Chairman and principal owner of Globacom, Nigeria’s leading
telecommunications company, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr, has donated a whooping sum of N500m to support the flood relief efforts of the
Bayelsa State Government.
Presenting a draft cheque to the Governor of Bayelsa State, Hon. Henry
Seriake Dickson, in Abuja yesterday, the business mogul said he was
moved to make the donation because he felt touched by the plight of
the flood victims considering the magnitude of the flood and its
devastating effect on the people and the state.
He also commended the various steps taken by Governments at the State
and Federal levels in cushioning the effects, both during and after
the floods, adding that his contribution is intended to provide
additional succour to the people of the state.
Receiving the cheque from Dr. Adenuga, Governor Seriake Dickson, who
led a high powered delegation of the State to the residence of the
business mongul, was full of praises and appreciation for the Globacom
boss.
The Governor was full of gratitude and commended him for expressing
such deep concern and love for the people of Bayelsa State, assuring
him that that the money will be judiciously used along with other
donations received from public spirited individuals, corporate bodies,
donor agencies both locally and internationally.
Governor Dickson further disclosed that he has just set up a high
powered committee on Post Flood Management headed by the former
National Security Adviser, General Andrew Owoye Azazi along with other
high calibre and very credible persons serving as members of the
committee.
The governor hinted that the choice and calibre of persons on the
committee underscores the resolve and commitment of government to
ensure that monies donated towards this cause are well spent and
directed to the real beneficiaries as well as made to serve the
purpose for which they were intended.
The Acting Governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi has attributed the present security challenges facing the country to poor, inaccurate and unreliable identity database of her citizens.
Speaking when he received in audience the Director General and Management Staff of National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) at Government House, Mr. Onyebuchi also said that poor national identity database encouraged unpatriotic Nigerians who engage in fraudulent acts like falsification of documents, crime and criminal activities among others.
The Acting Governor therefore described the establishment and functions of the commission as very welcome development since it would help the nation in her socio-economic planning and development, check fraud and falsification of document by people who manipulate data to get what they want.
He noted with dismay that previous efforts made in the country to produce very reliable and accurate national identity database failed and urged the management of the commission to guard against and correct all those factors that frustrated the exercise in the past.
The Acting Governor was of the opinion that with the current nationwide enlightenment campaign on the need and importance of the National Integrated Identity System, very reliable and accurate database that would met the expectations of Nigerians and international standard will be produced.
He then assured them of the full cooperation of government and people of Enugu to ensure the success of the exercise, adding that the success would be of great benefit to all Nigerians and her economy.
Earlier in his speech, the Director General of the NIMC, Mr. Chris Onyemenam told the Acting Governor that NIMC was establish by Act Number 23 of 2007 to foster the orderly development of an identity sector and build a modern identity management system for Nigeria, and create, operate and manage a secure sustainable national identity database, among others.
Mr. Onyemenam also explained that NIMC has the mandate to establish, operate, maintain and manage the National Identity Management System (NIMS) and carry out the registration of citizens and legal residents as provided for in the Act as well as create and operate a National Identity Database.
Others include issuance of unique National Identification Numbers (NIN) to qualified citizens and legal residents and issue a multi-purpose (smart) cards to all registered persons of sixteen years and above.
The NIMC Director General said that they have the capacity to hold in the database of one hundred and fifty million people, adding that enrollment into the database is customized to check double registration.
He stated that the new National Identity card is unique, and cannot be replaced or transferred to another people even when the holder dies, adding that it is the number on the card that matters and not the card itself.
Mr. Onyemena explained that they were in the state on enlightenment campaign for the enrollment of citizen, adding that pilot enrollment centres have been established in all the state capitals, ten in each state while enrollment units are to be established at local government areas and mobile enrollment units are to be opened for the hinterland.
