₦airaland Forum

Mods...front page please.

OVER three years after the National Minimum Wage Act was passed into law, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, is yet to implement the N18.000 minimum wage for workers of Labour City Transport Service, LCTS.

Not only that, Vanguard investigation revealed that NLC has refused to sanction a condition of service for the workers who have been exposed to unfair practices that labour has been waging war against.

Recall that Vanguard in August reported that the workers were being owed seven months (now eight months) salary arrears thereby inflicting untold hardship and suffering on the workers.

Efforts to speak with the management of the company including the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Kiri Mohammed, yielded no result.
When Vanguard called Mr. Mohammed on his phone, he claimed he did not know anything about the issue, because it was not long he became the Board Chairman, adding that he was making sure that the new buses NLC bought were rolled out.

However, Vanguard gathered that efforts by the workers through the umbrella union, the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, including several letters were rebuffed.

Vanguard findings revealed that a resemblance of a condition of service for the workers prepared in 2009 under the management of LCTS led Owei Lakemfa, now Secretary General of Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, OATUU, was never implemented.

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG
In January 2012, the workers wrote to the Chairman of the LCTS Board of Directors, detailing workers proposal for a stillbirth review of un-implemented 2009 condition of service was never attended to.

An official of Lagos State chapter of NURTW told Vanguard that several letters to the management of LCTS as well as informal discussions with the management over the minimum wage yielded no positive result, lamenting that “it is scandalous and insulting to the ear that NLC has not implemented the N18.000 minimum wage for its workers (LCTS). It will be a bad publicity for the congress. But the truth has to be told.”

According to the 2010 letter to the Chairman of Board of Directors of LCTS, some of the concerns of the workers were the issues of gratuity and its calculation, leave period and allowance. Medical facilities, canteen facilities, recreation facilities, accident prevention and long service award among others.

The last the time the issue of condition of service was discussed, Vanguard gathered that during management and union meeting of 03/02/12, the Managing Director said it was germane that the Company had a condition of service that was comprehensive and acceptable to the workers.
Subsequently, the Managing Director was said to have constituted a five man committee to fashion out a detail condition of service for the workers and the committee was given two weeks to submit its reports.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/11/nlc-yet-implement-n18000-wage-workforce/#sthash.9U26PokC.dpuf

The NLC keeps making noise for even poor Northern states that have no IGR to implement the N18,000. #Pot calling kettle black.

[quote author=Ile-Ife]What you're basically saying is that the supposed Enugu airport hate is a figment of your imagination.

You have compared the pension fund scandal to that of Stella Oduah. Didn't Maina and his cohorts lose their job? Didn't he flee or try to flee the country? Wasn't everyone involved taken to court until the judge involved basically freed them and the judge lost his job for the outrageous judgement. So, why will Nigerians scream blue murder when corrupt public officials are charged to court.

Stop trying to justify the unjustifiable, have a little bit dignity and self respect. We all read and heard about fashola's bullet proof car, Amaechi's jet but we did not see invoice like we are seeing in Oduah's case, where up to five contradicting official statements, denial and confirmation were released out of confusion in 72 hours.

You and others like you ought to condemn evil when you see one. have a quiet time and have a sober reflection. its a shame.[/quote]Why is it no is calling for the trial of the ex NCAA DG. Why is it Stella whose signature isn't found on one single document the one to be sacked? Are you aware that its possible it wasn't her but someone else in the ministry that gave approval? Permanent Secretaries I know do most of the paperwork in ministries. Ministers are not civil servants so don't involve themselves as much.

So we are to believe that she ordered NCAA to purchase cars for foreign dignitaries? Where's the evidence ? Seems the burglar whistleblower just forgot to leak every document with stellas name on it. So what exactly is she guilty of?

If she wanted bullet proof cars. Her ministry mind you with a budget far larger than NCAA would have gotten it for her. Plain and simple.

The folks are the NCAA are the thieves that should be investigated. But no according to you guys its Stella that remote controlled their minds and stole just about 100million naira.

