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Opinion: Tinubu: Should Nigerians Really Shut Up?

By
James Orji
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Bola Ahmed Tinubu

By Promise Adiele

Nigeria’s god of literature, Wole Soyinka, needs no elaborate introduction. His evident literary flourishes underscore a deep mastery of the English language which he eminently utilises to address socio-political conditions in his native Nigeria and across the world. He has, several times, confronted misrule, urging the economic weary, downtrodden masses to stand up against bad governance and reject the entrenchment of power monsters in the polity. In his globally acclaimed civil war memoir, The Man Died, Soyinka magisterially submits that “the man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.” By that epoch submission, the Nobel laureate encourages victims of feral exercise of power to speak up and not shut up because death is the comeuppance of timid acceptance of political and economic terrorism. Soyinka’s advice to the populace to speak up contradicts Bola Tinubu’s admonition that Nigerians demanding a new beginning from the present All Progressives Congress disaster should ‘shut up.’ Tinubu, the APC presidential standard bearer, was unmistakably direct when he recently encouraged his audience to tell those demanding a change of government in Nigeria to ‘shut up.’

Indeed, it is a demonstration of pathetic humiliation when a child is physically brutalised and asked to ‘shut up’, don’t cry. Nigerians have been roundly assaulted on all fronts by the APC government therefore they reserve the right to speak up and not ‘shut up.’ Following Tinubu’s outburst, many people reacted to what they considered an insult. How could a presidential candidate seeking the votes of Nigerians to the highest office in the land tell the same people to ‘shut up’?

Such language use, from a potential President, besides being condescending, is uncouth and a deliberate attempt to intimidate Nigerians already impoverished by the APC government. Some commentators, socio-political profiteers, if you like, rising in defence of the Tinubu howler, which has become a trademark of his public appearances in recent times, have explained that he was only joking. Well, a joke must be relevant and understood in the context of its semantic application. In Tinubu’s estimation, ‘shut up’ is a ‘polite’ way of telling Nigerians to keep quiet. It is a way to further insult those who think that the APC disaster should be dislodged at the ballot box next year. Tinubu is not a political novice. He should understand political rhetoric as well as anybody in politics.

Certainly, Nigerians will not ‘shut up’ in the face of crippling economic conditions, a bleak future occasioned by mindless borrowing from the present government, corruption, insecurity, collapse of education, and degradation of the healthcare system. No, sir, Nigerians will not ‘shut up’ under such unpropitious conditions. If indeed, the Jagaban of the universe can tell Nigerians to shut up as a presidential aspirant, what will he tell them if he becomes President?

The ‘shut up’ outburst is an apocalyptic, habit-forming gesture in Tinubu’s psychology of power which portends a miserable future for the opposition, and freedom of expression in the event he becomes Mr President. Is this an indication that the APC aspirant will not brook any opposition as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces? We can criticise the President, Maj General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), for many things but Tinubu’s carriage is gradually turning Buhari into a saint of some sort. In all his intransigence, Buhari has never told Nigerians to ‘shut up,’ although he once called the Nigerian youths ‘lazy youths.’ Perhaps, it is in the character of the APC government to show disrespect towards Nigerians but Tinubu’s outburst of ‘shut up’ has redefined the insult paradigm in Nigerian politics.

It is more puzzling because Tinubu was at the forefront of ‘speaking up’ during the General Sani Abacha military junta. I have interviewed former ministers and ex-presidents who were unanimous in their submission that Tinubu did well through NADECO to fight against Abacha’s dictatorship. If indeed Tinubu didn’t ‘shut up’ when the country was under the strangulating grip of Abacha, why then would he ask Nigerians to ‘shut up’ and not demand a change of government under an administration much worse than the Abacha era?

Is Tinubu a dictator in the making? When he says Nigerians should ‘shut up,’ does that also include any of his press outlets where many distinguished people are pursuing a career in professional journalism? The Tinubu take-it-or-leave-it behaviour since the commencement of the present political campaign is inconsistent with the attitude of a man of good intentions. To tell Nigerians to ‘shut up’ for daring to ask for an alternative administration is in bad faith and stands to be condemned. Times are different. People are more aware these days. The present hardship in the country has roused the people out of inexplicable inertia, which explains their unenviable position in the hierarchy of global conquered persons. In their misery, they will no longer ‘shut up.’

There is no question about Tinubu’s competence as an administrator, a manager of men and resources. However, the truth is that Nigerians are disenchanted with the present APC government at the centre and will want to give another party a chance to steer the ship of the state. Nigerians want change and there is nothing bad about it. Therefore to ask them to ‘shut up’ and not demand a change is a remote way of undermining their wishes and a further laceration of the existing injuries inflicted on their lives by the APC misadventure.

