Dr Christopher Anyanwu, from Enyiogugu in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo state, is a Law lecturer at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. Before then, he had taught in the Nigerian Law School for 15 years. In March 2009, the late President, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, appointed him as the Director General of Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE). Fired by patriotism, zeal and love for his father, Anyanwu says he discharged his duties with transparency as his watchword.

The seasoned lawyer, who appeared not ready to conform to the ‘Nigerian way of doing things’ later incurred the wrath of those, who, undoubtedly, had been incurably infected with the virus known as ‘Nigeria factor’. As far as the ‘hawks’ in the Presidency are concerned, for refusing to ‘cooperate’ he must go.

The result was the emergence of a coalition of conspirators, who, he said, fed the President with wrong information about his person and his activities as the DG of BPE. Curiously, the allegations against him were not hinged on corrupt practices but over controversies surrounding the sale of NITEL and the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL). Many believe that the sale of the two companies, through open and competitive bidding, is one of the best privatization that had taken place in the country in the recent times. Their reason being the value of the sale and the transparent manner the businesses were transacted.

Yet, on March 2010, exactly one year into his appointment, Anyanwu was suspended from office, via a letter from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed. He was ordered to hand over to Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa, a director, who had just a few days to retire from service. She was later confirmed as DG.
The recent approval by President Goodluck Jonathan, after setting up panels to investigate the sale, according to Anyanwu, is a vindication that the privatization of NITEL and SAHCOL were transparently carried out.
Anyanwu, who decided to break his silence after he was relieved of his position seven months ago, spoke to Daily Sun in Lagos recently.
Excerpts:

Some people are of the view that you were doing well as the Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises. What went wrong that resulted in your removal?
I’m sure you were all witnesses to the fact that it was after the completion of the privatization of NITEL that trouble broke out in the presidency, the BPE suspension and then, I was disengaged. So, ordinarily, such chain of events might be misunderstood or misinterpreted if you allow silence to be the order of the day. I was silent for a long time for one reason. It is good for your actions to be evaluated, put under the screen, examined and result given. So, I decided to break the silence, after three investigating panels looked at that transaction. And then, finally, the president himself has endorsed it. Now, who were the presiding officers of the three panels? The first panel was set up immediately after the sale, an NCP panel headed by Adetokunbo Kayode, the former Attorney-General of the Federation.

It was a panel of about 13 persons. Before they could conclude sitting, Kayode was moved to the Ministry of Defence and then, another panel headed by Mohammed Bello Adoke, the current Attorney-General, was set up. That one sat for three months or thereabouts and gave report. Another panel was headed by the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu. I had access to the Report of the three panels. I don’t need to bother about Adetokunbo’s panel because they did not conclude, although Kayode purported to issue a Report, which only him signed.

You know how such things happen. So, the Report was disregarded. I had access to that of the minister of Labour. They recommended that government should adopt the privatization of NITEL as concluded by me. Then, the panel headed by Adoke, their Report was sent to the NCP, which extensively debated it and unanimously passed it and said that government must conclude the process as I had concluded it. That is, by handing it over to the winners. I’m sure some of them were witnesses to the process.

From the background that I came, I have been teaching all my life. First of all, I taught for thirteen years in the Law School and then, another five years in the University of Nigeria, Law Faculty. So, I was not schooled in the intrigues of putting public assets in any private hands, without following the due process. As far as I was concerned, transparency was the order of the day. I can quote one paragraph of the summary of the Report by the Mohammed Adoke panel. That is the one that NCP debated. It said in its summary that “the privatization of NITEL was transparently done and the procedures were strictly followed. I emphasize the words, ‘strictly followed’ and that all approvals required were obtained.

That is paragraph 1 of the summary of the Report. But the allegations made against me, malicious allegations by Mallam Mohammed Hayatu-Deen and Mike Oghiadomhe, were that I unilaterally reversed the sale of NITEL to TRANSCOP. That I also changed the advertisement when it had been published in the newspapers, that I altered it. That I wrongly advised the late President Yar’Adua to issue bond of Promissory Note to the banks that funded TRANSCOP’s acquisition of NITEL.