When the controversial Mallam Sanusi took his habitual goof a step further by insulting the intelligence of the Nigerian masses at the Second Annual Capital Market Committee Retreat in Warri, Delta State last week by stating that ‘at least 50% of the Nigerian entire workforce should be sacked’, many people believed that the Mallam had touch the tale of a tiger and he must pay for the consequence. Immediately I read it in The Punch Newspaper of Wednesday 28th, 2012, I thought I could predict what exactly the reaction to his comment was going to look like: NLC leaders will immediately come up with a press statement castigating Sanusi and perhaps call for his removal, the civil society will rise up in their numbers to reprimand the capitalist’s hit-man, our ever-zealous Femi Falana and other concerned learned ‘comrades in gown’ will caution this agent of destruction to watch his statements, our ever-articulate pen-pushers will begin to open our eyes to the high level of corruption and money that is being accrued to the institutions such as the Central Bank under Sanusi and the National Assembly will advise him to stop overheating the polity. Then, everybody, including the NLC, will go back to sleep and Sanusi will continue to enjoy all the luxury that his office attracts. After all, this is Nigeria where every citizen is expected to have a short memory.
In all the events that have happened since the Mallam’s provocative and anti-people statement, this writer has been proved right. Strangely, the only unexpected twist that has since been added to the drama was the entrance of the CPC who lambasted NLC leadership over its call for Sanusi’s removal. To the party, the CBN boss is just an individual who cannot influence any policy within the Executive! This statement only shows the level of intellects of those that made up the CPC and it also indicates that in terms of policies, all the present capitalist political parties in Nigeria are birds of a feather. But how could anyone fault the CPC’s position? After all, its leader is Muhammadu Buhari, a man who declared in one of his 2011 Presidential debate that there is nothing wrong with the Nigerian Educational sector. To him, ‘everything is just perfect’.
Beyond this, however, Sanusi’s tirade and the CPC’s diatribe are reflections of the erosion of NLC’s leadership hypothetical intimidating credentials. It portrays them as the paper tiger that only appears scary but cannot exhibit the real traits of a true tiger. In a sanity capitalist’s clime, the name of organised labour is enough to intimate any oppressive strata of the ruling elites, even the President of a Country cannot just say that workers are irrelevant not to talk of a bourgeoisies economic handbag such as the CBN Governor. Ditto for political parties, the control that the Labour leadership has over the masses electorate is enough to compel these political parties to always hold the NLC Leadership in such a high reverence.
In our case, reverse has been the case. That a political party who is still relying on the goodwill of the people to climb the mantle of relevance could tell the NLC leaders to go to hell and ‘stop being hypocritical’ shows a sad reflection of NLC’s popularity. Sanusi may be anything but daft, he knows that Nigeria is the only country where a government agent could make such a statement and still be allowed by the labour unions to remain in power. In a sanity clime, his tenure would have become history by now. But our own NLC is just a paper tiger whose threat doesn’t go beyond the pages of newspapers.
In its hey days, Trade union leadership played an inestimably productive task in the progression of Nigerian society. It organized masses and promoted their interests in the framework of exploitative, manipulative and unfair civil relations. It participated vigorously in the decolonization process, and it struggled against neo-colonial regimes to gain concessions so as to protect the socio-economic interests of the downtrodden. It often opposed laxity, negligence and corruption in the management of the affairs of the state, and pursued a relatively nationalist and unifying project in contrast to the highly divisive politics of the post-colonial Nigerian ruling elites.
Ironically, the same cannot be said of the current crop of leadership. As Nigerian situation continues to get worsened by the day, the little gains of the labour movement to improve the living conditions of the Nigerian workers have become eroded; workers are now more agitated, disconcerted and perturbed, and they are looking forward for their leadership to proffer a concrete way forward but the leadership are either not just there or are busy romanticizing and dining with the ruling elite.
The disappointing manner in which the NLC ended the mass protests of January is still very fresh in the minds of the masses as the Union leaders maintained that it agreed to this as the Jonathan administration had promised to implement some programme that would ease the plight of the working masses. Unfortunately for the Labour leaders, the outcome of the whole drama points out the futility of being a gentle-compromising man in an encounter with a rascal. For barely two months after, the same government openly suspended the implementation of the limited ‘palliatives’ proposed in this respect while the fuel price is presently being sold, albeit unofficially, at the rate of #120 in many states across the land.
