The Federal Government has disclosed why it has been unable to evacuate Nigerians who are stranded in the United Arab Emirates, UAE.
About 3,000 Nigerians are stranded in that country due, mainly, to immigration problems. The UAE has also been reluctant to renew the immigration status of legally employed Nigerians.
The FG said the delay in evacuating them is due to legal processes and the finalization of relevant documents with the UAE.
This was disclosed by the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Francisca Omayuli. She said that the Ministry is working with the Nigerian Mission alongside the UAE authorities to assist stranded Nigerians in the country for various reasons, ranging from overstay, loss of passports, and lack of documentation, especially in the case of infants, to pending cases with the Emirate police.
She was reacting to the allegations in the Media which stated that the Nigerian Government has not only abandoned the stranded Nigerians, but is making it difficult for them to return home.
Her statement reads: “The attention of the Federal Government of Nigeria has been drawn to news making the rounds on social media that the Nigerian Mission in the UAE has abandoned some stranded Nigerians in that country and is making it difficult for them to return home.
“The allegation is completely untrue and misleading as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian Mission have been working assiduously with the UAE authorities to assist over 300 Nigerians stranded in the country for various reasons, ranging from overstay, lost passports, and lack of documentation especially in the case of infants, to pending cases with the Emirati Police.
“The affected Nigerians are among nationals from other African countries in custody at the holding centre of Al Aweer Immigration Office, pending the consideration of their cases and conclusion of the legal processes by the relevant authorities before repatriation.
“The Nigerian Mission has since the commencement of the saga on August 15, 2022, been working hard to collate the details of the stranded Nigerians with a view to issuing Emergency Travel Certificates to those of them with no means of identification.
“The UAE authorities on the other hand, will process the immigration papers of those on over-stay, who are the majority and are required by law to pay fines. Some of the affected Nigerians have fines of over $10,000 per person. The UAE Government is willing to waive the fines for those who are unable to pay, however, not without the attendant penalty of 10-year-ban from the UAE. Those in police custody for other alleged offenses must be cleared, while those without documentation or means of identification especially infants will go through legal procedures for rectification.
“The various processes outlined above have to be finalised by the relevant Emirati authorities before repatriation of affected Nigerians by the Federal Government.
“The Federal Government wishes to seize this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians in the UAE to remain law-abiding and avoid actions that would inflict untold hardship on them.”
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU will Sunday meet to decide whether to continue the six-month-old strike, according to Punch.
The newspaper quoted sources in ASUU as saying that the union’s National Executive Council, NEC will meet on August 28, to deliberate on the way forward on the industrial action which started on February 14.
“The NEC meeting will hold on August 28, the four weeks ultimatum that we gave is expiring that same day. We will be making our decisions based on the results of the state congresses.
“The NEC has to depend on the result of the congresses. The zones have held their own congresses; the branch chairmen will also talk to their members and they will get feedback which will be transmitted to the NEC,” one of the sources said.
The magazine learned that some branches of ASUU have been putting pressure on the leadership of the union to end the strike, to pave way for more robust negotiations with the government, particularly following reports that the union may be proscribed by the federal government as a last resort for academic activities to return to the nation’s ivory towers after a prolong strike by the academic teachers.
The lecturers are also under serious pressure from friends and family members who are no longer finding the no-work-no-pay policy funny, sources say.
ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodede had last week disclosed that some of his members have turned to taxi drivers and farmers to make ends meet in the wake of the federal government’s decision not to pay them for the period of the strike.
The university lecturers had last week vowed not to return to the lecture rooms until all their demands are met.
The union is demanding among other things, the renegotiation of the ASUU-FGN 2009 agreement; release of revitalisation funds for universities; deployment of the University Transparency Accountability System for the payment of salaries and allowances of university lecturers; release of earned allowances; and the release of the white paper report of the visitation panels to universities.
When the federal government met the Osodeke-led ASUU penultimate week, the meeting ended in a stalemate after the union accused the government of unseriousness in resolving the contentious issues.
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu would later reveal that the decision by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government not to pay the lecturers for the period of the strike, is the major reason why an agreement had not been reached with the angry lecturers.
‘All contentious issues between the government and ASUU had been settled except the quest for members’ salaries for the period of strike to be paid, a demand that Buhari has flatly rejected,” the minister said.
Meanwhile, the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, SSANU and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Education Institutions, NASU on Monday suspended their strike actions.
