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Friday, October 8, 2010

THE REAL SITUATION IN ABA,ABIA STATE......VERY SAD

THE REAL SITUATION IN ABA,ABIA STATE......VERY SAD
by Oge Ikpeoha

Aba was once rated as the commercial nerve centre of the east and alongside Lagos, Onitsha, Port Harcourt and Abuja as the five commercial nerve centres of the nation by the TIME INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE. Aba used to makeup 90% of the $8.69billion Abia G.D.P, not any more.



Today, the story has changed. Shops that used to flourish are now serving as branch offices. All the major players in the society have left town,houses are padlocked, offices closed, banking activities scaled down,hospitals closed. As we write no single new building is being developed inthe entire city. All prominent doctors are gone, all major lawyers are gone, all prominent importers are gone, all prominent industrialists are gone, all major entrepreneurs are gone, and all foreign technical factory experts are gone. No sane person allows any of his or her family members to be posted to Aba any more. Non indigenes are leaving in drove.

As we write, the banks in Aba are contemplating closing most of their branches; most of them as a matter of fact have trimmed down drastically their operations as 80% of Aba account holders now do their transactions outside Aba. Bank of Industries at No.1 Asa Rd has relocated to Asaba, ECOBank has permanently closed their Osissioma branch while 7 other banks along Osissioma has temporally closed shop. 90% of the bank workers in Aba have applied for transfer. Center for Management (CMD) has relocated to Owerri. The whole white missionaries at Church of Later Day Saints left Ababy 3 A.M under heavy military escort abandoning one of their most beautiful temples in Africa and their West African Headquarters. Work at the Osissioma end of the Eungu Port Harcourt Express Way was stopped because one of the white engineers was kidnapped. The Eungu-Aba-Port Harcourt and the Aba-Ikot Ikpene Express Ways are now dead zones and no go areas.



From intelligence information’s we gathered their next target is going to be Club side coming into Aba for the Globalcom National Professional League. Parents should warn their children not to follow any team to Abaa nd the NPL is now warned that Aba is not safe, CAF should also take note.Whoever encourages anybody to ignore this warning should be hold responsible for any lost of life. Victims of kidnappers overheard them discussing this things opening. If you watched Enyimba match last season you will discover that the crowd has dropped by 80%. As at the last count67 hotels have closed their shops in Aba. All because kidnappers and gangsters have taken over the city while the state and federal government decided to watch and do nothing..



Sicily – Italy sounds like a child’s play compared to what has been happening in Aba. Landlords are abandoning their houses looking for accommodations elsewhere. Human beings are being slaughtered in such a manner that will make the lion to envy us. Young girls and old women are being raped. No Hollywood script writer can ever have the imagination to pen down what Aba has turned into. Somali and Sudan combined are far better than the Aba, because the people are at war and they knew it and do not kill their own. That is why the Aba story is different.



You must have heard about what is going on in Aba, but the truth of the matter is that the number of kidnapping, killing and impunity going on in the city is not being fully reported. What goes out to the public is just about 5% of actual activities going on in Aba. This is because the state Chief executive of the State out of fear of State of Emergency being declared in Abia State has been seriously suppressing the Aba ugly tale.



On a minimum average, over 40 people are being kidnapped daily at Aba, so if you want to start the story of Aba, you start from the most recent in order not to bore your audience.



On Thursday Sept. 9, kidnappers who have colonized the Aba-Port Harcourt Express Way started shooting indiscriminately with their machine guns to vehicles on the highway. As a result, they were able to demobilize 8vehicles and the few who refuse to stop were gunned down and killed instantly. Some of the passengers ran inside the bush, the other 20 who were unlucky were marched into the bush. The annoying aspect of it all was that few meters away there was a police road block and as usual they were busy collecting N20 from motorists and felt totally less concerned of the kidnapping activities.



After marching a few meters into the bush, the kidnappers said they want toshow their victims that they mean business and to demonstrate that they ordered one innocent looking man to march out as he obeyed and stepped forward, four of them emptied their machine bullets on him. They ordered their victims to dig a grave as they brought out four shovels and after digging they dumped the man inside and ordered them to close it. Now that was when their main ordeal started, as they walked about 45 minutes inside the bush, one of their victims told us that he counted three major villages and that all of them have been completely deserted as animals now roam freely.



On getting to a point they separated the males from the females and started raping the women and these are women in their late fifties and some above sixty and young ladies about 9 of them. They were raped turn by turn without any protection. After that, the kidnappers marched their victims to another spot where a burnt vehicle belonging to the Bakassi boys was packed. They once more singled out another victim and asked him “how much will you give us?’ The man said that between his two accounts that he can immediately mobilize N200, 000. They were so outraged with the man that they brought out a knife and started slicing the man’s head with it. And the man’s screams attracted another round of beating until the blood that was gushing out become uncontrollably, they now dumped the man after they had forced him to double his offer.



The next unfortunate victim was a Reverend gentleman; they ordered him to march out and requested to know how much he will give them. The man who was clothed with his religious attire explained to them that he has no money.They inquired from him who owned the vehicle he was riding on; he responded that it belongs to the ministry he was working for. He was ordered to inform his ministry people to come and bail him out. As he was about to respond, they pumped several bullets at close range to his head. These evil minds starting making a show of it as they were laughing and joking about how the man screamed and died, making mockery that his God did not save him.



Once more, they ordered their remaining victims to dig a grave at a spot and without digging dip, they were shocked to realize that several other corpses were buried there. Sensing the fear of their victims, they proudly announced that the place is where they buried their so called Bakassi boys.One of their victims who narrated this story to us was able to count around20 other makeshift graves around. To cut a long story short, they ended upkilling five of their victims who did not make them reasonable offer. As they were boasting that they have sacked over 50 villages around Ukwa East and Ukwa West L.Gs. On average, over 30 people are kidnapped along the Ukwa axis of Abia State daily.



On Thursday 23rd of September, the kidnappers were flagging down a bus coming from Port Harcourt at Obiehia and the driver refused to stop and asusual, they started shooting at the bus and 18 passengers died on the spot,others sustained fatal wounds.



From Ukwa we move down to Osissioma L.G. All the areas along the Aba-Enugu express way have been totally taken over by kidnappers. They have overpowered the policemen and as we write the lowest estimate of policemen killed by the kidnappers within the last one month should be around 20.This figure is just within the Osissioma axis alone. In terms of human population killed in Osissioma, they are far above 2,700 persons.



A lawyer who was kidnapped and kept for four days narrated his experience of how he was tied on a tree for good two days. And in those two days they poured cocoyam water on him, and look for harmful creeping insects which they equally use on him. And it was after these two days that they opened their demand. He noticed that there were about 13 different camps and newgroups springing up and their overall leader was a young lady in her early thirties. Apart from those who normally move out and come back, he counted about 100 other boys and girls who are operating in the camp. In most cases, out of force and threat to their life they try to convert their victims into informants. After collecting money from you, they will subject you to such a level of inhuman act and in most cases they end up killing those who could not give the accurate information about whom else to kidnap.



To say that kidnappers have taken over Aba is an understatement; they started by targeting helpless individuals at the highway, but today they move around town boldly in the day light.



In Aba North, in just the past few weeks they have kidnapped over 500people among their victims were Ifeme, Ijeoma bread, Dr. Ihekweaba, an old woman close to 80 years called mama Chidi, another one close to 70 years who they detained for 4 months and ordered his son in oversea to be paying monthly. For the past two years the car dealers stationed around Aba North have not sold one single car. All they do now is to take their vehicle to the neighbouring towns to sell.



The remaining parts of Aba North from Okigwe Rd to Ariaria have been completely overtaken by kidnappers; most of the traders who live there have all run away.



When you talk of Aba as a mega city that brims with creative and industrial activities, attracting reputation as a hub of small and medium scale industries that tag belongs to the past, especially if you visit Aba South.All the areas known as Aba South is completely decimated, fear has taken over the entire community as most of the homes are padlocked because the inhabitants and visitors have sustained a dead casualty of over 3,000 to3,500 people. All the neighbouring bushes in Aba South have turned to burial grounds of innocent people killed by the kidnappers. Most of the people declared wanted in Aba are dead, killed by these heartless evilminds and buried in shallow graves in groups.



Now the worst part and the saddest part of the whole thing is Obingwa,Obingwa is the capital of kidnapping activities going on in Aba today. And this evil activity is fully sponsored by the Novae Rich inclusive of the traditional rulers. As we write today, Ntigha Uzo, Ibeme and Abala communities have far more than 100 camps and the kidnappers proudly march around with their guns in the daylight. They normally move around indifferent groups and each group is normally made up of 20 boys all well armed. Occasionally they just step out to rain bullets here and there to show that they are totally in control and dare any man born of a woman to step out and confront them. When the people from that area appeared to have varnished, they zero in to Akpaa Mba to community and virtually converted all the able bodied young men who remained into their evil cult.Their first target was Okezie Orji, the 2007 gubernatorial aspirant who narrowly lost the ticket to Onyema Ugochukwu, when the traditional ruler wanted to make an effort and organize vigilante group they stormed his palace and attacked him, he ran into the bush and from there went into exile till date. All prominent people in that area have gone into exile among them are Chief Etufu a wealthy old man who was in to a lot of philanthropic activities to empower his people. He was forced into exile in United States after being kidnapped.



