them to court.
ACN condemns arrest, detention of journalists
them to court.
Anambra Labor Strike called off
Today, October 12, 2011, at 1pm, the striking workers called off the three week old strike. The announcement was made today in Awka, the capital of Anambra State [Aroma Junction].
The government of Peter Obi in signed agreement with labor leaders agreed to abide with new labor act.
See agreement below.
Interview with Secretary of APGA UK on Victor Umeh & APGA Crisis
This interview below was filed by the APGA UK Chapter.
In the interview, the Secretary of APGA UK,Onyeka Mbaso states that APGA UK Chapter backs Victor Umeh, Gov Rochas Okorocha and Gov Peter Obi.
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Please let us know who you are and what you represent?
Thank you very much my name is Sir Onyeka Mbaso the General Secretary All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) UK Chapter. We are members of APGA in the United Kingdom Chapter with our headquarters in London. APGA UK Chapter stands for a future of Nigeria that is anchored on good governance that will be fair for all. We are part of the APGA in Nigeria and we work closely with APGA National Working Committee (NWC) in Nigeria to establish good governance and help rebuild our economy to enable us secure the recovery and investments in growth and jobs.
APGA UK Chapter wants to restore trust in politics with greater transparency and accountability in a system battered by looting of public funds and electoral malpractices. We represent our values; will of people, a nation of laws, good education, good leadership and diplomacy.
There is a report in Nigeria Compass that APGA in Diaspora are in support of efforts to rebuild APGA.
First, I will start by saying that the article in question was written by Mr Nnamdi Kanu who does not represent APGA UK Chapter. He is an Igbo indigene that resides in London and he should not be parading himself as the Chairman of APGA UK Chapter
The National Executive Committee of our great party APGA recognized Mr Uzonna Udemba as the substantive and duly recognized Chairman of APGA in UK. APGA UK Chapter will always welcome a genuine rebuilding of our great party if need be and not some individuals rebuilding APGA for their selfish interests. The able leadership and an excellent Party structure articulated by Chief Sir Victor Umeh of our great party APGA enabled the Party to capture Imo state and Anambra state respectively. The Chapter is continually propounding the ethos of good governance and supporting the ongoing electoral reform both in the Party and in Nigeria that will govern elected individuals of the party and the country.
Our main focus in UK is to support our national Party in Nigeria to continue the excellent work already on the way for a modern progressive APGA based on fairness, respect, decency and openness which we strongly believe that the current leadership of Chief Sir Victor Umeh is practicing. His able leadership and documented achievements has made tremendous impact in stamping integrity in governance of APGA as a national Party in Nigeria and has linked the party to the hopes and aspirations of the Nigerian people. The UK Chapter therefore gives kudos to the leadership integrity of Chief (Sir) Victor UMEH (KSJ, JP)
In the modern societies today, the progressives’ political parties are constantly rebuilding and reforming their policies and strategies and if there are any problems to overcome, the party will pull their intellectual resources together, work together and stop blaming one another. In essence individual’s members of the party should remember that we are all in this together and that real change comes when people are inspired and mobilized. We should focus on the fact that our political systems have betrayed the people and not the leadership of Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh. If you look deep into the current leadership of APGA in Nigeria, you will notice that the real change came from collective endeavors and that was what brought Governors Peter Obi and Governor Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha into the Anambra State and Imo State government houses respectively. APGA UK Chapter supports a change that can offer a new approach, a change with policies and ideology and the point that stresses that the role of the state is to strengthen society and make public services serve the people who use them.
What is All Progressives Grand Alliance Membership strength?
APGA UK Chapter membership strength is very strong now and it can be measured by the influx of new members. We have had series of meetings since we started our meeting in London led by our current Chairman Mr Uzonna Udemba and his Executive Members. We started the meeting with few committed members but today I can tell you that we have over eight hundred members. The way the membership is expanding has prompted us to start making plans of establishing more chapters within and outside the United Kingdom. The simplest measure of any party’s strength lies on the number and commitment of its members.
