Flood: Tragedy Averted As Gov Obi Swims Through Flood at Osamalla

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Pic 154 – Gov. Obi encouraging one of the affected victims who is evacuating his farm produce

As at 11.00pm on Sunday, Governor Peter Obi had concluded arrangements concerning Independence Day celebration – the match pass, the reading of Mr. President’s Speech and visit to the less privileged. However, everything changed when, at 11:30pm, the Secretary to the Government, Mr. Oseloka Obaze brought the message of impending doom at Ogbaru if the people were not evacuated. Immediately, Governor Obi ordered evacuation to start and promised to join the team at 5:30am. With this, he delegated the Independence Day ceremonies to his deputy. He agreed that Anambra people must be alive first to celebrate Independence.

At 5:45am, Governor Obi was at Ogbaru.

What would have been a major tragedy was averted when the Governor insisted on talking to the people directly to leave all their property and be evacuated to safe places. When he was coming out from Osamalla, flood had already covered the entire road though which he would leave. The Governor and his team had to wade through the flood, which reached their waists, to safety.

At each of the community – Akili-Ogidi, Akili-Ozizor, Amiyi, Atani, Mputu, Obeagwe, Ochuche, Odekpe, Ogbakuba, Ogwu-Aniocha, Agwuikpele, Ohita, Okpoko, Ossomala, Umunankwo, Umuodu, Umuzu, the Governor explained to them why they should be evacuated and promised them that Government would continue to assist them till the flood is over and even to rehabilitate them thereafter.

The Governor also toured part of Onitsha that are also affected by flood, especially Habour Industrial Area. He waded through flood to visit all the factories affected by flood some of which are Pokobros, Krisoral, Bororo pipes and profiling, among others. He assured them that Government would stand by them at this time of trial.

One of the Chief Executive Officers of the companies visited, Chief Emmanuel Eziokwu thanked the Governor for coming to sympathise with them and lamented that they suffered heavy losses as the flood had destroyed equipment and products worth billions of naira.

The Governor also visited Iyi-owa Odekpe areas of Ogbaru, where canoe peddlers are making money evacuating people. He encouraged them to move to camps set up by Government and that they would be adequately taken care of.

Speaking, the Anglican Bishop of Ogbaru Diocese, Rt. Rev. Samuel Ezeofor who was part of the rescue and evacuation team thanked the Governor for identifying with the people.

Many buses were seen along the road evacuating people to safe areas

PhotoNews: Independence Day ‘Change of Gaurd’

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HURIWA Asks Akeredolu to Respond to Allegations of Impropriety As NBA President

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The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has been following with keen interest the process leading to the October governorship election in Ondo State.

We commend the decorum shown so far by all the governorship candidates and we urge all of them to continue to keep the peace in the interest of the Ondo people which they are seeking to serve even as we challenge the Independent National Electoral Commission [INEC] to live above board and be as unbiased and professionally competent in line with constitutional provisions.

We must however single out the incumbent governor, Dr. Segun Mimiko for remaining calm in the face of unwarranted provocation and for creating a level-playing field for all the candidates to mobilise their supporters. Dr. Mimiko is indeed an icon of democracy whose attitudes to electioneering should be emulated by other incumbent governors.

We also commend the governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Chief OluwaRotimi Akeredolu [SAN] for making the election an issue-based campaign.

However, we at HURIWA believes that the good people of Ondo State deserve to be governed by an incorruptible person just as the good people of Ondo State fully deserve to be served by a good Nigerian that is someone with no records of financial impropriety because he who comes to equity must come with clean hands.

We say this because corruption remains the biggest challenge against the development of this country and we recognize the sacred task placed on Government by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in our political objective in chapter two that it is thelegal duty of Government to abolish all corrupt practices.

In HURIWA we regret to say that our political leaders continue to pay lip service to the fight against corruption and the hard reality for now is that once a corrupt person is elected into office of Governor of a state in Nigeria is difficult to remove him/her from Office because of the constitutional impediment that section 308 of the Constitution constitutes because this provison confers immunity on certain elected officials including Governors/Deputy Governors, President and his Deputy from all litigations oncein office and this makes it difficult to tackle such officials while they are in power.

We at HURIWA are of the view that the task of ensuring that a corrupt person does not win elective posts rests squarely with the people just as we resolutely affirm that it is also our duty as members of civil society to propel the electorate to make the right choice.

