Founding fathers of Ekiti State have taken a look at development in the State 25 years after its creation and scored it zero, describing various political leaders at different times as pursuing separatist agenda.
Ekiti State was created from the Old Ondo State, in 1996 by the late Head of State, Sani Abacha and has been governed by four elected Governors, two military administrators and two sole administrators.
A stakeholders parley, organized in Ado Ekiti by a Group, Ekiti Future Agenda, concluded that the dream of the founding fathers has been outrightly abandoned.
Speakers at the forum in their comments and reactions, expressed disappointment about the performance of elected leaders that spent their tenures pursuing personal agenda.
The keynote Speaker, Akin Oluwadare Jnr, who spoke on the topic ‘Ekiti At 25, Rekindling And Reinforcing The Vision Of The Founding Fathers,’ hit the nail on head as he pointed out that a lot still needed to be done to put the state on a right footing as envisaged by the founding fathers.
The purpose for the agitation for the separation of Ekiti from the Old Ondo State and the hope of realizing such feat, he said has not been fulfilled.
“I reminiscent the creation of Ekiti State in 1996 with sweet nostalgia. I was young but not too young not to know what it meant to have a state government nearer home.
“It was an ecstatic moment for all indigenes of Ekiti State, home and abroad. The excitement that greeted the announcement by the then Head of State, Late General Sani Abacha, was spectacular.
“Should the question be asked if Ekiti has fulfilled the vision of the founding fathers, we will have many answers, depending on who is answering, but one thing that is sure is that opinions will vary and there will not be any agreement.
“What this tells us is that there is a lot that still needs to be done. I said this because it should be glaring for all to see if the state is on the right path to fulfilling the vision of the founding fathers with little disagreements from all stakeholders.
“Two things are possible. It is either the vision is not clear enough or it is far from being realised as conceived by the founding fathers.
“Our role here today, therefore, is to develop a blueprint that can complement the efforts of those in the leadership of our dear Ekiti State for her continuous development.
“A development plan can sufficiently answer for a vision if it was ever written. A development plan that is well written and gazetted can form the bedrock of the development agenda for successive administrations irrespective of change of government or ruling political party.”
Area to be given priority, according to him include quality of education at the
primary and secondary levels because the foundation is very important.
“Alumni associations have a role to play to complement the efforts of the state government
in restoring quality to our primary and secondary schools, particularly in provision of amenities and infrastructure.
“There is also the need for old students associations to organise periodic social and educational awareness programmes in their former schools to inspire the younger ones.
Other Speakers highlighted, insincerity, inconsistency, and over politicizing of every issue as major factors slowing down the pace of development in the state.
They believed that successive governments in Ekiti State have continued to run the affairs of the state in their own ways and pattern without recourse to the vision of the founding fathers.
The convener of the forum, Mr. Adesina Adetola stated that the programme was initiated to enable stakeholders brainstorm and come up with concrete resolutions on how to move the state forward.
He said the various resolutions reached during the meeting would be forwarded to appropriate authorities for necessary implementation.
A diplomatic row is brewing between the federal government and Cote D’Ivoire over the autopsy report released by the West African neighbour on the death of a Nigerian, Itunu Babalola who died in police custody last month.
The 21-year-old Babalola’s death on November 14 shocked many Nigerians who have demanded justice. She was a trader in Bondoukou, Cote d’Ivoire, before she had a dispute with an Ivorien who broke into her apartment. She reported the case to the police, who later turned the case against her and locked her up where she eventually died.
Speaking on the autopsy report released by the Cote D’Ivoire governmenter, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairperson of the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission, NiDCOM said the report was unacceptable to the Nigerian government, adding that the Buhari administration will ensure that justice is served on the matter.
The NiDCOM boss said: “I am not a doctor, but when I saw the autopsy result which stated, ‘Sepsis complicated by acute respiratory distress,’ that was not acceptable to me without being a doctor and I don’t think that should be accepted. I believe Nigeria should not let this matter go just like that. We need to demand justice.