The herd mentality in Nigeria is incredible. Seems no one thinks anymore.

oyb: the dele ore who only exists on the internet, right? sort of like the unlamented "concerned professionals" supporting the then yet-to be-convicted bank chiefs in the face of from Hurricane sanusi

Google him. He's the chairman or president of the aviation round table. Wrote an article that the Enugu airport should be closed to allow local airlines flourish. Claimed oduah threatened his life. Was at the house of rep committe to testify. Etc etc. Just google him.

banki: I still don't understand the correlation betweeen this case and ethnic witchhunting,
Its funny how. The. Writer carefullly forgot the contributions. Of harold damuren to the avaiton sector.
All of. A sudden kema chikwe. That supervised the sale of nigeria airways was the" best".
I still can't understand whY we spend so much money to renovate our airports go to china. To borrow money to upgrade our airports yet not. One. Airport in. Nigeria is world class or even among the top 20 in. Africa? Yet stella odua is. Now the best whille others before her were useless? Yet under. Her watch our. Airspace has seen morethan 4crashes. Alll due to. Negligence
We play politics. With everything in this. Country its not about oduas achivement. Itsnot. About her tribe,its about using 225 milllion to buy armoured cars in. A country that is not at war,a country that minimum waage is 18k,even in. The ministryy. Of. Avaition,a country. That can't pay salaries of. Its. Teachers! Its an insullt. And she. Must be punished

Think of it this way. Is she the only one that has been negligent? Assuming she's guilty, is she the only one involved in car saga? Truth is she most likely isn't which means sacking just her won't stop the NCAA from purchasing overpriced items in the future.

Whether she is guilty or not should be secndary to getting everyone involved fished out and reprimanded. It all seems to me like if Stella was sacked tomorrow this whole thing would die down. But is sacking only her an appropriate response? When there are others at the NCAA and even within the Ministry that was involved.

When you have 10 guilty people and you focus on just one of them , that's witch hunting plain and simple. Sacking Stella would in no way reduce corruption at the NCAA neither is it an appropriate response. People just need to see between the lines. She has enemies that want her out plus her careless Act of God statement aint helping but my view is she's been witch hunted mostly because some people like Dele Ore are no longer feeding fine.

Dis Guy: so you would agree to ALL of them being sacked and prosecuted right?

Most definitely everyone involved should be investigated and prosecuted if found culpable not just her.

[quote author=Ile-Ife]What do you mean persecution? She was caught stealing for heavens sake. Why would a sane person defend or try to justify this?[/quote]What makes the Minister more culpable than the DG of the NCAA?

I haven't heard anyone calling for prosecution and sack of the ex-Dg under whose direct supervisor this whole thing transpired. Why is this if its truly about fighting corruption ?

Why isn't anybody mentioning the fact that besides the Ministry of Aviation approving the purchase , there is no paper evidence as to the involvement of the Minister ? It seems like theMinister was bundled into the whole story based on SR 's hunch?

Give me good answers and win me over to the sack Stella campaign crew. corruption should never be tolerated.

[quote author=Warri _Pikin]Abeg, correct me if i'm wrong,.
Is this not the same Captain Dele Ore that recommended the closure of Enugu International airport to boost domestic flights to Lagos? [/quote]Lol. Now you see that corruption fights back when you fight it.

At best the BMW saga can be termed a stupid overpriced purchase. It would seem nonsensical to sack a minister that isn't directly in charge of that transaction cause of this. But Stella must go, so the contracts to dele ore and his likes will flow.

It is highly outrageous to buy two vehicles, any kind of vehicles for N225 million. It is also highly outrageous for mainstream media to rely on reports of online media, which most of the time are laced with gossips and rumours, for serious aviation reports.

Now that Nigerians are outraged about the exaggerated reports on the purchase of the vehicles, the facts of the matter have been eclipsed as the first report always finds a listening ear.

But it is good to deliberate on the motive behind the report and preceding reports before this last one. Princess Stella Oduah as Minister of Aviation has jolted the apple cart. In her strive to make desired changes in the sector she has excavated the status quo.

There are certain trends that have defined the aviation sector. There are always since 1999 those who use lopsided agreements and contracts to milk the aviation agencies. There are also those who use aviation related associations to sustain their lives and the aviation union executives rely on agency heads and succeeding ministers to make money in the sector.

Stella came and changed all that. These people were denied their source of material life by Stella and these are people behind the forces that coalesced against her.

It is said in the industry that two people before 2011 made noticeable changes in the sector. One was Peter Igbinedion who was the Managing Director of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, during the Abacha years. In retrospect also, kudos goes to Mrs. Kema Chikwe who was also the Minister of Aviation in the first tenure of Chief Obasanjo as Nigerian President. Story had it that she was pressured to leave, just as Stella is being pressured now and that when she was eased out broom was used to sweep out her footsteps from her office. But when she left, the same people acknowledged and still acknowledge that before Stella, Kema Chikwe was the best performing Minister of Aviation since civilian rule in 1999.

