders in the project or contraction called Nigeria.

The 380 ethnic groups in Nigeria must be made to feel to be stakeholders, some of them should not be made to feel that they are clappers and members of the audience, Nigerians,  for too long, have been made to stand on a tripod. A tripod is a three-legged creature, you all know that a three- legged creature is never balanced. You need four legs to stand and be balanced, could that be why Nigeria has been fumbling and wobbling? If you always take the three major ethnic groups in Nigeria, the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, what happens to the other 377 ethnic groups?

Are you saying that Ozekhome, because he is a minority within a minority,  God, in His infinite wisdom, is foolish to have created me to come from Iviukwe village in Etsako and not from one of the major ethnic groups? Now,  if all of us must be given a sense of belonging, we should see  ourselves as equal partners, not to do so is to treat equal unequally, or to treat unequal equally, either of them is major injustice. For too long, we have been having what  (the late Chief MKO Abiola) will call a peace of the cemetery, of the grave yard,   it is not peace.

‘I disagree’
Peace devoid of transparency, of justice, of equity,   of mutual respect   is, at best,  peace of the grave yard. I disagree that the Federal Government said there is no-go area. We have passed the stage where we can say we cannot discuss Nigeria in all its ramifications; we even discuss God and how He created the world, it is in Genesis. Why are we afraid of discussing ourselves? Why are we scared of discussing where we are coming from, where we are and where we want to go to? Who said we cannot discuss the problems of Nigeria? We have never agreed to live together as a nation.

There was a time when the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, once described Nigeria as a piece of historical mistake. Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late sage,  once described Nigeria as a piece of geographical expression. We were coupled together by the British. Even the name Nigeria was  given to us by Flora Shore, the daughter of a British General. That lady was later married to Captain Lord Lugard, the man who, in 1914,  forcibly amalgamated the Northern Protectorate, the Southern Protectorate and the Lagos colony to found an amorphous contraption called the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We were never united.

Before 1914, we had different nationalities in Nigeria, we had the Benin  Empire and it was  then that the British killed Oba Ovonranwen. So we never negotiated to stay together and that is why till tomorrow, Nigerians believe more in their ethnic groupings. And you cannot blame anybody because, before the 1914 amalgamation,  we were already recognized ethnic nationalities in this country, and how can you now give 90 slots to ethnic nationalities out of 380 while Mr President alone is having over 90 delegates, 25 per cent each? Nigeria’s unity is negotiable.

Rhetorics
The so-called indissolubility and indivisibility are mere rhetorics that cannot stand the test of time. Nigeria’s unity is negotiable, because failure to negotiate it is to postpone the evil day. India and Pakistan were once one country, but where are they today. Already in Nigeria you have some separatist  movements,  Boko Haram has already planted flags in some communities in the North. MASSOB is  craving for Biafra.  OPC wants  Oduduwa  Republic. Arewa wants Northern hegemonic domination.

The Middle Belt feels  they are different people. Now, how do you say that these people who  want to leave cannot negotiate the unity of Nigeria? What about Ethiopia and Eritrea,  one country before? The truth is that not to negotiate the unity of Nigeria  has underpinned and undermined Nigeria’s development. While we don’t have confident in one another, while  we are suspicious of one another, while  we believe more in our ethnic nationalities, not to  negotiate our unity  is to continue to postpone the evil day.

We must discuss all the issues from how Nigeria came to be, how we are now. That we are using about 75 per cent of our national budget to service recurrent expenditure and 25 per cent for capital expenditure is sickening. No nation can develop with that kind of meager allocation, we need to discuss it.
That is going to bring us to the other issue, who do we submit the  report  to. Mr President said we are going submit the outcome of the conference to the National  Assembly so that they will put  it in  the  Constitution, which  Constitution?

The 1999  Constitution that has shown it is fundamentally flawed being a military impose constitution, imposed on the people of Nigeria by 28 members of the Provisional Ruling Council headed by Gen.Abdulsalami Abubakar. Which makes the Constitution to lie  when it says, in its preamble, that, we the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have deiced to give ourselves the following Constitution”.

