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In line with its commitment to save one million lives, the Private Sector Health Alliance of Nigeria (PHN) led by Aliko Dangote, Jim Ovia, Muhammad Ali Pate and other private sector leaders has led its strategic partners towards an innovative mobile health intervention to mobilise about three million women and children to health facilities in high-burden states through the use of geo-location based on targeted mobile health messaging (text message) and voice in local languages.
The partners include SOML, VAS2NETS, GSMA, UNICEF, Access Bank, Stanbic IBTC, telecommunications companies, states among others.
The intervention, which is in its first phase, was implemented as part of the Maternal Newborn and Child Health Weeks (MNCHW) campaign, a biannual national mass campaign that seeks to mobilise women and children across the country to health facilities to access free primary health care services and life-saving commodities.
Dangote, a founding patron of the PHN said: “This is the largest mobile health demand creation intervention of its kind in the country and we are pleased that PHN is playing a catalytic role in convening private and public sector partners to serve millions of underserved women and children in Nigeria.”
According to the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of PHN, Muntaqa Umar-sadiq the intervention is in line with the Private Sector Emergency Plan to save one million lives and to accelerate progress to meet health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the 2015 deadline.
“We believe that leveraging mass campaigns such as MNCHWs, to address demand barriers through mobile technology can help us leap frog constraints and contribute to the saving one million lives movement.”
He said they had deliberately coordinated the demand and supply of their interventions such that they had increased social mobilisation to get women and children to nearby health facilities through geo-location based mobile text and voice messages (to targeted high-risk beneficiaries).
Umar-sadiq noted that the PHN had also worked closely with partners like VAS2NETS, UNICEF, GSMA and GAIN to ensure a commensurate increase on the supply aspect with an integrated bundle of free health services and life-saving commodities such as Vitamin A supplements, routine immunisations, deworming tablets, screening for malnutrition, long-lasting insecticide-treated bed nets for malaria, ORS and Zinc for diarrhoea and others.
“When campaigns integrate the delivery of multiple interventions (e.g. Vitamin A, deworming, measles, bed nets, nutrition and vaccination), they are able to achieve larger mortality reductions by targeting the right mix of interventions to the largest groups of children mostly at risk of death,” he added.
“We are also mobilising private sector capabilities to support the Saving One Million Lives (SOML) campaign. For example, financial institutions such as Access Bank, StanbicIBTC and others have agreed to bring to bear their multi-faceted access points including text alerts, to create awareness through linked text alert messages targeting a relatively urban pool of high risk women and children,” Muhammad Ali Pate, co-chair of the PHN said.
The Special Assistant to the Minister of Health and Technical Lead of SOML, Kelechi Ohiri, stated that on the government side, the SOML initiative had made remarkable progress focusing on performance management and delivery across the leading causes of mortality. To accelerate progress, the private sector, through the PHN, is a critical partner in enabling us meet our collective goals,” he said.
PHN, which recently announced a $24.2 million commitment towards a Private Sector Emergency Plan to SOML and a Health Impact Investment Fund to unlock the market potential of the health sector, seeks to build an unprecedented, world-class private sector-led coalition that focuses on advocacy, innovation, impact investments and public private partnerships to save one million lives.
It called on more private sector leaders to join the core group of private sector champions leading the movement to save one million lives of women and children in Nigeria.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas (NUPENG) has suspended its strike scheduled to commence today to allow for dialogue and negotiation over the crises rocking the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN).
The union however clarified that the suspended strike did not mean it had decided to completely shelve the strike which is as a result of the failure of IPMAN to implement the 2009 agreement due to the ongoing leadership tussle.
Briefing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the National President of NUPENG, Mr. Igwe Achese, reiterated the commitment of the union to protect the interest of its members who constitute the majority of the work force in IPMAN.
He said the union would wait for the outcome of the June 30, meeting for a response from the officials of the Ministries of Labour and Justice on their mandate to work to resolve the crises.
He lamented that efforts to reconcile the warring factions in IPMAN had been continually breached by the Aminu Abdulkadir-led faction.
Achese clarified that the union had no intention of inflicting any form of hardship on the Nigerian populace, but was only interest in protecting the welfare of its member. Speaking on other issues, Achese cautioned against the balkanisation of the NNPC as a pre-condition for the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) by the National Assembly.
