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Tuesday, 27 January 2015

Nigeria holds great prospects for investors –Chidoka


Nigeria holds great opportunities for her citizens who wish to
invest in the recent projections that the economy would
continue to grow at the rate of over 6 per cent for the next 20
years, Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, has said.
Chidoka said there was no need for citizens to be disillusioned
but urged them to look inward as the abundant human and
natural resources make the country a big market for goods
and services, the two key areas that would serve as stimulant
for growing the economy.
He made this known when he delivered the 44th Convocation
Lecture of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) entitled,
“Rebuilding the Nigerian Dream: Mapping the Building Blocks.”
Chidoka said that Nigerians are fastidious and therefore have
the tendency to criticise their country even when it is
unnecessary, adding that although that attitude is seemingly
wrong but it spurs the citizens and government to do things
better.
“The most virulent critics of Nigeria are Nigerians. A few years
ago Nigerians celebrated one year of no blackouts in Ghana.
Even though no such celebration took place in Ghana,” he
lamented.
He noted that Nigerians have inherent elements to succeed in
every endeavour and those elements include superiority
complex, hard work and the readiness to sacrifice today for
better tomorrow.
Chidoka said that although the Nigerian education system is
severely criticised by her citizens, but Nigerians who studied in
Nigerian schools like the UNN have distinguished themselves
within and outside the country, particularly in the United
States of America (USA) where they remain the most
successful professionals among the black population.
“The criticism of our education system and the lamentations
about the so-called Nigerian Factor notwithstanding, the
Nigerian Diaspora has been singled out as one of the most
successful black Diasporas in the world. In the United States,
Nigerian-Americans dramatically outperform Americans in
terms of income. In their book, The Triple Package, Professors
Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld explain that Nigerians are over-
represented in the field of medicine, higher education, law and
investment banking (Chua & Rubenfeld, 2014).
“Why are Nigerians so successful? Because of the way we
raise our children. According to the authors, we Nigerians
possess the three traits that breed success: a superiority
complex – an idea that we are special in some way; insecurity
– the fear that if we don’t work hard we will fail; and impulse
control – the ability to delay gratification in the short term for
better outcomes in the future. Even if you had never attended
this institution, but by the virtue of being raised as a Nigerian,
you already have the tools for success,” the Minister said.

Blatter gets ‘solid’ African support


African countries have vowed to vote overwhelmingly for Sepp
Blatter in this year’s Fifa elections
“Africa is solidly behind Blatter.,” said Kwesi Nyantakyi, the
president of the Ghana FA.
Nyantakyi, who is also a Confederation of African Football
executive committee member added: “You will find he is very
popular on the continent.”
On 29 May, Blatter will seek a fifth term as president that will
take him past his 80th birthday.
Dutch football association president Michael van Praag
announced on Tuesday his intention to run following similar
moves by former Fifa deputy secretary general Jerome
Champagne and Prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein of Jordan.
Former France international David Ginola has also announced
his intention to stand but his is widely regarded as being no
more than a publicity stunt.
But Blatter’s prospective opponents are likely to get little
support from the 53 African voters.
“The continent is united behind him,” added former South
African FA president Molefi Oliphant, who still serves on the
Caf executive.
“We made a formal endorsement of his candidacy last year at
our meeting in Rio de Janeiro already.”
Previous endorsements from Caf, however, have not
necessarily translated into votes.
African football’s controlling body promised Lennart
Johansson a block of votes in 1998 but member associations
took no heed and helped Blatter to victory.
In 2002 Caf president Issa Hayatou failed to muster significant
support from his own continent and lost heavily to Blatter.
Affection for Blatter stems from the generous financial
assistance he has given Africa during his 17-year tenure.
“He has done a lot for the continent. It is he who has set up
the financial assistance programmes and who through the
Goal project has built infra structure in all of the countries,”
added Nyantakyi.
“The Europeans don’t understand that. They say it is not his
own money but Fifa’s but that’s not the point.
“He is the one who set up all the assistance programmes that
have helped boost African football.”
Goal is Blatter’s pet project, inaugurated not long after he
came to power in 1998 that has built training centres,
accommodation, pitches and offices for cash-strapped
associations.
Under Fifa’s Financial Assistance Programme, introduced in
2001, each of the ruling body’s 209 member associations
receive generous grants with more than $1 billion paid out
during Blatter’s tenure.
( BBC )

AFCON 2015: Equatorial Guinea foresees tough quarter-finals


Equatorial Guinea veteran Juvenal Edjogo-Owono has said he
expects the AFCON hosts to come up with a difficult
quarterfinal after his team finished second in Group A.
On Saturday, Nzalang Nacional will battle the winners of
Group B, who are likely to be Tunisia or Cape Verde, in
Ebebiyin for a place in the last-four.
“We are going to enjoy this qualification with our fans and our
people and start to prepare for the quarter-finals. We don’t
know our opponents yet, but it will be very tough,” said
Juvenal, who also featured when Equatorial Guinea reached
the knockout stage in 2012, when they co-hosted the
competition with neighbours Gabon.
The Andorra-based midfielder said his team deserved 2-0 win
over Gabon.
“The Gabon players are well known and play for great
European teams. It was important for us to reach half-time on
a tie, to keep our chances until the end,” he said.
“Gabon has a lot of qualities, but so do Equatorial Guinea. We
played our match and deserved the victory.”
“We approached all three games in the same way, against
more fancied opponents, with conviction and humility.”
Gabon’s coach slams penalty decision
Head coach of Gabon, Jorge Costa has blamed their exit in the
on-going 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) to a poor
decision by the centre referee.
The hosts Equatorial Guinea bundled out Costa’s team 2-0 in
a Group A match played at the Bata Stadium on Sunday. “As
hosts they only needed a soft penalty to be able to win. That
penalty was the turn of the game,” a bitter Costa told
AfricanFootball.com after the game.
Costa said the referee from Cote d’Ivoire Doue Noumandiez
Desire made a wrong call to award the penalty. “Even after
watching replays on TV you can tell that there was no
penalty,” reasoned the coach.
The hosts scored through Javier Angel Balboa’s second half
penalty and another goal by substitute Ivan Edu Salvador.
Coach Claude Le Roy’s Congo Brazzaville’s team qualified as
Group A table leaders after their 2-1 win over Burkina Faso
2-1.
Balboa made a driving run before surging into the Gabon
penalty area. Gabon defender Lloyd Palun seemed to clip him
in the box and the referee awarded a penalty that he
confidently converted. But Costa said he will maintain that the
referee was wrong.
He called upon match officials to handle matches well if the
tournament is to move on smoothly for teams to express
themselves and better teams to win. “Although we are out, I
pray that the best teams win,” he added.

Venus, Serena romp into Australian Open quarter-finals


Venus Williams overcame sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska at
the Australian Open to reach her first Grand Slam quarter-final
since 2010.
The 34-year-old American, who suffered from Sjogren’s
syndrome, a disease that can cause fatigue, won 6-3 2-6 6-1.
The seven-time Grand Slam champion will face teenager and
fellow American Madison Keys in the last eight.
Venus will play sister, Serena, who beat Garbine Muguruza
2-6 6-3 6-2, in the semi-finals, if they both win again.
Top seed Serena, who had not advanced past the quarter-
finals at Melbourne Park since winning her last Australian
Open title in 2010, had trouble breathing at times and coughed
throughout her match against Muguruza.
She also struggled for form early on, but fought back to
avenge her defeat by the Spaniard at last year’s French Open.
“I had to play the best match of the tournament or else I was
going to be out,” said Serena, who next faces Slovakia’s
Dominika Cibulkova.
“She was just hitting winners like left and right. Every shot I
hit, she basically hit a winner on. So I had to change my
approach.”
At 19 years of Madison Keys is 15 years younger than Venus,
who won her first Grand Slam title, at Wimbledon in 2000,
when Keys was just five.
“Apparently she started playing because she watched Serena
and I,” said Venus. “She was watching me in diapers.”
Venus was pushed hard, too, losing the second set as her
level dropped before regrouping and upping the power to
clinch the decider.
Asked what had inspired her successful run in Melbourne,
Venus said: “Definitely my sister Serena, she’s just the
ultimate champion.
“And definitely a lot of inspiration from all my fans who have
stayed behind me through thick and thin.”
Venus, whose best performance at the Australian Open was a
runner-up finish in 2003, last reached the quarter-finals of a
Grand Slam at the US Open in 2010. Keys is relishing the
prospect of facing one of her childhood heroes.
“I’m just really excited. It’s a huge opportunity for me,” she
said.
“I think Venus has helped the sport, especially the women’s
side with equal prize money. She was a huge part of that.
Just watching her is inspirational.”
“She’s had her health battles but she loves tennis. She’s still
out there and she’s doing it remarkably well. I hope I can be
someone similar to that.”

