₦airaland Forum

The Arewa Consultative Forum yesterday said the decision of the Chairman of the National Population Commission, Chief Festus Odimegwu, to resign his appointment was a welcome development.
He was earlier queried by the presidency over his reported comments on the nation’s past census.
ACF’s National Publicity Secretary Anthony Sani said “the resignation of the Chairman of the National Population Commission, Chief Festus Odimegwu, is healthy and so a welcome development in the sense that the chairman has proved to be sensitive to public opinions and clamors and has yielded to the view of majority of commissioners of the NPC as well as to the views of public spirited groups.
“The Chairman’s resignation is to avoid a situation where the results of the 2016 census will be subjected to unnecessary controversies.
“And so, in a way, Chief Odimegwu’s resignation from the NPC has helped not only himself, but also the government in the larger interest of the nation.”

phil5: nor be small kolo and see people dey shout fresh air

phil5: Am not geting somthing here,hw many wemco jona commision?

Emmanuel602: Wait a minute did'nt they willingly contest in the elections or were they appointed in the council ?

SEVEN days after the inauguration of the committee that you head, how has been the experience?

The experience has been very gratifying.

How do you mean?

I have had a pleasurable experience working with my team. It’s been a team of eminent, committed and dedicated people. People who all believe in one Nigeria and believe that we need to strengthen the unity of Nigeria and that this conference is going to go a long way in helping to strengthen that unity. So, I have had maximum cooperation from members of the committee and we have been working at lightning speed to see that we get our work done within the time limit given to us.

How do you mean lightning speed?

We went to work from the minute we were sworn in, Right from the venue of our inauguration, we went to our working hall and started working. With the exception of break for lunch and dinner, we have been working till very late at night. On Saturday morning, we still worked and some of us stayed behind to grant some press interviews and do some radio and television shows before leaving Abuja on Saturday. So, it’s been a week full of action and work.

Did your appointment come to you as a surprise?

Well, the only surprise there was that I did not even expect the President was going to convene a national conference because we had been agitating for it for a long time and most presidents, including the present President, had appeared reluctant or unwilling to accede to our request. So, the sudden turn around by the President to convene a national conference was very surprising. That was the surprise. My appointment of course was also a surprise.

Why?

This is because as I said, I was not even expecting that a conference would be convened and so my appointment was not expected too. Everything came suddenly- both the decision to convene a national conference and the announcement of me as the chairman of the conference committee.

You have been one of the major critics of the Federal Government and some observers feel your choice was a surprise.

Well, being a critic of government is quite different from being an advocate of a sovereign national conference or a national conference. When we criticise our government, we criticise constructively. The best friends of governments are those who criticise them constructively. If I were a head of state or a president, I would take my useful critics, my intelligent critics, my well-intended critics as my best friends. And I think this is what President Goodluck Jonathan has done. I have been a critic of his but I have never criticised him maliciously. I have criticised him by telling him what to do to endear himself to the people and I think this conference is one of the things he has done to endear himself to the people. So, I have always been one of the advocates of a national conference. For more than two decades, I have been in the forefront of those agitating for a national conference. From that point of view, I think my choice was not inappropriate at all.

But some observers think that since it is not a conference with a sovereign status, you would not accept it because at the end of the day, your committee, which is purely advisory, may make little difference.

It is not the name that matters; a name does not make a king. If you say sovereign status, what does sovereign status mean? Sovereignty, in any nation, will rest with the people. As long as the final decision rests with the people, that is sovereign enough. Once the conference meets and makes decisions and the decisions are subjected to a referendum by the people, what more sovereignty do we want? So, once the people have approved the decisions at the conference and the decisions of the people are respected, that should satisfy anybody.
Subjecting the decision to a referendum is a critical stage that politicians may hijack it because of past experience with referendum on some issues.

Referendum gives everybody a chance to say yes or no.
So, how do you hope to insulate that critical stage from being politicised?

This is going to be the work of the people; the decisions are going to be taken by the representatives of the people. The representatives themselves are part of the people and if they don’t have confidence in anybody, they won’t call the fellow to go and represent them. The same people who chose the members that will represent them are the same people that will say whether they approve of the work done at the conference or not.

