The lingering battle in the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) following the unravelling of spectrum fraud in the telecom regulatory agency has taken a sour turn with the Federal Government terminating the appointment of the agency’s executive commissioner, Technical, Mr. Bashir Gwandu, who had exposed the fraud.
In what the government termed insubordination to the NCC board and the federal government, the letter was said to have been signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Pius Anyim.
Engr. Gwandu had exposed spectrum fraud at the NCC, which involved the former and the current executive vice chairmen of the NCC.
Sources within the NCC, who confirmed the development, revealed that the SGF’s letter which conveyed Gwandu’s dismissal, said that it took effect from November 9, 2012. A source at the NCC, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, confirmed the sack.
LEADERSHIP had reported the spectrum fraud and the cracks among members at the top echelon of NCC following allegations that a particular frequency spectrum was sold at a giveaway price by the current management of the commission.
Gwandu had raised allegations that corruption and illegality were being committed at the NCC over the sale of frequency spectrum. However, the source said the allegations were found to be false, hence his sacking.
According to the source, “Gwandu was sacked for insubordination. Gwandu raised some allegations that were investigated by the NCC Board and the Ministry of Communications Technology and the allegations were adjudged unfounded. This prompted the federal government to act.”
Reconstruction of some major roads in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, has commenced.
The state governor, Chief Theodore Orji, launched the dry season road construction programme in the state at the Aba-Owerri Road by Brass Junction yesterday, saying that 16 major roads have been marked for rehabilitation to give the city the facelift it deserves.
Orji also assured that his administration is committed to total transformation of Aba, hence the attention being paid to other sectors, including health and power generation.
News Express had on Nov. 12 reported Orji as promising that immediately the dry season set in, his administration would rehabilitate 16 roads in Aba recommended by a task force as being in bad shape. The governor had made the promise while addressing an enlarged caucus meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Abia State chapter.
The affected roads include Azikiwe, Jubillee, Cemetery, Milverton Avenue, Eziukwu/Okigwe Roundabout, Ama Ogbonna, Nwala by Faulks Road to Brass Junction at Aba Owerri Road.
Others are Ngwa Road, Ohanku (which is on-going), Emelogu Road (completed but drainage to be added), Ehere, Omoba and Umuola Roads. The rest are Ikot Ekpene Road (from Opobo junction to Bata), Ama Ogbonna/Omuma by ACCN Nwigwe by Nwagba Avenue and Geometric Access Road.
“We are here to do great things,” Orji (shown in photo) declared while performing the flag-off ceremony yesterday.
In a veiled reference to scathing criticisms against his government occasioned by the poor state of Aba roads, Orji reminded Aba residents that Enyimba City has always been in his mind and that he has always been attending to their needs.
He lamented that the level of infrastructural decay in Aba was beyond any governor to rehabilitate all the roads without abandoning other parts of the state, saying that he would do the much he could as far as available resources could carry him.
Orji reminded the people that he did not abandon the commercial city when it came under serious attack by kidnappers and other criminal elements as he acted quickly to restore peace and security to the area.
He equally assured Aba residents that besides providing them with good roads, government also attaches great importance to their healthcare and has thus built a teaching hospital and ultra modern diagnostic centre.
In addition, he said he was partnering with Geometric Power Limited to deliver adequate and uninterrupted power supply to boost commercial activities in Aba.
The governor broke the good news that he and his Akwa Ibom counterpart, Godswill Akpabio, are joining forces to reconstruct Aba-Ikot Ekpene Road to enhance inter-state commerce, just as he has succeeded in drawing the federal government to give attention to Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
Commissioner for works, Prince Kingsley Mgbahuru, said that Aba was chosen for the flag-off of the road construction season because of the importance the governor attaches to the city. He said that no fewer than 10 roads have already been rehabilitated in Aba.
“God being on our side, we hope to ensure that all nooks and crannies of God’s own state, Abia, were provided with infrastructural facilities,” Mgbeahuru said.
*rescues escapee minor from Libya
*says 20,000 Nigerian sex workers roam Italian streets daily
*stakeholders canvass severe punishment for culprits
–
The Executive Secretary of the National Agency for Prohibition of
Traffic in Persons and other Related Matters (NAPTIP) Mrs Beatrice
Jeddy-Agba has in her avowed effort to fight human Trafficking and
child labour to a standstill taken the public enlightenment of the
scourge to the grassroots communities and groups in Anambra, one of
the states worst hit by the menace.
