I’m sorry, I’ll refund money, Zuma tells South Africans

April 2, 2016

South African President Jacob Zuma

Gbenro Adeoye

South African President, Jacob Zuma, has welcomed the court judgement asking him to pay back part of the money spent on upgrading his Nkandla homestead.

Zuma said in a televised address to the nation on Friday that he was willing to pay back money spent on non-security related upgrades at the house.

The President, in the address, urged “all parties to respect the judgement and will abide by it.”

“Let us use the judgement to build and further strengthen our democracy,” he added.

South Africa’s top court held on Thursday that President Jacob Zuma defied the constitution when he used $15m state funds to renovate his private home and ordered a refund.

The 11 justices of the country’s Constitutional Court had unanimously ruled that the President should reimburse some of the sum spent on the renovations, the amount of which will be determined by the national treasury.

Opposition parties had filed two cases, alleging misuse of public funds over the hefty price tag.

Zuma, therefore, apologised any inconvenience that the prolonged matter might have caused his people, saying, “The matter has caused a lot of frustration and confusion, for which I apologise, on my behalf and on behalf of government.”

A full text of Zuma’s address as reported on News24 read in part, “Yesterday, the Constitutional Court of the Republic, playing this crucial role, issued a judgement on the matter of security upgrades at my private residence in Nkandla.

“I welcome the judgement of the Constitutional Court unreservedly.

“The judgement has underscored the values that underpin our hard- won freedom and democracy, such as the rule of law and the accountability of public office bearers, while also respecting the rights of public office bearers facing scrutiny.

“The judgement has further strengthened our constitutional democracy and should make South Africans proud of their country’s Constitution and its strong and effective institutions.

“This is a ground-breaking judgement with regards to the powers of the Public Protector.

“I have consistently stated that I would pay an amount towards the Nkandla non-security upgrades once this had been determined by the correct authority. The Court has ruled on the matter and has devised a mechanism for such determination by the National Treasury.

“I wish to emphasise that I never knowingly or deliberately set out to violate the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the Republic.”

Denying any involvement in corruption, Zuma said, “The intention was not in pursuit of corrupt ends or to use state resources to unduly benefit me and my family. Hence I have agreed to pay for the identified items once a determination is made.”

Governor Ugwuanyi promises to rehabilitate abducted 14-year Enugu girl

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has promised to assist in rehabilitating the Enugu born 14 year-old SS-2 student of Government Secondary School, Apo Resettlement, Abuja, Miss Ifesinachi Ani, who was abducted about six months ago and converted to Islam.

The girl, who is the daughter of one Mr. Sunday Ani from Ani-Chime family, Umunachi Ngene, Amaechi Awkunanaw, Enugu South Local Government Area, Enugu State, was reported to have been taken to the Central Police Station, Uwani, Enugu by the abductors, after several alarm was raised in the media over her fate.

The development prompted the Enugu State governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, to dispatch a delegation of top government functionaries, led by the state commissioner for Gender Affairs and Social Development, Princess Peace Nnaji in company of her counterpart in the ministry of Health, Dr. Sam Ngwu, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Gender Affairs and Social Development, Hon. Mrs. Felicia Ikpeama, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mr. Louis Amoke, among others, to pay a solidarity visit to the family on the reported abduction of their daughter, Ifesinachi.

Addressing members of the family, Governor Ugwanyi who spoke through his commissioner for Gender Affairs, Princess Nnaji told them that his administration was touched by the news of the unfortunate incident of the abduction of the 14 year-old girl, adding that he will do everything possible to ensure that the girl is fully rehabilitated and taken adequate care of in line with the government’s policy on Child Right Act.

She said that the governor as a man of kindness, cared and had the interest of every citizen of the state at heart, no matter where the person resided, adding that the visit was also to rejoice with the family and thank God for the efforts made so far to release the girl from the hands of the abductors.

The Gender Affairs commissioner also noted that Gov. Ugwuanyi was interested in taking care of children of the state, adding that it was as a result of this that he supported the passage of the Child Right bill into law, which protects the rights of every child within the age of 01 to 17.

She argued that the abducted 14 year-old Ifesinachi was a child going by the said Act, stressing that it was the responsibility of the state government through the Ministry of Gender Affairs and Social Development to protect and rehabilitate the abducted girl.

Princess Nnaji, who commended the Media for bringing the plight of Miss Ifesinachi Ani to public domain, equally commended the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase for his prompt intervention on the matter.

She revealed that when the state government learnt that the girl was at Uwani police station, Enugu, she placed a call to the Commissioner of Police who told her that the IG of Police had called him on the matter and directed that the girl and the abductors be brought to Abuja for further investigation.

Also speaking, the commissioner for Health, Dr. Ngwu told the family of Ifesinachi that he was in the delegation as a medical expert and Commissioner for Health to make sure that their daughter who was abducted and found was medically sound and that she got full psychological evaluation and rehabilitation.

Dr. Ngwu who regretted that the girl had been taken to Abuja when the delegation arrived, assured the family that he will be back when she returned from Abuja, to ensure that she was medically and psychologically fit, and rehabilitated to a full functional and productive Enugu State indigene, as directed by the governor.

Responding, Mr. John Ani, a brother to Mr. Sunday Ani, the father of Miss Ifesinachi, who spoke on behalf of the family, thanked the governor of Enugu State for the surprised visit, and expressed joy that their daughter who was lost had been found.