Their firing power was too much for the Akpaa Police station to handle as a result the police took to their hills. As we write, no single police presence can be seen in the whole area. When the police ran and the people now evacuated, the kidnappers now started putting constant blockade at the Aba Ikot Ekpene Express Way against unsuspecting travelers from Akwa Ibom and Cross River States who were on their way to Lagos, Port Harcourt or even Aba for business trips. Not a few of these innocent travelers were killed and dumped inside the bush. Raping their girls and turning the Aba-Ikot Ekpene express that used to be a major busy way for commercial activities into a dead zone. No single vehicle uses that road anymore and all the business and filling stations along that axis have folded up.



Having conquered Akpaa, Abala, Ntigha, Uzo and Ibeme they now moved into Ovom area where most people were building their retirement homes. But as we write today, over 5,000 houses have been totally abandoned. That axis is now the den of kidnappers to the extent that they have now erected tollgates and started collecting money from commercial tricycle (keke Napep)operators which is the only means of transport there, since no sane person dare go near there with car.



When most handy people, landlords and the majority of the population relocated, they now devised a new method of moving with buses to school premises and picking up the poor teachers and pupils and calling on their school management or parents to pay up.



It doesn’t matter your age, young and old, even the sick ones, you are captured you are subjected to the worst level of inhuman act. Johnson Umelu and his two children were kidnapped while coming back from church in August, Smarth Ukah, Chief Ibe Irem and Eme Uche a Medical Lab Scientist and owner of Excellence Lab at No. 1 Okigwe Rd were all kidnapped. So alsowere Mike Chima, Mrs Chinwe Iwuoha wife of Barristter Iwuoha, C.E.OTonnimas and Dandollars. Not to mention Patrick Onwuka former ChairmanIsiala Ngwa South, Kelechi Nwankpa former Chairman Obingwa L.G, Chief NwojoOmokorie Chairman Ezera Grouip of Companies, almost 100years old mother of Lord Dike Udensi-Dubic- she was killed along side 3 other members of her family after his son might have paid N50million ransom



Others are, Ebere Nwachukwu former transition Committee Chairman IsialaNgwa South, Chief B. L. C. Okoro former Nigerian Breweries manager, theManaging Director of Sky Petroleum, Prince Bobby Dick son of HRH EzeEberechi MD. Bobby Investments. Three attempts has been made on the Rectorof Abia State Polytechnics and on the second one two people were killed oneof them being his a policeman.



Chief Odionyenfe Uzu a.k.a Full Current from Umuokenyi village in NdiOlumbe in Isiala Ngwa South was killed while trying to escape from the kidnappers with his bicycle. His younger brother Mr. Obidike Uzu who leaves in Port Harcourt came with about five truck load of solider for his brother’s burial. You don’t need soldiers to do wedding, burial, child dedications in Somali, Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq, that is why those wartorn societies are better than us.



The present deputy governor of Abia State was almost kidnapped and as wewrite information just filttered in that his orderly has been killed whileon errand for his boss. Bid Uzoechi also has just been kidnapped in Ohanze,while Sonny King a trader in Araria was brutally murdered along Enugu-PortHarcourt Express all happened between 24th & 25th September. This is incaseany deceives you that the situation is under control, these are most recent ones.



Perhaps the most pathetic story of all these family (names withheld), theKidnappers ordered the first son to have carnal knowledge of the mother, herefused and they shoot him on the leg and ordered the second son to dosame. Before the will finish the mother senescing danger tore her dressimmediately and grabbed the her son, after the event the young man lefthome and up till date nobody knows his where about.



The caliber of arms and ammunition in Aba today is frightening and more and more is coming, arms and ammunition in Aba today is enough to declare a Civil War in Nigeria.



The present Abia State deputy Chief of Staff Charles Ogbonna had been kidnapped and Nigerians will remember the celebrated attempt on the convoy of the state governor some time ago, luckily he was not inside the vichcle.Dr. Bright Chubgbu, Dr. E. O. Ezirim, Dr. Enyinnaya, Dr. Aluka, Dr. EkeUjuba, Dr. Nwachukwu, Dr. Umezurike, Dr. J. U. Ehiemere and another Dr.Uche had all been kidnapped. Dr. Witika an American was kidnapped atUkpakiri and hje ran away from Nigeria. Dr. Ozuzu has left, so also are Dr.Prosper Igboeli, Dr.Oliver, Dr. Usuegbu and several others.



As we write, all the schools in Ovom, Ogbor Hill areas are closed. As we write teachers are being owed salaries in arrears. As we write the Chief Security Adviser to Gov. T. A. Orji, Col Kalu (Rtr) has resigned out of frustration. As we write people have stopped going to church because theyhave started going to the churches to kidnap people. On Sunday 19thSeptember, the went to Sevenday Adventist Church at Asa Umunka in UgwunagboL.G and brought out the Pastor Nwakoch Mmeja and shoot him for no just cause and left without touching any thing. As we write they have sent aletter to traders in Ariaria International Market that every store shouldkeep N50, 000 for them that they are coming. The traders said that thererather be a Civil War than for them to pay and they are getting set for them. As we write, burial are no longer taking place in most part of Ngwaland especially in Obingwa the local government of Senator EnyinnayaHarcourt Abaribe who attempt was also made to his life that led to the deadof policemen, were also the Journalist were kidnapped.



The State governor, T.A. Orji and his entire executive, the Police commissioner and his entire D.P.O’s and the Area commander appear to be collectively colluding with these activities as they feel unconcerned about these activities. Especially, the state governor who goes to a reasonable length to make sure that events going on in Aba are totally suppressed, so that a state of emergency which is long over due would not be declared inAbia State. Any attempt to say the truth will be followed with deaththreats and his attack dogs will descend on the papers raining abuses onyour father’s grave. Such wickedness in governance is unheard of anywherein the world in this 21st century.



In the last few weeks alone 49 lawyers have been kidnapped among whom areKizito Ibegbulam, O.O. Ugwuenyi, and L.O. Nwaogugu (still in detention),A.S. Duru (Still in the kidnappers custody), Uche Anyiam, O.O. Nkumeh,Ifeanyi Iboko and Julius Emelike who was kidnapped and shot on the leg.Sorry that we have to call names, but are forced to go to this extent toprove that these are verifiable facts.



Among those who have been kidnapped are Mr. Felix Anyansi Agwu the Chairmanof Enyimba Football Club, Chief Iboko Imo Iboko member Board of Trutee PPA,he was also a former Chairman of Aba North L.G and State commissioner forWorks. Engr Okafor of the Federal Ministry of Works alongside his colleagueEngr. Onu, Ndubuisi Nwakirie a business consultant, Chief Kalu Ndiafia whohas been kidnapped twice and his wife, who was kidnapped few weeks afterreleasing the wife, Chief Ogbuwa C.E.O of BYC, Chief Moghalu a majorNigerian Breweries distributor, Elder Godwin Nna current T.C chairman ofObingwa and his wife, before he was kidnapped he had already paid N500, 000as a result of a constant treat calls he was receiving.



Few others are HRH Eze Eberechi Dick, HRH Eze Chidi Nwaigwe who was killedthe same week he was about to bury his wife and mother In-law because herefused to follow the kidnappers. Mrs Abara Ijeoma wife of the PermanentSecretary of Abia Civil Service, Chief Lambert Mecha who die out of heartattack when about 16 kidnappers storm at a church in Ukwa while the Sundayservice was going on to kidnap the pastor. Prof. Emejiwe former V.C AbiaState University and current Chairman Abia State Electorial Commssion, HRHEze Chivolefu. Naval Commander (Rtr) Obike Ogbonna’s 9 years old daughterwho was on her first visit to her father land from U.S.A. Chief Isienyileader of Road Transport Workers and his manager who was later kidnapped onanother bloody day that the kidnappers killed 5 other innocent citizens ofAbia as the just started firing indiscriminately to frighten people andannounce their arrival. Dr. Mrs Ahiaiwe, Dr. Mrs. Anuguruegbe who waskidnapped immediately her husband was appointed commissioner of NNDCrepresenting Abia State and several other foreign technical engineers ofZerock Construction Company. To go on with the list of the names of peoplewho have fallen victim to kidnappers in a State where over 5, 000 peoplehave been kidnapped is to bore. We just mention this insignificant numbersbecause the state governor’s propaganda machinery made up of heartlesspeople who lack shame, with no sense of human sympathy and moralup-bringing would soon start using the very funds that should be deployedin fighting this crime to pay for full newspaper adverts to rain abuses onthe grave of the fore fathers of those behind this write up. All they areafter is to protect their work even if the whole of Abia State citizens aredying and the little per cent age the will get from every advert the placedon the papers. Well, the fact remains that we have taken time to gatherfacts and no amount of abuse and intimidation will stop us. Like ChinuaAchebe wrote, ‘’ No matter how badly a country may be run, there willalways be some people whose personal, selfish interest are, in the shortterm at least, well served by the mismanagement and social inequities…Naturally, they will be extremely loud in their adulation of the countryand its system and will be anxious to pass themselves off as patriots andto vilify those who disagree with them as trouble makers or eventraitors’’.