Some people don’t believe in government because of past
experiences, especially about promises made but not fulfilled, which is why they are saying there is a kind of a hidden agenda in this conference.

I agree that many administrations in the past disappointed the people and let them down by not implementing decisions taken at conferences they convened or standing by their promises. But if we say because of that we will not work for any government or that we will not even believe any government, when the good government comes that really wants to do something good, we will not believe in it and we will just let the opportunity go. So, every time the government promises something that is desirable, that satisfies one of our yearnings and aspirations, we must give that government the benefit of the doubt and see if it means well. If it means well, then we have nothing to lose, even if it does not mean well, we still have nothing to lose. The government will only have itself to blame.

President Jonathan has not restricted your committee from
discussing certain issues…

The government has assured us that there are no ‘no-go’ areas and we believe the government when it said that because if there were going to be any ‘no-go’ areas, we would have been told at inauguration. At our inauguration, the President did not give us any ‘no-go’ areas.

Don’t you think perhaps the government believes because of the prevailing situation in the country, the conference should be left open-end at this stage?

Whatever the reason may be, if that is the right thing to do and I believe that is the right thing to do, it should be left open-ended. There should be no ‘no-go’ areas; Nigerians should be free to discuss all issues. If we all believe that is the right thing to do, then we should credit government for doing the right thing.

What gives you that guarantee that whatever is arrived at in the conference and you believe represent the views of the people, will be wholly accepted by government?

I am optimistic that our recommendations would be accepted but I cannot give Nigerians the guarantee.

Why?

Because I believe the President himself is serious. He had not always believed that we needed a conference. So, it is only of recent persuasion. Having come to the conclusion that we need a conference, he had gone ahead to set up a committee of respectable, eminent people with respectable antecedents; people who are not easily compromised and who have very strong viewpoint. If the President wasn’t serious, he would not have gone for those kind of people. And then, he has given us the assurance that there is no ‘no-go’ areas. The President’s credibility also rests on the success of our committee and that is
why our committee will not let the President and Nigerians down.

You have just six weeks to prepare an agenda for the conference.
Do you think that period is enough, given the enormity of the task before your committee?

Well, we shall do our best to complete the assignment within that period. If for any unforeseen reasons we could not finish that assignment within the stipulated time, we shall hesitate to ask for more time.

We listened to you on a call-in radio programme last Saturday and heard the views expressed by Nigerians. From that experience, what do you think is the attitude of Nigerians to the proposed conference?

I have seen that many Nigerians are enthusiastic, hopeful and are even prayerful that our committee should succeed.

Why do you think they have that kind of attitude to the conference?

Because, as I have said, people have been yearning for a national conference for more than two decades to correct what they see as the iniquities and the injustices of the Nigerian polity and system. They have been yearning for a society that will guarantee greater justice and equity and promote social harmony and societal stability. This is something that we have all been yearning for. Nobody likes the state of instability in our country because it is not good for the economy. So, if we can have a stable and peaceful country, a country where everybody has a sense of belonging, everybody will be happy. So, this is why Nigerians are very hopeful and optimistic about the conference and are praying we should succeed.

Where does this proposed conference leave the constitutional amendment process currently being done by the National Assembly?

I have been part of this constitutional amendment process in the National Assembly. I was in the Senate between 1999 and 2003 and I was in the Committee of the Senate that was handling the constitutional review process. All the documents that we gathered, including the memoranda, I still have (all of) them with me.
Every subsequent Senate has gathered memoranda on this same constitutional amendment process, but up till now, nothing has happened. So, it is not for me to criticise what is happening at the National Assembly; it will continue to do its work. And we have our own work to do too.
So, where lies the symbiosis between your committee and the National Assembly

gods I: The security of those we elected to offices or those they saw worthy to work with them is our utmost priority. The vehicles are for the ministry not hers, tribalists, critics, and ACN acolytes can go hang themselves.