Speaking at a one-day sensitization workshop at the Onitsha North
council secretariat yesterday, the agency’s South East-Enugu zonal
commander, Mrs Nkiruka Michael disclosed that a Herculean but
successful rescue of a17year old girl, names withheld, from Awka the
Anambra state capital has led to the bursting of a closely-knitted
trans Saharan sex, slave and human trafficking ring.
Also, that an Awka-based native doctor and some other accomplices have
also been arrested for their roles and membership of the alleged
highly lucrative international cross border business.
Police, Immigration, the State Security Service and other
agencies/organizations have already mounted an intensive manhunt for
the alleged female leader and chief executive of the syndicate along
with her overseas based accomplices.
In her 14-page presentation, Mrs Michael noted that records and
research show that about twenty thousand 20,000 Nigerian girls engage
in commercial sex work in Italy, with 3000 in the city of Turin alone.
That most of them were from Edo, Delta and some other
South-South/South-East states. She also pointed out that report by
TAMPEP, an Italian based non-governmental organization stated that
about 60% of street prostitutes in Italy were Nigerians, while about
13,000 were stranded in Libya.
She noted that 776 victims of trafficking from various parts of the
country were rescued and returned between 2003 and 2007, but that the
scourge has been on the increase as the culprits have continued to
develop new and innovative methods of recruiting victims.
Described as one of the most important contemporary global issues, the
worsening economic situation in most families, greed/ignorance of
victims/families, lack of education, loss of moral/ethical values,
corruption by officials, gender discrimination, ever growing sex
industry and high demand of trafficked persons in Europe/Americas as
well as the high demand for human organ transplant overseas amongst
other reasons have been listed as causes for the increasing scourge
despite the stiff fight by concerned international agencies and
governments. She threrfore warned parents and minders to desist from
sending out minors on errands unaccompanied as some of the traffickers
abduct, entice and lure children away on the streets, at churches,
weddings or any major event or gatherings where parents least expects
such.
On the rescue of the 17 year old girl, Mrs Michael said they are still
investigating the matter and some of the ring leaders, Madame
Ebubechukwu and her husband were still being hunted.
NAPTIP boss disclosed that it has been revealed that middle aged woman
reportedly uses direct, indirect, subtle, often forceful and
unconventional means to recruit young under-aged girls with promise to
provide lucrative jobs and education overseas, to them. That suspect
said to be from Anambra, but married to an Imo man comes twice
annually, in August and December to recruit.
Her last August expedition which has now turned awry involved 15
underaged girls, most of whom were mere street hawkers who were lured
away by their mates and peers, while others were forcefully abducted
and shipped from Awka to Kano, then to Niger Republic and then to
Libya. That a man rescued the 17 year old who was fingered earlier by
the suspects as ‘troublesome’.
The native doctor, in his fifties, was reported to be the chief priest
who always administer oath of allegiance and absolute submissiveness
to the syndicate on new recruits before setting sail.
The Anambra state Director of the National Orientation Agency (NOA),
Obi Enemuo lamented the damage the trafficking in persons was doing to
the image of the nation. Speaking through his Head of Resaerch,
Ikechukwu Okpala, the NOA boss urged parents to keep close eyes
constantly on their wards, irrespective of where and who they were
with. He also want the nation’s embassies to step up contacts with
every Nigerian in their countries of domicile, so as to monitor their
developments and challenges.
The Action Congress of Nigeria, Kogi State Chapter has described yesterdays call by the Kogi State Governor for the flag off of 2015 campaigns for President Jonathan as reported in some National dailies , as a diversionary tactics coming in the wake of the expressed angst of the citizenry and his own party elders against the unconscionable show of profligacy,unwholesome political practices, arrested development, deepening poverty, primitive state of infrastructure –all due largely to chronic mis-governance, mind boggling corruption and illegalities by his ten month old administration.
The party in a statement issued in Abuja by its Chairman, Haddy Ametuo on Tuesday said ” It is a shame that,instead of giving an honest account of his almost one year in office, Mr. Wada has embarked on a cheap and unsolicited campaign for President Jonathan for 2015. It is a pity that this political liability who has broken the previous records for incompetence and corruption under former Governor Ibrahim Idris and has set new ones is now the Chief Campainer for Goodluck Jonathan.
Haddy said that, Wada’s failure in the last ten months is so monumental that several new words have been introduced into Kogi’s political lexicon just to qualify his lack of success at the things that really matter. “As such, We refuse to be distracted by this musician-cum-governor’s new track on Jonathan 2015 Distraction Album – a song that is capable of making even the devil clap in admiration!”