Thanks to the leadership of the APGA National Chairman Chief Sir Victor Umeh through the APGA policies and ideas that has lifted our current member’s status to an all time high.
Do APGA UK Chapter participate in voting in Nigeria and what is our relationship with APGA in Nigeria
The process of ongoing electoral reforms in Nigeria is already accommodating Nigerians in Diaspora whereby people can vote from where ever they live abroad. This is a welcome development which APGA UK supports and has a position statement from UK Diaspora perspective. We however indirectly participate in elections in Nigeria because we have families back home that we have a great influence on the way our loved ones in Nigeria cast their votes at the polls. We can recall that Governor Peter Obi lived in London before he contested for the Governor of Anambra state. If there is no relationship between Diaspora and Nigeria how would he have been elected as the governor.
Our relationship with APGA in Nigeria is very cordial and we work alongside the APGA National Working Committee by consulting them in all matters pertaining to policy implementation.
We learnt that there was an article on Nigeria Compass.com, Tagged how the party faired in the face of seven years leadership crisis between Chief Sir Victor Umeh and Chief Chekwas Okorie
Thank you very much for drawing my attention to that article. I want to clarify to you once more that there is no leadership crisis between Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh and Chief Chekwas Okorie at the moment that will warrant a press interview by Chief Chekwas Okorie’s agents. The matter has been concluded by the Supreme Court of Nigeria judgement of the 13th June 2011 where Chief Chekwas Okorie was defeated in the court and has since been expelled from the party.
I will refer you to the Nigerian weekly law report of 13th June 2011 (part 1250, 427-642) page 544, APGA versus Umeh. It’s a big shame that no proper checks are done in Nigeria before any publication is made on the local newspapers. We APGA UK Chapter will always abide by the rule of law. We do not support any particular individual in our great party but we do support a legitimate leadership which is the one in which Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh is the National Chairman. Our advice to any Igbo citizen is to join hands to promote our great party APGA. APGA UK chapter will not sit and watch some selfish individuals to destabilize our great party.
We recognize the fact that Chief Chekwas Okorie was the founding chairman of APGA but we cannot fail to give credit to current chairman, Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh for the leadership role he has played in steering our great party to this level today. Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh has sustained the movement, the party solidarity in spite of all opposition’s and distractions.
We understand that APGA has been in existence since 2002 in the United Kingdom
Well that is a fact but the APGA of 2002 under the leader of Andrew Emelife, Iyke Oti and the then National Chairman Chief Chekwas Okorie has seized to exist immediately the group noticed the crisis in the party under Chief Chekwas Okorie. They have delinked themselves from the National Working Committee for the past eight years and some of their executive members have joined other political parties in the United Kingdom. This is a very normal thing when any organization is no longer functional. No one heard about APGA in Diaspora until the National Chairman Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh came to London to inaugurate the APGA UK Chapter executives.
Do the 2002 APGA Diaspora members play any role in the last poll?
I have stated these before that those 2002 APGA UK executives had seized to exist for nearly eight years now with every person coming up claiming to be the past Chairman or Chairwoman. To be very honest with you, they did not play any role as APGA members in the last poll because they were not a functioning chapter. As I said earlier they have assimilated themselves into other political parties.
We learnt that Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh was in London recently to inaugurate the APGA UK Chapter Executives
That was true, Chief Sir Victor Umeh inaugurated the APGA UK Chapter Executives in London under the leadership of Mr Uzonna Udemba, the chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) UK Chapter and the General Secretary is Sir Onyeka Mbaso. There is no other APGA Chapter except the APGA Chapter in London in which the Chapter Secretariat is located at No 2 Station Rise, Tulse Hill, London, SE27 9BW. On the inauguration, the National Chairman charged the UK Chapter to work assiduously in promoting the image of our great party APGA in the United Kingdom.
