Wife of Katsina State governor, Hajiya Fatima Ibrahim Shema, has ordered the sack of the supervisory councillor for water and sanitation in Matazu local government area of the state, Hajiya Hadiza Ibrahim.
Mrs Shema reportedly gave the directive to sack Hajiya Hadiza Ibrahim, the only female councillor at the Matazu local government transition management committee through a letter of “termination of appointment” dated 27th December, 2012.
Part of the letter which was signed by Bala Lawal Yaro, a staff officer at Matazu local government reads “I am directed by the Office of Her Excellency, Hajiya Dr Fatima Ibrahim Shehu Shema, to issue you this letter of termination in view of your unkindly like misconduct and behaviour.”
LEADERSHIP reports that the sacked councillor and the wife of Matazu local government council transition management committee chairman had recently engaged each other in a free-for-all scuffle at the council secretariat.
It was gathered that squabble ensued between the duo when the chairman’s wife allegedly slapped the sacked councillor at the office of the LG’s director of administration during a meeting to resolve some grievances.
Some local government staff in the state who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity faulted the councilor’s sack insisting that there was procedural error since the directive emanated from the first lady.
When contacted, the chief press secretary to the first lady, Mallam Abdulazeez confirmed that the directive to sack the councillor emanated from the first lady noting “yes the letter emanated from the first lady’s office.”
IGP Calls For Collective Efforts At Tackling Security Challenges
As part of efforts at encouraging a broad-based approach to tackling emerging contemporary security challenges in Nigeria, the Nigeria Police in conjunction with Vanguard Newspapers will be organizing a 2-day National Security Summit with the theme “Addressing Nigeria’s Security Challenges for Sustainable Peace and Development”. The event is billed to take place on 8th and 9th January, 2013 at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, commencing at 10am each day.
The summit which will be officially flagged off by the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, will be attended by Military and Police Chiefs, security experts/practitioners from within and outside the country as well as other critical stakeholders in the Nigeria Project. The summit which is a public – private partnership initiative is expected to provide an avenue for Nigerians from all walks of life to make informed input into concerted efforts by the Police and other security agencies at providing lasting solution to Nigeria’s myriad Security Challenges.
While emphasizing the importance of the summit to the transformation agenda of the Federal Government, particularly as it relates to issues of safety and security of the nation, the IGP urged participants to seize the opportunity provided by the summit to make sincere and informed input on matters bordering on the general security of Nigeria and Nigerians. He stated that the rationale for the summit is predicated upon the belief of the Force that the business of policing and securing Nigeria is the responsibility of all and that no single individual or organization has monopoly of security knowledge.
While assuring participants that inputs, suggestions, contributions and decisions reached at the summit will be given their pride of place in new security policies and strategic operational plans by the Government and the Police High Command, he equally promised that the Force will do everything humanly possible to guarantee a safe, conducive and democratic atmosphere at the summit to enable participants undertake a free, candid and unfettered intellectual discourse. He urged participants to see their participation in the summit as a call to national service and to do all within their powers to deliver on the targets and objectives of the summit.
Other participants expected at the summit include: representatives of State Governors, Special advisers on Security to State Governors, principal officers of National and State Assemblies, CEOs of registered and active private security agencies and representatives of ethnic forums and nationalities. Others are representatives of National Human Rights Commission, invited NGOs and Civil Society Groups, Labour groups such as NLC, PENGASSAN, TUC, and Professional groups such as NBA, NMA, Guild of Editors, NUJ, Representatives of PCRC at national and State levels and other invited participants.
A community in Abia State, Okayiga Okwu Olokoro community in Umuahia Abia State has lamented the continuous and incessant arrest of the villagers by the police in Umuahia.
In a save our soul letter to 247ureports.com The community in their letter stated that one Mr. Chief Nwanna who according to the community is known as one of the kidnappers in Abia State has paid money to the police to arrest innocent people in the village.
According to the villagers in their letter, the police told them that the man in question reported that the villagers stole his property and also the sum of 38 million naira; “but the community, knows this man has not been working and no one knows what the man has been doing for a living but the villagers knows the man to be a thief and kidnapper.”
The community said in their write up that instead of the police to investigate how the man got this kind of money, they didn’t as they only choose the option of declaring a massive arrest of villagers; “the police keep on taking this case from one police station to another within Umuahia.
