₦airaland Forum

The other side of Imo oil tale

Posted by: Okodili Ndidi, Owerri in Southeast report 8 hours ago

Mineral deposits, especially oil, can be a source of stupendous wealth, affluence and power for the region where it is found. The people of the region automatically become the proverbial geese that lay the golden eggs. They also expect to be the primary beneficiaries of accrualls from their God-given resources.

But this is not the situation in some communities in Imo State where oil is found in commercial quantity. The rate of poverty in these communities makes one ask whether inhabitants of Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta local government areas are part of humanity.

In the past 48 years, oil exploration in Imo State has left tales of anguish, death, tears, impoverishment and anger among the people of these oil-producing communities in Imo State.

The people of Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta local government areas where the oil deposits in the state are located, have nothing but pains, death, neglect, deprivation and environmental abuse to show for the 48 years of oil exploration in the areas.

No thanks to the activities of major oil companies operating in the area, that have capitalised on the rather peaceful nature of the host communities to exploit them, without giving back to the society in terms of corporate social responsibilities as obtained in other places.

Recently, the patience of the youth and elderly women in Umudike, Etekwuru and other adjoining villages in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area, was exhausted as they resisted what they described as deliberate abuse of their environment and hazardous practices by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

The youth, who turned out in a very large number and accompanied by their aged mothers who were equally in high number, took over the Umudike-Assa-Etekwuru delivery pipeline and disrupted the activities of a maintenance team sent by Shell to clean up a crude oil spill along the pipeline.

Their anger could be felt from a distance, their pains and disappointments boldly written on their faces as they defied the stern-looking and heavily-armed soldiers and the scorching heat of the sun to press home their demands before a rather indifferent company that was only interested in getting the business going.

The angry protesters who displayed placards with various inscriptions like; ‘SHELL stop killing our people’, ‘compensate the victims of the 2001 pipeline explosion’, ‘SHELL activities have destroyed our environment’, “we demand an end to SPDC marginalisation’ and “SPDC has turned our oil into a cause’, among others, refused all entreaties by the SPDC team to allow them clean up the spill.

The cause of the outburst, according to the youth leader, Mr. Reginald Egini, was the recent massive oil spill that has covered about one acre of farmland, which he said the SPDC had, as usual, sneaked in to quickly clean up.

“This is not the first time we are suffering as a result of oil spill. In 2001, there was a pipeline explosion that killed about 13 people with several others severely burnt and eventually incapacitated and Shell promised to pay compensation but nothing has been done up till today,” he said.

The youth leader, who vowed that they will not allow any hurried repair of the pipeline or minor clean up of the spill, said that there should be proper negotiation with the host communities to know the loss they have suffered as a result of the spill.

“There should be first an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to ascertain the level of damage on the environment. This is because we are farmers and any damage on the soil will drastically affect our means of livelihood,” he said.

Reeling off their grievances against Shell, Egini noted that: “Since 1964 when SPDC began exploration in the community, there was nothing to show that the community is an oil-producing area like other places in the Niger Delta region. “There is no single hospital, school; market built by SPDC in the community neither has it given our youths any employment or scholarships. But it has kept making promises they never cared to fulfill,” he added.

Listing their demands to include, removal of the old pipelines and replacing them with new ones to avoid continuous oil spills, payment of all outstanding compensations, including the N4 billion awarded the community against SPDC by a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt and provision of employment for graduates and artisans from the community, among others, the youth, who displayed the photographs of the victims of the 2001 pipeline fire, rejected the monetary offer suggested by the SPDC team.

The look of a 99-year-old woman, who leaned on a walking stick as she rained abuses on SPDC for what she described in Igbo dialect as igbuisi anyi ntakiri ntakiri (‘systematic elimination’) of their people by the company, was rather pathetic.

She lamented that aged women and men in other communities that are blessed with oil were taken care of by their children who were gainfully employed by the oil companies.

Mama Felicia, as she was simply addressed, told our correspondent that “I decided to join the protest because the community is no longer safe and the land is no more fertile for agriculture.

“If we don’t join the youth, it will be taken for youthful exuberance but seeing me at my age (99 years), you will know that our pain is heavy and we are ready to die demanding our rights,” she said.

Also speaking, another community leader who preferred anonymity, blamed the state government for the woes suffered by the people in the hands of the oil companies, alleging that, “even our state government has not done anything to provide basic amenities in the oil-producing communities. All they are interested in is the royalties and contracts they collect from the companies.”

The source further stated that, “the Imo State Oil-Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC) has not done anything with the money voted for the development of the communities. In fact, it has become a conduit pipe for draining the resources meant for the development of the communities, while the people languish in poverty and deprivation.”

However, when contacted, the traditional ruler of Umudike community, Ezeali James Nwanro, said the protest was premature.

“When the spill occurred, I was informed and I know that SPDC will first embark on preliminary investigation to know if the spill was an act of sabotage, in which case no compensation will be made or equipment failure, where the communities will be paid for any damage as a result of the spill. It is only after the investigation that we can know what to do as a community.

The monarch, who is also a contractor with one of the oil companies said: “The youth are not in any position to speak for the community. We have leaders and me as the traditional ruler and we will do everything possible to ensure that Shell does the right thing. So, preventing the team from carrying out the inspection is not in the best interest of both parties.”

Meanwhile efforts to speak with the management of SPDC were unsuccessful as the team that was on the scene of the spill when our reporter visited, declined comments on the issue.

Our investigations revealed that most of the communities in the two council areas (Ohaji-Egbema and Oguta local government areas) where oil are produced in the state, are confronted with massive youth unemployment, infrastructure decay and poverty.

In the face of these daunting challenges, the state Governor, Rochas Okorocha, recently released the sum of N500 million to be shared among the youth from the area as empowerment package.

But instead of ameliorating the suffering of the people as intended, the largesse further threw the communities into turmoil as the youth took up arms against each other over how the money would be shared.

At the last count, over 20 houses have been burnt, including the palace of one of the kings, while several people were severely wounded in the crisis that engulfed the oil-producing communities.

Although most of the armed youths from the area are currently benefiting from the Amnesty Programme of the Federal Government after they laid down their weapons, fears are that if effective measures are not quickly taken to address the issue of youth unemployment and poverty, the area may slide back into the dark era of militancy.
[b]SOURCE[/b]http://thenationonlineng.net/new/the-other-side-of-imo-oil-tale/

2014 budget: Outrage over allocations for zoo, new jet


There was outrage on Sunday over some allocations to the Presidency as well as ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government in the 2014 budget.

The anger was expressed by the Arewa Consultative Forum, the Northern Elders Forum and the Civil Society Legislative and Advocacy Centre and the Anti-Corruption Network and activists.

They condemned the allocations for the Villa Zoo and the amount budgeted for President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice-President Namadi Sambo’s local and foreign trips.

According to them, the allocations are not only wasteful, they boldly signpost government’s insensitivity to the plight of Nigerians.

The groups were reacting to media reports that the Presidency had budgeted N1.6bn for a new jet; N34.5m for two animals for the Villa Zoo; N2.4bn for Jonathan and Sambo’s foreign and local trips; N362m for meals and refreshment and N834m for fuelling generators in the Presidency and the MDAs
Condemning the allocations, the ACF said Nigerians must insist on service delivery.

