BREAKING news: Top Igbo leaders in a meeting with President Buhari at the Presidential villa.

By Collins Ughalaa Top Igbo leaders led by former Senate President Ken Nnamani and former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain, under the auspices of Igbo Leaders for Change today met with President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential vila. Details later

New militant group, Niger Delta Suicide Squad, emerges … vows to destroy all private oil installations

By OUR Reporter

As the Federal Government moves against the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), militancy in the region has taken another dimension as a new group: The New Delta Suicide Squad (NDSS) has emerged. Unlike the NDA which con¬centrates its attacks on pipelines and facilities of major oil firms, the new group has threatened to destroy the equipment of private oil firms’ installations in the region. The announcement of the group came on the heels of President Muhammadu Buhari’s threat in a national broadcast to mark his first anniversary in office, to crush the upsurge in militancy in the Niger Delta which has crippled Nigeria’s oil production. The NDSS warned owners of tank farms, storage tanks and private jetties to quit the Niger Delta within seven days. It said failure to comply with the deadline, the owners of such facilities stood the risk of losing their investments. In a statement issued on Monday by the spokesman of the group, Harry Ebiye, he said: “The New Niger Delta Suicide Squad warns all owners of tank farms, storage tanks and private jetties to quit the region within the next seven days beginning from the date of this publication or risk the destruction of all their facilities from the date of the expiration of this ultimatum. “The exploitation of this region by scavengers, economic pirates, and cowboys must come to an end” Ebiye said. Top officials of the Federal Government are divided over how to handle the current attacks on oil installations in the Niger Delta by militants. A meeting with representatives of top militants in the region, reportedly organized last week by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) on how to contain the security problems in the Niger Delta, ended in a deadlock. One camp had reportedly broached the idea of using a former South-South governor to reach out to the militants, but shelved the idea when it was realized that the former governor did not have the required clout and contacts amongst the militants. Another issue being reportedly considered is that of the detention for over 70 days, without trial, of Azibaola Roberts, a cousin of former President Goodluck Jonathan, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Ironically, Roberts is being held by the EFCC for a $40 million contract to secure oil pipelines during the Jonathan administration. Some security sources hinted on the possibility of the government engaging Roberts to negotiate with the militants currently destroying oil pipelines in the region, since he had successfully handled such projects before on behalf of the government. An EFCC source hinted that they did not have sufficient evidence to charge Roberts to court, but that having detained him for over 70 days, the commission may be left with no option than to charge him to “any court, just to save face.”

Militant group claims responsibility for gunboat attack on military in Onitsha

By OUR Reporter

A Niger Delta militant group, Concerned Militant Leaders (CML), has claimed responsibility for yesterday’s attack at Onitsha river, Anambra State, where eight soldiers were feared dead, The Sun reports. Spokesman of the group, popularly known as General Ben, revealed this yesterday in the social media. He also claimed the group executed the attack in Nkpor where three persons were killed and the burning of a police patrol van in Onitsha. General Ben, in the statement, said the group’s action was to show the Federal Government and security agencies that they should not underrate the activities of the Niger Delta militants, or limit their operations to the region The CML group said the members were working in conjunction with the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) to cripple the nation’s economy. Ben declared: “My men were responsible for the killing of eight soldiers at Onitsha river. They were killed when my men attacked their military gunboat in Onitsha. We are responsible for the incident in Nkpor near Onitsha. “It may sound doubtful; but we want to tell Nigerians that we are not limited to Niger Delta region. This is a warning to the Nigerian government that no amount of security threat will deter us. More attacks will still take place. “We stand by every ultimatum given to any group or company. We will touch the soul of the economy of this nation. We are not interested in resources but, sovereignty”. General Ben further said it was not their intention to strike yesterday, as it coincided with the anniversary of the Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB). “We had to execute the operation to teach the military lesson. We have been quiet for a long time, but time for action has come”, he vowed.

Religious riot breaks out in Niger State over anti-Islamic post

By OUR Reporter

The Nigerian Army has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew following the outbreak of religious violence in Pandogari, Rafi local government area of Niger state and the killing of a Christian, over alleged blasphemous comments about Prophet Mohammed on the social media. A statement signed by Major NC Agwu, Assistant Director, Army Public Relations, said the curfew came into effect as rioters embarked on violence, looting shops and blocking the Lagos – Kaduna Road, a major artery connecting the northern and southern parts of the country. “Regrettably, one church, one house and a shop were burnt while 25 other shops were looted following the violence. Three other persons including personnel of the NSCDC also lost their lives” it said. Continuing it said, “Some arrests have been made in connection with the violence and the suspects handed over to the police. The military and other security agencies are currently embarking on confidence building patrols in all nooks and crannies of the town. Giving further details on the violence, Major Ugwu said, “At about 6pm on Sunday, 29 May 2016, one Mr. Methodus Chimaije Emmanuel, a 24 year old trader based in Pandogari, Rafi LGA of Niger State was attacked and killed by a mob in the town on allegation of posting a blasphemous statement about Prophet Muhammad on the social media. “Troops of 31 Artillery Brigade of 1 Division, Nigerian Army on operation MESA quickly intervened and restored law and order while a dusk to dawn curfew was imposed in the town. “Early Monday morning however, the rioters embarked on further violence, looting shops and blocking the Lagos – Kaduna Road, a major artery connecting the northern and southern parts of the country. “Again, troops in conjunction with the personnel of Nigeria Police and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) took control of the situation to forestall escalation of violence and any threat to the peace in the town. “As part of the measures to de-escalate tensions and ensure a lasting peace in the town, the military is working with the Local Government Council authorities and community leaders, including the Kagara Emirate Council to pacify all aggrieved parties and build on the peace so far established. “However, while the military will continue with its current non-violent approach to maintaining peace in Pandogari town, it will not take kindly to any unscrupulous element who would attempt to visit violence on innocent and law abiding Nigerians. “The general public is therefore warned to abide by the conditions of the curfew so far emplaced. All law abiding citizens are enjoined to go about their legitimate businesses without any fear of intimidation. “They are to be rest assured that the security forces will remain fully present to guarantee their safety and security across the length and breadth of the town, within their rules of engagement.”

