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By June 2013, he would have clocked two years in the National Assembly as the member representing Aba Federal Constituency in the Nigeria’s House of Representatives. To some people, two years may be no basis for evaluation of his performance since he has two more years to serve out his tenure. But in the reckoning of his constituents, Hon. Uzo Azubuike, might have done a lot in two years to earn him some credit.

And to make this a reality, the Aba Ngwa Traditional Rulers Council, on Monday, May 20, rolled out drums to celebrate their own. Azubuike is the Chairman, House Committee on Public Petitions. The reception had in attendance the Speaker of House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, and his deputy, Sir Emeka Ihedioha, both of whom were conferred with the chieftaincy titles of “Ikeoha Aba Ngwa” (The Strength of a People) and “Ebube Ngwa” (The Wonder ofAba Ngwa) respectively at the occasion.

Governor Theodore Ahamaefula Orji, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Ude Oko Chukwu, who also bagged a chieftaincy title at the event, and a host of federal lawmakers were also present. Azubuike’s foray into politics started as Supervisory Councilor in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Council, then he became the Secretary to Aba North Local Government, after which he moved to the House of Assembly where he served two terms, and rose to become the Deputy Speaker. He later got elected to the House of Representatives in 2011.

Speaker after speaker at the event extolled the virtues of the lawmaker. For instance, Tambuwal, who spoke after he was conferred with the traditional title, said: “I want to thank you for the gift of members of the House of Representatives from Abia. I remember when Uzo Azubuike was campaigning, he wrote on his posters: “So that Aba will be heard.”

He continued: “I want to thank the people of Aba for the gift of Uzo Azubuike, who is doing a great job for the Federal Republic of Nigeria as the chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions. So far, as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, I have not received any report from any quarters that Uzo Azubuike has not done any assignment given to him. Aba has chosen the right person to represent them in the House.”

Ihedioha spoke in the same vein,saying “Abia has eight members in the House of Representatives; four of them are chairmen of very important committees. It was a deliberate effort to give Abia the chairmanship of important committees to make Abia count.”

The senator representing Azubuike’s senatorial district and Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Publicity, Enyinnaya Abaribe, while acknowledging a letter of invitation to the reception, said: “This royal reception in your honour by the highest custodians of our culture is a further testament that a gold fish even in any environment cannot hide”.

Azubuike’s colleague and representative of Obingwa/Osioma Ngwa and Ugwunagbor Ngwa Federal Constituency, Hon. Eziuche Ubani, said: “This rare honour, no doubt, is in recognition of your meritorious service to your constituency.”

Hon. Nikiri Onyejoicha, who was also present at the event, described the honour done to her colleagues by the traditional rulers in his constituency as a befitting testimonial to his constituents and the entire people of Abia State even as the President of Pan-African Parliament, Hon. Bethel Amadi, said’. “This is indeed a manifestation of your acceptance by your people.

It is my fervent prayer that the Almighty God who had led you this far, will grant you the grace to excel and to justify this confidence reposed in you by your people.” The Rector of the Abia State Polytechnic, Aba, Elder A.A Ohukaogu, in whose school the event held, told the people that over 150 students of the institution were enjoying the lawmaker’s scholarship.

Azubuike made us proud— Traditional rulers

In an addressed jointly signed by them, the monarchs, who convened the event, said: “Inspite of our apolitical nature, we watch with keen interest the activities and performances of political office holders in our domain. This is with a view to commending the commendable and recommending for improvement where necessary.

Since inception of Aba North/Aba South Federal Constituency, we have seen representation after representation. We make bold to say unequivocally and without trepidation that we have not seen such a robust, purposeful, faithful and unprecedented representation such as this- courtesy of our son Hon. Barr. Uzo Azubuike.”

The position of the traditional rulers was corroborated by the Speaker of Abia State House of Assem bly, Hon. Ude-Oko Chukwu, who said: ”A gold fish they say has no hiding place and you, Hon. Barr. Uzo Azubuike, are one. Hence it is no surprise that the Aba Ngwa Traditional Rulers Council and the entries people of Aba Federal constituency have wisely decided to organize a prestigious royal and civic reception in your honour.”

Political connotations

It was no political rally but simply a royal reception. But it left everyone following the speculation that Governor Orji was already shopping for a trusted ally to succeed him in 2015 from Ngwa extraction of Abia State which comprises nine local government areas.

This is informed by the thinking that it is the turn of the Ngwa people in Abia South and Central to produce the governor after Bende and old Umuahia had been represented by former Governor Orji Uzo Kalu and T. A. Orji. In the reckoning of the many observers of political developments in the state, the pendulum might be swinging in Azubuike’s direction.

Reception not about 2015— Orji

Orji made efforts to disabuse the minds of those linking the reception to the 2015 gubernatorial race. “We are here to celebrate one of our own, Hon. Uzo Azubuike; that is why we are here. Abia State has continued to sing the song that things are getting better. Uzo Azubuike is one of those people that are making things better in Abia,”the governor 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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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She misses her students in the Mass Communication Department of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University where she lectured. But there are other ways to render service to the people, she says. In the last eight years of Governor Peter Obi’s government in Anambra State, Professor Chinyere Stella Okunna, who was first appointed as Commissioner for Information and later asked to Head the Budget and Economic Planning Ministry which she runs concurrently as Chief of Staff to the Governor, in this  interview, looks back and says that anyone who disagrees that the administration has not performed is crazy. She explains why her principal, ahead of the 2014 gubernatorial election in the state, will not anoint a successor.

Excerpts:

How has it been in the last eight years that you have been in active politics?

