₦airaland Forum

Dead on Arrival!

yinkus6750:
Long over dueei.
Way to go.
Resource control is the best thing to happen to this nation.

Oga these are constitutional amendments. Just like state creation and recall if elected officials. Some actions are dead on arrival of you truly understand the process required for success.

I hope he didn’t pay in advance for 10yrs!

It’s taken the Ibos 70yrs to appoint a yoruba DVC. Yet the 3 premier universities in Yoruba land have had Ibo full vice chancellors (not deputy) since the 1960s (UI and Unilag) Prof Kenneth Dike/ Prof Eni Njoku and 1980 (OAU) Prof Cyril Onwumechili.

Somehow we are supposed to clap!

Akpakomiza2:
The apex court rarely upturn Guber cases u like appeal

I’m sure there were a few even in this last cycle.

ElevationD:
Look friend, you did not need this very long analysis and English, if only you looked without bias at the constitutional provisions.

The question remains if the conditions for a declaration of a state of emergency were existing. Aside from the political disagreements between the contending powers, what were the existing conditions (if any), genuinely leading to the state of emergency.

Long submissions and interpretations are not needed if we understand clearly the constitution as quoted by you.

Again you are changing the topic. I have addressed all matters raised. If you have a handicap with English comprehension, I’m afraid I can’t help you with that and engaging you any further would be a waste our time.

I suggest you fix your English comprehension before engaging in subjects you lack the fundamental ability to understand because of a deficiency in language comprehension.

Anything else is a waste of time.

Trying to give directions left or right to a man who doesn’t know the difference between left and right is a waste of time.

Akpakomiza2:
How so

Many cases have been upturned by the Supreme Court.

This is a bad bill.

iwaeda:
It will be good, if judges will be fair and fear God. If our elections are free and fair snd transparent we don't need go to court.

If we don’t have sore losers and people who want to give an impression to their supporters that they were robbed even when they know they lost, we wouldn’t have all these court cases.

One reason some politicians go to court even when they know they lost is because they know if they accept, when they contest next time, Nigerians will say “this one can’t win”. So they go to court and lie to their gullible supporters to remain relevant for the next elections.

We have the country we have because we are Nigerians. We are who we are!

ElevationD:
And have you taken your time to look at the constitution, to familiarize yourself with it and ask if the so called state of emergency was in accordance with its stipulations?

I suggest that you take your time to look through, vis - a - vis the actions to taken, to make a proper assessment and draw a proper conclusion on it.

The constitution gives power to declare the state of emergency.

In a state of emergency normal rules don’t apply. That is why it is called a state of emergency.

If the procedure for declaring a state of emergency was not followed that is a different matter. But your argument ab-initio was not whether the procedure was properly followed. Your argument (either in a clear display of ignorance or having an agenda) was questioning why normal rules were not being followed in a state of emergency. What you are now trying to do now is to move the goal post after being exposed.

I have already posted on this and won’t repeat myself.

casualobserver:
Permit me to explain to you why you and all the other "well meaning" Nigerians are wrong.

This is an "English Comprehension" problem

If you have read my posts, you may have noticed that I have often pointed out that we have an epidemic of English comprehension in Nigeria. We often use words the meaning we do not fully understand. I have often talked on this forum of the problems cause amongst even the educated and the masses by a failure to understand the word "minimum". It is for this reason we have seen people argue over Buhari's School certificate, when he has a post graduate degree. it is for this season a politician will present a forged degree certificate when all he requires is a school leaving certificate or present a forged school certificate when you have a legitimate degree certificate.

Similarly the problem we have here is a failure to understand the meaning of the word "emergency" and for that reason I will present definitions from

Cambridge dictionary: a dangerous or serious situation, such as an accident, that happens suddenly or unexpectedly and needs immediate action:

oxford dictionary: a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.

mariam Webster: an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action

State of emergency: A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do,


what is clear from these definitions is that an emergency is an abnormal or unexpected set of circumstances or situation. Therefore normal rules dont apply. In an emergency, you use emergency powers as required to deal with the nature of the emergency.

I will give 3 examples of emergencies and how constitutional rights can and are withdrawn/suspended to deal with emergencies.