The result of such betrayal is the declining authority of NLC over industrial unions, stirring of discontent among the rank and file, declining popularity of labour officials and increased workers apathy and droopiness. When a sizeable number of State NLC were locked up in battle with their state Governors over the non-implementation of #18, 000 minimum wage, there was no concrete response from the National Leadership; when the workers’ casualization became the major policies of many state across the South West and even the Federal Government with its proposed U-win, the National leadership bluntly refused to fight against this evil of capitalism and while the university administrations across the land are raising their school fees to an astronomic levels that is beyond the means of the common masses and the progressives Unions are being proscribed, the NLC, with its TUC counterpart, is simply looking the other way.
Compromise under the guise of Consultation is rapidly replacing the Labour’s established method of Confrontation; the Specious Strategy of Settlement is Speedily Supplanting the ideologically rooted principles of Struggle as a Tactic, the social relevance of trade unions are becoming lowered to zero and the political relevance of Labour Union leaders have been whittled down. The condition and situation is even more disconcerting at the state levels as many Chairmen are simply parading the state parastatals and the Governors’ houses seeking appointment and contractual slots to make their personal purse swell and engorge. Arguably, the Nigerian Trade Unions has never had it this bad.
The workers’ goals cannot be realized by a set of leaders who will say one thing in the open but say something else in the secret; it cannot be actualized by those set of leaders who will yell all the principles of socialism to the rooftops only when they wanted to acquire a pecuniary affluence. The present NLC and TUC leadership are no more giving direction, if it has not lost direction itself.
And now that the Financial Hit-Man of the Nigerian ruling elites has spoken, NLC must not be deceived that Sanusi is speaking all alone. He has tactically revealed what the Jonathan government has in the pipeline for the Nigerian masses after 2015 election: Labour and the masses had better get set for the battles ahead.
That NLC’s intervention is pivotal to the growth and sustenance of genuine development of Nigeria is not in doubt. But, NLC’s ability to play active roles in promoting these principles as well as serving as a genuine mouthpiece of the masses have been severely circumvented in the last five years. For the NLC and TUC to be taken seriously by both the state and the employers, their leaders need to reflect seriously in their actions.
Finally, while it is envisaged that the current leadership of the Union will learn to do things better with time, a deliberate inconsistence which is almost becoming the order of the day will not only spell doom for the Union, it will erode the confidence which the entire masses had in it. The present leadership of the Union, therefore, needed to shape up or in the alternative remain stagnant, not only to its peril but also to the peril of the masses that are looking forward to the Union as their Saviour. Whatever be the situation, one thing that is clear is that it must not continue to be business as usual at the stable of Labour.
…..Says peace and night life has returned to Delta State
By Oghenekevwe Laba
Delta State Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mr Taiwo Lakanu has revealed that the tense security activities launched by Delta State Police Command gainst kidnappers and armed robbers for the past six months has drastically reduced the criminal activities in the state to minimal level.
Speaking to Urhobotoday in Lagos recently at the premises of Lagos Television (LTV), Agidigbin, Ikeja, Lagos, after receiving an “Exemplary Award in Crime Combat” from Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria (CRAN) disclosed that the police in Delta state had been on ground for the past six months. He disclosed that they had arrested no fewer than 600 criminals made up of armed robbers and kidnappers in the same period.
According to Lakanu who was described by Crime Reporters as crack crime fighter during his stay in Lagos State, “We are really doing a lot. We have been on ground for about six months now and we have really achieved a lot. We have arrested over 600 kidnappers and armed robbers. We are still on it. You know it is a social problem. But we are trying our best to ensure that people live peacefully. We are making arrest every day and we will keep on arresting them.”
Lakanu who said the Officers of the Delta State Police Command have been keeping sleepless night and working round the clock to ensure that people sleep peacefully, enjoined the people of Delta State to go about their normal legal business as the police are on ground to protect their lives and property.