We learnt that some factions of Chekwas Okorie was in your last general meeting in London
Yes some individuals that have lost touch with APGA came and claimed that they are Chief Chekwas Okorie’s faction in the meeting. We made it clear to them that the man himself has been expelled from the party. We advised them to obtain a membership card and become a card carrying member so that they will be current with APGA as a political party.
APGA UK Chapter welcomes anybody that will abide by the APGA constitution because our great party is the peoples party. APGA UK Chapter is the only recognized chapter in UK at the moment under the leadership of Mr Uzonna Udemba and his Executives.
How does APGA UK Chapter rate the leadership of the two APGA state governors?
The visions and innovations of Governor Peter Obi and Governor Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha are second to none. One thing I must spell out in Nigeria is that our people don’t have patience, if you look at what is happening in Anambra state, you will notice the good works of Governor Peter Obi. Some cynics who are opposing his gigantic reforms and policies are those who are bent on corruption and looting of the state treasury and benefactors of his predecessors. Governor Peter Obi has done more than five hundred kilometers of road construction in Anambra state. His innovations have touched the lives of ordinary citizens by providing transformers, computers to schools, the economy, the construction of libraries and hospitals.
The pacesetting progress of His Excellency Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha in Imo state with his rescue mission agenda is evident for all to see. In his first one hundred days in office the Governor has extended his commitment to attracting investors to Imo state. He has flagged off an internal security outfit christened operation rescue with one hundred vehicles to ensure effective policing in the state. Governor Rochas Okorocha has rehabilitated the water scheme project in Imo state, disbursed monies that is accrued to local government areas to name but a few. APGA UK Chapter members are fully behind the leadership of Governor Peter Obi and Governor Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha.
It was reported recently that the two APGA governors are working clandestinely to push out the APGA National Chairman Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh. What is APGA UK Chapter take on that?
Our members have expressed considerable disquiet with the publications in the newspapers in Nigeria and the developments at home and APGA UK Chapter will work very hard to make sure that peace reigns in our party APGA. From the recent developments you can see that everything is coming back to normal. Any normal person will want stability in his/her party because stability brings peace. The APGA UK Chapter position is very clear on our unequivocal support to the two APGA Governors and our able National Chairman Chief Sir Victor Umeh. APGA UK Chapter stands for justice and true governance at all times.
Has Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh grown the party since he became the National Chairman? How has he grown the party?
APGA UK Chapter can tell you categorically that the National Chairman has grown our party in different areas. He has installed trust in APGA and you are aware that trust is the basis for almost all the relationships in our lives. Without trust it is impossible to create healthy and productive environments. When people trust you they are ready to give their best. Chief Sir Victor Umeh’s vision and policy in APGA has brought about stability inspired people to work towards that vision and this is evident in the tremendous strides the party has made at both the national, state and local government level. It was this stability in our party that led to APGA capturing Imo state. APGA’s main targets come 2015 elections are to capture Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi, Rivers and Delta states respectively. Irrespective of what you may read on the pages of newspapers, Chief Sir Umeh still maintain cordial relationships with the two APGA governors – Governor Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha and Governor Peter Obi. The National Chairman has grown the party through his exemplary leadership skills. He is a man with an impeccable character because it is very important that a good leader should be very trustworthy to lead others. The National Chairman has been a source of inspiration, a motivator and he is ready to roll up his sleeves and get dirty for the progress of our great party.
Chief Sir Victor Umeh has demonstrated that he is a confident leader through the way he functions in an orderly and purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty. Last April Governorship Election in Imo state have proved to the whole Nigeria what a true leader can do in times of uncertainty. You can only identify a good leader by his/her ability to tolerate ambiguity, calmness, composure and steadfast to main purpose. All these good qualities of the National Chairman brought us to this level we are today. The APGA UK Chapter wants to thank Governor Peter Obi, Governor Rochas Okorocha and Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh for being proactive in raising the bar in other to achieve excellence in their various offices.
Who is Mr Nnamdi Kanu to APGA UK Chapter?