“We are thinking that police are there to protect the community instead they are just busy making money. We are informed that there are a lot of rich men behind this. The man we in question is a very big high killer, please help the poor ones and the innocent people, we are one Nigeria and we are here for better tomorrow,” the villagers lamented.
To a self-confessed assassin in Kano State, the lives of two lawmakers are not worth more than N40,000.
That is the amount he and his colleagues were allegedly paid by their suspected sponsor to assassinate Hon. Ibrahim Abba Garko and Hon Isa Kademi, both members of Kano State House of Assembly.
The money was said to have even been paid in two installments of N20,000 each.
Garko was killed on November 17, 2012 by gunmen operating on motor bike in front of his house located at Yanáwaki Ungwa-Uku General Area while Kademi fell to the assassins bullets on December 14 in front of his guest house situated at Hotoro Maradun during the evening rush hour.
Until their assassination, Garko, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), represented Garko local government in parliament whereas Kademi, of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), was a three-time chairman of Gaya local government and a former chairman of Association of Local Governments in Kano State.
Sunday Vanguard exclusively obtained the interrogation tape of the professional dyer-turned- self-confessed assassin, Ibrahim Lawal, in which he claimed to have been a member of the gang that murdered the two lawmakers and named one Alhaji Sale Kura, a PDP chieftain, as their sponsor.
Kano State Police Commissioner, Mr Ibrahim Idris, had, on Wednesday, paraded Lawal and Sale in connection with the assassination. Both of them, however, denied afterwards, their involvement in both killings to journalists.
“I am not a member of Boko Haram. I am a hired assassin and armed robber. We operated in a group of six and all of us live at Ungwa Uku,”Lawal told interrogators in the 25-minute tape.
On the killing of the lawmakers, the suspected assassin said, “We were mobilised by Sale Kura who personally handed over to me N20,000 twice (making N40,000) and we trekked to the abode of one of the targets while some other members of the gang arrived on motorbike.
“The target was identified and we went out of our way to spray others within the vicinity to avoid any of them recognising us. The gang escaped in the ensuring melee.”
The first scene of the video tape of Lawal’s interrogation opened in an apartment where six cops, led by a high ranking officer, were seated.
A Mobile Police officer came in with the suspected assassin.
A gentle voice fired the first salvo,”Who are you”?
The suspect answered: “My name is Ibrahim Lawal; I live at Layin Yarbawa Ungwa-Uku. I had my primary education at Ungwa Uku, and proceeded to Government Secondary School Bichi. I ventured into professional dying after I dropped out of secondary school. I maintained a shop at Layin Tazarce at the same quarters.”
In response to a question on whether he was a member of Boko Haram, the suspect, in a loud voice, declared: “I am not a member of Boko Haram; I am a hired assassin and armed robber. We operated in a group of 6 and all of us live at Ungwa Uku”.
“Tell us more about the group”?, one of the police officers said.
Lawal replied: “We have Sagir Yahuza of Farin Massalaci Ungwa Uku, Surajo Adamu of Layin Tazarce Ungwa Uku, Tasiu Shuaibu of Layin Yarabawa Ungwa Uku and Mohammed AbdulSalam of Layin Tazarce Ungwa Uku quarters in Kano metropolis”.
On how he joined the gang, the suspect alleged, “I was personally recruited into the group by Alhaji Sale Kura who happens to be my neighbor and we enjoy a close relationship since 1999 when he became the PDP chairman of Tarauni Local Government Area of Kano State”.
Asked to comment on the criminal gang, Lawal stated: “We are not only into killings, we were also involved in violent robbery operations and Alhaji Sale Kura usually provided us with concoction to drink before embarking on operations. The drink had the effect of emboldening us as we confronted risks head on”.
The interrogation drew to a close with a question on how the suspect was captured by the police.
Lawal stated: “I was with Mabo, the leader of the gang, when we received a call that a person on our hit list was sighted around Mabo shop and we quickly armed ourselves and moved in but, on arriving at the shop, the said person was no where to be found.
“As we were returning to my shop on a motorbike, we were accosted by a team of police officers who arrested me but Mabo was lucky as he escaped.”