It cautioned the government against frivolous expenses in 2014, saying the nation’s education and health sectors as well as the labour market, needed urgent intervention.

The forum’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Anthony Sani, in an SMS to one of our correspondents said, “Nigerians need to insist on how much the implementation of the budget will affect specific socio-economic indices like poverty rate, infant and maternal mortality, life expectancy, enrolment in schools, literacy rate, unemployment, or education which have misery indices.”

To the NEF, the 2014 budget tells a sad story about the situation Nigeria has found itself today.

In a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, its spokesman, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, said it was sad that those in government were more concerned about their personal comfort than they were about the suffering of ordinary Nigerians.

According to him, every aspect of the budget shows how inconsiderate government could be.

He said a close look at the budget revealed that those in government had no regards for improving the living conditions of Nigerians. This, he said, was exemplified by their resolve to spend public funds on frivolities.

Abdullahi said, “If you take the N2bn that is supposed to be the empowerment initiative for the entire North-East zone where this insurgency is greatest, it is about the same amount of money that is being wasted on an aircraft.

“And the aircraft is just part of the overall cost of the official travelling of the Executive branch of government which amounts to about N7bn.

“Yet, we have a situation where 70 per cent of the country does not enjoy more than 10hours of electricity supply and virtually 70 per cent of the country does not see clean, safe drinking water from their taps.

“You can’t see Nigerians receiving free medical treatment or even at reasonable prices.As an oil producing country, we are paying the exact amount of money being paid in other non-oil producing countries.”

He faulted the N7bn voted for the National Dialogue and the votes for travel by government officials to the detriment of education and health care delivery.

Also, the Executive Director of CISLAC, Awual Musa, said there was no justification for most of the proposals contained in the 2014 budget.

He described the proposals for the purchase of another presidential aircraft, the payment of 30,000 militants and the budget for the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as scandalous.

Musa said, “There is another sub-head for the payment of another 30, 000 militants.

“The budget for the office of the SGF is more than the budget for Health, Education and water.

“They are privatising power, and they are pushing a lot of money into power when privatisation should bring in more money for government. This budget is a budget to legitimise the stealing of public funds by this government and its cronies.”

He urged the National Assembly to do the right thing by removing “these irresponsible proposals.”

On its part, the ACN linked the allocations to preparations for the 2015 general elections.

Its Executive Secretary and a former member of the House of Representatives, Dino Melaye, urged Nigerians to resist “this deliberate wickedness from insensitive and callous leaders.”

Melaye, in a telephone interview with one of correspondents said, “This (the budget) is outrageously calamitous.

“I have always said the Jonathan administration is the most corrupt in the history of Nigeria.

“The simple elucidation to this is a wicked intention to steal, and loot our common patrimony toward 2015 elections.

“Where is the President going to that he will spend over N2bn ? Is he the supervisor of the world?

“What are they eating in the Villa that will cost that much? Are they eating Gucci rice, Louis Vuitton beans, and Prada bread or Polo eba?”

He noted that the proposals could not be justified in the face of the growing level of hunger, lack and want in the country.

A legal practitioner, Mr. Bamidele Aturu, said he was not surprised that so much money was being wasted on frivolities.

He said, “It shows clearly that budgeting is not in the interest of the masses of our country.. The only way to stop the reckless use of our resources is to ensure that our people drive politics and they won’t drive politics if they allow politicians to continue to deceive them. I am opposed to the recklessness and we have to find a more holistic way out.”

A Second Republic Member of the House of Representatives, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, described the provisions in the 2014 budget as scandalous.

Mohammed said the budget showed government’s disrespect for the ordinary Nigerian.

He said, “I find it absolutely scandalous that any government should ignore its basic structural services for example, education, health, social welfare, and agriculture which constitutes 65 per cent of the national economy.

“About 70 per cent of our citizens are living below the poverty line, yet this administration has chosen to embark on this kind of reckless expenditure pattern.

“I wonder why a Nigerian President should have 10 aircraft in his fleet and still go to purchase another one for over N1bn.”

Copyright PUNCH.

SOURCE: http://www.punchng.com/news/2014-budget-outrage-over-allocations-for-zoo-new-jet/

Trail ii: Typical igbo land. Chai! Igbos don suffer. Nw I see y dey kip rushing to southwest. Can sumtin good come of dis barren land?

@ Trail ii,

These appalling pics could be anywhere in Nigeria. I'm also from SW and know for sure that we have similar eyesores in the SW and indeed the whole of Nigeria.

Let us objectively condemn bad governance/corruption regardless of the state, political party or individuals involved.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Villa zoo: Jonathan budgets millions of naira for animals

by Olalekan Adetayo


The Presidency will next year spend N34.5m on two wild animals for the State House Zoo and car trackers for presidential ground fleet as well as utility vehicles.

Out of the sum, N14.5m was set aside in the 2014 budget as the cost of the two animals whose names were not given and N20m for the trackers.

Extra N2m is expected to be expended on two fleet tracking base stations.

These are contained in the details of the Appropriation bill presented by President Goodluck Jonathan through the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to the National Assembly last week.

Also contained in the plan is the sum of N50m for the improvement of electrical installations inside the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

Apart from the amount earmarked for the animals, N8m is budgeted for the upgrading and maintenance of the State House zoo. The renovation of the horses' stables/paddock for the zoo will gulp N15m.

About N5m will also be spent on the purchase of wildlife capture equipment.

The N50m was appropriated at a time work is already ongoing on new N2.2bn banquet hall approved for the Villa by the Federal Executive Council in November 2012.

The electrification project was however marked "ongoing" in the budget details to give an indication that work had already started and would be completed under the new budget.

Projects that will be carried out in the State House Medical Centre in the new year include the building and installation of oxygen/other gases generating plant at N70m; construction of VIP Wing -N1.3bn; completion of extension of Dental Wing, N50m; construction of central sterilising building,N50m and the provision of MRI building and mortuary conversion at the cost of N17.5m.

An X-ray machine will be purchased at a cost of N35m; mammography machine, N60m; embalming machine, N1.65m and hydraulic post-mortem table,N4m.

The purchase of sports kits for the State House Sports Club will gulp N4. 2m.

The remodeling of the new Vice-President's Guest House at 1, Yakubu Gowon, Crescent, Asokoro will gulp N215m; completion and rehabilitation of security quarters at Mpape Artillery and Asokoro, N30m; rehabilitation of Presidential/ministerial chalet at Airport, Abuja, N10m; and the rehabilitation of medical centre's service quarters, N50m.

SOURCE: http://odili.net/news/source/2013/dec/24/846.html

mikeansy: PDP was never in control of the House of Representatives in the real sense

PDP lost the lower house the day Tambuwal was elected. Tambuwal was never the choice of the PDP hierarchy

so I really do not see what difference this makes.

The Senate on the other hand is in sync with Jonathan.

All in all this is good for democracy. APC will make inroads winning more states but PDP and Jonathan will still occupy Aso Rock in 2015 - 2019

@ Mikeansy, your analysis/forecast for the 2015 elections tallies with mine 100%. Although I'm not a GEJ supporter, I believe he will sweep the elections and remain Oga at the Rock till 2019!!