“How come after everything had been done, the case was transferred to Abidjan? The lawyer’s fee had been paid and what was just left was for her to get out of prison.
Everything had been done and we were so sure. Even the prosecution said the girl was not guilty of the crime she was accused of, so how come she died just like that?”
Dabiri-Erewa said further that the autopsy report is unquestionable. According to her “we are not God, but these questions must be answered. This autopsy result, even to me, doesn’t appear acceptable. What is ‘Sepsis complicated by acute respiratory distress?’ How did it happen? I hope that we will not let this matter go just like that.
“The police officer involved in this matter, we have reported him to INTERPOL. We are not ready to relent. That police officer must be questioned. I am sure that the Minister of Foreign Affairs will take the next necessary steps to demand from Cote D‘Ivoire a lot more information than they had given.”
Thee Charge D’Affaires of the Nigerian Mission in Côte D’Ivoire, Mohammed Gana, had disclosed that Babalola was wrongly convicted and later jailed for a crime she did not commit. He said the case was twisted by the police in order to punish the deceased.
“Investigations carried out also indicated that the former prosecutor, in collaboration with the police, twisted her case and accused Babalola of human trafficking which led to her conviction for 20 years even though the sentence was reduced to 10 years from which she has served two years so far,” Mohammed said.
President Muhammadu Buhari, had to the surprise of many, refused to sign into law, the Electoral Act, 2021, as Amended. For that he has come under strong criticisms from almost all stakeholders.
But a statement by the Presidency, signed by a Presidential Spokesman, Garba Shehu, said Buhari refused to sign because “‘he put Nigeria and Nigerians first.
Following is the full text of the statement.
The President’s decision to withhold assent from the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill 2021 has come under scrutiny from media and political circles. This is quite correct because it is a decision that will impact all Nigerians. The President’s Office has decided therefore to issue an official statement to make its position clear.
Nigeria’s strength as a nation and its status as one of the wealthiest economies in Africa with one of its highest standards of living owes above all to its proud democratic processes, which are enshrined in the Electoral Act of 2010.
It is this act which the new bill seeks to amend. These amendments have been presented as a means to enhance and build upon our democratic processes. After careful review, the President’s Office has found that the opposite is true.
Rather, the proposed amendments entail significant legal, financial, economic and security consequences for all Nigerians, principal among which would be a severe spike in the cost of holding primary elections by parties – integral to democracies the world over.
And who would shoulder these costs? The Nigerian taxpayer of course. And who would benefit? Only the richest of political parties. At a time when the nation is seeking to extricate itself from the economic mire of the worst global health crisis in living memory, whatever other merits the new bill may have, now is not the time for such frivolous spending of public money.
Inevitably, the usual voices are making themselves heard, with cynical claims of election rigging and so on. This is nothing new. We heard their self-serving cries of fraud in 2015, when we saw the first peaceful transfer of power in independent Nigeria’s history. Then again in 2019, when President Buhari was re-elected with a lead of over three million. We will hear them again in 2023.
Until then, the President will do whatever he can to protect this county’s democracy, and that includes withholding assent from this Bill. It is worth noting that, as one of Nigeria’s largest political parties, the ruling APC is one of those that stand to benefit from a bill that favours wealthier parties. But it is not the job of this government to protect the APC. It is the job of this government to protect Nigeria, her people and her democracy.
To those that would rather that limited public funds be spent on politicking during this time of global crisis, we say: cease these cynical games. Tell the Nigerian people openly what you want. Put your – or rather their – money where your mouth is.
Bello Masari, Katsina State governor has assured residents of the state that telecoms services will be restored before the new year. The governor stated this on Tuesday while signing the 2022 state budget into law.
The state government shut down telecoms services in many local government in September as part of the coordinated efforts to fight banditry.
Recall also that Governor Masari said two days ago that his governmnet will no longer negotiate with notorious bandits leader, Bello Turji, noting that the criminal gang leader is not sincere. Turji, wrote President Muhammadu Buhari last week saying he was ready to dialogue with the government.