It’s been good. At the beginning really, it was tough because I have always been a teacher all my life. And leaving the classroom was a big blow to me in many ways and it took me time to adapt coupled with the fear of politics. When I came in here, I didn’t know what to expect. I dreaded politics. At the beginning, the portfolio I was given was Information; back then, I was always afraid because there is this belief  that Information Commissioners or Ministers are propagandists.

And if you are a Commissioner or Minister of Information; if your principal is not doing well, woe betide you because you will turn into a liar. You have to tell lies to cover their shortcomings. So, there was this fear I had when I came in here.

So, the first year or thereabouts, I was trying to juggle everything. But, luckily, the man I came to work with, Peter Obi, wasn’t a man you have to lie for. He was a man whom I thought had vision. So my belief  in his vision made the work easier for me because I saw a good reason for leaving the classroom. But that didn’t mean I didn’t miss my students

because I  believe in mentoring people particularly young women and being here for so long has not given me the opportunity to mentor as many young women as directly I wanted. But, all the same, I left the classroom, a little bit apprehensive in the beginning but what I saw here strengthened my  resolve that my leaving the classroom was worth it.

Peter Obi gave me good reasons to believe that the move I made wasn’t in vain. He had a vision, policy direction, vehicle for reaching a destination. And I have done so much to support that vision and to make the vehicle reach its destination.

Would you say that the vision has been realized?

The vision is to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs. Eight of those goals are practically basic goals and we are achieving them.

We chose a strategy for achieving that vision that is multi-sectoral. The MDGs cut across various sectors from poverty to education to health, water resources, the environment, women empowerment. And to achieve them,  government must also adopt a multi-sectoral approach and we did that by adopting as a vehicle what we called “the Anambra Integrated Development Strategy” (ANIDS).

Specifically, can you mention those areas you have performed creditably?

I will begin with addressing poverty which is goal one of the MDGs.

Fortunately for us as a state, Anambra cannot described as a poor state that is in terms of its people because the Igbo person is entrepreneurial. The Igbo person abhors begging or being dependent on others. So, by our  very nature, we are people who make an effort to pull ourselves out of poverty.

We are supporting that spirit of our people by also intervening in various ways to make sure poverty is not extreme. The very first thing we did was to do a poverty mapping as a state. You cannot fight a monster you don’t know what it looks like or hard to find. Poverty had to be identified to tackle it.

We did a poverty mapping of the state to identify the poorest  LGAs. Once we identify them without neglecting others, we scaled up interventions in those areas. And we found out

that one thing that makes people poor  is poor in those areas was poor access. The poorest LGAs had no access from the seat of power into the remote areas. They had no access to evacuate agricultural produce and they are also the food producing areas.

The poorest areas are in Anambra West, Orumba South, Awka North and Ogbaru and these are the food baskets of the state. Because there was no road in those areas, they couldn’t bring their produce to market here to earn better income. People couldn’t go in there to give agricultural inputs.

So, what  we did was to work in those areas with good roads.  And in Awka North, most communities did not have electricity not to talk of water supply. We are begging to build there now. And the governor’s wife undertook something that was unprecedented.

She began poverty intervention thing for women, vulnerable women, mainly widows and other poverty challenged women.  She visited them personally. The governor also toured those areas to empower them and give grants. And right now, we are beginning something that I consider as the climax of our poverty eradication scheme.

We are a CCT, Conditional Cash Transfer, through the MDG where more than 2,000 poor house-holds were selected from five poor LGAs and the criteria are there and every month, we give each of them N5,000. And at the end of one year we give a bulk of N100,000 for them to begin an agric related entrepreneurial something. And again, these are those four local government areas that are mainly agrarian in nature. We have done well in education. Education here was in a very pitiable condition mainly because when the war ended, government  took over schools from the Missions.

Most good schools in those days were Missions Schools and government took them by force, and, I think, they mismanaged them. When we can in, education was in a very horrible state, practically all the structures were dilapidated.  So the governor did what was unthinkable, what other governments did not find the courage to do. He returned schools to the former owners, the Missions.

We did not just return the schools, we retained payment of salaries of teachers. Above all, we are still giving grants. So, almost every year, the government is disbursing billions of Naira directly to the bishops overseeing those schools.

Althogether there were about a thousand schools. About four hundred and something were Catholic Church owned, three hundred and something by Anglican Church and two hundred and something by

government. Go there now and see the amount of work, renovation, rehabilitation being done and the schools are beginning to come back to what they used to be.

Government came under heavy criticism because of that.

It was the right way to go. People normally think government property is nobody’s property. No body takes care of it. It is just there. But the church is eminently qualified to manage schools. If you recall Senator Chukwumereji speaking at Prof. Achebe’s burial, he counted and said if you know all those who became people in those days, they either went to Government College or schools like that. The difference is clear. There is this single-minded commitment by the church to their own school and they are doing well. Morality has improved.

Values have come back to school. Children are beginning to behave like human beings. We used to do school tours with the governor then and the kind of children we saw in school before the handover was

something else. And there is now competition between the schools owned by the Anglican Church and the ones owned by the Catholic Church. And even the government schools are beginning to sit up to try and measure up with the standard of Mission Schools. The difference is there. Anybody saying it was a wrong thing is not knowledgeable about school management in Anambra State. He should come home and we take him to the schools.

There is something most people consider a big minus in Peter Obi’s administration. In the whole of  eight years, the governor did not conduct local government elections against the letters and spirit of the Constitution. Morally and legally, do you think that it justifiable?

Well, right and wrong are relative. Legally maybe, if it is in the Constitution, that means it is not legal not to have elected people at that level. But legality is not always morality.

There are reasons why we hadn’t done local government elections here.

Much of it, legal. Much of it, litigations. Much of it, opposition. Much of it, bad blood, so to say.