The religion of the next Governor should not be an issue.

The only criteria that really counts is: Can the next Governor get the job done?

funshint: Na wa 4 dis Nigerian "Pipeline syndrome". Fuel no dey...na pipeline. Light no dey...na pipeline. Food no dey...na pipeline. It is well!

Lol

topsyking: YORUBA MAN.. SHOLA AMEOBI SAVING THE DAY AGAIN.... I WISH THE NFA SACK THAT BASTAARD TRIBALIST KESHI..I NEVER FORGIVEN HIM FOR LEAVING YORUBA OUT OF THE NATIONS CUP..NOT EVEN ONE SINGLE YORUBA AT THE NATIONS CUP... HE PUT ALL IS BACKWARD BETRAYAL TRIBE JUST LIKE WHAT OGBONA IS DOING NOW TO US

Is this called for? Are you ok?

Please take your tribal tirade elsewhere!!

I don't give a hoot which part of Nigeria they come from, the only criteria that matters is "are they best Nigerian team that can play the round leather game?

If the whole team comes from the same village, that is perfectly fine with me provided they are the the very best/chosen on merit and can deliver results.

When I watch any Super Eagles team..all i see is Nigerians fighting hard for our fatherland.

I remember after AFCON a guy from my tribe was complaining that the cash awards to the Super Eagles was unfair because the team is predominantly made of Igbo boys. I was like....."what kind of brain, if any, does this person have in his head"?

I refused to bribe coaches to play for Nigeria — Oparaku

Atlanta’96 Olympic gold medallist and 1993 U-17 World Cup winner, Mobi Oparaku, is pessimistic about Nigeria’s chances at the World Cup. He tells KAZEEM BUSARI what Nigeria coach needs to do for the team to perform well in Brazil next year

What do you think of Nigeria’s success in qualifying for the World Cup?

I was not worried about Ethiopia challenge because I had tipped the Super Eagles to get the World Cup ticket. Nigeria won the ticket in their first leg encounter in Addis Ababa when they defeated Ethiopia 2-1. But our team should realise that the World Cup finals is a different ball game from the qualifiers, so it is left for coach Stephen Keshi not to put Nigeria’s chances in jeopardy by selecting players based on sentiments. We have to be at the World Cup with the mentality that we can win, and we should go to Brazil with the best players we have.

I’ve been to the World Cup; the feeling of playing at that level is indescribable for players who know the worth. It is the dream of footballers and nations to feature in the World Cup; only the best are expected to be there. It is a difficult task to qualify, and even a bigger challenge to play at that level.

But being African champions should count for something when we square up against the best teams in the world.

The World Cup is all about big time players. It begins to dawn on players how big the event is when they line up side by side with the best players in the various leagues around the world. Inexperienced players are always intimidated when they see the big name players whom they could only see on television; but for the top players, the challenge will be a continuation of what they experience in the big leagues in Europe and South America. If we must get something out of the World Cup, Keshi must include our best players and not the ones that struggled against Jordan or the ones that missed several chances to score against Malawi and Ethiopia. We still need the big name players in the Super Eagles, they are the game changers. The team is currently filled with players that are not consistent in forms. That won’t help us at the World Cup. If Keshi continues to feature this same set of players, I don’t see Nigeria going far at the World Cup. He should bring back Osaze Odemwingie and Ikechukwu Uche, and also make sure Nosa Igiebor has a regular role in the team.

What was your experience when you featured in the 1998 World Cup in France?

When you’re in the team for the World Cup, knowing that you’re playing against the best players in the world, you will feel on top of the world. It’s an amazing feeling.

What role did you play when there was in-fighting in the Super Eagles at the 1998 World Cup?

We were new to the team, and I was among the youngest players at the World Cup. We had little to offer and we were there to learn from the senior players as they did their thing. We tried to emulate the good things in the team, so there was nothing we could do to influence any decision taken by the senior players.

Can you describe your experience after winning the 1993 U-17 World Cup and the 1996 Olympic football gold?

They were successes I never dreamt I would have until we won those competitions. I’m grateful to God for those achievements because they made me a better player in the sport. I always refer to the U-17 success as a miracle because it transformed my life. It was a starting point for many of us, making us prospects for the Super Eagles. When I looked back to where I was coming from and saw where I was going, I began to work hard to be in the Under-20 team and the Super Eagles. The Olympic victory meant more to us than what people thought. It was like we won the World Cup because it was the first time an African country would win it. Being a national hero and an African hero would definitely have an effect in ones life. It made us feel like we were among the top people in the continent.

Do you still reach out to your former teammates at the U-17 and U-23 levels?

Yes, we still communicate and try to do things together. Some of us have tried to come up with competitions to help younger players achieve their dreams in football. We spent a long time together playing in the Golden Eaglets and in the Olympic team before featuring in the Super Eagles. We just can’t pretend we don’t have anything in common again after those years.

What became of the gold medals?

I still have them; I deposited them at a bank for security reasons. I don’t want them to attract thieves to my house. The level of insecurity is high in the country and I would be foolish to keep such medals in the house where everyone could see.

Did winning the medals change your life in any way?

When we were younger, we were like nobody in the community. I may not have been known at all if I had not won those competitions with Nigeria. There was nothing available then that would have taken me to where I am today. When I look back to where I was coming from and what I was, I give glory to God for leading me on this path.

You didn’t get to play many games at the senior level despite joining the Super Eagles early?

It was crazy. But one thing people may not know about the World Cup is that it is full of cash for the team; there’s so much money available to everyone that features. The World Cup is the peak of events where you can make most money while in the national team. The coaches and the administrators know this so they bring in players that they know they can make money from. But for me, I don’t know how to give bribe to influence the coach’s selection or buy favours from administrators. I’ve never done it in my life; instead coaches I played for gave me money for impressive displays. At the World Cup level, everyone is interested in what he can get. In Nigeria, World Cup is about the money. Before the 1998 World Cup, I was a regular in the team as we played the qualifiers but after qualification, different players were invited to fill our spaces and pushed some of us to the background. It was due to this injustice that I was not a regular player in the team.

Are you saying your refusal to bribe coaches also caused the snub at later competitions like the 2002 World Cup?

Yes. Everyone knew the team that played at the 2002 World Cup were not the ones that should be there. When they came back empty-handed, it was expected because they were the wrong set of players. What puts me off in Nigerian football is the bribery issue between players and coaches and this has affected our game adversely.

Why do some of your colleagues shy away from addressing this issue?

I don’t know why. I can say it the way it happened because I never bribed anyone to play for Nigeria. I can say it anywhere because I’m not into this corruption that is killing our football.

Why did you leave the national team when you did?

I was ignored because I was not ready to influence coaches. And as Nigeria changed coaches, new players were introduced. The new coach wanted to promote his interest by bringing his own players. Many other players were ignored in this process and the team lost its strength. Added to this, in 2002 my knee injury aggravated while playing in the United States, so it limited my activity in football. I was more concerned with recovering from the knee injury I had.

The injury appeared to be the major reason you left football very early.

Yes, and it hurts a lot knowing that I was in my prime when the injury reoccurred. I first sustained the injury while playing at the Atlanta’96 Olympics. But the injury did not worry me because I was young and thinking I could recover without any problem. In 2002, the injury was back after some rough tackles and it kept me from playing topflight football.