Super-four: F/Eagles defender cheats death


…Enyimba not targeting trophy –Coach
…My team did not impress me –Emordi
From ROMANUS UGWU, Abuja
But for the quick intervention of the medical team at the
ongoing Super-four tournament, a Flying Eagles’ defender,
Prince Izu Omego, would have gone to the world beyond after
a sliding tackle in yesterday’s game against Kano Pillars FC.
The medical team battled for more than 10 minutes to revive
the defender, who passed out. His situation looked hopeless
at a time as many of his teammates grabbed their heads in
shock while others helped to pull- out the player’s kits off his
seeming lifeless body, leaving both the organizers and some
members of the football federation to run helter-skelter, while
men of God jumped unto the pitch for divine intervention.
However, the stadium erupted in cheers when they saw what
looked like a glimpse of body movement but he raised further
apprehension when he could not rise to his feet.
The game finally resumed when he was stretchered into a
waiting ambulance and rushed to the hospital. Although Flying
Eagles’ Chief Coach, Garba Manu, noted that he was still
awaiting update on his situation, he expressed happiness that
he finally regained consciousness.
Commenting on the game coach Manu said he was a fulfilled
man watching his boys, record victory over two-time Nigeria
Premier league champions.
According to him; “It is a sweat victory to beat back to back
Premier league champions. The good thing is that we won
and equally entertained the spectators. If we had converted
our penalty and other chances, we would have been talking
about massive victory.”
Meanwhile, the assistant coach of Enyimba FC of Aba, Friday
Christopher, has said that the preoccupation of the team is
not to lift the tournament trophy but to be match fit for their
CAF Champions League next month.
“I made it very clear after our first match that our main target
is not to win the tournament trophy. We are more concerned
about putting the players in a proper match form for our
forthcoming continental championship next month. Our joy is
that this match is an improvement from the first one,” he
noted.

The attacks on the President


dan_onwukwe@yahoo.com
NIGERIA’s political history as far as elections are
concerned,leaves no crumbs for comfort.At best,it reminds us
of how we got here. And this should surprise
nobody.Violence,thuggery and rigging are common features
that contributed in no small measure to the collapse of past
republics.In the words of Archbishop Matthew Hassan
Kukah,these are the “trinity” that have marred our electoral
process.
It’s in this connection that when the Presidential candidates in
next month’s elections signed a peace pact and embraced
each other,we all hailed it.That was why the picture of
President Goodluck Jonathan and that of the Presidential
candidate of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Muhammadu
Buhari,made the front page of many newspapers a day after
the pact was signed in Abuja.
But few weeks after,our worst fears are coming back thick and
fast.What we fear most seems to have come upon us.As bad
as our past political experience
was,one can’t recollect of any incident where an incumbent
President seeking re-election has had his convoy attacked,or
satchet water thrown at his convoy for no justifiable
reason.That’s insane.That’s the dark side of our politics that
portends danger to the forthcoming elections.
If the life of the President is threatened,who then is safe? In
less than three weeks,political thugs have attacked the
President’s campaign train in Kano,Katsina,Bauchi and
Jos,Plateau State.In the case of Bauchi,where two operatives
of the Directorate of State Security were injured and
hospitalized,stones and satchets of water were allegedly
thrown at the President’s convoy.
Who dunnit? While thugs allegedly sponsored by the
opposition APC have been fingered in the ugly incidents in
Kano,Katsina and Jos,that of Bauchi has a curious ring to
it.Was it orchestrated by APC or members of the State PDP
operating from far away Abuja as alleged by the State
Governor,Alhaji Isa Yuguda?
The Governor’s version of the attack in a British Broadcasting
Corporation(BBC)Hausa Service over the weekend sounds
bizaare and unbelievable.This is what Gov.Yuguda said on
BBC two days ago,”I am sure and let the world know that the
people who did this thing were PDP members and those
politicians in Abuja.They found these youths on the road and
gave them brooms and satchets of water and they instructed
them that when the President is passing they should raise the
brooms and satchets of water at him”.According to Yuguda,a
top member of the PDP,the target was to demonize him and
pitch him against the President.How true is this? Well,in
Nigeria,nothing is beyond our politicians.But,to me,the logic of
Alhaji Ibrahim Jalo,deputy National Publicity Secretary of PDP
makes better sense.He asks a pertinent question:How can the
ruling party be the one organising the stoning? Well,I don’t
know! He
pushed the question to the State governor to answer. That
would amount to a house divided against itself. Or better
still,an equivalent of a “Mutually Assured Destruction(MAD).
Whichever way,the attacks on the President,by all accounts,is
despicable and an affront on democracy.It also negates the
peace pact entered into by the Presidential candidates early
this month on behalf of their parties.It also raises concerns
that the elections might be a “do or die” affair.
Beyond that,it does not speak well of the maturity of aspiring
political leaders.In short,it offends all known laws meant to
bring sanity and decency into our electoral process as the
attack contravenes section 227 of the 1999 Constitution(as
amended)as well as sections 94 and 95 of the Electoral Act
and sections 5-8 of the Public Order Act and Article 3 of the
Political parties Code of Conduct freely agreed to,and adopted
by all the political parties.
Section 7 of the Code states explicitly that during
campaigns,no political party or candidate should resort to the
use of inflammatory or indecent language,provocative actions,
images or manifestations Mthat incite
violence,hatred,contempt or intimidation against another party
or candidate or any person or group of persons on grounds of
ethnicity or gender or for any other reason.
Besides,section 14 of the Code is specific that “no political
party or candidate shall prevent other parties or candidates
from pasting their posters or distributing their
leaflets ,handbills or other publicity materials in public places.
The Code therefore urges all parties and candidates to give
directives to their members or supporters not to
remove,deface or destroy the posters of other parties or
candidate.
In spite of these provisions, President Jonathan has come
under a volley of attacks.In many states,such
Rivers,Lagos,Kano,Katsina,Kaduna, Plateau ,Abuja,
Bauchi,Nasarawa,Adamawa, Borno, several acts of vandalism
have been visited on the President’s campaign train.Some of
his billboards have been reportedly destroyed and his posters
as well.
Perhaps this is a torch of provocation by the main opposition
party or even some dissidents within the President’s own
party. This is why the directive by the Inspector General of
Police,Suleiman Abba to all zonal Assistant IGP and command
commissioners to crackdown on political thugs and their
sponsors is a welcome development.The Police high
command,should,as a matter of urgency,fish out those behind
the attacks on the President’s convoy.Or will the Police high
command wait until something more sinister happens?
The President,just like any other politician,should be free to
campaign in any part of the country without any
molestation.Politicians should take responsibility for any
misconduct of their supporters.Much to their frustration,and
perhaps sensing defeat, the premeditated attacks on the
President could be a way of provoking the PDP into a
retaliation that could precipitate crisis.
Recall that the President has said many times over that his
political ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian.
That’s how politics ought to be.In other words,there will
always be life after politics. Therefore, if the forthcoming
elections will be counted a success,this is the time to shake
off the past and let the campaigns go on. We need not to be
reminded of how we got here.

ASUU, Oshiomhole and UNIBEN properties


The Edo State Government has been locked in a war of
attrition with the authorities of the University of Benin
(UNIBEN) over ownership of some properties located in the
Government Reservation Area of the state. The UNIBEN branch
of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has upped
the ante by accusing the Edo State governor, Adams
Oshiomhole, of high handedness and unprovoked attacks on
its members in his quest to take possession of the properties
in dispute.
Although a recent court judgement affirmed that the properties
rightly belong to Edo State Government, the haste and
indecorum with which the state government attempted to give
effect to the judgement is appalling. This is more so as the
university was reported to have appealed the judgement.
The Edo State authorities had mobilised bulldozers to the site
of the properties in question within days of the judgment and
pulled them down in a brazen show of power and self-help.
Students of the university, in reaction, took to the streets in
protest and destroyed at least a vehicle belonging to the state
government. They have threatened to return to the streets
again if government does not quickly meet their conditions for
peace and restore the status quo.
It is the dragging of the students into this seemingly
avoidable dispute and exposing them to harm’s way that we
decry and condemn. Parties in this dispute must realise their
responsibilities to the future generation of leaders that these
students represent and do everything humanly possible to
shield them from exposure to crisis.
If we may ask: Why was the Edo State government in such
haste to give effect to the court judgment, knowing that the
window of 90 days for an appeal had not been exhausted?
The argument that it did not receive the appeal notice before
the demolition exercise was embarked upon cannot hold
water. Neither can the earlier argument that it was UNIBEN
that initiated the court process in the first place, and should
suffer its consequence. Government, as the father of all, has a
higher responsibility to exercise utmost restraint in disputes
with its own stakeholders in order not to be seen to be
irresponsible in its actions.
This is more so when its actions cannot stand the test of
time and moral scrutiny. The mills of justice may grind slowly,
but they remain sure. The rush by the Edo authorities to take
possession of the properties was needless. Restraint, even in
the face of provocation, is the minimum expected of all
responsible governments.
Now that some damage has been done, how does government
mitigate it? This is a box government should not have found
itself in if it had thought through its action in the first place.
Government should not have resorted to the demolition of the
contentious properties, especially as they reportedly house
very senior members of staff of the university.
So, the government should as a first step towards resolving
the dispute and avoiding an escalation, take no further action
in advancing its claim to ownership of the properties in dispute
until the appeal by the university is exhausted. We are in a
democratic country where the rule of law must prevail. Let the
state government initiate peace moves and wait for the final
pronouncement of the courts on the matter.
We enjoin Governor Oshiomhole to show leadership in this
matter. The UNIBEN authorities should also explore all
avenues for an amicable handling of this dispute until the final
resolution of the matter by the courts.