We have preferred to conduct elections several times and  they were scuttled. First of all, there was this

reason that we shouldn’t do it with the existing voters list. When we got over that hurdle, people went to court to stop us from conducting elections. I don’t know what the legality is now. I am not a lawyer but I know our hands had been tied.

So, we struggled with all those issues and I think the governor himself  said that if all those people who are in court against us could withdraw all those suits, we will do the elections.

Tell me about the opposition in Anambra. How has this administration been working with the opposition because you mentioned them earlier?

Some of them are just crazy, truly, truly crazy because even when you see a government doing the right thing and people know they are doing the right, some  lunatics say they are not doing anything. You can see government is achieving things and you are trying to say we are not doing any thing. I think that is lunacy.

For me, democracy means even when you are opposing somebody, at least you should acknowledge where the person has done well. Look at what I just mentioned in education and you are telling me now people are saying it is not the way to go. They are merely opposing for opposing sake. Talk to the bishops where schools have been returned. Go the schools and see what was there before they were returned and see what is going on there now and you marvel at what has been done. The partnership between the church and the state is unheard of anywhere.

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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The proposed All Progressive Congress (APC) has ignited a political battle in Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Edo State ahead of the 2015 National and State Assembly elections and 2016 governorship election in the state. As Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s second term tenure will expire in 2016, the political musketeers in the ACN want to seize the structure of the APC for their political interests which had led to a big battle for the soul of the proposed party in the state.

The battle actually commenced during the party’s primaries for the local government council elections  held 20 of April when the two major camps in the ACN, that of the former South South Vice-Chairman of the ACN, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, and that of the deputy governor of the state, Dr Pius Odubu, struggled to gain control of the 18 local government councils so as to have grip of the political structure of the councils with a view to achieving their rumoured governorship ambition.

But Oshiomhole, who has  become a master in the politics of the state, countered their moves through Edo in Safe Hands, a political group made up of his core loyalists. The group is led by his former Chief of Staff and the current Commissioner for Works, Osarodion Ogie, and the Majority Leader of the State House of Assembly, Philip Shaibu.

With the blessing of the governor, this group wrestled power from the  two blocs and handed them over to Oshiomhole. Apart from two or three of the council chairmen that their loyalty is still being tested, others are hundred per cent loyal to Oshiomhole.

After their woeful defeat in the hands of Oshiomhole, loyalists of Ize-Iyamu and those of Odubu went back to the drawing board to re-strategize. Luckily for Odubu, the Crown Prince of Benin Kingdom, Prince Ehenede Erediauwa, has come up openly to campaign for him, asking the governor to allow his deputy succeed him, citing  his loyalty.

On the other hand, Ize-Iyamu, who has been accused of being the arrow head during the administration of Governor Lucky Igbinedion, has said he had no hand in the alleged failure of that administration but rather adduced the politics of godfatherism, PDP crisis and the debt incurred during the military administration in the state as reasons for the failure of the administration.

He however posited in a lecture that the administration could not be said to be a total failure due to the achievements it made in health, industry and repayment of debt, insisting that the administration could  have done better if not for the factional crisis that erupted in the PDP then.

However, following his experience in the hands of the governor’s men during the local government elections, Ize-Iyamu collaborated with the Olaghodaro group geared towards ensuring that his men were not left out in the proposed APC in Edo State.

The group has built its structure in all the state’s local government councils waiting for the registration of the APC. When the Odubu group found out that they were bring uprooted in the councils by the Olaghodaro group, they came up with the Tiger Group to checkmate them.

Consequently, the groups held meetings despite the warnings from the governor that he does not want to be distracted with the politics of 2016. The state chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Comrade Godwin Erhahon, expressed concern that some CPC and ANPP members were already being invited for meetings in the name of the yet to be registered APC and warned that such act would jeopardize the merger in the state.

Sunday Vanguard  learnt that following the meetings by the groups, the leaders of the party no longer hold ACN meetings and that the situation angered Oshiomhole who now decided to fix the situation his own way, because as  the two groups met, the governor’s men, led by Ogie and Shaibu, were monitoring the situation and waiting for the green light from their boss to strike. And they struck eventually.

How they struck

Three weeks ago, Oshiomhole invited all the council chairmen for a meeting where he expressed his disappointment that having been voted into office three months ago, he expected them to concentrate on how to deliver the dividends of democracy to their people rather they have been holding meetings on how to succeed him (Oshiomhole) in 2016.

He asked the chairmen, “how will you feel when you hear that people are holding meetings on how to succeed you as chairman of the council just few months after your election? The chairmen echoed “we will not be happy”. The governor warned the chairmen to desist from such meetings otherwise he would not hesitate to use the apparatus of the party to deal with them.

He went on the inform them that his desire was to ensure that all his projects were completed and news one built for the people and would not want to be distracted with the politics of succession. The chairmen went home. Obviously he was talking this way due to his labour background, but the core politicians whom

he met in the ACN knew that the battle for 2016 has just begun. However, in a bid to neutralize the Ize-Iyamu and the Odubu structures, the governor’s political adviser and a political heavy weight in his own right, Charles Idahosa, came up with a political group, Edo Solidarity Movement (ESM) penultimate week.

This group is made up of all the governor’s men including Rev Egharavba, Modino Emovon, Gentleman Amegor,Alhaji Usman Shagadi and Benson Edosanwan.  Sunday Vanguard learnt that before the emergence of this group, the Ize-Iyamu group had promised to dismantle its structures across the state in order not to distract the governor.

But Idahosa, who is seen to be neutral between the two groups, led the group to its first general meeting at Urhokpota hall, where they declared their loyalty to Oshiomhole. Their own message was that they will not allow any group or individuals hijack the forthcoming APC, insisting that the governor must have a hand on who succeeds him in consultation with the leaders.