“I am more than satisfied with the rate at which peace is fast returning to Delta State. We keep sleepless night. We hardly sleep. We work round the clock to ensure that people sleep peacefully. We are always on ground and we have achieved a lot. There will always be crime and we will always be there to put it under control. But I am assuring you that we have reduced it to minimal level. Night life in Delta State is back. People go around to do their job peacefully without any form of harassment from criminals,” Lakanu who was a crime buster in Lagos State before he was transferred to Delta State assured Deltans, just as he maintained that they would keep up sustaining the achievements they have made so far.
Thanking CRAN for bestowing such a glorious award on him, Lakanu said even if awards are flying around, he cannot ignore an award from journalists.
“I thank the organizer of the event. There are series of awards flying around, but there are some awards you cannot ignore. You can never ignore award from journalists. To my colleagues, I want you to know that if you work in Lagos you can work anywhere. Whatever you are doing you may not appreciate now, but when you work harder you will appreciate it,” he advised.
Let me begin with fact that all Nigerians are aware of and that is, Sanni Abacha in his sick mind believed he did well in developing the country and its citizens. But every Nigerian in the absence of intimidation and death threat denounced every action by that rotten regime. True, the country did very well in sports then but yet we hated (and still) that dictator.
Democratic Principles
Before turning to the merits of the Sports Minister statements to Duro Ikhazuagbe of Thisday Newspaper of 3 December 2012 (Mr. Bolaji was a former editor of Thisday Newspaper) I need to deal with issue of constitutional importance, specifically, democratic principles.
The Sports Minister said and I quote, “When the Federal Government wanted to introduce the 6-3-3-4 system, were states education commissioners asked for inputs? When we were going to introduce the basic education, were the commissioners involved? If the Federal Government wants to take a decision on fertilisers, are states commissioners of agriculture called to decide what to do? Yes, we know that sports by nature gives room for everybody to act as experts but the point we are making is that the Federal Government has taken a decision that the festival be open for the good of the competition. However, were we will not be right is not to carry along the states in determining the rule of participation because the rules will affect them directly.”
Unfortunately, this Minister forgot that the country is in democracy and federal government cannot act alone without a legislation empowering it to do so. Looking at these statements, does this Minister believes he can control and have powers over any state Governor or National Assembly? If he does, he must be shown the door with immediate effect. This is dictatorship and his cited precedents were in fact military actions.
Demerits of Mr. Bolaji Abdullahi Assertions
1. “The aim of the festival since inception in 1973 is to discover talents and serve as a platform for unity of all Nigerians but right now it is serving that purpose in a limited way. This is so because most of those coming to the festival are either first timers or athletes who have not been able to break into the elite class.”
Not only is it nonsense to suggest that athletes selected by any state to represent that state are first timers but the statement though condescending and rude suggests that the Minister never competed in his life in any sport. The festival is apex of athletes competing based on prior training regimes and to represent a state meant that you were selected among many other athletes as that state flag-bearer. Many athletes in the elite category now, competed at the festival. This Minister simply believed he can act without any supervision of National Assembly. Surely, this Minister insulted most athletes.
2. “The National Sports Festival is our biggest competition in this country and so we cannot continue to keep it at the level of glorified inter-house sport competition.”
I will tell the Minister to say that to his adviser friends, discredited and banned former athletes he cited who had competed at earlier festivals that the festivals were inter-house sports. Quite frankly, I doubt if this Minister ever attended or competed in any inter-house sports before in his life. I did and I was also part of NSF 1977.
I will say this, it is more acceptable to ban the NSF altogether than inject more money for the sake of bringing foreign based professionals into it. I say that before on economic terms because a single foreign based-athlete will be funded in excess of N2.5Million which can train over 100 youths for better tomorrow. And the probability that the foreign based will not pan-out is higher than future performances of 100 youth athletes. Essentially the idea is to find a way of circumventing money laundry legislations.
3. “So I believe that if you open it to top class athletes like Ajoke Odumosu, Omolara (Omotosho), Blessing Okagbare, (Obinna) Metu and all our top athletes and others from around the world, these are the top athletes that will attract advertiser into the competition. Television will cover it and ultimately bring the competition to the living rooms of Nigerians like the Olympic. When this happens, Nigerians would want to troop to the venues to see these stars. Everyone will know that something big is going on in Nigeria. So, I think if you want to create an opportunity for us to discover good talents and also make it glamorous, we have no choice but to open it up… One of the benefits of opening up the game now is that the festival will now have more commercial value for advertisers to want to put their money on it”
Mr. Minister just doesn’t have any fact to suggest anything in this bogus belief. Firstly, we have annual National Championships that the NSC paid the Athletics Federation (AFN) in excess of N200Million over 3years where AFN also collected over N250Million from Cross Rivers State and private companies.