To be honest with you, this name only came to our attention after the APGA UK Chapter executive’s inauguration by the National Chairman Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh on the 28th of August 2011. As the General Secretary of this chapter, I read on the sun newspaper that a man is parading himself as the Europe/UK APGA Chairman. At the moment Mr Nnamdi Kanu has been advised to desist from such publication. The UK Chapter Press release has already disassociated itself from any such publication that may bring the party and UK Chapter into disrepute.
The Chairman of APGA UK Chapter is Mr Uzonna Udemba and the General Secretary is Sir Onyeka Mbaso. Here is the list of our APGA UK Chapter Executives.
Chairman –Mr Uzonna Udemba
Vice Chairman – Nnaama Ernest Ezeajughi
General Secretary – Sir Onyeka Mbaso
Assistant General Secretary – Dr Ifeanyi Onukwube
Co-ordinator – Kelechi Onuzulike
BOT Chairman – Sir Jude Ibe
Treasurer – Barrister Chiddi Akurunwa
Financial Secretary – Engr. Chijioke Okafor
Assistant Financial Secretary- Micheal Udeogba
Legal Adviser – Barrister Edwin Ajoku
Assistant Legal Adviser – Barrister Chi Chikwendu
Welfare Secretary – Chukie Ajoku
Organising Secretary – Steve Chukwunonye
Women Leader- Mrs. Nneka Ndigwe
Youth Leader – Martinsixtus Ezejimofor
Assistant Youth Leader- Okechukwu Agunanna
Provost – Okey Ibeabuchi
Special Adviser – Chief Engr. Victor Ihezie
Special Adviser- Chief Ben Amadi
Special Adviser- Chief Brown Obioha
Special Adviser- Chief Kevin Nwamma
Special Adviser- Chief Dan Otuonye
There is no faction in APGA UK Chapter; we have only one APGA both in Nigeria and the United Kingdom under the leadership of Chief (Sir) Victor Umeh. Thank you.
Group urges Ekiti people to resist demolition of their houses
The Ekiti Justice Group (EJG) has urged residents of Ado-Ekiti, the
State capital to henceforth, resist any attempt by the State government to demolish their houses. The group said it was wicked and devilish for a government that has not done anything on the areas where houses and shops were demolished to be destroying houses in others areas. EJG said in a statement issued by its National Coordinator, Dr Tunji Oluwasanmi that it was more inhuman for peoples’ sources of livelihood to be destroyed by a government that is holding their resources in trust for them without provision for alternative settlement or compensation. “Our position is that; from now on, Ekiti people should begin to take their destiny in their hands by resisting any attempt to demolish their houses or shops. “The people must begin to ask questions as to what has happened to the areas where buildings were demolished? “They should ask Dr Kayode Fayemi’s demolition squad what benefits they stand to derive from the demolition? “Most importantly, they should ask them what happens to those whose sources of livelihood have been destroyed? “Therefore, we are calling on Ekiti people to bring back that spirit of resistance in them by driving away anyone that brings bulldozer to their houses away.”
Umezoke: Shocker Awaits Dignatories
Shocker may be the apt word to describe what awaits dignitaries and the rest Nigerians who would be in Amichi, Nnewi South council of Anambra state the country home of the erstwhile Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Chief Edwin Umezoke who would be buried this morning.
The remains of the former speaker who died last month in an India hospital for ailments suspected to be food poisoning were scheduled to be interred today in his compound within the Amichi royal estate.
His final journey began Monday at the national Assembly, down to the Anambra state Assembly where valedictory sessions were held in his honour ahead his committal to mother earth this morning.
Unfortunately the high expectations of citizens that his demise might attract the attention of the Federal and state governments to the poor conditions of roads leading to his house, especially the gully-ravaged Nnewi community roads and the Oba-Nnewi-Amichi-Uga-Okigwe federal highway that have been completely closed to traffic for about four years in some portions were dashed as nothing has been done to them as at last night when Guardian visited again.
