History will be made on Friday the 30th of December 2011 when a book on the origin, history, culture, tradition, religion, politics, government and educational development of Alor town in Idemmili South Local Government Area of Anambra State will be presented to members of the public.
The book written by a select group of Alor intellectuals under the auspices of Alor Development Initiative (ADI) in collaboration with Alor Peoples Convention will be chaired by the first civilian Governor of Anambra State, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, OON with the immediate past Governor of Anambra State and the senator representing Anambra Central Senatorial District, Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige, OON as the special guest of honour.
According to a press release issued by the Chairman of ADI, Chief Emeka Ngige, SAN, the chairman of Chikason Group, Dr (Sir) Chika Okafor is expected to perform the public presentation of the book titled “Alor: An Anthropological Source Book” with the forward written by the former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku. Dignitaries expected to grace the book launch include the Director-General of Bureau of Public Procurement, Engr. (Dr) Emeka Ezeh and the member representing Idemmili Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. C.C Odedo.
Following the bombing of Mosques in Delta State [one in Warri on Thursday and the other in Sapele on Saturday] which caused injuries to the users of the prayer house at the time of the bomb blast, the Egbesu Fraternity has issued a claim of responsibilty of the two bomb blasts. The claim came via a signed press release indicating that the group had orchestrated the bomb blast.
According to the recent press release received by 247ureports.com and signed by the Revolutionary Guard, the Egbesu group renewed their ultimatum to the Moslems to leave the Niger Delta region within the next seven [7] days unless “have themselves to blame“. The group added that thousands of Moslems have vacated the region and that many more will vacate in the coming days.
Inquiry by 247ureports.com indicates that the police authorities in Delta State have had their hands full with the unfolding crisis. Sources indicate that he security authorities are concerned primarily with “downplaying” the unfolding crisis away from the media.
I have had cause to express the view that our people do not understand the concept of public service. That explains why it is called oru bekee in local parlance. Our fore-bears who were introduced to this mode of work by the colonial masters obviously could not come to terms with this manner of work, so they branded it the white man’s work.
The only attraction it held was that it was a means of getting the white man’s goodies. Since the strange white men called it work, so be it. Even with our advancement in education and civilization we seem to be just as ignorant as our forebears on this issue of public service. We are still interested in the flow of goodies that come in effortlessly and do not give a hoot about productivity.
We think of productivity when we engage in the activities we recognize as work such as farming, hunting, fishing, dress-making etc. But when we think of government office, we think of free, easy-flowing cash. The whole idea of public service as we know it does not just fit into what we know as work, and I daresay that the people in power do not understand it any better. They seem not to see the essence and relevance of the public service. This can easily be deduced from their negative attitudes that have kept the service in a sorry state over the years. A man can only give what he has. A situation where a man who has never been in the public service and has never taken interest in understanding how it works is put in control of state apparatus will surely leave the public service in a pitiable condition.
A culture can only thrive when there are people who are committed to its preservation. I believe that the comatose state of the public service of today is the direct consequence of the dearth of seasoned and purpose-driven technocrats who understand the nature and relevance of the public service, and are willing to stick out their necks to see that the right thing is done. What we have in abundance are self-serving leaders who are actively involved in undermining the system with a view to filling their pockets with filthy gains at the expense of the system.
The result of this is unmitigated anarchy. Since there is no one to show the way, everyone defines his job the way he likes, and executes it to suit his whims. Where there is no knowledge, errors abound and when errors find their feet, they become a culture. This is what has happened to the public service in Nigeria, and especially, in our own beloved Imo State.
Shameful practices, embarrassing ineptitude and inexcusable laxity have become the hallmark of the public service in this state. Falsehood is a major tool that every public servant is expected to possess and use to great advantage daily. It is now abnormal to find one public servant who will not tell lies on the time register, falsify his age or forge receipts for various purposes. Kick-backs, kick-fronts and long-legism are now so deeply entrenched in the system that anyone who refuses to engage in them is victimized by the system. We all know that the list of the evils that plague the public service is endless, but that is not the kernel of this write-up. My worry is that nobody is bothered about the rot in the public service. Nobody cares to straighten things out. Nobody even cares to enlighten the public servants about the essence of their work. Most importantly, no one seems interested in reviving the public service and injecting new life into the system.
Unfortunately, the kind of civilization we are trying to build is just not possible without a vibrant and efficient public service.