The two unions disclosed this at the week end in Abuja, the nation’s capital after a brief meeting of their leaders with Adamu.
They said in a statement that they suspended the strike for a period of two months to enable the federal government to address their problems.
According to the unions, “The two months allow the government to implement the agreements reached.
“Part of the agreement is the decision of the government to set aside the sum of N50 billion for the payment of earned academic and earned allowances, the cogent decision on the University Peculiar Personnel Payroll System (UPPPS), the release of the white paper on university visitation panel and funding of the universities.
“On the poor funding of federal institutions, the Minister said he directed the National Universities Commission (NUC) to ensure that all the schools are up-to-date on what they are supposed to do, otherwise sanctions will be visited on any institution that defaults.”
The suspension takes effect from August 24, the unions said.
Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has recanted his earlier statement that will hand over federal universities to states if he becomes president next year.
The PDP presidential hopeful had received backlash for the comment he made at this year’s Nigerian Bar Association, NBA conference in Lagos on Monday, that he will allow state governments to run federal universities for efficiency if he emerged winner in next year’s presidential election.
Election pundits insist that the contest will be a three horse race between him and Bola Tinubu and Peter Obi of the All Progressives Congress, APC and Labour Party, respectively.
Atiku spoke amidst the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU over unpaid allowances and salaries by the federal government. The six months strike has paralysed academic activities in the nation’s ivory towers, even as distrust parents are worried that their children could remain at home much longer if the parties failed to break the deadlock.
Atiku said, “One of the fundamental reforms I have in my policy document is to encourage the private sector as far as the development of the country is concerned — both foreign and local. It is very essential because the federal government does not have the resources to do all the things that they want to do.”
“The only way is to make sure that a conducive environment is available for the local and foreign investors to participate in the development of our country, whether it is infrastructure, education, and healthcare.
“I had an argument with a university professor from Federal University, Lokoja. He said he read in my policy document that I intend to devolve, in other words, to return education to the states. How dare I do that?
“I said: ‘Mr professor, do you realise that the first set of our universities belongs to the regional governments?’ He said, ‘yes’. I said ‘who are the successors of the regional government?’ He said: ‘the states’.
“I said the children you send to America or England, who own those universities? Mostly the private sector. So, why is it that you think we cannot do it here? We don’t have the money.”
His comment apparently was not well received by not a few Nigerians who said many Nigerians will be denied higher education if that is done, because university education will even become more expensive than it is currently, and will be taken out of the reach of the average Nigerian.
The PDP presidential candidate has now come out to say he was misquoted, and that he has no plan to do that.
According to a statement by his spokesman, Paul Ibe, the former vice president said he was taken out of context. He described the report that he will allow states to run federal universities as misleading.
The statement said: “What the PDP presidential candidate referred to was his plans for a phased devolution of power to the federating units.
“The report in some sections of the media is, therefore, a misleading and false account of what transpired when the PDP Presidential candidate fielded questions as a panelist at the opening ceremony of the NBA conference.”
The statement added further,” Atiku Abubakar merely recalled his engagement with a university professor where he argued that the United States of America shared similarities with the first set of universities in Nigeria which belonged to the regional governments and noted that with proper planning and phased devolution of power, federal universities that have now become unwieldy could be made to work better under the component federating units.
“He also maintained that education would remain in the concurrent list under his administration when elected”.
The Anambra State Police Command is yet to confirm it, but reliable sources confirm that Gunmen have killed an Army Major.
Identified as Major Churchill Orji, a native of Agulu; Anambra State, he was reportedly killed on Saturday, August 20, during an operation at the Azia axis of Ihiala.
That area, has for months, been a hotbed for Gunmen.
Since the killing of the Army officer, fear has gripped the people around the area. They fear that the Army could embark on a reprisal mission.
And, since then, those who knew him have been paying tributes to him.
A schoolmate of his in a tribute on Sunday, was quoted as saying: “Our brother, Major Churchill Orji, you paid the price defending out dear State from bandits and unknown gunmen yesterday (Saturday), at Azia/Ukpor. Your efforts shall never be in vain. Agulu mourns.”
Another person who addressed the late Major as his brother wrote: “Rest in peace my brother from Nneogidi Village, Agulu, Major Churchill Orji, killed yesterday (Saturday) at Azia/Ukpor defending the South-east from the marauders.”