Charle T, as he is fondly called is leading this group but, in the shadows, you have the governor’s associates, Ogie and Shaibu. The group zeroed on Idahosa because of his declaration that he has no governorship ambition. Though some Odubu loyalists are in this group, the group is in form control of the governor’s men.

Ize-Iyamu is a political tactician and his camp viewed the formation of this group as a political missile against his political interest despite his assurance to the leaders of the party that he was dissolving his political structure in the interest of the party.

However, in a meeting held at Government House, on Tuesday, Chief Tom Ikimi berated the leaders of both camps and ordered that any form of meetings geared towards getting Oshiomhole’s successor must cease. He stressed that the governor must not be distracted and that at the right time the governor will be the one to anoint his successor.

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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WORRIED by moves by the House of Representatives to remove the immunity clause that protects the President and governors from prosecution while in office, Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, and some lawyers have begun moves to stop the plan from sailing through.

In its report, presented to the plenary last week, the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review recommended the scrapping of SIECs, local government joint account with states and removal of immunity protecting the President and governors from prosecution while in office.

The lawmakers claimed that the recommendations reflected the wishes of the majority of the electorate who took part public hearing sessions.

The publication of the outcome of the committee’s work has, however, raised concerns among political interests, which view the move as one that could expose senior political figures to undue prosecutions over personal and public infractions in the course of their work.

Recommendations unacceptable — Amaechi
Chairman of Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, and Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, told Vanguard yesterday, that the recommendations were not acceptable to governors and that appropriate decisions were being taken in line with the wishes of the people.

The governor said that there was no need for Nigerians to chastise the lawmakers for their work, as the governors also have a role to play before the recommendations become law.

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, said that the legislators meant well for the country.

He said: “Ät all times, we have tried to do the best to save this country with far-reaching decisions that many have come to cherish after the initial furore. What these men have done is to promote a better Nigeria and bring development to the third tier of government in particular.

“We believe that if the amendments are effected they would go a long way to give Nigerians a new lease of life across board.”

However, some lawyers in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, said making Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, solely responsible for the conduct of all elections was a breach of the principle of true federalism.

NBA
Mr. Onyekachi Ubani, Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Ikeja branch, urged the National Assembly to drop the idea because “it negates the principle of proper federalism.

“If you say local governments are under states, the states should be responsible for conducting elections into council positions.”

He said that most elections conducted by some state electoral commissions in the past had not lived to the expectations of many Nigerians due to lack of fairness and credibility.

He said: “The electoral fraud at that level is very high, but scrapping SIECs will not solve the problem. What we should do is to build strong institutions which would ensure that our elections are free and fair.”

A former Chairman of NBA, Ikeja branch, Mr. Adebamigbe Omole, said making INEC the sole body in charge of elections would lead to more abuses because “this will only give the Federal Government more powers to trample on the rights of states like they are doing with the police.

He said: “Look at what is happening to Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State. That is why some governors are clamouring for state police.”

On his part, a human rights activist, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, said Nigerians should be vigilant and defend their votes at all elections.

Ihedioha reacts
Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and Chairman of the ad-hoc committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, yesterday, explained why his committee did not adopt state police, single tenure and immunity for the President, vice president, governors and deputy governors as had been canvassed by some commentators and critics.

Ihedioha revealed this in a meeting with Civil Society Organisations,CSOs, saying: “Once again we did our duty. If the Senate or the House of Representatives or state Houses of Assembly reject this clear decision of the people, so be it.  It is again for Nigerians to hold those it elected accountable.”

Ihedioha said: “The  committee conducted a painstaking consultative process with major stakeholders as joint-organisers. These stakeholders include NLC, TUC, NUJ, NUT, CSOs, NULGE, NCWS, youths and students organisations, NBA, and so on.”

He said the submission of his committee on these and other issues on the constitution review was a clear reflection of the views and position of the broad generality of Nigerians as reflected and documented in the results of the peoples’ public sessions conducted by the House of Representatives in November last year.

“The results were collated publicly with all the stakeholders present. The results have been presented and published for people to dispute and correct. In the absence of any convincing reason to the contrary, we stand by these results.”

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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Chief Olabode George, former military governor of Ondo State and former Deputy National Chairman, People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in this interview, responds to topical issues in the polity and his party. Excerpts:

President Goodluck Jonathan, the leader of your party is in the eye of the storm over 2015. How do you feel?

Nigeria has come this far because the concept of the PDP constitution has sustained democracy up till now.  Never in the history of our nation have we been able to sustain democracy from 1999 and we are now in 2013: that is talking about 14 years.  Never!

So, there is no need to pull anybody down because the man you pull down will also pull you down and so, where have you gone?  And it is there in Romans Chapter 14 that whosoever that God has given an authority, he did not get there by his own effort.  Let us support him.  He is our leader and it is our nation.

Some of these people who have been given opportunities to govern smaller states are now coming to say that they know more than we know they know.  When they were in government, they saw governance as a source of unimaginable income. The amount of acquisitions; the maddening amount of acquisition of the prime property, the assets of the state they were given, is mind boggling.

Conversion of land for personal use
Every day people wake up, what you see is unbelievable. Ikoyi has now become another high rise prime area.  Who owns these properties?  All the land in Ajah, lands dedicated for hospitals have been converted to their personal use.  Hotels have been springing up, Local Government secretariats that had been in existence before they were born have been acquired.

Hostel of the only Nursing School in Lagos State, located on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, has already been acquired.  And these are the same people who are asking Nigerians that, “Yes, we can perform! We would govern Nigeria well.”

Is there a semblance of democratic practice in that party of theirs?  So, I chuckle when I see these first class jokers, who have been tested and have been found to be complete failure, saying that they want to go and rule Nigeria.