We never gave ourselves  that Constitution. Now the National Assembly, under Section 9 of that Constitution, is only empowered to amend the Constitution and promulgate ordinary laws;  no where in Section 9  are they given powers to promulgate a new Constitution. In fact,  it is the Constitution that gave birth to the National Assembly. The National Assembly does not give birth to the Constitution, in the same way that it is the dog that wags  the tail and the tail cannot wag the dog.

See the problem area, if you say the  decision of the conference should be subjected to the National Assembly, what if the people of Nigeria have decided,  in their wisdom,  to abolish a bicameral National Assembly, that we want just three lawmakers  per state? That means only the Senate will stay and the entire House of the Representatives will go. Will they agree to self destruct? They will reject it. That means a small clique of people that are not really the true representative, of the people would have rejected the entire decision of the people of Nigeria.

Problem number two, assuming the people of Nigeria say we don’t even need  presidential system of government, it is too expensive,  we want to revert to the Westminster parliamentary system of government, which, of course, will abolish the entire National Assembly and bring about a new form of government, will members of the National Assembly agree to engraft that into the Constitution? That again is no. So for us to have a  home grown Constitution, the people of Nigeria must have the final say in a plebiscite or referendum after the National Conference would have ended their debate.

Since  the 1922 Clifford Constitution, up to the 1999 Constitution, apart from the Constitution of the Midwest  Region of Nigeria, which was subjected to the plebiscite of the people on the 9th of August 1963, to make the Midwest to break away from the old Western  Region, no Constitution of Nigeria has ever had that advantage. The process by which a Constitution comes into being  is even more important than the content of the Constitution, that is what gives it legitimacy, credibility. To run away from that is to merely postpone the evil day and make the National Constitution a merely cosmetic jamboree for people to go and rest for three months.

Not optimal
The National Assembly is not legally authorized to tamper with the decision of the people of Nigeria after their discussion because the truth is that many of them  did  not even go to the National Assembly through  free and fair election. Many of them were imposed and many rigged themselves in. We cannot therefore run away from the fact that only the people can give themselves a Constitution that will be acceptable to all.

Although I do not agree with  critics that the President has  hidden agenda in inaugurating the National Conference,  as it is now, it is more or less sub optimal, it is not optimal,  it is not fully made; we may find ourselves going for another constitutional conference in future to  discuss the issues that are outstanding. I now come to the issue of representation on the basis of ethnic nationalities. Let me tell you that in 1994, the Abacha conference had 396 delegates, Abacha  single handedly nominated 96, the rest were elected across the country. Which  is better than when you nominate people.

But let us concede to the President that it  is because of the time frame, due to the coming elections,  to talk about electing people to go to the conference, a lot of people may go to court and stall the entire process and it will never see the light of the day. Probably that was what informed his nomination. And it is also good that the committee allows each segment of the society to be the people to nominate and elect their members like the civil society will now decide who will represent them.

In other words,  the President is not choosing the representatives of these people for them. In 2005,  the Obasanjo National Political Reform Conference had about 400 delegates. Obasanjo  single handedly nominated 50 while others came from  groups. But I want to say that it is unfair to say that all the political parties in Nigeria, out of the registered political parties in the country,  you are giving them  only five slots for five parties whose members are in the National Assembly. The PDP, the APC, Accord Party, APGA and Labour.

What happens to the other twenty parties? You are again going to make it a do-or-die thing to win election at least to have one person in the National Assembly in the next election. I think for fairness equity and justice, we should give those political parties one slot each because they represent a group. And that is why I also said it is ludicrous, laughable to say that you are giving one slot to Nigerian lawyers who are more abreast of the legal frame work that this  conference should take.

That  means you are not giving regard to the monumental issues of law. Because you are going to see the plenary session debate, the first one week debate will be devoted  to  whether the constitutional conference is even legitimate or not. The egg or the chick, which comes first, law establishing us or we establishing a law, which comes first? So the ethnic nationalities  are the real stakeholders, there is no Nigeria if  you remove the ethnic nationalities. So to give them only 90 slots is not enough.