With the level of atrocity going on challenged in Abia State, there isinsinuations from several quarters that they are government sponsored inorder to scare away opponents from coming out to run for election in 2011.The truth is that we have not established any link to the state governmentso far exception their undue silence which off course is an indictment ontheir part. Be that as it may be, a very respectful legal practitioner inAbia State revealed to us that they are working with a group of highlyrespected international human right activist and legal advisers to documentfacts so that if there is any way the state governor is linked directly orindirectly to these crime against the governed, his name will be send tothe International Court to face justice after his tenure and serve as anexample to other leaders in Nigeria to understand the immunity is not aticket to live above the law. To face justice also will be any member ofthe state executive who try to hide the fact and deceive the world since heor she would be hold liable as a result of any one whose life wasendangered or lost because of wrong information’s he or she intentionallydishes out to the unsuspecting citizen.



As we write, over 40 medical doctors have been kidnapped and 47 hospitalshave closed shop in Aba. As we write over 109 filling stations are now shutin Aba. Today, to describe Aba as Sicily is an understatement, somethingmore animalistic than what goes on in the jungle is going on in Aba. Everybody is a target and everyone is afraid of his neighbours.



Aba, that commercial city in the East of Niger that is known for commerceand industry in the past is today the only city in the world where lessthan 100 modern cars apply the road as people have gone to old jalopy carsin order not to attract attention of kidnappers. The highest means oftransportation in Aba today is Keke Napep that is now being used by everybody that remains. Even that has created its own dangers, what they now dois to stop the keke and look at the faces of people and their dressing.Once you look healthy and nice, you are in trouble as they will drag youdown and take you along with them.



Just two weeks ago the last remaining Indian in Aba sneaked out to pick fewthings and rush back to his hiding place. His vehicle was stopped alongNwogu Street in Umungasi, Aba he was ordered to step out. As he tried toresist, these evil men pointed the gun on his head and blasted off hisbrains.



The latest story is that of Dr. Stanley Uche from Mbano in Imo state, theMD of Victory hospital along Obohia Rd, off Ngwa Rd, Aba. He was kidnappedalongside his wife who is a Yoruba from Ogun State on Thursday 16thSeptember on their way to his home town. It was at the Osissioma junctionthat he was double crossed by the boys and he was dumped inside his carboot alongside his wife. The kidnappers took them to their den and afterpleading severally for his wife to be set free to go and get the money thedemanded, they saw reasons and let go of the wife who immediately ralliedround and on Saturday 18th Sept. she came up with the N3 million nairawhich they demanded and dropped it at the designated place. Making it atotal of N3.5million, adding the N500, 000 the couple carried with themwhich the kidnappers took immediately.



On laying their dirty hands on the N3million naira, they demanded foranother N2 million which was also given to them by Sunday 19th September.As is usually the case once you settle you are released immediately. Afterhaving not heard from them and their mobile switched off, Dr. Uche’ wifewas now forced to report the case to the police and the same Monday shewas invited to come and identify a dead body thrown out of a speedingvehicle and lo and behold it was Dr. Uche .



Again on Monday 20th Sept. Dr. Jeremiah Ugochukwu Iroeke of the GeneralOut-Patient Department (GOPD) of Abia State Teaching Hospital was kidnappedwhile on a school run leaving his shocked and confused kid, as we write heis still in their custody. The entire ABSUTH has been deserted and theneigbourghood are taking to their hills. Today, as we write, the doctorsand staff are been owned 5 months salary if you include September and thereis no efforts from the government to pay. As a result of all these, onWednesday 22nd September, in and emergency meeting called by the Aba branchof Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), they resolved that that allclinics/hospital including Government and private should be closed fromThursday 23rd September till Friday 24th September, an order that wascarried out. All the doctors assembled at their Secretariat by 9 A.M cladin their Lab. Coat Stethoscope. Those that failed to make it as a result ofexcuse or the other were fined N5, 000.



On Saturday 25th September, some MTN staffs was on the receiving end, sixmembers of the MTN workgroup who rented an accommodation around Abiribaquarters of Immaculate Road who had gone to carry out routine engineeringand maintenance work at a Base Transceiver Station at Isiala Ngwa werekilled. And these young technicians 4 of them are Yoruba’s who came to dosome technical work on the site; two of the men killed were their policesecurity men. Four of them were busy servicing their equipments on groundand after shooting them, they shoot the two others who had climbed theirmask and they fell down from there and their brains were bust into pieces.



There is no single infrastructural development going on in Aba and for thepast 3years the State government has voted over N9.5billion Naira just tofill up the holes along side Asa-Port Harcourt/Umungasi-Abayi Roads that isnot up to 20 kilometers N4.5billion the first year and N5billion the nextyear. The only visible work done there so far is the demarcation of theUmungasi-Abayi end of the road, which is being done half-hazardly and onthe last count over 100 people-especially school children have lost theirlife there. Initially they said that Zerock was sabotaging their efforts indelivering dividend of democracy to Abians by intentionally delaying theroad. But work has grounded to a standstill since the contract was revokedand handed over to a construction company which one of the governor’s sonsis said to have an interest.



Yet immediately the state governor made a show of the fact that he hasliberated himself and the state from the bondage of Chief Mrs Eunice UzorKalu and her son Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu the immediate past governor of thestate, Abia State received a Net Federal Allocation of close to N10billion.This was made up of N2.050, 500 232.08billion Gross Statuary Allocation,N692, 380, 880.86million 13% Share of Oil Derivation, N17, 066, 645.80million was used to service her External Debt-putting a lie to the claimthat the immediate past regime incurred a debt that was taking overN500million to service was that only N191, 248, 762.07million deduction wasmade from that April allocation which was shared in , against commitmentsentered into by the present regime. Even at that, the distribution fromforeign Excess Crude Savings Account for August, was N2, 534, 565, 705.07billion, while the VAT Allocation was N489, 366, 585.14million, bringingthe total Net Allocation to N5, 620, 004, 669.37billion. That same month,the 17 L.G’s in Abia State received a total N2, 928, 700, 665.97billion.When you add all these to the N300million internally generated revenue youwill get close to N10billion Naira. Yet, there is no security, workerssalaries are not paid for months, schools are closed and no meaningfulinfrastructural development going on in the entire state. The fact must bemade that we are not here to defend Orji Uzor Kalu or the Mother becausethey contributed 50% to what is killing the state today by supporting T. A.Orji to emerge as the governor.



The so called Bakassi Vigilante boys are not helping matters either as theyare now mostly engaged in pursuing innocent Aba citizens around, which isan indirect admission of surrender to the kidnappers. Their main work nowis the collection of fees for government contractors. They are involved inthe collection of security, infrastructural levy, environmental, storelicenses, business premises, bill boards, signpost fees and illegal parkingetc. infact, today in Aba, virtually all the agents that are contracted tohandle these activities move around with Bakassi boys, thugs and the Policeto harass innocent people into forceful payment.



All the lock-up stores in Aba pay the Bakassi boys N500 security fees. Thesad thing is that the said Bakassi boys will just appear from no whereearly in the morning with cutlass, guns, axe to demand for this securityfee and at the same time ready to break down your store and make away withvaluable goods if you fail to pay or lock and ran away. And there is no wayyou would be able to trace your goods even if you pay later, and what theynormally do if you want to pay is to issue you a receipt written without aduplicate. Weeks later, another group will appear requesting for the samesecurity fees. If you show them evidence of payment they will tell you itis not in their records and order you to pay up and go and look for thefake Bakkasi people you paid to for a refund. And failure to comply willearn you maltreatment, arrest and they will also carry your valuable items.



The worst is that of infrastructural levy and environmental agents, as bothgroups move with thugs, Bakassi boys and mobile policemen. Theirinstruction is to arrest anybody they see in a compound be you sick, old,young or a visitor. There are several cases where they have arrestedpregnant women and old women and ordered their people to come and bailthem. Failure to come urgently come with N15, 000 in the case of theenvironmental agents will earn you an automatic sentence of six months inprison through the undemocratic mobile court which they set up to huntinnocent citizens without the benefit of having a legal representative.