They want to join up with General Buhari.  But the General Buhari that I know; his standing, his personality, his commitment, his belief is exact opposite to these characters here.  So, sometimes I get confused that General Buhari is sincerely talking to these men. It is like a movie to me.  It is like a theatre house.  How can water and oil mix?  What he has stood for in his life and what they stand for; they cannot meet.  They are like day and night.

And they have the temerity to say that they are the leader of Yoruba, they are carrying Yoruba people.  I wish tehy would go back and read the history of the Yoruba people.  Because, they are fake.  No semblance of the real, true genuine Yoruba.

They do not have anything that look like the depth, the norm, the belief of the Yoruba people. What a huge joke therefore! I wish one day that somebody would bring him on the television for public debate.  I am challenging him to come on the television for a public debate; let us talk to Nigerians.  Let us debate before the people what they have done for this country.

You sound angry.  Why?
You know people would say yes, Bode George is angry.  No! Very soon I will be 70 years old.  What else am I looking for?  Am I going to start all over again?  Can I live another 70 years before I pack up and go back to my God? No. Mine may be the only voice in the wilderness but I will continue to shout at the top of the mountain that this is a path of perfidy they are going through.

Righteous way
It is not a righteous way. Now they are shouting that Jonathan has not performed and that they would push him out of government.  Tinubu that was governor of Lagos State for eight years, what did he do?

Even the young man that is still running Lagos now, Babatunde Raji Fashola has done much better than him.  Does he allow him to work?  They say he is de facto leader, that is what he calls his name.  All the things about these jokers in ACN are laughable.

The other one in Osun, who no longer calls himself an engineer but ‘Ogbeni’, what is his performance there?  Lai Mohammed is always talking on top of his voice, talking garbage!  I knew him when he came to Lagos as a Level 6 or Level 8 officer at FAAN.  Today he can talk, tell stories and lies.

He said the Federal Government has done something injurious to the judiciary and to the psyche of Nigeria by proscribing Boko Haram. Are these guys genuine?  How can anybody wake up and say the government has done something injurious by proscribing Boko Haram?  Are they alright?  Oh!

Why are you creating unnecessary revolts to chase him out of government?

And I keep repeating the letter of Paul to the Roman Chapter 14 and it is very clear that he that God has appointed on His authority, he is there on the authority of God.  No human being should attempt to pull him down because the curse will be on whoever does that.

The polity is increasingly charged under President Jonathan. Don’t you fear a people’s revolution?

I am appealing to Nigerians to be patient. The challenge is the same all over the globe but we can surmount it with patience and steadiness. When I see this woman from World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili, who comes here and be ranting about and doing all that, at the end of it I get very aggrieved because she now ends up and says, “I am not a politician.”  Very insulting! I do not know what her background is but let her come and face some of us here who are politicians.  I am not afraid to say I am a politician.

Let her leave her high office and go down to the people and appreciate that the very micro unit of her contribution is nothing.  These are the jokers being promoted in the media. Elections are coming, let her come and follow us to go and canvass and face the people.  Then, she will stop talking the way she is talking.

Do you know what I hate to hear? “I am not a politician!” As if politicians are evil minded people.  It is our country; let them also come and join and make it well. Let her come and try and go through election to become senate president, vice president or whatever and convince Nigerians that she is better.  Not gassing on the television or grandstanding, looking for cheap popularity.

We have gone on since 1999. This is 2013; 14 years of uninterrupted democracy.  It has never happened in the history of this country.  Whatever anybody can say, it is a record.  Thanks to our party, the PDP.  Thanks to the founding fathers of PDP who conceptualized this zonal set up, Turn-by-Turn Nigeria Limited because Nigeria is a country and not yet a nation.  We are grapping, we are grouping, we are struggling to make it a nation.

What problem does your party have with some opposition parties coming together in APC?

APC is already an obsolete drug.  Before they start they are finished. They say, “Hand over power to us.”  But you are not yet tested.  The little one we tested you on, you are an abysmal failure; an absolute failure. We saw what you were but you are now richer than the bank.  More properties than the state.  That is all they can show.

Let them come to television and debate it.  How many children of the poor have they benefited?  Jakande established his education for the poor people with scholar scheme for children of poor people to go to university.  He founded the Lagos State University, LASU, also so that children of the poor could access university education at ease.  You now pay a minimum of N250,000 per annum to access education in that same Lagos State University.  That is a quarter of a million!  The palm oil seller, roasted plantain seller, akara seller, can they afford that?  So, you are saying that their children should never have the opportunity?

What these jokers are doing now is for the privileged so that only the privileged can get there. Fashola also knew how he started.  Was his father a rich man? Today, he is governor.  If they had made it impossible for him to go to school, would he have ended up being a governor?  Let them just think because, if we do not, one day and I repeat one day, the electorate will decide.  We do not want what happened in Egypt or in Tunisia here.  We do not want any Arab spring here. No.  Let there be peace.

More money seems to be going to all tiers of government, but sir, is there no way that the presidency can monitor the outflow?

What is the president’s business with the activities of the governor?  It is the members of the state House of Assembly who can challenge the governor about his revenue, expenditure and what he is doing with the money. But we know that when the man sits down in one room and selects his surrogates who go to the House of Assembly, he does not allow people who are being sponsored, supported by their constituencies to go there. What do you expect?

Like what is happening in Lagos State where Bola Tinubu just hand picks people who go to the Lagos State House of Assembly and who therefore cannot challenge him when necessary? They do not even have congresses like we do in PDP.  Tell me any day you have seen them doing a national convention.  The emperor decides and that is the man who says he is a democrat.

The company which collects revenues on behalf of Lagos State Government, who owns it?