Speaking to journalists at the state’s capital on Tuesday, Governor Masari said telecoms services will be restored in the seven remaining local govrnments before January 2022, urging the residents of the state to defend themselves against criminals.
Masari said “We must prepare to fight back as individuals, to fight the bandits because they are evil and they represent evil. We should not retreat in this fight.
“We took over under serious threat of security in 2015, and by God’s grace we will not hand over this country to the next generation of leaders under this condition. We must restore normalcy.
“We inherited the government with the security challenges and we must end it and hand over the state to our successors without the same problem. We must control and dominate our environment.
“There are two advantages that we have, numbers and technology. When you put the two together, we will restore normalcy. It is not beyond us to do that,” the governor said.
Two days ago while speaking on bandits’ leader Turji call for negotiation Governor Masari said “Who is he to talk of dialogue or ceasefire? He is a liar. He can’t tell us peace accord and dialogue. To sit and discuss peace accord with who? In what capacity is he speaking and even calling for dialogue?
“Go and tell those he (Mr Turji) killed their families to do dialogue with him and see. And he is even setting conditions, what conditions is he setting and for what? He wants dialogue and he is even setting conditions.”
Turji’s terror group is one of the several gangs of bandits operating in the North-west and North-central states. They kill and kidnap for ransom. Record show that the bandits have killed overy 1000 people this year alone.
Your letter titled “My Disappointment Over Unprovoked Outburst Against The People of the Niger Delta Region” came to my attention on my return from the Horn of Africa on Christmas eve. After very careful and close study of your letter, I decided to respond to your letter also openly for general education of all and to clear some misconception and misperception on your part.
First, my visit to you on the evening of Monday, December 13, 2021, was both a condolence and get-well-quick visit to you that had nothing to do with Bishop Sunday Onucha meeting which I attended the following day.
You should remember that I did not discuss in particular the meeting of the Committee for Goodness of Nigeria, CGN, that was coming the following day except to ask if the papers had been received by you. The brief touch on the state of the nation is the normal discussion on the situation which you rightly described as “continues to drift to very disturbing levels that evening. Otunba Oyewols Fasawe. who was with me to your house and to all the four people I visited that night, can testify. You were one of the four people I visited I would have expected my social visit to be excluded from your vituperation on other matters. However, you deserved the visit and that was it.
For me, personally, I have never shown any anger or distraught with Niger Delta Region nor with any part or Region of Nigeria Rather, I have always picked points on leadership performance or policies and I will continue to do so. Even when a particular part of Nigeria decided not to vote for me and their leaders told me that in clear terms, I showed understanding and not anger or distraught and disabused their minds on what I believed they got wrong. And in subsequent elections, they voted for me. My records before, during and after the civil war in Niger Delta Region was without blemish and it was all goodwill to all the people of Nigeria and especially the people of the Niger Delta Region which was my theatre of operation during the Nigerian civil war
I could not have mentioned to you any grievances against the Niger Delta Region during my social visit because there was never anyone and there cannot be anyone. But if you take my holding a constitutional position on federalism and reiterating the position of our past Constitution 1963 Constitution – as I understand it as anger or grievance against the Niger Delta Region or Nigeria’s Delta people, that will be a very wrong position to take because until I can be legally and constitutionally persuaded otherwise,
I will continue to hold my ground. And it is not a matter of emotion of threat or name-calling which do not throw light on the issue or walkout which does not strengthen any argument or debate.
What you call outburst is my own way of calling or attracting attention. I raise my voice or stamp the desk such that those who are sleeping would have to wake up to listen to me. Even in bilateral discussion, I consciously tap the other person to ensure that I am attracting his or her attention.
Chief Edwin Clark
I have had experience that it was when the person I was talking to started snoring that I realised he was not listening to me. But if raising my voice, stamping the desk or tapping is unpleasant to anyone, I tender unreserved apology
If I interjected to either complete a statement or to correct a statement being made that I believe was not the true situation, I have no apology for that. Truth must be stated and upheld no matter how bitter it may be.
Chief Clark, you are right to say that we have known ourselves since we were both in General Gowon’s administration in 1975.