“Mr. President, you have to disown this man just as your party did, before he comes up with another conspiracy theory again, nobody hates him,We only hate the manner he took over as ‘Governor’ on January 30 after the Vice-President of Nigeria directed the Inspector General of Police to escort him to Government House Lokoja, we just dislike failure and its progenitors. He should attend to the business of governance in the coming year,Mr President should curb Wada’s addiction for dipping hands into the state account without remorse”.
A Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja and presided over by Justice Lateefa Okunnu, was on Tuesday, 27 November, 2012 told that a former managing director of FinBank Plc ( Now First City Monument Bank), Okey Nwosu and three other directors being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, used names of spurious customers of the bank to purchase shares worth N18billion from Springboard Limited. The three directors are: Dayo Famoroti, Danjuma Ocholi and Agnes Ebubedike.
Sabo Yaro, an operative of the EFCC, who is a prosecution witness in the on-going trial told the court that the Federal government in 2009 set up a task force comprising the EFCC, Central Bank of Nigeria, State Security Service, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and the police to look into the management of some bank and discovered that the accused persons used their positions to debit account of FinBank to the tune of N18 billion and credited same to Springboard Limited to purchase shares for bank customers.
Led in evidence by EFCC counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, Yaro said it was discovered in the course of investigations that the customers for which the shares were purportedly purchased on their behalf were not customers of the bank and that the addresses they gave as offices did not exist. He said they also got confirmation from the bank through a letter that the companies for which the shares were bought are not real customers of the bank.
Jacobs tendered a 225 page report of the CBN and NDIC to the court which was the findings the team that investigated the bank. The report was admitted as exhibit by the court. Justice Okunnu adjourned the matter till Wednesday, 28 November for continuation of hearing.
The Federal Government has again been commended for establishing and siting the headquarters of the Airforce Mobility Command in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
Governor Seriake Dickson made the commendation while formally receiving the new Air Officer Commanding the Command, Air Vice Marshal Olufemi Idowu at Government House, Yenagoa.
Hon. Dickson noted that the presence of the Airforce would not only complement the efforts of other security agencies in maintaining peace and security but also provide support services to government particularly in the education and health sectors.
According to the Governor, the State Government eagerly awaits the establishment and take-off of command schools and hospitals run by the Airforce in the state.
Describing the Nigerian Airforce as a critical element in national defence, Governor Dickson reaffirms his administration’s determination to support the Mobility Command to enable it perform its duties effectively.
Sequel to an application by the Airforce, he said government has already allocated a large expanse of land to it and the Airforce Holding Limited as part of collaborative efforts in the building of critical infrastructures such as housing estates in the state.
Governor Dickson lauded the efforts of the out gone Air Officer Commanding, Air Vice Marshall John Aprekuma and men of the command particularly during the flood disaster and wish him well in his future endeavours.
He expressed the hope that the new commanding officer would bring his wealth of experience to bear on the operations of the command and strengthen the existing cordial working relationship between the state government and the Airforce.
In his remarks, the new Air Officer Commanding, Air Vice Marshal Olufemi Idowu promised to strengthen what he calls civil-military relations in the state.
AVM Idowu also announced that the Chief of Air Staff has approved the conduct of tactical operations in the state as earlier requested by the Governor.
The exercise, he explained would not only enhance the professional competence of the Command’s personnel but also help it draw up planning guide to prepare for emergency situations like flood.
Ms Bolanle Onugoruwa was removed from office as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) because of her poor working relationship with the Vice President Namadi Sambo, THE CITIZEN can authoritatively report.
BPE is the secretariat of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), which is charged with the responsibility of steering the privatization ship. Sambo is the chairman of NCP, which meets monthly to ratify the actions and proposals of the secretariat.
According to reliable source, who is a BPE insider, her trouble was largely poor relationship building and management.
He said, “You may hear different reasons, but the truth is that the (former) Director General was unable to establish a good working relationship with Sambo on one hand and even the Chairman of the Technical Committee on Privatisation on the other.
“They expected to be briefed regularly on the activities of the BPE, but that was not the case. She carried on most of the times without reference to the NCP. The result was that when she got into different troubles, like the Manitoba Hydro Electric contract, she had no strong voice behind her.
“Her handling of the Manitoba case left much to be desired. Her handling of the labour issues with PHCN and the prequalification and verification of bids for the power companies especially those involving former Power Minister Prof. Barth. Nnaji were unsatisfactory to Sambo and the Technical Committee Chairman, Atedo Peterside.”