He called for the passage of the bill first, adding that all stakeholders in the industry can then discuss the way forward in the sector.
“As a union, we are not against the privatisation of refineries, but we insist that the Turn Around Maintenance (TAM) must be carried out, pipelines secured and government must make sure new refineries are built,” he said.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
There appears to be no way out for the logjam between the federal government and doctors in the country, as the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) yesterday threatened to join the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) on its strike.
The doctors are protesting the government’s failure to withdraw the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) circular in favour of members of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) for the importation of medical equipment and the demand by JOHESU to be appointed as medical directors of government hospitals.
The threat by MDCAN came on the heels of the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu’s appeal for the doctors to use dialogue in mitigating the challenges facing them rather than resorting to strikes.
Chukwu, speaking to THISDAY on the planned strike said, “We will try and dissuade them. Dialogue is the only way out,” he said.
MDCAN in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, said it rejected what it described as unknown to medical professionalism, adding that “concessions made to JOHESU, allowing its members to be appointed as medical directors, among others” are inimical to a smooth running of the nation health system.
The circular recently issued by government following the agitation of JOHESU among others, provides for approval of consultancy positions for support staff; abolition of Deputy Chairman Medical Advisory Committee (DCMAC) position; appointment of support staff as directors; referral of the following to the Yayale Ahmed Committee; elimination of medical teachers from eligibility for headship of teaching hospitals; and re-interpretation of ‘medically qualified’ which is a key phrase in the University Teaching Hospital Act.
MDCAN in the statement signed by the President, Dr. Steven Oluwole and Secretary Dr. Aderemi Adeosun said it would be compelled to join NMA to withdraw its services, if government does not withdraw its concession to JOHESU after the expiration of 14-days notice by NMA.
MDCAN maintained that, “the ultimatum of the NMA to government on JOHESU matters is noted. While MDCAN remains committed to its policy of ensuring uninterrupted health services, it will comply with directives to withdraw services should government allow the situation to deteriorate to the extent that NMA will have no credible alternatives.
“In the interest of patient care, government should stop playing politics with professional health issues and put on hold all circulars that have been released to please JOHESU,” it said.
The statement added that JOHESU should be prevented from inventing Nigerian type of medical services that will expose the nation to ridicule internationally.
That MDCAN will provide all moral and logistic support to the NMA to ensure success of any action it deems fit to restore sanity to the health sector.
MDCAN further appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) to take “critical look at the needless anarchy in the health sector and the attendant consequences on health care delivery and training of medical students.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
A 10-seater passenger boat capsized yesterday at the Ibasa operational area of Inland Waterways in Lagos, claiming the life of one the passengers and leaving others with varying degrees of injuries.
The passenger boat was said to have capsized along the Tin Can—Kirikiri water channel, and the survivors who were rescued by local divers are currently being hospitalised at an undisclosed medical facility in Ojo area of the state.
THISDAY gathered that the boat took off from Ojo area at about 12.15pm and was heading towards Tin Can—Coconut area when it ran into a huge wave created by a bigger commercial vessel.
According to an eyewitness account, the incident would not have happened but for the reckless act of the operator who attempted to out run the bigger boat at sea. It was also learnt that it was the high wave that threw the boat high into the sky before it landed on its side spilling all the passengers and its cargo into the water.
Confirming the incident, the spokesperson for the National Emergency Agency (NEMA), South-west, Mr. Ibrahim Farinloye, said the body of the deceased passenger was yet to be recovered.
He said: "It was a 10-passenger boat and the incident happened between Ojo and Tin Can Island when the boat was on its way to Coconut Island. "Many lives were saved because all the passengers wore life saving jackets. As at now, we are yet to determine the cause of the incident.
"There were four bigger boats passing and the wave from the sea destabilised the boat but as the operator was struggling to stabilise the boat, passengers panicked and started struggling, which caused the boat to capsize.
"Those who could swim swam to nearby island, while few others were rescued by a combined team of fishermen and locals."
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of falsifying the age of its newly elected Youth Leader, Ibrahim Dasuki Jalo, stating that he is 52 years and not 42 years as declared.