Did the Nigeria Football Association help you out after having the injury at the Olympics?

The NFA didn’t do anything. They knew I was injured but they believed I was making a quick recovery. I didn’t’ want anyone to know how serious the injury was because it might mean the last time I would play for Nigeria. I had to play with the injury for all those years just to play for Nigeria. It was not a big problem for me as a young player but as I got older it began to show.

Which of the coaches did you enjoy playing for?

Jo Bonfrere was the best coach I’ve ever worked with. Whenever he asked you to do something, he would do it first to prove to you that he could and that he meant business. I think every player who played under Bonfrere knows this about him. He’s one of the best coaches Nigeria ever had; he was not biased and gave directions to many of us while playing for him.

What were you trying to achieve when you decided to play in the Nigerian league after playing abroad?

I was not trying to play my way into the national team again; I only wanted to keep fit and also experience the local league. That period, Daniel Amokachi was the coach of Nasarawa United so I called him up to give me a trial. He was happy with what he saw so I played for them for awhile. The league was full of officiating problems which made it not interesting but I wanted to see things for myself and not be told of what the league looked like. After playing with Nasarawa, Enyimba called for my service so I went to Aba to play between 2008 and 2010. I discovered, however, that the Nigerian league was so rotten and not designed to grow. I couldn’t live with that so I had to leave.

Who did you try to emulate when you played?

I never tried to emulate anybody. I played the way each game dictated. I loved watching good players and commended them, but I didn’t fashion my playing style after anyone. However, I had someone I used to adore in Owerri back then, that was Sylvester Oparanozie a.k.a Bahama, a utility player. He played in almost every position and I considered him as one of the best players in Nigeria.

The Golden Eaglets just won the 2013 U-17 World Cup. Do you think they should have a shot at the senior team just yet?

One thing we don’t do well in Nigerian football is continuity. People are saying they should be moved to the Super Eagles, forgetting that the U-17 level is just a platform to get the players prepared for the challenge in the future. People fail to realise that some of these players will move to Europe, while some will stay back in Nigeria. Some will play at the highest level, while the rest will not play beyond the Flying Eagles. Their future will also depend on the decision of the coach that will handle the senior team. So many factors will come into play that will not make the team play together again.

Was this what happened to your team when you won the Japan’93 U-17 World Cup?

The time we were supposed to move up to the U-20 team, the coach decided to select another set of players. That was the era of the ‘Wobbling and Fumbling’. When Fanny Amun was made the Flying Eagles coach ahead of the 1995 U-20 World Cup, he decided not to use our team because many of us were already playing in Europe. He preferred instead to use home-based players for the qualifiers. We were in Europe when we learnt the team had crashed out of the competition. Nigeria should have learnt from the mistakes of that year. That was what made us missed out on the U-20 World Cup in 1995; he shattered our dream. And we could have won the tournament had we played the World Cup.

SOURCE: http://www.punchng.com/sports/sportlight/i-refused-to-bribe-coaches-to-play-for-nigeria-oparaku/

@ Ihebrooke,

Thanks for this educational and wonderful thread.

Please let me ask you a very naive question from the standpoint of a complete novice.

A relative is building a house and it is almost at roof level, is it still possible to get the kind of interiors that you have uploaded?

In essence at what stage do the interiors come into play....would it have to be part of the original building plan or can it be incorporated later by a different builder?

Thanks and keep up the good work.

@ op,

Source, please. Thanks

[quote author=Donalð Genes]Wtf! I wonder which tribe in Nigeria is putting us in such a bad spotlight? Na waooo all because of money some people will wanna soil our image and now the whole Nigerians will be paying the price for their illicit business[/quote]@ Donald Genes,

The main perpetrators of Nigerian crime abroad are Yoruba, Igbo and other tribes from the South. Northerners are not known to live in very large numbers in Europe, Asia etc and hardly make the headlines for drug trafficking, credit card/identity fraud, molestation and human trafficking etc which have become the hallmark of Nigerian crime.

I laugh my head off when people come to NL, to accuse a particular tribe of being mainly responsible for Nigerian criminal activity abroad. At least, here in the UK hardly a week goes by without a Nigerian getting being busted for one crime or the other. Mainly Yoruba and Igbo folk.

My brother, its a national problem and Oyinbo doesn't know/care about tribe oh. They just see another Nigerian criminal.

ASUU: Jonathan was party to pact

Posted by: Bisi Oladele and Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan in Featured, News 14 hours ago


UNIVERSITY teachers replied yesterday to Senate President David Mark’s comments on the 2009 agreement, which they are asking the Federal Government to implement.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) explained how the agreement was signed. ASUU has been on strike for over four months.
The union’s National Treasurer, Dr. Demola Aremu, said President Goodluck Jonathan was part of a long-drawn negotiation in 2009, which was reviewed in 2002 in a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Mark said the government officials who signed the agreement “did not know their right from their left” and that the ASUU officials who negotiated exploited their ignorance.

Aremu said ASUU had rejected the pleas from senators to call off their strike. He advised the lawmakers to beg President Jonathan to implement the agreement.
Aremu recalled that it took ASUU and the Federal Government team, led by Mr Gamaliel Onosode, three years to arrive at the agreement, pointing out that it is pretentious for any top government functionary to claim that the government negotiating team did not understand fully what they signed with the teachers.
According to him, ASUU went to the negotiation with a 300-page charter, which was reduced to a 60-page agreement after the union shifted so much ground on many of its demands.

He said Dr. Jonathan, who was then the Vice President, asked the government to sign the agreement after thoroughly going through it for six months.
“He perused the draft agreement and asked the government team to sign every page of the document. Our President also signed it. The content of the agreement we have today is not what we took to the negotiation table. That shows Nigerians how greatly we’ve shifted ground. So, the team knew what they went into.”
Aremu explained that the Federal Government also came up with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the implementation of the agreement in January last year. He asked: “So, if anyone assumes that they didn’t know what they were doing in 2009, did they also not know what they were doing in 2012?”
The union leader compares Nigeria’s tertiary education with a cancer patient. He said no palliative measure could help heal cancer, pointing out that the patient will die.

“Begging will not bring any solution. Nigerians should rather beg government to face this agreement squarely and implement it. That is where our future lies,” Aremu said.
He said senators could also cut their allowances and contribute them to education for the benefit of all citizens.

The union also urged the National Assembly to go beyond “begging” ASUU to call off its strike, but plug spending leakages in government to allow for provision of needed infrastructure in the universities.

The union also lashed out at the Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Prof. Sola Adeyeye, over his comments on why a professor will demand payment to supervise postgraduate students.
A statement by the University of Ibadan (UI) chairman of the union, Dr Olusegun Ajiboye, titled: “The goofing Professor Adeyeye: Senate and begging comments”, said Adeyeye was using public funds to train his children abroad, besides lacking in knowledge of the situation in Nigerian universities.
Ajiboye described Mark’s statement that ASUU will lose public sympathy, if it does not call off its strike, as “a careless talk” because, according to him, the Senate has already lost its credibility among Nigerians over its huge allowances and its perpetual anti-masses stance as opposed to the progressives in the House of Representatives.