In view of the above, we are concerned at the widespread allegation which came to our notice only recently at one of our meetings as we were considering him for one of our highest awards that the Action Congress of Nigeria’s governorship candidate, Chief Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN has not adequately responded to the allegations making the rounds that he engaged in some alleged fraudulent practices when he was the President of the Nigerian Bar Association.

In order to help the people of Ondo state to make the right choice, HURIWA demands that Chief Akeredolu responds to the following allegations:

1. That in 2009, as President of the NBA, Chief Akeredolu allegedly awarded and approved contract for the printing of the Bar Perspective and Voice of the Bar to his company named AKT Venture Limited with RC No 104097 which said company had as her subscribers to the Memorandum and Articles of Association and Directors.

(a) Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (Himself)
(b) Betty Akeredolu( His Wife)
(c) Oluwole A. Akeredolu (His son)
(d) Kolawole O. Akeredolu (His brother)

That he allegedly approved a cheque of N3.3 million and paid into the said company’s account in two instalments.

And that the money so approved was allegedly not provided for in the budget.

2. That Chief Akeredolu allegedly violated the Constitution of the NBA by spending association’s fund in contravention of the budget.

3. That the printing job which Chief Akeredolu allegedly awarded to his company would have been done for the association free of charge by Odade Publishers Limited.

4. That instead of issuing cheque in the name of the company as it was the practice, that Chief Akeredolu as NBA president allegedly gave instruction that the cheque be raised in the name of a staff of the association.

5. That there was no competitive bids for the award of the contract for the printing of the said Bar Perspective. The contract was simply aallegedly awarded to the said company wholly owned by the Akeredolu’s family.

6. That Akeredolu allegedly received the sum of N5million on behalf of the association from the Government of Akwa Ibom state but neglected to hand same over to the association.

7. That Akeredolu also allegedly received on behalf of the association, the sum of N3million from the Niger state Government in Minna but also allegedly neglected to turn it over to the association.

8. That based on all these allegations, some aggrieved national officers of the association wrote a petition demanding for an explanation from Akeredolu.

9. And that it took the alleged intervention of some leaders of the Bar including past presidents of the association to save Akeredolu from removal from office.

We at HURIWA are of the view that these allegations are very weighty and deserve the response of the governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria who as we know is a democrat that understands the tenets of transparency and accountability.

Clearing the air on the issues we believe will definitely afford the people of Ondo State to make the right judgment and for pro-democracy groups like ours to be convinced beyond the shadow of doubt that these allegations are not what they seem to represent.

We therefore call on Chief Akeredolu to respond to the allegations raised herein in the interest of the people he is seeking to govern.

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+Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko

National Coordinator.

Nigeria: A tale of three generations – by Anthony A. Kila

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At today’s Independence Anniversary declaration, we are compelled to analyse the history of Nigeria once again. The first imperative is that although a lot of people try to make it appear a complex and peculiar incredible series of events and situations, the history of Nigeria is in reality just a tale of three generations. Those three generations, in all their actions and inactions, are the key to understanding everything Nigerian and therein also lie possible solutions to the woes of the country. The troubles of the country are many and obvious for all to see; there will be no awards for predicting that many analysts and commentators will be understandably delving into those woes this week.

On my part, I will like to make it clear that I am firmly convinced that there is nothing wrong with Nigeria that cannot be cured; all we need is the personal courage to make eye contact with reality, regardless of what it looks like, and to have the collective ability to live with the consequences of our actions and inactions.

The three generations to be followed in the tale of Nigeria are the generation of dreamers and inspirers; the generations of squanderers and survivors, and the generations of redeemers. The latter generation is yet to come and with them lies all our hope as a people. Yes, civically speaking, the beautiful ones are yet to be born.

The first generation of dreamers and inspirers are those we refer to as our founding fathers. Conventional wisdom in Nigeria uses the names and images of the trio of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Namadi Azikiwe and Sir Ahmadu Bello plus that of Sir Tafawa Balewa to symbolise that generation. A better list, even if minimal, should always include the names of Herbert Macaulay, Eyo Ita, Alvan Ikoku, Udo Udoma, Aminu Kano, Anthony Enahoro and Michael Okpara.