‘Shut up’ shows a disdain for the opposition, which is a hallmark of totalitarian states where opposition is abhorred. ‘Shut up’ is combative, cantankerous, disorderly, spiteful, and disrespectful. There is no way anybody in the world will justify a ‘shut up’ effusion seeing that many people desiring a change of government from the APC catastrophe are older than Tinubu. So he was actually telling some older people to ‘shut up’, which in his assessment is a way of being ‘polite.’ No sir, Jagaban of the universe, there is no iota of politeness in ‘shut up’ please.

Political gladiators in the current dispensation should realise that times have changed. Nigerians are no longer the docile, primitive, unlettered people they used to be. It is the right of every citizen in Nigeria to desire a change or continuation of a government. It is a good thing that Tinubu realises that Nigerians are vehemently clamouring for a change of government, which is why he is telling them to ‘shut up.’ If the APC government has performed well, will Nigerians demand a change of government? It is more bewildering because in 2015, Tinubu was at the vanguard of a change of government and no one asked him to ‘shut up.’

If indeed, Buhari, Tinubu, and many of the present APC stalwarts marched on the streets of Nigeria demanding a change of government without anyone asking them to ‘shut up,’ then Jagaban does not have any ethical, moral, spiritual or even political justification to ask anyone to ‘shut up’ for demanding a change of government now. That Tinubu has vowed to continue with Buhari’s legacies is enough reason for people to reject him at the polls. How on earth will anybody want to continue the present hellish dispensation and expect people to ‘shut up’? No sir. “The man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.”

On second thought, the ‘shut up’ admonition could be more fundamental – in which case, the opposition will not be allowed any presence in Lagos, Tinubu’s territory. Yes, the ‘shut up’ insult could mean that no opposition should speak or maintain any form of presence in Lagos. Is that why opposition billboards cannot be mounted anywhere in Lagos even though Tinubu’s billboards are all over the country even in territories dominated by the opposition? Could that be the reason a young boy with the flag of an opposition party was reportedly manhandled by those empowered to enforce the ‘shut up’ rule?

Is there a calculated attempt to ensure even on social and mainstream media that the opposition ‘shuts up’ till Election Day? Are we going to witness more brutal enforcement of ‘shut up’ in the days ahead?

Is that why any scrutiny of the APC presidential candidate is immediately hounded and attacked, all in a bid to enforce the ‘shut up’ rule? As Nigeria’s literary sage Chinua Achebe advises, “Let the eagle perch and let the hawk perch. If one says no to the other, let its wings break.” Nigerians must soro soke to the high heavens because “the man dies in all who keep silent in the face of tyranny.”

Adiele lectures at the Mountain Top University

Polaris Bank: New Investor Takes Over Bank For N50bn

By
James Orji
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0

The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has announced the sale of Polaris Bank Ltd to a core investor, Strategic Capital Investment Limited.

Under the share purchase agreement reached with the apex bank and the Asset Management Company of Nigeria,  AMCON, the new investor acquired 100 percent equity in the former bridge bank as the sole owner.

According to a statement issued by Osita Nwanisobi the apex bank Director, Corporate Communications on Thursday, the Godwin Emefiele-led bank said the sale met all regulatory approval including that of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Recall that the House of Representatives had two weeks ago directed the CBN to put the sale on hold until it concludes the investigation on the issue, particularly the allegation that the bank was cheaply sold to the investor.

The bank was said to have been sold for a paltry N50 billion whereas the CBN had already invested over N1.2 trillion in the bank since it transformed from Skye Bank Plc in 2018 after it was taken over by AMCON.

In the statement issued yesterday, the CBN said the sale has now been approved by the House of Representatives.

Apart from meeting all regulatory approval, the new investor, the apex bank has also agreed to pay the sum of N1.31 trillion, being the consideration bonds injected.

The apex bank statement said, “The CBN thus received an immediate return for the value it has created in Polaris Bank during the stabilisation period, as well as ensuring that all funds originally provided to support the intervention are recovered.

“The sale was coordinated by a Divestment Committee (the ‘Committee’) comprising representatives of the CBN and AMCON, and advised by legal and financial consultants. The committee conducted a sale process by ‘private treaty’, as provided in Section 34(5) of the AMCON Act to avoid negative speculations, retain value and preserve financial system stability.

“In the process, parties who had formally expressed an interest in acquiring Polaris Bank, subsequent to the CBN intervention in 2018, were invited to submit financial and technical proposals. Invitations to submit proposals were sent to 25 pre-qualified interested parties, out of which three parties eventually submitted final purchase proposals following technical evaluation.

“All submissions were subject to a rigorous transaction process from which SCIL emerged as the preferred bidder having presented the most comprehensive technical/financial purchase proposal as well as the highest rated growth plans for Polaris Bank.”

