FIFA criticises Nigeria coach Uche for anti-homosexual remarks

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 22 Second

BERLIN — Football’s governing body FIFA on Wednesday criticised Nigeria coach Eucharia Uche for branding homosexuality as ‘dirty’ and admitting she forced lesbians out of her team.

“FIFA is against all forms of discrimination,” Tatjana Haenni, FIFA’s head of women’s competitions, told German television channel ARD.

Haenni said FIFA will be talking to Uche about her comments and reminding the coach of the governing bodies statutes.

In a mission statement, FIFA says it wants to use the sport in ‘overcoming social and cultural obstacles for women with the ultimate aim of improving women?s standing in society’.

“We are here at a FIFA event and will point out that it would be best to express oneself neutrally,” said Haenni.

Uche sparked controversy in a New York Times interview ahead of the women’s World Cup, which started last Sunday, in which she called homosexuality ‘dirty’ and insisted it was ‘spiritually and morally very wrong’.

After Nigeria lost their opening Group A game 1-0 to France on Sunday, Uche said she has acted to remove any lesbians from the Super Eagles.

“Yes, the lesbians in our team were really a big problem,” she said having taken over as Nigeria’s coach in 2009.

“But since I’m coach of the Super Falcons, that has been cleared up.

“There are no more lesbian players on my team.

“I can not tolerate this dirty life.”

Defending champions and hosts Germany play Nigeria on Thursday in Frankfurt am Main and have declined to comment in Uche’s remarks.

Germany reserve goalkeeper Ursula Holl is married to a woman and first-choice shot-stopper Nadine Angerer is openly bisexual.

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.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Nigeria: ‘The Nation’s Economy May Overtake South Africa by 2025’

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 44 Second

Nigeria’s economy may reach about $400 billion by the end of the decade and could overtake South Africa by 2025, economist at Morgan Stanley said in a research note.

Bloomberg quoted the international research and investment firm to have predicted that Nigeria will probably expand 8.4 percent in 2011 and 8.5 percent in 2012. Morgan Stanley’s economists: Andrea Masia and Michael Kafe, where quoted to have made the projections in Johannesburg.

The also forecast that the naira may strengthen to N153 against the dollar by the end of the year and reach N150 by the end of 2012.

Morgan Stanley also recommended that investors buy shares in Guinness Nigeria Plc, Nestle Foods Nigeria Plc, Diamond Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

In a related development, FBN Capital Limited has also predicted that the country’s foreign reserves may rise 24 percent to the highest due to the creation of the Sovereign Wealth Fund tighten spending.

Reserves had fallen 14 percent to $32.3 billion as of June 24 compared with a year earlier. Bonny Light oil has added 38 percent over the same period.

Bloomberg quoted the London- based Head of Macroeconomic and Fixed-Income Research at FBN, Gregory Kronsten to have said: “Our feeling is that in the second half of 2011, reserves will pick up, perhaps to $40 billion, as the new government opts for modest fiscal tightening and foreign investors respond positively to the reform agenda. A transparent sovereign wealth fund would address market concerns over how the nation’s oil revenues are managed.”

He noted that the nation’s external reserves may not have risen because foreign-currency “demand at auction is robust and has not cooled since the elections in April.

Demand at the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) bi weekly auctions reached a post-election high of $499 million on May 16 and was at $476 million on June 22. The apex bank has been defending the naira, keeping it within 3 percent above or below 150 per dollar marginal rate at foreign-exchange auctions in a bid to curb inflation

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.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Ethiopia plans power exports to neighbours

0 0
Read Time:3 Minute, 27 Second

Ethiopia plans to sell power to Sudan, Yemen, Kenya and even Egypt, with whom it is at odds over the Nile’s waters, as it ramps up power production to become a major exporter in the continent, its utility said.

It aims to produce 20,000 megawatts (MW) of power within the next 10 years, part of a plan to spend $12-billion (U.S.) over 25 years to raise power generating capability.

Ethiopia is also building a 5,250 MW dam along the Nile, while six other projects are either planned or under construction with an aggregate capacity of over 5,000 MW.

“Whenever we are in a position to provide surplus [to Sudan], it could go up to 100 or 200 MW. This is the base of the first purchase agreement, but it depends on our capacity to avail extra power,” Mihret Debebe, chief executive officer of the state-run Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation, told Reuters in an interview on Wednesday.

“The market has no limit [on exports to Sudan].”

Officials estimate that the hydropower potential of the nation – blessed with cascading rivers flowing through rugged mountains – is around 45,000 MW.

Mr. Mihret said Ethiopia had already started transmitting 50 MW to Djibouti, while exports to the eastern Sudanese towns of Gadarif and Gallabat were expected in one or two months.

Ethiopia will also provide 5 MW to Kenya’s northern Moyale town next month, while an agreement has been signed to further connect to Yemen through Djibouti’s underwater sea cable, Mr. Mihret said.

“The three countries have already signed a memorandum of understanding. Hopefully when the situation [in Yemen] stabilizes, we will proceed to this action,” he said.