Of course we have people who occupy all kinds of offices and who pretend to be addressing these issues and others, but we all know that no meaningful thing is being done. It is sad to state that the chaos in the public service is all-encompassing. Insincerity and greed flow from the head like rotten palm oil, drench the neck and shoulders, trickle down to the waist and settle on the feet.
Who Is To Blame?
The blame game is very interesting. It is very easy for onlookers to take a perfunctory glance and decide that the public servants are guilty as charged: a bunch of rotten fruits fit only for the refuse bin. When one considers the subterfuge, avarice, arrogance and crass indiscipline and negligence of duty exhibited by this crop of corporate miscreants, one is tempted to agree that the whole blame should be laid at the feet of the public servants. But good judgment demands that one should take a deeper and closer look at the ailment in order to arrive at a more accurate diagnosis.
The politician rides on the people’s mandate and finds himself in possession of power. Typically, he has never had anything to do with government employment. He is not among the lot who will line up for the monthly hand-outs called salary. He has no idea how government works, but because he is now in charge, he has to manage the public service. He becomes the law, the final authority on all issues pertaining to government employees. He checks everybody and everything but nothing and nobody checks him.
In our experience so far, the story has been a sad one. This political god-head usually does not take time to properly settle into his schedule before he begins to joggle with the fate of the public servants. He begins to terrorize the workforce using all kinds of instruments. His major tool of torture is hunger. He knows that the salary is the worker’s only means of livelihood, and he holds unto it and watches them cry, squirm and starve. He wields absolute power over them and nothing can persuade him to let go until he pleases. The feeble attempts by hungry and corruption-infested labour leaders to check him are laughable as he ends up using them to further worsen the workers’ plight. Endless and often aimless screening exercises are used as excuses to delay salaries and sometimes deny legitimate workers of their entitlements. The process of payment is made so cumbersome that at times, the simple task of paying salaries to a few hundred staff takes as much as or more than two weeks.
The level of hardship the average worker is subjected to is unimaginable. He is human, and in the human family, survival is paramount. Will this public servant fold his hands and watch his children die because his employer has failed to understand that he too is human and has needs that must be met? The answer is obvious. He goes out to find an alternative source of livelihood for himself, while using the government service as an appendage. Thus, the non-committal attitude of government towards the welfare of the workers is the most pronounced enemy of productivity in the public service. Gradually, over the years, and under the watch of various supervisory agencies of government, all entitlements that should be paid to public servants have become articles of merchandise. Salaries, allowances and other fringe benefits are determined arbitrarily and subject to negotiation at various levels. The public servant watches these anomalies helplessly and waits endlessly for the government in power to take the right action. The wait is fruitless. One administration after another pays lip service to the issue of sanitizing the public service. Since no one comes in to correct these anomalies, the onlookers among the public servants naturally join the fray. Everything goes from bad to worse.
Another administration has been inaugurated in the state. The history makers are now in the arena acting out their scripts. The history writers are ready with their pens. We all wonder what the verdict will be, but I believe that when the time comes, not only Rochas, the governor, but we all will be judged for our actions and inactions that contributed to the state of our beloved state.
Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has been berated and challenged to as a matter of importance expeditiously and judiciously put all modalities in place to commence the implementation of all agreements reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities particularly the ones reached at the inception of this administration.
President Jonathan was also charged to ensure that every intention to remove subsidy from petroleum products in Nigeria is to put on hold pending when government is sufficiently able to exercise its will to bring to justice all the individuals and companies already identified as culpable in the criminal sabotage that has rendered the oil and gas sector impotent with all three refineries unable to function optimally.
In a five points communiqué reached weekend at the end of online gathering/debate of members of Sovereign Nigeria Group (SNG) participated by past and present members of the National Assembly and state houses of Assembly, opposition voices amongst others and signed by of its administrators, Barrister Silas Buowe, made available to newsmen, the group deliberated on the following issues pertaining to the Nigeria nation which include, how has Nigeria fared as a nation 51 years after independence, indentified the various problems that has faced the country and proffer solutions as well as ASSU present strike actions and the controversial subsidy removal.
Sovereign Nigeria Group (SNG) is an online gathering of Nigerians intellectuals at home and in Diaspora with the sole intent of robbing minds on issues bordering on Nigeria as a nation with a view to taking her out of the woods.