The worst government in the history of Nigeria (1)

By Femi Aribisala

It is amusing, if not very disturbing, to see the number of people the Buhari administration has brought out of the woodwork to sing its praises on this its one-year anniversary. Having arrested key spokespersons of the opposition, intimidated the press into silence, threatened the judiciary, and even arrested its non-politician critics, such as Olu Adegboruwa, on trumped up charges, the government has become confident that it has a free pass to feed Nigerians with lies about its woeful performance in office. Having won a “famous” election by telling Nigerians a tissue of lies which it then repudiated on assuming office, the government continues to believe it can also govern just by continuing to tell lies. Thus, assessing his performance in office over the past one year, the president even went as far as to boast that it has been “a year of triumph.” This shows conclusively that truth has fallen in the street of this misguided Buhari administration; so much so that abject failure has been camouflaged as its triumph. Deceitful election campaign In all my years of living in Nigeria, I can say, along with the overwhelming majority of Nigerians, that we have never had it so bad. Only one thing explains the extremities of Nigeria’s miserable predicament today: we have in office a government so singularly inept and incompetent, it has triumphed in making a bad situation so much worse. In an article last year entitled: “Why Nigerians Must Reject the Second-Coming of Buhari,” I made this observation after listening to Buhari’s vapid campaign speeches: “It is amazing that, for a man who is running for election as president for a marathon fourth time, Buhari is so bereft of ideas as to how he would do anything if he were to become president. No man becomes president of Nigeria on the basis of vain platitudes. No man becomes president as a result of social media blogs and sound-bites. No man becomes president by giving two-minute speeches in craftily-packaged rallies, one minute of which is spent introducing his entourage.” However, many Nigerians refused to heed our warning. Now the chickens have come to roost. Inaugural mumbo-jumbo After listening to President Buhari’s inaugural speech in May 2015, I also had this to say in an article entitled: “Is President Buhari Born Again?”: “Buhari has been running for president for the last 14 years. Nevertheless, listening to his inaugural speech, it is clear he does not have a clue what exactly to do when in office. Either the APC never really believed it would win the election, or it was too preoccupied with winning to pay sufficient attention to what it would do in the unlikely event that it won.” Of course, Buhari apologists promptly came to his defence. They claimed it was too early to make such assessment. Let the man settle down. Baba Do-Nothing The first 100 days of a new administration provides the best opportunity to proclaim giant strides and pass difficult legislation because it is still the honeymoon period. But our man Buhari squandered this opportunity by doing absolutely nothing. At his 100 days inaugural, I had this assessment: “After 100 days, it should now be abundantly clear that Buhari is not qualified to be president of 21st century Nigeria. The president has neither agenda nor direction. His cardinal objective is apparently the prosecution of Northern hegemony. The APC desperately needs to organise an intervention, before Buhari drives the country into the ditch. It is time to admit it. Electing Buhari as president was a big national blunder.” Again, the paid chorus-singers jumped to the president’s defence. They insisted again that 100 days is not enough to make an adequate assessment of a president’s agenda or direction. Buhari still needed to be given more time. Buhari wasted seven months to choose the members of his cabinet, receiving in the process the ignominy of being nicknamed “Baba Go-Slow.” He promised Nigerians his ministers would be unimpeachable saints and angels. But when the time finally came, they turned out to be the same old and tired politicians, some with serious allegations of corruption hanging over their heads. In an uncharacteristic moment of clarity, Buhari himself castigated them as “noise-makers.” In office, they have been singularly unimpressive without exception. Abubakar Malami, the Minister of Justice, dropped a fictitious bombshell by declaring that the EFCC has recovered 2 trillion dollars of stolen loot. The Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, dazzled our credibility by saying his ministry has the capacity to generate about 3.4 million jobs in 2016 alone through pencil production. Lai Mohammed, another of the government’s bamboozlers, said the government would use the N1.4 trillion in the TSA as Father Christmas handouts for Nigeria’s poorest 20 million. This kind of blatantly false hot air has become the stock-in-trade of this APC government. All Promises Cancelled Now it is not just 100 wasted days, it is 365. It is one full year and there is no difference, except that things have gone terribly wrong. I repeat: Nigerians have never had it so bad. No electricity, no petrol, no economic policy, no government. Just vain platitudes. When a political party wins an election by deceiving the electorate, filling the people with false promises, it is easy to conclude it can also rule by deceit, feeding the populace with false hope. However, sooner than later, lies will be exposed to be lies. Judging by