The Horn of Africa nation has also plans to construct a 1,300 km 500 kV transmission interconnector with Kenya to sell electricity to its southern neighbour.

Ethiopia secured a multimillion-dollar deal with France this month for the scheme.

“The feasibility, preliminary design, selection of the best design option – all the background work has been done smoothly and will enter to the development phase [soon],” Mr. Mihret said.

Another project – a 3,000 km 500 kV line linking Ethiopia with Sudan and Egypt, is also planned.

A feasibility study has already been carried out under the auspices of the Nile Basin Initiative, a grouping of nine countries along the river, Mr. Mihret said.

“When the three countries are ready to start the project and development partners’ financial allocation is in the right place, it will be started,” he said.

“The fact that Ethiopia has expedited the development of generation projects in the basin with such mega scale is definitely making a reality the transmission line project,” Mr. Mihret added.

The nine countries through which the river passes have for more than a decade been locked in often bitter talks to renegotiate colonial-era treaties that gave Egypt and Sudan the lion’s share of the river’s waters.

However, six of the nine upstream countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi – have signed a new deal stripping Egypt of its veto and agreeing to renegotiate how much water each country is entitled to.

Mr. Mihret however, said Cairo has never had qualms over importing power.

“In terms of power flow they have never opposed. They are the key players,” he said.

Mr. Mihret said regional projects of such scale would boost the economies of African countries, and added that Ethiopia eyed more projects in the future.

“Regional interconnection gives you more confidence in complementary power flow in terms of hydro-thermal links and power balance in the region,” he said.

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Nigeria: Churches screen attendees in Kaduna

0 0
Read Time:1 Minute, 47 Second

Following the incessant bomb attacks in northern Nigeria and threats to bomb Kaduna by the Boko Haram Islamic sect, many churches in the metropolis have resorted to searching worshippers prior to service on Sunday and other days to ensure no deadly explosive gets taken inside their church building.

The security measures are coming on the heels of rumours of the possibility of Boko Haram attacks over the weekend. In the churches visited, metal detector devices were seen being used to search persons on their way into the building. The thorough search include emptying of contents of any bag.

The security department of Restoration Bible Church, Sabo, had a hectic day during last Sunday’s service vetting worshippers before they were allowed in, just as armed mobile police officers and soldiers mounted heavy surveillance around most of the churches within Kaduna metropolis. Female worshippers were searched by women security volunteers who ask them to hand over their handbags for examination.

At another church in the city centre, security officials blocked all entrance and exit points leaving open only one door for members to go in, at which bomb detectors were used on everyone going into the building.

Further, those entering the church premises with cars were compelled to open the boot for the contents to be verified before they being allowed to drive in, and the cars required to be parked very far away from the church building.

A security official at Saint Joseph’s Catholic Church, Taiwo Road, told NEXT that though the search was unusual, it was a proactive measure introduced by the church to preempt any incident of bomb attack against members of the church during and after service.

“Everybody is now scared of the Boko Haram because of their system of operation. And nobody can say when they will attack. Therefore, what we can only do is to put some security measures in place to ensure that nobody comes into the church with dangerous weapons,” he said.

Due to the threat by the sect members to bomb Kaduna last weekend, there was tension in the state as many churches witnessed low turnout of members during service.

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.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Nigeria: Jonathan’s Neo-Liberalism

0 0
Read Time:7 Minute, 59 Second

“You have trusted me with your mandate, and I will never, never let you down.” This statement well couched and crafted in neo-liberal framework is Jonathan’s response to the anguish and pains that stared at him on the 29th May 2011 inauguration at Eagles Square, Abuja.

Today the definition of neo-liberalism has been so broadened to include the entire gamut of human endeavour. However in terms of the scope of international relations and foreign interventionism, the centrality of the Westphalia state and its interests are still the subject and primary unit of analysis, but they must all be positivist and State-related.

It is this positivist attitude of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan that has attracted him to majority of Nigerian voters.

It is an incontestable fact that President Jonathan exudes hope, confidence and an unquenchable resolve that it is still possible to salvage this country from the dark and dangerous precipice on which it is hanging precariously.

Apart from the days of Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Gen. Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria has never been blessed with a humane president who is not thinking of becoming the wealthiest man in the world.

Majority of Nigerian’s believe in Jonathan’s precedence and profile because he has assured us that he is one of us and that he will not let us down. And the president knows that the onus is on him to prove the veracity of this statement.

Nigerians are very excited and expectant of president Goodluck Jonathan’s 5-point agenda but most analysts believe that giving power a (electricity) topmost priority will put the icing on the nations cake.

Power generation and distribution is Nigeria’s Achilles hill. It is the only single infrastructure that can turn Nigeria around; its domino effect on all the other sectors of the Nigerian economy is capable of revolutionizing our standard of living and catapulting Nigeria into the comity of the world’s economically advanced countries.