First to express his dissatisfaction was the monarch of Amichi and cousin to the late statesman, HRH Igwe Offorbuike Ezeoke who was miffed by the apparent neglect of the axial roads connecting his community with other parts of the country, even now that the erstwhile national chairman of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) was dead
It was the late former speaker who embraced the Government of National Unity (GNU) under the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua all geared towards stabilizing the polity.
His son Chinemerem, an erstwhile aide to Yar’Adua ccould not pick calls for comments.
However a valedictory sitting was held in his honour by the Anambra state Assembly yesterday.
Jonathan Speech At The Launch of YouWin Job Creation Program
Keynote Address By His Excellency, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Gcfr, At The Public / Formal Launch Of The Youwin! Job Creation Programme On Tuesday, 11th October, 2011.
Protocol
It is with great pleasure that I formally launch one of this Administration’s key programmes targeted at youth empowerment, employment generation and wealth creation.
As I said in my Budget Presentation Speech late last year, unemployment among our youth is one of our biggest challenges as a nation. But this is a challenge that we are willing and ready to address to unlock the vast potentials of the Nigerian youth.
In the course of the campaigns for the April 2011 Presidential elections, I met many young Nigerians, based at home and in diaspora who have refused to submit to the blackmail of self-defeat and despair, and who are showing great initiative in making positive use of their God-given talents.
My concern is that we need to grow the population of such positively-attuned youth. It is our duty to identify them early and support them and this cannot be done by merely raising their hopes but by giving them a chance to be who they want to be.
At the 17th ordinary session of the Summit of the African Union in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, last June, I spoke about the opportunities in the continent’s demography profile, as projections show that close to 70 % of the African population will be under 20 by 2020. I told my colleagues that this constitutes such a large and powerful force for future development.
Incidentally, at the summit, I met a young Nigerian entrepreneur who spoke passionately about the challenges faced by young people in business and the need for government to assist them in fulfilling their aspirations.
That young Nigerian is Cynthia Mosunmola Umoru, who represents the can-do spirit of the youth that gives us confidence about the future of our great country. Her call for government’s support incidentally coincides with the commitment we made at the Malabo Summit on accelerating youth empowerment for sustainable development.
In this regard, and in fulfilment of my electoral promises, the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria initiative, also known as YouWin!, is one of the first programmes to be funded, in part, from the N50 billion job creation fund set aside in the 2011 budget. YouWin! is a demonstration of this Administration’s goal of developing a robust private sector by encouraging locally-owned enterprises.
YouWin! is an innovative business plan competition that harnesses the creative energies of young people between the ages of 18 and 35. The programme is largely targeted at owners of existing formal and informal businesses who will be asked to submit their business plans for a competition. These will be evaluated by a panel of experts and the best submissions from each geopolitical zone will be selected for support.
The government, in partnership with other stakeholders, will then provide support for these winners to either expand their existing businesses to create jobs for the youth in their locality, or start-up businesses that create jobs based on their ideas.
Through YouWin!, over 3,600 Nigerian youth will be financially assisted to actualise their entrepreneurial ideas and plans. It is expected that these would create between 80,000 to 110,000 sustainable jobs over the next 4 years.
Permit me to make a reference to Steve Jobs, the recently deceased co-founder of Apple. Jobs started his career by building the first Apple personal computer in the run-down garage of his foster parents and he pursued his entrepreneurial dreams to become one of the most influential innovators of the 21st century.
Similarly Bill Gates’ Microsoft and Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook are eloquent testimonies to the capacity of the youth to dream big and win big in an innovative manner. We have such men and women in this land too: our challenge is to find them early, nurture them and encourage them.
As I formally launch this programme today, I am also formally declaring the application for the first cycle open. Following this national launch here, the programme will be re-launched in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country over the next two weeks.
In line with our renewed commitment to regular performance evaluation and measurement, this Administration will monitor the programme closely over the next three years of its implementation to ensure that it remains responsive to the needs of young Nigerian men and women.