Igbo Youths, women group blast South-East leaders, FG over ‘abduction’ of 76 Enugu indigenes

South-East based groups have lambasted Igbo leaders over their prolonged silence on the now famous “abduction of 76 Enugu indigenes”.

Apart from Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, who has visited the community, no political leader from the South-East has reacted to the development.

The men, mostly youths, were arrested by some men on military uniform at Ugwuneshi Awgu, in Enugu State over issues with the Fulani herdsmen. They were later arraigned before a magistrate court in Abia State and remanded in prison custody.

However, military authorities had since denied involvement in the arrest.

DAILY POST further recalls that the youths were on Friday granted bail by the court.

Speaking on the development, the Igbo Youth Movement and the Igbo women Assembly
chided South-East leaders for keeping sealed lips on the matter.

Evang. Elliot Uko, the
Founder, Igbo Youth Movement and Deputy Secretary, Igbo Leaders of Thought, in a statement noted that “the quite disturbing silence of the powers that be, over the strange (and quite unacceptable) arrest by the military, instead of the police, of 76 young people at Ugwuneshi community in Awgu L.G.A Enugu, a fortnight ago, over altercations with Fulani herdsmen is seriously turning into an early seed for total break down of law and order.”

He added that “The ominous development at Ugwuneshi community on 17th March 2016, sends a very strong signal that some people own the Army and that they brazenly use it as an army of occupation. It is instructive that the Fulani herdsman did not invite the Nigerian police. They had more confidence in the Army. Which they know, they wholly own.

“If the F.G does not publicly investigate and punish make public, the officer who speedily deployed the soldiers who came in several trucks to round up the 76 young men and whisked them away, to the jubilation of the Fulani herdsmen, then, the F.G. will only be instituting Mazi Nnamdi Kanu a legend, because he predicted this attacks on Radio Biafra two years ago. Kanu said the Fulani herdsmen will seize the South East, South South and middle belt.

“Today, the Fulani herdsmen have confirmed Kanu, a prophet and a hero with a huge fanatical following.

“As the silence of the F.G. in all of these, remains worrisome, the silence of South East political leaders, especially the deputy senate president in whose constituency this humiliation occurred becomes heart rending to all.

“The question on every body’s lips today is: WHERE ARE THE SO CALLED LEADERS? Why are they all so scared of Aso Villa? Is this signs of thing to come? Are these the birth pains of some sort of revolution? Are things finally beginning to fall apart? Is there truly an agenda to forcefully conguer and dominate the South? Where are the Igbo leaders?

“It is important to remind the leaders of Nigeria today, that the termites that eat up the foundation that led to the eventual collapse of the great wall, are usually overlooked because they are usually very small creatures.

“It is clear for all to see, that if the brigandage and bloody rampage of the Fulani herdsmen is not quickly tamed, then the international community, will have no other choice, than to conclude, that all men of consequence have been cowed and silenced by the new sheriff in town as Nigeria toters at the edge of the precipice.”

Similarly, Chief Mrs Mariah Okwor, of the Igbo Women Assembly stated that “the trepidation, anguish and incontrollable pain in the hearts of our people today, could turn to something unpleasant.”

“This humiliating display of sheer arrogance cannot be accepted by any self respecting people.

“We warn that if the Fulani herdsmen and their cousins in the army, who see the Army as an appendage of Fulani hegemony, are not called to order, the Aba women’s riot of 1929 will be child’s play to the reaction of the Igbo women Assembly to this painful humiliation of Easterners by people who seek to intimidate and dominate our people even in our own land.

“Finally, together with the Igbo Youth Movement, we agree, that the IPOB’s anger over this grave insult on Easterners is commendable.

“It is a pity that our so called leaders have quietly abdicated their leadership position out of fear and cowardice.

“History shall vindicate us, as the people are taking note of the silence of those who should have spoken up.

“To be fore warned is to be fore armed. This madness must stop. We have said this before; we are forced to repeat ourselves”, the statement concluded.

Court grants 76 Enugu indigenes bail over clash with Fulani herdsmen

A Magistrate Court in Umuahia, Abia State on Friday granted bail to 76 Ugwuleshi people from Awgu Community in Enugu State who were detained at the Umuahia Prisons.

DAILY POST recalls that 76 Ugwuleshi people were arrested recently by soldiers for protesting over the alleged abduction of two of their women by Fulani herdsmen.

Those arrested were charged with arson and illegal possession of arms and they were sent to Umuahia prison for two weeks.

They were however arraigned on Friday before a magistrate court on a five count charge of arson and illegal possession of dangerous weapons and burning down of 90 houses at Obinwanne, a Fulani Community Settlement in Umunneochi area of Enugu State.

When the charges were read to them, they pleaded not guilty.

The presiding Magistrate granted them bail in the sum of N200,000 each with five sureties who must be resident in Umuahia or Umunneochi.

If baby resembles me, I will accept it – Lebanese boss accused of rape, impregnating 17-year-old housemaid

Rhoda

Kunle Falayi

It has been a tug of war at the office of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons in Lagos where negotiation has been ongoing for some weeks over how 17-year-old Rhoda would be taken care of as she prepares for delivery.

Rhoda, as it happens, is now eight months pregnant, after she was allegedly raped by her boss, a Lebanese chef identified as Hassan Ali Husseini, an unmarried man in his 60s.

The teenager, who is now in the custody of NAPTIP, only came to Lagos from Plateau State, in June 2015, to make enough money to establish a business or go back to school, her brother, Joseph, told Saturday PUNCH.