the president’s failure to fulfil any of his vaunted campaign promises, his government is not only a failure but a fraud. At the APC South-East rally in Owerri in 2015, Buhari declared he would make the naira equal to the dollar if voted into office. He continued: “It is sad that the value of the naira has dropped to more than 230 to one dollar. This does not speak well for the nation.” If N230 to one dollar is sad, what shall we say today of the exchange-rate of N350 to one dollar under his administration? How does that speak for the nation, Mr. President? Just take a look at the following anomalies. Buhari promised to create 740,000 jobs within a year in the 36 states of the federation, as well as one million jobs for Igbo youths by revamping the huge coal deposits in Enugu State for electricity generation. However, in one year in office, his administration has created no new jobs. Instead, it has lost jobs by the lorry-load through its go-slow and do-nothing stance. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in the first quarter of 2016 alone, another 1.5 million Nigerians became unemployed; increasing the country’s unemployment rate from 10.4 percent in the last quarter in 2015 to 12.1 percent. Buhari promised to generate, transmit and distribute electricity on a 24/7 basis. At the beginning of his administration, APC propagandists went to town boasting that there was already regular power supply as a result of the alchemy of the president’s “body language.” But, in no time at all, the only language the president’s body has been speaking is power blackouts. In 365 days of Buhari’s tragic presidency, Nigeria has suffered more blackouts than at any time in its history. In April this year, the entire country was thrown into darkness as a result of system collapse. The minister of power has become a minister of darkness. To date, there is no reprieve in sight. From bad to worse Before Buhari, our primary security concern was the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East. But thanks to Buhari, insecurity has become nationwide. Now the threat is not only Boko Haram in the North-East. It is also the Shi’ites in the North-West. It is the Biafrans in the South-East. It is the Niger-Delta Avengers in the South-South. But for the incompetence of the government, these new fissures would not have gained new prominence. At his inaugural, the president claimed grandiloquently: “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.” But after 365 days in office, we now know that he belongs to Fulani herdsmen, after all, he called them “my people” to Lam Adesina of Oyo State. These herdsmen have been allowed to go from state to state on repeated murderous rampages, with nary a word of reproach until recently from the president who, with his 270 declared cows, is apparently their patron. Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information, said in December 2015: “We can confidently announce here today that the (fuel) scarcity will end in a few days. We can assure you that we won’t be caught in this kind of situation again.” However, the kind of scarcity we have experienced since the making of this vain promise has been unprecedented in Nigeria’s history. On some occasions, the fuel queues at petrol-stations everywhere have been as long as half a mile. When Jonathan reduced the petrol pump price from N97 to N87 per litre in January 2015, former Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola said the N10 reduction was too low and that Nigerians would get a better deal under Buhari. Later, in April 2015, one of Buhari’s arch-propagandists, former Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Professor Tam David-West, told Nigerians that, since a drastic decrease in the international price of oil had taken place, Buhari would reduce the fuel pump price from N87 to N40 per litre. But all this turned out to be just another tissue of lies. Rather than decrease the price, Buhari has now increased it by a massive N56.50 to N145. This has fed into already high price increases and has led to further devaluation of the naira on the parallel market. The result has been even more hardship in Nigeria, especially among the poor. National impoverishment At the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Tinubu declared that the APC would eradicate poverty in Nigeria. He said: “A progressive government must turn its face from the austerity policies of the outgoing administration that tried to manage poverty, but not end it. Such policies serve only to deepen and prolong the hardship of the average person.” But it is now abundantly clear that no government has impoverished Nigerians as much as this APC government. The rate of inflation in the country has grown astronomically. If the members of the lying brigade the government has trotted out in this one-year anniversary to deceive Nigerians are so sure of Buhari’s triumphant success, let them go to any market in the country today, North or South, and shout “Sai Buhari.” They should not be surprised if they are mugged or even lynched. After just 365 days, Nigerians are completely fed up with Buhari and the APC. At the moment, the country is a powder-keg waiting to be ignited. This is the assessment of Balarabe Musa, former governor of Kaduna State: “It is quite obvious that this administration is a complete failure and does not have the capacity to solve any problems. The unfortunate thing is that the situation in Nigeria is so bad that the electorate is now cursing their luck for electing it.”