While I commend our development partners for their support on the YouWin initiative, let me use this occasion to reemphasise the need for productive partnerships with global businesses and organizations on our job creation agenda.
I wish to reiterate this Administration’s commitment to comprehensively address the challenge of youth unemployment and as we invest in the development of their skills, talents and entrepreneurship through programmes such as YouWin!, we provide that mentorship and support that they need to become all that they potentially can be.
Thank you for your attention and may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Anambra Grandmother nabbed with 1.5kg Cocaine
Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have apprehended a 59 year old grandmother at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos. The suspect was to export 1.500kg of powdery substance that tested positive to cocaine. She was arrested last weekend during the screening of British Airways passengers to London Heathrow airport with the drug neatly hidden in the sides of her luggage.
NDLEA Commander at the Airport, Alhaji Hamza Umar explained that the drug was detected at the luggage checking desk at the international wing of the airport. According to Hamza, “a 59 year old grandmother, Ozekwe Franca had been arrested by NDLEA operatives. She was arrested following the discovery of 1.500kg of cocaine in her luggage during routine check”.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade described the grandmother’s action as disappointing. “It is difficult to comprehend her motivation for drug trafficking at 59. Her action is disappointing. This is one wrong step with adverse consequences for the rest of her life” Giade stated.
Preliminary investigation by the NDLEA shows that the suspect travelled to London 5 years ago. She is married with eight children, two males and six females all married with children. She hails from Umunya town in Anambra State South East Nigeria.
The 59 year old grandmother however told narcotic investigators that she was promised the sum of five thousand pound 5,000. “This is my first time of engaging in drug trafficking. I was given the bag with the drug hidden in it and they promised to pay me the sum of five thousand pounds. The man that organised the deal used to meet with me in an eatery in Lagos. He never told me that I will be caught. I was devastated the moment the drug was discovered. It was like the end of my world because I told my husband in Umunya town in Anambra State that I was going to Lagos” Franca stated.
She will soon be arraigned at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi Lagos.
2011 Elections Were The Worst In Nigeria – Dr. Mohammed
Did you, by chance, listen to the President’s October 1 speech?
Now, talking about northern leaders and the rest of us, one of those you said should apologize to Nigeria is being touted as a possible replacement for the current NSA. What do you think, especially as it amounts to recycling northerners in government?
If you decide to recycle garbage six times, good luck to you, because nothing will improve as far as good representation is concerned. These people believe in money and they are there to be rich, own hundreds of houses in Abuja and other parts of the country, have plenty of money, both in naira and foreign currencies, with which they also settle potential trouble makers. How they operate is, if Boko Haram is making noise, go and find half a million dollars, give them and they will keep quiet; if Gani Adams and others are making noise, go and give them money, they will keep quiet. If the boys in the Niger Delta are making noise, go tell them ‘look under amnesty, we will buy houses for all their leaders in Abuja, pay the school fees of their children and make sure they have fantastic homes and they will drink Champaign to bed every day;’ that is what happens.
Is Jonathan the only one guilty of the picture you are trying to paint?
First and foremost, you have to clear the present government and clear the PDP, the ruling party. But next time you get opportunity to form party, allow them to be formed naturally, with the people who belong together. With the kind of madness and insanity we have in the PDP, where no two people speak alike, no two people think alike, no two people care about the country, you can never run a country. If it means suspending our democracy at least for a number of years, so that we can have credible party system, let us begin from there. Nigerians must learn to be patient, not to be patient with corruption, which is the argument being advanced now. We have to be patient, to make sure that we have parties, which have ideologies, which have core beliefs and when we have those kinds of parties we can play politics. At the moment, we have nothing of the kind.
How?
There was serious mistrust over 2011 election, between the North and the South. As a northerner, what do you think about 2015?
What would you tell Nigerians on the 51st independence anniversary celebration?