The case of infrastructural levy is another sad story because what theynormally do is to arrest tenants to come and pay infrastructural levy onproperties that does not belong to them. This is quite unheard of anywherein the world. And just like the environmental agents even if you have paidin your residences and happen to visit a friend in another place, when theyarrive, you will be arrested and no amount of pleading and explanaziationwill help you. Once arrested, innocent or not you must bail yourself.



The worst part of the whole, uncivilized, unconstitutional and undemocraticact is that they normally take their innocent victims to the various policestations that they are working with to detain them. How the Nigerian Policewill reduce herself to such a pity level of being used to intimidate andharass innocent citizens is beyond human understanding.



The harassment of these so called government agents got out of hand onMonday 20th Sept. along the Abia State Teaching Hospital Road whenresidents had to invite the kidnappers themselves to come and confront theBakassi boys who were moving from house to house forcing people to payN6,000 security levy. The Bakassi boys who could not stand the firing powerof the kidnappers took to their heels.



In all, Aba has now become a town with a forgotten population and as therest of the Nigerian people has decided to keep quite and watch us die, nobody knows the dimension it would go if every member of the citizenry woulddecide to pick up arm and defend themselves as being contemplated in thecity. More over, as Aba citizens are now emptying themselves into Lagos,Abuja, Port Harcourt, etc it is a question of time before the kidnapperswill extend their tentacles if not nipped in the bud now.



The question now is, “is Aba no longer part of the Nigerian State andProject’’? ‘’Why the silence from the presidency’’?



The undue and unnecessary friendship between the Nigerian leadership withthe state governor all in an attempt to win elections has made them tooverlook their statutory duties to the dying people of Aba that has fargone beyond genocidal level. Dalai Lama said, ‘’If a leader is veryconcerned about his or her re-election, then sometimes they seemshortsighted’’ We hope this is not true of President Jonathan, Senators,Abaribe, Nwogu and Chukwumerije. They should remember the words of ChinuaAchebe, ‘’ A good leader must put the people and the country first beforehis own Interest’’. If not, like Olusegun Adeniyi said, ‘’ Leaders who, outof inordinate desire for power, help in bringing their country to ruinwould ultimately pay the prize. No matter how long it takes’’



It is time for a State of emergency or at least let Aba be declared adisaster area to enable the federal Government to move in an save thepopulation of Aba or else the Federal government should be ready for aprotest vote and any attempt to overrule the people’s Will would lead to acivil uproar which dimensions no one can predict and which vibrations wouldbe felt across the nation.



The constant treats through phone calls for people to come and settle haveforced many people to either change their lines periodically or permanentlyoff their phones.



Today, in Aba Abia State there is no single evidence of governance. Thegovernment spokes persons as usual can use the tax payers’ money to bark,call names, lie and insult people who are older than their fathers and sendtreat calls. The fact remains, these are verifiable facts and the truthmust be told if not today, some day. Like Naguib Mahfouz wrote, ‘’ One daythe Great Pyramid will disappear, but truth and justice will remain for aslong as mankind has a ruminative mind and a living conscience’’



Our women are being raped, our young men murdered, lawlessness and impunityhas over taken our land yet our elders are keeping quite. Evil has over daythe our society in broad day light, yet our religious leaders are invitingT.A. Orji for occasions none have step forth to say the truth.



Where is Com. Ebitu Ukiwe, Prof Anya Oko Anya, Prof. Herbart Orji, Com.Ndubuisi Kanu, Gen. Ike Nwachukwu, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa oh! My heart bleedstears have tried out of our eyes, we are going to take our destiny in ourhand and …



Where is Vincent Ogbulafor, Ojo Maduekwe, Empire Kanu, Ammb. Aguiyi Ironsi,Uzodinma Okpara, Orji Uzor Kalu, Ikechi Emenike, Tony Ewereuzo, Gen.Ihejirika, AIG Azubike Udah, Senatore Bob Nwanunnu, Senator AdolphusWabara, Prof. Joe Irukwu, Emmanuel Adielu, Eze Ukandu, Eze Ikonne, EzeEweremadu, Eze Onuigbo, Paul Ogwuma, Senator Onyekachi Okorafor, Rtr. ColPaul Omerua Rtr. Naval Com. Osoundu, Prof. S.O.Igwe, Prof. Ogwo Ogwo, BobOgbuagu, Prof. Ogbuagu, Justice Ikechi Ogbuagu and Lord Dike Udensi tomention but few. They should note that like Prof. Wole Soyinka wrote, ‘’Inaction becomes eloquent when it involves a deliberate avoidance of duty, afailure, in the case of any citizen in a responsible position, to takepreventive action to head off anarchy and disaster’’

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

THE NIGERIAN DEREGULATION DEBATE

THE NIGERIAN DEREGULATION DEBATE 
BY:FOLASADE ORIMOLADE

Since the Federal Government’s anouncement of its intention to deregulate the downstream oil sector, labour unions in the country have kicked against it.  Series of meetings and news briefing have been held to make their position known.  The Federal Government’s position is that it can no longer subsidies premium motor spirit otherwise known as petrol as more than one trillion naira is being spent annually as subsidies for petroleum products.  Furthermore government maintained that the current deregulation of the sector had slowed down development of the oil industry while arguing that deregulation will reduce the level of corruption in oil transactions and encourage more investment in the sector. Government’s position is also informed by the need to enhance efficiency in the sector thereby promoting price efficiency beneficial to consumers. The plan is to deregulate the sector in such a way that prices will crash as is being witnessed in the telecommunications industry. However, labour’s argument is that deregulation will bring further hardships to the populace particularly when government has not made any effort at cushioning the effect of the proposed deregulation. Rather than deregulate, labour calls for cancellation of demurrage on petroleum products in transits, dredging of the ports which will reduce the amount paid in subsidies to marketer, rehabilitation and expansion of Nigerian’s refineries.  It adds that more refineries should be built as the case in the Meddle East where more than one hundred new refineries are being built and expected to be functional by twenty-ten.  More importantly, labour wants government to reposition the economy and move away from dependence on oil and gas revenues.  To drive home its points as well as express its displeasure against deregulation, the organized labour in conjunction with the civil society coalition staged rallies in seven cities and rounded it up in Abuja.  The rally which had representatives of the union from across the country was conducted in most orderly and peaceful manner under the watchful eye of security agents. 

In a swift reaction to the rally, the Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili called for restraint over the protest stressing that survival of democracy should be collective responsibility of all citizens.   She expressed government’s willingness to negotiate and dialogue with the organized labour on ways of addressing the issue of deregulation and chant a way forward for Nigeria.   Worthy of commendation was the peaceful manner the rally was conducted bearing in mind that similar rallies in the past had been hijacked by hoodlums and street urchins who unleash terror on innocent citizens under the guise of demonstration. Although the rallies have come and gone time will tell weather it actually made the desired impact .Even then fears are being expressed by many stakeholders that deregulation would lead to increase in the prices of petroleum products. The fear is compounded by the fact that past increases in prices of petroleum products led to high rate of inflation and caused hardship to commuters most of whom had to pay higher fares to transport themselves. Another fear being expressed is that the sector will continue to be ineffective if deliberate steps are not taken to check the present high level of corruption in the oil and gas industry. AS these debates continue, government has come out again to say through the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA that it is still consulting on the proposed deregulation. It has therefore become necessary for the organized labour to take the opportunity to dialogue with the government on the situation. And just within the week the governor’s forum endorsed the proposed reforms in the oil sector. Earlier, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria with relevant stakeholders in a workshop in Lagos had backed the Federal Governments’ intention to liberalise the industry. Be that as it may, it has become highly imperative for government to ensure that the plight of the masses is considered when implementing the deregulation. The gains of such a policy must not be allowed to waste. Rather, more infrastructures should be put in place to enhance the welfare of the people. These include effective mass transit system, development of the rail system, and water transportation. Labours’ demand for an increase in wages should also be considered as appropriate. Mechanisms must be put in place to check persistent corruption in the sector. The nation cannot afford to allow a few unpatriotic, corrupt and greedy individuals to toy with its future and the future of upcoming generations. 


Recorded Live from FRCN.