But that may all just be a dream now. She alleged that on that fateful day in August 2015, her elderly boss gagged and forced himself on her. Shortly after, Rhoda said she noticed that she had missed her period. She told NAPTIP officials that he again raped her after he informed him that she might be pregnant.

She alleged that after many attempts by Husseini to force her to have an abortion without success, he kicked her out of his home.

 “My sister told us that after she missed her period and confronted Husseini that she might be pregnant, the man took her to a drug store to get an abortion drug on two occasions. She said both times she used the drug, it did not work,” Rhoda’s brother said.

It was after this that Husseini allegedly chased the girl out of his house.

Joseph said his sister was brought to Lagos by another sibling of theirs who later took her to the chef, who was in need of housemaid in his Allen Avenue apartment where he lives alone.

“He initially denied raping and impregnating my sister in January when we first confronted him. But we had no doubt whatsoever that he was responsible.

 “Who else could have raped my sister when she did not even know anywhere else in Lagos? Since she came to Lagos, she had always worked in his house and did not yet have friends around.”

Saturday PUNCH learnt that Husseini has finally opened up to officials of NAPTIP that he indeed had sexual intercourse with Rhoda but that it was consensual. The parties are now seeking an amicable settlement of the issue.

But the family said admitting responsibility was not enough.

“He has to be responsible for the girl and her child. I want justice for my sister. If a Nigerian had done this in Lebanon for instance, would the government there take it lightly with the culprit? My sister’s case should be able to show the world that we are a country that value our own people.

“They have been talking about getting an apartment for her where she could move into as soon as she delivers. But I will not look for an apartment for my sister who was raped by a foreigner. The rapist has to be the one to do that. He must get an apartment for her and make her comfortable. That child must have a father when it is born.

“My fear is that if he gets the apartment, without the commitment of NAPTIP, he would simply run away. It will be the fault of NAPTIP if that man escapes justice. If he was willing to rape her, then he should be willing to stand by her and be the father of her child.”

Saturday PUNCH could not gain access to Rhoda as the agency has kept her away in its rehabilitation home.

The girl’s mother is late while her father is in a remote community in Plateau State.

Joseph said the expectant girl has been extremely sad about her condition.

“My sister is a very hardworking girl, who just wanted a better life for herself. She is not afraid to work at all. After the man kicked her out of his house, she was afraid of telling us about what he did. We had to look for another job for her as a housemaid somewhere else. It was there that it was discovered that she was pregnant when her tummy had started growing,” Joseph said.

A source close to the case told our correspondent that Husseini had agreed that when Rhoda is delivered of her baby, if the child  bears his foreign physical features, he would readily accept the baby. But if not, he would opt for a DNA test.

NAPTIP boss speaks

Saturday PUNCH reached out to the Zonal Commander of NAPTIP, Mr. Joseph Famakin, who explained the journey so far on the case.

He explained that the agency gathered through its investigation and interview of the parties that they indeed had sexual contact a number of times.

Famakin said, “It is not in my place to say whether it was rape or not. The police will determine that. She was first taken to Immigration before she was brought to us.

“In her report to Immigration, she claimed that she was raped until she became pregnant. After the pregnancy, they had a disagreement and she left the place and secured a job in another place where she worked for three months until they realised she was pregnant. They asked her to go.

“The Lebanese man said that he indeed had sexual intercourse with her but that he is not responsible for the pregnancy. When the Immigration learnt that the man is legally resident in Nigeria, they brought the girl to us.

“We realised that we had the responsibility to save the lady and her unborn child. Then, we put her in our shelter, so that she could get counselling and we could investigate. At the end of our investigation, if a case of trafficking is proved, we would take the man to court. If a case of rape is proved, we would refer it to the police.”

Famakin said Rhoda had been in the agency’s shelter for two months.

He also said that with the assistance of Husseini, Rhoda was registered for ante-natal.

According to him, the agency could not establish any evidence of trafficking in the case because it was one of Rhoda’s brothers who took her to the Lebanese man on agreement that he would pay for her services.

He said, “We have called both parties and the Lebanese man has agreed to take care of her until she delivers. He said if the child is black, he would do a DNA test before he accepts the child but if the baby is white, he would thank God for giving him a miracle.

“Our shelter is a temporary place of residence but the brother erroneously believes that the girl should stay with us till she delivers. We have done everything in the best interest of the girl and her baby. The Lebanese man was detained by us for days before he was able to produce a reasonable surety.”

Recruitment:Police websites crash as 8,000 applicants register

Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase

Adelani Adepegba, Gbenro Adeoye, Kunle Falayi, and Babatunde Ajaja

Attempts by many candidates to apply for enlistment into the Nigeria Police Force were frustrated on Friday as the two police portals for the recruitment crashed and were inaccessible for most part of the day.

The Police Service Commission had directed interested candidates to apply through its website, www.psc.gov.ngor that of the Nigeria Police Force, www.npf.gov.ng, but the two websites crashed due to huge traffic.

It was gathered that many candidates could not apply online at different cyber cafés and had to go back home in frustration.

Attempts by our correspondents to access the websites between 2pm and 6pm were abortive as the PSC website simply said, “This Account has been suspended. Contact your hosting provider for more information.”

The police website –www.ngf.gov.ng – on the other hand, was inaccessible for over 10 hours during which our correspondents monitored the website. But police sources said about 8,000 candidates had registered as of 2pm.

“Candidates started registering online from 4am on Friday when the portals opened for registration; as of 2pm, over 8,000 candidates had registered online. The traffic was huge and this explains why many applicants could not access the websites because the servers were down,” a source explained.

