National Youth leader of the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) Ibrahim Dasuki Jalo, has declared that the party has not endorsed and does not have any preferred candidate as the next President of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), adding that the organisation is yet to conduct its election.
The APC youth leader however urged Nigerians to disregard some of the aspirants already declaring themselves as the leader of the council or associating themselves with the APC.
Speaking with the newsmen at the party Secretariat on Thursday in Abuja, Hon. Dasuki Jalo, said that the Youth ministry and minister which coordinate the affairs of the youth has to be in place before any election could hold.
He said: “There was supposed to be an election for the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) but we all witnessed what happened particularly that the election could not hold because of the crises, but for the reason that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is new, therefore they have to make sure that all things are in place before they can go ahead with the election.
“Though, we hard that some people are saying they emerged the leadership of the council but to my own understanding there was no election and the party has not endorsed anybody and the party has not asked anybody to contest for any position. What we are looking forward to is to ensure that new executive council members are in place, particularly the Minister of Youth who will be responsible for the conduct of the NYCN election.”
According to him, “Our advice is that if at election is going to hold there has to be mechanism in place to ensure that things are done in proper way and in proper manner.
“Let me give example of my state, Gombe, from my investigation there was no youth council election for the past ten years, so if you want to build a structure you have to start from the foundation, so, youth council election to my understanding the youth council we election have to start from the local government to state and the federal, that’s how you get your delegates and know who and who suppose to come and vote for the national leaders.”
Speaking on the crisis rocking the council the APC youth leader said the problem has been lingering for a long time therefore APC can not take responsibility for it.
“We have to make sure that we look into it thoroughly and address some of the problems we inherited before we can come up with a position.”
Jalo also assured that youth development is one of the major three point priority of President Buhari, adding that Nigerian youths will soon be better for it.
Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson, has expressed disappointment with member of the House of Representatives, Warman Ogoriba, who he said, has been “blinded by political indulgence.”
According to him, former lawmaker who recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), has exhibited “poor understanding of the workings of government.”
Ogoriba had in an interview said the incumbent government in Bayelsa State has nothing to show for the N600 billion so far received from the Federation Accounts.
But Dickson in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Iworiso-Markson, described Ogobia’s remarks as “reckless political indulgence, uninformed and lacking in facts.
He expressed disappointment with the former lawmaker for his poor understanding of the workings of government, asking if Ogoriba was saying that in all these years the government was not paying salaries or that he was blind to the various laudable and people-oriented projects across the state.
The governor said that apart from paying salaries for which Bayelsa State stands out as one of the few states in the country that is not owing salaries to its workers, the government had been consistent in servicing the debt burden of N330 billion it claimed to have inherited from the Timipre Sylva administration.
Iworiso-Markson said, “When the Restoration Government assumed the mantle of leadership on February 14 2012, Bayelsa State ranked as one of the states with the highest debt profile. Strange enough, a debt burden of N330 billion was the albatross we have to shoulder.
“But despite paying salaries as and when due, running an efficient government with unprecedented level of infrastructural developments and various projects in all sectors of the state economy, we have also been consistent in servicing the N330 billion debt, now reduced to N90 billion because of the Dickson-led government’s prudence and strict discipline in managing the finances of the state.
“As at today, Bayelsa is one of the least indebted states in Nigeria which is a credit to Dickson’s ingenuity in sound financial management. This clearly contrasts sharply to Ogoriba’s crude remarks, struggling to distort a glaring reality.”
The statement berated the former legislator for his alleged inability to present a robust leadership while in the House of Representatives, stating that it was the main reason why his years in the parliament were wasted years because his constituency was shortchanged by his incapacity.
“It is unfortunate that we operate a system that allows all kinds of characters to emerge through a loose political system but we must check this porous system in order to avoid a situation whereby half-baked individuals are made to take up positions that are clearly above their level of reasoning and capabilities. From the utterances of Warman Ogoriba, it is clear why the good people of Kolokuma Federal Constituency are bemoaning the 8 wasted years of his representation. It is that sad for Ogoriba’s kind of leadership”, Iworiso-Markson added.