The reason is that, who are these ethnic groups you are going to give it to because,  even within the ethnic groups,  we have different groups or tribes. A lot of people don’t even know that the North has  more ethnic nationalities than the South. In Adamawa alone, you have more than  20  ethnic groups, the same in Sokoto, Niger; so who are you going to give the slots  to?. I think therefore that that 90 slots should be looked into. But, in all, I want to say that the President has taken the bull by the horn and has  done what Napoleon Bonaparte could not do.

Confab should be five months
So I want to suggest five months for the conference. Three months cannot be enough but I know delegates will have to write the President about that,I can see that coming.

But don’t you thing that will affect the 2015 elections time table?
I don’t think so because the political parties will nominate people that will represent them and the  political parties will not be giving their own ideas to the conference; that is why I said the marginalization of the other political parties is not enough because what you have done is to cut off their voice because they cannot speak through the five dominant political parties.

I do not see synergy between the campaign for political parties and these conference members who are going to Abuja.  I  had the opportunity of attending the 2005 National Political Conference and,  also in 2009, I was also a delegate to the Vision  20:2020, all the beautiful reports of those two bodies were set aside. And that is my great problem with this same conference; where we are going to know whether Jonathan has an agenda or not is whether he will be able to ruthlessly implement without alteration the agreement reached by Nigerians after three or five months

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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PDP is dangerously introducing religion into Nigeria’s politics“ Senator Ojudu

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Read Time:10 Minute, 9 Second

Senator Babafemi Ojudu is a leader of All Progressives Congress, APC.  Confronted with questions bordering on national issues and coming elections in Ekiti and Osun states, in his Abuja residence, last week, the seasoned journalist opened up on how the Jonathan-led PDP government plans to make 2015 a do-or -die affair. Excerpts:

Obasanjo’s letter: the issues, the denials and the realities
Obasanjo is the cause of the problems we face now because he sowed  wind and when you sow  wind, you reap whirlwind. But it is also not right that his pointing out the problems bedeviling the country is wrong.  I think what the President was supposed to do was not really a  reply but a response onthose issues raised. He ought to have summoned his aides, take a critical look at the issues raised with the intent to make amends here and there and convince Nigerians that, “Okay, I have seen the letter.

Issues of fundamental threats to our continuous practice of democracy have been raised.  People that are working with me and I are working on it.  We are attending to the issues so that we can save our democracy and our nation from collapsing.”
That should have been a better way to attend to those issues.

In the President Goodluck Jonathan’s reply to Obasanjo’s letter, it was denials and counter-accusations galore.  The bomb explosions in Rivers State where Governor Amaechi is rumoured to be one of those listed for assassination are referred to in the letter.  Look at the impunity that is going on in the state.  What is your reaction to the fact that the realities of the letter, denied or not, are now coming to bear? What does this portend?
This portends  dangers for the country and our democracy.  It is very scary that those things are happening and those managing our affairs are not seeing them as problems.
Whoever is authorising the Commissioner of Police, Mbu, to do all those things he is doing should realize that the man is not even serving his interest.  Mbu will become history in no long time. It is the people who have been given the responsibility to serve this country that will be blamed.  I think, at the level of government, at the level of the executive, the legislature, we need to come together and put a stop to this.

At the Senate, before we closed for Christmas, security chiefs were invited and they briefed us on the progress they were making on security.  But that obviously is not enough.  We need to get the executive to come to the fact that something better needs to be done.  We are becoming another Iraq and Afghanistan. You know, today it is bomb blast, tomorrow, it is people are killed in Maiduguri, bomb factory is discovered in Yobe.  It is not good for our democracy particularly when those things are happening as we move close to another general elections.