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement yesterday, said it was disheartening that the APC had refused to shed its unnecessary penchant for lies even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
According to the party in the statement, “It is public knowledge that Jalo contested the Gombe/Kwame/Funakaye Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives in 2011 during which he declared his age to be 49 years. The records are there and they speak for themselves.
“If Jalo was 49 years in 2011, it naturally follows that he is 52 at present for which he should be grateful to God. It is therefore clear that the statement by the APC declaring him to be 43 years is false.
“While we concede that the APC has the right to select a person of any age for any position within its fold, including a man of 52 as national youth leader, we are however shocked that they chose to lie over an issue as ordinary as the age of a national officer.”
The PDP said in lying over the age of its national officer, the APC had shown that “it has little regard for integrity and that its statements cannot be trusted.”
The ruling party advised the opposition party now under a new leadership to imbibe the culture of integrity and honesty especially as Nigerians deserve to know the truth and the correct state of facts always.
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.
Ogun State politics assumed a new dimension yesterday when the posters of the financier and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Buruji Kashamu, flooded Abeokuta, the state capital, seeking to contest the governorship seat in 2015.
This is the second time the posters of Kashamu, who is also Chairman, Organisation and Mobilisation of the PDP in South-west, would be appearing in Ogun East and Ogun Central Eenetorial Zones indicating his interest in the state gubernatorial race come 2015.
THISDAY cited the posters in Oke-Ilewo, Post Office, Panke, Omida, Kuto, Oke-Mosan, Abiola Way, Governor’s Office among other areas. The posters have inscriptions like ‘Prince Buruji Kashamu for Ogun State Governor’ ‘Positioning the Gateway State for a World Standard.’
However, Kashamu, while reacting to the sudden appearance of his posters in Abeokuta purportedly announcing his governorship ambition, again distanced himself from them.
In a statement issued yesterday in Abeokuta, Kashamu said: “My attention has again been drawn to many posters dotting several parts of the state announcing my purported governorship ambition.
“I hereby reiterate that I am not interested in contesting for any position. Whether I become a governor or not, it does not stop me from empowering my people.
“Even though it is true that people from all over the state have been pressurising me to run for the governorship of the state, they say I have been there for them and the party when others abandoned them; they say even though I am a private citizen, I have touched their lives through my generosity and philanthropy; they say I am the only one who understands the level of poverty in the state and has taken practical steps to ameliorating it. And for these reasons, they want me to go to into public office to better their lot on a larger scale.”
But Kashamu said his response to them was that “Although I love and appreciate them, I am not interested in the governorship of the state or any office, whether elective or appointive,” adding that: “All I want is for me and other PDP leaders like Chief Bode George and Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun among others to recover the whole South-west for the PDP, including Ogun State.”
The party chieftain said he was committed to working with other leaders to identify and support credible candidates who can win elections for the party, stressing that “once such candidates emerge, we would roll the party’s machinery behind them and ensure victory for the party.”
Kashamu expressed gratitude to those who have spent their hard-earned money to print the posters, saying, “whether they are true friends or mischief-makers, I believe those who printed the posters mean well for me.”
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Ohuhu clan in Umuahia Abia State met recently in Houston, Texas, in the United States for its Biennial Convention and instead of discussing issues of project development, the conclave took an in-depth look at the politics of the state, preparatory to 2015. Nduka Nwosu reports
Houston Texas welcomed the Ohuhu Development Union International (ODUI) Biennial Convention with a warm weather dancing between spring and an unfolding summer. The 'gala nite' at the Grand Ball Room in one of Houston's popular three star hotels was the icing on the cake of the two day convention declared open by ODUI President, Ginikanwa Okedi.
ODUI, back home is the umbrella or meeting point for the Ohuhu people in the Abia North Senatorial Zone in Umuahia. From London, Boston, New York, New Jersey, Houston, Dallas, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Washington among others, the kinsmen converged to weigh issues from home and the way forward in the geo-political entity called Abia State.
A representative of the hosts, Chief Onyema Ndukwe, had presented kola nuts welcoming the distinguished conference participants whose last meeting in 2012 at Boston, Massachusetts, set the agenda for the day. As Elder A. A. Onukogu, Rector Abia State Polytechnic stated in his keynote address, the unbiblical cord binding the citizens of Ohuhu Clan together was mandatory that no matter where they found themselves, this meeting of brothers and sisters as the Psalmist admonished, must be observed constantly.