When Oduah was appointed there were three subsisting agreements that were controversial. One of them was Maevis which was managing the revenue of FAAN. FAAN said that the agreement was lopsided against the agency to the extent that the agency did not know how much that accrued in its coffers as Maevis every months gave it a hand out, a situation where a principle is being handed over money by its contractor. The agreement, to the agency was obnoxious and it was eating its revenue and hampering development of the 22 airports under its management.

Three Ministers came when the agreement was enforced, including Felix Hyat, who just witnessed its unveiling, Babatunde Omotoba who was there when FAAN workers started crying out against the agreement and alleged rip of FAAN by the agreement. He did nothing. Felicia Njeze came and smiled away few years later without doing anything about it. Stella came and did something. She revoked the agreement!

She was attacked with all kinds of arsenal, including media and court scud missiles. She remained unshaken. Other Ministers did not have the courage to do anything because of the Giant Eagle that facilitated the agreement and the agreement was aimed to rip off the agencies and empower some individuals.

Another agreement was the Pan Express agreement which gave the company the right to collect revenues from cargo and pay FAAN certain amount of revenue every month. That agreement was easily eased out because it did not come from the Big Eagle. Ironically that was the only decent agreement that was drawn not to strip FAAN its revenue; in fact, before the company started work, that source of cargo revenue for FAAN was in limbo, but it was done away quickly as soon as contrived agitation against it started.

Then the big masquerade of agreement which is still subsisting…the Bi Courtney concession agreement to build the domestic terminal in Lagos which initially was given for 12 years and was later extended controversially for 36 years without the expected approval of the Federal Executive Council, as Obasanjo recommended when the letter for the extension was presented to him by the then Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode. In the letter requesting for the extension, Obasanjo responded, “No.” That it should be taken to FEC for approval. The approval never took place and since then Bi Courtney has done everything possible to use the courts to get the extension and it remains at best controversial.

How did Oduah cross the way of Bi Courtney? The company realising that it did not have enough apron to park aircraft MMA2 claimed that the General Aviation Terminal, GAT, belonged to it and pointed out a clause in the agreement that said no other domestic airport terminal should be built in Lagos without deferring to Bi Courtney. Oduah defiantly made it clear that GAT which she dismantled and rebuilt under one year, did not belong to Bi Courtney.

Then there was the AIC Limited which claimed that many years ago a portion of land meant for expansion of the MurtalaMuhammedInternationalAirport, Lagos terminal was given to the company to build hospitality facility. But for years nothing was done at the portion land and recently with terror threats and the inevitable need to have another terminal at the Lagos airport, it became unrealistic to build such facility at that portion of land. Stella Oduah overruled that quest.

The highly placed, powerful people behind these companies have been injured by the Minister. But her purpose is obvious: that for the aviation industry to develop and progress there must be an end to these rip-offs and that the assets that are meant for Nigerians should not be coveted by a few highly placed people at the expense of over 160 million Nigerians. The war has been drawn. Stella Oduah must go!

The foot soldiers

As stated earlier, the labour union leaders and some association executives rely on aviation agency heads to sustain their existence. A former Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, kept the Aviation Round Table, ART, leaders on a payroll. Other agencies like FAAN, the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, give them contracts. But these contracts stopped when Oduah became the Minister. In protest, the attacks against her came in torrents to the extent that the President of ART, Captain Dele Ore at one time alleged Oduah threatened to kill him. Some aspects of the media made a savoury of it.

Capt. Ore Kingsley, an aviation stakeholder, wrote from Lagos

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/stella-oduah-must-punished/#sthash.9stA4re0.dpuf

POLICE CAP: [size=14pt] Last year the flood took nigerians by surprise because such has never happened in the country despite prior warnings from foreign countries.
By this year everybody was prepared and NEMA wanted taking credit for the pre-information. They even predicted that this year's flood is going to be greater than last years...
Now, my question is: should we still expect the flood and when?

N/B: for those who have difficulty in understanding, I'm not praying for flood thou, I'm just wondering how a professional body would make wrong predictions after research.[/size]

The bulk of the flood was as a result of Cameroon opening up their dam along the river benue route. They opened the dam to release water that had accumulated from heavy rainfall.