Commentary on the life and times of Maryam Babangida



The Life and Times of Maryam Babangida


Mrs Maryam Babangida can arguably be described as an icon whose impact on the nation cannot be easily quantified. That she led a good life and left indelible footprints on the sands of time cannot be contested. In her Sixty One year sojourn on this earth, Mrs Maryam Babangida meant many things to many people. The announcement of her death has therefore been rightly met with an overwhelming outpouring of condolences from every strata of the society, both the low and the mighty. It is ironic that the personality which has touched the lives of millions of Nigerians and the world at large started on a very simple note. Mrs Maryam Babangida was born on November 1st 1948. She had what many would call a fairly humble beginning in her home town, Asaba in the present Delta state, where she received part of her early education before moving up north to Kaduna. Here she attended the prestigious Queen Amina College. The greatness which she would later attain was no doubt conceived in this college where she distinguished herself in all strata of the school. Mrs Babangida went on to graduate as a secretary at the federal training college kaduna and later obtained a certificate in secretary ship from the Laselle University, Chicago. USA. In September 1969, with two months to her 21st birthday, young Maryam took another giant step in the journey of life when she got married to Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, then a young Major in the Nigerian Army, who had to take a break from the battles of the then Nigerian Civil War. It was quintessential Maryam because at the time such cross cultural marriages were an exception rather than the norm. Here she was a young lady from the then Mid Western state of Nigeria, in the present Delta state, getting married to another Nigerian from the then North Western State, in the present Niger State. Hajiya Maryam then began the task of raising a home with the inimitable Major who will later have a great impact on the affairs of this great nation. The marriage was blessed with four children- Two boys, Mohammed and Aminu and Two girls, Aisha and Halima. Perhaps it was in 1983 that the nation began its love affair with Maryam when she assumed the mantle of President of the Nigerian Army Officers Wives Association, NAOWA.
It was during her twenty month stewardship of this organisation that the leadership qualities of Mrs Babangida were brought to the fore. Maryam moved to the next step in the pedestal of her life when in August 1985 she became the first lady of the federal republic of Nigeria. It is without any doubt and equivocation the beginning of Eight years of glamour, colour, elegance, enterprise and adoration in the body politic of the nation. The office of the first lady which had hitherto been an unheralded appendage of the President was given a new lease of life. Maryam handled the office of the first lady with poise and gait comparable to most of her renowned peers in the world and in the process brought respectability to that office. She made the care of the underprivileged and the oppressed in the society her cardinal programme and this resulted in the establishment of the Better life for rural women programme in 1987. This programme was a pace setter in the efforts to better the lives of the underprivileged in the society. The programme focused on providing job opportunities for thousands of youths and women in the country, the care of the disabled, widows, and orphans.
Over ten thousand cooperative societies were established through the scheme. Despite criticisms from some quarters, the programme received international recognition when in 1988; Maryam was bestowed with the Harlem Women’s International Recognition Award in New York. Perhaps the greatest attestation to her tenacity and vision is the National Centre for Women Development in the central area of Abuja. In spite of the fact that the better life programme did not live beyond her term in office. Its sprit kept metarmophosising in various names and styles. It is a tribute to her unconquering spirit that she did not allow what befell her projects to overwhelm her. Maryam was a woman with strong family values which she brought to bear in raising four upright and disciplined children. She also founded and ran an educational institution, the El Amin International School in Minna. The passing away of Maryam Babangida is no doubt a sad loss for the Babangida Family, the entire nation and the world al large. Adieu this great mobiliser of women, an icon, a real mother and a model for Nigerian and African woman. May her soul rest in peace.

Recorded live from FRCN

DIMEJI BANKOLE


DIMEJI BANKOLE COMMENTARY BY EBOMHIANA MUSA



With the success of the transition to another civilian dispensation in 2007, many of the nation’s citizenry placed much hope on the ability of the elected representatives to deliver the dividends of democracy. The House of Representatives, which is part of the National Assembly, constitute a critical element in the quest to achieve good governance. When this present house was inaugurated in 2007 with Hon. Olubunmi Etteh as Speaker, there was great joy across the nation being the first ever female speaker. But that was short-lived as a crisis soon broke out that led to her removal.  Following this, The House on November 1, 2007 for the first time in its history overwhelmingly elected its Speaker without any external influence in the person of, 37 years old Oladimeji Sabur Bankole, who promised to make the House of Representatives the “House of the Nigerian People” through robust debates and a faithful discharge of its constitutional responsibilities. Since that time, THE HOUSE has set a new pattern for the discharge of its role which has ensured minimal conflict with the executive. The first major task and test of the new house was the 2007 Appropriation LAW.  Its scrutiny of the bill led to the discovery of unspent fund of 450 billion NAIRA from the 2007 Budget in sharp contrast to the about N25 billion presented in the budget.  Also, in 2009, 350 billion Naira was returned as unspent fund.  Hitherto, these unspent funds are pocketed through bogus end-of-year contracts or some frivolous capacity building spree. The House under the current dispensation has passed 88 Bills affecting all areas of our national life. Among them are two Appropriation Bills, the Revolving Loan for Industry Bill, the Local Content Bill for the oil sector, the Tobacco Smoking Bill and the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO) bill among others. This level of bill passage is no mean feat compared to previous houses. Perhaps, it is in the area of oversight activities that the House has achieved most popular acclaim. Following a resolution it commenced an investigation to the purported $16 billion appropriated for Power without commensurate results between 1999 and 2007. The high drama and publicity of the investigation revealed to Nigerian the level of rot, and misappropriation of funds in that sector. The investigation was no doubt fruitful.
In the same vein the House Finance Committee investigation into the finances of government discovered the startling fact that in the last five years alone over N3 Trillion was not remitted to the Federation Account by ministries, departments and agencies, as they should constitutionally.  Other major oversight activities of the House are in the area of Ad-Hoc Committee on Niger Delta, Capital Market, NNPC, where it was discovered that Nigerian was losing billions of Naira in corrupt practices. The recommendations of these investigations are setting the pace for reforming these sectors of our national life.  In the period under review the speaker established the Constituency Outreach Committee that ensured member’s presence in the constituency through the establishment of functional offices and the allocation of projects to each constituency.  This has resulted in a marked improvement in the level of implementation of budgets. By the end of the third quarter, the country for the first time achieved a 45% budget implementation instead of the yearly range of between 25% - 30%. On another level, Bankole has taken representative function of the House to greater heights in passing resolutions of the House addressing masses oriented issues like communication, Nigerians in Diaspora, ethnic and sectarian crises and personal and workers welfare issues. On the international scene, the speaker recently, lead a delegation of Nigeria legislators to the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The speaker’s leadership qualities were recognized when he was early this year elected as the President of the Afro-Arab Parliamentary Union.   Hon Bankole has also made a difference in the area of capacity building.  Hon Bankoles personal bill on Government Accountability and Audit Office passed its second reading stage. The creation of new Standing and Ad-hoc Committees of the House has further improved its standing. The achievements of the last two years have come with minimal confrontation with the executive arm. There is now a constructive engagement between the legislature and the executive. Mr. Speaker has also ran an orderly House where national interest, peoples welfare are the prime motivators of members. As the House enters another year under the leadership of HON BANKOLE , the major challenges are the constitutional amendment and electoral reforms, for which substantial progress has been made.  And with the firm promise on delivering on these two key issues, this present House may yet be the most definitive in advancement of people’s interest, good governance and consolidation of our democratic experience.
 Recorded live from FRCN. 

Saturday, January 16, 2010

THE CHALLENGES OF THE Niger DELTA

THE CHALLENGES OF THE Niger DELTA


BY

EBUTE RAPHAEL (A student of the National Missionary Seminary of St. Paul Gwagwalada)



A visit to the creeks of Ojobo and Torugbene towns in Delta State would show how the communities in the entire Niger Delta are blessed with enormous natural resources but still live without basic amenities, such as electricity, pipe-bone water, roads and others necessities which make life comfortable. Ojobo, like many other communities in the Niger Delta, is an oil rich community which is supposed to enjoy electricity and other amenities because of the oil exploitation activities which is the major source of income to the country; but the reverse has been the case. The only means of transportation for the people in and out of the creeks is the speed boat which is very costly. The people of the area can not think of buying cars not because some may not be able to afford it but because there just no roads to drive cars. Due to the high cost of transportation, the prices of things are very high compared to other parts of the country. The big River that cut across the communities is the source of drinking water and other domestic activities and yet it also serves as toilets for the people. It is something unthinkable that the people drink that unhygienic water. But it is the reality. Owing to the fact that area is swampy, whenever it rains, the entire land is enmeshed with mud and the people find it difficult to move without wearing a rain boots, and even at that, one is afraid of being drowned in the mud. The rivers often overflow their banks the banks and invade the houses in the area; a situation that has become natural after so many years of neglect. It is however heartwarming to note that Government has embarked on steps to turn things around in the area. President Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua has listed the problems of the Niger Delta amongst his seven point agenda and to have a first hand experience of the area, the President has visited some states in the area. On his last visit to Bayelsa State in July this year, the President commissioned some roads and flagged off the construction of an Airport. Mr. President has since created the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs which is working tirelessly already for the development of the area. The ongoing Amnesty Programme towards solving the problem of militancy in the area is another strong indication of government’s resolve to find a lasting solution to the problems of the Niger Delta. But there is still much work to be done. For instance there is need for the urgent construction of a road from Tuomo down to Ojobo, extending to Burutu to link up the communities and reduce the high cost of water transportation. This would make it easier and faster to move within the area. Roads should also be constructed within communities to curb the difficulties encountered in walking through the muddy paths. The provision of Pipe-born water would also help the people in getting clean water to enhance their health. There is also serious need for electricity to boost the social and commercial life of the people. Drainage channels and embankments should be constructed around the river banks which would help to check the problem of flooding. It has been argued that the activities of militants in the area is a product of many years of neglect and injustice; but having accepted the Amnesty granted by the Federal Government, it is expected that the militants would refrain from violence and wait for positive changes in the area. Also, THERE is NEED for public officials in the Niger Delta to make judicious use of governments’ allocation to the area. There is no such thing as a hopeless situation; therefore let Nigerians not loose hope over the development of the Niger Delta and the entire nation in general; rather let all hands be on deck as a sign of our collective will to make our nation great!