The operator of Smart and Bright cafe, Kubwa, who gave his name as Kingsley, said he had to turn back many candidates because the recruitment portals were not accessible, adding that only few candidates were able to register.

Victor Igaman of Igaman Cafe, also stated that he had turned back no fewer than four candidates on account of the jammed police servers. At Christ link cafe, about seven applicants had successfully applied while the eight person was observed filling in his bio-data.

A candidate, who gave her name as Margaret, said she was able to apply after spending about 20 minutes, adding that the huge traffic on the websites was to blame for the hiccups experienced by candidates.

The Head, Press and Public Relations, PSC, Ikechukwu Ani, said the commission’s technical team was working on the servers to address the hitches.

“I have notified our technical team and they are working on the servers, all the hiccups would be addressed and candidates would find it easier to file their applications. I believe the issues we are experiencing were caused by the traffic from the huge number of applicants,” he explained.

The frustration of the applicants was vented on social media as some applicants berated the poor infrastructural preparedness of authorities for the barrage of applications.

An applicant, Samogconsu, on an online forum, Nairaland, questioned the size of the bandwidth being used by the police for the application.

He said, “I just decided to visit the recruitment website this morning and discovered that the hosting company has suspended the website meant for the recruitment exercise.

“Could it be that the police owed the hosting company or they have limited bandwidth that caused the shutdown?

“I think they need to give explanations to Nigerians. It is saying ‘This account has been suspended, contact your hosting provider for more information.’”

Another applicant, identified as Adet5 said, “Concerning the ongoing police recruitment exercise, I observed that the website is malfunctioning. It is submitting application automatically even without the completion of filling of the forms and all efforts to reach its help desk has been abortive. Please is there anything I can do?”

Some applicants noted that the websites had been inaccessible since very early on Friday.

An applicant, Samjadinero, said on Nairaland at 5.58am that he could not get access to the websites.

“The websites are not accessible. Or am I the only one?” he said.

Another early morning applicant, Cloud9usher, said after many attempts to access one of the websites, “As expected, just few hours into the opening of the website, the website has crashed! I’m sure over 10 million users have over- flooded the poor website within hours. Nigerians I hail thee!”

An applicant, Andrew Igba, who took to the website of a news medium to express his frustration, berated the police authorities for not strengthening the website before commencing the recruitment exercise, saying none of the websites made available for the exercise was responding.

He said, “None of the two portals given for the recruitment has responded since morning. Why sound your trumpet before portal workability. Please try the portal yourself.”

Also, another applicant, Iyanu Olayomi, said on another online medium that it was disappointing that the Police Service Commission would not upgrade its website knowing that there would be an increased traffic to the site over the recruitment exercise.

She said, “I expect all agencies of government, including the PSC, to have learnt from the tragedy that characterised that of Immigration Service in 2014. It was a product of poor preparation. That same thing may likely happen again. It is disappointing that they didn’t do anything to improve on their website despite the expected increase in the number of clicks on these two websites they provided. Shame!”

Meanwhile, the Federal Government said it had approved the necessary funds for the recruitment exercise.

President Muhammadu Buhari announced this on Friday while addressing policemen at the ceremonial parade marking the grand finale of the 2016 Nigeria Police week.

The president, who was represented by the Minister of Interior, Lt. Gen. Abdulrahaman Dambazau (retd.), gave assurance that the exercise would be transparent and credible.

According to him, aside from addressing the national challenge of youth unemployment, the initiative would bridge the chronic manpower gap in the police inherited by his regime.

The president warned that in carrying out the exercise, he expected the Nigeria Police to put national interest at the forefront in line with the reform agenda being pursued by the interior ministry.

Buhari said the government had procured over 1,000 patrol vehicles and other logistics to strengthen the operational capacity of the safer highway patrol scheme and support the deployment of police personnel towards security stabilisation and restoration of civil authority in the North-East.

He said, “The Federal Government has initiated actions aimed at giving effect to the concept of citizens-led policing and strengthening the technical intelligence capacity of the service as a strategic national approach towards addressing the challenge of highly organised crime on a sustainable basis.”

In an advertisement calling for application from interested candidates, the requirements specify among many other conditions that a candidate, who must be a Nigerian, must be certified mentally and physically fit by a Nigeria Police medical doctor or government medical practitioner.

The Police Service Commission Chairman, Mike Okiro, had warned the commission’s workers who would be involved in the screening of candidates to avoid any act that might compromise the integrity of the exercise.

Okiro had warned applicants through a statement signed by the commission’s Head of Press and Public Relations Unit, Ikechukwu Ani, to desist from indulging or inducing the commission’s workers or face arrest.

CCT Trial: APC Chief Blasts Saraki for Refusing to Resign as Senate President

A prominent member of the ruling party has urged Saraki to relieve himself of the position of the 3rd most powerful man in the country following his trial. 

Bukola Saraki

 

A Chieftain of the All Progressive Congress in Ekiti, Dr. Adebayo Orire, has berated Bukola Saraki, for refusing to resign as Senate President of Nigeria following his trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

“I will say Saraki doesn’t have integrity, that is why he has not done the right and most honourable thing for him to do since. You see, the most honourable and right thing for him is to resign his position," Orire said in an interview.

“Resigning is a matter of integrity, emotion, although it is voluntary; if you don’t have it, you won’t want to resign which is the best in such circumstance. You don’t force people to resign, you can only sack them, but there are proper, legal ways to it.