Tambuwal To Politicians – Stop This Violence Now


Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal
has said that the current scale of violence introduced by
politicians in the country must stop.
He stated this at an interactive session with the leadership of
students of all tertiary institutions in Sokoto State on Monday.
“The culture of violence that is tradition. I don’t believe in
violence and those who are into it should reconsider their
steps.
“What you should do as politicians is to convince people on
what you intend to do for them. Tell them why you should be
elected. You must not lead unscrupulous people to unleash
mayhem on people you perceive as not your supporters”,
Tambuwal said.
Tambuwal, who is the All Progressive Congress (APC)
governorship candidate in the state, stressed further that it is
only when politicians imbibed the culture of electioneering that
is devoid of violence, that the youths would take a cue of
issue-based politicking.
He also pleaded with the people of Sokoto State to obtain
their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) because according to
him, “Obtaining PVCs is the only by which you can elect the
candidates of your choice”.
He also called on government at all levels to invest in the
youth so that the country would have vibrant future. “We
must invest in the youths for a better tomorrow because they
represent today and the future”.
Tambuwal said that his number one priority if elected as
governor of Sokoto state would be education in which majority
of beneficiaries are the youths.
( INFORMATION NIGERIA )

Tambuwal To Politicians – Stop This Violence Now


Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal
has said that the current scale of violence introduced by
politicians in the country must stop.
He stated this at an interactive session with the leadership of
students of all tertiary institutions in Sokoto State on Monday.
“The culture of violence that is tradition. I don’t believe in
violence and those who are into it should reconsider their
steps.
“What you should do as politicians is to convince people on
what you intend to do for them. Tell them why you should be
elected. You must not lead unscrupulous people to unleash
mayhem on people you perceive as not your supporters”,
Tambuwal said.
Tambuwal, who is the All Progressive Congress (APC)
governorship candidate in the state, stressed further that it is
only when politicians imbibed the culture of electioneering that
is devoid of violence, that the youths would take a cue of
issue-based politicking.
He also pleaded with the people of Sokoto State to obtain
their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) because according to
him, “Obtaining PVCs is the only by which you can elect the
candidates of your choice”.
He also called on government at all levels to invest in the
youth so that the country would have vibrant future. “We
must invest in the youths for a better tomorrow because they
represent today and the future”.
Tambuwal said that his number one priority if elected as
governor of Sokoto state would be education in which majority
of beneficiaries are the youths.
( INFORMATION NIGERIA )

Monday, 26 January 2015

Jonathan in Warri, explains suspension of gas city project


President Goodluck Jonathan at the weekend paid an
unscheduled visit to Warri, Delta State, where he explained
why the ground breaking ceremony for the Delta Gas City
Project and the Export Free Zone was aborted.
Jonathan who had a private audience with the President of
the Christian Association of Nigera (CAN), Pastor Ayo
Oritsejafor, and in company of the Delta State Governor, Em­
manuel Uduaghan, paid courtesy call on the Olu of Warri,
Ogiame Atuwatse II.
The President told the Olu of Warri in the presence of his
chiefs that he had to put-off the ground breaking because of
the fear of outbreak of violence during the ceremony, which
would have frightened investors.
He said it was not put-off because he was afraid anything
was going to happen to him, adding that as a son of the Niger
Delta region, he can move freely in the zone without mo­
lestation.
Explaining that the ground breaking ceremony will not be done
before the elections next month, President Jonathan stated
that investors would have to be around for the ceremony,
noting that the concerned companies would be given enough
notice.
He, therefore, mandated the Delta State Governor to work
closely with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources and the
Presidency to get a suitable date before May 29, 2015.
Reacting to the President’s visit, the state Commissioner for
Information, Chike Ogeah commended the President for coming
personally to explain the circumstances that led to the
suspension of the ceremony.
Ogeah in a statement said the “state government is also
appreciative of the Olu’s understanding of the President’s
explanation and commitment to the project.

Oshiomhole to Jonathan: Don’t expect Edo people’s votes


Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has advised the
presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
President Goodluck Jonathan, against banking on the votes of
people of the state. He stressed that Edo people will not re-
elect the President in next month’s presidential election owing
to his abandonment of the state.
According to Oshiomhole, President Jonathan did not fulfill his
promise to contribute to the development of the South-South
state, despite enjoying 95 per cent of votes of Edo people for
his election in 2011.
Speaking separately at the All Progressives Congress (APC)
rallies in Ehor and Igueben towns in Uhunmwode Igueben
Local Government Area on Saturday, the governor explained
that in spite of several letters to the Federal Government to
assist the state on erosion challenges, the Jonathan
administration neglected Edo after persuading them to vote for
him as their brother in 2011.
Stressing that the people of the state are wiser now and
would “vote the President out on February 14 for abandoning
them,” he recalled that “The last time we voted for President
Jonathan, He got 95 per cent of the total votes in Edo State.
Yet, I cannot think of any meaningful thing he has done in the
state.
“Last year, President Jonathan gave N2bn each to some PDP
states even where he lost election to deal with erosion. Those
that don’t have flood erosion were given money for
desertification but we in Edo State that voted for him got
nothing. I am not lamenting this. We have learnt from it and
are determined not to repeat our mistakes,” he said.
Oshiomhole accused the federal government of insensitivity by
failing to prosecute “those indicted” in the ill-fated
immigration recruitment exercise in 2014, adding that it “is a
clear indication that President Goodluck Jonathan did not care
about the welfare of the Nigerian youths.
“People lost their lives. Last week, the relatives of those who
died in Benin were protesting to us that the Federal
Government has not given them even the jobs they promised.”
Expressing confidence that Nigerians will vote for change at all
levels in next month’s elections, the Governor assured that “I
believe that with Maj. Gen. Buhari, Nigeria will be in a safer
hand beginning with security.”
( DAILY POST )