1: Health emergency e.g Covid. because of the emergency nature of the covid outbreak, basic rights of citizens enshrined in the constitutions all over the world were withdrwn temporarily for the duration of the emergency. Right of free movement, Right to gather etc. because the health emergency was spread by the gathering of people., our rights to gather and move freely was curtailed because that was seen as a solution to the health emergency.

2: Airplane emergency: If a plane heading to an airport declares an emergency, all aircraft movement around the airspace and heading to the airport are suspended and in some cases diverted to other airports. Before a plane takes off to a destination, it would have secured landing rights for its destination airport. If another plane heading to that airport declares an emergency, your right to land is suspended because the emergency takes priority. it is only after the plane has landed succesfully without incident that normal operation resumes and your right to land is reinstated.

3: household emergency: If you live abroad and there is domestic violence such that child welfare services deem the childrento be at risk. Your right to your children wan be withdrawn either temporarily or in extreme cases permanently.

in all these cases these are abnormal situations and authorities will invoke emergency power as required to deal with the situation. That is the point of an emergency and having emergency powers….. it gives the holder the powers to do what he is not normally allowed to do. I do t think many understand this even the so called educated, even the lawyers. Emergency powers mean by definition an abnormal situation were you may lose your rights temporarily or even permanently as required. Due to the unpredictable nature of emergencies, you will hardly find it specified what to do. What you will find is a high threshold for declaring an emergency and proper checks and balances because it is understood that with emergencies come extraordinary powers which can be abused.

Now Rivers State:

what is the emergency?
1: For 14 months, A governor has operated illegally culminating in the Supreme court declaring there is no government in RIvers state and the governor has been operating as a Despot.
2: With the ruling recognising the 27 members, they had started impeachment proceedings.
3: prevous efforts to mediate had failed
4: battle lines had been drawn and from the body language of the house members, they were bent on exacting revenge
5: the governor had made statements that may be deemed to be inciting militants
6: Funds had been witheld and until a budget is passed they wont be released meaning workers would not get paid.
7: A major source of revenues and most importantly forex for the government was at risk.

Clearly things were heating up. it doesnt take a rocket scientist to know where this was heading.

An emergency was proclaimed. The dramatis personae in the stalemate were suspended they were suspended because they were the cause of the problem. it is intellectually repugnant to suggest in the situation in Rivers you could declare an emergency and leave both sides in place...... again they were the source of the problem!
If you are declaring an emergency an you leave the governor and house in place what do you expect to acheive? why bother declaring an emergency? So long as they are both in place the impeachment will continue, emergency or no emergency. i really dont understand why people dont understand this. This is different from all other cited cases because Again I repeat the governor and the house were the cause of the problem...they had to be suspended to deescalate the situation

The next question then is Does the president have the power?

YES! just like during covid, the airplane or the domestic violence example, rights can be withdrawn in emergency situations thats why emergency powers exist. What the constitution does like i said is place a high threshold for the declaration of an emergency because the framers of the constitution know that emergency powers are very powerful. So it added checks and balance in the form of the national assembly. the because emergency powers can do anything because of the nature of the emergency, no arm of government can declare an emergency without concurrence from the others.

lets us now summarize:

The judiciary has declared a state of no government in Rivers state
The president concurs and proclaimed an emergency
the assembly also concured.

if you challenge in court you will lose.....because the same supreme court has already said there is no government and the gov is acting like a despot. With due respect, if the 3 arms of government, dont agree with you, maybe your opinion or understanding of the situation is wrong.

All a president can do is make a proclamation that is valid for 48hrs, withour concurrence from the national assembly the governor and house are back in 48hrs! Thats the check and balance

The consitution has worked as intended.

The problem:

For me the only K-leg in the matter is the national assembly and the opaque way they secure the votes
Instead of focusing on whether the president has the power (he does so long as he is backed by the assembly)

People's energies should be focused on the National Assembly and whether they indeed complied with the provisions of the constitution by having a 2/3rds majority. Apart from that, everything done is constitutional and worked as intended!

for me it is either people don't fully understand what a state of emergency is and means (poor education or poor grasp of English) or those that do are pushing a narrative because it suits them, I.e they have an agenda!