“With the way things are going, Saraki may lose his seat in the House; he may also lose his position as Senate President and he may lose both depending on the outcome of his case. Saraki himself knows this, but this is a democracy, you cannot go and throw him out without the proper process; he will sue you.

“The only thing is that the process has been somehow slow because our legal system is slow and permissive to the protection of fraud, and theft. Until such a person is proven, people who were arrested or caught red-handed for theft and fraud are free to move about."

FG Declares State of Emergency Over Fuel Scarcity

A state of emergency has been declared by the government in the distribution of petroleum products due to the endless fuel scarcity that has plunged the masses into suffering. 

Ibe Kachikwu

 

In a desperate move to end the recurrent fuel shortages, particularly of premium motor spirit, PMS (petrol) being experienced in the country, the Federal Government has declared a state of emergency for petroleum products distribution.

This comes even as private operators in the country now have the responsibility to bring in 60 percent of the scarce commodity in the second quarter, Q2 import allocations.

A very competent source told Vanguard in confidence yesterday that for Q2, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA 44% allocation to Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association, DAPPMA; 40% NNPC/PPMC; and the balance of 16% to Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria, MOMAN.

Confirming the developments, the Commercial Director, PPMC, Mr. Justin Ezeala, admitted to the drop in NNPC/PPMC new import allocation, saying that “it is meant to free NNPC to import only for itself, instead of importing for everybody as we have been doing since this year.”
He also admitted that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and Group Managing Director, NNPC, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, had “directed that everything related to petroleum distribution must be treated as an emergency.”
To this end, he told Vanguard on the telephone that “beginning from tomorrow (today), we have confirmations for cargoes lined up to be received in-country. Petroleum cargoes are to be treated as essential commodities, with all the regulatory agencies – DPR, PPRA, put on the alert.

“We have put in place a process to receive them in terms of logistics and cut short on all the bureaucracies, as everything will be treated with emergency in order to end the fuel crisis.

‘To this end, we have also kept trans-shipment vessels in Warri, Calabar depots for easy reach to the northern and southern parts of the country.

“Today, we also held a meeting with officers of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, to join forces with the Nigeria Police to monitor and follow products distribution from the depots to the retail outlets to cut short on sharp practices.

“We also met with the national executives of the Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, to alert them to the sense of the emergency, as it takes about four days to take products from Lagos to Abuja.

“We are also planning to re-stream the Systems 2B Pipeline, which transports refined products from Atlas Cove reception Jetty to Mosimi, Ibadan and Ilorin.”

WHO Meningitis kills 61 people in Niger

In a recent data released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) Niger recorded a total of 61 deaths between January 4, 2016 to March 13, 2016 from meningitis.

Outrage in S.E as Fed Gov. Abandons N140 Bil 2nd Niger Bridge Project

There is anger in the South East zone over the Federal Government’s abandonment of the N140 billion ($700 million) 2nd Niger Bridge. Investigations by The AUTHORITY revealed that the contractor, Julius Berger Construction Company, stopped work on the project which is being constructed under Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement since April 2015.

Concerned citizens of Eastern Nigeria and other stakeholders are appealing to President Buhari to direct the construction company to resume work on the project. After a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on August 26, 2015, the Director General of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Aminu Diko, had hinted that work on the vital bridge would be suspended.

Dikko said: “The communities around that area are clamouring that their lands have been taken and that they have not been compensated adequately. As a matter of fact, we got a letter from the Onitsha Traditional Rulers Council complaining that they have not been adequately represented in this transaction.”

As that was raging, the Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole called on the former Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, to explain to Nigerians the whereabouts of the billions meant for the bridge as according to him, $700 million was drawn from the Sovereign Wealth Fund for the project.

The bridge’s contract was awarded by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan during the second term of former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi.

Onolememen had then assured Nigerians that the project would be completed before the expiration of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration in 2015 as part of efforts to deliver on the campaign promises of that government.

But Jonathan lost in the election and immediately the contractor left the site.

The bridge is said to have been reflected in this 2016 Budget with hope that something tangible would be done to construct the bridge.

All the several efforts made by The AUTHORITY to speak with the management, including the Managing Director of Julius Berger Construction Company, Mr. Wolfgang Goetsch, on why work was stopped on the project, proved abortive.

Some stakeholders, however, claimed that the construction giant abandoned work immediately President Buhari took over the mantle of leadership about 10 months ago, following a presidential directive that work at the site should discontinue.

An employee of the firm (name withheld) who claimed he was recruited in April 2014 at the site of the bridge, admitted that Julius Berger had stopped work at the project site since June 2015 due to non-funding by the Federal Government.

According to him, the company only did soil texture and property evaluation before leaving the site with almost all their working equipment.

“So, if the Federal Government is ever serious about the project, let it release the money for work to start,” he said.

Comrade Casmir lzukanne, who lives close to the project site, said: “We don’t know why they stopped work and we are not happy or feel comfortable with the Federal Government, because this is the only bridge that links the South East to other parts of Nigeria and it’s economic importance to our country cannot be quantified.”

The Campaign for Democracy (CD) was emphatic on President Buhari as it called on the Federal Government to mobilise to the site of the 2nd Niger Bridge to end the marginalisation of Ndigbo.

In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Dede Uzor A.Uzor, CD wondered why such a national project should be abandoned and politicised.