It was pathetic when Governor Okezie Ikpeazu disclosed recently that five percent of the entire population, which is the working population, consumes 95 percent of the state income.The governor’s disappointment with the situation was captured in the following lines:“It doesn’t make sense that the working population, which is about 5 percent of the entire population of people in Abia, consumes 95 percent of Abia income, while market women and other artisans, who also pay tax cannot get basic infrastructure, because all we wake up to do is pay salary and go back to sleep”.
The situation, coupled with the Ikpeazu’s stance to plug every avenue through which government’s resources leaks,necessitated an intensive staff verification exercise to uncover the ghost workers in the civil service system.
The exercise has swiftly yielded good results as the government recently announced that it has saved up to N160million from the exercise.
The new development has signalled an end to the ghost-worker racketeering in the state as the governor has also declared those involved in the racketeering and misappropriation of peoples salaries as enemies of the state.
“And even as I speak, the biometric verification exercise of workers will be an ongoing thing. This is an opportunity to call on those involved in this to turn a new leaf, because if anybody is fished out to be involved in ghost workers syndrome, misappropriation of peoples’ salaries, will be treated as enemies of the state, because they have held Abia down for so long.
“Some people are in this racket, it has become their business and even as we speak they are looking for ways to cut corners. But I want to declare to them that the game is up, because I will keep at it and make sure I put a final stop to the anomaly,” the governor said.
Abia government is stopping at nothing to ensure that there is a sanitised service system in the state as it has proposed a re-orientation of the state civil service, to bring about a new way of thinking within the system.
The massive re-orientation programme, according to Ikpeazu, will help identify those capable and determined to work, while those who cannot keep pace with what is happening will drop by the way side.
Ghost- worker syndrome in the state is as recalcitrant as “Abiku” the Ogbanje child in Wole Soyinka’s poem who kept reincarnating .It is a battle that must be won.
A Biometric Data Implementation Committee inaugurated by the previous government discovered that the wage bill of the local government in the state seemed inflated .Also, the committee then discovered 1, 727 ghost workers on the pay roll of its 17 local government councils.
A breakdown of the figure showed that Aba South council had the highest number of ghost workers with 245, followed by Isiala Ngwa South with 153 of such workers,while Ugwunagbo with 28 ghost workers, had the least number.Others were Ikwuano, 117; Umuahia North, 123; Umuahia South, 101; Isiala Ngwa North, 92; Umunneochi,65; while Osisioma Ngwa had 138 ghost workers.
The committee recommended that these 1, 727 workers who did not show up for verification be removed from the payrolls of the councils where they existed.
It also recommended that full scale verification exercise be conducted in all the data already captured so as to address what he called the apparent errors of omission and commission and suggested that the verification exercise be handled by the Local Government Service Commission, the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and the Office of the Auditor General for Local Government.
It recommended further that the verification exercise should investigate the personnel and financial payroll of councils with the shortfalls in May, June and July 2012 salaries of workers paid in line with the biometric reports. According to the committee, this was to alleviate the sufferings of genuine workers who were affected by the non-payment of the arrears of salary.
There is is consensus among public affairs analysts in the state that FGov. Ikpeazu’s verification exercise is on the right track and should be sustained.
Besides, for a governor who wants to launch the state into accelerated economic growth phase by building on some facilitators of economic and social development, no resources should be wasted.
Abia needs to utilise all available resources to prosecute its Aba Urban Renewal Policy which ensures drainage rehabilitation, construction, channelization of storm water and erosion control, and initiation and beautification of leisure parks.
In the words of a notable analyst in the state, “the N160million gain from the verification exercise so far is a tip off the iceberg.Abians will remain grateful to Gov.Ikpeazu”.
Ukegbu, a public affairs analyst, wrote in this piece from Umuahia, Abia State.
The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, welcomes Thursday, August 20, 2015, judgment of a Port Harcourt High Court dismissing suit filed by the former Rivers State Governor, Rotimi Amaechi, challenging the Judicial Commission of Enquiry on his Administration set up by the Rivers State Government.