Oyo: Gov Makinde  Is Diverting Local Govt Funds – APC

By
Ayodele Oni
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Governor Seyi Makinde

By Ayodele Oni

The Concerned Elders Forum of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Oyo State has accused the administration of Governor Seyi Makinde of mismanaging local governments funds.

The Elders Forum alleged that funds accrued from the federation account to the 33 Local Governments in Oyo State amounted to N12.7billion in three months, but only N330million was said to have been released by the State Government to the ‘traumatized’ Local councils.

The opposition group said in Ibadan on Thursday that the said amount is generating ripples amongst the council chairmen who felt shortchanged by the state government’s burdensome activities on the finances of the council areas.

The APC group expressed worry over this matter, just as it bemoaned the lack of transparency, accountability and good governance in the State.

In a statement on behalf of the group, Chief Wahabi Gbadeyanka said that the N12.7biilion represented the total amount that the federal government credited the state as allocation of the council areas.

Gbadeyanka regretted that the said N330million was shared by the 33 councils and the 35 Local council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the State.

He queried what development can come from such a meagre resources to local areas?

The APC chieftain said the breakdown of the said total allocation represented allocations to the 33 Local Governments in July, August and September.

He cautioned against total strangulation of councils in the State, which regrettably is the third and closest tier to the grassroots.

“The Commissioner in charge of local governments and the Accountant General have become mere pawns in the hands of the governor to legitimize all illegal activities currently going on in the State.

“We suspect the money has been misappropriated and this will further aggravate underdevelopment at the local government areas.

“The Peoples Democratic Party government needs to purge itself of various allegations bothering on alleged mind-boggling graft which by the grace of God the APC government of Teslim Kolawole Folarin will look into when he gets the mandate of our people in 2023.

“We can do better as a State for our people. Governor Seyi Makinde is depriving our people quality governance at the local governments which is the closest tier of government to the people.

“Why is the state government spending money meant for Local Governments’ development?

“It has stifled the councils of revenues meant for its growth and development.

“Many of the responsibilities of the Local Governments have been taken over by the State Government. No council in Oyo State can function effectively under the current contraption.

“And with these misdemeanors, there is no way councils can survive. If the trend continues, people of the State would continue to suffer and bear the brunt of underdevelopment.

“Development has taken flight in all the council areas and that’s why we need to support autonomy of Local Governments.

“The question now is has the N12.7billlion been misappropriated in the last three months under review?

“The Local Government autonomy is the way out because on many occasions, State undertakes projects on their behalf and just asked them to append their signatures unreasonably. It appears the State is being run at the expense of councils.”

Tanker Explosion: 10 Persons Die, Several Injured in Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Explosion

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Tanker Explosion at Ibadan Expressway

By Akinwale Kasali

It is a black Thursday on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway as no fewer than 10 persons were confirmed burnt to death in an inferno which followed the explosion of fuel-carrying Tanker. Several other persons are battling for life.

The Tanker exploded at the Sagamu interchange, along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in Ogun State, leaving several vehicles burnt to ashes.

The Public Education Officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps, Ogun Sector Command, Florence Okpe and Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, Babatunde Akinbiyi, confirmed the accident.

Akinbiyi and Okpe said the victims of the accidents were burnt beyond recognition.

It was gathered that the vehicles involved in the accident were: a Mack truck with registration number: AKL 198 ZT, an Iveco truck with no registration number, a Mazda bus marked, FFE 361 XB, an unmarked Howo truck, and the Mack tanker.

They attributed the cause of the accident to excessive speed on the part of the Iveco truck.

Okpe said: “The driver of the Iveco truck which was traveling at the top speed lost control and rammed into the tanker which resulted in the fire outbreak due to leakage.

“The suspected cause of the multiple crashes was excessive speed which led to the loss of control on the part of the Iveco truck and smashed the tanker body which resulted in fire outbreak due to leakage.

“The Mazda bus got engulfed in the spark of the fire.”

She added that the burnt bodies were taken to Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu.

“The Sector Commander FRSC Ogun Sector Command, Ahmed Umar has commiserated with the family of the victims after visiting the scene of the incident.

“He (Umar) also advised motorists to drive cautiously, obey traffic rules and regulations as well as consider each other while driving,” she said

EndSARS: Youths Storm Lekki Tollgate To Mark Second Year Anniversary;  Police Tear Gas Protesters

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Lagos EndSARS Protesters

By Akinwale Kasali

Youths, in their hundreds scattered all across the Lagos State, especially at the Lekki Tollgate, in a procession with blood stained flags and dummy coffins to mark the Second Year Remembrance of the #EndSARS protest.