A major trait of the generation of dreamers and inspirers is their visions for their country and African continent. They all had grand ideas and ideals for their country and people; they wanted both to be free and great. In their minds, they were not just in politics to administrate power, they saw themselves on a mission to rescue their race. They communicated their visions and aspirations with their speeches and writings. Their rhetoric was always grand and they never shied away from challenging injustice, rather they seemed to enjoy the confronting of power.

Once in power, this generation of Nigerians put the masses at the heart of the actions. They knew they had to build institutions and infrastructures and they went about it diligently. Awolowo led the way and others swiftly followed suit in a creative competitive way that became a winwin situation for all. From the free education programme, to the establishments of Ikeja Industrial Estate, Aba and Port Harcourt Industrial layouts and Kaduna and Kano Industrial areas. The fruits of their labour were real, clear and are still yet to be surpassed. International analysts saw them at work and predicted that Nigeria was destined for greatness. There is still a lot to be learnt from and about that generation.

The second generation, the generation of squanderers and survivors, came into office wearing uniforms and seized power with the use of boots and bullets. These were bullets and boots that we gave them to defend the country against external threats; keep an eye on your “maiguard” if you have one. They never bothered to inspire or convince, they simply scared, tortured and subdued their fellow citizens. With their decrees and dismissive orders they ruined the institutions they met and annihilated the middle class that could check them.

After they had wrecked all they could and utterly disgraced themselves, they eased their ilk into power to continue their misdeeds. While the squanderers were destroying the country, the other part of that generation, save for a very few, did not fight back. Most of them who couldn’t, or wouldn’t, or simply didn’t stand up to leaders, turned looters. They simply resorted to finding means of surviving. Many left the country to seek greener pastures; the ones that stayed became beggars and hustlers. Rather than being proud of their ideas, dedicated to their professions and be protective of their ideals, they, in the name of survival, became accommodating to rascals. Just to survive they lowered their standards, wasted their knowledge and allowed mediocrity to thrive.

Terms like dignity, duties and rights have been trashed by many in this generation; fathers of family are proud to identify themselves as someone else’s boy, professionals beg for appointment, contractors and suppliers beg and bribe to be paid. Rather than protect their schools, they look for private schools for their children; rather than campaign for good roads, they buy jeeps; rather than insist on stable electricity, they queue to buy generators.

The generation that will save the country from all these rot will be the generation of redeemers. They have a strong battle in their hands for they have few examples at hand to support them. Yet they have no choice but to find their voices and chart their own course. They will have to face reality, see where survival mode has gotten the country and they will need to realise that only dignity and dedication can lead to greatness.

Customers kick as System breakdown hampers operations at Access Bank branches

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Months after Access Bank consummated the acquisition of Intercontinental Bank, it is still facing serious system glitches as a result of poor integration of information technology software.

Customers in several branches of the bank across the country groan in frustration as they could not have access to their accounts for hours because the bank’s network system mal-functions frequently.

“The worst is that even their Automated Teller Machines ( ATMs) are not spared as they are often undergoing repairs or out of order,” a customer who would rather remain unanimous said.

He cited Aguda and Ijesha branches as two places he had experienced jerky services arising from poor IT-related issues.

THE CITIZEN learnt that in some former Intercontinental bank branches, it has been a huge task to receive data during the working hours.

In Access Bank, Edoezemewi Road branch in Nnewi,  Anambra State, it was a herculean task trying to pay Chikason Group’s staff salaries as the credit entry passed by their head office could not reflect at the branch for days.

The angry workers took the matter up and had wanted to lynch the branch manager who pleaded for their understanding, saying that the problem was from Access bank’s head office, promising that it would be rectified soonest.

An IT analyst, who spoke on the condition he be not named, blamed the glitches on the hurry with which Access Bank pushed the integration processes without proper planning.

Access Bank currently runs a core banking application (Flexcube) as well as 20 ancillary applications to support various aspects of their business. In order to ensure seamless services to clients, Access Bank has migrated Intercontinental customers into its own core banking application.

Access Bank’s transactions are processed on Flexcube Retail 6.2 and Flexcube 3.4 corporate applications. These applications interface with e-delivery systems that facilitate deployment of multiple delivery channels including mobile devices and the internet.

Intercontinental bank, which had over three million customers and close to 400 branches prior to the combination, was also using Flexcube, but a higher version (Flexcube 6.6).