Indeed as High Chief Dani Nkemakolam, a delegate from New York stressed, ODUI is development-oriented and every biennial convention provides the opportunity to take stock of what has been done and what needs to be done. Nkemakolam proudly reeled out what the New York chapter has achieved back home – building new schools and hospitals while refurbishing existing ones.
It is also an occasion where every citizen is asked to give account of his contribution to the development of the state, which was why Governor Theodore Ahamefule Orji, though an Umuahia Ibeku son sent Kingsley Megwara, his former Special Adviser on Diaspora Matters to brief his Ohuhu people, who happen to be a part of his domain and a brother to Ibeku, what he has achieved in his two term tenure in office and how the Ohuhu clan which once produced the Premier of Eastern Nigeria, Michael Iheonukara Okpara, has gained under his administration.
Okedi told his audience that "this gathering of Ohuhu indigenes forms the fulcrum and launching pad for Ohuhu's future road map. We hope to leave the 2014 convention with a concrete agreement to revive the Ohuhu leadership role which was inspired by Dr. Michael Okpara's era, but lost in the yawning transition of his absence."
Okedi lamented that currently, Ndi Ohuhu are like people groping in darkness and playing the second fiddle in the political dispensation of Nigeria with emphasis on the South-east and Abia State in particular. The summit, he added, offers "a prophylactic value and may hold the ace to influence the much desired Ohuhu community integration and the consequent rejuvenation of Ohuhu leadership."
According to him, this is only possible "if we put our noses to the grindstone and seize the opportunity which this summit offers." That opportunity was proposed by Professor Chinasa Buster Ogbuagu of the University of St Francis Chicago, whose paper dwelt on restoring the old values of accountability, good governance and rapid development.
Ogbuagu lamented the absence of unity in Ohuhu where three governorship candidates – Chief Onyema Ugochukwu of the PDP, Chief Ikechi Emenike of the ANPP and Uzodinma Okpara, son of the former Premier – who contested on the APGA platform – all from the same clan emerged to fight the then PPA candidate, Theodore Orji.
His argument: "If there had been a united front, with just one candidate properly scrutinised by ODUI, perhaps, just perhaps, Ohuhu would have emerged victorious rather than waste the votes. But Ohuhu is only a clan in the geographical location known as Abia State."
Besides, the governor who is from Ibeku, a twin brother of Ohuhu, has delivered. That at least was the central issue of the Orji speech presented by Megwara.
In the outgoing Orji administration, Megwara told his curious audience that infrastructure in Ohuhu has been upgraded and increased while key appointments, perhaps the highest relative to other clans stoods eloquent testimony of how well the governor's goodwill stood among the Ohuhu people.
The land commissioner, Eboh Ihekwereme, the current vice chancellor of the Abia State University, Professor Chibuzo Ogbuagu, who was also a commissioner and Secretary to the State Government, the former Diaspora Adviser, and many other beneficiaries of key appointments stood as undeniable evidence on how much Ohuhu has benefited from the Orji administration.
Add this to the many infrastructure developments in the areas of electricity, roads, water and agriculture, then there is no doubt Ohuhu is a privileged clan. Most importantly, Orji remains a student and disciple of Michael Okpara, whose six year tenure as premier of Eastern Nigeria remains unsurpassed in the history of both the South-east and parts of the South-south that formed the then Eastern Region.
Beyond Orji's legacy projects which have redefined him away from his predecessor, Orji Kalu, accountability and sustainability remained the recurring decimal for those aspiring to take over the outgoing governor's job. That was what Professor Ogbuagu's proposition was all about – the need to hold future gubernatorial aspirants of Abia State accountable while in office by drawing a charter of faith and trust between the governor and the governed.
On paper, each of these candidates has been harping on the need to sustain the legacy projects of Orji. Those who are not actively associated with the administration are at best written off as unserious with minimum chances of being shortlisted for the job. And no one is even talking of a passive opposition outside the inner conflicts within the party. Thanks to Orji's inclusive and unity government.