Already, the state command of the Police has vowed not to spare anyone connected with the assassination of the lawmakers.
A senior officer of the Command told Sunday vanguard that “we would ensure that our investigation into the matter is very thorough as well as send the right signal that the Police Force of today means well; just as our Inspector General, MD Abubakar, is leaving no stone unturned in his transformation of the Force
This is the second part of my take on sports development, in particular swimming and football. I begin this piece with a view that swimming is not a natural event in Nigeria whereas football is believed to be so, although, that may invite strong criticism but the reality suggests to all Nigerians that cost factors impeded swimming development, nevertheless.
Swimming
Past
At about 11 years old when I became Lagos State junior athlete (under 12 in athletics) I was introduced to swimming (organized) at the (new) National Stadium, Lagos by some German Coaches who saw me somersaulting with my friends Jimoh Sumola, Fatai and Sadiq (we were the founding gymnasts in Nigeria when it was introduced).
The German had wanted me to be a diver, so I began swimming training with them along with platform training but it all ended with my attendance of boarding secondary school and my focus changed only to athletics (the key is no organize swimming facilities around my school). Fast forward forty years later; can anyone distinguish my experience from any swimming (or diving) talents of today?
Again, talent were discovered not because a child was observed from performance of such sport but because that child showed dedication and relevant skills. It takes an expert with knowledge on what he can do to enhance that child future endeavor but the key here is that I, along with others were exposed to many sports in our (youth) days in Lagos. Is that the experience of children of today?
Current
Obviously, World Standard swimming facilities are rare in most states in Nigeria and the sport is introduced very late and yes, many states relied on Lagos groomed over 20 (yrs. old) swimmers through their poaching agenda. Elementary schools’ children (except high net worth families) in most states have no idea how to swim or where they can find such facility to learn how, this is appalling.
Of course, there is swimming federation but the question to be asked is what is it doing? The country is persona non grata at World Stage and in Africa only the federation can tell Nigerians where the country is ranked.
Future
Federation structure
Whatever the existing structure, the fact remains that it failed in all categories of effectiveness measure and it must ceased immediately. In place, should be an interim caretaker committee with the aim of setting up a registered association (the aims include transparency, accountability, etc.), hiring of a President, setting of control, promotion and liaison with local governments and Education Ministries. Federation Board elections will follow after all structures are in place.
Swimming Development strategy
Clearly, there is no plan (current or future) to move swimming to major sports category in Nigeria and that must change immediately. To do so, the country must return to foundational introductory swimming agenda. Yes, the result will be at least 8years from now (that is the country must introduce 8yr olds to swimming right now).
The country must introduce swimming in elementary schools in the same category as inter-house sports. Have the schools set-aside one day a week for swimming lesson at nearby facility. Obviously, swimming facilities must be built (if not yet available) by local governments with ministry of education assistance. Lagos State is ahead in this for whatever reason other states are lacking in this regard.
The federation must host age-graded state and national championships. Top U-12 must be engaged to train on a daily basis, given proper nutrition and allowances (transportation, etc.). Preference will be hiring of international Coaching crew (likely from China or Germany) and it may also be a good idea to send those U-12 selected to train abroad for at least two years.
Question may be asked as to what becomes of current national swimming team and I say they should be the responsibility of their various states. National Sports Commission focus should be U-17 (highest priority is U-12) as the current national team cannot deliver internationally.
Football
As some people might say, football is a natural sport for Nigerians and others may ask how come Nigeria never wins a World Cup? The answer will generate many responses but the commonality among those responses is ‘bad administration’.
My take is this, if everyone can agree that bad administration is the problem, then why Nigerians did nothing to reverse such perennial bad administration. Yes, few that spoke up are name-tagged as ‘football critic’. I’ve tried to be objective several times in looking at this tagging of well-meaning individuals’ statements and finds that the concerns raised were all well founded and not really criticism. To criticise suggest an existing plan or agenda but if none exist, then such statements are concerns that must be addressed.
Does Nigeria really have any football development strategy (plan) that can be reviewed by all Nigerians? If not, then shouldn’t the country comes to reality and develop a strategy?
Governance
I have spoken severally on governance of this sport and others and it will be a disservice to repeat them here but a reminder will be adequate. The federation must be a registered association under Company and Allied Acts (CAMA) and its board make-up must be representatives of legitimate stakeholders.