All weather forecasts anywhere around the world are predictions and may be off by some margin or not even occur at all.

It's within NEMA's purview to make predictions to enable the government implement whatever strategies it would to alleviate the flooding based on what it perceives to be true for the upcoming rainy season.

Obiagu1: A beg, make you tell them.

Reverse throttle mechanism is in most heavy vehicles as well to help slow down the speed in case of brake (air or hydraulics) failure or could be used entirely to bring aircrafts or vehicles to a stop.

Yes. This is most likely what occurred given that I've heard reports that there was hydraulic fluid leaked on the runway and that the pilot told the ATC there was a low hydraulic pressure warning on approach to land.

The absence of brakes also explains why the aircraft had to be towed.

Katsumoto: 1. My point stands, no matter how commendable the efforts of the Nigerian engineers.

2. Those who go abroad do so only for status reasons? So the GEJ’s wife who spent several weeks abroad did so for status reasons? Suntai and Chime also spent several months abroad for status reasons? Thank you for admitting that PDP elected officials are wasting thousands of dollars on treatment that can be locally obtained and are in the process absent from their duties. What about Agagu’s son that had to be flown abroad for treatment? He did so for status reasons? What about the hundreds of Nigerians who have to raise funds each year to go to India for treatment? They are also doing so for status reasons? You sir are lying through your teeth. See article below; Nigerian Health sector is in such a wonderful state that Nigerian experts decided to waste 3 days talking about non-existent problems.
‘Why is the Nigerian health system in spite of the huge resources – human and material – that the nation could boast of still in a parlous state? Why is the nation plagued by a dearth of world-class medical centers? How can the health sector be revamped and become attractive for big players in the private sector? What steps should be taken to halt the brain-drain in the health sector and attract Nigerian physicians in the Diaspora back home? Should public office holders be barred from seeking medical help abroad as a way of forcing them to address the problem in the health sector? These were some of the questions raised by THISDAY with some Nigerian physicians residing in the Americas during a three-day scientific session in Las Vegas recently.’
http://anpa.org/blog/2012/08/07/the-problem-with-nigerias-health-sector-tokunbo-adedoja-of-thisday-magazine-interviews-anpa-members/

3. You continue to miss my point; I am not stating that Space programs are not required. I am merely stating that there are other priorities that SHOULD be attended to first. I asked you previously, of what use is information from a satellite if you don’t have the means to respond efficiently and adequately to the data?

4. Accidents are inevitable with air and road travel but like all risks, they have to be managed efficiently. Road fatalities per 100,000: USA – 10, India – 18, Brazil – 22, China – 18, Nigeria – 33. In the last decade, Nigeria has had more crashes than those countries put together despite Nigeria operating fewer flights. Chinese get treated in China, Brazilians get treated in Brazil, Indians get treated in India but Nigerians get treated in India, USA, UK, Germany, etc. Power generation: China - 5 million GWh for 1.3 Billion people, USA 4.2 for 300 million, Brazil -550,000 for 130 million, India – 1 Million for 1 Billion, Nigeria – measly 24, 000 for 150 million. Countries such as Peru, Syria etc with fractions of Nigeria’s population generate more power than Nigeria

5. Qian Xuesen was, prior to Operation Paperclip, one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion laboratory. German science helped with Rocket development but there is more to a Space program than just developing the rocket. After all, the V-2 built by the Germans was only used to attack enemies. Who did the Japanese, Iranians, Isrealis, Indians steal technology from to develop their Space programs?

6. All those nations are so far ahead of Nigeria in almost EVERY human endeavour. Let us look at the rankings of the dimensions of the Human Development Index – Life expectancy, education, and standard of living. Isreal - 16, Ghana - 135, India - 136, Iran - 76, Brazil - 85, China - 101, Nigeria – 153. Nigeria is the lowest of all OPEC countries; even lower than Angola that was involved in a civil war for 27 years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_Human_Development_Index

7. I hope Nigeria gets to that stage one day as well but I prefer Nigeria addresses the BASIC needs of its citizens first – Good infrastructure, schools, health, etc. I would love Nigeria to move up in all kinds of rankings especially the Human Development Index. I would love Nigeria to be higher than countries such as Fiji, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Sao Tome, etc. It is patently foolish to be chasing programs that don’t benefit a majority of citizens. Nigerians want to eat, Nigerians shouldn’t be dying in high numbers on roads, in the air, etc. For crying out loud, young women are dying at child birth in high numbers.