Thus, among the over one dozen aspirants are the contenders and pretenders. Yet in some quarters, some people have been mentioned as anointed by the governor. The Ukwa/Ngwa clan is holding the governor to his word that the rest of Abia has no choice but to let the power-shift move in the direction of Abia South senatorial zone. With this in mind, the argument informally descended on the search for the next credible governor of Abia State.
The Contenders
Enyinnaya Abaribe Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe, 59, was born March 1, 1959 and attended Government College, Umuahia and the University of Benin, where he graduated in Economics with a first and second degree in 1979 and 1982 respectively. He lectured at Edo State University between 1982 and 1985. In 1985, he was appointed Area Manager of SCOA for Southern Nigeria and left in 1991 to work for NICON as Senior Manager Investment. He later moved on to start his outfit – Integrated Mortgage Company and was also actively involved in the import business.
He emerged deputy governor to Kalu in 1999 and was impeached twice only to resign and face a third impeachment threat in 2003. Abaribe was the ANPP governorship candidate in 2003 when he contested against Kalu. He was elected senator representing Abia South senatorial zone in 2007. Abaribe was re-elected senator for Abia South in the April 2011 election. He is currently the chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Publicity.
Strengths: He is a strong man of Abia politics who fought Kalu to a standstill. He parades experience in the art of governance and has moved round more than any other contender on ground campaigning for the office, explaining why he is the best man for the number one seat in Abia. He boasts an intimidating log of legislative experience and strong Abuja connections inclusive of the presidency. He has also in recent years, after the opposition led by Ugochukwu, mended fences with Orji, becoming an active participant of Abia PDP and he supports of Orji’s legacy projects.
Weaknesses: Although Abaribe has pledged to continue with the implementation of Orji’s legacy projects, he was for long in the opposition group and does not command a mainstream following even from Abia North. His strong presence and track records of experience which he showcases may be his undoing.
Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu The best way to assess the gubernatorial standing of Okezie Ikpeazu is to take a cue from Lagos State, where Senator Bola Tinubu holds court as godfather and benefactor. Tinubu chose his former Chief of Staff, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, who was more of a technocrat and less a politician to succeed him. Only recently, another technocrat, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, who was the Accountant-General in the state, is being pooh-poohed in media circles as the man to succeed Fashola.
In Anambra State, former governor Peter Obi also chose a technocrat, Willie Obiano, then an executive director at Fidelity Bank as his successor, dousing such strong contenders as Professor Charles Soludo. The same is true of Kwara State, where Senator Bukola Saraki preferred the incumbent, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed to his sister, Gbemisola.
Ikpeazu, a toxicologist and academic with doctoral degrees in various areas of Biochemistry was head of department of Applied Chemistry, Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) before his appointment as Special Adviser on Environment and Sanitation to the governor of Abia State.
A native of Obingwa local government area of Abia State, Ikpeazu was General Manager of the Abia State Passengers Integrated Manifest and Safety Scheme (ASPIMS) before his current position of Deputy General Manager of the Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA).
With this necessary grooming exercise, Ikpeazu would has been tested and prepared for the battle ahead seems to be doing a good job of keeping Aba clean, a job that seemed to have been carved out to quicken his footsteps and prepare him for the battle ahead. Going by what the rumour mills, Ikpeazu may be another Fashola, Obiano or Ahmed in the making.
Godfathers as ex-governors would rather choose a humble child who would not be a pain in the neck blocking access of the ex-boss to Government House and the strategy seems to be working even where the ex-governor proceeds to the Senate for higher national assignments.
Weaknesses: Ikpeazu’s weak point is the complex art of governance and legislative track record but contesting with such giants as Abaribe and Acho Nwakanma may well be his strong point.
Eric Acho Nwakanma Eric Acho Nwakanma, 56, was born April 26, 1958 and schooled at National High School, Aba as well as the Community Secondary School, Nbawsi for his West African School Certificate in 1976. He is also an old boy of Government College, Umuahia, where he obtained his Higher School Certificate in 1978. Nwakanma obtained his first degree in Biochemistry from the University of Lagos in 1982 and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Biochemistry in 1985, from the same university.
Between 1985 and 1986, he was a graduate assistant at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos. He was a sales representative at Chemex (Chemiron) and later Zonal Manager. In 1990, he left Chemiron to head Eric-Jac Holdings and grew his business interests across transportation, real estate, importation, and agriculture.