After exhaustive evaluation of the Nigeria state from independence till date, the forum made the following observation “That Nigeria as a nation have not made any impact to stand out in the comity of nations in any sphere of national life that could be a source of pride to Nigerians despite the enormous resources at the disposal of successive governments. That Nigeria government especially after the collapse of the first republic has consistently exploited the citizenry who are not only voiceless but also helpless. That the forum also reviewed the issues and the crimes of the Arab governments against their citizens which midwife the Arab spring side by side with the crimes of successive Nigerian governments against the people and found that the atrocities of those regimes in the Arab World are minor to say the least compared to Nigeria.” As well as the current Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASSU) face off with government amongst others, the group therefore resolved with a challenge on the Federal Government to as a matter of importance expeditiously and judiciously put all modalities in place to commence the implementation of all agreements reached with the Academic Staff Union of Universities particularly the ones reached at the inception of this administration “Which it has willfully refused to honour with impunity thereby compromising the standard of Nigeria University education.”
The forum also charged President to ensure that every intention to remove subsidy from petroleum products in Nigeria is to put on hold pending when government is sufficiently able to exercise its will to bring to justice all the individuals and companies already identified as culpable in the criminal sabotage that has rendered the oil and gas sector impotent with all three refineries unable to function optimally. “On the proposal by government to remove subsidy from petroleum products, Forum is of the opinion that the problem is not with subsidy itself but with the mismanagement of same and lack of will on the part of the present administration to bring to justice those the government itself already fingered in fuel subsidy racket.” The group asserted.
President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan said Saturday in Abuja that to further enhance peace, political stability and progress on the continent, African leaders must adopt a consensus on certain issues and work collectively to achieve the developmental objectives of the African Union.
Speaking during talks with President Jacob Zuma of South Africa who is on a visit to Nigeria, President Jonathan said that greater effort must also be made to ensure that decisions taken by African Heads of State and Government under the auspices of the African Union, are faithfully implemented.
“African leaders must agree on a common position on certain issues and speak with one voice. It is not enough for the African Union to just take a position on issues, action must also follow in support of our position,” President Jonathan said as both leaders reviewed events in Africa ahead of the next African Union Summit.
The two leaders discussed recent developments in Libya, Cote D’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other parts of Africa.
They agreed that the African Union Summit should address these developments and take further action to facilitate peace and political stability in Africa.
Also Saturday in Abuja, President Jonathan received the outgoing Pakistani High Commissioner to Nigeria, Major-General Asif Duraiz Akhtar.
President Jonathan thanked General Akhtar for his efforts to strengthen bilateral relations between Nigeria and Pakistan.
The President told the High Commissioner, who was accompanied by his wife, that after completing a successful tenure in the country, he could now consider himself an honorary Nigerian Ambassador to the world.
The Abia State Government recently said that its tribal work policy was not intended for Rivers State indigenes. This was after it banned the civil servants who are not from the state to look for the route of their states of origin in what it termed incapability of paying the rattled N18, 000 minimum wage to those who are not paternally indigenes of the state.
The sudden review of the sack of non-indigenes from the state’s civil service must have brought to the state unavoidable shoddy traits. A cross-section of Nigerians has not taken it lightly with Abia since the government loquaciously made the ugly policy public. Even though the disengaged workers are allowed to come back to the state, Abia will never remain the same in the eyes of the discerning public as a ‘human rights’ state. It is still amazing why the state government in its circular issued to recalling the sacked non-indigenes, those from the South-east is exempted.
The move by the government to appeal and appease the Rivers State Government that its indigenes are not vulnerable to the economic tribal war is a welcomed development. However, the Abia State’s act in the first place will leave any observer, biting his or her finger of what the fate of other Nigerians who were forced to leave the state are. This act of sending people to their states of origin is not in any way how to take Abia State to the next level. There is no point in distracting those whose state is not Abia State that are living and working in the state.
Abia State Government has wasted energy in the wrong direction by that behaviour. If it had channeled its energy to eradicate the bedeviling poverty that has characterised the entire state, it would have been very appealing and people would see development in the state. We didn’t see that. Whoever that sold the idea to the Abia State Government to have a case against non-indigenes, sold an unsalable item. Governor Theodore Orji is just generating a bad case. This looks like he is giving reasons for failing in governance.
We don’t see any benefit in sending non-indigenes in any state packing. This is not making Nigeria comfortable for us and does not show or translate that such state is on ground and that it is in charge and that Abia State is a truly a homogenous state. We will accept that it is a PDP state. But come to think of it, some of those who were forced to pack from Abia State could be PDP stalwarts who laboured for Orji’s re-election. He didn’t even consider them based on party fraternity.