Abia Central seat: Gov Orji is easiest person to beat –APCcandidate


Honourable Iheanacho Obioma, a two-time member of the
House of Representatives, has said that nobody should worry
about the candidature of Abia State governor, Chief Theodore
Orji, in next month’s senatorial election, as he’s easy to beat.
Oioma, who represented Umuahia Federal Constituency
between 1999 and 2007, during which time he was chairman
of a committee., in an interactive session with newsmen,
revealed why he is challenging Governor Orji for the Abia
Central Senate seat, while expressing optimism he will beat
the governor at the polls.
Excerpts:
T he PDP says there is no opposition in Abia State. What do
you thinks?
If you follow what had happened over time, whatever members
of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in the state say is
always far from the truth. Saying that there is no opposition in
Abia is laughable. I don’t know if any of you was at the rally
All Progressives Congress (APC) held in Aba and that was just
an ad hoc rally hurriedly put together. It’s like a sensitisation
rally and a kind of unity rally after all the problems we have
gone through and you saw the response. The number of
persons who wanted to attend that rally was so many, but
because of bad roads in Aba, more than half of those who set
out to attend that rally could not get to the venue. So if
anybody, a responsible government or party tells you there is
no opposition in Abia, wouldn’t you just laugh? So there is
very strong opposition in the state and we have a whole lot to
get the people appreciate that we need a change in Abia this
month.
There is no way we can continue like this. Everybody is crying;
people are dying in silence; people are being intimidated;
people are being humiliated and you say there is no
opposition. Why wouldn’t there be opposition? Even if there is
no political party you call opposition party, the people
themselves are opposed to the way the government is run;
everybody is opposed to that; so there is no way anybody will
say there is no opposition in Abia; it’s not possible; there is
very strong opposition in the state.
Maybe they were expecting us to start reacting to them. We
have our programme. They can’t drive our programme. We
need to drive our own programme. We have our plans, when
to come out and when to strike. The one we have just done in
Aba is a tip of the iceberg. So we are not going to allow,
maybe somebody using us to go to Abuja, to get some glory
or get some money from the Federal Government or you make
some noise so that the government will allow you to do what
you want to do. Let them come and see the way things are,
and I can tell you, next month’s election will so embarrass the
government of the day.
You are running for the Abia Central senatorial seat against
the incumbent governor of the state. What are your chances
of winning the election?
What is difficult about that? There is nothing difficult about it.
I can tell you, yes, he is a two-time governor, but he has never
ran any election. This is going to be the first time he is going
to contest an election and test his popularity and test his
person, his acceptance. The first tenure he had, Dr. Orji Uzor
Kalu ran the election for him when he was in detention. Kalu
did the magic for him. The second one was an agreement
when he said that it was Kalu that made him not to perform
and that he was then ready to give Abians dividends of
democracy. All of us joined hands and say let’s give him
another chance; so there was no competitive election in the
state in 2011. He has been in the saddle of the state for over
seven years and people are now able to judge him. There’s no
more Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu or whatever stories he’s going to give
anybody that made him not to perform. People have given you
opportunity. You see how Aba is? You see how Umuahia is?
Go to the expressway; everywhere is just filled with filths and
all that. There’s no road. Everywhere you go to, it’s the same
thing. So, I think he is the easiest person to defeat in the
election, because, one, people know him, his ability and
capability, in terms of delivery. If you watch most of the
governors, who went to the Senate, some of them don’t do
anything, in terms of representing the people. They are just
there as shield; they think that going to the Senate is a status
symbol to make them continue to feel that they are still at the
corridors of power. Our people know that electing him to
represent them will not be in their interest. I have elected into
the House of Representatives twice. They know me.
. If the APC wins next month’s election in the state, as you
are envisaging, what is it going to do differently to better the
lot of the people?
There is a whole lot to do differently. First of all, you have to
provide the conducive environment. APC cannot put in place a
government that would promote hatred, a government that
would promote and be happy to see people quarrelling among
themselves. There should be an environment where everybody
is happy with each other. That we disagree politically does
not make us enemies; there are issues that make us disagree;
this government promotes hatred, I can assure you that.
In terms of infrastructure, you see there is nothing on ground.
You can see, maybe very few buildings and they will
orchestrate they are doing this or doing that, but I assure you
they are doing nothing tangible. They are more interested in
the proceeds that come in building those a few structures.
Our education is in disarray; look at the state polytechnic, no
salaries are paid workers; students hardly go to school. You
go to ABSU, it’s like another breeding place for criminals;
nothing is happening there; no real education is going on;
people are taxed heavily; parents sweat to pay school fees,
while in our neighbouring state, Imo, the story is by far
different. Imo State is a model of what APC can do in Abia.
Everybody is on free education, both natives and non-natives.
In Imo State also, there is road construction going on in every
village; people can access their areas; people can live in their
villages and access the town. If you are talking about building,
you see modern buildings; people’s psyche is being changed;
civil servants are happy, as they now dress like human beings,
not the ones you see in Abia, frowning their faces, hunger all
over the places.
You don’t see Gov. Okorocha going on the road throwing
money to people as if they are baggers. Here they are making
our people look as if they are valueless. Money that will be
used to do something beneficial to everybody is being thrown
around and people will be killing themselves to get N200 out
of a hundred thousand naira you are throwing to multitude.
That’s an example of poverty, which the government has
created. If not, there is no human being that can see
somebody throwing money on the road and be pursuing that
person; it is poverty because government has failed.
Infrastructure wise, look at Aba; when I went to the city and
saw how bad it was, I wept. Is Aba not a sign of a failed
government? All these things I said the PDP government in
Abia has failed to do, we will do them if APC wins the next
election. We are doing to give quality and free education; we
must give infrastructure that everybody will be happy and I’m
also praying that the APC will control the centre from where
we will be able to tackle the problem of light.
As the 2015 elections are around the corner. What advise do
you have for Abians?
Abians are angry. We are angry because government has
failed. Everyone, including you pressmen. know that Abia is
not working and you have to join us, let’s sensitise the people,
let’s tell them the truth; let’s give them courage to come out.
It’s not a question of what you are. Whether you are a
governor or president, people can vote them out and defend it.
The issue of relying on armed forces to intimidate and write
result for you is no longer going to happen. If you vote, you
defend the vote. Even the army, everybody, they are all part of
the society; they know that what we are saying is absolutely
correct. Nobody should be used to intimidate your own people
because at the end of the day, it comes back to all of us.
So, what we are saying is that the PDP has failed in Abia.
Therefore, people should join hands with APC government,
which is now out to make sure we change the government
and particularly to make sure that this governor, who has
failed Abia, should not be rewarded with any one single vote in
his senatorial contest.

I can still be Speaker if God says so–Mulikat Akande


Mrs. Mulikat Akande-Adeola, lawmaker representing Og­
bomoso North/South/Orire Federal Constituency in Oyo State,
has been in the lower chamber since 2007. Having been
elected twice by her people in 2007 and 2011 to represent
them, the House Majority Leader, who is gunning for a record
third term, said she still needs to be in the House to enable
her complete all outstanding projects and make her
constituency the envy of all. The Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) lawmaker urged Nigerians to vote back the PDP
because the opposition has got nothing to offer.
You’re a second term member of the House of
Representatives; why are you seeking a third term in the
House?
I think the reasons are not farfetched because the issue of
ranking is very important in the House of Representatives, and
right now the people of Ogbomoso do not have people at the
top except me, and if, assuming somebody else goes to
represent them, he or she will have to start from the scratch,
that is from the bottom of the ladder. I have been in the
House since 2003. In fact, some of my colleagues will even
say they didn’t know me at that time and this is because
when you just come to the House, you cannot hold any
important position in the House; therefore, there is nothing
really you can do for your people. But as a second timer, you
know that I was supposed to be the speaker but I’m sure it
wasn’t the time for me then. Going there now as a third timer,
I don’t think there will be any reason for anyone to say I
cannot hold any post or she will not be a ranking member any­
more. So, it is very important and my people feel that they
need to be part of government to be able to get whatever they
want from government and if they have a daughter up there,
why remove her and bring somebody new. So, that is one of
the key reasons I am going back for a third time.
And also, projects that I have attracted to this community,
some of them I am yet to complete and you know the status
of the budget this year. Last year, it was just 45 per cent
realised; so these projects will be at a standstill because
when a member does a project, a new member will not be
willing to complete your own projects and they become
abandoned. And there are other things that my people are
looking forward to and apart from even Ogbomoso, talk of the
South West, you can see that in this present administration,
the South West did not really get much and we hope to really
get back to our place in governance in this country and I am
sure between me and my other colleagues, we are very hopeful
that the PDP will have a larger number from the South West
this time around so we can be able to get our rightful place.
Could you give us examples of the ongoing projects that you
wish to complete and those things you said your people are
looking forward to?
State creation is uppermost in my people’s minds. My people
really wish that Ogbomoso will be able to become a state
capital and if the government, I know in the parliament,
nothing about state creation came in during the constitution
amendment but at the National Conference, which we are yet
to get the report, are very much in support of that. Whatever
happens, if states are going to be created, at least Oyo State
will not be left out in the scheme of things. Also, the
Ogbomoso / Oyo axis of Ilorin express road is also something
that we need the government to complete because it is
causing a lot of problems and havoc to our people and
movement from Lagos to Ilorin is not as smooth as is
supposed to be because of this road and that road needs to
be completed and they all feel that with me there, the road
should be completed even though the road was started in
2001 and you know, they have been going back and forth on it
because the amount of money required to complete the road is
huge. Within Ogbomoso itself, we have a lot of projects such
as erosion control because we have a lot of erosion problem
here; we have been able to get the government to start
working on it. All of these projects may be left uncompleted, if
an old legislator from the axis does not return. Definitely,
those who are vying against me are not from the PDP, they
are from other parties, which these projects may not be of
interest to. And you know the way Nigerians behave, instead
of working on continuity, they want to start on something
different and that does not allow for progress, as far as I am
concerned. We also need a federal institution in my con­
stituency, which I have promised my people they will get in
the next dispensation.
As a member of the legislature, you do not have executive
powers to execute projects, which is one of the reasons it is
important that you become a principal officer of the House.
What do you think your chances are this time around, to be
the Speaker of the House if elected?
I believe in only what God says it’s possible. If God had
wanted me to be a speaker at that time, I don’t think there
was anything anyone could have done to stop it. So, we can
only hope for the best and wait for the best. And I am sure
you know that why I did not become speaker then was partly
because my fellow legislators from the South West, who were
in another party did not support me and that a lot of people
were not happy about it. If south west has to get anything at
all, I think we should all work together, irrespective of the
parties because they too will have something to benefit,
whether they are from the ruling party or not, the fact that
you have someone from the south west in that position, things
can be achieved for the zone.
So, to what extend will you say that incident has affected the
fortunes of the South West?
It has affected it a lot because all the positions or
appointments that were supposed to come to the south west,
of course, majority of them were not achievable because there
was nobody from the zone within the top six in the country to
fight for the South West. Usually, the way it is done is for
these positions to be shared according to geo-political zones,
but we didn’t get anything. The North-West took two slots
and so the positions were going to the northwest. If you look
at positions in the country and how they are filled, you will see
that the south west really did not get what they were
supposed to get and these positions could have spread to
anybody in the south west as long as it is being held by
somebody from the south west, then it will benefit the people
of this zone. So, it is very necessary that in the next
dispensation, we get our rightful position and whatever the
position is allocated to the south west must be filled by
somebody from the south west.
If at federal level the PDP wins and you also win, there will
be an opening for the Speakership of the House. Is this
something you are working towards?
First of all, I am working now on my winning the elections.
The issue of becoming speaker, I leave that to God.
So, are you sure of your chances of winning this election?
Sure, I am very confident of winning this election with the
support of God and the support of my people, except if hard
work is not being rewarded. But if my people are going to
reward hard work, then I don’t have a problem.
You speak so much about your conviction in your people and
your relationship with them. Why should they give you
another term? What exactly have you done for them?
I am sure I have touched the lives of my people in so many
ways. I am not representing any other place and myself or any
other person; I am basically there to represent them. People in
the community can testify to that, I can testify to that. For
instance, I have a foundation that is basically in line with
poverty alleviation, scholarship programme and lots more. We
also have associations too where we put our money into for
the people to be happy. I don’t believe in giving people money
because I want you to vote for me, I believe in doing things
that will make the people happy and this will make them vote
for you willingly. In this regard, I have done a lot like giving
the community boreholes, schools, and getting involved in
erosion control projects which we are focusing on and this
project is worth N67 million and the work is on going. I
believe in projects that will impact the society, not giving
money. People who are against politicians and other big
people out there are people who have asked of money or
material things from these people and they were not given,
and because of this, they decided in their hearts and minds
that the person is bad, hence won’t get their votes. Or maybe
you might have been giving them, and they are always coming
and I say to them that I can’t give them anymore and they
take you as an enemy. People will tell you that I have done a
lot for the community.
Speaking specifically on the youth programme, what should
the youths of the community expect from you?
We have been doing skills acquisition programme like Cocoa
research, fishery, baking, snailry, fashion designing, amongst
others. The same programmes are going on in my Foundation
now where we have 50 people. In earlier programmes, we
gave N100, 000 each to the participants to start the business
they have been taught. Presently, we intend giving each
participant N50, 000 to start business and certificates will
also be given to them at the end of their training. If you go to
the Foundation now, you will see them and by the time they
finish their training we are going to empower them to start a
business. We also have a computer centre in town and also in
my Foundation, where we train 20 students in ICT to help
them understand computers; these people are either
undergraduates or just youths. And we do that twice in a year.
Widows are not left out. We work with a Micro-finance bank,
through which we give them interest free loans- they pay back
the loan while I pay the bank the interest on the loan. We
teach them how to trade and accounts is opened for them so
that they can save the money they have traded with. I am
sure they are all happy about what we are doing for them. We
also train the aged, train people in tailoring, and give money
to them to start their business.
How do you raise funds for the foundation? Do you borrow or
seek grants from organisations to fund these programmes?
For my Foundation, I set aside N10 million every year, and
that is paid into the Foundation’s account to fund the
programmes that we do. We are also trying to work with other
Foundations to partner with us in our programmes, but since I
have started, I have been the one funding the Foundation with
my personal money. If you go to the Foundation’s secretariat,
you will see a lot we have done for people to help them earn
decent living, because before now, some of them cannot even
afford to eat three square meals daily, and we are trying to
help them make money to help them provide for their families.
Some come back to complain that some of the things we gave
to them got spoilt and some other heart-breaking things like
that, it doesn’t really make me happy when they say such
things.
It is not only in Ogbomoso that I have impacted. At Orire local
government, we have done about 80 boreholes. The town has
700 villages and the problem they have is water.
What are your principles in the politics?
My principle in politics is to put smiles on the faces of my
people. That is my main ambition,. I also want to ensure the
standard of people is improved. That is the bottom line. That
was why I set up my Foundation which we started with N30
million, and our work or ambition is to help the less privileged,
give scholarship to children, give employments to people who
don’t have jobs, and by God’s grace, I have given 120 federal
jobs to people in my constituency. And we are working on
more job opportunities for them. We work with the motherless
homes, blind and host of the others. We touch every aspect in
the community.
PDP has not been communicating with the people, what is the
problem?
From my point of view, I think it is the media themselves that
is the problem. PDP thinks the opposition has bought or let
me say has hijacked the media. People tell me that I don’t
advertise my good works or projects publicly. One of my
cousins has even taken it upon his head to go and print a
report on my achievements to get people updated about the
works we have done in this constituency.
We Nigerians are never truthful to ourselves. And what people
don’t know is that APC cannot do what PDP has done in
Nigeria, if you have the interest of the people in your heart or
mind, then you will surely get there to serve the people. And
not because you want to get there to show the people that
you can do better than those who are there. And if you will
investigate things, you will see that those who are the corrupt
people are part of the opposition party disturbing the peace of
the nation. What APC is doing, they cannot give the people
anything. If you look at Lagos, if APC wins again, I tell you
that they won’t do anything, because they will say the people
do not want anything again, and they will also say the people
have everything they want. But if PDP wins, I tell you that Mr.
Jimi Agbaje will do a lot for the people and change things.
What can you say about Akala’s defection?
Former Governor Akala is a very influential figure in our
community, we respect him a lot. His leaving the party means
that we will have to work twice as hard as we would have. I
believe that every individual is working for the interest of his
or her party.