Another IT expert, who also declined to be named said, the frequent glitches arise from poor integration concept of the banking softwares of the two banks.

He said, “Access bank uses Flexcube 6.2 version, which works well for their style of banking (corporate), their customer base and their number of branches. Intercontinental Bank was using the same Flexcube but a higher version 6.6,  which works well for their model of banking  given their number of branches and customer base.  The right thing would have been for Access to migrate from Flexcube 6.2 to 6.6 rather than what they did, move the huge customer base of Intercontinental  to the less robust Flexcube 6.2. That amounted to system downgrade and they would continue to pay for it for a long while.”

Attempts to reach Access Bank’s Head, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Segun Fafore, for his comments before press time proved abortive.

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Source: The Citizen

FCT Minister May Go To Jail Soon

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From our correspondent

Despite a competent court injunction restraining the FCT Minister from carrying out demolishing of property belonging to Iddo- Sarki – Pada communities in the federal capital territory, an Abuja High Court has ordered the appearance of the offending minister on November 26 to explain why he violated the Court order and why he should not be committed to prison for the violation.

It could be recalled that Justice Folasade Ojo, had on April 13 ordered the FCT administration against executing its planned demolition of residential buildings at Iddo-Sarki-Pada communities, a suburb of Abuja but to the surprise of the court, the plaintiff claimed that the demolishing exercise was executed against the court order.

Justice Folasade then issued forms 48 and 49 (notice of consequences of disobedience of court order and an application by the plaintiff to apply for an order of committal to prison for having disobeyed the order of court).

Also, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), had in a letter signed by its executive secretary, Professor Bem Angwe, urged the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to direct the FCT administration to comply with the order of the court which was not respected as solicited.

According to NHRC, residents of Iddo-Sarki-Pada, had written a letter of petition to the Commission stating that the FCDA had proceeded to demolish their houses despite a subsisting court order that was duly served.

“Pursuant to section 6 of the NHRC (Amendment) Act, 2010, the complain was admitted for investigation. This is because of the question raised about the rights of the petitioners which are protected by section 17(b) and (c) and section 34 of the constitution”, the letter read.

It will be recalled that 11 of the plaintiffs filed the suit for themselves and on behalf of the other Iddo-Sarki-Pada residents on the planned ‘evil’ demolition of 403 executed by four bulldozers at a lightening speed within just four days without minding the plight of those affected.

The petitioners further said the order restraining the minister and his co-travelers from going ahead with the demolition was served on the minister by the court bailiff and that notwithstanding, the FCT administration ignored the order and executed the demolition as planned.

According to them, they were left with no other option as law abiding citizens than to ask the court to commit Senator Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed to prison for acting against the law.

Counsel to the plaintiff, U.P. Ekwueme argued that the minister was under obligation to comply with the court order by decided as a public servant to ignore it for reasons not clear.

Ekwueme added that the order issued by Justice Ojo remains valid and subsisting since it had not been set aside by the court.

“Individuals, government’s agencies, organs and parastatals are duty bound to obey and respect court orders. Where an order of a competent court is disobeyed, the court has the right and indeed the duty to punish the person in disobedience of the order”, he stated.

Observers opined that the disobedience of the court order by a serving minister who is alleged to

Two FCT Ministers At Dagger-Drawn Over Security Vote

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Except President Goodluck Jonathan personally intervenes, the ongoing cold war between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed and Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, may stall ongoing transformation of the FCT.

 

President Jonathan while sealing a performance agreement contract with ministers had expressly warned to deal ruthlessly with any two ministers who fail to work together in one ministry.

 

But recent events have clearly shown that the duo are ready to put the will of Mr President to test, as there was no sign of togetherness between them.

 

FrontiersNews investigations revealed that the minister of State and daughter of Chief Akinjide, an Ibadan foremost lawyer, was absent at the conferment of national honour on Senator Mohammed. She was also missing during the three-day Good Governance Tour of the FCT Administration.

 

But there were unverified claims  that Akinjide eventually visited Bala after the grand reception at the official residence of the minister at Life Camp.

 

The crux of the cold war and tension between both ministers, it was learnt, may not be unconnected with the alleged “one-man show in the management of FCT’s security vote by Senator Bala, without the involvement the junior minister.