One of the allegations against you was that you were not carrying your subordinates along. Is it true? If so, why did you decide to run a one-man show?
These allegations were malicious and unfounded because, if they were not, that should have been the basis of accusing me, trying me and finding me guilty, before any action will be taken. The revocation of sale of NITEL to TRANSCOP was a decision taken by the late President, after due consideration of a petition sent to him by the consortium of bankers that gave loan to TRANSCOP. The bankers sent the petition to the president, requesting that the sale to TRANSCOP be cancelled, since they were not capable of managing NITEL, so that they don’t lose their investments.

On my own part, I was merely two months in office and I examined the circumstances. I saw the hidden hands that wanted to acquire NITEL at no cost and sell it as scrap, and those hidden hands were relying on a clause in the Share Sale Purchase Agreement that says that after three years, government should not look into what happens to the assets of NITEL. It remained just one month. So, the consortium of bankers had already visited BPE and they had visited the President, and narrated their ordeals. I wrote a Memo, which I sent through the Vice President, to the President, saying, if by next month, they don’t know what to do with NITEL, then these people would have to write to sell the assets and that’s why they have been foot-dragging in the move to re-privatize it.

What the late President did was to summon me and the bankers and sought for a way out. After due consideration of my own advice and that of his Economic Adviser, he ordered the revocation. By that time, the Vice President was on a foreign trip. So, he was not there when the decision was taken to revoke NITEL. The Chief Economic Adviser reasoned that if he could privatize NITEL effectively, that we could raise the money to pay off the bankers and also have a balance for the new owners to resuscitate NITEL. I also bought that argument, reason being that if we allow almost 70 to 80 billion naira to go down the drain on the ground that it was a wrong investment, you know there was a time that five banks collapsed but for the intervention of Central Bank. More than ten would have collapsed. The five consortium would have also gone down, in fact, the economy would have collapsed. That was the advice of the Chief Economic Adviser, that the government does not have to always go legalistically and say ‘this is a wrong investment, let them suffer it’.

What happened was that those who had interest in NITEL and wanted to sell it as scrap were thinking of giving it to indigenous investor for about $100,000,000 or $50,000,000, after the usual Nigerian manipulations. They didn’t want us to bring out the true value of NITEL. I sought expert advice from both local and foreign telecom operators and then we thought of unbundling NITEL, to bring out the potentials of each of the components like, M-Tel. fixed lines among others. They are about seven components. These are different business units that can thrive on their own. We discussed the unbundling option at the management meeting of BPE and took it also to the NCP and they approved it, so we advertised NITEL in an unbundling form.

If you compare it to what is happening to PHCN now, where we also unbundled it to have 18 components which is what is happening in other countries where they have regular light. I also looked at the NITEL option and said unbundling it is the best option. Those interests that don’t want the true value to come out are in high places, they are in the presidency.

They said why should I alter the advertisement criteria, why should I unbundle it, what is my own, this and that. Eventually, we embarked on extensive advertisement, road shows, we went to Europe, America, Asia, I was advertising NITEL, the potentials in unbundled form. We had tremendous response, unlike before. About 19 companies expressed interest to come and invest, what had not happened before.

If you compare the office BPE, apart from the office of President of Nigeria, it is debatable whether BPE is not the most controversial place. This is the office that oversees all the investments of the government since independence. From the steel, banking sectors, all government investments. I know that the problem between Atiku and Obasanjo was not far from BPE. Because the DG reports directly to the Vice President, who reports to the President, so human interest will always play out and all the interest masquerades.

While they will be pushing you in accordance with their interests privately, publicly they will be… It is always the case. But as a person and a lawyer, I know that I have to obey Jonathan and Yar’Adua because I report to them directly. Whether their decisions were right or wrong, I must obey. In the absence of any clear direction or decision, I must be transparent. That was my guiding philosophy in that office. In truth, the various interest groups in NITEL conflicted one another in their expectations. When they failed to achieve their expectations, what was like a coalition of conspirators emerged, all pointing accusing fingers at Dr Anyanwu, the man who must go.

They formulated all sorts of lies and fed them to the Vice President, who later became Acting President. Of course, if they were true, if there were evidence, they would have prosecuted me, if I did anything wrong. Very highly placed persons in the Presidency, very highly placed, came with some investors, even up to my house and they were saying, ‘this is what Yar’Adua and Jonathan said you should do, you write a memo saying that NITEL is dead and that it should be given to this man’. I said well and good, Jonathan and Yar’Adua are my direct bosses, if they give me such instruction, I will carry it out.

