₦airaland Forum

FOR ATTAHIRU JEGA: A TRIBUTE

On January 11, 1993, Newswatch named Attahiru Jega its Man of the Year. He was barely 30 years old when he had been elected president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in 1987 and successfully led the union in its confrontation with the military regime. Along the way, he endured detention while resisting incredible pressure including that regime’s famed capacity to co-opt opponents and the timelessly Nigerian appeal to not embarrass a government headed by one’s ‘brother’, in this case, a fellow Northern Muslim. Jega’s ASUU prevailed after a gruelling standoff in 1992 earning the concessions it was demanding for improvements in university education while he cemented a reputation for integrity and principled activism.

Jega’s most recent job as chair of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) came to an end a few weeks ago. Few people leave such a high-pressure job with their reputations intact. Jega handled the task of refereeing Nigeria’s politicians with remarkable grace and fortitude and, in the process, presided over an epoch-making election that has gone some way towards restoring confidence in our democratic possibilities. In overseeing the polls, Jega withstood considerable pressure from vested interests to sabotage the nation’s rendezvous with destiny.

It is interesting to be able to trace a line of congruence over a span of nearly thirty years between the adventures of the activist academic in his thirties and the dignified 58 year-old public servant trying to make the most of one of the most difficult jobs in the world. Consistency in public life is such a rare trait. Not everyone has been able to transit from civil society activism to holding public office creditably. Professor Jega is a worthy example of a high performing activist and high performing public servant; a role model in a society desperately in need of role models. He is my Man of the Year.
Chris ngwodo

grandstar:
If OPEC does its job, there will be no problem.

If member states decide to cut production to offset the increase in Iranian production, it will create an equilibrium.

Unless if Saudi Arabia refuses to cooperate so as to bankrupt US shale producers

Forget that shale story, do you really think that's really why Saudi Arabia is flooding the market with oil? It's to put pressure on prices and in turn Russia (and believe it or not the new kid on the block - Iran). In return the U.S. looks the other way and rearm the Saudis in their (mis)adventures in Yemen and other future targets.

This should tell u that the ministerial list will be a shocker!

If I get the theme of your article correctly it infers the president's appointment being loopsided. That I believe is a wrong and hasty conclusion given the fact that this is just less than ten out of hundreds or thousands of appointment.

If you had blamed the presidency of being slow then that would have been though inappropriate, but a seeming argument. Inappropriate in the sense that we are so used to crash solution and grand standings in our polity that we don't appreciate careful, strategic and meticulous planing before actions (argue as much s you want that he had over a decade to prepare, but he was no more informed than you and I on the state of he nation, now he is inside, its a whole new ball game).

Given the state of our print media doubling as rumour mills/tabloids (perhaps due to the fluidity and fast nature news evolves), the president's attitude towards the media isn't bad, because this will help bring sanity and thoroughness in reporting (at least we are no more fed week in week out with 'ministers to be named next week' news which always turns out to be baseless rumours)

That's true my learned comrade, but also true is the fact that the industrial court ruling needed to be set aside by a higher court to pave the way for any new rulings, so as we say in Latin don't be 'advocatus diaboli'

This guy should leave Abuja ASAP. Is there no FBN in otueke? All former heads of states/presidents return to their states or graves (as the case may be) and leave the he centre to the incumbent after their terms. But it seems GEJ can't stand the ND or his people after tasting Abuja .

WombRaiders:
Where is the copy pasta here?

I guess you mean these verses I have taken from the words of your Prophet


9:5 Slay the idolaters wherever you find them.

9:6 Those who submit and convert to Islam will be treated well. (Those who don't submit will be killed. See previous verse.)

9:7-9 Don't make treaties with non-Muslims. They are all evildoers and should not be trusted.

9:11 Treat converts to Islam well, but kill those who refuse to convert (see 9:5).

9:12-14 Fight the disbelievers! Allah is on your side; he will give you victory.

9:23 Don't make friends with your disbelieving family members. Those who do so are wrong-doers.

9:29 Fight against Christians and Jews "until they pay the tribute readily, being brought low."

9:33 The "Religion of Truth" (Islam) must prevail, by force if necessary, over all other religions.

9:41 Fight for Allah with your wealth and whatever weapons are available to you.

9:42 Those who refuse to fight for Allah (claiming they are unable) are liars who have destroyed their souls.

9:73 Fight the disbelievers and hypocrites. Be harsh with them. They are all going to hell anyway.

9:81-83 Those who refuse to give their wealth and lives to Allah will face the fire of hell.

9:85 Those who refuse to fight for Allah will be treated (along with their children) as unbelievers.