The good thing and maybe the bad one as well is that you haven’t changed much, if at all, since those days and I haven’t changed much either. You stated and displayed what you are characteristically known and noted for- Urhobo or jaw, and what I am characteristically known and noted for. Let me proceed with the most basic constitutional fact that you cannot have two sovereign entities within a State which is what your position of Niger Delta ownership claim of the crude oil found in that location amounts to.
All those who purchase crude oil from Nigeria enter into contractual relationship with Nigeria not with the Niger Delta. The territory of Nigeria is indivisible inclusive of the resources found therein. No territory in Nigeria including the minerals found therein belongs to the area of location and this remains so until the federation is dissolved.
This is the position of the Nigerian Constitution and international law. If there is a threat of violence to any part of Nigeria today including the Niger Delta, it is the Nigerian military backed by any other machinery that can be procured or established at the Federal level that will respond to any such threat. In principle and practice, the position I have taken on the location of mineral resources in any part of Nigeria is the legal and constitutional position.
May I also recall the adjunct position I proposed that equity and justice demand that those domiciled in these locations are entitled to more of the material benefits accruing from the crude oil or other minerals. At the end of the day, it may transpire that our linguistic differences on this matter are no more than semantics. And we stand on the same logic with respect to the criminal mining of gold deposits in Zamfara State today or any other State in Nigeria or any other part of Nigeria.
Since you have selected the 1953 Constitution as your ideal guide, I will now quote the relevant Section 140 for the Nigerian public to arrive at a more informed and balanced understanding of our discourse “The 1963 Constitution Section 140, titled Mining Royalties and Rents”, stated thus: (1) There shall be paid by the Federation to each Region a sum equal to fifty per cent of (a) the proceeds of any ROYALTY received by the Federation in respect of any minerals extracted in that Region; and (b) any mining RENTS derived by the Federation during that year from within that Region”.
My dear Chief, where in this constitutional provision is it said or implied that minerals located in any part of Nigeria belongs to that location?
For emphasis and to further buttress the point, the provision is even in the exclusive list -exclusively reserved to the Federal Government!
You made the unnecessary reference to the appointment of Eng Funsho Kupolokun as the Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, but you conveniently forgot that before Kupolokun, there was Gaius Obaseki and Kupolokun served under Dr. Edmund Daukoru, who was Minister of State for Petroleum.
I would be the last person to celebrate the civil war (a tragedy of enormous proportions) Needless to say that the war was fought in order to maintain and secure the territorial integrity of Nigeria to which the Niger Delta is integral, I leave you to second-guess what would have become the fate of the Southern minorities and your ownership claims of the crude oil located in your backyard in the event of a contrary outcome. How do we pay homage to the memory of those who gave their lives to ensure the successful outcome of the civil war including the millions who perished on either side of the war?
This is certainly not the best of times for Nigeria and I understand and empathise with your frustrations but we must be guarded and measured in the expressions of such frustrations lest we throw away the baby with the dirty birth water.
In para 13 of your letter, you made reference to the issue of asset sharing between Midwest Region and Western Region in the days of General Adeyinka Adebayo and General Samuel Ogbemudia to which you are an eyewitness, observer or participant.
I would not hold brief for either of the two military men or for the two dissolved Regions; but if this will feature in your consideration today, I really wonder where you are getting to. There may be more than meets the eye.
In para 15 of your letter, you tried to compare my Ota Farm with minerals under the soil which are exclusive to the Nigerian Authority as
I have earlier shown. But even here, these are issues that must be explained that you wittingly or unwittingly skipped. I have a State Certificate of Occupancy. C of O, for my farmland and if any mineral is found under the ground on my farm, Federal Government will ask the State Government to revoke my C of O for overriding public interest.
I could claim for development already carried out on my farmland but the Federal Government would issue licence to any company that had been allocated the right to mine the mineral. It would not matter what I grow on my farm and what development I have carried out. Compensation I could get based on assessed development that I had carried out on the farmland.
The Constitution that affects Niger Delta Region affects Zamfara State where gold is found and if anybody at the Federal level has remised in implementing the Constitution, then that is a different matter.