Other stakeholders in Onitsha, Anambra State asked President Buhari to direct Julius Berger to return to site to continue the construction of the Second Niger Bridge. The President of the Amalgamated Association of Anambra Traders (AMATAS), Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo and the Chairman, International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) Nze Emeka Umeagbalasi, among others, called on Buhari to direct Julius Berger to return to site.

Ezenwanko said that he was hopeful that work would resume again at the site because he reliably gathered that the bridge was included in this year’s budget, which has just been passed by the National Assembly.

Chief Anigbata, who also said that the bridge was reflected in this year’s budget, expressed the confidence that Buhari will execute the bridge because of its strategic importance to Nigeria and Ndigbo.

He said that the Federal Government needs to put an infrastructure like the Second Niger Bridge on the ground to boost trade, commerce and agriculture.

But Umeagbalasi expressed doubt in Buhari completing the bridge, given his disposition towards the Ndigbo, saying that they are watching him closely.

He called on the Ndigbo, especially political leaders, rights activists and media practitioners to continue to mount pressure on the president so that he may have a rethink, even if he was not keen.

On their part, the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Igbo monarchs and other stakeholders, called on the Federal Government, to as a matter of urgent national importance, resume work on the 2nd Niger Bridge.

The Coordinator of the Seven States Chairmen of Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC), Mazi Alex Okemiri, said the suspension of work on the project stands tall among the injustices against the Ndigbo.

He said the project had become a huge fraud against Ndigbo by successive administrations in the country.

Ohanaeze said the abandonment of the project had seriously undermined and sabotaged economic activities in the South East geopolitical zone which is known for trade and commerce.

In the same vein, the Chairman of Umuahia North Traditional Rulers Council, HRH Philip Ajomiwe, called for the immediate resumption of work on the abandoned project.

He described the suspension of work on the project as “very shocking, painful and unbelievable”, considering the economic and strategic importance of the Niger Bridge to the Nigerian economy.

Similarly, the Aba Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ACCIMA), represented by Sir Emma Nwakpadolu, lamented the ordeals of traders as a result of the perennial traffic congestion on the existing bridge which is in very bad shape.

He said that the high cost of transporting goods from Lagos and other Western parts of the country across the Niger have led to increase in prices of goods in the South East markets.

In his reaction, former Publicity Secretary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State, Mr. Enyinnaya Onuegbu, said it was regrettable that work has stopped at the project, noting that initially, people were allowing the new administration time to reappraise the projects inherited from the past administration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan.

Onuegbu condemned the action because “that project is the most important construction project in Nigeria presently, and would have provided a modern route into the South East and South-South States. And also make the movement of people from Northern Nigeria into the South very easy.”

On his part, Hon. Henry Onwukwe, a PDP Caretaker Committee member in Imo State, said it is a very sad development and total confirmation of the marginalisation of the South East by President Buhari’s administration.

According to him, it goes to confirm that the Federal Government has adopted a deliberate policy to make sure that the Igbos don’t count in Nigeria, saying everybody knows that the second Niger Bridge would increase the economic activities of the Igbo Nation when completed, but because of President Buhari’s policy to keep down the Igbos, the bridge has been abandoned.

To the Chief Executive Officer of Goodwill Electrical Construction Company Limited, Chief Neighbour Onwukaike, it is not proper that the bridge was abandoned, for whatever reason, considering its vital importance to the people of the South East geopolitical zone.

He described it as one of the most unfortunate lot of the South East people of the country over the years, just as it has been seen as one of those strategies of depriving them of the dividends of democracy.

Mr. Eze Ananaba, who is the Chief Executive Officer of J. Anderson Construction Company Limited based in Aba, expressed doubt the correct contents of the contract awarded for the construction of the additional bridge which became imperative, owing to the old age of the first bridge built decades ago.

The businessman asked the relevant government agencies to make sure the contractors are brought back to site since as he noted, a lot of money has already been pumped into that project which he described as very strategic to the people of the South East and, indeed, their economies.

Contributing, Chief Henry Ikoh, the Abia State Commissioner for Science, Technology and Industry, posited that the abandonment of the 2nd Niger Bridge project is worrisome to both the people of the South-South and South East geopolitical zones, who are mainly into trade, commerce and industry.

The commissioner, who is also an industrialist of repute, stated that he would not say that the President Goodluck Jonathan administration did not do well in initiating the second Niger Bridge but faulted government for not doing the needed follow up that should have ensured its early completion.

For the Vice Chairman, Ebonyi State Traditional Rulers Council, HRH, Eze Romanus Iyioku, the abandoned 2nd Niger Bridge amounts to insult on the deep feeling of Igbos, should the Federal Government stop work on the Bridge.

He explained that the bridge would not only serve the interest of the South East geopolitical zone, but the economic interests of the Nigerian nation.

Source Authorityngr.com visit website

DAILY AWARENESS:Conquering Doubt Wednesday March 30, 2016

Indeed, the greatest enemy in our life is doubt, and its opposite, certainty, our greatest power.

But what is certainty really? Well for me, it is the knowing that each and everything I do—whether out of kindness, love, care, sincerity, or compassion—is Up There waiting to come back around for some place and time when I need it.

This is the certainty I am talking about. It is the confidence that the Light of the Creator is present for us and around us always, and whatever we put out into the universe will return to us in equal force and measure. Just as the waves rush into shore and then rush back out to sea, so too do we receive what we give.

Remember that, ultimately, our actions are only for ourselves. We are the ones who benefit or do not benefit from the positivity (and negativity, too) that we put out into the universe. Yes, we need to share and love whoever it is that happens to be in our picture, but ultimately, whatever positive actions we take will make our own lives better.