9:111 Believers must fight for Allah. They must kill and be killed. Allah will reward them for it.

9:123 Fight disbelievers who are near you, and let them see the harshness in you.

It is extremists like you on the other side that fuel and give legitimacy to IS/BH/other terrorists. This guys are attention seeking, blood sucking, sociopathic monsters who have killed more Muslims than any other faith and instead of isolation and condemnation sadist like you celebrate them by granting them the attention they seek.

There are close to 2billion Muslims in the world (that's a quarter of humanity) how many BH terrorists are there? Say a million! ( that's still less than zero percent 0%) yet people like you want to impose this negligible heretics on the majority of Muslims. Well your choice.

Islam as peaceful as it is isn't pacifist religion, military action are granted in limited context, and mark that the word context. Given that approval rules of engagement need to be spelt out. Insincere persons like you take quotes out of context or outrightly and criminally misquote verses to support your deviant motives (what difference is there between u and BH then).

The first verse that that talk of war in the Quran in its current chronology and which you conveniently omitted States "and fight against those who fight against you and do not transgress, for indeed Allah do not like transgressors" qur'an chapter 2. Verse 190

Guy for get that thing, I have heard of a guy languishing in jail for years just because a politician wanted his girlfriend ! And when he was to be released he was rearaigned for armed robbery alledgedly committed while he was in prison. There are thousand of such cases of misplaced justice in our prisons. So please let a politian or two taste the inherent contradiction in our judiciary, and perhaps judicial reforms may speed up

Don't mind them, I hope barcanista will do a long analysis on why only a northerner is jailed so far! The guy just mines data in the name of analysis

I really need visit this Ibadan and spend one week there to see for myself.

Buhari is not only a hard man he is a stubborn man, especially when he has his mind made up. Some times his stubbornness can portray him as being naive - but one thing certain is he stays the course till the end.

Eyyah

Zakarie has been appointed new inec chairman..... Details later

AIT

Ok. From their failed forecasts of the never ending 'next weeks' the anonymous sources of Nigerian media have now moved to next (two) months
I bow o, suddenly if minister are announced this week they will be struggling to tell us the 'internal intrigues' of the selection process - still from the notorious anonymous source.

Where are these people
Fashola
Fawhemi
Festus
Tam David
Amechi
Etc

Or are they carrying out 'critical analysis' (the phrase buhari used for his ministers in 1884) of their portfolios/ministries

Who else is missing from the public space?

bigerboy200:
Ministerial positions are plainly political...The perm secs have a grounded working knowledge of the ministries,they give d ministers briefings and what n what they should say in FEC meetings..i once knew of a commisioner who couldn't even grant an interview to journalists without d perm sec of d ministry by his side..

Guy just because I don't comment on NL doesn't mean I don't use the username again

these guys are really the best in the consulting business, and they go for the best, they never compromise standard anywhere. I use to have a professor who was a mckinsey consultant or something he specialised in asian markets. i use to go sit in his office for hours to discus market trends, exchange rates etc hoping he might refer/recommend me to mckinsey. but the guy no bulge. may be one of these days or years i might consider given them a try again even though i luv my current job.

thanks for the insight OP better luck nxt time

i think the best customer service is between stanbic and GTB. they r both good

menh dats some end to end question and answer session. the guy even tried to have passed the PST, dat thing is seemingly 'unpassable'

i think these interviews are designed not necessarily to get the precise answers out of you, but to see mechanics behind your reasonining, and d ability to find FIND solutions and not GETTING them per say.

immagine being asked by an interviewer "how many golf balls will it take to fill this room" whats your answer....

well every body has a perculiar make up. I cant even imagine my self skiping any prayer at all (Alhamdulillah) though i might be guilty of delay (astaghfirullah) but not praying any of the five is unthinkable.

I dont know if i have eva contributed to this thread b4, but here we go, i work with an MNC, i am a field staff, so i hardly stay in the office, the work is quite much and can consume you especially if you dont plan your schedule. but why i am writing this is that I am a CFA candiddate and had wanted to write theupcoming exams next june in Accra, but i feel it will be a waste of fund to register as i might not get enough time to study due to my work. So i have resolved in the spirit of self development to sign up for language classes instead (FRENCH & ARABIC - i lost a juicy position a few years ago in the middle east because my arabic was rusty). Do you feel it is a resonable trade-off to go for language classes at the expense of my CFA exams (at least for now)

yes downstream considers 2:2, especially if you show willingness to improve by professional qualifications or further studies

hmm! this thread hmm! this thread

it helped me a lot when trying to get into the oil and gas industry. gud luck guys. the secret is embelish your resume (not with lies) apply to as much as u can, and above all be patient coz the recruitment process can drag on for a long time

@mustay and co could u guys be kind enough to send me level 2 materials, I want to start preparing for June 2014, just PM me,Thanks in anticipation of ur rapid response.