I think you should agree that your point is more of catch 22. Countries that develop use a multi threaded approach. You may have one or two areas or threads laggng behind (top notch health systems etc as you've mentioned ) but that's not to say that the space program is ill advsed or ill timed just because its being properly managed to get to the stage is it today.

Are you aware that without the space program Nigeria would still spend millions of dollars paying foreign countries to use their satellites / rent bandwidth ? Somehow somehow monies would still have been spent either on developing satellites or paying to gain access to geographic data / communication channels from other countries satellites

Jakumo: I smell bullchit, and/or stark ignorance on the part of whichever dumb phuck made the above statement.

There is NO SUCH THING as a "Reverse Throttle Mechanism" in ANY aircraft on this planet.

On landing, the Reverse THRUST levers, which articulate on the upper surface of each throttle lever, are pulled aft by the pilot as the front landing gear compresses at the moment of touchdown, for the purpose of diverting some of the engine thrust FORWARDS, as a means of slowing jet aircraft down on the landing rollout, in augmentation of toe-brakes application performed by tipping forward the upper portion of the rudder pedals, or by Auto Brake pre-selection via the 4-position rotary dial located on the main instrument panel in front of the First Officer.

Thrust Reversers, which are normally retracted as the plane slows to 80 knots, have absolutely NOTHING to do with any hydraulic or electrical failure that could prevent landing gear from deploying on final approach, and as such were probably mentioned by a complete and utter ignoramus who sought to appear knowledgeable in front of the press.

A simple reference to the pilots' timely resolution of an intermittent hydraulic failure would have been sufficient, but the Too-Know, Over-Sabi mentality of that spokesperson ensured that outright lies were fabricated by a pea-brained monkey, in the hopes of baffling the public.

Google knows what reverse throttle mechanism is.

The brakes of many large aircraft are hydraulically driven so if some part of the hydraulic system of the aircraft failed then it all adds up.

My guess is that one or more of the hydraulic systems failed (the 747 has 4 seperate hydraulic systems for example) making the brakes on the aircraft to also fail...and the pilot had to use reverse thrust to put the plane to a stop...this is probably what happened.

talktimi: its actually quite easy just that our political class try so hard to show us how inept they are. This is across board and includes the self acclaimed "progressives". Definitely there has to be a reduction or merger of states in Nigeria as the only 3 viable states we have are Lagos, Rivers & Kano. These are actually the only states that can survive without federal allocation. Our blessed curse is just that oil money is just so easy and faster to get in billions of dollars meanwhile even without resource control, the fed govt can just issue out mining licenses to multinational corporations for our solid minerals of which we are richly blessed while just chilling out on royalties, its just so easy, im really scared but wondering why no one has thought about or implemented such a revenue generator of geometric proportions...

I agree.

Sam xiu lee: dnt know why you guys have to mention SW everytime,Agricultural power house in SE?well that's a new one,
Maybe ekiti will be asked to merge back with Ondo,but the other states would fare well once they are allowed to control their resources.
I don't see anything coming out of a mere dialogue if its not sovereign,what we need is true fiscal federalism,not talk talk workshops,Abacha and Obj did it nothing changed.

I think the problem is more like there is no legal backing for a sovereign conference....for any decisions concluded at such a conference to hold water and become law, it has to be backed by law...and presently our constitution doesn't have room for anybody or group of people out of the NASS and state assemblies to create laws.

The important question is if there is the political will across board to amend the constitution for this and trust me there isn't...the northerners seem to not want an SNC, and everyone else doesn't want to go through the stress of working hard to create wealth for their states (the implication of full resource control which is most likely going to be amongst any conclusions a transparent SNC holds).

talktimi: No need for disintegration at all. Lets practice true federalism by weakening power at the center, there must be resource control & a diversification from our dependence on crude oil alone when we are abundantly blessed with other agricultural and mineral resources. When states/regions are allowed to properly exploit their resources for their benefit, then the nation as a whole will move forward instead of just depending on oil and federal allocation.

While this is the dream....I struggle to see how it would work out...you have soo many state governments that would have to seize to exist if this happens. The best is that they would have to merge with others to stay viable...while this is the way forward for a long lasting peaceful Nigerian state, there's going to be too much opposition to this idea...

It's possible but would be a really slow process.

oneangle: This guy must be stupid... I paid over $40 dollars for internet abroad and i never got bored or every used the refresh button.