People who are in charge of highway managers, who are they? Even the agency that has the places where dead people are buried, who owns them? Now they are sand-filling the Bar Beach.  Generations before them had Bar Beach.  Go to what the Alpha Beach has become and see the environmental impact on those villages there.  What madness! What greed!

Narrowing of channel
Look at Isale Eko here! That is the only channel that takes water from the whole of Lagos Island into the Lagoon blushed with that nonsense they are doing there. Go to Parkview, they are sand-filling so that they would narrow the channel until it would meet Lekki.  That Lagoon is the natural gift that God gave Lagosians.  They have narrowed it now out of senseless greed.  Someday I pray that when the flood or earthquake will come, he must be held responsible.

Let Tinubu deny it. It is this man that now has the temerity to speak out of his mouth and say Jonathan is not doing well and so he wants to rule Nigeria.  He? I would cease to be a Nigerian.  I am not joking.  I would go to Ghana or Togo and beg for citizenship because they would destroy this country.  The good thing is that this nation is so massive for him to comprehend.

The dynamics of this nation; he says he is carrying Yoruba people to go and join Buhari and form a national government.  They are joking because where we were in 1999 is where they just want to start from now.  What a joke! What a joke!!

To what extent will the crisis in the NGF affect your party?

I have been away for sometime but my opinion is that, we need to lock ourselves behind a door and tell ourselves some serious bitter truth. I am now begging them to admit that all sides are wrong: the party and the governors.  And it is not a blame game now.  It is a game for the future of our nation.  So, it is time to calm all nerves.  Let us all come back so that we can have a family meeting. Of course you can see the oppositions are happy.  They think they can use the situation to destroy our party.  Which of them; any of those under ACN of Bola can talk to him?

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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Saturday’s killing of 29 students and a teacher of Government Secondary School in Mamudo village, five kilometres from Potiskum town, Yobe State has elicited the reaction of President Goodluck Jonathan who described the incident as “wicked, horrific and barbaric.

According to his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, Jonathan who condoled with  the affected families said the act will not deter the federal government from prosecuting its on-going war on terror.

More to follow…

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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A pre-dawn grisly attack Saturday on a boarding school in the outskirts of the Yobe State town Potiskum by suspected members of the Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram, left 29 students and a teacher dead. Agence France Presse (AFP) quoted 42 as the casualty figure.

But the Joint Task Force operating in Yobe State confirmed that 20 students and a teacher were killed.

JTF spokesman in Yobe State, Eli Lazarus said: “At about 0530hrs today Saturday 6 Jul 13, unknown gunmen suspected to be Boko Haram terrorists attacked Government Secondary School, Mamudo, near Potiskum Town.

“20 students and a teacher were confirmed killed by the terrorists while 4 students sustained injuries and are in critical condition.”

No arrest, he said, has been made, adding that a “cordon and search operation” was ongoing in the area.

Some of the students in this latest attack blamed on the terror group were burnt alive, according to the survivors who were being treated for burns and gunshot wounds at the Potiskum General Hospital.

The attack at the Government Secondary School in Mamudo, which is five kilometres from Potiskum – the deadliest since the Federal Government’s declaration of state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states – was reported to have occurred at about 3 a.m.

A teacher in the school, Ibrahim Abdu, identified his dead colleague as Mohammed Musa an English language teacher, who he said was shot in the chest. A student, Musa Hassan, whose four fingers of the right hand were blown off as he tried to ward off a gunshot, narrated how they were roused from sleep by the sound of gunshots.

“When I woke up, someone was pointing a gun at me,” the 15-year-old told the Associated Press.

He also recalled how the gunmen had arrived the school with jerry cans of fuel, which they used to torch the school’s administrative block and one of the hostels. Many of the victims, he narrated with horror, were roasted alive.

His account, corroborated by those of the teachers at the hospital’s morgue, revealed that several of the 1,200 students of the school had escaped into a nearby bush and have not been seen since.

A member of staff of the Potiskum General Hospital, Haliru Aliyu quoted eyewitnesses who escaped the massacre as saying that the attackers had rounded up students and staff of the school in a dormitory and had thrown explosives inside and opened fire on them.

“We received 42 dead bodies of students and other staff of Government Secondary School (in) Mamudo last night,” he was quoted by the AFP to have said. “Some of them had gunshot wounds while many of them had burns and ruptured tissues.”

It was a gory sight. People who went to the hospital and saw the bodies shed tears,” he continued. “There were 42 bodies, most of them were students. Some of them had parts of their bodies blown off and badly burnt while others had gunshot wounds.”

Grief-stricken parents howled with dismay as they searched for their wards among the charred and bullet-ridden remains of the victims. One of the parents, Mallam Abdullahi, was able to identify the bodies of two of his sons. One, a 12-year-old was shot in the chest, while the other, a 10-year-old was shot in the back as he apparently tried to escape. Kneeling over their bodies, the bereaved parent vowed he would withdraw his three remaining sons from a nearby school. He complained about the obvious lack of protection for the students despite the May 14 Federal Government’s declaration of a state of emergency in the three north-eastern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa and the heavy presence of the federal troops in these three states.

Many of the parents were still unable to identify their children from the badly charred bodies and were still uncertain if they had died or survived.

This gruesome incident, which bears the hallmarks of Boko Haram – an Islamic sect, whose name translates as “Western Education is a sin” –and its splinter groups, adds to the long list of the spate of attacks, which has claimed about 3000 lives in northern Nigeria since it began its insurgency in 2009. An unspecified number of schools have been torched and an unknown number of students killed in the process. The attacks have continued, albeit stealthily, despite claims by the thousands of troops deployed by the President to have chalked up successes in its bid to regain the control of the militants-infested states.