ElevationD:
And does your new sole administrator have an assembly, not to talk of an approval from any assembly? By the way, who’s helping him manage the 400b allocation released to him?

Do you actually know what a state of emergency is?

I suggest you read the definition below and reassess your comment.

I also suggest you familiarize yourself with the terms of the SOE as enacted by the National Assembly.

Finally I suggest you familiarize yourself with the subject matter before you rush to mdomment.

professorPABX:
It is not about having a powerful President but about having a country where the minority have a say.

The book written by IBB revealed so many hidden things. It revealed most of the confusion I have about Obasanjo's personality. In Nigeria, Atiku as Vice president was more powerful than Jonathan as a President. Jonathan as Vice President and Osinbajo as Vice President are just the same just like P.A to President and nothing more.

Under Shagari, Umaru Dikko and Senator Uba Ahmed were more powerful than Alex Ekwueme the VP. Even under Buhari there were people that are more powerful than Osinbajo.

The IBB Book revealed something that has confused me for years.

What part of the book, what did he say? You are right about Dikko. He was probably more powerful than Shagari himself!

I think he was the original “cabal”

richmond500:
Atiku should give space, he is not different from Tinubu
Obi is a clueless
El-Rufai is a known tribal and religious bigot.

Only Amaechi seems to be a better option

Anyone who thinks this man granting interviews, appearing at every event is doing this in is his old age to give space to anybody should think again!

Racoon:
I believe with all my heart that Peter Obi, like many other well meaning Nigerians, are right on the issue of Rivers SoE.
.[/i]

Permit me to explain to you why you and all the other "well meaning" Nigerians are wrong.

This is an "English Comprehension" problem

If you have read my posts, you may have noticed that I have often pointed out that we have an epidemic of English comprehension in Nigeria. We often use words the meaning we do not fully understand. I have often talked on this forum of the problems cause amongst even the educated and the masses by a failure to understand the word "minimum". It is for this reason we have seen people argue over Buhari's School certificate, when he has a post graduate degree. it is for this season a politician will present a forged degree certificate when all he requires is a school leaving certificate or present a forged school certificate when you have a legitimate degree certificate.

Similarly the problem we have here is a failure to understand the meaning of the word "emergency" and for that reason I will present definitions from

Cambridge dictionary: a dangerous or serious situation, such as an accident, that happens suddenly or unexpectedly and needs immediate action:

oxford dictionary: a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring immediate action.

mariam Webster: an unforeseen combination of circumstances or the resulting state that calls for immediate action

State of emergency: A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do,


what is clear from these definitions is that an emergency is an abnormal or unexpected set of circumstances or situation. Therefore normal rules dont apply. In an emergency, you use emergency powers as required to deal with the nature of the emergency.

I will give 3 examples of emergencies and how constitutional rights can and are withdrawn/suspended to deal with emergencies.

1: Health emergency e.g Covid. because of the emergency nature of the covid outbreak, basic rights of citizens enshrined in the constitutions all over the world were withdrwn temporarily for the duration of the emergency. Right of free movement, Right to gather etc. because the health emergency was spread by the gathering of people., our rights to gather and move freely was curtailed because that was seen as a solution to the health emergency.

2: Airplane emergency: If a plane heading to an airport declares an emergency, all aircraft movement around the airspace and heading to the airport are suspended and in some cases diverted to other airports. Before a plane takes off to a destination, it would have secured landing rights for its destination airport. If another plane heading to that airport declares an emergency, your right to land is suspended because the emergency takes priority. it is only after the plane has landed succesfully without incident that normal operation resumes and your right to land is reinstated.

3: household emergency: If you live abroad and there is domestic violence such that child welfare services deem the childrento be at risk. Your right to your children wan be withdrawn either temporarily or in extreme cases permanently.

in all these cases these are abnormal situations and authorities will invoke emergency power as required to deal with the situation. That is the point of an emergency and having emergency powers….. it gives the holder the powers to do what he is not normally allowed to do. I do t think many understand this even the so called educated, even the lawyers. Emergency powers mean by definition an abnormal situation were you may lose your rights temporarily or even permanently as required. Due to the unpredictable nature of emergencies, you will hardly find it specified what to do. What you will find is a high threshold for declaring an emergency and proper checks and balances because it is understood that with emergencies come extraordinary powers which can be abused.