Neither the Army nor the Police has issued any statement on the operation that cost Major Orji his life.
Former Anambra State governor and Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi has lamented the frightening challenges facing Nigeria, calling for urgent steps to halt its slip to the status of a failed entity.
Obi made the observation at the 62nd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) opened in Lagos, on Monday. The event which was declared open by the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Olukayode Ariwoola had in attendance five presidential candidates and a vice-presidential candidates of some political parties in the country.
Declaring the week-long event opened, the CJN who was represented at the event by the Chief Judge of Lagos State Justice Kazeem Alogba, urged lawyers to continue protect the rule of law.
The other standard bearers in attendance, apart from Obi, were Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof. Peter Umeadi of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Adewale Adebayo of the Social Democratic Party and Dr. Dumebi Kachuchu of the African Democratic Congress (ADC). The presidential candidate of All Progressives congress (APC), Bola Tinubu was absent. His running mate Kashim Shettima, was however present.
In his speech, Obi said: “Nigeria needs urgent transition from being a highly insecure country to a secured country and from a country of lawlessness to a country of law and order. In all these, it is important that we look at where we are today. Nigeria has qualified to be a failed state. We have indices and characteristics of a failed state.
“Today, we are among the most terrorised countries of the world. We are among the topmost countries of the world where banditry and kidnapping is prevalent. Our most important source of foreign revenue, the oil, is also being ravaged by theft. We are no longer in control of our economy, we are in fiscal mess where our expenditure is much higher than revenue”.
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Attorney General of Lagos State, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) noted that lawyers have a great responsibly on their shoulders, saying it goes beyond ensuring their own comfort.
The governor observed that the conference theme, Bold Transitions, resonates on several levels, particularly as the nation is preparing for another round of elections in 2023.
In his welcome address, the President of the NBA, Olumide Akpata, said all crises in the Association have been sorted out.
“The Bar has made serious progress. We have come far, we are doing well and we are strong. Crises in the NBA, perceived, real or imagined, are all sorted”, he said.
On his part, Atiku said: “Since the return of democracy, Nigeria has never been in such a critical situation as we find ourselves now. The problem of poverty, insecurity, unemployment, etc is enormous but what is important is how to tackle them”.
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, literally, fighting on all fronts, has explained why he shut down Mega Tools Petrol Station, Porthacourt.
The Station is owned by the Representative of Porthacourt Federal Constituency, Honourable Chinyere Igwe.
Wike had shut down the business concern a couple of days ago alongside two hotels, all three located in Porthacourt.
A few days before he shut them down, Wike had threatened to shut down all hotels and Recreational Centers which Management allow Politicians to use their premises for political meetings. He said such political gatherings are used to recruit thugs and cultists who, according to him, cause a breach of the peace in the State.
However, not a few people wondered why Wike closed down the Petrol Station since it was neither a hotel nor a recreational center, and not likely to host any political meetings.
The Governor, speaking during the flag-off of Omagwa internal roads has explained why. He has, also, ordered Security Agencies to arrest Igwe. He said he shut down the business premises, and ordered for Igwe’s arrest because he was involved in oil bunkering. Wike said the petrol sold there is a product of oil bunkering.
But Hon Igwe has not only faulted Wike, he has apologized to the people of Rivers State for his role in Wike’s victory to become Governor. He said his only crime is his support for the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Atiku Abubakar.
Wike has had a difficult relationship with Atiku and the PDP since after Atiku beat him to a second place during the Party’s Presidential Primary, and especially, since Atiku ignored him and picked Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, as his running mate.
Since then, every Atiku associate has invariably become Wike’s enemy. Such people in Rivers State, in particular, have come under Wike’s wrath. He accuses them of betrayal, and says he would crush them.
On his sealing of Igwe’s Petrol Station, Wike explained: “If I hear of any filling station involved in oil bunkering, I will close that filling station. Therefore, I have directed Security agencies to identify who has that filling station in Diobu, arrest that person, and we are going to prosecute the person. It doesn’t matter how highly that person is.
“Some of you should be used to teach a lesson. We cannot allow oil bunkering. We will reduce it to the barest minimum. So, I have ordered Security Agencies to identify who owns that filling station that was sealed up two days ago and arrest the owner. Let him tell us why he is involved in oil bunkering.”