Siasia and Super Eagles
This laugh went on break |
Eagles’s fans…heart broken and could not sleep |
—
Olajide Ayodeji Fashikun
President Jonathan’s Address in Ghana
REMARKS BY DR. GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN, GCON, GCFR,
President, Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
AT THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE GHANA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION (GIMPA) AND CONFERMENT ON HIM OF A HONORARY DOCTOR OF LAWS DEGREE BY GIMPA
ACCRA, SATURDAY, 8TH OCTOBER 2011
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PROTOCOLS
1. I would like, first of all, to warmly thank my Dear Brother and Friend, His Excellency, Prof John Evans Atta Mills, for extending to me an invitation to participate in this important celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA).
2. My appreciation also goes to Dr Christina Amoako-Nuama, Chairman, GIMPA Council, the Rector, and the Deans and distinguished members of Faculty for their kind invitation. I wish to commend all of you for the brilliant efforts that you have put into organizing this historic event. I am glad and touched by your invitation, and the recognition that you have given me and Nigeria by this gesture.
3. Golden Jubilees are important occasions for reflection and stocktaking. They also indicate to us how far we have gone with a project, and what we need to do to sustain the labours of past leaders, and chart the course for a successful future.
4. Occasions such as this also offer us one crucial opportunity – they inspire us to do our utmost best to excel and to make a difference in whatever we do. Management and planning after all are about foresight, prudence and organization aimed at judicious use of persons and resources.
5. The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration stands on a unique pedestal among its peers.
6. Your Excellency, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, let me seize this opportunity to convey to you what Ghana means to us in Nigeria. Ghana is not a country apart, distinct in the sense of a separate and alien entity. Ghana is us and we are Ghana. This country inspired and challenged us to reach for our independence when the odds were not too brilliant, and the obstacles were seemingly insurmountable.
7. Our two countries and people have shared values and cherished the idea of freedom and democratic governance. The ties between us predate the colonial period. In modern times, our relations have remained fraternal, cordial and satisfactory on all fronts.
8. Our close relation has enabled us to share a common vision not only for our respective people, but for our entire sub-region. We committed ourselves to making our sub regional body, ECOWAS, a leading and indeed exemplary organ of integration and close cooperation among our nations.
9. We have jointly pushed for, and attained with our friendly and brotherly nations, a purposeful and forward-looking regional organization, which seeks to ensure integration and the achievement of the common aspirations of our people. We have made appreciable progress in many policy areas in the organization.
10. This dynamism must be maintained and indeed encouraged. We can only do so with the right calibre of technocrats and managers, the training and production of which are the primary business of GIMPA and its sole objective.
11. Your Excellency, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, my invitation letter required me to articulate my vision for ECOWAS.
12. My specific vision for ECOWAS rests on the following important pillars:
(i)The creation of a sub-region without frontiers where the people have access to its economic resources and enjoy them by creating opportunities for social production and jobs in the framework of equitable distribution systems;
(ii)The provision of an enabling environment within which people ply their business and live in peace;
(iii)The emergence of a zone that is an integral part of the African continental space, where all human beings live in dignity and benefit from fair trade and mutual solidarity, and guided by shared principles.
13. It is within these parameters that I recognize the attainment of the following objectives by our organization and its member states:
· The implementation of the ECOWAS Protocol and common tariff;
· The Trade Liberalization scheme;
· The Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services; and
· The Right of Establishment which has greatly facilitated good neighbourliness and peaceful co-existence in our region.
14. Your Excellency, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a clear duty to ensure that about 230 million of our brothers and sisters in our sub-region live in harmony, peace and security, and to pursue their trade and vocations without undue hindrances imposed by states and their agencies. The days when states dictated exclusivity of interests and carved out boundaries and spheres of interest in commerce, industry and trade are veritably over.
15. Today, in this rapidly globalizing world, we in this region must use the state as an agent of change, development and progress. We must transform the state to be positively receptive to the yearnings of our people for integration, commerce and free movement of goods and services. Indeed the state must unleash the creative genius of our people and their unbounded energy and industry that in past centuries, gave rise to the Trans Saharan Trade and sustained our people for generations.