For instance South Africa for which Nigeria spend billions of hard earned dollars to free from apartheid, today is the greatest economy in Africa and one of the fastest growing among the economies of the world.

Today South Africa is a member of BRICS, an economic union of developing and developed nations comprising of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. South Africa has successfully recolonized Nigeria and imposed her economic hegemony on her. It is a well known fact that South Africa has dominated in the economic spheres of banking, supermarkets, communication, capital investment here on Nigerian soil.

The “south African miracle” is predicated on its power generation and distribution of 50,000 megawatts for its almost 50 million people. Even “small” Ghana with a population of 23.9 million people has generated about 2000 megawatts of electricity while Nigeria is fluctuating between 2500 – 3000 mws

The United Nations Development report of 2009 rated Chiles (a South American country) as highly competitive in terms of quality of life, political stability, globalization economic freedom, low perception of corruption, a comparatively low poverty rate. In the same year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) also ranked Chile very high in freedom of the press, human development, democratic development, the regions highest GDP and also a high degree of income inequality.

The miracles of these developing nations are within our grasp if we pursue an over ambitions power generation of at least 20,000mws. This is possible if we are determined to do so.

I am sure President Goodluck Jonathan, who was the chairman of the committee on the Nigerian Integrated Power Project (NIPP) under President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and later doubled as the nation’s power minister when he became President after Yar’Adua’s painful demise, can manage this unenviable challenge in our power sector. Vice President Namadi Sambo who was NIPP’s Vice Chairman will also come in handy here.

Nigeria should use these 4 years of national transformation to perfect a brand that is uniquely Nigerian for export to the whole world including the industrialized worlds and the super powers of America, China and Russia.

Chile after 17 years of Augusto Pinochet’s’ neo-liberal regime, was able to patent and export the Chilean Pension Model to the communist party of China and has been invoked as a model by economic reformers in Boris Yeltsin’s Russia and to almost all of Eastern Europe.

Nigeria has the potential to even exceed Chile, Singapore and even Japan in global industrialization and trade. Copper accounts for 40% of Chile’s external trade and she is the world greatest producer.

Nigeria, if we put our power acts right, can beat national and international expectations in all spheres of development and this will have a trickle-down effect on all the other 5 agenda of Economy, Infrastructure, Education, Agriculture and the development of the Niger Delta.

The just concluded 2011 elections largely exhibited Jonathan’s neo-liberalism. All over the world elections have caused major dislocations in civil societies and also in the civil-military equilibrium. The just concluded elections are so far Africa’s freest and fairest and this was as a result of the impeccable sincerity of President Goodluck Jonathan who bluntly refused to interfere with the impeachable honesty of the Professor Attahiru Jega led Independent National Electoral Commission.

The greatest test of any nation’s democratic experiment is the freeness and fairness of its elections. The integrity of many African elections have been at best questionable. The examples abound all over in Zimbabwe, Uganda, Kenya and most recently in Cote d’’ Voire. Democracy is dealt an excruciating blow when elections are fraudulent and in all such countries democracy is on trial until the trend is reversed. The ripple effect of rigged and fraudulent elections on democracy are innumerable and calamitous.

President Goodluck Jonathan wished it, planned it and executed a virtually free and fair election through the uncompromising Victorian discipline of Professor Jega’s consortium of Nigerian Professors.

President Goodluck Jonathan has also assured us of a free Judiciary and a free press both of which he has honoured.

The freedom of the Judiciary was amply demonstrated when most of the long pending gubernatorial cases were won by opposition parties immediately on the confirmation of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as Nigeria’s executive President on the death of President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010. And characteristically President Jonathan congratulated them all.

Of course the Nigerian Press even before the recent signing of the FO1 bill has remained very free under President Goodluck Jonathan as it was with his former boss President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The greatest show of tolerance and magnanimity was displayed during the election of the speaker of the House of Representatives in Abuja.

For the first time in the history of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), party representatives rebelled against party instructions and teamed up with the opposition to produce a rebel as the Nations Speaker of the house of Representative.

Most people believe that this was an affront on the President but so far the President has taken it in his stride and forgiven the rebellious speaker and his other officers. Accepting this rebellion and flagrant display of party indiscipline with equanimity is a rare trait of brinkmanship rarely displayed by Nigerian Presidents. Even though it was a big blow to the Presidents personal ego and authority, he took the punch in his stride.

We hope that all Nigerians will emulate the Presidents’ humility and forgiving spirit as displayed during the house of representative Crisis.

All other opposition parties must also accept the President Olive branch which he waved to them in a recent meeting in Abuja. Winning elections is no more a do or die affair in Nigeria – a la President Goodluck Jonathan.

In a recent press conference in Benghazi – Libya, Senator John McCain bluntly refused to criticise President Barack Obama over America’s actions and inactions in Libya. John McCain displayed a superior political maturity tapping from his repertoire of so many years of Washington DC experience. Some of our brutish and brusque Presidential candidates would have displayed so much ignorance under the same circumstance by condemning the incumbent President as a result of indiscipline and a weakness in personality trait.