Board members must be limited to two terms of three years and subject to recall by stakeholders on confidence motion. The Board must hire a President with academic qualification, police clearance, and disclosure of assets and knowledge of football (international and local). Such President actions will be supervised by the Board through its committee of experts in all areas.
The good things on governance going on now is that some stakeholders are now exercising their ‘rights’ to recall erring leaders which must be looked at a welcome development (no matter how bad their reasoning). Also, hands-off approach by the NSC is also, a good direction (does not mean NSC didn’t instigate anything).
Football Development
In brief, as I’ve written several articles on this topic but I need to say this again; any club intending to register with football federation must meet a pre-condition of having a developmental team of U-17. Transfer fee from a development team must match senior team transfer fee (discouragement of poaching).
Elementary school football championships (state and National level) should commence this year as well
I rest.
Dr. Rashid A. Balogun, Cpa, Llb(Hons.), Llm(London)
In his controversial style of using social media, Reno Omokri- the Special Assistant to the President on new media on Thursday, the 3rd of January 2013 took to the platform to further explain the President’s much belated New Year gift to Nigerians as revealed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Basking in the euphoria of a similar gift to Nigerians on the 1st of January 2012 through the removal of fuel subsidy that lead to a week of national protest, President Jonathan this time around unleashed his 2013 gift on the Nigerians with a policy for the purchase of 10million cell phones valued at about N60billion to 10 million rural farmers.
In his message on twitter, Reno Omokri said “One of the aim of this administration is for Nigeria to be self sufficient in food production”, adding that “The FIRST priority of a people is FOOD SECURITY. One way to ensure food security is by ensuring that farmers are informed of best practices”. Continuing, he said “…to ensure that they plant, irrigate and harvest at the right time, SMSs are being sent to our farmers by agric experts at the ministry”.
He further added that “For those who have an objective mind, 60billion divided by 10million farmers gives you a unit cost of 6000 Naira per phone.”
Now let’s begin by asking where Mr. Jonathan got the 10million Nigerian Farmers? This is a joke intended for April 1st.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria’s population as at 2011 stood at 164,385,656. The same Bureau in 2010 released the report of a research it carried out with the title “The Labour Force Report” with an highlight of the population of employed and unemployed Nigerians as well as the age grade they belonged to. The report shows that persons Aged 0–‐14 years constituted 39.6% of the total population of Nigeria, those aged, between 15–‐64 (the economically active population), constituted 56.3%, while those aged 65 years and above constituted 2%. The report went on to state that of the 92,384,738 who are economically active, 67,256,090 of them are in the labour force out of which 51,181,884 are employed, and 16,074,205 are unemployed.
The question Mr. Reno and his principal needs to answer is where exactly are the 10million farmers? Are they from the army of the unemployed 16,074,295 or from the already employed 51,181,884. If their answer is the former, what exactly are they producing that Nigeria has not become a hub of everything food?
Now, understand that a large portion of food production in Nigeria is done through mechanized farming which makes use of less manual labour. The ‘farmers’ Mr. president wants to provide handset for are subsistent farmers who produce what they mostly consume in their homes. I have a garden at the back of my house, does that qualify me as a recipient of the ‘Jona-phone’?
I see no reason why the president in conjunction with his minister of Agriculture would insult the collective intelligence of Nigerians by playing to the gallery with a noble idea that has revolutionised countries like Uganda, Kenya and India. Giving telephones out as part of a 2015 campaign strategy is just plain unintelligent.
Now, let’s say we accept the president’s assertion to be true, then, the cost of purchasing each handset is simply bogus and outrageous. First of all, no one would dare deal with a supplier in this type of contract. Speaking at Ijebu North East on Wednesday, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture declared that the Ministry will deal directly with the manufacturers of the handset in China and the United States. What she failed to tell us was if there was a bidding process involved in selecting the manufacturer to the extent that it has determined what country to buy them from?
Having seen the mounting opposition to the proposed illegal purchase of the mobile telephone handset, the Minister of Agriculture hurriedly released a press statement, stating among other lies that Agriculture employs 70% of the population, but if we go through the figures of the report earlier analysed, we would see that the Agriculture sector only employs 14million Nigerians representing 30% of the total 50M employed for that year.