In major parts of the State, Youths came out to pay tribute to the fallen heroes of the #EndSARS protest by embarking on a peaceful procession.

Unfortunately, at the Lekki Toll Gate, as the procession was ongoing, heavily armed Police officers shot tear gas to disperse the protestants who scampered to safety.

The Police had alleged that the Protesters were on the verge of disrupting law and order, prompting it to take measures in addressing the situation by shooting tear gas at the protesters.

According to the Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, “Peaceful persons were allowed to move around without interference from the police. Some of them that decided to be lawless and start mounting the toll complex, an action threatening the existing law and order in the area, were dispersed with teargas”.

Activist Rinu Oduala, who took to her Twitter handle to condemn the action of the Police wrote, “ Cowards @policeng! This is what you know how to do best?

Teargas us but you won’t stop us from remembering the people you killed!

“We will still come out every time to show that people didn’t die in vain!

At a Press Briefing on Wednesday, 19th October, 2022, organizers and victims of the #EndSARS  protests, had called for the full implementation of the reports of the judicial panels of inquiry set up by the government to probe the protests just as it promised to hold a memorial rally in honour of those killed during the October 2020 protests at the Lekki tollgate and other areas across the country today.

Speaking during the second anniversary of the #EndSARS protests, Ayoyinka Oni, who spoke on the theme ‘ENDSARS justice now: Justice delayed is justice denied’, called for full compensation of victims of protest, saying there should not be any back door payments.

Oni who is the leader of the Takeitback group, demanded among others the release of all incarcerated over EndSARS compensation by the state for jailing them unjustly, adequate compensation for people wounded and families of people killed, full implementation of reports of judicial panels of inquiry, open trial of all security personnel involved in the massacre and also a public apology for massacre and repression by the government and the full implementation of the ENDSARS 5 for 5 demands.”

He said, “As you would recall, the #EndSARS movement was a spontaneous rebellion of Nigerian youths who have borne the scars of illegal detentions; missing loved ones and extra-judicial murders of family members and friends by police, and the military-like repression by a supposedly democratic government.

“The protests were peaceful and forged a sense of oneness in the hearts and minds of Nigerians from all walks of life and ethno-regional backgrounds. We were armed only with our conscience and patriotism. The weapons we had were ideas, slogans and placards. People, who did not know each other before the protests stood together, sat together, marched together, ate together, sang together, prayed together and shared the hopes of a better Nigeria in their hearts and through their actions.

“As you would recall, we were violently attacked at different times during the almost three weeks of our glorious resistance by armed security personnel of the state, and vagabonds who were revealed to have been backed by agencies of the state, as captured in several videos circulated on social media. The vehicles of #EndSARS protesters were burnt in Abuja; and known thugs associated with the ruling party were unleashed on protesters in several states, including Lagos, Osun and Anambra. In Abuja, on the same day that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, was banned, the police used water cannons against protesters, and would later fire volleys of teargas canisters.

“Despite all these, we were undeterred. The protesters met these brutish displays of force with love. We had hope – hope that love would overcome hate, hope that the truth would prevail, hope for a renewed nation where all rights would be duly respected as enshrined in the Constitution. This hope was dashed as the movement was drowned in blood on 20.10.20 – a date forever marked by ignominy for the Nigerian state; a date forever etched in our minds as a marker in the struggle to remake Nigeria.

“We painfully recall the attack as our colleagues were shot at while peacefully singing the National Anthem and waving the Nigerian flag. The federal government dismissed their deaths as mere figments of our imagination, despite the presence of physical eyewitnesses as well as virtual eyewitnesses who witnessed the events unfold in real-time on Instagram Live.

“The Lekki Toll Gate Massacre symbolizes the tragedy of state violence against innocent young Nigerians, fighting for their country with flags and the national anthem as their only tools. It is the symbol of the direct assault on the aspirations of young Nigerians for a better country”.

To Governor Nyesom Wike: Some Home Truths

By
The Source
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0
Nwoba Chika Nwoba and Nyesom Wike

By Nwoba Chika Nwoba

My dear brother in-law, Barr Nyesom Wike, I bring you greetings from Amangwuru village of Ekpelu community in Ikwo LGA of Ebonyi State.

There’s no need asking about your health and feelings; it’s showing on your physiological construct.

You are an Ikwerre man; my wife is an Ikwerre woman. I am your brother in-law and qualify to address you.

I am Nwoba Chika Nwoba, Publicity Secretary of PDP in Ebonyi State!

Sir, take political life easy! Nigeria doesn’t belong to you as an inheritance. Rivers State doesn’t belong to you as an estate. You are drying up by the day due to the politics of do or die you have engaged yourself for some months now.

You have only seven months to quit office as Governor of Rivers State. Your influence will start phasing away after the governorship election in March, next year.