If these happen during elections, how do we  manage to get out of them?  How do we campaign?  How do people seeking elective offices move around to let the people know that, “This is what I have for you and this is why I think I am different from the other person.”  This is the challenge and the earlier we get up to work with a view to stopping it very soon the better for us.  Let us put a stop to the madness that is going on everywhere in the country.  If we don’t do so, we are in for a long night .

With your party, the APC, now moving towards achieving the majority status at the National Assembly, what do we expect come 2015?
You have seen what the party have tried to do . We have done what everyone thought was impossible, that is bringing the opposition parties together to form one formidable opposition party to rescue this country.  Why are we doing so?
The PDP and it’s motley crowd has been in power since 1999 and they have not been able to make a change. Rather than find solution to the problems on ground, they are creating more problems for the nation.

Therefore, our leaders thought it fit to bring all the progressives together; even some conservatives to come and join hands together and form a big party.  We have drawn up a manifesto that will guide us out of the quagmire we have found ourselves.  Nigerians have also seen what the governments of the South-west in the last three years have done in Lagos, Ekiti, Osun, Oyo and Ogun.

The people have seen what has been put on ground within the little resources available. They have seen the possibilities that, with dedicated and focused leadership, a lot is possible even when you are resource challenged.

So, it is with that same confidence that we are saying, “Look, let us serve our people.  Let us make lives easier for them.  Let us provide for their needs and let’s cater for them.  Let’s not act as rulers out to loot but let us be leaders who will make life better for the majority”. We are saying let us conduct free and fair elections and peacefully too.

If our party is elected at the federal level, we are  saying ours will be a purposeful, responsible and responsive government to ensure quality and affordable education for Nigerians of school ages; provide good and affordable healthcare service delivery, ensure security  and change Nigeria for better so that people who want to do business with us can come here and put things on the ground.

Nigerians are fed up with PDP! You wake up everyday without power to do your daily business or you cannot travel freely and safely; your children cannot get quality school to attend at affordable rate; your hospitals are hospitals only in names; your infrastructures are dilapidated; impunity rules the land and brigandage is the order of the day; why and how then can you say that you want this government back?
At a time you told me that, because you were in the minority, your voice did not count in the National Assembly and so that there was no how your impeachment as a corrective measure against the executive could scale through.  With the new development, have you moved from where you were?

We are not there yet.  In the Senate, we are still in the minority.  Those who want to defect have not defected.  We just pray that when they defect, we are going to see a difference and surely we will see a difference.  We will be able to make people-centred laws.  We will be able to do things more positively in a way that will work for the general good of Nigerians.   We will be able to carry out our oversight functions more effectively, and stop the impunity ruling the land. But we are not there yet.
Even at the House of Representatives where many members of PDP have defected, the majority is still not clear.

Let us now come to the APC proper.   The PDP is said to be bothered as they have made several comments about who becomes the presidential candidate of the APC.  Why do you think they are?
Nobody in our party can stand up today and say he knows who our presidential candidate will be. The PDP knows that if we are able to get our acts together in APC, we can come out with a candidate that Nigerians can trust and invest their hope on. That is why they are concerned.

They have seen that the way we are going, putting our acts together and mobilizing Nigerians towards election for change, that they will be nowhere around power both at the federal and state levels.   And they have lost focus which is the reason they make utterances which put them up clearly as people who have lost confidence in themselves.

Does that have a link with the latest claim that your APC is an Islamic party?
Of course, that shows a party that is jittery, frustrated and ready to go for broke.  The fact that you could go to the extent of dividing your country along religion lines shows that you have lost it and are prepared to hang to any straw no matter how tenuous. For them to have gone to that extent shows that they have lost their values, they have lost focus and so they want to go for broke.

But that is not going to work. I mean there are so many Christians in our party and there are so many Muslims. And there are those that are not even practising any religion. So, if you talk about Tinubu being a Muslim, his wife is a very committed Christian. If you talk about Fashola being a Muslim, his wife is a Dame of the Catholic Church. Audu Ogbeh, one of the leaders of the party, is a committed Christian. Same goes for several others. So, there are so many Christians in the party and there are so many Muslims as well.