All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged the National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, to release his much awaited bombshell on the circumstances leading to the heart attack and subsequent death of Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Emeka Ojukwu.
During the last APGA crisis, Umeh had in an interview published in a national daily, warned Governor Peter Obi and Bianca Ojukwu to stop instigating his removal or else he would tell the whole world how Ojukwu died.
Umeh later swallowed his words and reconciled with Governor Obi, shortly after the Appeal Court Enugu quashed the judgment of an Enugu High Court, which sacked him as the National Chairman of APGA.
But, as the first anniversary of the passing away of Dim Emeka Ojukwu comes on November 26, 2013, the APC South-East said it is now incumbent on Chief Victor Umeh to avail the world as he promised in the newspaper report of the much Governor Obi knows about the shady circumstances leading to Ikemba’s heart attack and subsequent death.
APC threw the challenge in a statement through the Zonal Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu on Friday, while reacting to alleged attempts by Governor Obi to use the annual Ofala festival of Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, to blackmail Senator Chris Ngige, the APC candidate for the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State.
The frontline opposition party appealed to the good people of Anambra State to use the index track record performance as the yard-stick to measure who to vote for, in the November 16 Governorship election.
Part of the statement reads: “We are worried that Governor Peter Obi is becoming excessively desperate in the face of the collapse of his propaganda machine, being fully aware that he achieved merely seven percent performance of the Sen Ngige’s Blue-Print in seven years.
“It could be recalled that penultimate week, when Governor Fashola apologized to Ndigbo over the deportation of 14 Igbos, Governor Peter Obi felt disarmed and went ahead to persuade Peoples Democratic Party {PDP} leadership to replace Comrade Tony Nwoye in INEC list.
“Now that Nwoye had gone to court, the only propaganda card left was to use the annual Ofala festival of Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, Agbogidi, Obi of Onitsha to blackmail Senator Chris Ngige.
“To the best of our knowledge Senator Ngige is a cultured person, well brought up and cannot disrespect the great Obi of Onitsha, hence duly got permission from the palace for the rally” it stated.
APC South East urged Governor Peter Obi to concentrate in preparing his not less than transparent hand over notes instead of attacking Senator Ngige.
“Otherwise we would be forced to remind the good people of Anambra State and indeed Nigerians of the infamous monthly N250m money haulage to Lagos by Governor Obi and the much-expected bombshell from Chief Victor Umeh on the shady circumstances surrounding the demise of Gburugburu Dikedioranma Ndigbo, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumuegwu Ojukwu, Ikemba Nnewi” it stated

All Progressives Congress (APC) has challenged the National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, to release his much awaited bombshell on the circumstances leading to the heart attack and subsequent death of Ikemba Nnewi, Dim Emeka Ojukwu.
During the last APGA crisis, Umeh had in an interview published in a national daily, warned Governor Peter Obi and Bianca Ojukwu to stop instigating his removal or else he would tell the whole world how Ojukwu died.
Umeh later swallowed his words and reconciled with Governor Obi, shortly after the Appeal Court Enugu quashed the judgment of an Enugu High Court, which sacked him as the National Chairman of APGA.
But, as the first anniversary of the passing away of Dim Emeka Ojukwu comes on November 26, 2013, the APC South-East said it is now incumbent on Chief Victor Umeh to avail the world as he promised in the newspaper report of the much Governor Obi knows about the shady circumstances leading to Ikemba’s heart attack and subsequent death.
APC threw the challenge in a statement through the Zonal Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu on Friday, while reacting to alleged attempts by Governor Obi to use the annual Ofala festival of Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, to blackmail Senator Chris Ngige, the APC candidate for the November 16 governorship election in Anambra State.
The frontline opposition party appealed to the good people of Anambra State to use the index track record performance as the yard-stick to measure who to vote for, in the November 16 Governorship election.
Part of the statement reads: “We are worried that Governor Peter Obi is becoming excessively desperate in the face of the collapse of his propaganda machine, being fully aware that he achieved merely seven percent performance of the Sen Ngige’s Blue-Print in seven years.
“It could be recalled that penultimate week, when Governor Fashola apologized to Ndigbo over the deportation of 14 Igbos, Governor Peter Obi felt disarmed and went ahead to persuade Peoples Democratic Party {PDP} leadership to replace Comrade Tony Nwoye in INEC list.
“Now that Nwoye had gone to court, the only propaganda card left was to use the annual Ofala festival of Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, Agbogidi, Obi of Onitsha to blackmail Senator Chris Ngige.
“To the best of our knowledge Senator Ngige is a cultured person, well brought up and cannot disrespect the great Obi of Onitsha, hence duly got permission from the palace for the rally” it stated.
APC South East urged Governor Peter Obi to concentrate in preparing his not less than transparent hand over notes instead of attacking Senator Ngige.
“Otherwise we would be forced to remind the good people of Anambra State and indeed Nigerians of the infamous monthly N250m money haulage to Lagos by Governor Obi and the much-expected bombshell from Chief Victor Umeh on the shady circumstances surrounding the demise of Gburugburu Dikedioranma Ndigbo, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumuegwu Ojukwu, Ikemba Nnewi” it stated