By the way, there are more noble ideas we can channel resources too. The road needed by the farmers to transport their goods to the market is non-existent. The much needed power required to preserve their produce is non-existent. Questions are how is the purchase of handset going to impact the government’s aim of food security? Can the subsistent farmers, majority of whom are illiterates, read and understand the text message that would be sent to them?
If I understand the Minister of Agriculture correctly, the aim of buying the phones is to make use of it as a means of communication with the farmers, but the rural farmers already have phones if the tweet by Reno is anything to go by. Reno had tweeted that “to cut fraud in the fertilizer distribution system a voucher system was introduced whereby farmers get their voucher to access frtiliser via SMS”. What this means is that the ministry has already started communicating with the farmers through SMS. Now let’s ask, who bought the phones the farmers has been using to receive sms vouchers for fertilizers? If the farmers already have phones, why does the government want to provide 10million more phones for them?
As a professional in the field, one would expect that the Minister should understand that there are alternatives i.e. Agricultural Extension Programmes…’train the trainers’, where people who understand the various languages of the farmers would deal directly with them in the dissemination of information. That on its own is a noble way of creating employment and still achieving the aim of educating the farmers.
The idea of importing phones from other countries is nothing short of exporting thousands of jobs and income to those economies, whereas, we could create those jobs here to add to our national GDP growth.
Though the minister has denied any knowledge of N60 billion budgeted for such spurious project. It should interest you to note that the telephone handset jamboree was not included in the 2013 budget which we woud consider in a moment.
A variant of the phone used in Kenya is a low-end phone, which would cost N2,000 at the computer village in Ikeja, Lagos. Dealing directly with the manufacturer will cut the unit cost to at least N1,500 totaling a wholesome of N15 billion (i.e. N1500 x 10 million pieces).
Sundry cost which includes Freight, Insurance, Duty, TLC Charges, CISS, VAT, Clearing Agents, Local Transport, Demurrage, Storage and Rents would cost close to another N2 billion (bear in mind that most of this cost would not be paid by the government) but I won’t bore you with the calculation.
Adding another N1 billion as profit for sub-contractors and other unforeseen expense, the purchase is thus estimated at around N18 billion.
If a total of N18 billion is more than enough for a project, you can be rest assured that the N60 billion tag is a fraud and another way by the Jonathan administration to ‘create food’ for the boys. The extra N42 billion excess will be looted and misappropriated.
It is insincerity of the highest order for the government to use a noble idea as a means of fleecing the people.
The last questions I want the honourable Minister to answer are how are we going pay back the loans proposed for the execution of this project? Is this how best we can make use of the fund? Who are the sponsors? The press statement he released has done nothing but raise more suspicion. According to the Ministry of Agriculture’s budget, nothing of such is budgeted for in 2013 or are we looking at another withdrawal from the Excess Crude Account (ECA) to fund repayment or will it be budgeted as debt for future generation?
We the people need to know how a Ministry with a total budget of N81 billion for year 2013 plans to execute this project. Ministry of Agriculture Recurrent expenditure for this year is N32.9 billion with N29.8 billion going into personnel cost and another N3.09 billion going into overhead cost. The capital allocation for 2013 for the Ministry of Agriculture is N48.7 billion. I think expending a fund that equals 80% of the total budget of a ministry on a single project sounds scrupulous.
We must understand that N60 billion is no small money, it’s almost the total of Capital Allocation for Ministry of Education, just N5 billion greater than the Capital Allocation for Health, 10% lower than the Capital Allocation for Power and half of the Capital Allocation for Ministry of Works which is a very critical sector of the economy.
N60 billion is greater than N52.3 billion which is the total budget for Ministry of Transport. N60 billion is no small money as it can do a lot.
Accuse Tukur of dictatorship, courting party’s enemies
Plan to dissolve party’s NWC; national officers panic
Trouble is looming in the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as governors on the party’s ticket are rallying for a showdown with the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur over his alleged unsavory attitude towards them.
The hard stance of the governors, it was learnt, had last night sent some members of the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party into a panic mode, following agitation by the governors for the dissolution of the body.