The gold in llesha, Osun State, and the lead in Ebonyi State, all come under the same Law and Constitution. There is no part of Nigeria whose interest is not dear to my heart. And stating in your letter that it is only the interest of the North I continuously hold dear to my heart is that type of buka gossip that, knowing you as I do since 1975, I am not surprised that you echoed.
I have always stood for equity and justice in our Federation and, for me. tribe has to be suppressed for the state to emerge. And until the state emerges, Nigeria will not make the desired progress as tribesmen will always sacrifice state for tribe This has always been my position and it will remain my position until I breathe my last
There are many important points that you easily or conveniently left out in your letter. When Tin, Columbite in Jos Plateau and Zinc in Abakaliki and Coal in Enugu were discovered in the early 1900s, the ownership was vested in the Colonial Government. Mitigating the hazards suffered by people in any mineral-producing area is legitimate and must be differentiated from the issue of ownership. The mitigation process must go for all and gas, lead, gold, limestone for cement, etc. What developed Nigerian Regions in the colonial days and early post- independence days were cocoa and rubber in the West, groundnut and cotton in the North and oil palm in the East.
Your paras 18-23 are tissues of concoctions and outright distortions and lies which may be due to loss of memory on your part of misrepresentation. Let me illustrate with few examples. On resumption of office as President of Nigeria in 1999, the first meeting I held out of Abuja was a meeting on the Niger Delta Region. Without being prompted. I decided the 13% derivation that the new Constitution granted to oil-producing areas should be paid. If you have evidence of a legal action that forced me to implement it, please produce for me to see or publish it. At the meeting of December 14, 2021 although the recommendation was to go from 13% to 17% to oil-producing areas, Dr. Igali made the case for 15% and we as CGN went up to not less than 18% Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, bill was my initiative for contribution to be made by State Governments, ol companies and Federal Government.
The States lobbied the National Assembly to exclude them. They were excluded and what was passed became the law eventually and I implemented it. You seemed to know little to nothing on LNG generally including efforts made to turn Bonny LNG from three trains to seven trains and surely you are not updated on Brass LNG and I will plead with you to be better admitted on it all.
Let me now separate Global Peace Foundation meeting of December 13, 2021 at the instance of Bishop Onuoha and where I participated from the second meeting of CGN which followed on December 14, 2021. We believe that the Conclusion and the Report of the meeting of December 14, 2021 hold the best position for realistic and pragmatic action for taking the country forward as possible actionable amendment to the Constitution before 2023 elections.
Every Nigerian has rights under the Constitution. And no one should exercise his right against the right of another Nigerian. Our Report was only recommendations to those who can take action for implementation.
If at a meeting, singly or collectively with others, you will take action to negate the outcome of another meeting of national interest and importance based on extraneous outcome on issues emanating from another meeting not directly connected with the original first meeting. then how much can anybody take you seriously as a democrat, that smirks of a dictatorship to me?
Some of the languages you have deployed to describe me in your letter are offensive, uncouth and I totally and completely rejected them. I am not inconsistent, hypocritical, unstatesman and nor am I anybody’s lackey. You use your own yardstick to judge others. I fear God and I respect those who respect themselves and I hope it is about time you change from a tribesman to a statesman of character. That is what Nigeria and indeed the Region you profess to love demand of you at this stage. I believe one lesson that we all must appreciate that we have all learned in the last sixty-one years of our independence is that we all need to be civil to ourselves and occasionally put ourselves in the position of others. Bad language does not show prudence, wisdom and maturity.
I hope you will think and adjust. Negotiation achieves better results than dictation. I believe that we should be reformists rather than being pedantic with leave it or take-it attitude Together, I also believe Nigena can be fixed and mended for the benefit of today and tomorrow on the basis of give and take If we all demand what we consider as our rights without yielding and with unbending stature, we will be wrong and record failure at the end of the day. Reform is a continuous exercise but relatively slow in achieving results.
Revolution for sea-change may rarely happen and then we may continue to languish in frustration and regret with dire judgement of posterity.