These monies were used to bring those cited by the Minister to compete annually and let me be clear, NO SPECTATOR OR EVEN THE SPORTS MINISTER SHOWED UP AND EVEN ATHLETES THEMSELVES NEVER SHOWED UNLESS THEY ARE COMPETING ON THAT GIVEN DAY. So to suggest that the NSF will draw crowd is nothing but a hollow ambition to waste money.
Yes, some marketers made foolish statements to support this crazy idea. Again, the Sports Minister royally ‘miss road’ (credit to Fela).
Secondly, we have Grand prix competitions where no spectator or Minister ever showed up and some of the invited athletes had to petition International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) to force AFN to pay them three years after. This Minister lacked credibility or knowledge of anything about sports.
4. “The Under-17 National competition you are planning to start to serve as a platform for talent discovering, have you consider how the states are going to react to that since most of them (states) are opposed to throwing the festival open? …The national Under-17 competition that I have proposed is to serve as a lower tier games to serve the purpose of talent discovering. It is strictly a developmental competition aimed at discovering talents. An open National Sports Festival without a junior competition like the national under-17 will be counter-productive.”
If all states are opposed and this Minister want to force the agenda on them then he is a dictator. (Full-stop)
5. “But good as your proposal is, honourable minister, do you really think this will fly at the larger National Council of Sports forum since most of the states opposed to throwing the festival open are going to be in majority? First, I want you to remember that the National Sports Commission, (NSC) is the custodian of the Federal Government’s position on sport in the country. The NSC owns the proprietary rights of the national sports festival. So, we as the custodians of the festival decided that for the festival to serve better purpose of its creation, it has to be an open festival.”
The Minister is dead wrong here and his knowledge of law is pretty much primitive. The custodian does not own rather holding on ‘behalf of’ and the federal government only act under supervision of the National Assembly. Mr. Minister, Nigerians own the NSF not you or your cronies.
6. “Who says we cannot bring on board past athletes like the Falilat Ogunkoya, Mary Onyali-Omagbemi, Olapade Adeniken, The Ezinwa brothers, Davidson and Osmond, Funke Oshonaike, Bose Kaffo and several of our ex athletes to come and compete in the masters category as a way of creating excitement? Younger generation athletes who have heard of them but did not have the opportunity of seeing them in action will feel motivated and inspired. These are some of the dynamics an open festival will create for the competition.”
IAAF says Mary Onyali and Chioma Ajunwa cannot compete again. Mr. Minister simply forgot that those he cited are either banned from athletics for dope violations by IAAF or are simply too obese to compete or they have called it ‘a day’ years ago. This Minister simply lacked any knowledge of the reality and practicality of his view. These same people along with the destroyer of AFN named Solomon Ogba were paraded in London and in fact made no dent rather enhanced destruction of our team chances.
This Minister is yet to speak well, as such he must be pushed out of Sports Ministry for dictatorial tendency. Opening the festival is aimed at athletics where that federation shamed the country at the London Olympics. Those in charge of that federation are advisers of Delta governor who continues to control this Minister.
I will stop here and expects the Minister and his cronies to voice their views which are fundamental right the Minister doesn’t think Nigerians has.
I rest.
Dr. Rashid A. balogun, CPA, LLB(Hons.), LLM(London)
FROM LEFT: FORMER FCT MINISTER, BRIG.-GEN. MAMMAN KOTANGORA; SECRETARY, SUBSIDY RE-INVESTMENT AND EMPOWERMENT PROGRAMME (SURE-P), NZE AKACHUKWU NWANKPA AND SURE-P CHAIRMAN, AMB CHRISTOPHER KOLADE DURING THEIR MEETING WITH PRESIDENT GOODLUCK JONATHAN IN ABUJA ON TUESDAY (24/4/12).