Not for the faint mind. But a good synthesis of theory, history and the current Nigerian quagmire.

FROnT PAGE

Hmmhh...

^
I don't blame u check my post on this forum especially on the CFA candidates forum I ve been actively helping and have been helped by others. Anyways the offer is expired.

I received a call from a consultant who wanted a CFA member for one of their client (a financial org based in VI) but am just a level 2 candidate. They asked me to suggest a person for the position, I told them I will get back to them tomorrow.
So if u are a CFA member contact me here or email me. Ebt228m(at)yahoo.com

I received a call from a consultant who wanted a CFA member for one of their client (a financial org based in VI) but am just a level 2 candidate. They asked me to suggest a person for the position, I told them I will get back to them tomorrow.
So if u are a CFA member contact me here or email me. Ebt228m(at)yahoo.com

This is an accurate representation of our deceased governor, Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, 1948 – 2012 - A fitting Tribute by Dr. Hakeem Baba Ahmed....thank you Hakeem, and may the souls of the departed rest in peace. Amen

Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa - A Tribute

“We are tomorrow’s past” Mary Webb.

How do you write, in a few hundred words, about the life and achievements of a man whose character and destiny were shaped by remarkable humility, faith and a hefty push from God? The answer is you don’t. You could sketch landmarks and turning points, and paint a general picture that should do justice to facts and history. But it is even more difficult to do this if you the man is related to you, in some ways.

Patrick Yakowa has been my friend for 25 years, since the day we were sworn-in by Colonel Dangiwa Umar (Rtd) as Permanent Secretaries in the Government of Kaduna State in 1987. We bunked together in a government guest house for four months while our houses were being renovated. The four of us, Yakowa, Mr Barnabas Pikawi, Mr Tanko Tete, (now Chief of Kaninkon in Jemaa Local Government Area) and I, bonded under a challenging atmosphere in which we were trusted with so much responsibility in a state that was beginning to show all the promises of becoming the nations religiou’s battlefield. When Dangiwa Umar alerted the nation that it catches cold whenever Kaduna sneezed, we knew what he meant. We were part of a virile civil service that still operated largely within the traditions of the civil service of old, and we knew that Kaduna State held the key to the future of the nation.

Since then, our paths parted and crossed many times. Patrick and Bulus James, who was our senior in the hierarchy of Permanent Secretaries were the only ones who declined to convert to Directors-General from Permanent Secretaries, or revert back to positions of Directors, as demanded by decree 43 of 1988. He left the state civil service and joined the federal civil service, with much encouragement from the late Wazirin Jamaa, Alhaji Aliyu Mohammed. It proved to be a decision that was to give him a new lease of life in the federal service. Patient, intelligent and hardworking, he made the rounds in Department and Ministries. By the time I joined him in the federal civil service in 1992, he was a full Director. He and I were to work again in Kaduna State, he as Commissioner for Commerce and I as Special Advisor on Parastatals under Colonel Lawal Jafaru Isa. I left after a year because I had no place in that administration, and returned to my federal civil service position. He stayed on as Commissioner until the end of Col. Isa’s administration, serving, as usual, with distinction. He was posted to the Ministry of Defence, Lagos as Director, Joint Services Department (JSD), while I was recalled back to Kaduna to serve as Secretary to Government of Kaduna State (SSG) under Colonel. Hameed I. Ali.

In 1998, while still a Director, Alhaji Gidado Idris, GCON somehow convinced General Abdullasalami Abubakar to appoint him a Minister, and he was assigned to the new Ministry of Solid Minerals. That rare feat, to have a civil servant in his career appointed a Minister, put Patrick squarely in the limelight, but he held his own, making major strides towards giving that Ministry which had so much potential to transform the non-oil extractive industry and benefit the north in particular, a solid foundation. At the end of Col. H. I Ali’s administration, I resumed my federal service career, and was assigned to take over the Department which Patrick had left to become a Minister, J.S.D in the Ministry of Defence. I therefore succeeded him directly.

In 1999 General Abdussalami appointed 16 new Permanent Secretaries. Again Patrick and I were in the list, the only two from one state. Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu, now Chief Servant and Governor of Niger State was on the list as well, and he christened us the sweet sixteen, partly owing to the our relatively younger age as Federal Permanent Secretaries, and partly, I think because we had beautiful and intelligent people like Amal Pepple in the group. Patrick was still serving as Minister, and I remember pleading with him many times to relinquish the Ministerial appointment and take up his more secure position as Permanent Secretary before the military handed over. I worried that civilians are not going to be well-disposed towards a Permanent Secretary who ceased to be a Minister today and becomes a Permanent Secretary the next day. Somehow, in spite of his promises to do so, he did not.