Recorded Live from FRCN

POVERTY REDUCTION AMONG THE VULNERABLE GROUP IN THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY





POVERTY REDUCTION AMONG THE VULNERABLE GROUP IN THE NIGERIAN SOCIETY


OVER the years the challenge of unemployment has bedevilled the nation. The growing number of the unemployed necessitated the need for urgent government intervention. As part of efforts to tackle the challenge the federal government, in 1986 decided to establish the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) with the clear mandate to promote self-employment through skills acquisition and business training. Over the years it has put in place various programmes and schemes aimed at creating jobs for the teeming unemployed people of Nigeria. Unemployment as it were, is no respecter of persons. If able bodied individuals with requisite skills and qualifications can hardly secure gainful employment, the physically challenged no doubt have a herculean task finding a dignified source of livelihood. Recent figures indicate that between 19-23 million Nigerians are physically challenged in one form or the other.

These Nigerians are mostly left to fend for themselves and compete unequally with the rest of the labour force to earn a living. In the past two years the NDE under the leadership of Mallam Abubakar Mohammed took a bold step at training the physically challenged and indeed other vulnerable groups in the society in vocational trades. These groups include Widows, Orphans, Internally displaced persons, Persons living with HIV/AIDS, Commercial Sex Workers who have a big opportunity to acquire vocational skills with a view to becoming self reliant. This window of opportunity for persons with special needs is intended to impart marketable skills to its beneficiaries in order to reduce unemployment, street begging, armed robbery and other violent crimes; as well as the removal of disillusionment among vulnerable and or disabled persons; and ensure they have a sense of self-worth and self-confidence through the acquisition of marketable skills. THE beneficiaries were to be fully integrated into the socio-economic mainstream of the society thereby reducing poverty.

In the implementation of this scheme, the DIRECTORATE engaged VULNERABLE groups in a range of trade including Tie & Dye, Shoe & leather works, Soap and/or body cream making, Beads stringing and Candle making. Other trades taught include Hair dressing, production of Polythene bags as well as Industrial tailoring which goes beyond the traditional tailoring to products such as quilted bed sheets, handbags, shower accessories, pyjamas and car seat covers. This wide range of vocational trades provides the intending trainees with the opportunity to choose what they can easily fit into. Under the programme each state 5o recruits .They are provided with stipends to facilitate their transportation to and from the training venues. On completion of training, the outstanding graduates are considered for resettlement in collaboration with NGOs, Local and State Governments, politicians and other public spirited individuals. This is aimed at launching them into self employment and to discourage them from begging, and living a life of despondency.

Records show that this initiative had been pilot-tested in Kaduna and Ekiti states with remarkable success, and has now been extended to all the states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory. Statistics from recent evaluation of the first set of resettled graduates of this scheme shows that over 98% are in gainful self-employment while the rest are in paid employment. It is gratifying to note that none of the graduates has gone back to street begging. In the course of the training and the resettlement of the beneficiaries, major stakeholders in employment and poverty reduction have expressed satisfaction with the scheme. They can now assert to mobilize and sensitize all tiers of government as well as private agencies and non-governmental organizations of the need to help the less privileged in the society. The message of the DG OF NDE, Mallam Abubakar Mohammed, is THAT THERE IS ability in disability. It is therefore imperative that more efforts are channeled into providing the necessary platform for the realization of the potential in persons with special needs or the vulnerable groups in the society, the quest to reduce poverty and to create wealth will soon be achieved. All well meaning Nigerians, philanthropists, non-governmental organizations, State and Local governments should collaborate with the NATIONAL DIRECTORATE OF EMPLOYMENT IN TACKLING THE UNIQUE FORM OF UNEMPLOYMENT. THE MOST VULNERABLE GROUPS DESERVE ALL THE SUPPORT THEY NEED IN ORDER TO REMOVE THE IMAGE OF UNEMPLOYMENT FROM THEM.

THE NEED FOR THE SUPER EAGLES TO EXCELL AT ANGOLA 2010

THE NEED FOR THE SUPER EAGLES TO EXCELL AT ANGOLA 2010.
BY
NDUBUEZE CHIDOKA




Nigeria’s glorious moments in the history of the continent’s premier competition for senior teams the Africa Nations Cup remains in 1980 when she hosted and won and in Tunisia ’94. The tournament in Tunisia was very significant because it was a year Nigeria also played her First World Cup in the United States of America in 1994, where the Super Eagles surprised the World by making it into the second round and narrowly lost 1-2 to Italy in the round of 16 games. However, when the draw for the finals in Angola took place on the 20th of November 2009 in Luanda, Nigeria was not seeded amongst the big four in Africa and had to settle in group C where she will battle it out with Cup holders Egypt, Benin Republic and Mozambique.

One may consider it right at this point to say that a lot is riding on the performance of the Super Eagles at the 27th Africa Cup of Nations in Angola both on and off the field of play. Having made it to the finals of the World Cup taking PLACE IN South Africa, the nation’s Senior national team the Super Eagles cannot afford to slip up in Angola if they are not to give Nigerians the impression that they are just going to South Africa to make up the numbers. Beside this, coach Amodu Shaibu has promised to take the team to atleast the Semi final of the nations cup, knowing fully well that his world cup fate is tied intricately to the performance of his boys at the nations cup. Should the Eagles fail woefully like the last edition in Ghana 2008 even the hardest of his supporters will have little left to make a case for coach Amodu retaining his position at the biggest stage in June. The Foreign 23 players selected by Amodu to represent Nigeria are also not immuned from what is at stake at the first nations cup in the new decade.

A poor outing by the team will likely see the Eagles being overhauled before the World Cup finals, as was the case with the team that made it to the Semi-Final of Mali 2002 but were still disbanded. Incidentally, twice champions the Super Eagles will kick of their Jubilee nations cup campaign for a third Nations Cup title against the strongest side in group C. the pharaohs of Egypt who are five time champions of the biennial competition. The Super Eagles have a fairly decent record against the defending champions with the Eagles losing only twice in 13 previous clashes. The Eagles have won five times scoring 21 goals past the North Africans while letting in 17 goals. The Super Eagles record against the Pharaohs in the nations cup is even more impressive with only one loss in Seven meetings. Will this supremacy continue as the two teams clash in the group opener? Only time will tell after the game at the 25,000 Seater Complexo da Sr da Graca in Beguela on the 12th of this month. Nigeria has triumphed 9 times out of the 14 meetings with the Squirrels of Benin Republic, Scoring a total of 38 goals while conceding only 8.
The Super Eagles need to be on top of their game to secure the all important three points against their neighbours, considering how the team managed to upstage Benin 2-1 in the final group games of Tunisia 2004. against the Black Mambas of Mozambique in the last group game, it is still fresh in mind of the nations soccer fans as the Mambas proved that they have something to offer in Angola after beating Tunisia !-nil in Maputo to qualify for the nations cup, on the 14th of November, 2009. the meetings in the 2010 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers in Maputo and Abuja remains the two clashes with the team that nearly beat the Eagles in Maputo and unfortunately lost 0-1 in Abuja Courtesy of Obinna Nsofor’s late goal in the game. At the competition proper, how well the big teams fair against he so called minnows may determine if they progress to the knock out stages. There is no gainsaying the fact that the Super Eagles need all the encouragement they can possibly get from government and Nigerians.

The National Sports Commission, the presidential Task Force on the team’s World and Nations Cup campaign and the Nigeria Football federation have succeeded in instilling a family atmosphere in the team which seemed to be lacking in the past tournaments. The issues of unpaid match bonuses and other allowances due the players have been soughed-out and Nigerians are now looking-up to the 23 man team selected from over 80 million Nigerians to play as a team, defend well good ball distributions and passes and above all learn to be more prolific in front of the goal to ensure that Nigeria enjoy another glorious moment in the nation’s football history. A good outing oat the Nations cup in Angola will no doubt propel the Super Eagles to greater heights even as the World Cup takes centre stage in South Africa in June.