Waiting for PDP on zoning for equity in Imo State

By Cyril Aririguzo

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have scored high points politically with the way it handled its National Convention in Port Harcourt Rivers State, despite being engulfed in all sorts of crisis, court cases, melodrama arising from internal party conflicts at all the levels, a situation that has made many in the party to pitch tent against one another. With the dissolution of the National Working Committee (NWC) the party has taken a bold step to reconcile and accommodate everybody irrespective of their grievances, is a right step to the right direction. The postponement of the scheduled election by the party stakeholders and the appointment of a new seven-man Caretaker committee headed by Senator Ahmed Markarfi as its Chairman and Senator Ben Obi as the Secretary, has raised hopes that PDP is alive again and sensitive to the yearning of members as well as issues on ground. The motion to sack the national officers of the party which was moved by former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Austin Opara, and was seconded by another former Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha has laid to rest all the noise and hullabaloo that PDP is not capable of handling its affairs. With the motion to set up the new Caretaker Committee moved by former governor of Akwa Ibom state, Godswill Akpabio and was seconded by Alhaji Ibrahim Dankwambo, the governor of Gombe state equally added radiance to the development. The arrangement is for the new Caretaker Committee to organize a convention for the party within 90 days, with a mandate to reconcile the entire feuding groups in the party. Importantly also, the party did not fail to address the issue of zoning for equity and justice in Nigeria by boldly zoning its presidential slot for 2019 general elections to the North. With such strategy it will be obvious that the wobbling APC government of President Buhari, knows for sure that PDP is capable of taking over power with ease by all ramifications. Those in attendance which include a long list of serving PDP governors, former governors, former Senate President, Senator David Mark, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, members of the state and National Assembly, Chairmen of LGAs and party stalwarts turned out to give their support with the affirmation of ‘ayes, ayes’ and ‘nay, nay’ to concretize the party decisions.

To me the Port Harcourt Convention was a huge success by all ramifications given that most of the leaders who form the nucleus of the party were present in their large numbers. The decisions reached were thoroughly and carefully done to give everybody a sense of belonging and to ensure the party is made cohesive to win the 2019 election. We learnt also that the aggrieved chieftains of the party under the aegis of Concerned PDP Stakeholders running a parallel convention in Abuja are now happy and willing to return to work with the new Caretaker Committee. This sign shows that there is light at the end of the tunnel. PDP is alive once more and will continue to live above mediocrity and ensure respect for one another politically. As an advocate of equity, justice and fairness in the distribution of political office, it interests me to note that PDP as a political party can be taken seriously as a party with difference, poised to set the records rights by implication, with the zoning of its presidential slot for 2019 general election to the North. This will definitely help PDP a lot because contending for power without adequate planning and good strategy on how to achieve it especially when a group lacks synergy, direction, unity and deep sense of collectivism which is a prerequisite credential for durable political achievement will make the task unrealistic and impossible. With this kind of strategy, PDP will give APC a battle of their life come 2019. Leadership by zoning enshrined on the principle of equity, justice and fairness like the Imo Charter of Equity will always serve as a cardinal point to simplify and address the issue of Imo political equation which has always raised concern in the party. The principle of power rotation has not been observed in the spirit of equitable distribution of political position for a long time now in Imo State. The development has been the reason for the dwindling fortune of our state where mediocrity and high handedness have reigned supreme. Marginalization and shortchanging of Owerri Zone by some strange elements in PDP has become a re-occurring decimal and pathetic issue begging for solutions, and the earlier PDP resolves the matter the better for them. Come to think of it, and for anybody or group no matter how highly placed to deliberately strangle the principle of justice, equity and fairness with the mindset to usurp power and shortchange Owerri Zone will definitely boomerang at the end of the day with the level of awareness in Imo at the present. The emerging development in PDP at the national level can be copied by Imo PDP and tailored to suit equity and fairness by zoning the governorship to Owerri zone. This is the only way to deliver a credible opposition that can win APC in 2019.

We all know that PDP lost in Imo state, not because the people did not vote for Rt Hon Emeka Ihedioha the PDP candidate, but because our courts refused to listen to the glaring case of fraud perpetuated by INEC and APC government that shortchanged PDP during the election. The Courts decided to shut the doors and never want to listen to facts in the petition before them for reasons best known to them. It is a fact and I stand to be corrected as I will continue to say it that Rt. Hon Ihedioha’s campaign Organization was simply superb by all standards, be it in the media, ideology, organizational structure it was splendid and the best in the history of the state. Rt. Hon Ihedioha was widely accepted by political, traditional and religious leaders in the state. His campaign train in the 27 LGAs visited, youths, students, market women, church leaders of all denomination threw their weight behind him. Political timber and caliber, the organized private sector, trade union and artisans were in total support and voted him massively. We all know about what transpired in INEC, the fraud that took place with all the evidence that were not listened to in the courts. No doubt, if the courts had taken the boldness to listen to the merits of the petitions and not to have decided otherwise, Ihedioha would have floored Okorocha and become the governor. Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha was the ultimate choice of the people and his chances then of winning a non performing Governor Okorocha was very high without prejudice. Many believed the prevailing poverty, insensitivity of plights of Imolites coupled with the societal decadence permeating Imo state can only be stopped by the likes of Hon Ihedioha who everybody know was a no match to Okorocha intellectually. Having been groomed politically as a parliamentarian with vast knowledge in political education, his capacity and mentoring in the green chambers was giving him an edge and pedigree over Okorocha as one that can enforce positive changes in the state. With the adoption of 27 LGA chairmen whose names were published by the National Convention Committee and other stakeholders from Imo, I wish to congratulate, Chief Charles Ogaziechi, Innocent Offurm, Njoku Maurison, Solomon Onwuegbuchulam, Azuatalam Uzochukwu, Okechukwu Opara, Chineemerem Madu, Richard Iwu, Obinna Onuama, Onyeoma Cy Obichendu, Kingsley Anayo, Paul Uche, Arc. Iwuoha Mac Athony, Ofoegbu Jude, Anyanwu Emmanuel, Fred Opia, Kenneth Akunnakwe, Eugene Okorie, Charles Nnorom, Anayo Uduchukwu, A. Obodosha, Nze Lawrence Nwadike, Marcel Amadioha, Isaac Duruoha, Ifeanyi Oru, Uchenna Osuigwe and Chukwuemeka Ikeaka for making the list and to see the task before them as call to service. They must ensure they carry everybody along in the scheme of thing at their wards and local government areas. This is because it is only in Imo state where things are never done with utmost sensitivity, every state in the South East apart from Imo state have been observing equity and rotation in the sharing of political office to give all groups a sense of belonging. For instance, in Enugu State the present Governor, Ugwanyi is from Enugu North, his predecessor Sullivan Chime is from Enugu West while Nnamani who was before him came for Enugu East. In Abia State present Governor Ikpeazu is from Abia South his predecessor Theodore Orji is from Abia Central while Orji Uzor Kalu is from Abia North. Governor Obiano of Anambra State is from Anambra North his predecessor Peter Obi is from Anambra Central while Chinwike Mbadinuju is from Anambra South. In Ebonyi State, the present Governor Umahi is from Ebonyi South Martin Elechi who was before him, came from Ebonyi Central while Sam Egwu came from Ebonyi North. This rotation of political office should be done for every zone to taste power at the center, and this can help our state to grow in political stability.