In his declaration of a state of emergency, President Jonathan had acknowledged that the militants had taken control of some towns and villages. The crackdown on the militants by the federal troops, which included attacks with fighter jets and helicopter gunships, seemed to have reversed their fortunes. But claims of killings and arrests of the militants by the military have been blighted by reports that many of them retreated to their redoubts in nearby mountains from where they swoop down to unleash terror on schools and markets.

Meanwhile, the activities of the fundamentalist terror groups are beginning to take its toll on the populace. Their continual targeting of defenceless civilians, who include health workers, farmers, civil service employees and students have worsened the living conditions in the affected states already groaning under the scourge of the ban on satellite telephones and the shutdown of cell phone service.

This latest attack on a school follows closely on the heels of another, on Sunday, June 16, on a secondary school in the Yobe State capital, Damaturu. In the massacre – which drew condemnations from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon and the former British Prime Minister who is also the secretary general’s special Envoy for Global Education, among others – seven students and two teachers were gunned down in an examination hall.

The next day, nine students were murdered in a school hall in the Borno State capital, Maiduguri. Five students were also gunned down in the examination hall of a primary/secondary school in Maiduguri’s Jajeri ward.
 
“The Nigerian killings have parallels with the Saturday massacre at a girl’s college in Pakistan,” the former British Prime Minister wrote in a June 21, 2013 back page column in THISDAY. “There, on Saturday, a bus taking 40 students from their college studies was blown up by a female suicide bomber, killing 14 girls. In just three days, 30 young people have lost their lives simply because they wanted an education.”

There was also a recent report of the murder by suspected Boko Haram militants of a primary school headmaster, Hassan Godiya, and his family in Biu, a town about 180 kilometres from Maiduguri. The headmaster, who was the proprietor of the private Godiya Nursery and Primary School, was gunned down at 7 a.m. just as he was about to leave his residence. His wife and four children were killed in the attack, eyewitnesses also said. The assailants, meanwhile, got away.

Such attacks come amid the outcry from the Yobe State citizens against the shutdown of telecommunications services. In their last week’s appeal to the authorities, they had argued that they could have raised alarm about suspicious movements if their cell phones were working.

The latest spate of terrorists attacks have been apparently fuelled by the recent activities of the vigilante youths in the northeast aimed at flushing out the Boko Haram members in their midst. A purported spokesman of the sect, Abu Ziinnira was quoted to have vowed reprisal attacks on the youths, who are also known as the “civilian JTF (Joint Task Force)”.

Zinnira was quoted in national newspapers to have said: “We have established that youths in Borno and Yobe states are now against our cause. They have connived with security operatives and are actively supporting the government of Nigeria in its war against us. We have also resolved to fight back.”

Tambuwal: Attack Wicked

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, described Saturday’s killings at Government Secondary School, Mamudo, Potiskum, Yobe State as ignoble, wicked and horrendous.

The Speaker, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Mallam Imam Imam, said no reason can justify such a dreadful act. He tasked security agencies to fish out perpetrators of the dastardly act and bring them justice.

According to him, the recent gains recorded by security agencies in their battle against terror in the country should be built upon in order to protect the citizens at all times.
Expressing sympathy with the families of the victims, Tambuwal urged Nigerians to be more vigilant and to help security agencies with useful information to help secure their areas.

He equally called for information that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of the killing and said the National Assembly will, at all times, give necessary support to ensure that peace and security is restored in all parts of the country.

Recent Killings in Schools

June 16
7 students, 2 teachers, 2 soldiers and 2 terrorists killed during an attack on a school in Damaturu, Yobe State

June 17
9 students killed in an examination hall in a school in Maiduguri, Borno State

June 17
5 students gunned down in an examination hall in a school in Jajeri ward of Maiduguri, Borno State

July 6
At least 29 students and a teacher killed when terrorists stormed Government Secondary School in Mamudo near  Potiskum, Yobe State

About Post Author

Anthony-Claret Ifeanyi Onwutalobi

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

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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As the House of Representatives' Committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution submitted its report Thursday, it has emerged that the proposed six-year single term for the president and governors may have been killed.

The Senate Committee on the Constitution Review chaired by Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu had proposed the six-year single term for both the president and governors, but left the commencement date of the proposal, if approved, in abeyance.

But in contrast, the House Special Ad hoc Committee on Constitution Review chaired by Deputy Speaker Emeka Ihedioha threw its weight behind the retention of the present four-year two terms for both the president and governors in the constitution.

For a proposal to be listed in the final bill for constitution amendment, both chambers must agree to it. When listed, two-thirds of all the members of each chamber of the National Assembly must vote for the amendment backed by two-thirds of the state houses of assembly and assented to by the president before such an amendment can become law.

The six-year single term proposal has begun to generate controversy as the Senate gears up to begin debate on the report of the Ekweremadu committee. Even at the level of the committee, the recommendation and its take-off point, if approved, had emerged contentious.

Opinions were divided over whether President Goodluck Jonathan and the first term governors warming up to contest the 2015 election should have their present tenures extended to six year and barred from contesting in 2015 or 2019 should be the take-off point.

The controversy had started to engender echoes of the tenure debate that led to the outright killing of the Ibrahim Mantu Constitution Review committee in 2007 because of its provision of Third term for President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The Senate and House Constitution Review Committees, however, agreed on a number of proposals, which included fiscal autonomy for local councils and state houses of assembly, removal of immunity on criminal matters for president and governors, separation of the office of the Accountant-general of the Federation from that of office of Accountant-general of the Federal Government and exclusion of the President's assent in constitution amendment.

Following the House report, which THISDAY obtained, both review committees are also in synch in respect of their recommendations on creation of new states, as they failed to recommend the creation of any new state in spite of overwhelming requests for the creation of additional states both committees received.