However, in an interview, Igwe who was a Commissioner for Urban Development, before he became an Honourable Member representing Porthacourt Constituency, apologised to the people of Rivers State for his support for Wike to become the Governor.
He noted that Wike has caused the shutting down of all businesses in the State, and has not encouraged any to grow, or established one.
Igwe: “I apologise to Rivers people for supporting Governor Nyesom Wike to be Governor of Rivers State.
“Since Nyesom Wike became Governor, he has not established or encouraged any business. If you go to Trans-Amadi, the industrial hub of Rivers State, all businesses are dead.”
Many people insist that the sealing of Igwe’s business concern, as well as the hotels, is politically motivated. The owners are not only PDP members, but are in support of Atiku’s candidacy. Igwe is also said to be related to former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Rt. Honourable Austin Opara, a former ally of Wike, who has now become his political enemy, for daring to visit Atiku.
In the same boat with Opara are Senator Lee Maeba, Dr Abiye Sekibo, a former Minister for Transportation, and Celestine Omehia, a former Governor of the State, amongst others.
Let me make this clear from the outset. I am a member of the APC and a supporter of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
This contribution does not in any way derogate from that and my analysis is more of an academic and intellectual exercise than anything else.
I am NOT a supporter of Peter Obi and I have NO intention of becoming one. I am however interested on what his supporters represent and stand for and that is the subject of this essay.
They are worthy of my attention only because their rise and relevance in the political configuration of our nation, just in a matter of weeks, is meteoric and phenomenal.
In order to counter and defeat them or to keep them in their place we must at least attempt to understand them and figure out how their minds work.
The following are my findings.
Those that are the supporters of Peter Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate, are known as ‘Obidients’ and they are EVERYWHERE.
Those of us in the larger political parties like the ruling APC and the opposition PDP, treat them with contempt and ignore them at our own peril.
The truth is that they are far more dangerous to our collective cause as a ruling class than many of us can possibly conceive or appreciate.
Only the discerning can appreciate this and know precisely where this whole thing may be heading.
They may not have structures or elected representatives in the legislative and executive arms of Government but they have IDEAS and VISION coupled with a clear ideological and philosophical bent which can and will endure for far longer than mere political platforms and structures.
Unknown to them as well as virtually everyone else, therein lies their power. As they say, an idea whose time has come cannot be stopped.
Long after we are all gone they will still be here because structures and political alliances rarely endure but IDEAS and VISION last forever.
Again they will outlive and outlast us all because they are not a political party in the true sense of the word but rather a growing national movement which scales and spreads across ethnic, religious, political and regional lines and traditional boundaries.
They also represent a generational and paradigm shift which is increasingly attractive to many and they are bound tightly together by a common purpose, common cause and common objective: namely to rid Nigeria of the old order and usher in the new.
That is really what they want to do and that is the primary and strongest source of their inspiration and motivation.
Peter Obi
They are far more dangerous to what the French describe as the ‘Ancien Regime’, the old political class and the entire system itself than anything we have ever seen before because most of them, bar their leader and a small handful of political tried and tested veterans and old war horses around him, are NOT politicians and have never ventured anywhere near the political arena or the circles of power.
In the main they are an innovatively aggressive and frightful array and association of angry and determined young men and women who clearly have the courage of their convictions coupled with the audacity, fury, daring, rage and firm resolve of those that were involved in the Endsars protesters and the fiery footsoldiers that effected the 1917 Russian Bolshevik revolution led by Vladimir Iliyich Lenin.
There is also something Rawlingesque and intimidating about them.
That is to say they are like the late, great and mighty son of Africa and leader of Ghana, President Jerry Rawlings, who also led a successful revolution in his country in 1979 and who, on his second coming in 1981 when he toppled yet another Government said, “if there is no justice there can be no peace!”
That is the spirit that is in the Obidients and that is what moves them.
Yet though they do not like to hear it their chances of winning the presidential election next year, short of a miracle, are very slim and deep down they all know it even if they refuse to publicly acknowledge it.
Despite that they are determined to fight to the end, hope for the best, work hard and give it their best shot and, of course, therein lies their victory.
In this game courage is the key. As they say, ‘he who dares wins’. Again as they say, ‘fortune favours the bold’ and these young people are both daring and bold.
That they can challenge the status quo and vie for the sacred and awesome power that has been shared by the two major political parties or their ancestral variants over the last 62 years is commendable in itself. I am not part of them but I certainly commend and applaud their efforts.