Commenting on the Judgment, the PDP Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Jerry Needam, said there is no hiding place for the former Governor and his allies who looted the State, converted public facilities to personal properties, and misappropriated billions of Dollars belonging to the State, some of which he used to fund activities of the All Progressives Congress (APC) before, during and after the General Elections in and outside the State.
The PDP Chairman, while commending the High Court Presiding Judge on the matter, noted that by this judgment, the former Governor and all those who collaborated with him in making Rivers State bankrupt will now face justice, and that the Judiciary has further demonstrated its uprightness and unbiased disposition in the dispensation of justice.
Bro Obuah noted that if there was nothing to hide, why would Amaechi challenge a legitimate and civilized process initiated by the current administration in the State, aimed at getting things right and giving justice to who deserves it?
The PDP urges the former Governor to rather than worry himself trying to evade justice, better prepare himself to provide answers to the questions and charges that would require his response(s).
The Party also calls on the Judicial Commission of Enquiry set up by the Wike administration to investigate the former Governor and his administration to leave no stone unturned in ensuring that justice prevails and all those found culpable in course of its findings on the thematic areas as contained in its terms of reference are brought to book accordingly.
The authorities of Adamawa State University (ADSU), Mubi, have recruited 80 vigilante men and hunters to ensure the security of the university community.
Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Joshua Shall, disclosed this to newsmen in Mubi on Thursday, just as the institution resumes academic activities.
Shall said that the institution was aware of the complementary role played by the vigilante groups and hunters assisting the military to recapture Mubi town after it was over ran by insurgents in October 2014,and therefore decided to recruited them to continue with their complementary role.
Shall ,who said that 95 per cent of the students had resumed for classes, stated that the institution lost 11 staff and three students, while property worth N5 billion were destroyed by the insurgents.
” They (insurgents) broke into all offices, staff quarters, hostels, laboratories, stores and looted properties,” he said.
The vice chancellor said that the school managed to re-opened following the intervention it received from TETFund which supported it with N250 million.
He said that TETFund also approved a substantial amount of money for the institution which his management was now trying to access to sustain the ongoing rehabilitation work in the university.
While lauding TETFund for the support, Shall also commended the national body of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), for donating N21 million to its members in the university.
He said the university had also compiled the lists of damages incurred by its staff and submitted same to the Victim Support Fund, for possible assistance.
” We hope that when the fund commence rendering assistance to victims of insurgency, we will be remembered”, Shall said.
The brutal murder of Chief Harry Marshal, a Nigerian politician and a power broker in the South South, on the 3rd of March 2003, is not allowed to be sweep under the carpet, as a South South Group have Petitioned the President giving names of his killers and mastermind.
A Copy of the Petition from the South/South Renaissance Group sent to the President and Force Headquarters, Abuja, and made available to Hope For Nigeria, also named the same killers as responsible for the murder of Chief A.K. Dikibos.
Chief Dikibos who replaced Harry Marshall as the South South deputy PDP leader, was killed on February 6, 2004, inside his car along Ogwashi-Uku/Kwale Road on his way for a Zonal party meeting in Asaba, Delta state. The alleged Killer Mastermind, Dr Cairo Ojougboh is now occupying their position.
The petition was signed by the groups national coordinator, Dr Offili Ijeomah, copied also to the Inspector General of Police and the DG, DSS.
In a related development another group, New PDP Reformation Coalition and Support Group have decried the activities of Dr Cairo Ojougboh whom they alleged to be the brain behind the killing of Chief Harry Marshal, Chief Dikibos and attempted murder of several politicians from the region.
The former Speaker of Delta House of Assembly, Mr Martins Okonta have alleged how Dr Cairo Ojougboh detailed thugs to kill him in the run up to the Primaries of the recently concluded general election.
The two groups demanded for the prosecution of Dr Ojougboh over these killings and attempted Murder of Politicians that have encounter with him to avoid any further loss of life.
By Amos Igbebe
A battle of superiority is threatening in Delta, as the State House Assembly, in an apparent show of superior constitutional authority,Thursday, reversed the suspension placed on the Acting Chairman of Uvwie Local Government Area of the state, Mrs. Stella Otiotio Dabuner by councilors of the local government council.