 

Akinjide’s aide in the FCTA told a reporter that the junior minister was not in the picture of the administration’s security vote.

 

The source who wouldn’t want his name in print declared that “Akinjide is not happy with the way things are done here. She has even threatened to petition the Presidency if the situation persist.

 

“On one occasion, she argued that all ministers are members of the Federal Executive Council and the dichotomy between the senior and junior ministers are mere creation of the media.”

 

Specifically, some of the staff working under the Minister of State have expressed displeasure over the silent face-off between Senator Bala and Oloye Akinjide, saying “when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”

 

One of the staff anonymously said: “To be frank with you, I am not comfortable with the recent face-off between the two ministers. Most of you will not know what some of us have suffered in the past.

 

“Not too long ago, similar scenario played out during Dr. Aliyu Modibo and Sen. John Akpanudoedehe. While the in-fighting between the duo lasted, our entire land request was KIV (Keep in View) by Modibbo, even when our colleagues working with the minister got approval.

 

“A similar thing occurred during the era of Sen. Adamu Aliero and Mr. Chuka Udom. We are dying in silence because when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”

 

However, Special Assistant to the Minister on Media, Mr. Nosike Ogbuenyi, dismissed insinuations of a rift between both ministers, describing the relationship between them as normal.

 

Ogbuenyi said: “She travelled out of the country with the Minister of National Planning during the Good Governance Tour of the FCT to negotiate business investment for the development of Area Councils and satellite towns.

 

“There is no quarrel anywhere. The two of them are working harmoniously for the development of FCT.”

 

Meanwhile, some of the participants at the Good Governance Tour of the FCT,, claimed that the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, was part of the tour.

 

A concerned source was quick to add that unless urgent measures were taken to avert the looming physical confrontation, the ongoing crises may degenerate, as politicians who are fanning the embers of discord between the Bauchi born senior minister and Ibadan native junior minister, are already feasting on the crises.

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Source: Frontier News

2015: Kalu, NUJ canvass for Igbo Presidency

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Former Governor of Abia state, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu and the leadership of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the South east have joined hands to canvass for actualization of a Nigerian President from Igbo extraction come 2015.

The NUJ in the South East zone said that after a critical look at the events building up to the 2015, it has decided that the zone should unanimously be conceded to produce the next President of Nigeria in the 2015 general elections.

On his own part, Kalu said that Nigeria would continue to wobble on her journey to nationhood and socio-economic prosperity unless an Igboman was given an opportunity to lead the country.

The journalists said they decided to take the uncommon position because Nigeria is in a precarious time when justice is needed to arrive at lasting solution for Nigeria problems that they said is largely political in nature.

They are also of the opinion that since leaders from other zones have failed to fix the infrastructure problems of the south east, 42 years after the area was devastated by the civil war, it is only the Igboman who will have the courage to address the decay in the zone.

The journalists in the zone are therefore pleading with other ethnic nationalities in the country to reassure the Igbo that the war has truly ended by endorsing an Igboman for Nigeria President, arguing that it is only logical that since the north ruled for over 36 years with the South west and South-South holding sway for 16 years by 2015, it would be fair if the Igbo is allowed to produced the next Nigeria president.

They reminded President Goodluck Jonathan that during his 2011 campaign the entire Igbo gave him support to become president because the Igbo saw him as a son of the Eastern Nigeria greatly marginalized in the country polity.

The journalists therefore said they have decided to partner with any individual or organization that is a proponent for the south east producing Nigeria President in 2015.

In a courtesy call to Kalu, by the South east leadership of NUJ led by the National Vice President of NUJ in the zone, Mr. Chris Isiguzo, the journalists said they were repositioning for the task ahead; especially by taking a deep and critical look at political developments in the country as they affect the south east.

Kalu stated that the country is in trouble because the God’s anointed people are not there yet, adding that until the Igbo take over the mantle of leadership, Nigeria will not have a pride of place in the world.

“Forty-two years after the civil war, it is an insult for somebody to tell you that Igbos cannot be president. If all these tribes can be president, who among them is more qualified than an Igbo man; we are the salt of this nation, we are the best thing that happened to this nation. Anything good comes from the East and we are the genuine easterners; unless we rule this country the country will never be okay,” said Kalu.