President Goodluck Jonathan should concentrate on building Democratic Institutions rather than the Nigerian political culture of consolidating party structures. Parties are to some extent ephemeral in nature but all over the world democracy has come to stay. Even communist countries are in the race for globalization and international free trade.

The Tambuwal / Ihedioha case has shown that not all party “faithful” are faithful and disciplined. President Goodluck Jonathan should source his cabinet and team from patriotic and competent Nigerians across party lines and from any part of the country.

The President’s emphasis on education Agriculture, the economy, infrastructure and the Niger Delta development is highly commendable and if religiously executed, will surely lead us to reap the intrinsic dividends of democracy.

God bless Nigeria.

•Ben Nanaghan wrote from Lagos, Nigeria

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.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Bomb attack in Nigeria kills 25

0 0
Read Time:46 Second

Suspected members of a radical Islamist sect threw bombs at a drinking spot in Nigeria’s northeastern town of Maiduguri on Sunday, killing around 25 people.

Witnesses said the attackers threw three sets of explosives from the back of motorbikes and appeared to be targeting police officers.

The National Emergency Management Agency said it was working with other rescue teams to evacuate the injured.

The military said the perpetrators were suspected members of the Boko Haram. The sect, which says it wants a wider application of strict Sharia Islamic law in Nigeria, claimed responsibility for a bomb blast 10 days ago outside the national police headquarters in the capital Abuja.

Boko Haram’s former leader, Mohammed Yusuf, was shot dead in police custody during a 2009 uprising in which hundreds were killed.

President Goodluck Jonathan, who was sworn in for his first full term in office a month ago, has voiced support for dialogue with the sect.

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.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

An Open Letter to all newly elected Nigerian Representatives

0 0
Read Time:6 Minute, 25 Second

Your excellency lawmakers, I am using this forum to congratulate you all for having opportunity to be among those political trustees elected to represent our opinions, perspectives and interests in leading us to a nation of our dreams. We have lived in the worst political times. A change has just come and you are the change. That is why we entrusted you all with this position to make decisions that will benefit all Nigerians and solve those problems that come with today’s complex lifestyle. Time for a nation, where the new generation and our children will not bear the burden of the past inept leaders left behind. A nation where we can shape our individual and collective destinies with hard work, personal responsibility, integrity, patriotism, and optimism.

A government where our collective political support, ideas and effective strategies will lift large numbers of Nigerian citizens out of  poverty. It is now time to reject politics of racial identity, hatred and revenge and embrace politics of unity, love, healthy competition and progress. This is the time to forget all the festering grievances of the past, admit those mistakes of the past, and move on healing old wounds which is essential for future success. Working together, we can do more and better. We are due for a government that will truly represent and serve all Nigerians. The country is now weak and fragile. It is our collective responsibility to fix it back. There is no problem on earth that doesn’t have a solution except death. Nigeria should not die in our generation.

My dear representatives, as you know that Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with more than one hundred and fifty million people. The whole population cannot all go to Abuja to debate and negotiate their interests and problems. That is why “we the people of Nigeria” elected 3 Senators from each thirty-six states and Abuja federal capital, making a total of 109 Senators to form the Upper house. We also elected 360 members to the House of Representatives representing the 774 local government in the Nigerian federation to form the lower house and represent our various interests. That is to say, in essence, we elected total number of  469 representatives to organize a democratic conversation around our collective future in the National Assembly in less than 1,440 days-every four years. This house must not divide against itself.

Dear ambassadors of Nigeria in Abuja, the time is short and that is why you men of integrity and trust have to give your deep commitments. It is time to work hard on new initiatives, performances and improvements. Leadership is full of opportunity to do the right thing. It is not for fun or glamour. Doing the right things is more important than doing things right. If we do the right things, we all live in peace of mind, but if we continue doing wrong things, there will be no end to poverty, unemployment, corruption, kidnapping, armed-robbery, hired-killers, bomb-blasts, and religious crisis. This is time for serious men to do serious work to save a sinking nation. Let me remind you that this is not a direct federal government appointment. It is an appointment from the consent and will of the people. A sacred bond. You represent the whole people of the nation. You are our only voice and source of joy. The mirror of the whole society.

Your excellency lawmakers, the Nigeria people repose their confidence in you in finding lasting solutions to irregular electricity and water supply, live security, food shortage, bad state of education, transportation problems, unemployment, corruption, shortage medical facilities, and obsolete infrastructures. The people in return promise to obey the laws of the land, work harder, pay their taxes regularly, care for their families to prevent delinquents, and love the country that make it a better for them fulfill their hopes and aspirations. Nigerian voters still believe in representative democracy and that is why you saw them came out enmasse to vote for you in the last general elections. James Madison, one of the important architects of the American constitution gave his support for the system of representation as a mechanism “ to refine and enlarge the public views, by passing them through the medium of a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country, and whose patriotism and love of justice will be least likely to sacrifice it to temporary or partial considerations”.