My life as a cab driver and security guard – Bola Tinubu

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, national leader of APC

Many are of the opinion that former Lagos state governor, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was born right at the middle of a money-printing machine, but that is not true.

Some rumours also have it that his parents were very wealthy, so he practically worked for nothing in his life but that is also not true.

The diminutive Nigerian politician had to work his way up the ladder. He was once a cab driver and even a security guard who worked very hard to reach where he is today.

In a special publication by TheNEWS magazine, Tinubu detailed how he worked has a cab driver and a security guard. Here are excerpts from the interview.

Q: When did it strike you to travel out of the country?

A: I was lucky. Even though I was ambitious about travelling out of the country, particularly as my friends like Folabi Salami and Tokunbo Maxwell had just travelled to Germany, I would say that I was just lucky.
Others, like Nurudeen Olowopopo, of blessed memory, and Sola Popoola headed for the United States and it remained Tunde Badejo, Bolaji Agaba and myself. So, the three of us were determined that we must get out of Nigeria, too.

I went to Ikenne, with my late sister, for a big ceremony. We had gone to pick bottles of Coca-Cola from the cold room and wanted to quickly return to the St. Saviour’s Church, where my sister was. There was a sudden rain of bullets and had we not been rushing to the church to ensure that we didn’t miss what was going on there, I would have died. The young man that was standing with me was hit. He slumped and died.

Based on the sad incident and how I had narrowly missed death, my family said to me: ‘This boy, you have always said that you wanted to travel out of the country, it is time to do so.’ So, my mother gathered some money, sold her trinkets to make up for the remaining part of my allowances and joined it with proceeds from the sale of the Volkswagen Beetle given to me by my uncle, the late Ganiyu Tinubu, who used to work at Simpson Street, Ebutte-Metta. He had a Beetle car he bought from a Canadian and had it converted into a convertible, which I used to drive. Nobody taught me how to drive. He asked that I sell it and add the proceeds to the money I needed for my trip. That was what I did.

A special publication by TheNEWS Magazine for Asiwaju Bola Tinubu when he turned 60

Bolaji Agaba and I left the same day for the United States, while Badejo left some months later. We got our visas through my family connections. Bolaji’s own had almost expired before we left. On our arrival in the US, we thought we would stay in New York. But Nurudeen Olowopopo said no and we put some money together for Bolaji’s ticket and we headed for Washington D.C. I stayed with the late Sola Popoola at Washington before we started finding our way. We were running out of funds then.

He helped us secure a one-room apartment in Alexandria, Virgina. We got an unregistered used car (they left the licence open) commonly called Gypsy, which we ran as a taxi. We operated at the airport, where we picked passengers, and not anywhere else, like the hotel because it was forbidden for unlicensed cab drivers to do so. We did that for a while to raise some money. We did, and Bolaji went to Tennessee, while I headed for Chicago.

Q: Can you tell us some unpleasant moments that you had then?

A: One experience I will not forget was when I over-charged a naval officer, who was returning to the country. It was not intentional. Apparently, I didn’t know the direction; there was no GPRS in those days to locate directions. So, he gave me the direction to his house in a Virginia suburb. I gave him the price and the man responded with a slap to my face. He said I should know the correct fare to charge to the location he mentioned. He slapped me and gave me the money.

Another experience was when I took a guy whom I didn’t know was drunk. When I drove to his house, he pointed a gun at me instead of paying the fare. He took my leather jacket and said: ‘Get into your car and get lost.’ He did not pay.

Another interesting one was when I was taking the third Accounting class and equally working as a security guard at a construction site. They were very serious with their kind of security. You just had to do that job. There were about six points with six clocks at the site, which the security man must wind every hour and with a dog in hand. So, there was never a chance of trying to catch a nap.

As I was doing my accounting assignment, I fell asleep. I was dead asleep! The inspector came to the site and found me sleeping, with my head on my books. He simply pulled the register and wrote: ‘I have been here. You were sound asleep. So, see me tomorrow.’ When I woke up, I found that Skiddo (the dog’s name) was gone, and then the register. I just went to a corner, cleaned my face and concentrated on my assignment because I knew the job was already gone.
You can’t lose two things. I ensured that I read well for my test and passed the next day. I opted to post their uniform and the cap to them, but suddenly ran into the man and he handed me my cheque and said the job was gone. I told him I knew and we said goodbye to each other! I had to start looking for another job.

Sagay, Ezekwesili, Aribisala clash at roundtable on corruption war

Professor Itse Sagay, Femi Aribisala and Oby Ezekwesili at the Department of Jurisprudence and International law Roundtable at the University of Lagos

Legal scholars and experts hurled ‎verbal missiles around a round table convened‎ to brainstorm on winning the war against corruption at the University of Lagos on Thursday.

The round table, organised by the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, tagged “Winning the War Against Corruption” was also an opportunity to launch the book ‘Legal Perspectives to Corruption, Money Laundering, and Assets Recovery in Nigeria.’

The occasion began with the keynote speech ‘Rule of Law and Treatment of Politically Exposed Persons in Corruption Cases’ delivered by Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

Mr. Falana, who was represented by Wahab Shittu, advocated the creation of special courts to handle corruption cases.

The verbal battle began‎ after controversial scholar, Femi Aribisala, took to the podium to discuss Mr. Falana’s speech.

“There is no fight against corruption in Nigeria. And if there’s no fight against corruption, you can’t even talk about war,” Mr. Aribisala began.