What are you talking about sef? You are a very stupid guy... Its cheap according to you and dead slow ... Useless people etisalat, glo , mtn and airtel.. All uselesssssss

I wasn't the one who came up with the research...the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) did (http://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx)

I think it's high time people recognize that the OP is not the one who conducted the research...I only stumbled upon it and found it interesting thus thought to post it here in order to get your opinions on it. Whether or not we have crappy internet service or whether you feel the research is wrong isn't and shouldn't be my fault, hence I wonder why the insults.

Its high time Nairalanders learn to air their views without trading insults.

[quote author=KELVIN-XY]Sincerely...Brother how much did they(network operators) pay you for this advert. [/quote]Just found it online and thought to share...

Today, nearly half of the world's total population has potential access to some kind of 3G or 4G network, which is five times the level of mobile coverage we were at just five years ago. Unfortunately, not all mobile broadband is created equal—especially where price is concerned.

According to a new report released by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that measured the monthly cost of 500MB of pre-paid, mobile-broadband data, developed countries are the proud owners of the most affordable mobile-broadband in the world... sort of. While Austria comes in at a $4.70 per month, the mobile-broadband dark horse of the developed world, the United States, hits a staggering $85—but then, most of you were probably already well acquainted with that absurd truth. The ITU measured the monthly prices as a percentage of monthly gross national income, so the cause of the massive disparity comes down to the market itself.

The Economist postulates that Verizon and AT&T being our only two legitimate players and the added cost of building over a larger terrain are what's making the United States' collective mobile bill so depressing. But even Russia only clocks in at $27.60 a month, so the size explanation alone seems unlikely. The Economost has created a great interactive map using the ITU's data, and you can play around with it yourself over at their website.

http://gizmodo.com/the-price-of-500mb-of-mobile-data-across-the-world-1442047579

Nigeria comes in the $20 - $40 range which is cheaper than the USA and some other developed countries.

solidbroda: the money is meant for the FG or State. it is not owned by the VC or anybody but the government.
this government therefore embezzle the money. the function of the VC is to make sure students pay. that's all

FG owned Educational institutions don't remit money to the government...they receive from the FG but don't remit. The idea is that the FG is supposed to support whatever fees they collect from the students.

honeric01: What is the difference between SNC and NC?

Which is really needed?

The following paragraph gotten from the link should give you a picture of what the major proponents of SNC have in mind. I have also read the late Gani's view points on constitution an SNC and they are similar. The important parts of the paragraph that should answer your questions have been bolded.
http://saharareporters.com/article/sovereign-national-conference-nigeria-valiant-and-refreshing-perspective-edwin-madunagu

"In the fourth paragraph, I attempted an implicit definition of a Sovereign National Conference by differentiating it from a Constituent Assembly: “A Sovereign National Conference (SNC) is not a Constituent Assembly, and must not be confused with it. A Constituent Assembly is normally put in place by an incumbent government under its own rules…Whatever form it takes, a Constituent Assembly comes into being only when a basic direction of national renewal has been agreed upon, or imposed. The Assembly then works out the mechanisms or details”. I would today replace “Constituent Assembly” with “Constitutional Conference” to correspond with our own political lexicon.

On the other hand, a Sovereign National Conference “proceeds with no assumption whatsoever; it is national in the truest sense of the term; it is virile; it is self-constituted and, while it lasts, it is superior to any other political institution in the land, including the incumbent government.
This is the type of conference I consider now inevitable in the country”. I do not see the need for any modification of this formulation, although I admit that it is “extremist” and “maximalist”. But that is it. If you are not comfortable with this, you may talk of another conference, but not a Sovereign National Conference.
I may also add, for completeness, that only a referendum can alter even a single word in SNC’s decisions."

.deleted

fkaz: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/condition-national-conference-senate/


From thje bolded part, any sensible nigeria should know where this talkshow would end up. The likes of prof BEN WNABUEZE, GOV BOLA TINUBU and many others has always called for SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE and not NATIONAL CONFERENCE that some people are celebrating for.

FACT

What is the need for NATIONAL CONFERENCE when at the end ,their recommendation/final report will be sent to NATIONAL ASSEMBLY for another deliberation. Nig. Petroleum industry bill is still lying there in the senate.
GEJ should give us SNC and not NC, we should stop foolin ourself

fkaz: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/condition-national-conference-senate/


From thje bolded part, any sensible nigeria should know where this talkshow would end up. The likes of prof BEN WNABUEZE, GOV BOLA TINUBU and many others has always called for SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE and not NATIONAL CONFERENCE that some people are celebrating for.