It’s then the reality of power transition will begin to dawn on you.

Your erstwhile appointees will forget about you immediately. Your contractors will leave you. The number of your political associates will decrease drastically. All the attention will be focused on the new Governor and Government of Rivers State. Your name soon grows decrepit in the ears of the citizens the cacophony of your verbiage once reverberated.

Everything about you will become old-fashioned. Your clangorous diatribes will fall in diminuendo.

Gov. Wike, brother in-law, Dr Peter Odili was Governor in Rivers State. He contested Presidential ticket of PDP in 2007, pushing in Rivers’ fortune into the surreal aspiration. He lost out. He didn’t go insane about it. He didn’t demand anyone’s neck.

Hon. Chibuike Amaechi was Governor in Rivers State. He contested the Presidential ticket of the APC in 2022 and came second as yourself. As Minister of Transportation, he focused transport infrastructure attention towards the North, thinking they would cede the ticket to him. They didn’t.

In 2015, he pushed in the Rivers’ money to the struggle of establishing the APC and making it win the presidential election. Now that he has lost the ticket of the party, he hasn’t called for anyone’s jugular. He’s maintaining silence, pursuing his Law degree in the university.

Getting to your turn now, you are going about it in most rustic of manners. The negative effects of the vengeful struggle you are pushing are showing on your outlook. It’s giving your brothers in-law a dire concern.

Sir, Northern Nigerian people don’t know friendship or camaraderie when it comes to electoral politics. Gov. Tambuwal showed you that at the PDP Presidential Primary Election venue. You didn’t expect it from him. He stepped down for Atiku Abubakar in the interest of the North. Wike, would you have stepped down for a Southerner if it had come to that option? You wouldn’t, of course!

Even at that, Gov. Tambuwal didn’t do anything aberrant in politics. His action, instead, shows how united and resolute the Northern political elite are in pursuance of central power.

If truth be told, you should not have contested the ticket against the South East. It was because of you that Peter Obi left the PDP. You have since after the exercise been engaging yourself in vengeful talk- exercise. You gave out 25 buses to Cross River PDP candidates and cash last week. You have donated N300 million to the Lagos State APC’s Gov. Sanwolu just to spite PDP. Lagos is times two richer than Rivers. One wonders if the wealth of the State of Rivers is your personal estate.

To further press home your frustration, you derecognised Barr Celestine Omehia as former Rivers State Governor as a result of his not following you sheepishly. You recognised him earlier using the House of Assembly even as that shouldn’t have been done in the first place.

You have been witch hunting the lives and businesses of Rivers State politicians opposed to your journey towards perdition. You have voiced out things only a drowning life could do. You are trivialising the glorified Rivers governorship concept by virtue of your recent dishonourable invectives.

Dear brother in-law, may you get over the defeat hangover that has kept you in the cold, making you bleat as if an inheritance of yours or destiny has been tampered with. What you are playing is no longer politics. You are becoming an aimless villain.

Power, they say, is transient. You will understand all you have been doing once you pull off the governorship garb adorning your body now by next year.

Even the young man you work towards making Governor will disappoint you once he has assumed office as your kind of person will like to remain in power by surrogacy. It doesn’t work out in most cases. You will soon be alone.

The people you are hounding today for no social reason will use you like a plaything should they succeed in 2023. You may regret taking the route you are taking now with arrogance.

You still have a little time gap to retrace your way for the sake of your sanity and political tomorrow.

You now look like an octogenarian in your fifties due to the unnecessary fisticuffs you have engaged yourself into.

Rivers votes don’t belong to you. You can’t control them insofar as you think you could. The new electoral act has made it impossible for you to dictate the tune in February, 2023, dear brother in-law, Barr Nyesom Wike, Governor of Rivers State!

Nwoba is the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Ebonyi State

President Buhari Sacks NDDC Sole Administrator; Intense Lobby Mounts For Helmsman

By
Ayodele Oni
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0
Effiong Akwa

By Ayodele Oni

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked the Sole Administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Effiong Akwa.

No reason was given for the removal of the NDDC boss, who was appointed in October last year.

In a statement by the Director of Press, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Patricia Deworitshe, the President also announced the constitution of a new Management Team and Governing Board of the NDDC.

According to the statement, the Board nominees will be announced later.

There have been calls for the constitution of a Management Board for the NDDC from member states to ensure their representation in the commission.

There is intense lobby among the nine member states of the NDDC for the position of the managing director of the commission with Ondo and Edo insisting that it is their turn.

A Group in the Niger Delta region Niger Delta Development Ambassadors (NDDA) has written an open letter to President Muhammadu Buhari to drum its support for Olugbenga Edema, recommended by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state for the position of the managing director of the  Commission.