He served as the fourth and sixth deputy governor of Abia State first replacing Enyinnaya Abaribe and later under Orji when he replaced Chris Akomas. Nwakanma’s pedigree as Deputy Speaker and two time deputy governor places him in a vantage position with a home advantage and a track record of experience in legislative exposure and governance.
Strengths: Nwakanma is still a member of Orji’s kitchen cabinet and was nominated to chair the Board of the Federal Neuro Psychiatry Hospital Enugu. When he lost the Senatorial seat to Abaribe as a PPA candidate in a post-election battle, the party chieftains rewarded him with the office of deputy governor. He is also seen as the good boy of the party in Abia State. Weaknesses: Again his strong track record of experience may well be his undoing
Nwadiala Emeka Wogu One other possible contender, considered a dark horse that could pose a problem for many is the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Nwadiala Emeka Wogu, who has been low key in his campaign strategy perhaps because of his ministerial job. Though entreaties have reportedly been made to him to contest, Wogu who has parental linkage to the North is yet to throw his hat into the ring and is presently occupied with his job at Abuja.
Wogu, 49, was born January 29, 1965 and schooled at Ngwa High School and Abia State University, where he read Law finishing at the Nigerian Law School with a BL in 1987. Three years later, he went into private practice setting up Emeka Wogu & Co. He later bagged a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Calabar in 2002
Wogu has been the local government chairman of Abia South LGA between 1991 and 1993 and was elected to the House of Representatives in 1998 while in 1999; he was appointed a Political Adviser to former governor Kalu. He was also a two term commissioner representing Abia State at the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. In 2010, he was appointed Minister of Labour and has remained there till date.
Wogu’s critics say he is not well focused on the gubernatorial venture because he is nestled in his comfort zone but it is also possible he is listening to the political heartbeat of the governor who to a large extent will determine or bless who succeeds him.
Nkechi Nwaogu Senator Nkechi Nwogu, 58, is a former banker with a Master’s degree in Finance, and Ordinary and Post Graduate Diploma certificates in Management Studies. The graduate of the University of Brunei has close to 12 years of legislative experience and chairs the committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions.
Nwogu has been proactive and vocal in her desire to make history as the first female executive governor elected into office. Unfortunately, the zoning formula, if strictly adhered to, may not be in her favour since she represents Abia Central that boasts of three LGAs representing the Ukwa/Ngwa clan from where she hails. The mainstream of the Ukwa/Ngwas is mostly found in Abia South, the most likely beneficiary of the current clamour for power shift.
Proponents of this group insist that since Orji is from Abia Central, it would amount to power returning to the zone if Nwaogu succeeds the governor and this argument automatically disqualifies her. Of course Nwaogu’s desire to become the next governor of the state can be viewed from the fact that Orji is likely to contest the senatorial seat from Abia Central, currently represented by Nwaogu, which would automatically retire her from the National Assembly, where many believe she and Uche Chukwumerije must step down for other eminently qualified contenders having stayed there for 12 years running.
The Pretenders Other names that have been mentioned include the present deputy governor of the state, Chief Emeka Ananaba, Uzor Azubuike of the House of the Representatives, a former banker, Chief Marc Wabara, the Accountant-General, Chief Gabriel Onyendilefu, whose mother was recently kidnapped and released, leading lawyer, Paul Ananaba (SAN), Ambassador Okey Emuchay, Barrister Friday Nwosu, among many others.
Billionaire businessman and chairman of Masters Energy, Dr. Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah has been flexing muscles perhaps preparatory for a future contest since the zoning arrangement disqualifies him. Former Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Ihejirika was also at a point mentioned as another dark horse, who may well be on his way to a bigger national assignment someday. But, that also will be against the spirit of zoning.
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
A former Vice-President and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, yesterday said the emergence of the Chief John Odigie-Oyegun-led National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party was a product of transparency, democracy and compromise.
Atiku made the claim in a statement of solidarity to the new APC executive which would be inaugurated today.
In a statement by his media office in Abuja, the former vice-president advised the newly-elected party officials to sustain the tempo and public enthusiasm which greeted the birth of the opposition party in the country.
The former vice-president expressed joy at the peaceful conduct of the elections at the party’s inaugural national convention last Friday.