FACT

What is the need for NATIONAL CONFERENCE when at the end ,their recommendation/final report will be sent to NATIONAL ASSEMBLY for another deliberation. Nig. Petroleum industry bill is still lying there in the senate.
GEJ should give us SNC and not NC, we should stop foolin ourself

While I like the idea of an SNC, there is a lot of debate about the constitutionality of a Sovereign National Conference. Our constitution simply has no room for it. What this means is that conclusions met by any SNC may still be invalidated by the court of law...it would even have issues with regards to implementation because you can't implement the decisions of a convened body that isn't backed by any law.

My guess is that before a Sovereign National Conference can take place, there would have to be some sort of adjustments to the present constitution.

The other way around this is to have a National Conference...they debate on the topics the SNC would have taken up, and their decisions are ratified by the NASS. The NASS would find it difficult not to pass the results of the National Conference because the conference would have the backing of the people.

Another solution is to have a referendum where people would vote on the issues to be raised...its an option but I'm not sure if our constitution supports this.

Basically a national conference is the limit to how we can come together as a multi-cultural entity called Nigeria and have a debate on our future.

Katsumoto: You chaps like to claim things that don't belong to you. Gates clearly mentioned how much is foundation is committing to this initiatives. Where is your report that provides how much the Nigerian government contributed? See items in bold below for more details.

No matter how much you chaps pat yourselves on the back, the fact remains that a foreign individual is providing services that should be provided by the government and you are here commending yourselves because you gave them Visa to enter your country to save and feed your citizens. The mere fact that an individual is doing what a government should be doing is, ipso facto, an indictment of the failure of the Nigerian government. You can pay a bunch of silly fat and incompetent senators 4 times what the American president earns but you need a foreigner to assist with agricultural programs and eradicating Polio. Shame on you all.

Well I'd say that Bills work on polio isn't only in Nigeria. Its in the three other countries with polio cases still been reported. The agricultural program covers all of Africa.

I do not know if you have anything to gain from being anti-gej that would prevent us from agreeing on points bur all am trying to do is lay down the facts from a different perspective.

I happen to have direct knowledge of how the polio vaccinations work and I know that the states provide funding as well as the FG. Typing from my mobile so can't put up a long post with more details bur at the end of the day Its an entire system of collaborative effort and that's where you seem to miss the point.

Just to add. The FG and State Governments also commit funds and personnel into the eradication efforts. International organisations like Bills provide mainly technical support, the vaccines and monitoring teams.

At the end of the day its the collective effort of alll involved.

Bill Gates speaks of GEJ in admiration and that's something.

Katsumoto: Clearly you are the one lacking comprehension.

First, the work is being done by the Gates foundation and its partners. Read the bolded part again. If Jonathan was able to reduce the incidence of Polio through its own agents then perhaps he might be praised.

Second, having the president's support is not the same thing as Gates praising Jonathan's performance.

Third, praising the president's performance reads as Gates praising Jonathans's overall performance. Is that the case here? Gates is talking about the work he is doing and mentions that Goodluck's support as been useful. He neither praises Jonathan's overall performance nor does he praise Jonathan for the work he (Gates) is doing.

Why didn't Soyinka's father or mother accept the Nobel prize on his part? Afterall, they supported him in his journey.

What exactly did Jonathan do that he is being praised for? No where is Jonathan praised in that article.

By we Bill meant the President's team, his team, who, UNICEF etc.

DanNafada: @Iolo

If I were not a gentleman I would have called you an absolutely clueless schmuck who is thoroughly deserving of Dr & Mrs Ebele Jonathan as his leaders . Good luck!

Lol. I just don't think GEJ is that bad as at now. And if by 2015 his policies don't bear visible fruit as expected, I'd gladly join in voting a more suitable candidate.

dodoro: It is very surprising that there r still some senseless Nigerians clamouring for GEJ's second term. It is rather unfortunate. I like being objective and I want to state very clearly that Jonathan has not done anything to deserve a second term. He doesn't have the charisma and clout of a president of the largest black nation. Let the truth be told!
This is the most disjointed administration in a democratic era in the history of Nigeria. Everything is wrong with the style of governance.

Is this your real issue with GEJ? Charisma and Clout