“We are fighting a just cause. Can the senators wait for four years of their tenure before their allowances are paid? Can the Senate members sit in the chambers without air conditioners? What role has the Senate played to increase budgetary allocation to education? It is even funny for the Senate President to feign ignorance of the ASUU agreement as the sitting Senate President in 2009,” Ajiboye said.
ASUU said people, such as Adeyeye, ought to keep quiet when education is being discussed as “his immediate family members are not in Nigeria with all his children schooling and living abroad, using the millions of public funds being earned by their father in Nigeria to live large abroad.

“As a professor at the Duquesne University USA, Professor Adeyeye enjoyed flexible single and family healthcare coverage, including vision and dental insurance, disability benefits and life insurance, tuition remission for employees and family members, retirement savings plan with a generous eight per cent university contribution for employees with immediate vesting schedule, family leave, paid time off for vacation and holidays and unpaid time for personal leave of absence, comprehensive employee training programmes which promote professional development, access to a recreation centre and wellness programme.
“The question Prof Adeyeye should answer is, where in Nigeria does a professor enjoy all these with conducive learning environment? What is the ratio of students to a lecturer in Nigerian universities? Where else in the world will a professor supervise up to 35 students in a session?”


SOURCE: http://thenationonlineng.net/new/ASUU-jonathan-party-pact/

homesteady: Hmm! Just normal! The video does not glorify the skelewu dance! They should have done some mind blowing dance steps!
For example Azonto video, there were some very wonderful dance steps, many people learnt new Azonto dance steps from the video!
I was hoping that I'll learn other skelewu styles from the video! But I didn't learn any!

@ Homesteady,

I agree with you 100%....you took the words out of my mouth!

How can you shoot a video about a style of dance without highlighting the dance itself?? This video would have been the bomb, it if it had people showcasing the "skelewu"......now that would have been grand, several dancers displaying their own version of the dance.

SCAMMING FEMALE DRIVERS

A project to train over 200 female cab drivers in the Federal Capital Territory hits the rocks, throwing the women back into the unemployment market

By Torlumun Samuel

Grace Ugoro, an unemployed graduate, was excited when she learnt about the Lady Chauffeur Training Scheme, LCTS. The scheme, initiated by the Abuja Leasing Company, ALC, and supported by the National Directorate of Employment, NDE, was aimed at recruiting not less than 200 ladies as commercial cab drivers in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. The flag-off of the scheme at the State House Abuja by Patience Jonathan, Nigeria’s first lady on Friday, May 4, 2012, heightened Ugoro’s excitement. As far as she was concerned, her years of job searching were coming to an end.

Indeed, it was the opportunity she had been waiting for, she had longed for an opportunity to be self-employed, and the project seemed to her like a dream come true.
While speaking to the magazine at the time, she said: “This is a lifetime opportunity that I don’t intend to play with. I will make sure I do not become only self-employed, but also make a lot of money to assist my family and train my younger ones in school.” But Ugoro’s dream to be a self-employed cab driver in Abuja was soon dashed after training for two months. The ALC, which was supposed to provide them the cabs on lease, reneged.

Eno Bassey, a graduate of Business Management, University of Calabar, Cross River State, who was also selected among numerous applicants to benefit from the scheme, also suffered a similar fate. She even resigned from a job at a private hotel to be able to concentrate on the training. She was hopeful that the scheme would also provide her opportunity for self-employment. Bassey told the magazine at the time that the sponsors of the scheme told them that the cabs were already on ground for them to take immediately after the training. She saw the organisers’ commitment to the project and decided to resign her job to concentrate on the training.

Beneficiaries were to be given basic training of two months to qualify for the job. But after the training by Aso Driving School, which ended in July 2012, the trainees are yet to get the cabs as was promised. Some of the trainees who spoke to the magazine believe that the sponsors deceived them and it was all aimed at scoring political goals for the women empowerment campaign. They lamented that instead of empowering them, the project had further impoverished them because they have lost money and time. Some of the trainees, who counted their losses, said they now live in frustration.

Inemesit Akpan, another victim and one of the 75 trainees certified as competent drivers by Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, sold her personal belongings to meet up with the upfront payment of N295,000 required by ALC as one of the conditions for the release of the vehicle. Akpan and the other beneficiaries at the end of the training were certified by FRSC as competent drivers qualified to be given the vehicles. They were also invited by the NDE through text messages informing them of their qualification and to come to the headquarters to begin the process for the release of the vehicles.

Akpan explained: “When we went there, they showed us all the conditions, we have no choice than to accept. To meet up the N295,000 upfront payment and other financial requirements I had to sell my electronic sets and also borrow from different sources. Now, things have gone awry, I have returned the money I borrowed but what about my property? This is not fair.”

The magazine gathered that for ALC to supply the trainees with the vehicles, each person was to make an upfront payment of N295,000 and submit 36 post-dated cheques of the sum of N31,944 representing monthly rental for 36 months lease facilities. They were also to present four post-dated cheques of N32,500 for second and third year insurance and N20,000 to cover third year tracker renewal. In terms of guarantors, each trainee willing to get a car was to produce a civil servant of grade level 12 and above, or a banker at the management level or a military officer, an equivalent of a major in the Nigerian Army and above.

The magazine also learnt that, even with the stringent conditions issued by ALC after the training, which contradicted the earlier terms of the project, some trainees fulfilled these conditions. But ALC still reneged on it promise. NDE, surprisingly, has also distanced itself from the failed project, saying it had done its part of the collaboration. Victoria Awosimo, director of Small Scale Enterprises, who spoke on behalf of the director-general of NDE, said constant changes of rules of engagement by the initiators, ALC, was responsible for the failure of the project. According to Awosimo, ALC approached NDE October 28, 2011 and requested for female drivers for employment ahead of its plan to introduce Abuja pink cabs, vehicles for women and children to be driven by women, and the NDE accepted.

“When we finished training the beneficiaries, they (ALC) wrote us on December 5, 2012 reviewing the vehicle cost of the Lady Chauffeur Scheme to N1,300,000. Yet some trainees were ready to pay. But in their letter of March 18, 2013 the condition demanded was out of the mandate of NDE. They requested that NDE must accept corporate guarantorship for the trainees before the cabs would be given to the beneficiaries. This was simply out of our mandate. They have issued three memos to review terms of agreement,” she explained.

NDE is also accusing ALC of double-speak in respect of the provision of the vehicles they promised the trainees. Awosimo said as at November 2012, the ALC told NDE it had 50 units of the refurbished Peugeot 307 available out of the 200 vehicles they claimed were available in 2011. Awosimo said she noted that the number of vehicles was inadequate for the 75 certified trainees. She said even when trainees where ready to fulfil the conditions of acquiring the vehicles, ALC in December 2012, came up to say it had only eight remaining. Now, the NDE is saying it had little or nothing to do over the failed project because “ALC has changed the earlier agreement and is claiming they cannot go below the market price. They have spent money to refurbish these vehicles and there is no way they can sell below the price.”