Recorded live from FRCN.

Monday, January 11, 2010

NIGERIA’S DIASPORA AS A CRITICAL NATIONAL RESOURCE

NIGERIA’S DIASPORA AS A CRITICAL NATIONAL RESOURCE


By Mike Ekunno



A recent World Bank report shows that Nigerians in the Diaspora remitted the sum of ten billion US Dollars to Nigeria in 2008. This represents 4.7 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. The report ranks Nigeria as the sixth highest recipient of Diaspora remittances in 2008. The end of year season is one in which many foreign-based Nigerians return home. There can therefore be no better time to talk about their contribution to national development than now. The remittances highlighted by the World Bank Report happen to be just one of the many ways the Nigerian Diaspora has positively impacted national development. Today members of Nigeria’s foreign legion contribute to Nigerian newspaper as columnists and opinion writers.

Thanks to the internet, the dividing line that existed between home-based and foreign readership of newspapers has been blotted out. The opinions and perspectives brought to bear on national issues by these off-shore contributors are invaluable national resources. Members of the Nigerian Diaspora also provide an automatic pool of supporters whenever the national football team is playing an away match. By this, they complement the efforts of the team’s Supporters’ Club. As the FIFA World Cup in South Africa approaches, the strong Nigerian expatriate presence in that country is already warming up to support the national team. Over the years Nigerians in Diaspora have contributed to community development in the areas of medical facilities, scholarship schemes and other poverty alleviation initiatives especially in places where they hail from.

Perhaps it is now expedient to explore more areas of encouraging them to do more like involving them during the nations’ elections. Who says they cant vote from overseas anyway? In times past, the Diaspora referred to the Jewish dispersion away from their homeland. Overtime, this Jewish Diaspora comprising captains of industry, college faculty members and influential businessmen became a strong pressure group and foreign outposts of Israeli diplomacy.

It exerts enormous influence on media and public opinion in their host countries such that at election times, the non-antagonism of the Jewish lobby is often the beginning of wisdom. With the increasing numerical and financial clout of the Nigerian Diaspora, nothing prevents it from fulfilling this diplomatic role for Nigeria. One area where this can be put to good use will be in reversing the negative image associated with our country, Nigeria and her citizens. It is a fact that much of Nigeria’s negative image is un-merited and unwarranted. It is a product of media stereotyping. The Re-branding Nigeria Project of the Federal Government is therefore geared TOWARDS exposing the positive side of Nigeria to avail critics a more balanced basis for their opinions.

While this battle for the minds of men is being waged internally, the Nigerian Diaspora can leverage on this to become the foreign outpost of the Re-branding Nigeria Project whose motto is Nigeria – Good People, Great Nation. The recent negative publicity generated by the alleged ATTEMPTED BOMBING of an American aircraft by a Nigerian terrorist, Farouk ABDULMUTALLAB should not deter our good people all around the world from being proud Nigerians wherever they may be residing. Good enough, the Family of the misguided young man has come out openly to condemn the act without reservation. AND the Federal Government, through the Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili has declared its intention to cooperate with the US authorities on the matter. Members of the Nigeria Diaspora in different parts of the world should use the opportunity of their home visit at THIS FESTIVE SEASON to avail themselves of samples of Re-branding materials which they may then go back and mass produce in their countries of abode.

These materials which proclaim: Nigeria, Good People, Great Nation should serve as triggers to challenge wrong perceptions about the country. New York City, for example, has millions of T-shirts emblazoned with “NY” its acronym, and worn by people around the world. Nigeria can surely afford to do the same with her Re-branding campaign. Global multi-lateral agencies released rankings in the past have Nigeria in unenviable positions. In comparison, the World Bank Report on Diaspora Remittances is like a breath of fresh air.

Source FRCN.Recorded live from the daily commentaries

THE NEED FOR PARENTS TO WATCH, WHAT THEIR CHILDREN WATCH

THE NEED FOR PARENTS TO WATCH, WHAT THEIR CHILDREN WATCH.


BY:

JAMES EMEH





Television, its accessories such as the DVD, Cable Satellite, and Internet, could be described as one of the technological wonders of the 20th century. Indeed, it is not difficult not to be impressed by these medium of art, culture, education and music. Its power and reach are so pervasive, penetrating and overwhelming – especially among the adolescents. It exerts enormous power and influence over its viewers and has dramatically altered the way they think, talk, walk and work. Like opium, television moves and sedates slowly, by degree, not degree, not sudden. The television’s alluring strength, experts posit, lies in its audio –visual elements that captivates and glue the viewer(s) to the screen. Its’ kaleidoscopic nature could eb accountable for its overpowering pull on viewers.



Other attractive aspects of television border on the opportunity it affords viewers to watch in near graphic details events taking place thousands of kilometers away, in the confines and comfort of their homes. The television has turned the world into a global village that, today, we could conveniently, talk about a globalize human family. Today courtesy of the television, human kind could be said to now “espouse” one culture, one value, one habit. Unfortunately, most of what the television beams into our living rooms and bedrooms are often harmful to our cultural values.

Though it has changed the rhythm of global human existence, its unbridled influence on the impregnable minds of our youths and family can not be over stressed. Parent and care givers need not assume that, with the television, all that glitters, is gold since its influence, cannot be touched, felt or easily grasped by the mind. Undoubtedly, the TV has helped to foster family unit by ensuring, that, at least, members are always, around, to watch favourite programmes.

During such period, every one is seated and absolute silence elevated.

With the TV, communication that is meant to be a dialogue becomes a monologue. Indeed, the TV sedates and hypnotizes. It removes most traces of human affection and communal participation. Rather than being physically present, people prefer to watch on the television. Admittedly, the television has made many realize there’s a whole vast world out there, beyond ones’ immediate environment.

It has fostered negative images, dysfunctional feelings behaviours, thus given rise to compromised values and ethics, which parents find strange and tough to explain, handle and curtail on their children/wards upbringing. What this portends is that parents must always intervene and decisively too. As, there’s irresistible pressure on children to confirm, and act out, what they see on the screen. TV has become a still box that traps children – their emotions and feelings. A latter-day baby sitter and toddler care giver, in the absence of a nourishing caring and warm parenthood. In other climes, parents are concerned about the detrimental impact of TV addiction on their children.

They appreciate, the crisis in childcare, the mystery box has brought about. But, here, the reverse is the case. Rather than being bugged by their children’s curiosity and inquisitives, parents prefer stationing their children right in front of the television-unmindful of the effect of such act on the child’s sight, conversational skills, social relation and community participation. Also, obsessive television viewing, report has it, dulls logical ability, shortens attention and creates incoherent thought patterns in children. According to psychologists, addiction to TV does effect the development of adolescents.

In this regard, what is paramount is for parents/guardians to engage in constant content audit of what programmes that suit their emotional and mental development of their children or wards. The programmes must, be fitting, proper and suitable to the child’s person. So, parents must elect to spend quality time with their children, and not abdicate their responsibility to. As the TV can never be a substitute for the parental live and attention children need. Consequently, parents need a great deal of watching, supervising, conciliating and correcting to do. Similarly since parents have the tool and resources to combat negative media influence, they must be vigilant by watching what their children/wards watch.

Source FRCN.Recorded live from the daily commentaries

THE NIGERIAN MEDIA AND THE CHALLENGE OF ELECTORAL REFORMS.

THE NIGERIAN MEDIA AND THE CHALLENGE OF ELECTORAL REFORMS.


BY

DR. TOM ADABA
Nigeria experienced its first election into a representative assembly over 50 years ago. Complicated as it was then, it still stood out as a welcome variety from the village square system of participating in the choice of leadership. Elections into the system were not quite rancor free. There were complaints of lack of transparency in some quarters though nowhere near our recent past experiences.

The military who erroneously thought they could do it better came but also failed woefully. The worst complaints and elections petitions were inflicted on this nation after the 2007 General Elections. The election observers generally expressed strong reservations on the 2007 exercise saying it was nowhere near an election. The instruments of massive rigging were perfected by some politicians. Names of Americans like Mike Tyson even had to appear in our voters register when it was very obvious that the renowned boxer had not sought to naturalize in Nigeria.

This shows to what shameful extent some people could go to achieve their selfish objectives. With great sense of humility and responsibility, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on inauguration on May 29th 2007, said he would ensure that the experience of the 2007 exercise would never happen again. He indeed honored his pledge by setting up the Electoral Reform Panel headed by Nigeria’s retired Chief Justice Mohammed Uwais.