I wish you well and may the Year 2022 be a great year for you personally and for our country, Nigeria.
Former President Obasanjo wrote this in reply to Chief Edwin Clark’s open letter to him, where Clark accused him of hatred for the Niger Delta Region
Former Presidential candidate, Kingsley Moghalu, has attacked the Federal Government’s penchant for enslaving future generations through borrowing, saying we need competent hands to run the country.
This Magazine reported that the Federal government has projected a borrowing plan till 2025, with intent to bring the national debt to over 50 trillion Naira by borrowing N12 trillion by 2023. This has been met with outrage, especially in the Social media.
Reacting to the news, Moghalu, a former Central Bank Deputy Governor, said the proposal makes him weep for Nigeria.
“The irresponsible borrowing by the Buhari @NigeriaGov is nothing short of madness. Plans to borrow another N12 trillion by 2023, bringing public debt to N50 trillion, makes me weep for our country. We need an economically competent government in 2023”, he tweeted in his verified twitter handle.
“Nigeria’s borrowing is not sustainable. Forget the nonsense about debt-to-GDP ratio still being limits at 35%, rising to 42% by 2026. What matters for a developing country is ability to pay relative to revenues and the cost of debt servicing relative to investment in development.
“At 90 kobo of every one Naira we earn going to debt repayments, there is nothing left to invest in education and healthcare (human capital), the building blocks of any society. Borrowing supposedly to build infrastructure that can’t yield revenues to repay the debt is wrong.
“Yeye dey smell. This is very bad economics. According to @IMFNews our revenue-to-GDP ratio will decrease from 7.2% in 2021 to 6.5% in 2026, and general government expenditure-to-GDP ratio will decline from 13.3% in 2021 to 12.6% percent in 2026. Bottom line, revenues going down, ability to spend on essential services going down. Nigeria needs economic salvation!”, he concluded.
Hope seems deemed on the possible early completion of the rehabilitation of the Ado Ekiti/ Akure highway by the Federal Government, as only one billion Naira is allocated to the work in 2021 budget.
The road, which is one of the links between Ekiti and Ondo States has become a death trap, and kidnappers den.
Hardly will a month pass without reported cases of kidnapping along the road with the recent one involving a Catholic Priest early December.
Transporters that still manage to ply the highway have astronomically increased fares for a journey of, ordinarily, not more than 30 minutes which now takes not less than two hours.
Ekiti state Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, disclosed in a Radio programme in Ado Ekiti that his administration has made efforts to construct the road, but the Federal Government said it would do it despite the fact that his administration had accessed fund for the road project.
He explained that the fund was given to the Federal Government which, had in turn, awarded the road to a contractor.
“The one that is of major concern to most of Ekiti people is the Ado-Ikere-Akure road, that is one road that we’ve spent more time trying to address than any other road.
“The challenges that we are facing is due to the nature of our federal system. We got money to fix the road, the owner of the road refused, saying that we cannot fix the road.
“We transferred the money to them, they awarded the contract, there is a contractor on the road as we speak, but they don’t have enough allocation from the Federal Government in the budget in order to accelerate the work.
“It’s a N30-Billion contract, but if you check the 2021 budget, only one Billion Naira was allocated for that road.”
It was further gathered that the last time the contractor was seen working on the road was last year when Ondo State Governorship election was drawing closer and withdrew from site immediately after the election.
On pensioners welfare, Governor Fayemi disclosed that his administration has paid over one Billion Naira to ameliorate the suffering of the senior citizens despite dearth of fund in the State.
According to him, Government has already looked for ways through promissory note with financial institutions to access fund to clear the backlog of gratuity, but for one reason or the other, the pensioners rejected the agreement.
The rejection, according to sources, and was due to the insistence by Finance houses to deduct certain percentage from the pensioners entitlements, which they described as outrageous.
The Governor denied that the State collected bailout from the Federal Government to pay arrears of workers’ salaries, saying what the State got was a bridge finance to fill the hole that has been created by the deduction for the repayment of an earlier bailout.