Now Rivers State:

what is the emergency?
1: For 14 months, A governor has operated illegally culminating in the Supreme court declaring there is no government in RIvers state and the governor has been operating as a Despot.
2: With the ruling recognising the 27 members, they had started impeachment proceedings.
3: prevous efforts to mediate had failed
4: battle lines had been drawn and from the body language of the house members, they were bent on exacting revenge
5: the governor had made statements that may be deemed to be inciting militants
6: Funds had been witheld and until a budget is passed they wont be released meaning workers would not get paid.
7: A major source of revenues and most importantly forex for the government was at risk.

Clearly things were heating up. it doesnt take a rocket scientist to know where this was heading.

An emergency was proclaimed. The dramatis personae in the stalemate were suspended they were suspended because they were the cause of the problem. it is intellectually repugnant to suggest in the situation in Rivers you could declare an emergency and leave both sides in place...... again they were the source of the problem!
If you are declaring an emergency an you leave the governor and house in place what do you expect to acheive? why bother declaring an emergency? So long as they are both in place the impeachment will continue, emergency or no emergency. i really dont understand why people dont understand this. This is different from all other cited cases because Again I repeat the governor and the house were the cause of the problem...they had to be suspended to deescalate the situation

The next question then is Does the president have the power?

YES! just like during covid, the airplane or the domestic violence example, rights can be withdrawn in emergency situations thats why emergency powers exist. What the constitution does like i said is place a high threshold for the declaration of an emergency because the framers of the constitution know that emergency powers are very powerful. So it added checks and balance in the form of the national assembly. the because emergency powers can do anything because of the nature of the emergency, no arm of government can declare an emergency without concurrence from the others.

lets us now summarize:

The judiciary has declared a state of no government in Rivers state
The president concurs and proclaimed an emergency
the assembly also concured.

if you challenge in court you will lose.....because the same supreme court has already said there is no government and the gov is acting like a despot. With due respect, if the 3 arms of government, dont agree with you, maybe your opinion or understanding of the situation is wrong.

All a president can do is make a proclamation that is valid for 48hrs, withour concurrence from the national assembly the governor and house are back in 48hrs! Thats the check and balance

The consitution has worked as intended.

The problem:

For me the only K-leg in the matter is the national assembly and the opaque way they secure the votes
Instead of focusing on whether the president has the power (he does so long as he is backed by the assembly)

People's energies should be focused on the National Assembly and whether they indeed complied with the provisions of the constitution by having a 2/3rds majority. Apart from that, everything done is constitutional and worked as intended!

for me it is either people don't fully understand what a state of emergency is and means (poor education or poor grasp of English) or those that do are pushing a narrative because it suits them, I.e they have an agenda!

press9jatv:
yes, it has Assembly approval. Massive infrastructures ongoing already. No time to waste time. Fubara is doing the needful.

Which assembly 3 man assembly or the legit assembly?

franchasng:
If Atiku wants to achieve his presidential ambition before joining his ancestors....he should make some difficult sacrifice of stepping aside and throwing his full unflinching support for Peter Obi to become the flagbearer of their coalition with Tambuwal/Bala Mohammed/etc as running mate.


There must be a solid signed agreement that Peter Obi will do only single tenure and allow Atiku continue in 2031...and then Atiku too will do only single tenure for El Rufai to continue in 2036 to complete the North's 8 years and the ticket goes back to South for another popular/competent Southerner (e.g. Prof. Osinbajo or Dr Akinwunmi Adesina) to continue.

With this arrangement, every political big wig in the coalition will be considered and favored, and this is the only way for them to work together sincerely and dedicatedly to oust Bola Tinubu come 2027.

without Atiku on the ticket the opposition is DOA

press9jatv:
GOV. SIM FUBARA’S LEGACIES THAT DWARF FALSEHOODS

While detractors continue to push narratives to justify the declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State, it is crucial to remind the world that Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s achievements in the past one year and ten months stand tall above any propaganda.