In a letter signed by eight councilors and addressed to the Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the councilors said the Acting Chairman was suspended following allegations of gross misconduct, describing their action as within the parameters of the powers of local government councilors.
The suspension, the councilors said, was lawful as her conduct contravened the provision of the constitution with regards to the administration of the local government councils in the state.
Hence, the councilors said they would resist any attempt of the suspended Acting Chairman to forcefully resume office, ostensibly under the directive of the state house of Assembly, as the good people of the council area have mutual respect for another.
But in a briefing at the State Assembly Chambers, Chairman of Adhoc Committee on Investigation of Local Government Affairs, Hon. Oboro Preyor, told journalists that the suspended Acting Chairman remains in office as the state legislature cannot compromise its authority over local government councilors.
Oboro, flanked by other members of the adhoc committee, said the “House of Assembly condemns in strong terms the actions of the councilors which is likely to cause breach of peace and order in the local government”, adding that “the House hereby orders that the status quo be maintained within 24 hours and show proof of compliance to the office of the Clerk of the House by Monday, the 24th day of August 2015 at 12 noon prompt”.
It described the councilors’ action as contravention of the decision reached by the House which suspended the substantive Chairman of the Local Government, Henry Baro, over insecurity and financial allegations against him.
Following its decision, the House called on members of the public, especially those resident in the embattled local government, to carry out their normal legitimate duties as they are assured of security of their lives and property.
But the councilors said the action of the State House of Assembly would no longer be tolerated by the people of the council area, saying the move of the Assembly to set aside the suspension placed on the Acting Chairman undermined the powers of the elected councilors.
The group said when the Assembly suspended the Executive Chairman, Henry Baro, the decision was respected, even though it was perceived as illegal, saying “we therefore wonder why the councilors’ decisions, an institution that is elected by the Uwvie people to make laws and act as checks on the executive arm of the council, will be treated with disdain”.
The group therefore called on the State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to call the enemies of the council area and the State House of Assembly to order as they are committed to the peace and security agenda of the state government.
It is unfathomable that at the threshold of the 8th session of the National Assembly a piece like the one dished by Modibbo Kawu titled “Bukola Saraki : Tentative First Steps for 2019 Presidency ” in the Vanguard newspaper of August 6, 2019 and Blueprint newspaper of August 7,2019 could be authored and published.
Rather than cast false innuendo on the visitation of the Senate committee led by the Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki to insurgency -ravaged Maiduguri and the North East region of Nigeria, he should have carefully bothered to gaze into the horizon and considered at least the victims including the Chibok girls who got onto the line of trouble because of their desire to break into the elite class.
Instead of pontificating in the red chamber the Senate had gone to do the needful in consonance with section 88 of the constitution which provides that
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, each House of the National Assembly shall have power by resolution published in its journal or in the Official Gazette of the Government of the Federation to direct or cause to be directed investigation into – (a) any matter or thing with respect to which it has power to make laws, and (b) the conduct of affairs of any person, authority, ministry or government department charged, or intended to be charged, with the duty of or responsibility for – (i) executing or administering laws enacted by National Assembly, and (ii) disbursing or administering moneys appropriated or to be appropriated by the National Assembly. (2) The powers conferred on the National Assembly under the provisions of this section are exercisable only for the purpose of enabling it to – (a) make laws with respect to any matter within its legislative competence and correct any defects in existing laws; and (b) expose corruption, inefficiency or waste in the execution or administration of laws within its legislative competence and in the disbursement or administration of funds appropriated by it”
Therefore the Senate President and his team were no ‘busy -bodies’ , their task was cut out for them consequent on the mandate given.
Other than for the wrong reasons there was no direct correlation in the Senate oversight to Maiduguri led by the Senate President Dr Bukola Saraki and his imputation of political undertone and allegation that it was to prepare a ground for 2019 presidential launch.
It is important to articulate it in our consciousness that the legislature is the least developed arm of government in Nigeria. It is by choice and not a mistake that each time the military torpedoed the civilian constitutional government the first broadcast was usually to suspend the constitution and the effective casualty is the first arm of government-legislature which is the only one of the tripod that is sacked.