2015 polls: Jonathan shocked me for conceding defeat- Buhari …says I pitied Lai Mohammed

One year after he became the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has said he was still shocked at how former President Goodluck Jonathan

conceded defeat in the March 28, 2015, presidential elections and handed over the reins of power to him. The President said it was such an incredible development that a man who had occupied various political offices as a deputy governor, governor, vice president and president could easily relinquish power to the opposition party, adding that Jonathan had by this gesture, distinguished himself as generous and gracious man. ex-President Goodluck Jonathan and President Muhammadu Buhari Buhari, who gave glowing tribute to his predecessor while hosting State House Correspondents to a luncheon at the new banquet hall of the Presidential Villa yesterday, was offering retrospective highlights of his early days in office after his inauguration. He said that the last one year had been “a tumultuous year for everyone in the villa”, revealing that it was the congratulatory call from Jonathan made that prompted him to visit the Villa in the company of former Head of State, Abdusalami Abubakar, for appreciation. He said: “I will talk about my experience here in Aso Villa. I underrated the influence of the PDP for 16 years, watching from outside as 8 consecutive governments. The experience of the staff, their commitment and zeal is different from what it is now. 16 years of development in the life of a developing nation is a long time. “When we came, there were 42 ministries. We cut it to 24. This is where I pay my respect to former President Goodluck Jonathan. This is actually a privileged information for you. He called me at a quarter past five in the evening. He said good evening Your Excellency Sir and I said good evening. ‘’He said I have called to congratulate you that I have conceded defeat. Of course, there was dead silence on my end because I did not expect it. I was shocked. I did not expect it because after 16 years, the man was a deputy governor, governor, Vice President and was President for six years. “For him to have conceded defeat even before the result was announced by INEC, I think it was quite generous and gracious of him. “Abdulsalam recognized the generosity of Jonathan to concede defeat and said we should go and thank him immediately and that was the first time I came here.” The President stated that reducing the Ministries to 24 from 42 was the best decision to take in the face of the circumstances his government found himself. “We had to do it on our own we found out that government could not continue with 42 ministers and the paraphernalia of office. So, we cut it down to 24. We had to cut down half the number of permanent secretaries and then do some cross postings”, he said. On what civil servants did to 2016 Budget President Buhari, however, regretted that some civil servants within the budgetary system “padded” his first budget for the country. He said it was a “nasty experience” for him and his Ministers, who spent sleepless nights putting the document together. He said: “For somebody like me, for the first time I heard what is called padding. ‘’I think we will recover by the fourth quarter of the year. There were very serious development which I never knew about. “So, really it was a nasty experience for us. It was also a nasty experience for some of the ministers who were never in government. For them to sit down day and night to work. I saw them. Some of them literary lost weight because they were sleeping less and eating less. Working on every kobo to be spent. “Because we became a mono-economy of oil-rich Nigeria, everybody relied on oil and forgot about solid minerals, agriculture, making and exploring things. We recently just found out that we are poor because we don’t have anything to fall back on. This is the condition we found ourselves and this change mantra had to go through hell up till yesterday”, he said. I pitied Lai Mohammed The President said he pitied the Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed who took pains in explaining the actions and inactions of government to the people. “For you to talk to whoever came to visit us throughout that year, I wonder how each of your diaries would be, because people were expecting this change mantra in their own way. “How do you define change? Luckily our party identified three major items, security, economy and corruption. One of the man I pitied is Lai Mohammed. Everyday, he is on TV explaining our performance or lack of it. Our shock over $2.1 billion arms deal One shocking discovery of the government, according to the president, was the “sharing” of the $2.1 billion meant for the purchase of arms for the military to fight insurgency in the north east. “People were trusted and the most recent one which we haven’t recovered from is the $2.1billion dollars which was given by the government then, to the military to buy hardware to fight the insurgency which had taken over part of the country and they just sat just the way you are sitting now and shared the money into their own account. They didn’t even bother. So we are still trying to get the cooperation of the international community and so on and we have to do it with a lot of respect to the judiciary. “We can’t go out and talk too much. We have to allow the judiciary to do their work. We give them the facts,the name, country, bank account. If you talk too much, technicalities will come in, then, we will realize less than what we want to realize. “So please when next you want to interrogate out visitors try and do some research so that when they are coming next time, they will do research themselves”, he said.