One of the first acts of President Obasanjo in office in 1999 was to suspend all appointments, contracts and awards made by the Abdussalami administration pending review. That included all appointments of new Permanent Secretaries, but this was later reviewed to include all serving Permanent Secretaries. All of us were directed to submit to a “re-orientation” programme, at the end of which many were retired. Patrick was one of them, and without doubt, his record as a civil servant Minister must have counted against him.

For the first time in his life, he was in the job market, but not for long. He served with the National Economic Intelligence Committee until 2003 when Governor Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi appointed him Secretary to State Government (SSG). From that point on, it would appear that fate and divine hands took firmer control of his life. It is not easy to serve as SSG in a democratic setting. You run into too many obstacles, and your job tends to be nibbled constantly by a opportunists and appointees with little to do. But he did well enough to retain the confidence of the Governor to be appointed Deputy Governor when Shekari died. For this, the Governor must have felt that he satisfied the key requirements for a Deputy Governor: transparent loyalty, absence of an overt political ambition and lots of patience. A technocrat to the hilt, he stayed in his own corner, and must have endured the inherent frustrations of all Deputy Governors better than most of his colleagues because Makarfi was able to transfer him intact to the new Governor, Namadi Sambo. Death played a role in his elevation, but his patience and forebearance allowed him to retain his position.

Death again had a say in his next move. The elevation of Goodluck Jonathan as President, and the consequent move of Namadi Sambo to Abuja as Vice President made Patrick a Governor. Serving the rest of Namadi Sambo’s term was not really a challenge. The real challenge was to win his own election, and it was in the run-up and preparations to the gubernatorial elections that I saw how much our political process can suck in even the best among us into its murky and destructive waters. A man of peace who hated stepping on toes, Patrick’s contest for his own term as Governor, an event that could prove that southern Kaduna people can have their own in Kashim Ibrahim House, not by accident, but by right, was bitter, divisive and extremely damaging. The elections elevated religion and region as decisive factors more than any other time; and the riots which followed the announcement of results, at least in Kaduna had much to do with the combustion which was bound to follow the dangerous pandering to faith and other primordial sentiments in the campaigns. The uncanny similarities between the political paths of Jonathan and Yakowa were noted by many people, and this may explain the close rapport which existed between them.

From day one, Yakowa governed a massively polarized state, although he wanted to unite the people and run an all-inclusive administration. Constantly on edge, major conflicts took place around the elections, during the subsidy removal protests, after church bombings and on a number of occasions. He alienated the few Muslims who thought he could be firm and decisive by the tragically-slow response to the massacre of hundreds of Muslims in Zonkwa. He alienated christians who thought he favored Muslims in Jemaa by “protecting” them during conflicts; or by not protecting villagers in Zonkon Kataf and Kaura and Birnin Gwari LGAs from marauding murderers. In spite of unprecedented visible evidence of southern Kaduna indigenes in top positions, “his” people felt he had done too little for them. Substantial part of the population in the northern part which expected little from him anyway moved further away from his administration, and his sole anchor remained the Emir of Zazzau, with whom he had maintained a life-long respectful relationship.

The frontline status of Kaduna State in the fight for supremacy between religions in the north was compounded by the incursion of the JASLIWAJ (a.k.a. Boko Haram) insurgency. A governor who had all the experience and credentials to make a major difference in the economy of the state found himself literary fighting against its collapse between stopping fights, paying for security and looking around for support which did not exist. The state’s economy shrunk; businesses relocated, new investment dried up; motorists to or through Kaduna phoned in advance to make sure routes are safe; communities became more segregated along religion and sect, and politics became more bitter. The last hurrah, involving the claim that PDP won all but 1 of the 23 Local Government Chairmanship seats in the state showed clearly that PDP hawks are firmly in control of the Yakowa administration, and the 2015 elections will be a very bitter fight. He fought on many fronts, including many attempts to pitch him against Vice President Namadi Sambo, and against many parochial interests.

But for Patrick, all that is now in the past. History will note Patrick as a good man who had no trace of malice in his character. He was, in fact, ill-suited for the type of politics we play in this country, but once he was in it, he gave it his best. The hand of God which was so prominent in his life is again evident in the manner of his death. His life, Amina, and family will take comfort from being part of the life of a man who just wanted to do good. In the context of what we have become as nation, this saying a lot for any man.