Healthcare: Gov. Fubara has revived numerous abandoned health facilities, including the remodeled and expanded Zonal Hospital in Bori, with similar projects in Omoku, Ahoada, and Degema. He also addressed the personnel deficit by employing over 2,000 health workers to boost efficiency, implemented the Rivers state Health Insurance Scheme as well as the approval for the remodelling of 153 primary health care centres in the state.

Education: His administration has prioritized education, remodeling key institutions and commissioning projects like the Okrika Grammar School and Government Girls Secondary School, Ahoada, while also working on Kalabari National College. To combat a decade-long stagnation, he has recruited 1,000 teachers, promoted civil servants, and implemented a new N85,000 minimum wage—far exceeding the national benchmark. He has also twice gifted N100,000 Christmas bonuses to the entire workforce, including pensioners.

Infrastructure: Despite political distractions, Gov. Fubara remains focused on delivering landmark projects. The 50.15km Port Harcourt dual carriage ring road, 12.3km Trans-Kalabari road, and 23.5km Elele-Umudioga-Ubimini-Ikiri-Omoku road are progressing steadily. He has commissioned critical roads such as the 11.8km Okehi-Umuola-Eberi road, 14km Omuma-Omodu road, and 23km Bori internal roads, among others, and flagged off more road projects across the state.

Beyond roads, he has strengthened traditional institutions by commissioning palaces and supported the judiciary by delivering seven blocks of five-bedroom duplexes for judges.

Security: Gov. Fubara’s synergy with security agencies is unmatched. He has donated a helicopter to the Nigerian Air Force, built housing for military personnel, and provided six gunboats to enhance maritime security. Additionally, over 100 operational vehicles have been given to the Nigerian Police, and Hilux vans supplied to NSCDC to curb pipeline vandalism. These measures have bolstered peace and attracted fresh investments to the state.

Governance & Assembly Complex: Contrary to claims that he neglected the Rivers State House of Assembly complex, Gov. Fubara had begun its reconstruction early last year, and it is now almost complete. Even the Sole Administrator confirmed the progress, exposing the misleading narrative that justified emergency rule.

The hurried decision to impose emergency rule, based on unverified reports, has raised concerns about the President’s neutrality. This move threatens to stall ongoing projects, as Gov. Fubara’s direct supervision of contractors ensured both speed and quality.

However, one thing remains undeniable before this unfortunate political interference, Rivers State was thriving under a people-focused leader.

No amount of falsehood can erase Gov. Fubara’s legacies, and in due time, he will reclaim his mission to uphold the #RiversFirst mantra for the benefit of all.

did he have assembly approval for all these projects? if he didnt they are all illegal.

iwaeda:
There used to be public water around Massey, Alli, Onala. Later we moved to Mainland, water used to run in Surulere, Yaba,,Alagomeji, Kano, Bornoway, Denton, Ondo, Jebba, but when democracy came water corporation big office at Ijora, became just an edifice.

Since you lived in Lagos as a youth and know there was running water in all parts of Lagos…though not always reliable, I am sure you also know what significant changes happened in Lagos around the time democracy came.

If you have running water from the water corporation, I am almost certain it is good quality. When we were young the water was from LSWC and it was clean and clear.

The problem is most people don’t and use water from wells or boreholes next to Soakaways . You can’t live in a 600sqm plot and think your Soakaway and borehole (particularly wells mislabeled as borehole) are not mixing!

Nothing but the truth. aprt from their "no gree for anybody" mentality, Atiku is the major problem of PDP! Full stop!

Who chased Obi away? Atiku
Who caused them to ditch their constitutional zoning formula? Atiku
Who caused problem with Wike who had been funding the party? Atiku
Who as VP caused a president to kneel down and beg? Atiku
Who decamped to another part while a VP? Atiku
Who contested for president in another party while a sitting VP? Atiku.
Who has left and rejoined party many times? Atiku!

When the coalition fails, who will be the cause? Atiku!

Del

SoftSport:

Natasha's petition is more about political rivalry than legal grounds, as Senator Imasuen's disbarment in New York shouldn't define his ability to serve in Nigeria, especially since he wasn't disbarred here.