In a letter signed by Awipi Lawson, Delta State, Chairman, Ekpobomini Loko,Ondo State, Secretary, the group described Edema as the round peg in a round hole for the position.

The letter, “Sir, the expectation of all Niger Delta patriots is to see an NDDC that is functional and efficient in the delivery of sustainable and all-inclusive development to the region.

“This can only be achieved with a capable, experienced, clear-headed, visionary and prudent resource MANAGER.

“Such a ‘trustee’ of the people must have an impeccable character, unblemished antecedents and verifiable records and credentials.

“It is on account of the above persuasion, that the Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN has singled out and recommended one of the best hands in the region, Barrister ‘Gbenga Edema, for your kind consideration as the MD of NDDC.

“Sir, as stakeholders with uncommon passion for the development of the Niger Delta, we find this recommendation quite spirit- lifting and most appropriate.

“We, therefore, affirm our unflinching support for Gbenga Edema and implore Mr President to kindly consider him for the job.

“Section 12 (1) of the NDDC Act 200) provides that, ‘There shall be for the Commission a Managing Director and two Executive Directors, who shall be indigenes of oil-producing states starting with member states of the Commission with the highest production quantum of oil and shall rotate among member states in order of production.

“As would be expected, Edema hails from Ogogoro, an oil-producing community in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State.

“Between 2017 to 2021, he served as Chairman of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, OSOPADEC. He was also a Member of the Ondo State House of Assembly among others.

“Interestingly, in accordance with the NDDC Act, Mr President nominated Edema and had since been screened and confirmed by the senate with respect to the NDDC.

“On the whole, it will be a breath of fresh air for the people of the Niger Delta to have a tested and trusted servant of the people like Gbenga Edema to pilot the affairs of the Commission. This, he will do in the most meritorious way for the good of the people of the region.”

MNK: Setting The Records Straight

By
The Source
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0
Aloy Ejimakor

By Alloy Ejimakor

The ‘Extraordinary Rendition’ Judgment Set for 27th October in Umuahia Holds, and, there will be no Sit-at-Home

This Press Release is compelled by the avalanche of inquiries I have been receiving from the media and others on whether the judgment set for 27th October at the Federal High Court, Umuahia on the suit I filed on extraordinary rendition will still hold. The answer is: Yes, it will still hold.

The inquiries are apparently necessitated by the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja on 13th October. Despite this Court of Appeal judgment, the Federal High Court, Umuahia will still proceed with its own judgment on 27th October, 2022 as was previously scheduled. My office has not received, and we do not expect to receive any notice from the court that the judgment has been adjourned

In my awareness that these inquiries mostly emanated from the major and significant impact extraordinary rendition had on the Court of Appeal judgment, I will hasten to add that, despite the common presence of extraordinary rendition, the issues and reliefs before the Court of Appeals in Abuja are markedly different from the issues and reliefs pending judgment before the Federal High Court, Umuahia.

To be sure, the sole reason for the common presence of extraordinary rendition in both cases is because I had, as far back as August 2021, taken it before the State High court in Umuahia and later to the Federal High court.

In summary, the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja considered the narrow issue of the impact of extraordinary rendition on the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in Abuja to subject Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to trial. Conversely, the issues or prayers before the Federal High Court, Umuahia are many and different from the narrow issue of jurisdiction decided in the Abuja judgment.

For ease of reference, I will reproduce below the prayers pending before Umuahia and which were not specifically and fundamentally considered or captured by the judgment in Abuja. They are:

1, A DECLARATION that the arrest of the Applicant in Kenya by the Respondents’ agents without due process of law is arbitrary, and the Respondents’ enforced disappearance of the Applicant for eight (8) days and their refusal to produce the Applicant before a Kenyan Court for the purpose of Applicant’s extradition is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amount to infringement of the Applicant’s fundamental right against arbitrary arrest, to his personal liberty and to fair hearing as enshrined and guaranteed under the pertinent provisions of CFRN and the Charter.

2, A DECLARATION that the detention of the Applicant in a non-official secret facility in Kenya and the torture of the Applicant in Kenya by the Respondents’ agents is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amount to infringement of the Applicant’s fundamental right against unlawful detention, torture and to fair hearing, as enshrined and guaranteed under the pertinent provisions of CFRN and the Charter).

3, A DECLARATION that, pursuant to Article 12(4) of the Charter, the expulsion (or extraordinary rendition) of the Applicant from Kenya to Nigeria by the Respondents without a decision taken in accordance with the law of Kenya is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of the Applicant’s fundamental right to fair hearing and not to be expelled from a State Party to the Charter except by virtue of a decision taken in accordance with the law, as enshrined and guaranteed under the pertinent provisions of CFRN and the Charter.