Following a report of embezzlement previously published by 247ureports.com on N1billion cornered by the Secretary of the SURE-P and Special Adviser to the President, Nze Akachukwu Nwamkpa – the Joint Committee on Petroleum Downstream of the National Assembly found cause to examine the activities of the much hyped Subsidy Re-investment Program (SURE-P) as the committee members of SURE-P presented themselves before the National Assembly [NASS] yesterday.
The NASS committee could not contain visibly displaying their anger yesterday as it gradually became clear that the SURE-P project was tilting towards the usual wastage culture of the country.
The Joint Committee on Petroleum Downstream of the National Assembly could not but frown at some schemes of the scheme which were considered unjustified, given that despite the huge figure of N33.2bn devoted to execution of said schemes, not much could be accounted for in terms of implementation.
Members of the Committee also queried the loose spending habit of the SURE-P Committee when it stumbled across evidence in its 2012 appropriation that showed that it spent N75 million on just undertaking a tour of its projects over a four month period.
Chairman of SURE-P, Dr. Christopher Kolade, who appeared a second time yesterday before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Petroleum Downstream intimated that the Committee spent N27 billion, N4 billion and N2.2 billion respectively on Youth Empowerment Programme, Mass Transit Scheme and Secretariat services in its 2012 appropriation.
Kolade, Monday, while defending SURE-P’s 2013 budget, however pleaded
with members of the Joint Committee to allow him time until Friday in order to tender evidence of spending.
Chairman Senate Committee on Petroleum Down Sector, Senator Magnus Abe, while taking on members of the SURE-P Committee said: “For instance, on the mass transit transportation figures, if you say you spent N4 billion on mass transportation, how did you spend it? If you say you bought buses, how many buses did you buy and who are the people using them? Have they started paying back the money? We must as legislators, when we say it is okay the people will know that it is okay.”
Members of the Committee also frowned at the N75 million expenses on the inspection of its ongoing projects across the country.
Reacting to an answer to answer that about 10,000 jobs were created by a member of the SURE-P committee, Senator Abe said: “I don’t think this your explanation will go anywhere. You collected N27 billion and you say you are going to create 50,000 jobs. I think you need to have a document that actually explains how the lives of those 50,000 will be transformed and how you are going to attain from point A to B.”
Senator Abe also condemned the method employed by the SURE-P Committee towards addressing the issue of job creation.
He said: “We have done that before in this country, like the issue of poverty alleviation using N10 billion that was brought to pay people. If we want to help unemployment in Nigeria we must design a programme that actually put something into the lives of the people that is sustainable and lasting, to now share N10,000 to people. There is no guarantee as to which people will get it.”
In his remark, Hon. Peterside Dakuku, who expressed displeasure with explanation from the committee members. He added: “I don’t think there is anything that you will say now that will convince anybody.
He added, “Please just get the documents across to us. If eventually the documentation convince us that we will be able to sustain that proposal, if it does not we will move the funds elsewhere where it will add value.”
“I’m sure that this is one hearing that Nigerians are very and will be interested in, and to a very reasonable extent I wish to commend the candour and the transparency of the members’ as much as possible, to open up the processes of SURE-P to proper legislative scrutiny.
“Let me also say that there are still a few questions hanging and to remind you of your commitment that you will provide these details by tomorrow, given your history with this joint committee hearing and the last time you made commitment you made it on time.
“We therefore decided to take your words for it and therefore with respect to your age and status in the country, we will hope we will get those details tomorrow.” senator Abe stated.
The National Good Governance Tour (NGGT) is a programme supported by the Federal Government and all the 36 State Governors to publicize the development programmes and projects of all tiers of government in the country.
The programme was designed by the Federal Ministry of Information in partnership with the National Planning Commission and the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Performance Monitoring.
It was approved by the Federal Executive Council, the National Economic Council (NEC) and the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF).
It involves media-driven physical inspection of major projects and programmes being executed by the Federal and State Governments throughout the country on non-partisan basis.