Nigerians have hundreds of reasons to re-elect Jonathan


The February 14, 2015 presidential and National Assembly
elections are thick in the air. Unlike the previous polls under
the present democratic dispensation, it has stirred up much
passion and seized the attention of the populace, because for
the first time two dominant and almost equally spread parties,
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressives
Congress (APC) are set to slug it out for the votes of the
electorate.
As the clock ticks, Chancellor of the Akpabiosm Centre for
Leadership Development, Pastor Bassey, who is leading the
Akpabiosm Ambassadors for Jonathan and canvassing for
votes for Goodluck Jonathan, makes a case for the re-election,
saying it would represent a demonstration of justice, equity
and fairness.
Excerpts:
W e are a few weeks from the 2015 election. Looking at the
political environment, where do you stand?
My stand on the 2015 election is very clear. We stand for
justice, equity and fairness. We stand for unity and the totality
of peace in this country. Nigeria is a great nation, and that
greatness cannot be destroyed by politics or any issue. We
are the giant of Africa and we believe very strongly that
Nigeria is a gift from God to humanity, to Africa and to the
world. We will continue to pray for the unity of the Nigeria and
for oneness.
We also believe that President Goodluck Jonathan must be
able to complete what he has started.
It was said some years ago that one good turn deserves
another. The performance of Jonathan in the last few years
has placed him in the pinnacle and given Nigerians hope that
things can be better in this country. Jonathan’s presidency
has transformed Nigeria and given us leverage over other
African countries. Today, Nigeria is the biggest economy in
Africa. We believe that under Jonathan’s presidency Nigeria
will be one of the top 20 economies in the world in the next
four years.
But there are many people who hold the contrary view that it
is not enough to bandy about this claim that Nigeria is the
largest economy in Africa, when we have massive
unemployment and there are deficiencies in different sectors
of the economy. What is your response to these misgivings?
First, let us recognise that Jonathan took office a little over
three and half years ago and vigorously began to tackle the
multifarious problems he met on ground. And he has made
enormous progress. A fact anybody can accept is that Rome
was not built in a day. You have seen the pattern of his
administration and the Transformation Agenda that he
initiated which has resulted in the massive transformation
recorded in agriculture, the influx of foreign direct investment
– far higher than what was recorded during former President
Obasanjo’s tenure; the YouWIN programme that has been
providing capital for small-to-medium scale enterprises. The
Bank of Industry has made huge investments to grow SMEs;
we have seen the reconstruction of the Benin-Ore Road and
the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, both of which had been death
traps. Everybody in Nigeria knows how much people used to
suffer on the Benin-Ore Road, where travelers would sleep on
the road because of the horrible traffic logjam that that kept
them stuck, motionless and in agony. You have seen the
reconstruction of several airport terminals and complete
renovation of others.
The Federal Government under Jonathan has energetically
pursued the power sector reform agenda, and in the process
invested heavily in both power generation and transmission
infrastructure. That is why we are witnessing real improve­
ment in power supply. Just the other day, the sixth turbine of
the Egbin Power Plc, which was damaged and left unrepaired
for several years, was completely refurbished and reactivated.
This resulted in the injection of 220MW of electricity into the
national grid for distribution in Lagos State through Eko
Electricity Distribution Plc and Ikeja Electricity Distribution Plc.
In the next few years, almost every state in the country would
be able to generate electricity when the various independent
power projects they have embarked on with the participation
of foreign investors become operational. All these things have
been made possible by the economic policies of the Jonathan
administration, which are conducive.
We know that the government did not deal with the issue of
unpaid pension of old civil servants that retired some years
ago. They were made to go for verification exercise several
times, some even died without getting their pensions. There
was also the issue of massive corruption in the fuel subsidy
programme. Given this background, why should people go out
to vote for Jonathan on February 14, 2015?
First, let me state categorically that Nigerians have hundreds
of reasons to re-elect Jonathan as President. But you only
asked for three reasons, and I will oblige you. But let me
address the issue of pension first. We all know that when the
PHCN was unbundled, the qualified workers were all paid off
before the entities were handed over to the new owners. Many
junior workers received as much as N10 million and a good
number of them were retained by the new owners of the
generation and distribution companies. Why was it so? The
reason is simple: there was proper documentation of the
qualified personnel laid off after privatisation. In the case of
the core civil service, the digital documentation ran into
hitches because of the issue of ghost pensioners that had to
be removed from the pension list first and foremost. It was
necessary to conduct proper verification exercise to determine
the number of retired workers qualified to receive pension. I
believe that this has been done, and the qualified pensioners
would be paid. Where there are still cases of pensioners
wrongly removed from the list, I believe the government will
make necessary amendments.
Now to your main question about why people should vote for
Jonathan, I have previously reeled out several of the
achievements of the administration. We should not belabour
that because Jonathan has delivered on the mandate given to
him, and I think the majority of Nigerians agree with that and
would willingly and happily renew his mandate on February 14,
2015. Nigerians know the truth; it’s not propaganda that the
Jonathan administration has put down concrete, verifiable
evidence of its achievements in the three-and-half-years-plus
it has been in office. There is clear evidence that the Jonathan
administration has delivered good governance. The facts are
incontestable because any honest person can see them spread
across the country. His second coming is meant to
consolidate on what he has achieved and complete the
Transformation Agenda.