As the 2023 presidential aspiration of Senator Anyim Pius Anyim continues to generate nationwide support, former president of the Senate, Chief Adolphus Wabara and some political leaders in the South East, have expressed their unflinching support for Anyim.
Anyim, a former Senate President, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, is the only person from the South-east who has publicly declared interest to run for the office of the President, under a major Political Party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The leaders are of the view that Nigeria’s former number three citizen, Anyim Pius Anyim, is most suitable for the nation’s top job in terms of leadership experience, national stature, nationwide acceptability, age, maturity, comportment and capacity to manage the country and her economy.
Speaking on Monday, December 27, 2021, at a grand reception and conferment of Chieftaincy title of “Maduforo Nde Ngwa” on the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, by the Traditional Council of Ngwa zone, in Abia state, Senator Wabara called on the Nigerian electorate, particularly the people of the South East zone, to rally round Senator Pius Anyim in his quest to clinch the ticket of his party at the primary and ultimately contest and win the presidency of Nigeria.
Wabara said Senator Anyim has distinguished himself in his previous civil service career and political positions as the President of the Senate and as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and, therefore, will be a fit and proper person to pilot the affairs of Nigeria at this crucial moment of our country’s life.
Chief Wabara added that Senator Anyim is a dependable leader and a team player whose commitment to the unity of the country, rule of law and national equity is renown. He stated that those who have worked closely with Senator Anyim could easily attest to his ever pan-Nigerian disposition and his uncommon courage in the pursuit of true democracy, good governance and commitment to the greatness of Nigeria.
Other leaders of the South East zone and eminent political leaders outside Igboland who were invited guests to the occasion and who spoke at the event, unanimously endorsed Senator Anyim Pius Anyim as the gold hope for Nigeria in 2023.
However, Anyim’s chief host who was being honoured by his Ngwa people, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said it was gratifying that Senator Anyim has declared his interest for the presidency when it appeared no one was stepping out for a challenge. Abaribe urged Nigerians and leaders from all the geo-political zones in the country to invest their trust and support for Senator Anyim.
In his speech at the occasion, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, commended Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe for his illustrious service to his people which necessitated the chieftaincy title of “Maduforo Nde Ngwa” by the traditional council in his zone.
He stated that what is needed in the country today are leaders that will work for the interest of the people and inspire great hope; leaders who will understand the needs of the people and empathise with them in their problems by finding a lasting mitigation to those challenges.
It was a black Sunday, December 26, 2021 as armed men in uniform invaded St Peter’s Anglican Church Eziama Obaire in Nkwerre Local Government Area, Diocese of Orlu in Imo State and roundly desecrated God’s sanctuary. The officiating priest had barely concluded the celebration and administration of the Holy Eucharist, ready for the end of year thanksgiving, when armed men stormed the church. The Nigerian Police latter explained that it was for the purpose of effecting an arrest.
Much as we are not concerned or interested in the reason for this invasion, which is unprecedented in the more than 160 years history of the church in this state, we are gravely worried and disturbed that worshippers were greatly frightened, worried, confused and completely disorganized by the presence of heavily armed security operatives in the church service thereby disrupting the worship of God’s people. That the police jumped inside the church in a gestapo style when the service was in full session is reprehensible, primitive, and highly condemnable. We are at a great loss why the police decided to throw caution to the winds and completely ignore internationally acclaimed rules of engagement and civility in this matter.
The sporadic gunshots outside the church building sent worshippers scampering in different directions, signaling an abrupt and chaotic end of the service.
While the church is in support of and have always been praying for the success of our security personnel in the daunting task and challenge of securing lives and property in our dear state and every effort at bringing the perpetrators/sponsors of this crime against humanity to book no matter how highly placed, we warn that such acts as the one in issue are capable of worsening the security challenges we are currently facing.
The Church will in the next few days engage the Nigerian Police in a dialogue to truly understand the reasons behind this dastardly act and how to avoid a repeat occurrence. While this process is on, we urge all Christians to continue in prayers for God’s mercy on all of us and peace in our land.