Orji should not be boastful that PDP in the state won the three Senate seats and all the eight House of Representatives seats and the House of Assembly 24 over 24, when he could not accommodate his fellow Nigerians in his state. This single act has disqualified him as a patriot, father and what have we. His act is unconvincingly bestiality. He has failed, judging by his shear discrimination. People are not proud of him, and have never been. PDP may be regretting his act, as many Nigerians have condemned him.
He is no doubt proud as a governor and proud of PDP, but how many people are truly proud of him and his shenanigan government? Now is the time he should repent and apologize to Nigerians, having gone that far by sacking Nigerians in his state and shown us that he is truly PDP.
What he has done will never be beneficial to Abia State. This is not the way to canvass for the people on the basis that a state belongs to the central government. This is not the way to give concessions in the government to people who voted for him. He chased them away when they have voted for him. Orji’s act is a criterion for disqualifying him in any future political engagements. Abia State has competent people, but Orji seems not to be one, because his single act against the non-indigenes in his state has shown that he lacks diplomacy and idea for a better Nigeria. It does not project him and his government in good light.
This is a man who cannot attract the federal presence in Abia State to work the hell called federal roads in the state, being so tribalistic and biased. His inept judgment on the roads has always been, “Most of the roads that are bad here are federal roads.” This brings to fore what he is doing with Abia State money if the roads there are federal roads. Is this the way how the Federal Government can come and take up responsibility in the state when people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria are hounded out of Abia State?
Orji may not be a very happy man for treating fellow Nigerians the way he has done by what Nigerians have told him on the media. Abia will never benefit from it. This is manmade imposed brain drain on a people. This is not the way to commence. Energy will never come from division in Abia’s small-scale government activities. There are many things the non-indigenes can do for Abia, whereas Orji is looking for federal might to develop the areas of Agriculture – cocoa and cashew.
Orji has brought shame to the South-East that was recently crying that it did not get a fair treatment from President Goodluck Jonathan and PDP in the sharing of the pickings of the last general election, with the view that the performance of the president and the party in the zone, either the Senate president or the Speaker of the House of Representatives slot should have been zoned to the area as their right. Such act of Orji against the non-indigenes in his state has made people to cover their faces in shame, whether he likes it or not. Nigerians can’t remember how this thing started with Abia State. Rivers State Government should watch Orji and his Abia State for the waver they gave to Rivers indigenes, because a government that cannot accommodate everybody irrespective of tribe or creed cannot be trusted.
Odimegwu Onwumere is the Coordinator, Concerned Non-Indigenes In Rivers State (CONIRIV). Mobile: +2348032552855 (or) +2348057778358. Email: nirivpol@gmail.com
Information available to 247ureports.com indicates that a Mosque has been bombed in the oil-rich community of Sapele in Delta State. The prayer house was bombed at 5am Saturday morning. This is according confirmed sources.
The bombing comes on the heels of series of threat and warnings by the militant group in the Nigeria Delta region by the name Egbesu Mighter Man – an Ijaw based group. The group which also goes by the name, Water Lion, had made several warnings to the Islamic militant group, Boko Haram, over their continued killings of southerners and Christians living in the northern part of Nigeria. The Ijaw group pleaded with the Boko Hakam to stop the killing or have the Moslem in the Delta region face like treatment. They followed their pleadings with a seven day ultimatum to the Moslems living in the Delta region to vacate the land or face dire consequences.
247ureports.com had reached out to the zonal administrator of the Sapele police but he indicated not to have any information as to the bombing.
The imbroglio in the Bayelsa political tussle may have taken a new surprising twist as the various political camp set stage to begin open campaign for the gubernatorial election. This is as information available to 247ureports.com indicates that the President’s choice to mount the seat of governor [Henry Seriake Dickson] may have been receiving the “cold” shoulder treatment from the Presidency of late.
According to the information received from sources within the Dickson political camp, the political steam generated during the preparation for the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] primaries through the perceived support of the presidency may have waned. One of the sources pointed to a change in the Dickson camp’s operations shortly following the conclusion of the PDP primaries in Yenogua, Bayelsa State. “Our funding, as promised, has not been forthcoming” stated the source who went on to add that the campaign operation is ‘seriously’ starved of funds – and recent attitudes from the President’s men show the presidency has lost interest in the Bayelsa State gubernatorial elections, or may have already achieved it’s sole aim in Bayelsa – the removal of Timipre Sylva from the field of competition.