They too have a right to fight for their rights and future and to be heard. They too have a dream and a story to tell and we must never begrudge them that.
Yet if the truth be told they are not only interested in winning an election but, perhaps even more importantly, they are interested in making a profound and defiant statement, registering their protest against the status qou and the powers that be and triggering and engendering a full scale, comprehensive and all-embracing social, cultural and political revolution.
They want a real and fundamental change and not a fake one. They want to pull the whole house and system down with everyone in it and rebuild a new one in their own image, with their own values and on their own terms.
Most important of all they want to see the back of those of us that are in any way associated with the old order or that have been in Government or the corridors of power at ANY point in time over the last 62 years.
That desire and sentiment is the force that is driving and propelling them and that is kindling their fire and swelling their ranks.
They are like the Robspiers and the Marats of the bloody French revolution between 1789 and 1799 whose battle cry was “liberty, equality and fraternity”, who brought an end to the French monarchy, Royal family and nobility, chopped off their heads and established a proud and strong new order and proud Republic.
Like Robspier’s tiny cabal of French revolutionaries they are led by a small cell of intellectual and idealistic hardliners and are bolstered, girded and supported by a volatile, massive and increasingly dangerous support group and power base who threaten violence and hurl insults at their perceived detractors at the drop of a hat and as a consequence of years of pent up anger and frustration.
If they ever get power many heads will role and many of today’s and yesterday’s leaders will run into exile or go into hiding.
This is especially so of those who have something to hide or who have skeletons in their cupboards.
That is what makes them so threatening and I repeat, those of us that are in the larger political parties or that are members of the existing and ancient ruling class underestimate them, ignore them and display disdain for their firm resolve and rising anger at our own peril.
Most of my political associates, friends and colleagues across party lines tend to dismiss them with contempt.
They regard them as being inconsequential and argue that they only exist on social media. I beg to differ. I see them in the streets and I see them in the Churches.
I see them amongst my staff and amongst those that regard themselves as being amongst the oppressed and downtrodden.i see them amongst the professionals and those thst are bankers, lawyers, doctors and artists.
I see them in the North, West, East and South. I see them everywhere and not only on social media.
I see them as being a very powerful and potent rising force which, if properly managed, will develop into a major political power over the next few years with a strong ideological and electoral foundation and massive structures.
That is the potential that they have and that is how dangerous they can be.
The sooner those of us that are in the larger political parties get off our high horses, display a little humility, try and understand their mindset, reach out to them, take them more seriously, appreciate their anger, restore their hope, make the necessary concessions and try and abate their rage and rising angst the better it will be for us all.
They may not have today but if we do not play our cards right they may end up having tomorrow.
May God help us all.
Fani-Kayode was a former Minister for Culture and, later, of Aviation under the President Olusegun Obasanjo Administration
My friend and colleague, Segun Ayobolu, has joined the infamous clan of journalists and writers who are demonizing the Igbo on account of Bola Tinubu’s presidential aspiration. I find this regrettable, especially in the light of my belief that these gentlemen, as cosmopolitan as I thought they were, were incapable of this level of incivility.
But I know that Segun was conscripted and fed a lie. He must have been taken in by the antics of those for whom Igbophobia is a pleasurable pastime. I dare say that the views he expressed in his recent article on the Igbo and the Peter Obi presidency are hardly original to him. They are bits and pieces of prejudicial narratives on the Igbo hammered into shape by promoters of hate and purveyors of falsehood. Like many others who have mischievously tied Obi’s presidential aspiration to his Igboness rather than his personality, Segun outlined many reasons why he is scared stiff of a possible Obi presidency. None of them, strictly speaking, is about Peter Obi . All of them border on Igbo stigmatization and jaundiced perception by many a non-Igbo Nigerian.
Segun alleges that the Igbo have appropriated Peter Obi’s candidacy and have, by so doing, poisoned his aspiration. He accuses Obi’s supporters, who he imagined are predominantly of Igbo ethnic stock, of being abusive and indecent in their conduct. He goes further to say that Obi’s presidential quest will be hurt by Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB’s separatist agitation. Then he went back in time to rehash stories about the January 1966 coup and how the Igbo wanted to use the Aguiyi Ironsi regime to enthrone Igbo hegemony in Nigeria.