Bad economy: Madumere urges Imolites to put on their thinking cap

By COLLINS Ughalaa

The Deputy Governor of Imo State, Prince Eze Madumere, has felicitated with the people of Imo State and Nigerians in general, calling on Imo people to put on their thinking cap in the face of the downturn in the economy of the state and the nation. In a press release he signed, the Deputy Governor said that Imo people and Nigerians should change their attitude towards work and consider the economic situation as a passing phase in our national life and not to be downcast. He said: “May I use this occasion to urge our people not to be downcast with the present economic downturn. I would implore us to see it as a passing phase of our National life. I also believe that the best response to the present realities is to begin to change our attitude to work and put on their thinking cap to more creative, productive and patriotic towards building a strong Nigerian with diversified economy.” He commended the people of the state “for embracing and imbibing democratic culture especially through participatory democracy and their elected representatives. You have continually made inputs through various avenues and fora, which has helped in churning out people oriented policies at the State and Federal level.” The Deputy Governor also commended Governor Rochas Okorocha “for his democratic ideals, visionary leadership and monumental feats, which I attributed to Governor's unrepentant democratic culture and for upholding freedom of speech and other fundamental rights of the people in all ramifications. To demonstrate his bid to ensure Imo people become the sovereign, he gave power back to them to the extent that everybody is free to express himself and contribute his quota without any fear of molestation or intimidation as was the case in the past.” He added: “I cannot forget to also praise our great party, the All Progressives Congress Party for her unrepentant stance on ethos of democratic ideals, which is giving Nigerians a new lease of life under the able leadership of President Mohammadu Buhari. As we are aware, our President Buhari has given the right leadership, which can be deduced from his undaunting effort to sanitizing the Nigerian system by making it corrupt free and respectable in the comity of Nations.” He also encouraged all Nigerians “to take part in the democratic process towards building a Nigeria of our collective dream. And for me, it is the people, if you like the governed, that deserve all the accolades. I vote them the winners in the Nigerian democratic experience of seventeen years.”