My dear patriotic representatives, the Nigerian voters wanted something different and solutions to their problems considering the level of awareness in the last general elections. They came out in multitude despite all odds to cast their votes under a neutral and non-partisan electoral body of Prof. A. Jega. Politicians are true representatives when they make promises and keep those promises. You are better when competently manage the country’s resources to the advantage of its citizens. To set examples of hard work and principled living. The idea behind a representative government concept is that, every sovereign nations or societies are invariably formed for a particular purpose and no individuals can acquire all of the genuine necessities of life. Thereby a representative government is formed for mutual achievement of common goals and aspirations.

My honorable lawmakers, a representative government is a system in which the people elect representatives to represent their ideals, desires, opinions, problems, needs and interests in the governing body. The governing body as a whole serves the will of the people that makes it to exist in the first place. A representative is a person who is authorized to act on behalf of another person or organization. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia defines representative democracy as “a form of government founded on the principle of elected individuals representing the people…”. Edmund Burke, an Anglo-Irish statesman, political theorist and philosopher also goes further to explain the duty of a representative in a democratic state; “ It is his duty to sacrifice his repose, his pleasures, his satisfactions, to theirs (the people); and above all to prefer their (the people) interest to his own….unbiassed opinion, his mature judgement, his enlightened conscience are a trust from Providence…for the abuse of which he is deeply answerable”. Providence will never smile on the faces of those who betray this trust.

My dear brothers and sisters of the National Assembly, the only contribution I can offer now to my great country is through my pen. This is our fatherland. You have to be happy with enough, and know what to believe and what to ignore. You are at the best position to unite with common challenges, ideas, hopes and aspirations to lay the foundation of a new Nigeria. This can be done by making vital and conclusive decisions on power supply, free and standard education, fighting crime and promoting public safety with 21st century police force, research development in science and technology, building modern infrastructures, economic security and equal opportunity for all Nigerian families, social security, handicap and child support, affordable health care, create more jobs, and safeguard of our environment. You should replace despair with hope, and keep Nigeria secure, prosperous, free and re-write its history of greatness. Nigerians deserve the best. Thanks and may God bless the Republic of Nigeria.

Yours sincerely,
Adewale T Akande (M.sc.Political Sc.) University of Ibadan.  Author, Educationist         and Road Traffic Safety Consultant. Barcelona, Spain.  Tel: 0034-600877296

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.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Nigeria And South-West’s ‘Relegation’ In Power Sharing

0 0
Read Time:7 Minute, 13 Second

IDOWU SAMUEL writes on effects of the perceived relegation of the South-West geopolitical zone in the power arrangement of the country. Again, the Yoruba have been shoved aside in the power game in Nigeria. Considering the comfortable position, in which case the South-West produced the president from 1999 until 2007, and then the Speaker of the House of Representatives, just for four years, it has been hard for an average Yoruba to understand the basis for the ‘conspiracy’ by the rest of the country, to push his zone to the brink in national power arrangement.

With the exit of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2007, the succeeding government, headed by the  late Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua appreciated the relevance of the South-West in the country’s power arithmetic and worked closely with every Yoruba who occupied some positions of authority. Indeed, he took the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, ‘Dimeji Bankole, as a son. The latter demonstrated commitment to the Yar’Adua cause to a fault, such that when the president died, he became an object of scorn. Despite the bias Yar’Adua showed towards the ethnic group, the Yoruba had no reason to complain aloud about being marginalised.

There has been a good political romance between former President Obasanjo and the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan long before now. That romance is traceable to the period Jonathan was deputy governor of Bayelsa State. There were reports that Obasanjo even had a hand in the manner Jonathan became the governor of Bayelsa State, after the ouster of his former boss, Dieprieye Alamieyeseigha. The fact that Jonathan again rose to become the vice president because the caucus that produced the late Yar’Adua found him worthy to be vice president has not been in doubt.

With the death of Yar’Adua in 2009, Jonathan needed some national support to become president. This is because his chances of doing so were largely deemed by primordial sentiments against him by some political forces which felt his presidency would have caused a serious setback for the North. So uncertain were the chances of Jonathan that only a few friends could openly identify with him. There are many big-wigs around the president now who had, some months back, worked against plans to make him president. But today, they have become the president’s best friends.

The clamour for Jonathan to become president came more from ordinary Nigerians, braced by civil society groups, indeed, Save Nigeria Group (SGN). But Nigerians and civil society groups could not enthrone him as generally desired. It was rather former President Obasanjo who instigated the process right from when he openly called on Yar’Adua to resign on account of ill-health.