Segun also said he is worried about a possible Obi presidency because it will bring about another round of Igbo ascendancy as was the case under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration. According to him, the Igbo were unduly favoured under the Jonathan presidency. That is not all. Segun said he is also apprehensive about the disposition of the Igbo who describe Lagos as “no man’s land”. He is worried that an Obi presidency will afford the Igbo the opportunity to seek to realize their expansionist ambitions in Lagos.
I must say that I am stupefied by this catalogue of negative ethnic profiling directed at the Igbo. It is much more disturbing when it is spewing forth from non-Igbo journalists and writers who are friends with some of us from the Igbo nation. Why do those we call our friends recklessly deride the Igbo without qualms? It is strange that they do not care a hoot about how their jaundiced opinions about the Igbo will affect the sensibilities of their friends and associates from the Igbo race. I can hardly come to terms with this disposition because I cannot possibly write, for instance, in condemnation of the entire Yoruba, without being mindful of how my friends and associates from that part of the country will feel. I will not do so because no people or group can be classified as good or bad through and through. It is always a mixed bag. For this reason, what is sensible to do is to take on individuals or groups and deal with them on the basis of their individual merits or lack of it rather than lump an entire race together and sentence them to the gallows. Should the Igbo go through this stigmatization because one of them wants to be the President of Nigeria? I do not think so. Those who are subjecting them to psychological warfare on account of this are being insensitive and inconsiderate.
Regrettably, this kind of mindset is driven by familiar prejudices. In Nigeria, a different standard of judgment is usually reserved for the Igbo by their traducers. That is why when an Igbo sets up a newspaper, Igbo critics will quickly dismiss it as Igbo newspaper. If an Igbo man is at the helm of affairs in a bank, the bank is written off as Igbo bank. This derisive tag holds true in most professions. It is usually easy and convenient to give the Igbo a bad name. For some, it is a sport; a pleasurable game of sorts.
This long-standing prejudice is what is being visited on the Peter Obi presidential project. Those who have an axe to grind with his quest are not facing him directly. They are not trying to tell us about his personal deficiencies that make him unsuitable for the office he is seeking. Rather, he must be written off for the simple fact that he is Igbo. They are simply saying that the Igbo have sinned and come short of the presidency and Peter, their son, has also sinned in like manner. In other words, Obi must suffer collateral damage for the sins of the Igbo, whatever they may be. This is silliness of the worst order. I do not expect this level of prejudice from those who ought to be above board.
Why must the Igbo be judged in this manner? Why are those criticizing Tinubu not dragging the Yoruba into the fray? Tinubu is being judged according to his own merit. In other words, Tinubu and his Yoruba ethnic nationality are different entities. Each can carry its own cross without infecting the other. But in the case of Obi, he is one and the same thing with his Igbo ethnic group. This selective characterization is very unconscionable.
In fact, it has become axiomatic to say that Nigeria has Igbo problem. That is why resentment for the Igbo has become a way of life in Nigeria. Anything or situation that appears favourable to the Igbo is maligned and given a bad name. We saw all of that in the run-up to the presidential primaries of the major political parties in the country. The Igbo had demanded then that the presidency be ceded to them in 2023 for reasons of equity, justice and fairness. But all manner of counter-narratives, most of them jejune and prejudicial, were advanced to shoot that down. Not even our brothers from the South West who were beneficiaries of that concession saw any sense in the Igbo demand. At the end of the day, the two major political parties, the APC and PDP, ignored the Igbo roundly and fielded candidates from outside Igboland. But antagonists of the Igbo are not done. They are taking another step further by transferring the aggression to the Peter Obi candidacy. It is all in the bid to undermine the Igbo. Rather than allow Obi to run the race freely as a free Nigerian, detractors are trying hard to reduce the national appeal he enjoys to an Igbo affair. If painting the Igbo black and tying Peter Obi to that stake is the campaign tool that his detractors have fashioned against him, someone needs to remind them that negative ethnic profiling is not a campaign strategy. Rather, it goes to show that those who have adopted this cheap blackmail have neither a superior argument nor a viable alternative.
The Tinubu supporters are really making a mistake by making the Igbo and Peter Obi the focus of their campaign. They should borrow a leaf from supporters of Atiku Abubakar who are concerned about issues of good governance, rather than dissipate energy on negative ethnic profiling and bigotry.