Buhari: Change Nigeria needs


A medical practitioner, Kelechi Nwagwu, is the Convener and
National Coordinator, South-East Professionals for Buhari. In
an interview with RAZAQ BAMIDELE in Lagos, the vocal pro-
Buhari campaigner stated reasons he, a south eastern
Christian, is campaigning for a Muslim candidate from the
north. Excerpts:
Why are you supporting Buhari?
You know General Buhari has been terribly misrepresented to
Nigerians, especially, in the South-east. A lot of our young
people who never had the opportunity of knowing Buhari when
he ruled this country for the first time, really do not
understand who the man, General Muhammadu Buhari, is. I
am into this organisation to help, especially the people from
the South-east know who the man, Muhammadu Buhari, really
is. A gentleman, an officer, a patriot, a good Muslim who
people keep misrepresenting as an Islamic bigot. I have had
several opportunities to interact with the man one on one,
from the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), time. I did
several articles in my own little way to get the people to know
who the man really is.
With your knowledge of General Buhari, is he a hater of Igbo?
Is he a hater of Christians?
The answer is no. A lot of his actions would let you
understand that this man is not what they portray him to be.
Who are the people who portray him in bad light? They are
those who are scared of Buhari, becoming the elected
President of this great country.
Why are you supporting his aspiration to become president?
We are out to support him and portray him appropriately as a
patriot, as a man who has this burning desire to put things
right in Nigeria. We are supporting him because he is one
fellow we believe has the will, the desire and the wherewithal
to fight the monster called corruption. We all know that corrup­
tion has practically crippled and destroyed this country. If you
fight corruption, you would have succeeded in freeing loads of
cash that could be deployed to develop the infrastructure that
has practically decayed in this country. People built the
Expressway. We cannot be talking of repairing it. We should
be talking about building new ones. Somebody built the rail
lines that we are putting locomotive engines on. Why can’t we
see someone else that would say I am building north-east,
north-west rail lines? Like Enugu to Sokoto. Lagos-Port
Harcourt. Lagos-Calabar rail lines. During Chrismas, Chritian
easterners like us struggle to drive thousands of kilometers
home. And in the process you witness a lot of multiple acci­
dents on the road. During the last trip, I saw several auto
crashes on the road claiming my people’s lives! If it were to
be a rail line from Lagos to the east, an electric train that will
take you two hours to the east, would we need to drive from
Lagos?
A lot of our people in the East are hoodwinked to take
decision out of sentiment. If a man has ruled Nigeria for about
six years, and the first time he came to Imo State was when
he wanted to receive the defectors to his party and the
second time was when he came to campaign for a second
term in office; he made the same promise he made when he
came last time to campaign for election. He promised a
second Niger Bridge. I used to tell friends that this second
Niger Bridge we are talking about is just 1.7 kilometre long.
Should that take more than four years to build? Would it take
up to four years to build? Not a single project was
commissioned by this government in his six years in office in
Imo State. Not one. I don’t know of other states. But to the
best of my knowledge, I don’t see this president visiting any of
the eastern states to commission a single project.
Why are you not supporting somebody from the South like
you?
Must we continue to support him based on geography of
where he hails from? This is Bayelsa State beside Imo State.
Right. Common, we should grow beyond that sentiment. We
want a leadership that will free funds being stolen on daily
basis, direct the funds to develop infrastructure. We need a
man that will change Nigeria so much that our children
wouldn’t need to know any minister, Permanent Secretary or
top government officials to get jobs. So that our children will
get job, get admission because it is their right. We want a
country where you will be happy to park your car and join
public transport. We want a country where things are done
purely on merit. That is what we want. We want a country
where there will be a real fight against corruption. We don’t
want to hide under any excuses on how corruption is being
fought through the ICT. We don’t want excuses that you don’t
want to jail anybody. We are living in a country where, if you
steal a goat, you will go for ten years imprisonment, while
those who steal billions will get two years and presidential
pardon later. You cannot say you are fighting corruption with
that process.
How long have you been in this group?
The group first came up before 2011 election. I worked as an
individual then, trying to project the General. But I felt that
was not enough for me alone to do what is needed to get the
man properly into the South-east. So, I called some like minds
to penetrate the interlands, communities, everywhere in that
region to project the man in the real colour that he is. It is
not about your opinion about General Buhari. It is about what
General Buhari is, really. So, the organization is not very old.
It was specifically founded and packaged to project General
Muhammadu Buhari in the right image to our people.
If you don’t know me, and somebody told you that I am an
armed robber. Until you know me, you would still have the
perception that I am an armed robber. That is how the case
looks like.
South easterners are predominantly catholic. So, Rev. Father
Mbaka in his new year sermon shocked the easterners when
he made them understand that this man does not hate us.
That was the first incidence that happened. Again some other
things have been going on Imo State. The Governor of Imo
State, Owelle Rochas Okoroha, his performance as APC
governor has endeared him so much to the people of Imo
State. And for the fact that Okorocha is also projecting Buhari
to his people that, this man will work for us, as I am working
for you, is making a lot of sense to them. During his campaign
in the state, our group was well represented. So, we are doing
our job at the level of the grassroots. One-on-one discussions
going on, through which we tell the grassroots people why the
General is the right candidate for 2015. And interestingly, the
perception is changing. As I am talking to you, I am not the
only one in the group, I have friends and colleagues that are
equally working. What we do is because we have better
access to information, we make sure the information sink
through, so that those at the grassroots levels-our fathers,
mothers, uncle and others, get the truth. Geographical factors
will not develop the villages. Geographical factors will not
guarantee your pension. Reasons of geography will not make
your children get jobs. If it would take somebody from far
away Daura in Katsina State to rule the country and rule it
well, if it would take somebody, who is a Muslim to rule this
country and rule it well, so be it. China is developing and
Chinese are Buddhists. I have a lot of people working for me in
my clinic -Yoruba, Igbo, Edo. I look at competence. I won’t
just hire you simply because you answer Chukwuemeka. I will
hire you because you would be able to deliver on the job. We
want a man that has demonstrated the zeal and capacity to
put things in order in this country. And we are working and
doing the more we can, and by the time you see the south-
east result where Jonathan had once scored 100 per cent, you
will know how far we have gone.
Have you not been challenged over Buhari’s age?
We have severally handled that question. As a medical doctor,
I can tell you that there are some diseases with age-senility.
But we should equally realise that not long ago, Tunisia
elected a new president, who is 88 years old. And these same
PDP people that criticise Buhari for being too old, were all
over the place, struggling to get former President Olusegun
Obasnjo third term in office at 70. Age was not a factor then
because it was at their advantage. You see, death never
comes with age. Babies die in the womb. Babies die right after
delivery. People who are 100 years die so also people who are
ten years. That was why the adverts we saw in the papers
were disgusting. The man has been campaigning, traversing
the country, addressing the nation. Sometimes, he addresses
gathering in three different states every day at 72. I don’t
think we have any issue with that. His competence, passion,
zeal and desire are not in doubt. If you are doing a job and
you are doing it well, it means you have a passion for it. The
man demonstrated the first time he came that he could put
things right. We know about his anticorruption drive when he
bundled some people to jail. We know the issue in fighting
indiscipline.
Our position is this, if it will take a 72- year old man to put
things right in Nigeria, so be it.
What are your expectations on February 14?
What goes on in the country now is a movement. I had told
people before June 12, 1993 happened, they said it was not
possible. On February 14, this year, what will happen will make
what happened on June 12, 1993 a child’s play. It is a move­
ment. You can see the likes of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of
Rivers State and Rochas Okorocha. Those are the APC
governors that have demonstrated that it is not rocket science
to deliver infrastructure, build schools and hospitals and
roads. I have an experience to share. I had a wedding in
Owerri. When I could not get a flight to Owerri, I flew to Port
Harcourt from where I took a cab to Owerri. I wondered how
smooth the road was. The road belongs to the Federal
Government but was rebuilt by Rivers State Government of
Amaechi. These people have demonstrated that things can
work in Nigeria. They are immensely popular governors with a
lot of followership. South-west governors, we know where
they are. The APC governors in the North are fantastic. You
saw the rallies in Bayelsa and Rivers. It is a movement. You
can see that the panic button has been pressed and that is
why you are getting Greek gift of petroleum price reduction.
Later, they said the man was diagnosed of cancer by the
Ahmadu Bello Teaching Hospital. The hospital has to come
out to say he had not visited the hospital in five years. They
leave the substance and chase the shadow by attacking
Buhari’s personality. This simply means that they have lost
the plot. What is going on now is a mass movement that will
take flesh on February 14. And that is why we have tagged it
‘FeBuhari.’ That day, you will see that Nigerians truly desire a
better country.