Efforts to get official response from ALC did not yield the desired result as Tunji Tolani, the managing director of the company was not available to respond to the magazine’s inquiry. However, a senior officer of the company, who spoke on conditions of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak on behalf of the company, said ALC is in business to make money. According to him, the payment conditions were not stringent. The source said that ALC has learnt from the past mistake when clients who got its vehicles and ran away with them. He said, “People should not begin to think that because we indicated interest in the empowerment of women we have to give our cabs for free. We are a business organisation and we cannot entertain losses. That is why we wanted a corporate guarantor. If we must take the risk, we want other partners like NDE to contribute their quota,” said the source.

SOURCE: http://www.tellng.com/business/scamming-female-drivers

@ op

Please upload the pix

Black Kenichi: Nigerian Pidgin English is f*cked up! All I know is you say some random stuff then add "abeg", "Na wa" or "Jare"

@ Black Kenichi,

What is your nationality?

shine eye: I thought (Ohazulike) Street in Iju, Agege, was bad, filled with giant craters as it is, until I saw this amazing sight, bang in the middle of suburban Lagos. Is the best we can do with N70 billion monthly as total revenues?

@ Shine Eye,

Please confirm the exact location of this eyesore.

I've just watched BBC news AND according to Philip Morris of the International Television Enterprise Archive he traced the tapes "to a TV station in Jos, Nigeria where they were just sitting on a shelf gathering dust"

Nigerian-German learns 'Schindler's List' killer was her grandfather

A steel-eyed Nazi killer picks off Jewish prisoners with a rifle from a balcony in a concentration camp in 1944.
More than six decades later, a Nigerian-German woman who has studied in Israel thumbs through a book about the sniper and is shocked to learn the man is her own grandfather.
In a memoir published this month with the chilling title "Amon: My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me", Jennifer Teege recounts her dark family secret and the extraordinary story of how her own life became enmeshed with one of history's grimmest chapters.
Teege is the child of a Nigerian student and the German daughter of Amon Goeth, the commandant of the Plaszow concentration camp outside Krakow in today's Poland who featured in Steven Spielberg's 1993 Holocaust drama "Schindler's List".
[On This Day: Boy Scout leads most audacious escape from Auschwitz]
The 43-year-old Teege learned only by chance five years ago that her grandfather was the sadist known as the "Butcher of Plaszow", who was hanged in 1946 for the torture and murder of thousands of victims.
Teege's parents had only a brief affair and gave her away to a children's home weeks after her birth. She was placed with a foster family and eventually adopted by a well-off couple in a Munich suburb when she was seven, seeing her biological mother only sporadically.
Half a lifetime later, looking through the stacks of her local library in the northern city of Hamburg, she stumbled upon a title that resonated with her own fractured personal history: "Ich muss doch meinen Vater lieben, oder?" (I Have to Love My Father, Right?).
The middle-aged woman pictured on the book's sleeve looked faintly familiar and a quick scan of the biographical details revealed a perfect match with those of her birth mother.
"It was like the carpet was ripped out beneath my feet," Teege told AFP.
"I had to go lie down on a bench. I called my husband and told him I couldn't drive and needed to be picked up. Then I said to my family that I did not want to be disturbed, went to bed and read the book cover to cover."
In one of the most harrowing scenes of Spielberg's film, Goeth as played by Ralph Fiennes begins shooting Jewish captives for sport from the balcony of his camp villa before letting his dogs rip them limb from limb.
[30 Auschwitz guards to face criminal probes: Germany]
Teege said she had seen "Schindler's List" while living as a student in Israel but was uncertain how true-to-life its portrayal of Goeth was.
"And I drew no connection with my own life. Even though my birth name is Goeth, it wasn't written out on the screen so when I heard it in the film it didn't even occur to me that there could be a link."
A picture of Goeth above the bed
Even after her parents gave her up, Teege had fond memories of her grandmother Ruth's occasional visits and cards on her birthday.
"As an abandoned child, she was a very important person in my life," she said.
Teege was shattered to learn later that this kindly woman had lived for a time with Goeth as his lover in the same camp villa from which he savagely murdered prisoners.
They met while she was working as a secretary for Schindler in Krakow. Their daughter Monika was born in 1945.
Ruth took Goeth's name shortly after his execution and, denying his crimes to the end, still had a picture of him hanging above her bed when she committed suicide in 1983.
[On This Day: Jesse Owens snubbed by Hitler after claiming Olympic glory]
An advertising copywriter and mother of two, Teege exudes a warmth that belies her bloodline.
Her book, co-written with journalist Nikola Sellmair, features a portrait of the light-skinned black Teege gazing out from the cover.
The title refers to her realisation that her own grandfather would have seen her as subhuman like the Jews he slaughtered.
Teege herself has visited the Schindler museum in Krakow, the Goeth villa at Plaszow and laid flowers for his victims at the camp memorial.
Although she and her mother are estranged, she says she can understand why the terrible secrets were kept from her, noting that the second generation of Germans after the Nazis had a very different burden to bear than the third.
"My mother was absolutely unable to cope with her own history. And she wanted to protect me by keeping me in the dark about it," she said.
"Once I learned about my family's past, I had to make a conscious decision to live in the here and now."
Teege said she aimed by means of the book to work through the horror and depression that her family tree inspired, but also to ask more universal questions about how to deal with the weight of the past on the present.
"Of course my story is gripping and original," she said.
"But it's also more generally about the fact that it's possible to move beyond repression to gain a kind of personal freedom from the past by finding out who you really are."
Teege said her middle-class upbringing had largely shielded her from racism in today's Germany.
Now, after wrestling with her mother's heritage for so long, she is ready to begin exploring her paternal African roots.
"I'm looking forward to learning more about my other side."

SOURCE: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/nigerian-german-learns-schindlers-list-killer-her-grandfather-160633255.html#VWNNARe

PapaBrowne: You are running from realities. The FG doesn't stop states from making their cities wonderful. The FG hasn't stopped no state from bringing out its best in areas of development that have no FG control. If I were talking about the parlous state of security in Rivers State, you will be right to remind me of FG's failures. If I were talking about the parlous state of power in the country, you would be right to remind me of the FG';s failures.
If I talked about the parlous state of Aviation, then be OK to point to Abuja.

I am talking about providing basic urban infrastructure. Creating livable cities. Design a proper transit system for a city. Giving access to qualitative healthcare to all you citizens. That's what Rwanda has done with less than the Budget of Rivers State.

@ PapaBrowne.......if I may say so, you are even going too far by mentioning all of the above.

How about simple, running, potable, clean, pipe-borne water?? I doubt if there is a single village, town or city in Nigeria that can boast of 24/7 running tap water in 2013!!

Water...the most important resource that we all need on a daily basis to wash, clean, drink, cook etc. This simple fact confirms that Nigeria has inflicted injuries upon itself from Federal, State and Local Govt levels. Failure from top to bottom and vice versa. Bad leaders and followers.