They said they will get for me in writing, they didn’t get anything for me in writing. And to be fair to the current President who was the then VP, he called me privately and told me, ‘please, if anybody says I said this, or I want you to do this, confirm from me, don’t just do.’ There was no time he called me to confirm what those private visitors told me. These are his highly placed Assistants. And the last conversion I had with President Yar’Adua before he traveled and then died, he summoned me and his Chief Economic Adviser was sitting by the right and I was sitting by the left and the subject was NITEL.

And he said that too many interests of Nigerians are involved in NITEL and that I should not give anybody the impression that I am compromised or that I am favouring Mr. A or Mr. B and pointed at my face and said, ‘Be very transparent.’ Since he didn’t tell me to give to those people and merely said that I should be transparent, I conducted the process in the most transparent manner I know.

And the approval of it, after a consideration of three panels is a culmination of that transparency. I wanted to see where they would fault one step of mine. Up till today, the privatization was completed in February, this is about nine or eight months, thereafter, nobody can say, this is where you misfired, this is where your personal interest was pursued or whatever, any manifestation of corrupt tendency. That’s why, when the President finally adopted that report, I beat my chest and said, yes, that is a vindication. It is not the best of statements about the characters. No! I have been a public officer for about 18 or 19 years. I taught in the Nigerian Law School for thirteen years, I taught in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka for five years before I was appointed. I also taught in the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.

If I had been a person of questionable character, is not just public records that you will look, in my public office, I have been having contact with human beings. As a law student lecturer, every year, I teach not less than 3,000 students. They know me, if I were someone that would take money for marks, which is what lecturers are accused of or sexual harassment or whatever. If I were the type, if it didn’t come out in the Law School, it would have come out in the University of Nigeria or any other place. Nobody is saying he is a saint here but the idea is that character is built overtime.

What about your personal interests, didn’t they influence your decisions while you were the DG?
And I would have been surprised, if anybody would come out and say that I allowed my private interest to influence my action in the BPE, because people like us refrain from following the cheap, criminal way that most Nigerian leaders adopt in their actions. Character that has taken such a long period of time to build should not be allowed to be smeared on the altar of few individuals in the Presidency, who wanted to take NITEL for themselves, where they wanted to raise money for themselves for the next election. They were telling me all these things, I said no, you must follow the due process. I even learnt that some of them went to induce EFCC officials and ICPC officials to see whether they can fabricate anything against me so as to smear my image.

Those people looked at them, and said, no. I thank God that EFCC is a different organization now. Unless you have hard facts, unlike before, maybe, they would have influenced some officials to come and start embarrassing me. The fourth estate which you people represent has a duty at all times. Like me, I believe that as a lawyer, I have a duty to fight injustice and I was fighting it at my own cost through the courts. Before I started teaching in the Law School, I was practising. I could take the government to court to stop an election, if I was not registered. And as a Lawyer, I have my heroes and my number one hero is Gani Fawehinmi.

He was my very good friend. Each time I visited him, he would take me to his innermost room and I taught his two children, Mohammed and Basirat, and by that time Gani was in prison in Gashua or Bauchi. When they released him temporarily to his mother, he came straight to us in the Law School and told me, “gentlemen, please, don’t visit my problem with the government on my children.” I pitied the man because I knew I would be the last person to visit, , because I am an opponent of dictatorship and what was happening in the country. I know that one of his children couldn’t make Law School for the first time.

His daughter was always distracted in the class because when you teach, you study your students. That one, you would see her gaping and opening her eyes. And you will know that she is not concentrating because her father is locked away in prison. One day, I called the son and daughter into my office and told them that if I would have a father again, I would want to have their own father as a father. I told them to be proud of him and not to be ashamed of him, not to be feeling that he is hated in the country or whatever. I told them, don’t be distracted, feel ashamed or feel that everybody is against your father and all that. That is the kind of person I am. If they knew my antecedent and read my books, they wouldn’t put me in an office where they would want a hatchet man, somebody who would just do only what he is told, do you understand?