Jonathan and South-West

The 2011 general election occurred like a jig-saw puzzle to the think-tank of President Jonathan. There was the North which was breathing heavily on his neck on the issue of zoning. Jonathan, too, was unsure of his chances, since it appeared he was not going to receive support from every zone of the federation. But he had Obasanjo in the South-West who assisted greatly in rallying forces in his favour in the zone. Obasanjo openly campaigned for Jonathan to be president and ensured that the South-West voted overwhelmingly for him. It was after the success of the election that the tide began to change.
The changing face of politics in the zone has reduced its relevance at the centre. Other zones capitalised on its capture by the opposition parties to knock it aside in power sharing agenda. The stage was set for the zone to retain the post of the Speaker of the House of Representatives until the tide suddenly changed.

The President And The Opposition

Several arguments have been canvassed on reasons the South-West lost the speaker’s position. A school of thought had attempted to raise a conspiracy theory on the issue. In this regard, there were those who concluded that if PDP and the Presidency actually wanted somebody from the South-West as Speaker in line with agreed zoning formula, nobody in the House of Representatives would have mustered the effrontery to rubbish that arrangement.

No party member in the past had slapped the PDP and the president so daringly in the face on issue of zoning. Those who share this thought found fault with the PDP, for failing to settle the issue of who was to be the Speaker between the two available candidates, Muraina Ajibola and Mulikat Akande-Adeola. In the end, the PDP settled for Akande-Adeola, notwithstanding the fact that many members of the House considered her a weaker candidate on many grounds. The choice of Akande-Adeola, it was believed, was meant to soften grounds for the man who later rubbished the PDP zoning agenda, Honourable Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who eventually emerged as Speaker. Notwithstanding the ill-feelings generated by the election of Tambuwal, the PDP pledged forgiveness and support when he paid a courtesy visit to the acting National Chairman, Alhaji Haliru Bello Muhammed.

Again, political pundits have been expressing concern on the nature of romance between the government and the opposition party; the Action Congress Nigeria (ACN) in the South-West. Prior to the general election, there were reports of secret talks between Jonathan and the ACN leaders. Yet, the unfolding political scenarios after the election have not stopped pointing towards the strengthening of that romance.

Many have wondered aloud about the interest the ACN leaders had in the election of Speaker of the House of Representatives on June 6, 2011. The governor of Osun State, Ogbeni  Rauf Aregbesola, was physically present to ensure that the votes of ACN members did not go to Mulikat. There were reports that the opposition party had struck the deal with some PDP stalwarts to post the Speakership slot out of the South-West.

If the ACN did not want the speaker’s slot taken by South-West and had worked assiduously towards it, such was borne out of the party’s desire to sweep off completely, the vestiges of PDP, out of the zone. It was a way of sealing the hope of the ruling party ahead of 2015. Perhaps, the think-tank of the president was not aware of that. Notwithstanding, the pummelling of PDP in the South-West by ACN has not stopped at the level of killing the desire of the zone to have the speaker’s slot.

It was not the first time that the South-West would suffer a treatment of ignominy in national power game. During the Second Republic, late Senator Jonathan Odebiyi of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) and opposition leader in the Senate decried what he described as consistent neglect of the Yoruba in national politics, concluding that Yoruba had been pushed to the fourth position among ethnic groups in national politics.

The import of his observation would later play out when the late MKO Abiola, chairman of the defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) Board of Trustees, decided to contest in the 1983 presidential election. He was denied the right of fair contest, the NPN having prevented him from obtaining nomination form. Umaru Dikko, then minister of transport, simply told him he would not be allowed, since the presidency then was not meant for the highest bidder. Abiola was then one single largest financier of NPN. He resigned in anger and was commended by Chief Obafemi Awolowo for so doing.

A group known as South-West Elders Forum had spelt out the implication of a relegation of South-West in national politics, contending that such has always provided a backlash effect. The group in an advertorial said, “Political antecedents have revealed that the Nigerian Federation usually suffers serious political backlashes and setbacks in the event of relegation of Yoruba to the background in national political arithmetic,” a reason it called on President Jonathan to quickly make amends.

It added: “We use this avenue to urge the Federal Government and the PDP not to leave in the lurch, the South-West zone, a major pillar in the Nigerian tripod in the present political dispensation. The president, we believe, could rectify this anomaly by appointing capable hands from Yoruba into the new cabinet for the purpose of helping to rekindle the fire of the ruling party in the zone.”

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.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Nigeria’s Challenges and Jonathan Task

0 0
Read Time:7 Minute, 17 Second

President Goodluck Jonathan is confronting an armed insurrection, a widening Christian-Muslim divide, corruption, poverty, accusations of fraud — and that’s just his first month in office

On May 29, 2011, as newly elected Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan took the oath of office, Boko Haram, a shadowy Islamic terrorist group opposed to Nigeria’s secular government, detonated three bombs at an army barracks in Bauchi state, killing at least 14 people. Two weeks later, the first suicide bombing in Nigeria’s history killed five people just outside the Nigeria Police Headquarters in the national capital, Abuja.

These attacks highlight the challenges that Jonathan’s government faces if it is to improve governance, reduce conflict, and promote economic development, all despite Nigeria’s extreme inequality, a youth bulge, crumbling infrastructure, and high unemployment. His biggest hurdle will not be the Boko Haram, who in many ways are symptoms of Nigeria’s problems, but the entrenched interests that have run Nigeria since the end of the civil war in 1970.