[quote author=dr.shrewd][b]mr. presido I am sorry to say this you are the commander in chief of corruption in this country. your gov't lacks transparency and accountability. first of all you refuse to declare your asset as opposed to your former boss yaradua who declared his asset when he resumed office. this act alone reeks of corruption in all ramifications and does not portray genuine intention of somebody that wants to eradicate curruption. you also encouraged corruption by granting an international known fraud star presidential pardon. you instigated the commotion in the rivers state house of assembly by sponsoring five honorable cultist to impeach a speaker that is backed by 27 honorable members. you also encouraged corruption when you hosted a faction of NGF in your villa notifying the nation your stand that 17 is greater than 19 what a shame to somebody that is supposedly fighting corruption so what lessons do you axpect us to learn from these corrupt reeking practices you have to practice what you preach
shalom my dear presido [/b][/quote]@ Dr Shrewd

I understand your frustration/anger at GEJ for his weak stance on corruption, however you have got the wrong end of the stick with your comment above.

GEJ has declared his assets to the relevant bureau as required by the constitution. He refused to declare his assets publicly a la Yar'adua; but he has not broken any law or done anything wrong by this action. The declaration of assets publicly is NOT a requirement of the constitution.

In my humble opinion, I think GEJ is very corrupt going by information that was in the public domain, from the time he was Governor of Bayelsa state. When Yar'adua decided to go beyond the constitutional requirements to declare his assets publicly, several ministers followed suit; albeit (in my humble opinion) hypocritically. GEJ initially dithered but relented after intense media and public pressure.

Now that he is the "OGA AT THE TOP" he can call the shots. Sadly, this means business as usual.

Tusky44: GEJ you are wounding APC o. See the kind of uppercut you have given them in just one week. Haba! the SW and North scrambled to form APC with one eye on the oil in SS & SE. They made haste to promise 40000MW of electricity by 2020 but have now seen that that problem is already fixed.

GEJ FOR 2015 - 2019

IGBO FOR 2019 - 2027

AKWAIBOM FOR 2027 - 2035

BENIN FOR 2035 - 2043

HAUSA OR YORUBA - IN TOUGH BATTLE TO GAIN CONTROL OF WHAT IS LEFT OF PARTS OF FORMER NIGERIA 2043

IGBO NATION - WORLD POWER 2043 - 3043

JESUS COMES - 3043

IGBOS, AKWAIBOM, CROSS RIVERS, OTHER LOYAL MINORITY - ASCEND WITH JESUS TO HEAVEN TO LIVE FOREVER HAPPY

APC & THEIR MEMBERS (CAN'T MENTION THE TRIBES) + SUPPORTERS - MISSED THE LOUD HORN AND ARE FACE WITH THE BEAST WHO EAT THEM UP ONE-BY-ONE



SHOUT HALLELUJAH

Oldu Boy.....although I'm Yoruba I couldn't stop laughing at this your post. You are damn funny!!

But you take style wicked oh. According to the Bible anybody that is a true believer of Christ will be raptured. There is no longer Greek or Jew...we are all grafted together in Christ.

Back to your prediction for Nigeria....no yawa (problem); if Nigeria must divide into separate independent nations, my hope is that the division is done peacefully. If the result is a prosperous and vibrant Biafra that will elevate the black race; I will be most happy. Ditto any other independent region.

The issue about who rules Nigeria whilst we remain together should not be tribe, religion, age, gender or even political party. In my opinion there is only one question for our future leader(s) to answer: Can you get the job done??

MOD.........FRONT PAGE, PLEASE!!!!

Of ghost writers, fly overs and fair play [/size]

By AYODELE ADIGUN

For some time now the airwaves and newspaper pages have been awash with claims and counter claims about the inflated cost of the Mokola flyover bridge in Ibadan by the Government of Oyo State. While the Government and its sympathisers claim that the flyover is the best thing that has happened to the city since about 35 years ago, the opposition too has been strident in its call that when compared to the flyover bridge built in Abeokuta by the Ogun State Government, the cost of the Mokola bridge is a big rip-off.

To ascertain the veracity of both claims in order to hold firm to the truth, I have indeed, visited the two bridges and I have been able to confirm that the Abeokuta bridge is indeed, over twice the size of the Mokola bridge with double lanes, while the Mokola bridge has a single lane. On the costing aspect, the news report established that the Abeokuta bridge, which also has 2.4km adjoining road, was built at a total cost of N1.5billion while the Mokola bridge, which is about half of its size, cost N2.9billion. The Abeokuta Bridge measures 528 metres on each side, making 1, 056 metres in all, while the Mokola flyover is just 470 metres. Here lies the crux of the matter.

It is indeed, very puerile to state that the escalated cost of the project by the same contractor was brought about by the cost of aesthetics, as, to my mind, the Mokola bridge should not have cost more than N800 million when compared with the Abeokuta bridge. The contention of the defender of Oyo State government that the terrain of the flyover bridge is waterlogged is insidious, infantile and laughable. The terrain in Abeokuta and Mokola are practically identical. The pertinent question to ask Oyo State government is why there is a wide gap in the cost of the two bridges.

In a bid to offer a very flimsy defence, the services of a certain literature teacher in Monatan by name Akinlolu Hassan was sought to pull wool over the issue. To discerning members of the public the said ‘Akinlolu Hassan’ has always been coming to the aid of Oyo State government reeling out vile and false statistics, which can only be obtained from the secret documents of the government. The said Akilolu Hassan had earlier been asked by the Accord Party to drop his mask and collect a whooping N5million from the chairman of the party if indeed, he exists. Regrettably, the masquerade refused to unmask! To discerning members of the public Akinlola Hassan exists only in the laptops of some unimaginable functionaries or perhaps, in Sango Cemetery, but definitely not real. It beats one hollow to understand that an elected government should continue to use ghost writers to defend its actions. It clearly portrays the fact that the government is clay footed on the issue and it is an exhibition of marked want of intelligence.

The impression of writing under the mask to defend a government is that those who are saddled with the responsibility are not convinced about the facts made available to them, hence resorting to ‘ghost writers.’ The interview granted the Hon. Commissioner of Information by Splash FM a couple of days ago also did not help matters, as he could not offer any plausible defence for the difference in cost. The government has erroneously believed that like children of the blind they must lead us by the hand without we complaining. What we are writing about is neither abstract nor far away, as it is not in Borno, Sokoto and Balyesa states, but in next door, Abeokuta, Ogun State. Members of the public are invited to visit the flyover in Abeokuta and the one in Mokola and come out with their judgment. The Oyo State government has an explanation to make on the disparity in the cost of the two flyover bridges in Mokola and Abeokuta. No browbeating, ghost writers, and grandstanding can help on this issue!

This brings us to the nagging issue of demolition of buildings before the payment of compensations to the displaced owners. During the military administration, I served as Permanent Secretary in an agency of government saddled with urban renewal project at Mokola, Yemetu, Agugu and the channelisation of Ogunpa River. Under the project, hundreds of houses were indeed, demolished, but due to the superb handling through proper and adequate consultation with relevant stakeholders, particularly property owners, no person was left at the mercy of government after the demolitions.

The modus-operandi was that the owners of the affected buildings were first invited and government intentions were laid bare to them. This was followed by valuation of the structures and payment of compensation. For those whose buildings were completely demolished they were relocated to a resettlement scheme and the bulldozers subsequently came in six months after payment of compensation. Thus, there were no hues and cries during the demolition exercise. This was under a military dispensation! Regrettably, under a democratic dispensation, houses of hundreds of people have been demolished before any thought of compensation which has made them to be homeless or living in half demolished houses.