Atiku said as a member of the party, he was proud that the elections were conducted without rancour, adding that the level of maturity demonstrated by the APC followers was an evidence of their commitment to decent democratic conduct. The former vice-president said despite the prediction of chaos and crisis, event went on off peacefully without any incident.
He appealed to aggrieved members to remain loyal to the party, saying that there was a reward for loyalty.
However, the Turakin Adamawa advised APC leaders and members not to rest on their oars because the challenges ahead were still tough. According to him, complacency was a dangerous attitude, especially for an opposition party struggling to capture power and bring change.
While expressing his apologies for his inability to be present for the inauguration of the executive due to previous commitments overseas, the former vice-president, however, conveyed his support, loyalty and cooperation to the NEC of the party at all times.
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.
When it comes to robbing the common purse, civil servants are light years ahead of politicians. And one of their trade secrets is being adept at not getting caught even with the omnipresent CCTV device. As a part of the strategy for evading detection, the concept of a “poor civil servant” has caught on. But, make no mistake about it. Civil servants are no longer poor. They are rich and stinking of Other People’s Money. But no one looks at their direction when the subject is corruption.
Politicians are the usual suspect and the whipping children in the entire anti-graft crusade. Civil servants are the ultimate termites eating deep into the commonwealth and getting away with it every day. They nibble and nibble and nibble. And the wonder of it is that everyone appears to condone it and even accept it as normal, while politicians get all the knocks.
Commentators don’t even bother about that sector, treating the matter with kid gloves. Yet, more than half of the financial leakages in the polity are from that sphere of our national life. We lose billions annually to ghost workers salaries, contract racketeering; employment scam and all the various ways the caterpillars eat away at the pillars. As I write this, an interesting EFCC drama is playing out at the Nigeria Prison Service, where a certain big woman paid a tithe of N60million to her church.
A tithe is the tenth part of any income most Christians get and they pay that into the church coffers. By the way, that is how some men of God are kept in private jets. So, this particular woman, a civil servant paid that kind of tithe? Investigations are ongoing but she may escape justice. Civil servants are good at their game. Catch them if you can! Now, I don’t know of any political office holder, who would be able to pay that type of money as tithe. Civil servants (or evil masters) are all part of the growing crisis of credibility and accountability in the country. Yet no one is talking about it.
Ladies and gentlemen, let’s talk about it in the Situation Room today. Let’s have a national debate on this matter because I feel it is about time we called civil servants to order. Apart from graft, I’m yet to be convinced that the civil service is even serving the purposes it was meant to serve. The entire contraption is now bogging the nation down like some dead weight hampering growth.
And the men and women, who see themselves essentially as “government pikins”, are starting to kill us all. They are killing us with their greed; their lethargy; their indifference and their proclivity to just slow down the whole system.
I know, of course, that we need the civil service as it is the engine room of the daily grind of administrations. It is also a huge employer of labour and the biggest actually. In virtually all the 36 states of the federation, the civil service accounts for about eighty percent of employment and this, dear readers, is both a blessing and a curse rolled in one.
It is a blessing because without the employment provided by it, a dangerous problem would have been created. But the downside is that states now spend their entire subvention paying all sorts of crazy salary bills (ghost workers showing up on pay day more than the actual workers in offices).
A state that collects say about three billion naira as its monthly cut from the central oil loot, may end up spending close to two-third of that on salaries. Beyond this, the top guns have to make provision for their pockets and all the other stuff that we are all too familiar with. At the end, little or nothing is left for actual development. And as soon as idle civil servants collect their monthly salaries, unscrupulous account officers lick their fingers, get down to draw up yet another ridiculous payment sheet and the beat goes on.
It is a civil servants world. And they are the luckiest lot in the country. For doing nothing, they get much. All that most civil servants do is show up for work each day of the week, do little or no work, put up a great show of being busy and plot all sorts of scheme to rob the treasury. The service is also the bastion of wickedness as some of them are skillful in the science of hiding files, delaying promotions, engaging in fetish diabolism, falsifying documents, writing unending petitions and getting the political class enmesh in all sorts of scandals.
That was how a former aviation minister, Stella Oduah, was fooled into making a “needful” error. Before her, another female minister was once misled by the civil force she worked with. And while Oduah, for instance, bears the public odium after the scandal, you won’t hear of any civil servant facing any inquiry. Thus, between the politicians and the civil servant, who was better at doing the needful? Question!