16. We all know the capacity of our people to excel in the area of commerce and industry. The ancient Empire of Ghana, the Ashanti Empire of old, the Songhai Empire, the Empires of Mali, Kanem-Borno Empire and others, all rose up and prospered on account of this historic trade. Likewise, the kingdoms of Dahomey and Benin and the southern states in our region benefited enormously from this interaction.
17. Today, many of us look beyond our shores to other lands and climes for inspiration. But I say to you that we should rather look inwards to our past and present conditions to gain the needed motivation to move our collective project called ECOWAS forward.
18. Your Excellency, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, I wish to emphasize the point that my vision for ECOWAS, especially the integration of the sub-region, is not limited to economic matters only. My vision includes the integration of our people as one family. In spite of the differences in languages, and inherited cultures, our people should think and act with one purpose.
19. The integration that I hope for should include the politics of our region, the education and training of our people, our approach to globalization, and the harmonization of other essential values such as cultural exchanges as well as youth empowerment programmes.
20. I believe the signs are good and the trend is encouraging toward full integration of our region. For the first time all the countries in the sub-region are under a democratic dispensation. All the governments in the region came into office through the exercise of their people democratic rights by popular elections.
21. Ensuring democratic governance and peace in our sub-region, however, needs more than merely putting elected officials into office. It requires substantial manifestations. Good governance and accountability, probity and objectivity, and above all, expertise in enterprise and competence, are the ingredients that are needed to ensure that the dividends of democracy reach all our people, and the institutions that we have established work for us effectively.
22. When all is said and done, what matters to our people is the sustainability of their daily lives driven by useful labour and gainful employment. These are some of the things that we need to constantly address when we discuss governance and public administration. I have no doubt that these are among several other subjects that GIMPA teaches its students. Management and public administration are at the heart of governance.
23. Without competent management and conscientious administration, the goods cannot be easily delivered to our populations, and governments would merely be shadows without substance. The economic challenges that we wish to overcome, and the social transformations that we aim to achieve in our countries, cannot be addressed if we do not imbibe the ethos of professionalism and expertise in management and public administration.
24. It is a testimony of the great wisdom and foresight of the founders of this institution that they established it and gave it the important mandate which it has so far discharged with brilliance and competence. GIMPA is celebrating its 50th Anniversary today. I am informed that it has established many collaborative programmes with many foreign universities, international organizations and professional bodies.
25. I note with satisfaction that one of the countries that has benefited and continues to do so from GIMPA’s services is Nigeria. I wish to encourage the institution to search for more avenues for cooperation with Nigeria’s public and private sector organizations, and like-minded state institutions to expand their horizons and render valuable services to our two countries, and our region at large.
26. May I also congratulate GIMPA’s council on the decision to build a befitting library for the Institute. Libraries are depositories of knowledge and even in this age of computers and electronic libraries, the presence of such a befitting edifice on the campus will go a long way to encourage diligence among students and researchers, and provide testimony to the value of education and excellence that the Institute upholds.
27. I wish to congratulate my Dear Brother and Friend, His Excellency President Atta Mills, on the occasion of this Anniversary. You should be proud that such an Institute as this, is the common heritage of all Ghanaians and a legacy for future generations.
28. I call upon the administration, management and students of this noble Institution to redouble their efforts and ensure that the torch that was lit by the founding fathers is not only held aloft by you, but also made to shine even brighter and more lustrous than before. I want you all to be a beacon of hope and an example to all of us in the sub-region as you take your rightful places in the various administrations and commercial enterprises of your respective countries.
29. I feel very much honoured to be part of this celebration. With hope and confidence in God Almighty, GIMPA will successfully celebrate its Diamond Anniversary. Let me also thank the Governing Council of GIMPA for the honour done to me and my country, with the award of a Honorary Doctorate Degree.
30. God bless the Republic of Ghana;
God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria;
And God bless Africa.
I thank you all
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