The Panel’s report was a true reflection of the aspirations of Nigerians. It is however odd and sad that today that panel report which should have been passed with a resounding applause has become an object of controversy in the National Assembly with executives bills pending. For the Media, the 14 points in the report are simply natural, fair, just, ethical and professional if we are to promote peace and high electoral standards in Nigeria. In all the recommendations that have been made in the report, the Media is bound to play a crucial role in ensuring their success.

The civic, moral and political education to inculcate “norms and values of God consciousness, has a lot to do with the Media. The programmes they set out and transmit could have a tremendous impact on the politicians and the electorate. Dispassionate reportorial, editorials or commentary of events without sensationalizing or distorting them give credibility to the media houses. There is the possibility that some anti-reform elements would want to whittle down and make nonsense of these noble recommendations made for the enthronement of electoral and democratic norms in the country.

The media have a sacred role to passionately champion the realization of the patriotic visionary contents of the report. From experience, the Nigerian media has displayed commendable virtue for effective reporting of events. However, there are a number of other relevant areas that cry for attention. If the media are gate keepers and agenda setters, these must be manifest in their treatment of major events including the Electoral Reform report. There are usually yawning gaps between reports of an event and follow-up investigations. Many times, event that were reported with such pomp and glamour get consigned to history without the citizens being informed of what happens after. The media owe it a duty to revisit some of these, especially where the citizens are shortchanged or defrauded.

As the report clearly points out, there has not been any singular case of sanctions of electoral offences. The media must follow up on such criminal actions as to make it impossible for such people to ever attain any leadership heights in the political arena. It is the media that would refresh the voters’ limited sense of history or deliberate forgetfulness.

If the media must be agenda setters, they must be visionary, honest and committed. Publicized national debates on key issues and dialogues are in the domain of the media. In the words of the report, “the 85 – year old history of Nigeria’s elections shows a progressive degeneration of outcomes. Thus the 2007 elections are believed to be the worst since the first elections held in 1922”.

 Let us now hope and pray that Nigeria has seen the very worst and will now begin to gather the ashes and reconstruct itself for a vibrant democratic future. The media have tremendously helped the process of Nigeria’s independence, united this country even during and after the civil war, driven out some military dictatorships, promoted and enhanced democratic tenets through the years. The Media has done it before; she can do it again.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Food Security and National Development in Nigeria

Food Security and National Development in Nigeria
by Dare Olorunfemi


According to a Yoruba dictum, when hunger is removed from poverty, the remaining features of poverty are bearable.

This saying underscores the import of hunger in defining poverty. To a great extent, one of the most unmistakable indices of poverty in any home or nation is insufficient food.

The quality of the food a people eat is a reflection of the quality of their lives.

Thus, one of the primary achievements of a man in the African setting is his ability to provide quality food for his family.

By extension, a country that is self-sufficient in food has reasons to boast in the comity of nations.

Considering the abundant agro-opportunities around the country, Nigerians have no justifiable reasons to constitute part of the over one billion people currently facing the danger of hunger across the world.



No wonder, then, that the Yar’adua administration has brought to focus the issue of food security as one of the components of the 7-point agenda in the effort to reassert Nigeria ’s status as the giant of Africa .

It is worthy of note that of all the items on the 7-point agenda, food security appears the easiest to attain, with just little co-ordinated efforts to utilize the abundant human and natural resources to reposition Nigeria on the map of the world. Most of what Nigeria needs to be a leading food producer and exporter are within her reach.

Compared with any geographical region of the world, Nigeria has one of the best climates and land resources to cultivate for consumption, exportation and industrialization a wide range of crops in which it enjoys comparative advantages.

Achieving food security in Nigerian is pivot to the success of the Yar’adua administration because this will foster the other six of the 7-point agenda. It is said that a hungry man is an angry man. An angry man is a danger to his neighbourhood and, in fact, a displeasure to himself.

Therefore, a nation with a fragile food security will have a fragile internal security, as it will breed nothing but a population of people with bottled anger, awaiting explosion.

It is a common knowledge that good food enhances immunity and good health. A well-fed child develops intellectually to justify investment in his education.



Besides the nutritional values and industrial potentialities, food is an international identity, as world-class exported food tends to become a cultural ambassador for a country and its people.

On the long run, success in food security as part of the 7-point agenda will affect other efforts to make Nigeria one of the 20 most industrialized nations in the world by the 2020.

It must be reiterated that no government in Nigeria has displayed ignorance of the possibilities of food security in national development.

Whether the policies and programmes have been mere white elephant or paper tiger, whether they are blueprint or mere political statements, whether they are genuine intentions or mere channels of siphoning public money are what Nigeria has found it difficult to give accurate definition.

However, the fact remains that the Nigerian agriculture is still too feeble to compete with the forces of nature and the dynamics of the international market.

The farmer is incompetent to contend with the challenges of the erratic climate change. Whether with too little or too much rains, the Nigerian farmer is still a loser, because he has no stabilizing factors to cope with two extremes. The farmer still largely depends on traditional implement, operated with bare hands.

The Nigerian farm is still a model of incompatible marriage between new ideas such as improved crop varieties and crude age-long working tools of bare-foot old farmer. With so many agricultural universities, faculties and research institutes, Nigeria hardly needs more paper works or theories to attain a comfortable level of food security.

Who does not know that Nigeria needs to change from manual to mechanization?

Who does not know that machine can produce better than the bare hands of the fast-aging population of the poverty-ridden rural dwellers struggling to feed over one hundred and fifty million people? Who does not know that much easier access to one-digit credit facilities will empower the Nigerian farmer to use the abundant land to produce food for local use and export?

The contradiction between what we know and what we choose do in the opposite direction is the great obstacle to attaining food security and other agenda in national development.

Source FRCN.Recorded live from the daily commentaries

TREATMENT OF VICTIMS OF GUNSHOT AND POLICE REPORTS IN NIGERIA

TREATMENT OF VICTIMS OF GUNSHOT AND POLICE REPORTS IN NIGERIA
By Emperor N. Iwuala

The issue of rejecting gunshot victims by hospitals has been raging for sometime now in the country. There have been series of reports and claims by helpers of gunshot victims, medical practitioners and hospitals, especially private hospitals, that they are harassed by the police for giving medical attention to victims of gunshot without first obtaining police reports. On their part, the police have always denied these allegations.

However, In a recent debate on a bill for compulsory treatment and care for victims of gunshot the Chairman of Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Senator Umaru Dahiru unequivocally confirmed that there exists a police circular precluding medical doctors from treating gunshot victims without police reports.

Many Nigerians have condemned this policy. Be that as it may, the truth remains that, because of the prevalent belief that majority of gunshot victims are either armed robbers or hoodlums. Consequently, thousands of victims of gunshots in the country have lost their lives because of this ugly situation. A typical example is the callous and inhuman treatment meted out to the Late Assistant News Editor of the Guardian Newspaper, Mr. Bayo Ohu who was brutally shot by unknown gunmen in his house in Lagos few months ago. Ohu, according to reports, was rushed to one of the hospitals in Lagos after he was shot and was left to bleed to death because there was no police report on him.

Painful cases like these happen daily in nooks and crannies of the country especially among the poor masses that may not be given the privilege of self recognition. Incidents of assassination, kidnapping and armed robbery are now very high in the country and on several occasions, these hoodlums shoot innocent citizens indiscriminately to get what they want. Such incidents sometimes happen in places and in circumstances where it is always very difficult to access a police report as quickly as possible. While medical practitioners continue to shy away from treating them for fear of police harassment, such victims are usually allowed to die in their own pool of blood while waiting for police reports.
Ironically, it is the primary duty of the police to protect lives and properties. Section 303 of the Criminal Code imposes a legal duty on medical practitioners who undertake to administer medical treatment to any person to use reasonable care in doing so. It further provides that a medical practitioner who causes a patient’s death is guilty of manslaughter if, by his negligence his actions constitute such a disregard for life and safety. In addition, refusal or rejection of gunshot victims is a crime and contravenes section 10/4/Z of the Federal Road Safety Code and it attracts a fine of N50, 000.00 and above.

Interestingly, the Federal Government has recently issued a directive that all hospitals across the country must treat gunshot victims or face criminal charges. Also, there is a bill currently in the Senate for the compulsory treatment and care for victims of gunshots. The bill, when passed into law, would render production of police reports before treatment of gunshot victims illegal. With all these provisions it is now clear that there is no justification in insisting for a police report before a gunshot wound is treated.

We must acknowledge that there are moral, divine and legal provisions any where humans beings exist for the sanctity and dignity of the human life. Therefore, citizens, medical practitioners and the police in this country should rise up to stop this obnoxious practice which has lead to the sad and unjust deaths of many. Nobody knows who may be a victim tomorrow, as an Igbo proverb say, ‘he who sees a fowl using it legs to trample on excreter with its leg, should chase it away because nobody knows who would eat leg of the chicken when it is cooked’

Source FRCN.Recorded live from daily commentaries