4, A DECLARATION that any criminal prosecution of the Applicant the purpose of which the Respondents unlawfully expelled the Applicant from Kenya to Nigeria is illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional and amounts to infringement of the Applicant’s fundamental right to fair hearing, as enshrined and guaranteed under the pertinent provisions of CFRN and the Charter.

5, AN ORDER OF INJUNCTION restraining and prohibiting the Respondents from taking any further step in any criminal prosecution of the Applicant enabled by the said unlawful expulsion of the Applicant from Kenya to Nigeria.

6, AN ORDER mandating and compelling the Respondents to forthwith restitute or otherwise restore the Applicant to his liberty, same being his state of being as of 19th June, 2021; and to thereupon repatriate the Applicant to his country of lawful domicile (to wit: the United Kingdom) to await the outcome of any formal request the Respondents may file before the competent authorities in Britain for the lawful extradition of the Applicant to Nigeria.

7, AN ORDER mandating and compelling the Respondents to issue an official Letter of Apology to the Applicant for the infringement of his fundamental rights; and publication of said Letter of Apology in three (3) national dailies.

8, AN ORDER mandating and compelling the Respondents to pay the sum of N25,000,000,000.00 (Twenty-Five Billion Naira) to the Applicant, being monetary damages claimed by the Applicant against the Respondents jointly and severally for the physical, mental, emotional, psychological, property and other damages suffered by the Applicant as a result of the infringements of Applicant’s fundamental rights by the Respondents.

In summary, the case in Umuahia is sui generis as it borders on fundamental rights, whereas the judgment in Abuja bordered on jurisdiction.

In conclusion, as the public has been previously informed by my clients, there is no Sit-at-home on the judgment day of 27th October, 2022. Please be guided accordingly.

Ejimakor, Esq.is Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu/IPOB

UK Prime Minister Resigns Less Than 2 Months In Office

By
James Orji
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0
Liz Truss

Liz Truss has announced that she is resigning as Prime Minister, triggering a fresh Tory leadership contest which will be concluded “within the next week”.

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Ms Truss said she had come to realise that she “cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party”.

She said: “I have therefore spoken to His Majesty The King to notify him that I am resigning as leader of the Conservative Party.

“This morning I met the chairman of the 1922 Committee Sir Graham Brady. We have agreed that there will be a leadership election to be completed within the next week.

“This will ensure that we remain on a path to deliver our fiscal plans and maintain our countries economic stability and national security. I will remain as Prime Minister until a successor has been chosen.”

Sir Keir Starmer responded to Ms Truss’s resignation by repeating his call for an immediate general election as he said  the “British public deserve a proper say on the country’s future”. The Lib Dems and SNP have also called for an election.

Ian Blackford, the SNP’s leader in Westminster, said: “It was inevitable Liz Truss would have to go after the damage she’s inflicted – but merely swapping leaders of a broken Tory government is not enough. There must now be a general election – people will accept nothing less.

“The UK is in a state of constant crisis and long-term decline. With all the Westminster parties signed up to the economic pain of a hard Brexit and austerity cuts, it is clear independence is the only way to keep Scotland safe and escape the chaos of Westminster control for good.”

She has currently clocked up 44 full days in the role – a long way behind the next shortest premiership, that of Tory statesman George Canning, who spent 118 full days as PM in 1827 before dying in office from ill health.

Ms Truss was to have overtaken this number of days on January 3 2023.

But instead she will fall short by more than two months, with the next prime minister due to be elected within the next week.

Meanwhile, it was learned that Rishi Sunak who contested and lost to Truss will is the favourite to emerge the next prime Minister and Conservative Party leader.

The Telegraph

OPINION: A Professor’s Pay-Slip and Lessons From ASUU Strike

By
The Source
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0
Azu Ishiekwene

By Azu Ishiekwene

After eight months’ strike, one of the longest in the country’s history, university teachers finally returned, at gunpoint, to the classrooms on Monday.

It was the 16th time university teachers would be striking in 23 years. Frustrated parents and distraught students just couldn’t wait to hear that the strike had been suspended and schools reopened.

It does appear, however, that if all we’re interested in is to tick the box, it won’t be long before we’re back to square one. There is a clear and present danger that we’re kicking the can, with the teachers, down the road. And this bad sign, which was always there even while teachers were being bullied to return to class, was full blown on the first day of return.

This may sound like Greek, but Good Samaritan and House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, understands what I’m talking about. He was among the last ranking public-spirited individuals to intervene to end the strike.

Parties familiar with the dispute told me on Monday that up till then, the two sticking points were 1) an acceptable IPPIS, the integrated payroll system which manages university teachers’ pay and allowances and 2) the no-work-no-pay rule which, according to the law, meant potentially that the teachers would not be paid for the eight months they were on strike.