“There is trouble,” one senior party official said yesterday evening in between trouble-shooting meetings, one of several held in the federal capital yesterday.
The governors, Vanguard learnt, yesterday were mobilizing to convene a meeting of the National Executive Committee, NEC of the party which is expected to reverse some of the actions of the NWC, particularly as it affects Adamawa State.
Yesterday, Governor Sule Lamido who heads the committee instituted by President Goodluck Jonathan to resolve the Adamawa crisis, met with some members of the committee including Governor Theodore Orji during where issues affecting Adamawa were reviewed.
Govs to use NEC against NWC
The governors who nominated most of the members of the NEC are now poised to use the body to reverse the actions of the NWC concerning Adamawa. Besides, the governors are also threatening to mobilize the NEC to convene a special convention of the party for the singular purpose of dissolving the NWC.
It was as such not surprising that the hitherto unanimous support Tukur was getting from NWC in his battle with Governor Murtala Nyako has dwindled as the NWC members moved to save their necks. A number of the NWC members, yesterday, had sent emissaries to the seething governors on their readiness to soft pedal.
The grouse of the governors flowed from the dissolution of the Adamawa State executive of the party on the instruction of the NWC led by the national chairman, Tukur. Tukur is from Adamawa State and until his election; he did not have much say in the affairs of the party in his state as the whole party structure was controlled by Governor Nyako.
However, following his election last March, Tukur moved to strengthen his hands in the state with the dissolution of the state executive of the party. The NWC said the reason for the move was that the state chairman, Alhaji Umaru Mijinyawa Kugama had overstayed his tenure and was from the same senatorial district as Governor Nyako.
The dissolution of the state executive was, however, opposed by the governors who alleged, among others, that it would inspire anarchy and lead to a situation where NWC members at the least provocation would dissolve state executives of the party. The state executives of the party are in almost all cases loyal to the governors and the decision against the Adamawa State chapter was seen as something that, if not checked, could in future affect all of them.
Yesterday, the same fear was expressed at the meeting of the governors in Abuja.
The governors at the instance of President Goodluck Jonathan, had agreed to the establishment of the Lamido committee as a soft landing for Tukur. The expectation, it was learnt, was that Tukur would use the report of the Lamido committee as the basis for reversing the dissolution of the Adamawa executive. However, to the chagrin of the governors, Tukur using the NWC forged ahead with the fresh congresses in Adamawa State last month with the aim of putting the state executive out of the control of Governor Murtala Nyako.
Besides sacking the Adamawa executive, Tukur is being accused of dictatorship following the suspension from office of the National Vice-Chairman, North-East, Alhaji Girigiri Lawal by the NWC on the allegation of not collaborating with the National Chairman’s agenda to weaken Nyako in Adamawa.
Tukur is also being accused of hobnobbing with the party’s local enemies in Adamawa State for the purpose of humbling Governor Nyako. It is claimed that supporters of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC candidate in the last Adamawa State gubernatorial election, Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd.) had been integrated into the structure of the PDP faction sympathetic to Tukur in Adamawa State drawing concerns from Nyako’s loyalists.
Nigeria has often been described as a country where “anything can happen”, a country where “a dog can kill a lion”. Some of these descriptions have been attributed to the ways in which those in power discharge their duties. Over the years, the country has become a true reflection of the saying, “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. No thanks to the aides of the powerful elite. Power is wielded in most places in Nigeria without the slightest thought about caution.
In most spheres within the government, power is misused on a daily basis. For years, Presidential aides have been among those who are believed to abuse power the most. It has also been unanimously agreed that it has almost become a norm. It was power that made army Generals lie prostrate, begging a Major for mercy in the days of General Sani Abacha. Major Hamza Al-Mustapha was not only influential but well respected as the Chief Security Officer to the “C-in-C.” Even the then number two man said it openly that “Major disallowed me from seeing oga”.
In Nmandi “Andy” Uba’s days as the Special Assistant to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Special Duties and Domestic Affairs, he wielded so much power that no one dared cross his path, instead everyone courted him. No one came to the Villa to speak with Obasanjo without first seeing Andy.