IMSU lecturers are unfair to Okorocha - Okpaleke

by Collins Ughalaa Dr. Kelechi Okpaleke is the Special Adviser to Governor Rochas Okorocha on Public Enlightenment and Strategy. He is also the Principal Officer (Director General) of the Imo State Orientation Agency. He was first appointed the Chairman of the taskforce on Information and Public Enlightenment. In this interview with some journalists in the state, he talks about Governor Rochas Okorocha’s policies since the rescue mission began in 2011. Excerpts: Let us look at one of the cardinal policies of His Excellency Governor Rochas Okorocha since 2011 when he became the Governor of Imo State. The free education policy of the state government is five years old. How can you rate its success? Well, over 95%. Why do I say over 95%? Take a look at Imo State, as far back as when Mbakwe was the Governor of the state. He said that education was a thriving industry in Imo State. If you take statistics of tribes or ethnic groups that value most educating their children today in Nigeria, it is the Igbos. Before Okorocha came, most indigent parents with a brood of children would rather send their kids to become house boys and girls in Lagos with the promise that they would get a semblance of education. But we know that the vile of trafficking started by parents making efforts to have their kids educated. Today in Imo State, because of free education, you can never find house helps to do the house chores for your wife. Because every parent’s dream is their child or children getting the highest level of education they can get. This is made possible by Governor Okorocha. What of the multiplier effect of the government policy? The greatest multiplier effect of the free education policy of the government that nobody has taken time to study or provide the statistics is that the number of Imo children who have been trafficked since Okorocha's free education has reduced, because Imo people love education. No parent wants his child or children to be house helps anymore, even if he can ill afford to feed them. The parents are grateful that the Governor has provided free education for the children of the state. That is why I said I rate the free education policy of the government over 95%. Let’s also look at the stipend the government was giving. We no longer have the stipend. What happened to it? Was it government’s deliberate action to stop it? The government of Imo State never came out to announce that it has stopped the stipend. The government of Imo State never announced that it would do the stipend every month or quarter. The stipend was designed originally to attract the children to school. There are some parents who kept their kids in the school because they don’t know when the next stipend is coming. (Cuts in) So the government kept the people in this suspense mood; shouldn’t the people be able to predict the actions of their government and be sure what the government was going to do at any point? What the government does is to the benefit of the people. Free education, although is to the benefit of the parents because the parents that could not afford education before now can, but the ultimate beneficiary is the children. When the stipend was started, those parents who rather sent their children to go and sale pure-water now calculated the profit the children got in the business at the end of the day. If you remember, the stipend was started with N100 and later increased to N500, and more people came. Once they got addicted to it, it is the children that benefits. And over these years, an 8 year old boy who sold pure-water has learnt a thing or two, and has known the benefits of education. They now tell their parents they want to go to school. In Psychology it is called reward and punishment. If a government puts the children in school and promises them stipend, and after sometime it stops the stipend, would you call that deceit or strategy? No, you are assuming facts not in evidence. Listen to the premise of your question: did the government promise? The government delivered. Was there anywhere the Governor promised the parents to bring their kids to school and he would pay them stipend? No. The government woke up and thought of how to keep the children in school. They commenced the payment of the stipend and it became a lure. And once you are in school for a year, you are in for it and you are better off. The children now demand to go school, and that is the beauty of it all. Could you clarify whether making unrealistic policy by the government has become a policy of the Okorocha government? Because you try to tell us that the Governor never made any promise of paying stipend, and you make it seem that the government made the pledge just to attract the children to school. What you have to understand is that Okorocha said he is on a rescue mission. Don’t lose sight of the subject “rescue mission”. The second thing you have to do is to answer the question yourself: has Okorocha rescued Imo children that didn’t have the opportunity to go to school? What would your answer be? Once you have answered the question you will be in a position to know better. You talked about unsustainable pledges. When the Governor was campaigning, could you cite me an instance where the Governor promised he would give stipend. Tell me anywhere he promised to give free education and the stipend. No. You see once you take any position on any issue and look at it objectively, you would ask the question: what was the Governor’s campaign promise? He promised free education and he has given free education. Then your question is bothering on the stipend: did Okorocha promise stipend? I was at Orlu Township Stadium where the Governor said that in addition to the free education he would pay stipend every month, because there was too much money in the state. That was after he was in office. That is not a contract. A contract is before performance. When he made the pledge of free education, I ask you again, did he promise to pay stipends in addition to the free education? No. I could remember when we were small, Ike Nwachukwu used to be on the streets compelling childten to go to school. Now the Governor has used stipend to lure the children to school. Don’t you think the government could be better using taskforce instead of the stipend, and to also adopt enlightenment strategy? Continuing to use the stipend might not be possible again considering the economy of the state and it might also affect the free education programme. When they talk of children hawking – you are a reporter – go to the streets and find out the children hawking, are they citizens or residents of Imo State? If you listened to Orient FM I had a jingle that was going on for a while. I limited it to the Bank Road because of the traffic hawking causes at that area. The point I am making is that most of the hawkers you see are from Ebonyi, Akwa Ibom and other states. But with regards to the enlightenment on the benefits of the free education, over 95 of the people have inculcated the benefits of the free education programme as a result of the sensitization campaign through my office, but before I was there, Imo Orientation Agency. As for using stipend or taskforce, Okorocha used inducement because it is more effective, because it casts a wide net, and no matter where you are you will be in the net; then you achieve your goal. But if you do the taskforce, people would play hide and seek with the taskforce. My personal opinion is that the use of inducement is more effective and its effectiveness is being felt by the number of Imo children in the public schools, and in the five years Okorocha has been in power the school enrolment has quadrupled. Again, the quality in the public schools now has improved and is better than the private schools. People are even withdrawing their children from the private schools to the public schools because the standard in the public schools is going up. The private schools don’t even have play ground for the children, but most of our public schools are built in such a way that the children would get both mental and physical education. That is why it is now en vogue for the children to wear athlete gears to school, and when you see them in their athlete gears you know that it is for their physical education in their schools.