Another source at the BPE told THE CITIZEN that since she became the Director General of the BPE, privatization activities were at the lowest ebb. Except for the PHCN transactions which process goes back to the period of Nasir El-Rufai, not much happened under her watch?
He said, “It is the personality and office of the Director General that drive privatization. You need to be creative and capable of thinking outside the box. You should be ready for oppositions, but let your plans and actions be unimpeachable.
“Even for those of us here in the secretariat the inactivity of the Bureau under her was loud. She was more interested in clinging to that position and in protecting her position she left her main mandate – driving the privation process – to suffer.”
Besides pressure from Senate asking for her sack after inquries into the activities of the privatization agency going back to 1999.
The Senate ad-hoc committee that investigated the privatisation and commercialisation of public companies between 1999 and 2011 had last year recommended her immediate sack from office.
She was accused of “gross incompetence in the management of the BPE” as well as the “illegal and fraudulent sale of the five per cent Federal Government’s shares in the Eleme Petrochemical Company Limited, EPCL.”
Yet another source stated that Federal Government has been looking for an opportunity to sack her since the Senate passed a Resolution, asking the President to sack her, adding that the issue of Manitoba offered the much desired opportunity FG has been waiting for to discharge her.
Education is primarily responsible today for preparing a society for the future and moderating the adverse impact of social and economic change. For being a part of this challenging economy in this part of the developing world as well as ensuring that able minds are prepared for the future development of the country, Nigerian teachers, as human developers, need to equip themselves with deeper understanding of their various areas of discipline. But this knowledge is by itself not sufficient. They, alongside their pupils, also need to be able to use technological facilities, handle information, communicate proficiently, reflect decisively, work well in group, and turn out new logical and creative mechanism that add values to their students/pupils lives. ICT are means of meeting these challenges.
Therefore, when the news broke out recently that Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti had taken unusual innovative steps of promoting the ICT in the Secondary schools by his distribution of Computer Laptops to the Secondary school teachers across the state, words alone cannot describe how happy I reacted into this positive news. It is noteworthy that at this very time which the reasonable beings across the land are lamenting the non-performing insolences that have become the habitual hallmark of the Nigerian governors; that a State Governor has deemed it fit to launch a laudable programme that can help its poor citizenry to update their intellectual knowledge is noteworthy.
To me therefore, this is praiseworthy project that is worthy of emulation by other state governments and this made me to rise up from my enclave and headed to Ekiti to embark on a comprehensive research of this ICT’s innovation because my believe is that this achievement should not be limited to Ekiti State, it must be comprehensively researched on so as to ensure that this is embraced by all the Governors across the state.
Ironically, my hope of coming up with something positive was dashed at the first secondary school I got to in Ado Ekiti, the state capital. As I gained entrance into the school, I looked for someone that can direct me to the principal’s office in order to seek permission before embarking on questionnaires distribution. Then at that instance I sighted some boys and girls who I perceived are of age at an open corner, all with their laptops. I moved towards them in order to get the description of their Principal’s office from them but to my uttermost dismay, as I drew closer I realized that what these students were doing with their laptops were to watch films. This made me to quickly got myself acquainted with them in order to open up a discussion and after some initial restraint towards whom they perceived as a stranger, they began to respond to my questions and through that I was able to find out that these set of students don’t even know the usage of the computers given to them.
The encounters I had with their teachers also crown my consternation as majority of them displayed a flagrant ignorance of the purpose of the computers given to them. From Ado Ekiti to Igede down to Ikole Ekiti, I was confronted with the similar depressed anecdote of the teachers and students who never knew the importance, value or usefulness of computers that were dumped at their disposals.
My findings revealed that while the initiative of the Ekiti State Government in giving out the computers to the teachers, with monthly deduction from their salaries, is commendable, the proper enabling environment for the usage of such Computers in Secondary Schools is not created by the same government. As my findings revealed, majority of the teachers are not competent even in the usage of word processing not to talk of other computer applications. The implication of this is that the Teachers in Ekiti State have not gotten even the rudimentary experience of ICT skills and lessons from the technologically advanced country have shown that teachers’ mastery in ICT skills is acute to successful integration of ICT into teaching. As I write, teachers have found it difficult to shift from their customary manual mode of teaching in the state.
Rather than contributing to the growth of teaching and learning enterprise, ICT has actually reduced the level of educational delivery in the state as the majority of the students are now busy with something else on their Samsung Laptops. The kinds of films they can never watch at the presence of their parents at home are being watched in every neighbourhood of Ekiti State’s Secondary Schools. In fairness to the teachers and the students however, the enabling environment for the effective usage of such computers for effective learning were never created by their government.