Interestingly, the activities of the President’s men in relation to the Bayelsa election appear to auger with the suspicions of the members of the Dickson camp. The ease of access to the President by Henry Dickson which Dickson enjoyed previously is reported to have been sabotaged by the men surrounding the President. Some of the vocal members of the Dickson camp tell our correspondent that it appears the Presidency may have given instructions to his men to deny Dickson access to him – that the President’s men must be acting under instructions. But in an unofficial discussion, the President’s men denied the allegation. One of the President’s men [ who spoke off-record], in denying the allegation, acknowledged that Henry Dickson have ,of late, been unable to meet with the President. He credited Dickson’s inability to reach the President to conflicting schedules.
The unfolding development comes as no surprise to mutual friends of the President and Hon Henry Dickson. In talking to 247ureports.com, they indicated authoritatively that the President’s interest in the Bayelsa gubernatorial election has little to do with hoisting Hon Henry Dickson to power. They stated that it had to do with the removal of Gov Timipre Sylva from the race. “Jonathan sees Seriake Dickson as the same as Sylva“, stated a close ally of the President when was the Bayelsa State Governor. “Jonathan will not fund Seriake’s campaign” added the source.
It is recalled that Hon Dickson had served under the then Governor Goodluck Jonathan at the capacity of a Commissioner – and they had worked closely enabling for Goodluck Jonathan to catch a grip of the personality traits of Henry Dickson.
Some of the informed political pundits in Yenogua discounts the allegation against the presidency as misplaced. They point to the peculiar political terrain of Bayelsa State as the principal reason for the President’s shift in attention. In their analysis, the selected/elected PDP candidate in Bayelsa gubernatorial race will win the race – and that the President has done what he needs to do to deliver Henry Dickson. One of the pundits noted “Dickson should not be going around looking for money from Jonathan, he has the ticket“.
The implications of a shift in the political mechanization in Jonathan’s PDP Bayelsa may pose grave for Dickson and his candidate-ship. In Bayelsa politics, historically, majority of the populace vote for candidates that are perceived to have the President’s blessing/support.
WASHINGTON—A Brooklyn, N.Y., man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., to 12 years in prison for operating a credit card fraud ring that used counterfeit credit cards encoded with stolen account information up and down the East Coast of the United States, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Jonathan Oliveras, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee. In addition to his prison term, Oliveras was ordered to forfeit $770,646 and to serve three years of supervised release. Oliveras pleaded guilty on Aug. 10, 2011, to one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft.
In his plea, Oliveras admitted that he managed a ring of co-conspirators who used stolen credit card account information in New York, New Jersey and the Washington, D.C., area. According to court documents, Oliveras sent payments to individuals he believed to be in Russia for the stolen account information. Oliveras then distributed the stolen account information, which was re-encoded onto plastic cards and used to purchase gift cards. The gift cards were used to buy merchandise that ultimately was returned for cash.
Federal and local law enforcement executing a search warrant in July 2010 at Oliveras’ apartment found, among other things, credit card encoding equipment and more than 2,300 stolen credit card numbers. According to court documents, credit card companies have identified thousands of fraudulent transactions using the account numbers found in Oliveras’ possession, totaling more than $750,000.
The case was prosecuted by Michael Stawasz, a Senior Counsel in the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Dickey of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. The case was investigated jointly by the Washington Field Offices of both the U.S. Secret Service and the FBI, with assistance from the New York and New Jersey Field Offices of both agencies
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) has called for the immediate reorganisation of Nigerian football to checkmate the systematic collapse of the round leather game in the country, which has continued to bring untold embarrassment to the nation both at the continental and international competitions in the recent time.
SWAN observed with dismay the complete circle of failure of Nigerian football with the ouster of the Under-23 Olympic team, the Dream Team V at the recent qualifiers in Morocco.
“With this development, no Nigerian football team would be on parade in any of the continental and international competitions next year. This, exactly tells about the level of decadence Nigerian football has degenerated into.”
The association further reasoned that the problems militating against Nigerian football are multifaceted and the constant sacking of national team coaches would only remain a palliative measure that would never have a far-reaching effect. SWAN, therefore, tasks both the Nigeria Football Federation and the Ministry of Sports to end the festering cold war between them, stressing that no meaningful progress would be made under such a chaotic atmosphere. It rather advised that both bodies should collaborate and work towards the general interest of Nigerian football by laying an enduring foundation upon which the game would thrive.
SWAN also calls all stakeholders in the game of football in the country to rise and join hands together to salvage the country’s football from further decay.