Many still remember that he was accused of transporting $ 170,000 cash to the United States aboard a presidential jet and not a cent of it was declared to Customs. Street Journal’s findings revealed that even after leaving office, he remained in his official quarters within the Aso Rock vicinity till November 2009. He had been the occupant of 19, Ibrahim Taiwo Street, opposite the NBC from 1999 when he was appointed. The house was converted to a guest house for the Chief Security Officer to the President only after Uba moved out.
One other former aide that came under serious criticism was Mallam Nasir el-Rufai. Though till date, many still see him as an incorruptible Nigerian, there wer criticisms that bordered especially on his time as the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises. Reports stated that the period was characterized by lack of proper internal audit arrangement on projects as well as the inadequacy of transparency in some transactions. Till date, reference is still made to the time he spent as Minister of the Federal Capital. Allocation of land under his administration generated so many hues and cries. In one of the probe sessions in the National Assembly, el-Rufai made it known that Obasanjo approached him for land in a particular area of Abuja to rear chickens “and I obliged him”, he told the committee. Findings also revealed that two of his cronies bought guest houses attached to the then Vice President, Atiku Abubabakar at ridiculously low prices. When he was also asked how land was allocated to a person whose documents revealed was just 2 days old at the time of the allocation, the former Minister put up a defence that he should not be blamed for a civil servants failure to do his job properly as it was not his duty as Minister to check the files.
In July, 2003, Femi Fani-Kayode became the first Nigerian to be appointed as the Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs. He no doubt did a “damn good job” of fighting anyone who dared go against his principal officer. That of course got him into the bad books of many, including those who screened him in the Senate chamber when he was nominated for a Ministerial position. Being the first occupant of the position, he has successfully blazed the trail for successors.
The present Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati has made Nigerians believe that indeed, power can change a lot of things. Abati, who was the Chairman of the Editorial Board of The Guardian before his appointment was one of the fiercest critics of the Jonathan administration. Dr Abati however has started seeing things from another angle, and some of the things he once criticized are already being overlooked.
And as the President’s spokesman, his job seems to have put him in situations where he has to say things that would be disproved later by his boss. Suffice to say Abati has lost some of his admirers since he took the job and he is being used as an example of the saying “everybody has a price”.
Oronto Douglas, the Special Adviser on Research and Strategy too found himself in the news recently. Douglas, who carved a niche for himself as a Human Rights cum Environmental Rights lawyer was one of the lawyers who defended the late Ogoni activist, Ken Saro Wiwa. Though many still see him as an activist, a number of comrades however can no longer confidently talk about his stand in the “struggle”.
Talking about power and its usage, it was at his father’s funeral in Bayelsa that a Navy helicopter was used to transport civilians and the chopper eventually crashed killing a serving Governor, a former National Security Adviser, two pilots and two aides of the VIPs.
One of the most active aides of the President in recent times is Reno Omokri, the Special Assistant on New Media. He has made a name for himself as the man who takes on the President’s critics on social media. He has found himself at the receiving end of internet aggression. Though Omokri battles real and perceived enemies of the President, he tries to provide information at times, not without some gaffes however. One of his recent blunders was his misleading tweet in which he commiserated with the people of Taraba State over the “demise” of Governor Danbaba Suntai minutes after he was involved in a plane crash.
Those who knew Dr Maryam Ali, the Special Adviser on Intergovernmental Affairs before her appointment have continually testified to her temper. Many never had a feel of what she could do until they saw her live on television during the PDP Delta North Senatorial primaries. Dr Maryam Ali, wife of a former National Chairman of the party stormed the venue and tried to disrupt the conduct of the shadow election. Senator Ifeanyi Okowa will forever be grateful to members of the constituency who stood their ground.
Yahaya Yusuf, a Director of the Department of Control of the FCT too has been at the receiving end of DR Ali’s rage. After the demolition of the fence of her residence, Dr Ali stormed the office of the Department and as the Director was trying to explain that the exercise was ordered by the Minister, he was given a resounding slap. It seems office has however taken its toll as she has been a little quiet lately. The last time she was in the news was when she volunteered to stand as surety for one Augustine Taylor who was arraigned alongside her son for fuel subsidy fraud.
For Dr Doyin Okupe, the discharge of his duties as Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs to the President has won him more enemies than friends. Many wondered if he was hired to take on specific critics of the Government. He seems to be towing the path created by Fani-Kayode for which the big framed Doctor has been tagged the President’s “attack dog”.