Submitting the House committee report, Ihedioha had said the entire report was a reflection of members bills referred to the committee after the second reading and results of the Peoples’ Public Sessions on the Review of the Constitution.

House Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal who received the report during plenary session said the leadership of the chamber would consult with members for possible consideration of the report before they embark on recess in a fortnight.

Other highlights of the House report include the recommendation on independent candidacy in future elections and the one seeking to bar unelected local government chairmen from getting funding from government purse.

For instance, in Section 7 of the report, the Committee relied on the recommendation of the people's public sessions, which clearly underscored the need to grant  independence and autonomy for local government councils and give the councils their deserved role as catalysts for development at the grassroots level.

Accordingly, the committee created a fixed uniform term of four years for local government councils and prescribed denial of appropriation to council's chairmen that are not democratically elected.

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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Harnessing of the military prowess the hydrocarbon endowments that Nigeria is blessed with are the two most essential ingredients the country should pay attention so as to attain the zenith of development that would put it at par with other developed nations of the world.

President Goodluck Jonathan stated this Saturday at the 2013 Armed Forces Day held at the Eagle Square in Abuja.

President Jonathan expressed optimism that once the nation is able to manage these two factors, being propelled to the level of a ‘technologically developed society’ will be a logical progression.

He, however, sought the support and cooperation of all Nigerians in order to make it possible for government to realise its objectives of bequeathing a peaceful atmosphere to all citizens, pledging that in the light of this the country will remain one and united.

The president said: “If as a nation, we break through the glass ceiling and become an industrialised and technologically developed country, there are two windows that we can exploit.”

He enumerated that: “One is through the armed forces and the second one is through the petroleum industry, encouraging our local content initiatives,” stressing that: “I believe, if we explore these two windows properly, we will soon break through our glass ceiling.”

Praising the armed forces for the onerous role of national integration and contribution to global stability, the president said he is “delighted to note that since 1999 the army and its sister services, the navy, the airforce have been remained highly professional service under democratic control, discharging their constitutional roles with … success.”

Giving an update on the achievements recorded with the declaration of emergency in three North-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, the president said the initiative, “which falls within our comprehensive counter-terrorism strategy,” became imperative “following the increasing destabilizing activities by terror groups.”

Denouncing terror as anti-human and retrogressive, Jonathan indicated that he is satisfied with “the initial assessment report of the conduct of the military operation since the emergency declaration,” saying that it “revealed that our strategy has been well thought out and is progressing satisfactorily.”

According to him: “Government services and private businesses have resumed in areas previously infested by these unpatriotic elements.”

“Very importantly, the people are regaining their lives with confidence,” he stated as he commended the Nigerian Army and the security agencies for their gallantry and patriotism, while also commiserating with the families of those who lost their lives.

“Without doubt, the operational engagement to bring peace, especially to the northern part of our country also come with associated costs in lives, injuries, property and family dislocation,” he noted.

He continued: “Once again, I send my heartfelt condolences to the families of those who died safeguarding our sovereignty. The nation will never forget their sacrifices.”

He pointed out that the emergency situation has further burnished the outstanding pedigree of the armed forces, by showing to the world their  high degree of expertise and commitments to duty.

He assured that the federal government “will continue to encourage you to succeed and commended those who were honoured with various categories of award, directing the service chiefs to “find a way where we can retain some of these very brilliant brains we have in the armed forces even after retirement,” suggesting that “they should continue to help to develop this country.”

He also urged the armed forces to continue strengthening their “collaborations and synergy with other security agencies in our country as well as with friendly partner institutes in order to enhance your efforts and effectiveness.”

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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Abia state Government has banned the Imo Transport Company (ITC) from operating in any part of the state.

The ban is in retaliation to the ejection of Abia Transport Company from its loading park in Owerri, the Imo state capital.

Consequently, the Abia State Government has directed security agencies to impound any ITC vehicle operating in the state.

The Chief of Staff to Governor Theodore Orji, Mr. Cosmas Ndukwe said in a statement, that the state Government had shut down the loading bays operated by ITC in Aba and Umuahia.

Ndukwe said the closure took effect from Saturday July 6, 2013, noting that it was “in response to the continued closure of Abia Line loading bay in Owerri without any recourse to the Abia State government”.

He alleged that passionate appeals made to Imo Government to rescind its decision had fallen on deaf ears.

According to him, the security agencies were further mandated to “prosecute the operator engaging in illegal loading bay any where in Abia state”.

To ensure total compliance, Abia state Government also warned landlords against giving out their properties to the Imo Company for loading bay.

The statement warned that any landlord found violating the directive would lose the certificate of occupancy of such property.

It could be re-called that the Abia State Government had on Friday issued an ultimatum to its Imo counterpart, giving it till tomorrow, Tuesday July 9, 2013, to provide alternative loading bay to its transport company.

In the ultimatum, which was issued by Governor Orji’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ugochkuwu Emezues, the Imo Government was accused of playing politics with ejection of Abia transport.

Emezue had said that the Government did not believe in the reason of reclaiming Owerri master plan which the Imo state Government gave for ejecting the Abia Company, as according to him, the ejection was selective.

“Interestingly, Peace Mass Transit which also operates within the same neighboourhood with Abia Lines is yet to be ejected, as Imo Government is claiming that the ejection order was based on its plan to reclaim the master plan of the capital city of Owerri.

“If by Tuesday, Abia Line is not returned to its loading bay, Abia state Government will also begin the restoration of the master plan of Aba and Umuahia, which will affect Imo Transport loading bays in the affected areas”, he stated.

However, our source learnt that Abia state Government had to step back and execute its retaliatory action because there were no green light being shown by Imo State government on the issue.

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.

ionyclaret@gmail.com

https://www.codewit.com

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