The executive often subsists when the military junta constitute the Council of Ministers. And the judiciary stays as the courts continue to do their business.If for once since 1960 we have a leader of men in war and peacetime in President Muhammadu Buhari who sought the job and got it, it would not be fair on his demonstrated capacity to deny him a legislature that has to make his task easy to accomplish.
The level we are today as a nation is not far from where US was in the 19th century. And just as mother luck blessed them with Henry Clay , an excellent negotiator and statesman that helped them navigate the difficult terrain of forging a nation and putting it on good pedestal that has it metamorphosed today as the most powerful country on earth, so do we have a Senate President that aptly realises that a layback legislature will pull down the momentum that PMB has embarked upon. Therefore for Modibbo Kawu to have deliberately slanted his observation upon the visit of the Senate team is uncharitable.
I hope he had opportunity to watch the visit of Edo state Governor Adams Oshiomhole who went to Edo state IDPs camp propelled by the God’s Miracle Crusaders of Pastor Folorunsho with his immaculate new wife, well decked in beautiful attire suited for such occasion. Oshio Baba must also be eyeing 2019, abi in the imagination of Modibbo.
Thank God it was a senate tour of duty. Only God knows what would have been painted if SP went with his wife, whom we know does have an NGO-the Wellbeing foundation that ministers, especially to children and the women who bear the heaviest burden of Boko Haram craze.
If Hunter Clay was in the past what about flair and charisma of Speaker US House of Representatives , Newt Gingrich in the recent. He was an Associate Professor with all the carriage that goes with such background.
Certainly if Modibbo has to do a warped analysis of the legitimate duty tour of the SP then he has to contend with the Governor of Borno State Alhaji Ibrahim Shettima who was exhilarated and described the oversight visit as breathtaking, relieving,novel and indicative that the country has not forgotten them in the corner that God posted them. He regretted that it was the first visitation of its kind since insurgency began 6 years ago.
As chairman 7th Senate committee on Environment was the Senate President also working on 2019 when he visited Zamfara at the height of the lead poisoning which saved the lives of many of our citizens ? Was he preparing for 2019 when he tackled oil spillage in the Niger Delta when many of his predecessors baited in their comfort zone and got Shell Petroleum to pay 93m dollars to the victims. When he raised the ante against felling of trees while our God given gas is being flared endlessly and the Jonathan government lattched onto that to award contract for the cookstove programme for the economic benefit of the nation, stop deforestation and bring relief to the womenfolk. Was the SP also preparing for 2019. WHEN he and Governor Ibikunle Amosun accompanied President- in- waiting Muhammadu Buhari to the Chatham House in London prelude to his inauguration, was he also preparing for 2019? WHEN he raised the red flag on the oil subsidy scam and oil theft which has been the pinnacle of national debate till date, was he also preparing for 2019.
It is sad to play the ostrich for Modibbo Kawu to now pretend as President Buhari -lover and more catholic than the Pope. With his heart, his voice and his pen which is generally acknowledged as being mightier than the sword he fiercely participated in organising PDP in Kwara when he addressed them at a seminar devoted to stopping APC, the platform that brought the President back to power. Is his romance over and 360degree back to PMB. Another shot over the bar was his allegation that SP would join PDP. Ahhhaa it is not fair to think that the SP would jump ship. Can he prove where and when the SP held consultation to move ?
Modibbo Kawu should pick a compass in the famous word of late US President Thomas Jefferson that “the care of human life and happiness and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government “. This is the creed upon which the Senate President anchors his programme at every level he has found himself. In order to signal his mission this time around he has engaged a number of public institutions including but not limited to ICPC, CBN, Code of Conduct Bureau etc and he has received a number of Heads of missions in the country including UK, US, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, South Korea, India among others. What runs through is his commitment to nationhood.
ACCORDING to him “these engagements are intended not only to open the space for popular participation in the legislative process but also to reflect our commitment to the issues of citizens rights. Our general commitment is to ensure that our legislation is updated to block avenues for revenue leakages, facilitate and support investments, protect legal agreements and make it easier for genuine investors to thrive”. The fruits of this initiative would manifest soon.