And then he launched into a 10 minute speech that attacked the global definition of corruption by Oby Ezekwesili, a former World Bank vice president who had earlier defined corruption as “the abuse of public space for private gains‎”, the prescription of special courts by Mr. Falana; and current administration’s effort against corruption.

“Corruption cannot be narrowly defined the way Dr. Ezekwesili defined it, only relating to public institutions. We are corrupt in Nigeria. The plumber, the tailor, the whole society is corrupt,” said Mr. Aribisala.

“And we have not yet taken a decision, we have not yet gotten to a point where we are fed up. I mean, she (Mrs. Ezekwesili) had given an example of Hong Kong where people became fed up and said enough is enough. We have not reached that situation yet, I don’t know why not, but we certainly have not.

“The 2015 election was not an anti-corruption election. We did not have any political party that presented an anti-corruption mandate to us. The party that won the election was just a makeover of the PDP, I mean the PDP people moved from the PDP to the APC. If they were corrupt when they were in PDP, they became clean when they were in APC.

“So there is no mandate against corruption. If President Buhari was determined to fight against corruption, my feeling is that he gave up after losing election three times.

“Because the fourth time, he formed an alliance with people who he despised before. And they were not necessarily people who had a track record of being (sic) anti-corruption. So today, I don’t know who is anti-corruption.”

‎Mr. Aribisala said the current fight against corruption by the President Muhammadu Buhari government is merely a fight against the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP).

“We have to make up our minds if we really want to deal with the question of corruption. If we want to deal with the question of corruption, Nigerians themselves must insist on it and we have to deal with it at the institutional level,” he said.

“The institutional fight against corruption that has taken place to the extent that it has, took place under PDP. The institutional structures, even the ones that the present government is relying on, are PDP structures. Whether it is EFCC, ICPC, TSA, all these came under PDP.

“In ten months of Buhari’s‎ government, there has been no institutional structure that has been laid against corruption. We have simple had media circuses accusing people of corruption.

“You cannot fight corruption with corruption. And corruption is more than just the stealing of money. If you disobey the rule‎ of law, you have corrupted the system. If you create an avenue where you have a big margin between the official foreign exchange rate and the parallel market rate, there’s gonna be corruption. If you have children of the rich getting into the CBN on nepotistic grounds, the corruption is still with you.

“If you have a budget that is padded left right and centre, and after this was revealed you passed it and say only a small amount changed in it, and we do not know what is in the new budget, you can’t say you are against corruption. There is no transparency in any of these things.”

Mr. Aribisala further stated that the current anti-corruption effort‎ lacks a clear focus.

“Because the last 16 years was not just PDP government,” he said.

“The legacy parties of the APC were also in power. In fact when the PDP was ostensibly dealing with corruption, it addressed people in its own party. We are not having that now.

“And that’s why I can’t trust Falana’s prescription that we are going to establish special courts. I don’t trust this government to establish those courts. They will simply establish courts to decimate the opposition.

“People like Orubebe will be arrested, and they will file cases against him and several months later they will drop the charges against him. And they will have pronounced him guilty in the newspapers on charges that will later on be dropped. That is not a fight against corruption.”

Mr. Aribisala’s speech received a thunderous ovation from the guests, mostly students, a situation which irked‎ Itse Sagay, a professor of Law and the chairman of the occasion.

“We are not here to make students clap,” a visibly angry Mr. Sagay, who serves as the chairman of a Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-courruption.

“We are here on a very serious business. And students, don’t behave like American electorates who are ignorant. Donald Trump. The appreciation of unserious people shows ignorance. How can someone come here and say there’s no war against corruption and there is clapping? ‎”

Mr. Sagay said the APC had a manifesto that spelt out its strategies to combat corruption, and admonished Mr. Aribisala to stop making statements devoid of facts.‎

“Obasanjo created ICPC, EFCC, they are doing well we don’t need to create new institutions. You do not win a war by just creating multiplicity of institutions everywhere, that’s irresponsible. We will work with the institutions that we have.

“You don’t dilute the meaning of corruption to a point that it is meaningless. This is a very serious discussion and I want us to be serious about it. If you are anti-government, please go and campaign against government and let your party win in 2019.

“This is not a venue for PDP campaign. Most inappropriate comment. We are here on serious business. Let’s maintain that seriousness,” he said.

With Mr. Aribisala appearing unperturbed by Mr. Sagay’s stern remarks, Mrs. Ezekwesili pleaded for another chance at the podium, ostensibly to further drive the case against Mr. Aribisala’s argument.

“The systemic nature of corruption as a cancer against a system of governance is demonstrated in the fact that the activity of corruption begins to happen at their different levels,” Mrs. Ezekwesili began.

“So for example, I wasn’t surprised that some of you were clapping. The reason you were clapping is that you are a page in your own level of corruption.

“There are many whose exam malpractice is the basis upon which ‎they have come to school. So when you are talking about the need to wage a war against corruption, they are completely disconnected from it. There is a complete dissonance from it.”

Mrs. Ezekwesili urged the students to desist‎ from applauding populist statements.

“You need to be driven by the evidence of the damage and the destruction ‎that corruption is doing to you, at the unit level. If you think you are doing well now, you will do exceedingly better if corruption is effectively tackled in this society,” she said.

“There is no comedy session going on here. We are talking about something that can be destructive. You should be holding the gun to fight against corruption. The gun has to be intellectual, so I need you to intelligently process everything that is said.”