The National Good Governance Tour Team comprises of the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists; the Radio, Television and Theatre Arts Workers Union (RATTAWU); leaders of women and youth organisations; National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS); National Council of Women Societies (NCWS); leaders of non-governmental organisations; Operatives of security agencies; representative(s) of the Nigerian Governors Forum Secretariat; and reporters from the nation’s print and electronic media houses.
The Social Media is also strongly represented and all aspects of the tour are streamed live on all the social media platforms.
The tour incorporates a robust Citizens Forum which enables citizens of every State to engage Federal and State Government officials on all key development policies and challenges in each State. The Citizens Forum which is attended by the Governor of each State and his officials runs live on radio, television and Social Media Platforms. In every State, citizens ask their leaders questions without restriction and Nigerians all over the world take advantage of the Social Media to file in their questions, comments, opinions or suggestions on the major programmes and activities of government.
Federal and State officials led by the Governor and Ministers answer questions and give explanations to citizens on all the major issues raised. For most Governors and other State officials who have featured in the Citizens Forum so far, it has been very tasking as citizens ask questions on almost every challenge facing their States and their communities.
During the tour itself, State officials, contractors and service providers take questions directly from journalists from the print and electronic media and from representatives of civil society and other stakeholders on the performance of projects/programmes executed by Federal and State Governments.
The tour itself is so rigorous that many participants are unable to cope with the pace of the field visitations. The tour team travels mainly by road and in most places begins from 9am and returns sometimes 10 or 11 pm daily.
Activities of each day in the field are widely reported in the media for the information of the public, while citizens use some of the information from the field to ask government officials and contractors pertinent questions during the Citizens Forum.
FINANCING THE TOUR
The NGGT is funded from the Ministry of Information’s 2012 capital budget. Costs are incurred mainly on payment of duty tour allowances of participants, security personnel, publicity and logistics. So far the Federal Ministry of Information has not spent more than N5 million in each State visited. The N5 million comprises DTA based on government approved rates for about 100 participants for a minimum of 3 days per State; transportation; security; medicals, secretariat facilities, etc. The participants are paid Duty Tour Allowance only and strictly for exactly the number of days they participate in the project. I make bold to say that there has been no other known source of funding or expenditure for the project. The costs are managed by a Project Accountant in strict conformity to government financial regulations. The NGGT is one of the most prudent and austere projects ever managed by the Federal Ministry of Information.
SUCCESSES RECORDED SO FAR
Considerable success has been recorded in the implementation of the National Good Governance Tour, which has so far covered the Federal Capital Territory and five States in the North Central Zone viz: Kwara, Niger, Plateau, Benue and Nassarawa States.
The National Good Governance Tour in the FCT commenced on the 20th September, 2012 with visits to project sites where high impact projects, which have attained reasonable progress were inspected. The projects cut across water, road and engineering infrastructure, development of new and existing districts as well as health and educational projects.
In the FCT and all the States visited, the team left convinced that a lot of developmental projects are ongoing by the Federal, State and Local Governments. Generally, there was overwhelming evidence that governments are working, save for delays caused by occasional shortcomings and lack of dedication on the part of a few contractors. It is instructive to highlight the poor execution of two contracts, one each in Niger State and the other in Plateau State. The Bokkos–Panyam–Wamba road in Plateau State and the Agaie–Katcha–Baro road in Niger State were examples of contractor failure. As a result of the inspection of the projects by the National Good Governance Tour, both contracts amounting to about N7 billion have now been revoked by Government; other contractors and service providers who have fallen below the mark are being reviewed by government agencies.
There are several other benefits derived from the tour so far. The tour has doused, to a considerable extent, the cynicism of some sections of the populace about the overall development programmes of Government at the three tiers. Similarly, as a result of the positive publicity on radio, television, newspapers and the social media generated by the NGGT, more Nigerians at home and abroad now appreciate the fact that progress is being made in the country. This is true even in states like Plateau, which had hitherto been perceived to be constantly in the news only for conflict.