The Speaker assured them, however, that there would be “a political solution”, meaning that he had secured the understanding of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to 1) allow a more flexible and competitive payroll system which, for example, would capture all allowances and accommodate payments by host schools during sabbaticals and 2) pay them in two tranches for the period of the strike.

In case the Speaker is still available, however, he might be interested to know that the ASUU-FG fire hasn’t been extinguished quite yet. The understanding collapsed even before the teachers reached the classrooms on Monday.

On Day One of resumption at the University of Lagos teachers there and elsewhere told me they had been informed there was no going back on the full implementation of the vexatious payroll system and also that the no-work-no-pay rule still stands.

In order words, while we felt a sense of relief, teachers returned to the classroom to confront the same fundamental problem that has dogged the agreement in the last two decades: bad faith. Teachers are, once again, left with the short end of the stick.

Some would say deservedly. Half way through the strike voices of dissent were raising doubts about the usefulness of strikes and questioning how much effort the union itself was making to improve university funding. Why indulge the insanity of frequent strikes when everyone knows that this government treats serious issues as a sport?

At its wit’s end, ASUU yielded to being kicked down the road with the can. At which point triumphant government officials were only too pleased to bury the hatchet right in the wounded back of the union. It’s no use going over the long list of the union’s grievances, which has often been summarised as poor funding for education.

It might, however, be useful to see how the pay-slip of an associate professor, who has spent nearly 20 years in a first-rank federal university, tells the story.

This professor earns N436,545 monthly. Of this amount, total deductions – including payments for NHF for which no forms were completed, and inexplicable sundry taxes – account for 205k. The professor’s net monthly salary is about 232k; that is, roughly N8,000 daily for teaching, research and community service!

We can argue that in a country of generally low wages and poor productivity, misery is inevitably widespread. Yet, I think most might agree that if we want a truly great, secure and prosperous future, it is futile to pay peanuts and not expect monkeys in our classrooms. The question, however, is how do we deliver more value to the system.

As long as course content and research are largely irrelevant to the needs of industry and society and delivery and feedback methods are even more irrelevant, schools will continue to find it difficult to attract donor funds, grants and endowments, which are the mainstay of universities elsewhere.

Teachers will neither earn more respect nor money by behaving like shopfloor workers or comparing themselves with politicians sworn to a lifestyle of crookedness. The outrageous allowances that politicians in the National Assembly currently earn are proceeds of extortion. They are not a reflection of value and are therefore unsustainable.

Schools will only get better by prioritising curriculum and research that focus on problem-solving. They must also encourage the academic culture of merit, curiosity and debate. Unfortunately, a number of academics have lost their way. Not a few are worse than the superstitious herd in our mushrooming faith centres.

To fix the system students have to pay more. A statement by the Lagos State Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo, in September that the ratio of public to private schools in Lagos was 1:22 could be an indication that residents in the state, for example, may be willing to pay more for university education.

The average tuition fees in the more stable private universities are more than twice those in state universities, especially in Southern states. And yet, in the more-in-demand federal universities, a student studying Economics, for example, will pay about N45,000 per session, while his counterpart studying the same course in a state university pays roughly 150 percent more!

It also doesn’t make sense that teachers in state universities paid by state governments would join teachers at the federal level to strike when they have no pay dispute with the state. This nonsense of state teachers taking Panadol for the headache of federal teachers must stop.

Long established systems are politically difficult to dismantle, but like has been the case with state policing, it won’t be long before economic circumstances teach us a lesson.

The 43 federal universities should be dismantled, perhaps leaving only two per zone, with one in each zone focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The remaining 31 can be taken up either by state governments that wish to do so, or they are organised into autonomous units. Of course, not all of them will survive.

A system of sponsorships, scholarships and loans should be reestablished.

The reason for proposing two universities instead of one is that if only one university is established the system will gradually and eventually crowd out STEM, because our people seem to have difficulty coping with the rigour of science.

It’s true that useless Federal bureaucracies – TETFUND, PTDF – are fattening themselves at the expense of the entire system. Yet, we have seen from the way the universities manage funds even from their own internal programmes, that unless the system becomes more competitive, intentional, transparent and accountable, funds or grants, even if they come, would be wasted.

According to a Central Bank report in May, Nigerians paid about $11.6 billion as fees in foreign universities in the last three years, including schools in countries whose citizens used to come here for higher education. It’s not enough to wring our hands in lament. Already, the seed for the next strike has been sown by the government’s malicious compliance with its own agreement from the first day – a trend that we have seen in the last over two decades.

Perhaps the only thing that will save us from this famished road sooner than later is for teachers, parents, students and the government to admit that the system is broken. It will cost everyone something more than just kicking the can down the road to fix it.

Ishiekwene is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP

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