For example, before we can begin to talk of e-teaching and e-learning in any state, the teachers and the students ought to have been exposed to computer education by the government. A student or a teacher who has never touched a computer before cannot be expected to start teaching; preparing lesson note or leaning on computers overnight. Apart from this, softcopies of all the required textbooks of these students ought to have been uploaded on the computers before handing it over to them; provision of the internet facilities within the schools would have also made it possible for both the teachers and the students to get connected.
Rather than embarking on a careless spree with its taxpayers’ money, the government should have built a modern-equipped computer laboratory in each of the school across the state; it should have employed more capable computer teachers to man these facilities. These experts would have impacted required requisite knowledge and skills of how to make use of computer technology in the classroom on both the teachers and the learners.
Another thing that causes for concern is the attitude of both the teachers and their principals. Or how can one explain a situation whereby students come to school with a load of various indecent films and neither the teachers nor the principal could say anything against this or take any drastic action to nip this menace in the bud? What is the duty of the Ekiti State Ministry of Education who is supposed to serve as a monitoring team of these schools? What are the mechanisms that the government put in place to make sure that these computers are properly used for their intended purposes?
To me, it appeared what the state government does is to procure these computers and gave them out in order to score cheap political goals. The money used for this purpose would have been invested in such a proper manner that would receive accolade from all and sundry and which the incoming generation would have been better off for. The introduction of ICT teaching is a very good project but this is a wrong way of implementing it because this path will undoubtedly lead us into failure. As far as I am concerned, if urgent measure is not taken, this so-called computer projects will end up as another Nigeria’s sad story of white-elephant projects.
MINISTER OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT, MALAM BOLAJI ABDULLAHI
The Minister for Sports also regarded as Chairman of National Sports Commission announced at the opening ceremony of the 18thNational Sports Festival that the festival is now open to foreign based professionals contrary to the Executive Governor of Lagos State Mr. Fashola’s declaration that the festival aim is sports development.
Protocol aside, the feelings of many athletes and coaches suggests that this Minister was on Delta Governor’s payroll because he neither recognized efforts of Lagos State, Cross Rivers State, Benue State and others towards sports development but simply read manuscript of Dr. Uduaghan. Others suggested that the Minister is simply a fool not to understand that following the London Olympics Nigeria’s fiasco due to aged athletes should inform him that the focus must be on sports development rather than maintenance of old footed athletes. Either way the Minister got it wrong and its very unusual that the President is not in the mood exhibited today in firing of MBE Director General.
Dr. Uduaghan recently held meeting of journalist and discredited former athletes that were part of London Olympics fiasco in the heart of Asaba, Delta State while the flooding rampaged the State. The governor was advised by some people in search of relevance, such as Solomon Ogba (who destroyed Athletics Federation of Nigeria), Bert Cameron (Jamaican who attended school and worked in USA for about 20yrs) and other idiots that he should lobby the Minister to allow foreign professionals take over the festival without even considering the fact that Delta cannot boast of good youth athletes.
Athletics
Blessing Okagbare will not have had the opportunity without the emphasis of Youth by Dr. Uduaghan predecessor (Ibori). National Athletics Championship is standards based, Golden League is standard based and many other championships. Stadiums were empty and no fanfare suggested by the Minister.
As a consolation the Minister claimed that there will be National Youth Festival but he does not understand that sports development cannot start with festivals rather from training. The costs incurred by various states to engage professionals from abroad most definitely will reduce any funds available to train the Youth or even attend the National Youth festival.
A single foreign based athlete attendance will cost at least $10,000 for airline tickets, accommodation and allowance. That amount alone can prepare over 100 Youths to attend the festival. Quite frankly, a boycott will likely occur by some states if this decision stands and I really doubt if this Minister will last longer than this year.
Football
How do we begin to note how workable this decision will have on foreign based football professionals? The answer is, it is unlikely and the flare that the Minister seeks evaporates. Clearly this decision was purely aimed at athletics at the convenience of Dr. Uduaghan in the same sense as Delta meeting tagged “sports summit”. I said it before and will say it again that the Delta governor is being advised by good-for-nothing idiots.
Many states are running budget deficits and I don’t see how the Minister got no clue why his action was not thoroughly evaluated. All in all this is one too many wrong decisions and this Minister and his advisers must go.
I rest.
Dr. Rashid A. Balogun, CPA, LLB(Hons.), LLM(London)