The NUJ Vice President, Isiguzo told kalu that since he recently re-emerged to give vent to the Igbo Presidency project, there has been a pleasant sigh of relief.

“Your latest propositions on the place of Ndigbo, nay South Easterners with regard to clinching the presidency in the nearest future is for us a refreshing reminder to the Igbos that their yearnings and aspirations to the project is very much alive and receiving the necessary boost from the right quarters. Therefore, it behoves Your Excellency to look inward and through your commanding leadership, there shall emerge a new Blue-print for Igbo Renaissance and Rejuvenation.”

Kwankwaso, Bayero Feud Deepens

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Even though Kano state governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has reportedly suspended his attempt to probe Kano Emirate Council with the alleged intention of fulfilling his campaign promise of deposing the emir, it is now clear that the feud between him and Alhaji Ado Bayero has deepened rather than abated in recent times.

During the campaigns for his re-election last year the governor had used the slogan “SABON SARKI, SABON GWAMNA!” (i.e. “new governor, new emir!”), the import of which he pledged to deliver to the father of one of his commissioners if he won the election.

Enquiries by 247ureports.com however revealed that the Kano state House of Assembly Committee on Local Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs which was ordered by the governor to embark on the dangerous mission aimed at gathering information from District Heads to prepare grounds for the probe of the finances of the Emirate Council, has suspended its tour of the 44 LGAs began several weeks ago.

Our correspondent gathered that the suspension was probably as a result of the exposure by our exclusive report on the clandestine move to remove the emir published on July 18th, 2012 which reportedly caused dismay in government circles.

Our own report was however based on an earlier report aired by the Hausa Service of Radio Germany in which there was an interview with the chairman of the committee, Hon. Alhaji Kabiru Rurum, who confirmed that the government was indeed planning to investigate the Emirate Council.

“His Excellency was so angry when he learned about your report that he relapsed into temporary madness, which is his usual behavior when he is angry or ‘high’, promising to punish any of his aides found to have spoken to the press on the issue,” a reliable source said. The report, he added, appeared to have disoriented the governor so much that it was clear to all around him that he was going to engage a reverse gear.

However, unaware that Kwankwaso had changed his mind the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) enthusiastically obeyed an old directive by sending a query to the emir recently asking him to render account of how all the monies paid to the Emirate Council in the past nine years were spent.

“When the governor discovered that the SSG had sent the query letter without consulting him there was an altercation between the two of them that almost resulted in the latter resigning from his post,” the source added.

The governor wanted the hostilities between him and the emir to cease because a few weeks earlier, at the end of this year’s 30-day Ramadan fast the Emirate Council announced that the emir had suspended the annual colourful durbar undertaken to mark the Sallah festival.

Kwankwaso, who read the writing on the wall, was hit hard by the announcement as it was the first time a governor witnessed the total cancellation of the spectacle, including Hawan Nassarawa which entails paying a courtesy call on the governor, since it was began over 100 years ago in honour of the colonial Resident in Kano as the representative of the British monarchy.

Many people, like Kwankwaso, also viewed the suspension of the event as part of the feud between him and the emir as the council must have viewed the attempted probe with the seriousness it deserved, knowing that the same enquiry of the finances of the Kano Native Authority (NA), then under the emir, was used in 1963 by the Northern Regional government to depose the 11th emir of Kano, Alhaji (Sir) Muhammadu Sanusi.

Profoundly disturbed by the cancellation of the durbar, Kwankwaso was said to have been so ashamed by the turn of events that he could not bear to be in Kano and be the first governor to sit at home and watch a drab Sallah and therefore opted to fly out of town reportedly to Germany where he spent the Sallah holiday.

And now 247ureports.com has gathered authoritatively that the emir has politely asked Kwankwaso to remove his picture placed by the side of the governor’s on the billboard erected at the Lodge Road/Alu Avenue roundabout in Nassarawa GRA, which is a publicity gimmick by the governor aimed at giving the false impression that all is well between him and the emir.

The highly respected Alhaji (Dr.) Ado Bayero, our source further revealed, wanted his picture removed because as a father to all Kano people irrespective of their political leanings his picture should not have been used on a political billboard to campaign for any of the political parties, “as this has never happened before,” the source added.

However, just before filing in this report our correspondent went to the spot and confirmed that the picture of the emir was yet to be removed from the billboard even though the request was said to have been sent to the government about two weeks ago.