This is not about serving as a senator.

PDPdestroyer:
Obi’s brain is collapsing

It’s only someone who has a brain that can experience brain collapse.

This man Obasanjo! The man has no conscience, has no shame!

Having said that he is absolutely right!

We are trying to be what we are not what is alien to us.

Wow I didn’t think this was achievable. The signatures need to be verified but wow!

Ok I just realized they did similar with Dino but the signatures were fake.

I still believe it is almost impossible to get 50% of signatures because the voters register in itself is full of people who have died, moved away etc.

Quarterpast:
See How Much Politicians were earning during this period.

We can only achieve greatness as a country by the time we make politics financially unattractive. As long as the job is lucrative, politicians will continue to steal and do everything they can to get to power. Imagine a president earning just 200k-300k monthly salary, tell me if majority would be interested in being the president. By so doing, only people who have genuine interest in improving the lives of the masses would go into politics.

Though, one may argue that 50k salary for a president in 1979 was a huge amount. Yes, I agree. But we must be honest with ourselves, our politicians are being overpaid these days. They are being paid to do almost nothing.

N50,000 in 1979 would buy 4 brand new Mercedes Benz 200 cars or 6 Peugeot 504. The presidents salary of N14m today cannot buy even the cheapest Kia, INNOSON or Toyota.

In 1979, N50,000 was $80,000. At that time the salary of the US president was $200,000. Today a IS president earns $400,000 while a Nigerian president earns $9,000!

When we make past comparisons, we should put things in proper context.

Salary wise the current lot are worse off.

omowolewa:
So Tinubu is waiting like a lame Duck too

In the game of Coalitions, interest makes the difference.

GBAM! They don’t understand this. In 2015, the groups that formed the coalition all got what they wanted and only 1 person wanted to be president. The New PDP, APGA, APC, ANPP factions were willing to concede the presidency to CPC. It was easy to coalesce behind Buhari. In this coalition they all want to be president or VP. The same reason they lost in 2023 despite having. 14m votes is the reason their coalition will fail.

Afrojuju2017:
The only stumbling block in the prior recall atyemost has been the senate President refusing to allow the motion to be moved on the floor once the required INEC prerequisite has been meet

Getting the signatures of 50% of REGISTERED voters is not beans. In most cases less than 20% vote.

obyno82:
How did IPOB chase aways investment in SE? In case you don't know all over Naija multinationals are leaving, Meta scaled down on their investment, Microsoft as well.GSK and Diageo.

Carry on IPObing! Like I said console yourself that GSK left, they left because other drug manufacturers local and Indian pushed them out with cheaper drugs, Diageo sold their stake to another international investor, Guiness is still in Nigeria. No new international investor has gone to the SE since IPOB. no new onshore oil exploration since militancy! All new international investors are in safe areas free from rancour. Nobody invests where there is no peace.

The reason you are all running to the SW is because there are no jobs for you in your zone. The reason there are no jobs is because no one invests where there is no security.

Like I said keep on IPOBing!

madridguy:
Supposing president Tinubu didn't take the right steps, the haters and their evil media will be saying Tinubu intentionally set Rivers state on fire so the oil companies can relocate Eko Atlantic City, Lagos.

International Oil companies have long abandoned the Niger delta. In case they hadn’t noticed. All their new investments are offshore and onshore production is being sold to local players. This withdrawal from the SS started a long time ago.

Just like IPOB chased away investment in the SE, militants have chased away international oil companies. So bad oil companies fly their staff in and back every day.

YoshiMaster:
Who are you to support terrorists killing civilians and Nigerian soldiers?

Dozens dead last week but all you talk about is Rivers.

Try not to put your stupidity on display.

Where did I support terrorists? We know those who openly support terrorists like Ekpa and Kanu on this platform.

Ebuka78:
The civil society groups accused the Federal Government of using the declaration as a political weapon rather than addressing the underlying causes of the crisis.

That's the key point. Learn to read and understand and not to attack.

The underlying cause of the crisis are the governor and the assembly members…..is it that difficult to understand?