Obi, PhD, a former Imo State Commissioner for Information, former Chairman The Sun Editorial Board, is a Columnist with The Daily Sun
The Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Federal Universities in Nigeria, has welcomed members of SSANU and NASU back to campus after calling off their six months old strike but declared that Universities can’t operate without the active presence of the Academic staff.
According to the Chairman of the Committee, Prof Sulyman Abdulkareem, Universities, primarily, anywhere in the world are places to teach students and it is only the teachers who can perform such roles effectively and to get them on board is not a daydream.
Prof Abudulkareem, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), made the remark while reacting to resumption by members of the two unions, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non- Academic Staff Union (NASU).
He said even though both SSANU and NASU had directed their members to resume work on Wednesday, no tangible activities would take place in the universities if the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is still on strike and the students are at home.
He said ASUU members are so important that it is impossible to replace them if anybody is thinking in that direction.
“No right-thinking government would even think along that line as university lecturers are not unskilled workers but professionals in various fields.
He asked rhetorically where would government source for their replacement and also get people that will match their levels of performance. “It is simply unthinkable.”
He explained that there was never a time during the strike that the Federal Government directed the vice-chancellors to reopen schools.
Such a directive, he said, can only be passed through the National Universities Commission (NUC), but nothing of such had come from any quarter so far.
Prof Abdulkareem pointed out that even at that, universities are not closed down; it is only that the lecturers are on strike and that such kind of directive for VCs to reopen schools would not solve any problem if they remain off work.
He, however, said what Nigerians should do now was to pray and be hopeful that both the Federal Government and ASUU would reach a compromise without further delay for activities to bounce back on campuses.
The crisis rocking the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs led by Umana Okon Umana is getting messier by the day with no respite in sight.
The NDDC had claimed that it is a body not under any Ministry whatsoever to report to, except the President through the Secretary of Government of the Federation, explaining that the role of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs is to supervise.
This has seen a legal suit restraining the interference of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs from interfering in the administration of the NDDC.
Human rights lawyer and activist, Oladimeji Felix Ekengba, has, however, dismissed claims alleging that the lawsuit seeking to restrain unlawful interference of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in the administration of the NDDC was politically motivated.
In a Statement released in Lagos, Ekengba said “the allegation by a faceless group branded Niger Delta Stakeholders is rather unfortunate, baseless and unpatriotic, to say the least.”
It said the allegations by the group that claimed to comprise of elders, youth groups and stakeholders in the Niger Delta were conveyed in a statement issued by the Secretary General of the group, Chief Anthony Loveday where it accused the Interim Administrator of NDDC, Efiong Okon Akwa of masterminding the lawsuit with the intent of prolonging the tenure of the interim management of the NDDC is said to be false.
Ekengba who initiated the lawsuit dismissed the allegation as hasty and unfounded, insisting that the lawsuit was initiated against the backdrop of demonstrated interference in the management of NDDC contrary to the Act establishing the Commission.
The Activist said that it is baffling, and wondered how the Interim Administrator could benefit from a suit that has no bearing on his tenure and also considering the fact that the ultimate goal of seeking court pronouncement is demonstrate that a statutory governing board in line with the provisions of NDDC is the only panacea to the penchant for interference by high placed individual in flagrant violation of rule of law as currently being witnessed.
“Nigerians particularly Niger Deltans are aware of the agitation for the constitution of a substantive board for the NDDC, one which has been relentless since 2019. It is however shocking that a group of persons would sit down and concoct such lies to serve their selfish interest.”
He maintained that the lawsuit had no political undertone save for the interest of the Niger Delta region whose people have been shortchanged in reaping the dividends of having the interventionist agency.
“As a person I do not even know the Interim Administrator of NDDC and I do not even want to know him. So it becomes laughable to see a faceless group coming up with such fish stories”, Ekengba asserted. According to him, “one would have expected any group supposedly defending the interest of Niger Deltans to at least peruse the court papers before jumping into this wild goose chase”.
Speaking further, Ekengba cautioned that “the matter is already in court and as a matter of principle, no one not even myself can delve into addressing the substance of the case”.
The Human Rights Lawyer therefore called on all well-meaning sons and daughters of the Niger Delta region to remain steadfast in the quest for legally requesting for the constitution of a substantive board for the NDDC as required by law.
In his words, “I believe Mr. President and even the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs are all creations of law and such, the law must be obeyed.” Therefore, “there is no need for such unfounded assertions. Let’s allow the law to take its course”, he concluded.