Though Nigeria’s elections were largely orderly and peaceful, the violence that came after has left the country polarized between its predominately Christian South, most of which voted for Jonathan, and the 12 mostly Muslim northern states that supported the losing candidate, Muhammadu Buhari, also a Muslim from the North. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 800 people were killed and 65,000 displaced during the days of violence following the elections.

When the presidential results first started to leak, pro-Buhari protestors in most northern cities attacked supporters and officials of Jonathan’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Some protesters even targeted the traditional Muslim leadership — the Sultan of Sokoto, the Emir of Kano and the Emir of Zaria — who were widely perceived as being on the PDP payroll.

The security services responded violently against the protestors; some reports say they may have been responsible for many of the first deaths. However, the violence soon acquired a religious and ethnic dimension, with churches and mosques set ablaze, prompting Muslims to attack Christians and vice versa in a downward cycle of revenge killings. A heavy military presence has since brought an icy calm to the North.

Nigeria’s problems go beyond divisive post-electoral politics. There is ethnic and religious conflict, deeply rooted poverty, and corruption. And they’re all interconnected. Boko Haram, once an obscure, radical Islamic cult in the North, is evolving into an insurrection with support among the impoverished and alienated Northern population. In the Niger Delta, which produces most of Nigeria’s two million barrel-per-day oil output, militant leaders are signaling that they will attack oil production facilities if Jonathan’s government does not address their long-standing grievances, especially the oil industry’s destruction of the environment and the pervasive sentiment that the region has not benefitted from the wealth it produces. And in Plateau state in the Middle Belt, ethnic cleansing and religious violence continue, fueled by quarrels over land and water, with little international attention.

Despite the country’s political turmoil, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and many private consultants say that Nigeria’s economy is booming. The World Bank projects the country’s average GDP annual growth at 7.4 percent for 2009 to 2013; the IMF at 6.9 percent for 2011. In a May 30, 2011, New York Times column, distinguished economist Jeffrey Sachs wrote that Nigeria could plausibly aspire to join the BRICS (an informal block of large developing economies, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) by the end of the decade.

But these statistics and the optimism they generate among economists do not reflect reality for most Nigerians. Income distribution in Nigeria is among the worst in the world, with most of the wealth going to a select few. Little of the oil money trickles down or is invested in the infrastructure and job-creation necessary to accommodate the youth bulge and to stabilize the country. Nigerians routinely say that their day-to-day existence has deteriorated, that civilian government is not the same thing as democracy, and that the country is not becoming more prosperous. What there was of a middle class in the 1960’s and the 1970’s — seen at the time as an engine for sustainable development — has largely disappeared.

Because Abuja owns the oil and gas (extraction is done through joint arrangements between private oil companies and the government-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation), the easy way to wealth is through state capture at the various levels of government. The money is then dispersed through pervasive patronage networks, with little going into entrepreneurship or economic development. As a result, oil (now joined by natural gas) has sucked the energy out of other parts of the economy while creating few jobs

In the countryside, agriculture and fishing employ a majority of Nigerians, but attract scant investment. Particularly in the North, families increasingly send their children to the cities because agriculture cannot support the expanding rural population. Ostensibly, these children go to study the Koran under a malam, a Koranic teacher, but many end up begging to keep themselves alive. Often, they join the rapidly growing urban masses without permanent employment.

This rapid urbanization is continuing without the necessary investment in infrastructure. Already, about half of the population lives in cities, and a report by the U.S. Institute of Peace estimates that Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial center, is likely to become the third largest city in the world by 2015, behind Tokyo and Mumbai. But the cities are not generating jobs. Manufacturing is declining; the result of a collapsed power sector, over-valued currency, and the cheap imports, especially textiles, that flood the domestic market, sometimes with the connivance of corrupt customs officers.

Nigeria’s pervasive poverty and underdevelopment are nation-wide, but much worse in the northern half of the country, contributing to the increasing isolation of the predominately Muslim states found there. This sense of isolation was exacerbated by the April 2011 elections. It also contributes to the growing space in parts of the northern society available for radical Islamic groups such as Boko Haram to take hold. Often shaped by their religious teachers in a period of Islamic religious revival, the crowds of unemployed and impoverished children, youths, and university graduates are increasingly ripe for recruitment by the likes of Boko Haram. In Nigeria, one often hears it said that it costs only1,000 naira per person (about six U.S. dollars) to put together a mob to burn down a church.