Most Rev. Onuoha is the Archbishop, Anglican Province of Owerri.*
I read with surprise and disappointment comments made by the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, during an appearance on Channels Television wherein he said:
“As former Chairman of the Governors’ Forum, I was told by the security in a meeting chaired by the former President, including the former Minister of Finance, that at every point in time, the Government must leave money behind in case Nigeria goes to war that would last for six months.
“By the time we came, they didn’t leave money behind that could last us for three weeks. And I was speaking at that time as the Chairman of the Governors’ Forum.”
The Minister’s comment is rather unfortunate and not supported by facts readily available in the public domain. As a member of the Federal Executive Council that handed over to the current administration, I am disturbed that this urban myth of “empty treasury” is still the subject of conversation by a senior Government member.
Also, I am confused about what the Honourable Minister means when he says, “By the time we came in”, as he was not appointed Minister until six months after the May 29 Handover. Since he was not a Minister on the handover date, it may be pertinent to present him with the facts again.
Rotimi Amaechi
On May 29, 2015, President Buhari inherited a foreign reserve of $28.6 billion, according to official data still present on the website of the Central Bank of Nigeria, as well as $5.6 billion Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited dividends. Also, a 2015 budget of over 4 trillion Naira was handed over to the incoming administration by the outgoing Jonathan government.
Furthermore, the Jonathan administration left a total of $2.2 billion in the Excess Crude Account on May 29, 2015. (As verified by the Ministry of Finance both by the immediate past minister and the incumbent).
To further create context, I would like the Minister of Transport to note the country’s economic indices after 1849 days of President Jonathan’s Presidency from May 06 2010, the date he took over from President Umaru Yar’Adua to the Handover date of May 29, 2015.
On May 29, 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari inherited an economy that, by the testimony of the World Investment Report, prepared by the Geneva-based United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), was the number one destination for foreign direct investment in Africa. In the five years of President Jonathan, Direct Foreign Investment stood at about 35.25 Billion Dollars. You can compare this to the 11.55 Billion Dollars Direct Foreign Investment received from 2016 to 2020.
The Jonathan administration handed over a $550 billion economy (largest in Africa and 26th globally) and a diversified economy.
On May 29, 2015, President Jonathan left behind an economy with a stable currency, where the Naira exchanged for ₦199 to $1, and Nigeria had a single-digit inflation rate. Today, after 2406 days of the current administration headline inflation rate hovers above 15%.
Under President Jonathan, the unemployment rate stood at 7.5% (better than European Union) today. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, six and half years after Governor Amaechi’s government came in, unemployment is 33%.
Before the government came in, Nigeria’s poverty rate was 32% as of May 2015. We need not compare it against 71% today after 78 months of President Buhari’s administration.
Our External debt as of May 2015 stood at $7.3 billion, the Gini coefficient (degree of inequality) was not different from China’s as of 2015. In 343 weeks and four days of the current administration, our external debt has ballooned to $37.9 billion as of September 2021. It is important to point out that over 48% are bilateral and commercial loans.
With the facts above, I am sure that the Minister of Transport will rethink his fixation on the past and focus on the clear and present danger of an economy on the path to Argentina – sovereign debt default.
In the face of declining revenues, available public data revealed that external debt servicing gulped $1.82 billion between January and September 2021; this is 43.9% higher than the $1.27 billion spent in the corresponding period of 2020.
In the same period of January to September 2021, Domestic debt servicing rose to N1.74 trillion from N1.53 trillion recorded in the same period of 2020.
These issues should worry the Honourable Minister, coupled with unlocking the asphyxiating gridlock that Apapa port has created in the economy.
2406 days after, a clear 557 days (1 year five months) more than President Jonathan governed Nigeria; this administration’s economic policies and heightened insecurity have left the country comatose.
Minister Amaechi and the APC government should stop this perennial blame game and focus on redeeming its tattered image by signing the electoral bill passed by a legislature it controls.
Osita Chidoka former Corp Marshal, was the Minister for Aviation under President Goodluck Jonathan