Afterall when he was invited to address a session of the UN on the consequences of deforestation and flaring of gas small minds did not fathom how Nigerians would be the ultimate beneficiary until a team from UN came, Shell was penalised and free cookstoves were distributed. It takes the deep to call to the deep. Namo dat quo non habet(what you don’t have you cannot give). When the benefit of his recent consultation starts rolling, I pray Modibbo shall the courage to acknowledge it and give him the credit.
It is instructive to accept generally in life, it is not a gargantuan position that makes a little man soar high , it is rather the gargantuan man that makes small position huge. That Jose Mourinho won the UEFA Champions cup first in FC Porto of Portugal, then Inter Milan FC of Italy and he won the Premier league and FA cup a number of times with Chelsea FC of England and Real Madrid of Spain as well, was not necessarily because the teams were superlative but he is simply the icon that made the difference. A star is star even if he is working among liliputians.
There had been a couple of Chairmen of the Governors Forum,but when God bestowed it on then Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara state, he bolstered it to a glittering height yet to be attained till date. A golden fish has no hiding place- he shall be unravelled.
IN conclusion we shall admonish Modibbo Kawu to take heed in the legendary words of Jeffrey Archer in his classic book Kane and Abel: “Never seek the wind in the field , it is useless to try and find what is gone”. Bukola ti gun oke odo kafara to ja meaning that “Bukola has crossed the bridge of antagonists before the bridge collapsed”.
An address by Okezie Victor Ikpeazu PhD, Governor of Abia State and Chairman South-East Economic Hub, at a town hall meeting with Igbo Business Community in Lagos.
Protocols
1. My brothers and sisters, permit me to share a story with you. Recently I attended a ceremony of an illustrious Igbo leader, somewhere outside Ala-Igbo, while at the event, a brother walked up to where I was and said to me: Governor, our people (Ndigbo) are trapped outside our lands something must be done to get them back home. Our elders have refused to go home, even after retirement. Our towns and cities are deserted. Our people are now organizing traditional marriages of their children outside our land. Something has to be done.
2. My mind told me this brother spoke to me on this, not because I am Governor of Abia State, but he must have read in the media that my colleagues in the South-East asked me to be the chairman of the South-East Economic Hub. That was why when this opportunity came for me to be with you here to share ideas on how to develop Ala-Igbo, I gladly accepted it.
3. Seated in this hall tonight are hard working Igbo businessmen and women who have contributed immensely in the development of the city called Lagos, through you businesses and investments here. As you know, Governments are going abroad to look for foreign investors to come and invest in their states, and I have come here tonight as one of you to ask us a question: How can we develop Ala-Igbo?
4. As businessmen, I know you have your answers to this, but before you come up with your answers, which I know one of them will be insecurity, permit me to remind you that, you will agree that there is a relationship between unemployment and violent crimes like kidnapping and armed robbery as it is in Ala-Igbo, and elsewhere including Lagos. The high unemployment rate among the nation’s youth has huge implications for crime and violence.
5. There are two key reasons for high unemployment among our youth: absence of relevant skills and lack of jobs.
6. As you are aware, state governments in Igbo land are the highest employers of labor and now the governments appear to be fully stretched in the light of current economic realities. To succeed in the mission to drastically reduce youth unemployment, we need support from Igbo entrepreneurs and businessmen in Lagos. Looking around this room, I can count in my head over 100,000 jobs created in Lagos by the great men and women seated here. Naturally, I have also been asking myself what if these jobs were created in Igbo land. Will it not drastically reduce high crime rate in the east?
7. Paradoxically, in the past when we appealed to Igbo entrepreneurs to invest in Igbo land their principal worry was security. So we have a problem: Igbo entrepreneurs will not invest in Igbo land to create jobs because of high crime rates in Igbo land caused mainly by unemployment in Igbo land. So who will break this ugly cycle that has persisted for so long and ensured that Igbo land is not what it is today?