It is pertinent to note that citizens living in the States visited exhibited high level of interest in the tour, especially during the Citizens’ Forum, which is always beamed live. This is because they have unhindered access to Federal and State officials to make comments on the development of their states and to seek on-the-spot explanations and answers to their questions.
The Tour and its Coverage by the Media
So far the tour has received positive media coverage from both the print and electronic media.
Advertorials on the good governance tour and special documentaries are planned as the tour proceeds to the rest of the country, and we have so far gone round only 5 of the 36 states and the FCT. Our reviews show that most media houses, even those which were critical of the tour on their editorial opinion pages reported the tour extensively and routinely.
The most effective reports are not necessarily front page stories alone, but short, concise reports that get read quickly by interested citizens who often are very busy in a multi-media world of congested choices and crowded schedules.
Besides, everything inspected, covered, said, observed, analysed by stakeholders, citizens and journalists on the tour was streamed live on social media and can be visited on regular basis on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the website of the Federal Ministry of Information, as well as other online blogs.
No event in recent times with the exception of the 2011 presidential campaigns, has received the kind of coverage in the social and electronic media as the ongoing National Good Governance Tour (NGGT).
Besides the tour is aimed at grassroots sensitization of citizens and every State covered so far has had maximum attention of its citizens/residents as can be attested to by the universal coverage of the tour and the Citizens’ Forum in every State visited so far.
Let it be stated without doubt that the clear majority of Nigerians depend on the radio and television for news, and majority of youths depend on the social media. These have been most saturated with the National Good Governance Tour to the extent that no public programme in recent years has had the kind of public following received by the National Good Governance Tour.
Members were too exhausted after the tour of North Central States and demanded for a break. The tour resumes mid January 2013, and will go on uninterrupted until all the six geo-political zones are covered.
Information reaching 247ureports.com indicates that an explosion has rocked the city of Kano at a junction along the popular textile market in the commercial city this morning at 9am. The explosion struck the junction where the operatives of Joint Task Force [JTF] had set up a security checkpoint. The checkpoint is located near a Mosque.
The checkpoint was set up last week against the protest of the textile merchants.
The bomb explosion was said to not pack the gravitas of a major explosion. Unofficial statement by eyewitness account indicate that three people may have died as a result of the bombing.
The textile market comprises of predominantly northern traders.
The Kaduna State Local Government Area [LGA] elections held over the weekend of December 1, 2012 – which saw the Congress for Progressive Change [CPC] sweep the election against its chief opponent, the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] – also saw the victory of a PDP candidate, Kawu Ibrahim Yakassai, at the Sabo LGA located within the Kaduna metropolis but domiciled within the Kaduna north senatorial district – under the Zaria Emirate. Yakassai defeated his closest rival – the CPC candidate, Hassan Abdullahi by 62,170 to 20,143.
However a twist appears over the landslide victory – as the winner has gone underground into hiding – following the issuance of a bench warrant by a magistrate on Thursday November 29, 2012 – two days before the election. The warrant was issued following the failure of Yankassai to appear before the magistrate court – following allegations of certificate forgery filed at the court. He was not in the court to defend himself after several court adjournments.
Also, sources in Kaduna indicate that agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission [EFCC] are reportedly investigating Yankassai – who was formerly employed at the Accounts Department of the LGA. The extent of the investigation is not certain.
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Some of the political watchers in Kaduna point to the treatment meted to Yakassai as witch-hunting against the PDP.
Information reaching 247ureports.com through a source stationed in the Nigerian north western State of Borno indicate that the Joint Task Force [JTF] carried out an operation that began late night of yesterday [December 2, 2012] lasting into the early morning hours of today.
The raid by the agents of the JTF was reported to have netted the JTF a high target kill. According to the source who spoke on the telephone from the field, a top boss of the Boko Haram was gun down in last night’s operation.
The identity of the Boko Haram official was said to be Abdukareem Ibrahim and two his commanders. They were killed after four hours of gun battle. His hideout was discover around Damboa in Maiduguri after a tipoff. A bounty was placed on his head by JTF.
Yesterday morning, gunmen believed to be operatives of Boko Haram burnt churches and security posts as they rampaged Borno. Ten people were reported beheaded.