Two Chinese miners were allegedly shot and killed when suspected armed robbers stormed their camp at Nkoranza, near Subin in the Upper Denkyira West District of the Central Region on Monday- New Year’s eve.
Li Jian Sheng, believed to be in his late 40s, and Li Chao Hua, 35, worked with Hansol Small Scale Mining Company as senior consultants and according to sources, they were through with their work and getting ready to leave the shores of the country for their native China when they met their untimely deaths.
Another Chinese national, who was also shot, is receiving treatment, while the bodies of the two have been deposited at the Upper Denkyira Municipal Hospital in Dunkwa on Offin.
The incident happened on 31st December 2012, just a month after they were robbed at gunpoint at the same site.
Even before the police could conclude investigations into the first robbery incident, the robbers it allegedly struck again. Sources said the guns the alleged robbers used to kill the Chinese were snatched from the miners.
According to the driver of the deceased, the robbers, numbering about six, came around 2am and asked him to give them the key to the Toyota Tundra Pick up he was driving; but he told them that he had given the keys to his bosses and so they left for the site where the Chinese were lodging and undertook the operation.
The Upper Denkyira Municipal Police Command said no arrest had been made but the police had launched full scale investigations into the case with the driver assisting them.
Cases of alleged killing of Chinese illegal miners have been on the rise in recent times. The Chinese government in Beijing recently called for a probe into the death of a 16-year-old Chinese national who was allegedly killed, while around 100 others were arrested during a police raid on an alleged illegal gold mine.
“I can confirm that a 16-year-old Chinese citizen was killed during a police crackdown at an illegal mining site near Kumasi”, said Yu Jie, the political director at the Chinese Embassy in Ghana.
He said around 100 Chinese nationals were arrested on suspicion of illegal mining activities during the October 11 crackdown and called for an investigation.
“We have asked the Ghanaian government to investigate the issue so that innocent Chinese are not shot dead by the police,” he said.
The Ghana-China Friendship Union (GCFU) put the figures of Chinese nationals killed by armed robbers at the mining sites at 87, adding that this justified Chinese mining terms policy to arm their nationals with licensed rifles.
“Last year, the GCFU attended all the business sessions held in China by the GCBCC to promote Chinese business interests in Ghana and advocated for the immediate amelioration of visa and other challenges confronting Ghanaian traders and businessmen to China. Whilst this advocacy is ongoing in the best interest of the Ghanaian businessmen, the reverse is true for Chinese businessmen doing legal transactions in Ghana’s mining sector,” the statement said.
A 22-year old young lady was gang-raped to coma by 4 armed men at the Cemetery Road in Warri, Delta. The rapists recorded the whole incident with a BlackBerry phone.
The victim boarded a taxi with 4 male passengers from Odion Road to Aguowe Street (her residence). After she boarded, the taxi driver suddenly took a turn towards Cemetery Road. After that, the 4 rapists hit her.
The victim tried hard to resist the rapists, but she did not succeed. Her rapists were armed with dangerous weapons including a dagger and guns. They threatened her and said that they will kill her once she raised an alarm.
They drove to an unfinished building along Cemetery Road where they took turns in raping the victim and left her in a state of coma.
The Quick Response Squad of the Delta State Police Command in Warri got a tip regarding the incident and they pounced on the suspects. They arrested one Tejiri Akpofure , Ogbor Seih, and Great Obrakpo (Nos. 24, 64, and 66) at Cemetery Road.
Famous Ajieh, the new Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) and Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) confirmed the arrests in Asaba on January 4. According to him the police command has gone out to arrest Stephen Ebeme, a member of the gang who has escaped.
According to Ajieh, the suspects confessed to them and surrendered the BlackBerry phone that they have used to record the gang-rape scene. He assured that the rapists will be charged to court. He also mentioned that they already have the custody to 3 alleged kidnappers/murderers which include David Evjouke, Ola Ikwueke, and Ikechukwi Uwaguna.
It was found out that the suspects killed Emmanuel Chukwunolu – the man who refused to be kidnapped two weeks ago at Ebeneku, Ndokwa.
The rape victim, whose name was unrevealed, is still recovering in an undisclosed clinic in Warri.