While Jonathan’s electoral victory was internationally accepted as legitimate and has enhanced the country’s status abroad (as demonstrated by his recent warm reception at the White House) the new Nigerian president faces enormous challenges. Presidential opponent Buhari is calling for a forensic investigation of the presidential elections that would examine allegations of vote buying, underage voting, intimidation, ballot box stuffing, and manipulation of polling numbers at collation centers. Buhari’s party, the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), has gone to court to challenge the poll results in 24 states and the Federal Capital Territory. Jonathan, for his part, has established a commission — chaired by Ahmed Lemu, a distinguished retired grand cadi — to investigate the violence in the North. But, otherwise, his outreach to the North has so far been disappointing. His closest advisors are fellow Ijaws, the country’s fourth largest ethnic group mostly concentrated in the Niger Delta, and he has yet to include any influential figures from the North in his inner circle.

It will take great political skill for Jonathan to address the alienation in his country’s North and in its Delta. Boko Haram has already rejected outright attempts to negotiate by the Borno state government. The recent suicide attack in the capital demonstrates a reach and tactic that Nigeria has not seen before. Suicide attacks may be a sign of new linkages to transnational terrorist groups that did not previously exist, though the character of Boko Haram remains indigenously Nigerian.

Jonathan has also expressed a desire to tackle underinvestment in the non-oil economy. One of his stated goals is to restore and expand the power industry. Another is to reorganize the petroleum industry so that it provides greater benefits to Nigerians.

Taken altogether, Jonathan’s initiatives would address some of the fundamental issues that have divided and alienated Nigerians. But real reform on the scale the country requires would amount to a peaceful revolution, directly confronting the entrenched interests that benefit from the status quo. Jonathan has yet to demonstrate that he has the stomach — or the sufficient support from the elite, of which he is a member — to fundamentally rebuild Nigeria. If successful, such initiatives might begin to address the country’s endemic poverty and could even dent the pervasive culture of corruption. It would be a start.

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.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %

Nigeria to launch two new satellites next month

0 0
Read Time:3 Minute, 13 Second

ARRANGEMENTS are being perfected by the Federal Government to launch Nigeria’s second and third satellites, SAT2 and SATX that cost £34 million, into the orbit by July 7.

The launching of the two satellites from Dnepr vehicle in Russia alongside five other countries, including RASAT for Turkey, EDUSAT for Italy, ARSAT-5 and 6 for United States of America and Sich-2 for Ukraine, will be televised live at 8.12 a.m. by Nigerian Television Authority(NTA).

The news was broken as the Director General of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA), Dr. Saidu Mohammed, dismissed the report of volcanic activity in Ndanijam Kargo village in Funakaye Local Council of Gombe State, noting that the occurrence of smoke in the region was a result of cracked cave undergoing magma process that required monitoring before conclusion can be made on the activities of the rock.

Meanwhile, the NIGCOMSAT1 which de-orbited 18 months after its launch in 2007 owing to power related problem will soon be replaced, as a proposal for its launch next year is ongoing between the Federal Government and the agency responsible for its design.

NigeriaSat-2 with a high resolution of 2.5 metre GSD in the panchromatic channel is an improvement on Sat-1 with a resolution of 32 metres and Nigeria-SatX was designed by 26 Nigerian engineers trained in Russia for the project.

The Director General of NASRDA Dr. Saidu Mohammed who announced the plan to launch the new satellites at an occasion marking preparation for the event yesterday in Abuja informed that 18 per cent of the total cost had been secured for insurance of the project designed for seven years.

He disclosed that the African Union had indicated interest in ensuring that the continent has a space centre for development in Africa.     The agency boss noted that the success of Sat-1 which had supported over 2000 applications within and outside Nigeria since its launch in 2003, gave impetus for the design of both NigeriaSat-2 and Sat-X.

According to him, the launch will be a gift to President Goodluck Jonathan and other Nigerians for the avowed commitment of the Federal Government towards improving the lives of every citizen through space application.

He said: “We are once more on the path to greasing the wheels of our success story, as the stage is set for the launch of our third and fourth satellites code named NigeriaSat-2 and Nigeria Sat-X.

“Nigeria Sat-X is the ingenuity of our engineers who have undergone training in the design and building of satellites. It depicts Nigeria’s first effort at developing satellite and will be launched alongside NigeriaSat-2. Technology application is needed in all facets of human life including health, security, defence, agriculture, environment, and information-communication.

Explaining the occurrence of gas emission in Gombe, Director of Geodesy and Geodynamics, Mr. Tahir Abubakar said what is going on in the state is gaseous emission of sulphide dioxide and carbon dioxide as a result of crack in the silt of a cave with a combination of magma reaction.

According to him, the occurrence is a pointer to future activity that requires monitoring now, and such that is compelling us to strengthen our research platform.

Engineer Frank Chizea who spoke on the two satellites said the Nigeria SAT2 is a mini-satellite, adding that same is capable of imaging in several modes about six different modes.

“It allows for more application areas to be carried out with better result from data obtained. The Nigeria SAT2 is almost ten times better and more advanced than the SAT1 within the same budget. It can pick ground resolution of 2.5 meters on the ground like a car packed in a place can clearly be identifed.”

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.
Happy
0 0 %
Sad
0 0 %
Excited
0 0 %
Sleepy
0 0 %
Angry
0 0 %
Surprise
0 0 %