Olaolufred: This is another way of saying, " All is fair in war".
I can equate this to saying, " how can we be feeding those fighting us?"

The federal government’s latest move may have pulled the plug on negotiations between it and the striking lecturers.

Mr. Asari-Dokubo said he chose to establish the institutions in Benin Republic because he does not only live there, but has adopted it as his country.

The government’s new directive starts from September.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, is “unshaken” by the federal government’s recent ‘No Work No Pay’ policy on the striking lecturers, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt.
The federal government’s decision to stop paying the lecturers’ salaries was confirmed by the university lecturers after their Thursday meeting.
Rising from ASUU’s zonal conference in Abuja on Thursday, the union responded to the ‘No Work No Pay’ strategy by stating that it had resorted to other welfare strategies to cope with the effects of the policy.
“The Federal Government has through the National Universities Commission, directed universities to stop the payment of our salaries effective September this year and since then our salaries have not been paid,” Clement Chup, ASUU Zonal Chairman in Abuja, said.
“Part of (our) welfare strategy, involve distributing food items, giving out soft loans and cash advances to members,” he added.
The union is currently on an over three-month-old industrial action over the failure of the government to implement the 2009 agreement it reached with the lecturers.
Festus Iyayi, a former ASUU President, said that the union remains resolute in the face of the government’s latest strategy.
“I can confirm that the federal government has stopped payment of the salaries of academic staff,” Prof. Iyayi, who led ASUU in 1986, told PREMIUM TIMES.
“This ‘get them to capitulate by starving them’ policy has been employed by government in the past. It did not work. Our members are ready to make whatever sacrifices are needed to make government honour agreements,” he added.
The federal government’s latest move may have pulled the plug on negotiations between it and the striking lecturers.
The government toed a similar path during the 2009 ASUU strike but the lecturers stuck to their guns, with then ASUU President, Ukachukwu Awuzie, stating that “they would not allow the issue of salaries to dampen the desire of its members to seek fundamental changes in the Nigeria’s educational system.

peleson: Keep quit! What is right about ASUU demands? Their pockets! ASUU is the 2nd highest paid in africa n the 12th highest paid in the world n now they want to be the highest in the world just like the senators!
If ASUU says, NO GOING BACK until our lawmakers and politician stop mismanagement and reduce their jumbo pay them we ll be happy BUT if they say NO GOING BACK until u increase and PAY US OUR JUMBO ALLOWANCE then it's greed. We are too intelligent for the rubbish! No work no pay for ASUU.
Have ASUU considered the hell they make students face and all the intimidations , harassment n bribes? Have they gone on strike for that?
Ofcos majority of them went to school on SCHOLARSHIPS with FREE MEAL from the government on their table. Have they gone on strike to bring some of those things back? Only their pockets!

Meanwhile, spokesman for the
Lagos State Ministry of
Environment, Mr. Fola Adeyemi,
yesterday, stated that the state
government’s closure of the
church will continue until its authorities fully comply with
the environmental breaches

kaeyame: I beg to differ, 70%?
If the system remains bad, what happens when graduates are let loose in the corrupt society with policies that are anti-progressive?