During the tail end of the first term of the Governor, he announced that he would include the non-indigenes in the state in the free education programme. But after his victory in 2015 he now withheld that. What do you have to say about that? You didn’t understand him. Okorocha wanted to push the envelope so that his entire party could adopt free education. Now when he won the election, as the Chairman of the APC Governors Forum, he lobbied so that the governors could give free education to Imo students who got admission in their states, so that he would reciprocate. But there were no takers and buyers. So, your question at the premise is partially true; but the Governor was going somewhere with it. Because before he even thought about running for the governorship of Imo State as far back as 2003, he had set up the Rochas Foundation Colleges, and those schools gave free education. You don’t need to know anybody there. All you need to do is pass the entrance examination there and you are admitted. The Rochas Foundation College was not limited to Imo State. He had one in Kano and another in Ibadan and other places. It is nothing new to him. Okorocha believes that to educate a child is to give a society better standard of living, and he has committed everything he owns to this. The statistics are there. He has given over 13,000 people free education to the university level. We used to hear about ICAPS and the Imo Young Scientist College. What’s going on with it? Have you been there lately? Yea. It’s a ghost of its former self. The beehive of activities we used to see there is no longer there. No. If you go to ICAPS you would see that there is a kid that produced generator that runs without fuel. When you see a visioner, unless the drivers of the vision crystalize the vision the common man might not understand. When ICAPS was formed I was on the other side of the divide politically. When Okorocha set up ICAPS he was not thinking of another school that awards just certificates. He wanted to practicalize things; he wanted something more tangible. There has been accusation that the Governor does not obey court judgements. Could a sitting government not be obeying court judgements in a democratic setting? When I was the Chairman of the taskforce on Information and there was a press briefing with the Governor, Amby Uneze of Thisday asked the Governor the same question you just asked me. The Governor asked him to give him one court judgement he had not respected. And I am going to ask you the same question: “tell me one final court judgement the Governor did not obey.” You can take me to a high court and get a judgement against me and I have a given period of time to appeal the judgment. If that time has not elapsed and I filed an appeal, that judgement cannot be said to be the final judgement. But if the period of time elapses and I refuse to file an appeal, then it becomes a final judgement that I must obey. If a Supreme Court of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gives a judgement and Okorocha refuses to obey that judgement, point it out. What Okorocha has done as advised by his Attorney General was to appeal the judgements, but opposition would write in the papers that the Governor is not obeying court judgement. Could you tell us what is going on between the Governor and the lecturers of IMSU? The lecturers are still on strike, but the Governor has threatened to concession the institution and employ new workers if they don’t resume work. The IMSU lecturers are owed like one month or so. But the problem with the lecturers commenced when the government entered an agreement with the Labour in the state. If ASUU IMSU is annoyed because of that, it shouldn’t be with the government. But as the Chief Executive Officer of the state the bulk stops on the Governor’s table. However, we all should be very objective in making judgement. Once Labour reached that agreement there was happiness in the state that Labour won. Why did Labour do that? That was because Labour never believed that the recurrent expenditure of the state was N5.6bn then. I tried to explain this on radio, but I’m glad that people have seen things now. People have now put a searchlight and they have seen it. Now at the end of the month Labour takes 70% and gives the government 30%. Then ASUU IMSU said they were no longer part of the NLC. The VC even said she would pay the lecturers full salary from the school’s internally generated revenue. They refused and went on strike. Let’s look at the controversial bailout fund. Some people are not comfortable with the explanation from the government. You had written an article to that effect explaining what happened. You said the money was a loan and not a bailout fund. When did the bailout money become a loan? Let me ask you this: is the bailout fund free money? No. it wasn’t free money as such. If you look at the premise of your question: “when did the bailout fund become a loan”, you would see that it is all a mindset. That is, when your mind is set to oppose, to antagonize, you forget that you are a reporter. As a lawyer, there is something called legal brief; it is an advocacy brief. But there is also something called a legal memo. If I am your senior lawyer and I am supervising you and I ask you to research a case for me. Even if you knew the case you would still have to research it, and that memo is what is called a legal memo, to explain to me what I would tell the client. That is objectivity. But when I write a brief as a lawyer it means that I’m writing an advocacy brief. One of the problems we have in Nigeria today is that most of our journalists are politicians and they cannot give you objective reporting. Coming back to your question, if you read my piece, it was actuated by the ICPC report which I called mischievous, diversion is not criminal. Why didn’t the ICPC use the word misappropriated? Misappropriated leads to criminal penalties. That was why I wrote that article, and I told you the origin of bailout – a sinking ship. Go and read the script again and see why I said the ICPC report was mischievous. The money was not a bailout fund, it was a loan. Was the loan attached to any particular purpose, for example, the payment of workers’ salaries? No. The loan was to settle the debts the states owe. And incidentally it was the Governor that raised the issue but the only thing the media talks about is salaries. What of contractors? Did you see that the Federal Government brought out more than N300bn to pay contractors? The states were drowning, and the reason they took the loan from the FG was because the loan was gotten at cheaper interest rate of about 7% or thereabouts. And when I read the ICPC report that the money was diverted, I asked whether the money was diverted to a private account? Is the 70/30% government’s agreement with Labour reviewable? Anything is reviewable. It was an agreement the government entered with the representatives of Labour. If the Imo workers wake up tomorrow and inform the Governor that they want a review of the agreement, the government could then invite them for discussion. In 2011 we saw a boom in infrastructure development. Roads were opened up in the state. There was the street gate project. And of course we had the 27 general hospitals and the 305 school buildings. There were buildings rising over night. Considering the economy of the state now, can the government go on with these projects? When a visioner has a vision, to crystalize his vision is dependent on the drivers of the vision. Now, when you see changes in staff or workers, it is not always wrong. It is the visioner in chief that after sometime considers that this person cannot deliver on the part of vision he has laid before him. If you look at the 27 general hospitals you would realize that it was a vision based on the economy of the state, and that vision is backed with some amount of resources. Before the ending of this year we will commission one in each of the ten Federal Constituencies in the state. And if you remember, each of the 27 general hospitals have their areas of specialization. And by the end of this year Okorocha would have commissioned ten of them and by the time he leaves office each of them would have been functional. With the 305 schools in the 305 wards, Okorocha looked around and saw that there was no single school in the primary schools that was an upstair building. In his own mind and how he sees the world, a pupil in the village who attends a school that is upstair feels that his school is the best. And the Governor built one in each of the wards in the state. Some of the schools are ready and some are almost completed. On the opening of roads, I had talked about 2014 when the economy was good. But do you know that the economy of the country could continue to dwindle and the economy of the state would continue to have a boom? That can happen via infrastructure. Opening of roads, especially the 15km road the Governor is talking about in the local governments is a vision tied towards alleviating the plights of the people of the state. This work is going on now. Okorocha may be anything to anybody, but having Imo people at the back of his mind in everything he does, no one can take that away from him.