We’ll roll out 1m free prepaid meters –Nebo


The current state of electricity supply in the country can be
described as abysmally poor, where households cannot boast
of having uninterrupted power supply for 24 hours. Despite
moving from a paltry 2,800 megawatts in 2007 to about 4,500
megawatts in 2015, Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of the
growth in power generation.
But in all of this, government said it is working hard to ensure
that power is delivered to Nigerian homes through alternatives
platforms.
Fielding questions from senior editors of The Sun Publishing
Limited, led by its Managing Director and Editor in Chief, Mr.
Femi Adesina, last week, Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu
Nebo, explained that the era of estimated billing would soon
be a thing of the past as government had concluded plans to
roll out one million free prepaid meters for electricity
consumers across the country.
The Minister, while soliciting the support of the media in the
coverage of Ministry’s activities, commended The Sun for
taking the lead in online news reportage and putting itself
ahead of its peers.
However, the Minister lamented that despite government’s
efforts to realise stable power supply, the activities of vandals
have continued to frustrate these initiatives. He therefore
called on The Sun to help project the ills of pipeline vandalism
which, he said has consistently led to shortage of gas for
power generation.
He also spoke of his Ministry’s effort to complete the NIPP
projects and its efforts to improve transmission infrastructure
across the country. Excerpts.
Current state of power sector
When the current administration came on board, the power
facilities were delivering barely 2,800MW. In fact, the actual
daily average did not reach 2,500MW. But today, we have hit
4500MW and I think it is a milestone by any standard.
Electricity is not something you just can do overnight. It takes
time for any of the projects to really mature.
On a daily average, because of all kinds of downtime, load-
shedding, among others, we have exceeded 3,500MW, which is
well in excess of 1,000MW over what Mr. President inherited.
But we have been picking up, at least for now. Apart from
vandalism, we have picked up to 4,500MW and we have the
capacity to do more than that.
NIPP projects
The National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), which President
Goodluck Jonathan inherited, was virtually moribund. It was
when he became the Vice President that he started wooing
and encouraging the states to come on board to ensure that
the NIPP didn’t quite die completely. When completed, all of
the 10 plants under NIPP will supply to the grid approximately
4,500MW. Two of the plants (Geregu and Omotosho) have
already been commissioned while others are on board and will
be inaugurated within this year, by the grace of God.
Also, when the NIPP was conceived, there was no concomitant
development and deployment of gas infrastructure to supply
gas to the plants to power the turbines. They are all gas-fired
turbines. But working with this administration’s Gas Master
Plan, we can comfortably say that essentially all the NIPP
plants now have gas infrastructure. In other words, once gas
is available, we can power all of them. But that was not the
case a few years ago. In the past, there was no mention of
connecting those plants to gas.
Efforts to improve transmission infrastructure
In this first tranche, we are training 200 technicians, including
line climbers, sub-station operators and other experts in the
field from generation, transmission to distribution. We will be
absorbing 200 from each state, including the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT), which means we will be having about 7,400
across the country. The Federal Government is to sponsor 100
from each state while the respective state governments are
expected to sponsor an additional 100 from their states.
So the kind of workforce we are trying to create can be said
to be geographically correct because all parts of Nigeria will
be part of it.
Next is the infrastructure for transmission that Mr. President
inherited. Apart from being an obsolete workforce, they are
also ageing, ailing and dying professionals. He is revamping
that now. But for the physical infrastructure, you go through
Nigeria and take a look at the transformers we have around.
They are overloaded. And overloaded transformers will always
trip off and there are no two ways about it. They will not
serve the intended purpose. At the moment, we are gradually
and systematically replacing a lot of them.
In fact, the Vice President called me last week requesting for
more transformers that have been abandoned at the port for
many years now. So, we are doing everything possible to
ensure that this is taken care of. Virtually every commercial
city you go to, there are overloaded transformers. Thousands
have been replaced but thousands won’t do the job. We are
talking about hundreds of thousands eventually to make sure
everyone is covered.
Again, government has also provided a lot of leverage for
transmission infrastructure. Ideally, transmission capacity
should be 150 per cent of generation capacity in any country.
But in Nigeria, it is the reverse. We have more generation
capacity than transmission but government is trying to reverse
that and put it in the proper way so that we will have enough
capacity to wheel out all the energy coming from the
generation plants.
Impact of privatisation
I am sure that Nigerians will all agree with me that the
privatisation exercise is one thing that the whole world has
been amazed at because everybody thought it was impos­
sible. They said we were embarking on a white elephant
project that will never be realised. But when it eventually
happened, one of our international development agencies
described it as “simultaneous sequentially” and that they
haven’t seen that level of utility privatisation anywhere in the
world in recent history and that countries that had tried to
privatise always failed. But in the case of Nigeria, we are
trying to sustain that tempo. And that took the dexterity of
purpose of Mr. President alongside his courage and boldness
to make sure that the exercise was carried to a logical end.
Many people don’t realise that already we are beginning to
see some results of the privatisation exercise. For instance,
the Azura Power Plant in Edo State that was flagged off two
months ago would never have happened without privatisation.
Many of these other Independent Power Projects (IPPs) would
never have happened without privatisation.
The Qua ExxonMobil 500 megawatts power plant in Akwa
Ibom State that is coming on board would not have happened
without privatisation. And so many of its kind scattered
across the country would not have been possible without
privatisation.
Even solar power licences have been issued by the regulator,
Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), to ensure
that we have diversity of sources of energy in Nigeria.
Again, Ughelli Power Plant in Delta State, at handover had less
than 200 megawatts but they have beefed this up by repairing
and revamping the turbines and now, they generate about 400
megawatts. They are also planning an additional 1,000
megawatts after all the revamping they have just done. That
would have been impossible under the old Power Holding
Company of Nigeria (PHCN) because there would not have
been enough money to improve on all the abandoned power
plants across the country.
Let’s also take Egbin in Ikorodu, Lagos, as another example.
Egbin is the largest power generating plant in West Africa.
Again, Mr. President in the next couple of days will
commission the revamped, reconstructed and overhauled 6th
turbine that was blown up nine years ago. For nine years,
government could not find the resources to fix it. But because
we now have a private operator, they have not only fixed it,
they tested it the whole of last week and it is now working.
That alone will add an additional 220 megawatts of electricity
to the national grid and they are even planning for more. So,
we can all see that privatisation as regards generation is
working very well. And that is why we are even thinking of the
possible privatisation of the transmission infrastructure in
phases.
For the distribution companies (Discos), they totally
underrated what the commercial losses would be because we
worked very hard to reduce technical losses substantially. So,
technical losses are not really a major problem with regards to
tariff recovery as compared to commercial losses.
Some Discos experience as much as 55 per cent commercial
losses because Nigerians enjoy stealing electricity by not
paying for it. Some people even brag that they are not paying
for power. People have been found to have dug holes under
the ground to connect electricit from their neighbours and they
are not paying. We have a lot of energy theft in Nigeria
because consumers are not metered. More than 50 per cent of
electricity consumers in Nigeria are not metered and that is
why government is working very hard to help the Discos
provide meters to Nigerians. Right now, government has
approved about one million meters that will go round the
country. And some people say it is not enough but when the
other governments didn’t do anything, nobody complained.
Zero is not enough; if zero is not enough, what is one million?
One million is more than what people ever envisaged was
possible. And government is going to ensure that it gets to
people free of charge. At the end of the day government is
striving to ensure that things are taken care of.
Impact of vandalism on set targets
In all of this success stories I have reeled out, one major
problem we have always had and still having is vandalism.
And that is one area we would appreciate the help of the
media, especially The Sun Publishing Limited. Many years ago,
The Sun Publishing Limited took up the task of showcasing
horrible roads, abandoned projects and infrastructure across
the country. And when the company started publishing this in
its newspaper and showing the public, it led many
governments to sit up. I think The Sun can do that again.
In this regard, we would appreciate The Sun taking up that
task again but now in the area of vandalism. We would want
your newspaper to champion that cause and tell members of
the public and those involved in this act of sabotage of
vandalism to our oil and gas pipelines are doing something
that affects all of us. I think this will go a long way in helping
us realise our vision to provide steady power supply to
Nigerians.
But to remedy the situation, government is putting a lot more
efforts in hydro power facilities. Remember that these big
good hydro plants we have – Kainji, Jebbba and Shiroro – are
all doing well. But it came to a time that both Kainji and
Jebba couldn’t deliver half of their capacity because the
turbines had not been overhauled for many years.
In more than 30 years of Kainji’s operation, it was never
overhauled. But it is this same government that attracted the
resources needed from World Bank and Japan, among others,
to maintain Kainji and Jebba. And very soon both plants will
be able to deliver at full capacity.
Shiroro is doing well except where we have water
management problems. But in addition to that, President
Goodluck Jonathan flagged off the Zungeru Hydro Power
Project on May 28, 2013. When completed, the plant will give
Nigeria about 700 megawatts of power. But remember also
that for over 30 years that had been on the drawing board and
it had been stories, dreams and visions. No government took
the bull by the horn until Jonathan flagged it off. A lot of civil
works are going on now at the site in Zungeru.
Also, the President will soon flag off Mambilla in Taraba State.
That project will give us 3,050 meggawatts of power when
completed. With all these efforts and projects, Nigerians
should know that government is not sleeping neither is it
resting on its oars.
We also have Kashimbilla in Taraba State, that will be commis­
sioned in early February by President Jonathan, God willing.
The beauty of Kashimbilla the last time I was there with the
Ministers of Water Resources and Culture and Tourism is that
the place is so beautiful for tourism. One of the largest hydro
power plants in United States makes more money from
tourism than it makes from power generation. And there is no
reason we cannot replicate same at Kashimbilla and Mambilla
and that was why the Minister of Culture and Tourism went
with us on that trip.
Alternative means of power generation
Other means of generating of power, which we have neglected
for a long time but which this administration is working very
hard on is coal. There was a time coal gave all the power that
old Eastern Nigeria needed but that eventually fizzled out. But
right now government is determined to bring coal to power
back to the mainstream.
Government is determined and the President has authorised
and given licences for mining of coal to only companies that
indicate that they will use the coal to generate electricity. So
government is working very hard to ensure that coal resources
that Nigeria has is utilised. And I think this is a very positive
development because we can at full production get as much
as 10 per cent of all our power needs from coal fired turbines.
In addition to that, we have renewables. It is only in this
administration that the Ministry of Power has come to utilise
renewable energy to power rural communities that are not
connected to the national grid. The ones we did at Durumi,
Sape and Waru communities in Abuja got us to celebrate on
January 13, 2015, one year of uninterrupted electricity supply
using solar panels.
The reason people complain so much about solar power is due
to abandonment, especially the ones used for streetlighting.
Nobody maintains them by cleaning the panels. People don’t
realise that once dust and rain settle on the panel and they
are not cleaned for a long time, the clogs on the panels
prevent irradiation from the sun to penetrate the surface of the
solar panel. So at the end of the day, it lasts for only few
months and it’s dead. So it’s not true that solar panels are
not good or don’t last. It’s because of this attitude of our
people about poor maintenance culture.
And for one year now, these communities have been enjoying
unhindered access to power through solar energy alone. And I
think this is a positive thing that this administration has
achieved and Mr. President on the same day, last year, flagged
off ‘‘Operation Light Up Rural Nigeria’’ because we intend to
replicate this in every state of Nigeria and then invite them
when we have in place the financial and legal structure to
make sure that private enterprises can utilise this.
In fact, many of our young men and women can choose to
take power to small villages and set up solar plants for them
because right now in homes, if they are not going to switch on
refrigerators or air conditioners, solar panels can be used to
generate light just with battery storage, solar panels can
generate all the lightening needed.
So,we can encourage our young people to create jobs for
themselves by doing this in rural communities wherever they
can agree with the people on the kind of tariffs they can
recover from that.
Nigeria is so blessed because every part of the country is
amenable to solar power but it is not so with wind power.
With wind, you need a certain minimum of wind velocity. For
some, it’s five meter per second and in many parts of Nigeria,
you cannot get that at ordinary height of 10 meters from the
ground five meters per second of wind. You have to go as
high as 50 meters and 100 meters to get five to 10 meters
and so on. And some of the turbines designed for wind power
generation need 10 meters per second. If they are installed in
areas that have three meters per second, you won’t get up to
one megawatt if it is a 10 megawatts plant. So that is why
we are not emphasising wind energy so much, until we have
done a national survey and audit of wind velocity all over the
country. But we are doing that for solar because every part of
Nigeria is amenable to solar power supply.
Challenges of meeting targets
It is a complex situation. For instance, if you look at what we
are doing alongside deliverables and you measure the
performance of those who are doing those deliverables, you
can project. For instance, by December 2014, we were sure
that we will hit 5,000 megawatts not the 4,500 that we got.
But we had no gas. And like I said earlier, with most of these
new NIPP projects, nobody thought about giving them gas
when they started the construction. It is this administration
that has not only gone to design but to work such that by
last week, we could really say that we have connected all of
them. But connecting them to gas is not the same as getting
the gas available because you must get the gas producing
companies incentivised. That was the reason we had to
synergise with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Central
Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the regulator, NERC, to make sure
they raise the price of gas from lower than $1.50 cents to $
2.50 cents plus additional 80 cents for transportation. That is
in all $3.30 cents. That has never happened before. There was
a time it was 10 cents, then up to 50 cents for a long time. So
nobody was incentivised. The International Oil Companies
(IOCs) don’t care about gas. Their sole interest is in crude oil.
They only produce gas because government has compelled
them to do so. Otherwise, they would prefer to flare the gas.
It is much easier for them to flare the gas than to start
channelling it to the power generating companies to generate
electricity.
Having said that, we now set this target, knowing fully well
that by December we had the capacity to generate 5,000
megawatts but there was no gas. And we could not do that.
But when we sustained 4,300 to 5,500 for weeks, they
vandalised in both axis; Trans Niger and Trans Forcados. And
then we shut down again to less than 4,000 and even got as
low as 3,400 megawatts. So, these things are very complex.
And that was the reason I started telling people at a point,
that there is no point predicting.
Bridging huge metering gap
The issue about metering now is that government is
embarking on a special intervention by mopping up as much
as possible most of the meters produced by local
manufacturers and give them to Discos to supply without any
payment by consumers.
Well, it is very likely that these Discos have bought their own.
But I tell you, it is impossible to meter all Nigerians within the
next two years. It is not going to work, considering the fact
that more than 50 per cent of Nigerians are not metered so
the logistics needed to meter everybody will not be possible in
the next couple of years. So, government is acting as a
catalyst by going ahead to use its lean resources to procure
one million meters so that more Nigerians will break away
from estimated billing.