All attempts by our correspondent to get the response of the government’s spokesmen in order to get their side of the story proved abortive as neither the Commissioner for Information nor the Director of Press picked calls to their cell phones.

16 Years After; Ebonyi Still Grossly Marginalized In Federal Civil/Public Service Appointments

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Ebonyi Professionals Forum

Suite 21 D, Sobondale Complex, Plot 526 Obafemi Awolowo Way,

Jabi District, Abuja FCT

E-mail: ebonyiforum@yahoo.comTel: 08033223554

October 1, 2012

PRESS STATEMENT

 

The creation of Ebonyi State was a dream, come true; because before October 1, 1996, the people of the present day Ebonyi State were confined to the back waters of neglect, under development and despair. The journey indeed started from old Imo State, for the Afikpo zone and old Anambra State for the Abakaliki zone; then the people were criminally marginalized and neglected. In terms of infrastructural and human capital development, they were always relegated, to the background.

Then came October 1, 1996, when the yoke was taken away from the people of Ebonyi.

But sixteen years after that auspicious moment, Ebonyi people are still in critical conditions. From all indices, Ebonyi State remains the most challenged state in southern Nigeria in terms of infrastructural and human capital development indices.

From a recent 2011 national poverty report, Ebonyi State by all levels of analysis is the poorest state in Nigeria. In the report, about 80% of Ebonyians are classified as falling below the poverty line; that is living below the proverbial $1 per day.

Of all the states in Nigeria, Ebonyi remains the least in terms of presence, for example in the Federal Civil Service and other federal parastatals across the country. A recent man power survey by the Federal Character Commission indicates that of over 650 federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, Ebonyians in their employ are just a little above 2000. A breakdown of the 2010 Consolidated Manpower Statistics of 28 Federal Ministries/Extra-ministerial Departments shows that Ebonyi has 20 persons on Grade Level 15 and above; amounting to 0.7% of 3061 staff in this category; of 53340 staff on GL 07 and above, Ebonyi has a beggarly number- 547 staff (1.0%) when some states boast of 2000 to over 3000 staff.

Painfully, of the 154,886 staff on GL 07 and above, on the employment of 246 parastatals studied, Ebonyi has 1,508. This, gross under representation amounts to criminal marginalization.

From the document we obtained from the Federal Character Commission, of the total of 40, 295 staff of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, Ebonyians are only 349, in Federal Ministry of Education, of the total of 18, 639, Ebonyians are 224, in Federal Ministry of Defence, of the 13, 676, Ebonyians are barely 84; in Federal Ministry of Works, Housing and Urban Development, of 7, 857 staff, Ebonyians are merely 36, of the 1, 493 staff of the Consumer Protection Council, there are only 2 Ebonyians in that agency. In Kaduna Polytechnic with over 2, 486 workers, there is no Ebonyian in the employ of the foremost Federal Polytechnic. The list is endless and nauseating.

It is also on record that only three indigenes of the state have ever headed federal agencies since return to democracy in 1999. They include Engr. Anthony Igwe, former Executive Secretary, National Automotive Council, NAC, Engr. Elias Mbam, current Chairman of Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, and Rector of Akanu Ibiam Polytechnic, Unwana, Afikpo, Prof. Francis Otunta.

Even this sordid statistics might be worse if subjected to close scrutiny; as some of the people parading themselves as Ebonyians in federal government offices may not be Ebonyians after all. We gather that some people from other states fraudulently procure certificate of origin purporting to come from Ebonyi. Only recently, a committee set up by the Commissioner representing Ebonyi State in the Federal Character Commission (FCC), discovered about 30 senior officers of Nigeria Immigration Service whose service records showed that they hailed from Ebonyi; while in the real sense they were not of Ebonyi origin.

This precarious situation has continued to worry Ebonyi Professionals. Our investigation has further revealed that the situation is not primarily because the state lacked the required manpower.

As our state turns 16, we have decided that Enough is Enough! We have resolved to protest at the Federal Civil Service Commission, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, Federal Character Commission and any other relevant agencies and seek urgent redress of the parlous trend.

The foregoing situation notwithstanding, we celebrate Ebonyi at 16, and wish the Government and good people of Ebonyi State a successful Anniversary.

MAGNUS EZE

National Coordinator

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