8. As a result of the security concerns of Ndigbo of Lagos, in addition to other reasons, many of our leading lights refused to relocate to the east even after over 70 years of successful navigation of God’s world. Since the days of the great Zik of Africa, M.I Okpara, Jaja Nwachukwu etc, those wishing to meet Igbo leaders no longer come to Ala Igbo to see them. They now travel to Lagos and Abuja to consult Igbo leaders. Igbo leaders have also deserted Enugu. The question therefore is why is our case different from that of other major ethnic groups in Nigeria? If you want to see a Yoruba leader you go to Ibadan or somewhere in south west towns. Same applies to the northern. If you need them you go somewhere in Kano or Kaduna where they live with their people to see them. By so doing you will find out how the roads are, support the rural economy and further bring govt closer to the people.
9. In the same vein, because Ndigbo live outside Ala-Igbo we are counted during census and registration for voting, we succeeded in increasing the population and allocation to those areas. Of course the federal government will support high population areas before others. Most of us even don’t have voters cards in Igbo land and only acquire one when we decide to come home and contest for one office or another. To worsen our security challenges, as we are coming we bring thugs and other miscreants to Igbo land to protect us and campaign for us without minding the influence of these imported thugs on the local youths. We also advertise wealth so negatively that our youths feel that all they need to succeed is to travel to Lagos or Abuja. More often that not, these youths end up under Lagos/Abuja bridges where they acquire all sorts of criminal indoctrination. When they have fully graduated they return to the east and practice their evil skills.
10. It is not enough to complain about insecurity in the east and use that as excuse for not investing in Igbo land or relocating to Igbo land post retirement. Everyone of us here can contribute to improve security in Igbo land by investing in Igbo land to create jobs for our youths as well as returning home to serve as positive role models to our young minds. We need you to mentor the young and share experiences with them. We also need you to be close enough home to advice government based on realities in Igbo land as against text book postulates and external experiences that are not relevant to our peculiar challenges..
11. The key to security and economic development of Alaigbo is in your hands: invest in Igbo land to create jobs and remove our young people from prison rows. Our state governments are ready to offer whatever support that you need, including land, tax concessions and provision of relevant infrastructure that will help your business thrive and grow. You may argue that there is a ready market where you are currently but permit me to remind you that the market follows the source. A time was, and I believe it still happens, when people travel from Lagos, Abuja, Cameroon, Togo etc to Nnewi to buy vehicles spare parts Similarly, people where coming to Aba from all over the country and far away West African countries to buy made in Aba products.
12. My brothers and sisters, we need you to invest in Igbo land to create jobs that will take our youths off crimes and reduce incidences of violent crimes like kidnapping that have led to many of you being trapped outside Igbo land even at glorious old age..
Thank you and God bless you
–
Okezie Ikpeazu PhD
Governor of Abia State/Chairman South-East Economic Hub
World Humanitarian Day is a day dedicated to recognize humanitarian personnel and those who have lost their lives working for humanitarian causes. It was designated by the United Nations General Assembly as part of a Swedish-sponsored GA Resolution A/63/L.49 on the Strengthening of the Coordination of Emergency Assistance of the United Nations, and set as 19 August.
In what was described as an “extension of the Governor’s love”, for the people of Akwa Ibom State, Sisters of Udom Emmanuel led by the Organization’s BOT Chairman, Mrs. Aidy Thomas, recently visited the Health Centre and Motherless babies’ home in Onna, General Hospital Amammong and Health Centres in Okobo, Akwa Ibom State, to show love to the sick and hospitalized by offering moral and financial assistance to the patients.
The leader of the delegation, Mrs Aidy Thomas said the group was supporting the cause of the Governor, His Excellency, Mr. Udom Emmanuel and his wife Martha, of ensuring adequate health care to all Akwa Ibom people. The delegation settled the bills of patients while also providing provisions and toiletries in addition to cash donations for the children at the motherless home.
In her comment, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Education Monitoring, Mrs. Sarah Esitikot, reminded the patients that Doctors and Nurses are planted by God to take care of them while God heals. Prayers for quick recovery were offered to all the patients in each of the health institutions visited.