A drive through Iseyin, Ogbomoso and Oyo will readily confirm this claim, as one would not but feel sorry for this inhuman treatment. The case of Prince B. A. O. Okanlawon, a 92-year-old man in Ogbomoso, as published on Page 8 of Punch newspaper of August 8, 2013 readily comes to mind. The nonagenarian has appealed to the governor to compensate him on the demolition of his two-storey building. There are hundreds of people like him. It will be most inhuman and uncharitable to send such people to their graves in a democratic dispensation. Oyo State government should adopt a more civilised approach in going about future demolitions in order not to put the affected people in despair after all they too deserve the good life with shelter on their heads.

All said and done, government should be responsive to the yearning of the people since everything that has a beginning must have an end and as the saying goes, no condition is permanent even in the graves where demolition and excavation can still come in.

• Adigun, a retired Permanent Secretary and former commissioner/Secretary to the Oyo State Government, writes from Ibadan.

SOURCE: http://sunnewsonline.com/new/politics/of-ghost-writers-fly-overs-and-fair-play/

I’ll make life more uncomfortable for Amaechi, Wike vows

•Says Gov must beg him
•Declares: ‘If President Jonathan removes me as minister, I’ll continue to fight’

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State must brace up for more trouble from the opposition in the days and months ahead, if the threat, yesterday, by one of the forces against him, is anything to go by.
Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, boasted at a reception for him in Port Harcourt that he is ready to make life even more uncomfortable for the governor who is locked in the political battle of his life with the Presidency and his party (PDP), at the state and federal levels; the State Police Commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu and the Police Command; the Minister and his five supporters in the State House of Assembly; ex-militants; as well as other political forces from within and outside the state.
The reception also doubled as a grand finale of the inauguration of units of the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) in Obio/Akpor LGA of the state.
Wike is the grand patron of GDI.
“We will make sure they will not sleep again, as they are sleeping now. They will not sleep with their two eyes closed. One eye will be open because they know there is danger,” the minister said, 24 hours after Amaechi told a delegation of Niger Delta Bishops who are trying to resolve the political crisis in the state that Wike remains a minister today by “the grace of God” and his (Amaechi’s) effort.
The governor’s words: “Nyesom Wike was appointed Chief of Staff by me. Nyesom Wike as a Minister of State, I nominated him. I was under pressure by the President to drop him, I refused. The President persuaded me to drop him and bring a woman but I refused.
” I heard he is going all over town saying I didn’t appoint him, I didn’t appoint him, the President appointed him but I nominated him to be a minister as the Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum. I did, but you know character doesn’t come easily, character is a very difficult thing and I am a man of character.”
But in what looked like a response to the broadside fired at him on Friday by Amaechi, the minister said yesterday that the governor and the 27 members of the State Assembly on his side have not had enough trouble occasioned by their April 22 suspension of the Obio/Akpor Local Government Council.
Wike, who is aspiring to replace Amaechi as governor in 2015, hails from the local government area. He was a two-term chairman of the council.
The minister, speaking at yesterday’s rally, said: “They said we are nobody. Then they have seen. When you are dealing with nobody, be careful. The nobody will show you that he is somebody. We will make sure they will not sleep again. As they are sleeping, they will not sleep with their two eyes closed. One eye will be open, because they know there is danger.
“Those who are saying they must remove me, I have even overstayed. For you to be minister for two years, you must thank your God. If today we are no longer minister, do not worry yourself. It will not change us. We will continue to fight for what we believe in.
“We were not minister when we fought for them in 2007. When we were here, they were not having problems. Now, we have gone, they are having problems.
“We have always told them: you cannot do it. What you do not know, you do not know. It does not matter, whatever money you have, money cannot buy everything. Now, they are having sleepless nights. When we were here, were they having sleepless nights?
“When we were here, were they not travelling up and down? Are they travelling again? Tell them, they should come and beg us. Tell them to come back and beg us. We will tell them the secret. What God has not given to you, you do not need to do anything about it.
“I can assure you, all they are asking for: they want a commissioner of police that will be arresting you. Anytime they call the CP, he will arrest you. But let me tell you, we are not interested in whoever comes here (CP), all we are interested in is to have somebody who will not be partial.
“Let them bring whoever they want to bring (as CP).We want somebody who will want democracy to be practised in Rivers State. They said one man, one vote. Now, they do not want one man, one vote again.
“Obio/Akpor LGA is not a place you can toy with. Those who feel they can suspend Obio/Akpor council officials, we will make them uncomfortable. They felt once they had dissolved the council, they would sleep.
“The party has suspended them, because they have touched the lion and when you touch the lion, you know the consequences. Since they said the councillors will not take their salaries, they also will know that they will not belong to the PDP.
“The party chairman (Chief Felix Obuah) warned them and they said he would not be able to do anything. At the end of the day, they are going to court to challenge us. We will meet them in court. We are not afraid of the court. We are accustomed to it. All the ones they have gone, we have been winning them and we will continue to win them.
“They are doing everything they can. They are using their power and their money. Money cannot solve all problems. Sometimes, you have to come back home and realise that the people matter a lot. It is the power of the people that has put us in positions and you must come back to thank the people.
“Forget about what they are doing to you (his supporters). Do not worry. We are all together. Do not lose hope. God is on the throne.”
Wike said the suspended Chairman of Obio/Akpor LG, Mr. Timothy Nsirim, who also attended the rally; his deputy, Solomon Eke, and the 17 councillors have been denied their salaries since April, but said that is part of the sacrifice to make democracy survive.
The minister asked the people of the state to continue to support President Jonathan and the party.
He urged members of the GDI, in particular, to go to all the wards, communities and families in the state not to abandon President Jonathan and his wife.
Wike added: “Your duty as GDI members is to go and mobilise the entire state for our son (Jonathan), eventually when he decides to run and we believe the people of the Southsouth zone cannot sacrifice, for whatever it is, our own son, for anything less than President.”
Factional Chairman of the PDP in the state, Chief Felix Obuah, pledged at the function to reconcile Amaechi, Wike and other aggrieved members of the party in the state.
Obuah said: “I want to invite the governor (Amaechi), the minister (Wike) and all aggrieved members of Ikwerre community, to be with me in my palace next weekend. Let us sit down and fashion a way forward. I will not sit down and see my children quarrelling, and I will not feel concerned.”
A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Austin Opara, described Obio/Akpor LGA as the home of the GDI and the PDP, stressing that “anybody standing on your way is standing before a moving train and will be crushed.”
The President-General of the GDI, Bright Amewhule, in his remarks, stated that President Jonathan would be supported to return in 2015 and that they were solidly behind Wike.
The ceremony is the latest by the anti-Amaechi camp in the state.
Similar ceremonies by pro-Amaechi groups are routinely disallowed by the police, prompting observers from within and outside the state to accuse the police leadership in the state of taking sides.
A rally scheduled for last Tuesday by civil rights groups to protest what they called anti-democratic tendencies in the state was not allowed to hold by the police.
Some militants even threatened that the lives of some of those expected at the rally were not safe should they come.

SOURCE: http://thenationonlineng.net/new/ill-make-life-more-uncomfortable-for-amaechi-wike-vows/

This is great news provided it translates into tangible results that will be maintained over the course of time to guarantee sustainability.