When you sit down to look at it, would it be wrong to say that Nigeria will soon be on fire should the situation continue and PDP continues to fan the ember of religious divisiveness?
For somebody in government to play up religious sentiments, he is trying to set the country on fire. We are aware of their tactics, we are not going to allow that to happen. Nobody can set me against another person because of religion.

So, this dangerous issue that the PDP is introducing into our national politics is not going to help us  It is therefore incumbent on those of us who have the duty to stop them to tell the world that this is what they want to achieve.   Kaka k’eku ma je sese, a fi s’awa danu, meaning that, “Rather than allow any other party to win, let us scatter everything so that the country can fail and then break.”

But we would not allow the country to break. We that have stakes in the country are sure that this country belongs to us, our children and our children’s children and so, we are going to make sure that it does not break, at least not on account of religion.

Going by the threat of declaring defected governors positions vacant, what will happen in case the PDP carry out its threat or one is even killed?
There is no other way anyone can declare a governor’s position vacant except through the processes laid out by the Constitution.  All that threat is just to scare people from further defection.   If you have gotten to the level of being a governor, why will you be scared by such an empty threat?

Now, if any attempt is now made to kill one of them, it is like sowing wind; whoever does that will reap whirlwind.   You may know the beginning, the end you cannot predict.   You cannot control the outcome. A few days ago, they shot at Senator Abe and the people rose and started blocking the roads and they were already going to cause trouble.   Suppose he had been killed, policeman Mbu will not imagine what would be the outcome.

Anybody holding a position should know that he cannot be there for more than eight years. After that, you become an ordinary person and then people will call you to come and account.   So, let those who want to kill, maim and cause confusion be aware that, at the end of   their tenures, they will have to account for their actions and inactions.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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

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Read Time:1 Minute, 2 Second

A passenger onboard an Overland flight from Abuja to Ibadan aborted the flight when he raised a false fire alarm just when the plane was  about to take off from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja. Passengers were immediately evacuated.

Reacting to the incident, The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, said, “NCAA regrets the ugly incident of fire smoke alarm raised by an onboard passenger in a flight involving Overland enroute Ibadan from Abuja airport in the evening of Friday, 7th February, 2014.”

The statement, from the Office of the Director of Aerodrome and Air Space Standards( DASS), said, “The air traffic incident at 16.27 UTC happened as the flight taxied to the holding position for take-off when a passenger on board raised an alarm that there was a fire smoke. The pilots were quick to respond to the situation as they opened the emergency exit and ensured that all passengers on board were evacuated. “Though there was no smoke or fire detector to the pilot, the aircraft was immediately taxied to the international apron. The NCAA uses this medium to assure the traveling public that there is no cause for alarm as the situation is very much under control.”

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
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Graphic Photos: Soldier Pictured Stabbing Man To Death In Front Of A Crowd

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Read Time:1 Minute, 13 Second

A group of soldiers in the Central African Republic lynched a man they suspected was a rebel minutes after hearing the new president’s promise to restore security at a ceremony to reinstate the divided country’s armed forces.

About 20 uniformed soldiers accused a member of the crowd of having belonged to Seleka – the mostly Muslim rebel group that seized power in a coup last March, before stabbing him repeatedly until he was dead.

A soldier stamped on the lifeless body, which was then dragged nearly naked through the streets as residents looked on and took photographs.

Ten minutes earlier the new interim president, Catherine Samba-Panza, stood just 20m away where she addressed a crowd of at least 1,000 soldiers.

The Army effectively disappeared during nine months of Seleka rule.She told the gathering at a training ground in the capital Bangui: ‘Within a month, I would like to fully secure the greater part of the country and I aim to stick to my word.’

Seleka disbanded after Samba-Panza’s inauguration last month and is deeply resented by the Christian majority after months of lootings and killings.

Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch in Bangui, tweeted that the corpse of the lynched man had been burned.

He posted a photograph showing a man holding up a severed limb next to a bonfire, as an armed French soldier gestured in the background.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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