But civil servants are smart, always covering their track in the most ingenious way possible and leaving the neophyte appointee holding the shorter end of the stick. The permanent secretaries are essentially the kingpins as they have become the ultimate dinosaurs in ministries. And their wahala is equally permanent.
They are impervious to new ideas, hostile to the political appointee, and versed in all the crude laws of native survival. They are the custodians of sow-eared files and memorandum that have only retarded the nation and have made the civil service a burden. It wasn’t always like this. There was a time when the civil service was the bride of all. And I’ve met some civil servants, who recall with longing nostalgia, the days of glory when they joined the civil service out of patriotism. Back then it was the joy of all joys to get into the service.
Hierarchy was respected, procedures held sacrosanct and graft was unheard of. Promotion, discipline and rewards were all part of the service then. That was before the end came and today, we are somewhere between a rock and a hard place. Who is corrupting who – the civil servant or the politician? Let the debate begin…
Anthony-Claret is a software Engineer, entrepreneur and the founder of Codewit INC. Mr. Claret publishes and manages the content on Codewit Word News website and associated websites. He's a writer, IT Expert, great administrator, technology enthusiast, social media lover and all around digital guy.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Ekiti State, Mr. Ayo Fayose, has described the Social Security Scheme (SSS) of the Dr. Kayode Fayemi-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government in the state as “a deceit taken too far.”
Fayose, in a statement issued by the Director General of (Ayo Fayose Campaign Organisation AFCO), Chief Dipo Anisulowo, promised to implement real social security scheme when he assumes office as governor.
According to him, “The best social security is the provision of gainful employments for the youths so as to be able to feed their aged parents, not a miserable N5,000 per month stipend.”
Fayose promised to provide gainful employments for the youths, in addition to a more decent SSS to be provided by his government. He said it was wrong for a government to have neglected the youths, while going about celebrating the payment of N5,000 monthly stipend to their aged parents.
“Our government won’t be celebrating payment of N5,000 stipends to a few aged people and provision of N10,000 per month jobs for graduates. Rather, we will provided gainful employment for our youths such that they will be able to take care of their aged parents,” Fayose said.
While describing Fayemi’s government as anti-people, Fayose said: “All the wrongs done to the masses of the state by Fayemi’s government will be corrected.
“We will put a permanent stop to capital flight, which has impoverished Ekiti people.”
Also, the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Hon. Opeyemi Bamidele, yesterday urged voters in the state to disregard series of mobile text messages announcing his withdrawal from the election scheduled to hold on Saturday.
The politician said he was still in the race and that no amount of propaganda and smear campaign would make him withdraw by this time. Bamidele in a statement signed by his media aide, Ahmed Salami and made available to journalsits yesterday, said the bulk text messages going around the state and entire South-west geopolitical zone are fictitious and wrongly timed.
He urged voters and his supporters around the state especially those of the LP to desist from listening to such wicked rumours capable of confusing them with just few days to the election.
Bamidele advised his political opponents that this round of propaganda coming again from them could have been properly timed to achieve any result, since similar ones in the past had equally failed. While insisting that repeated propaganda against him had confirmed that he is a formidable threat in the race, the politician said with the level he had gone into the race in the last eight months, there was no thought of pulling out.
According to the statement, “This is to urge our teeming supporters and voters in the state to desist from text messages announcing the withdrawal of Michael Opeyemi Bamidele of LP from the June 21 governorship race.
“Since there is no iota of truth in it, we are of the opinion that those behind this may have felt threatened by our growing popularity thereby making them to look for an easy way to victory on June 21.
“The timing of this propaganda is very wrong if we had gone this far into the race in the last eight months without pulling out. Within this period, LP has built structures around the state, leading to its candidate emerging as one of the three frontlines and most favoured in various opinion polls. No doubt, we are still in the race and we can confirm that those afraid of us are behind this failed attempt.
“We urge all true sons and daughters of the state to stay committed to our collective struggle to bail the people out of the current socio-economic captivity occasioned by mal-administration of the incumbent government. To them, we say that nobody wins elections through malicious sms but through popular votes which will be cast on June 21.”
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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