How Nigeria’s 774 LGAs squander N1.5trn allocation–Chidoka


Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka, has
described the local government administration as a cesspit of
corruption through which an estimated N1.5 trillion of the na­
tion’s statutory allocations are drained annually.
He said this phenomenon has left majority of citizens living at
the grassroots in abject poverty.
Chidoka, who delivered the 44th Convocation Lecture at the
University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) on Thursday said the
foundation and building blocks for a vibrant Nigerian economy
and citizens was to be found in local councils but this has
often been wasted under the Nigerian system.
He however, stunned the audience when he said there was the
total absence of valid data capturing or storage of information
for the public to access in any of the contemporary
Information Communication and Technology (ICT) mediums in
almost all of Nigeria’s 774 local government councils.
In a paper entitled, “Rebuilding the Nigerian Dream: Mapping
the Building Blocks”, the Nigerian Minister of Aviation said it
was most shocking to discover that except for Yewa South
Local Government in Ogun State, no other local government
council in Nigeria has a functional website.
He described the absence of these websites as “the black
hole” through which massive fraud is carried out in the
country. According to him, about N1.5 trillion is mismanaged
annually by local government councils in Nigeria.
“Looking at the amount devoted to ICT, a cursory web search
for local governments in Nigeria produced no results. In fact,
the Yewa South Local Government in Ogun State is the only
one that has a website and even that lacks quality information
about the activities of that local council as neither its annual
budget nor any of the services it provides are online,” said
Chidoka.
“Managing a transparent public institution requires making
information readily available. We met a black hole; that black
hole can only be a cover for the mismanagement of over N1.5
trillion sent to local governments annually,” he lamented.
According to Chidoka, Nigeria’s 774 local government councils
are all well funded through statutory monthly allocations from
the federation account and even generate their own internal
revenues.
He said it was important all tiers of government are brought
together and information about them digitalised.
“The absence of records has made it difficult for Nigeria to
build social trust and modern infrastructure. We need to
digitalise information and make records available to all
citizens,” said Chidoka.
“Digitalising public records will accelerate our economic
growth and facilitate job creation. The proper collection and
digitalising of records at the local government level will open
up new avenues for generating revenues from taxes and will
combat corruption,” he added.

Jonathan releases N26bn for 2015 dry season farming


To further boost the government’s efforts at producing more
food for the nation, President Goodluck Jonathan has
approved the release of another N26 billion towards the 2015
dry season farming programme.
The president noted that for too long Nigeria has depended on
crude oil and neglected agriculture, which has created much
suffering and poverty in the rural communities.
The president who revealed this last week in Abuja at the
AGRIFEST workshop, noted that the progress in agriculture
must continue to move forward.
With respect to cocoa farming, Jonathan said a distribution of
over 45 million seedling of higher yielding cocoa varieties all
free of charge has been made, adding that “cocoa farmers are
not left out as they are also witnessing great boom.”
To further restore the traditional fishing competition and
promote fishing tourism, Jonathan urged the Minister of
Agriculture and Rural Development to provide an annual
financial support for the Argungu Fishing Festival.
“We are providing nine million high yielding oil palm seedlings
for farmers across the South East, South West, South South
and the North Central parts of the country,” said the
president.
Also speaking, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural
Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, commended the president
for his great support for agriculture.
According to him, agriculture has become the new oil for
Nigeria, adding that the president’s Agricultural
Transformation Agenda (ATA) has inspired the youths.
“Billionaires and millionaires will emerge from agriculture. Mr
President, the farmers are solidly behind you, even the
youths,” the minister stated.