Unfortunately, they brought me there and then, I stood for principles and transparency and what happened to me happened. I think that you have the duty, in every calling, you have the genuine and the charlatans but I believe that whatever you are, for you to excel, you have to have a purpose and how to pursue it. You have to pursue justice at all cost and at all times, pursue it with your life. If there is anything that is worth suffering for, it is justice and truth. If anybody will kill you, let it be because you are fighting justice, you will ultimately be vindicated.

Why has it taken you such a long time to break the silence?
I had to break this silence so that it will not be misinterpreted as, okay, he has been settled or to be in doubt about what actually happened, may be, for the avoidance of doubt. I dragged them to court. I was in the University doing my job very well and then, you invited and gave me a contractual appointment for four years. You did not invite me and interview me or whatever. I just saw my name on the TV and all that. And I took it as a national call, where I would go and put in my best and I went to put in my best.

I relocated my family from Enugu State to Abuja and started the job. The law that sets up BPE tenures it like the one that tenures the office of the Judges. The purpose is to stabilize the system and insulate the occupant of that office from the vicissitudes of manipulations of private interests. But unfortunately for the BPE, because of the opposition between President Obasanjo and Vice president Atiku, they tended to ignore that tenuring, that statutory requirement, so that if you are not doing anybody’s bidding, they may engineer your removal. That’s one, as a lawyer, that’s why I went to court. The rule of law must prevail. The law has said it clearly that once is a tenured appointment, unless you commit a disciplinary offence or the person is insane in mind and body that you can no longer perform. These are the two conditions. So, the big man syndrome of our government, so many Nigerians damned the consequences and walk the laws on the head. But make no mistakes about the fact that we are all stakeholders. I have the potentials of being the president of Nigeria.

In a society that claims to be democratic or operate under the rule of law, you cannot walk the rule of law on the head. If there is accusation against anybody, the procedure is there, you normally need to set up panel to look into the accusations and make recommendations. And you will invite that person to explain himself. If you don’t follow that procedure, it means that we are going back to the Stone Age of absolutism, where one person will think, he is lord unto others. We will not accept that. As someone who hold a doctorate degree, the highest qualification in law, I cannot let that happen without drawing attention to it. I don’t care about whether I work with this group or that group or not. If you cannot work with those in the presidency for now, it doesn’t mean you can’t work with other people. They should not be allowed to eclipse the career of another because public office is transient.

It keeps rotating, it may rotate them down there and I may be the one or those who know me or believe in what I believe in that will look at their activities, justify them or not justify them. I just want a civilized way of doing things.
The President has to act on the Report of those who work with him. And when there is conspiracy among those who work with him, to present somebody in bad light, he could be misled. The panel Reports came out after all the actions had been taken, all the suspension and disengagement and whatever. It is like they acted before they started thinking, they jumped the gun. You don’t punish a person before you consider his actions, and after the results are out. They didn’t even say, okay, we were sorry.

I give him that benefit of the doubt, that he didn’t have the benefit of good advice, because there was conspiracy among some of his lieutenants to present the wrong picture. And I’m happy to tell you that he disappointed all of them, because the persons they were pushing as the person who would have succeeded me, he did not appoint any of them. It is the person I chose to replace me according to the letter of suspension that was eventually confirmed.
My removal was the handiwork of a coalition of conspirators in the Presidency. There was this group, that group and all that. They now coalesced on one interest, they thought I was…

In helping them to achieve their goal in NITEL and in all the privatizations. I incurred the wrath of one of them simply because I beamed into the privatization of Nigerdock and saw that it was a flawed privatization. For ten years or thereabout, they were not making any profit and government is a part owner. I said if you can’t, we may have to look elsewhere and we look for people who have the expertise, who can run it at a profit. He had hidden interest. At the end of the day, he replied my letter and wrote Jonathan and wrote to everybody and said, I am not suitable for the office. For him to reply a letter on behalf of NIGERDOCK, you can see that his interest is not hidden.
He led a group. They were pushing one of them to replace me as the DG, he disappointed them.

The other group was led by somebody and he was fronting for a private investor. He was the one that brought the investor to my house and all that and told me to do this and that, and that it was Jonathan who said all that. Apart from the Report being a vindication and his confirming the transaction, the strong vindication is the fact that he put that lady whom I chose to be there. That lady, a week after that day, she was to retire. So, when they wrote me a letter, they had already made phone calls and confirmed who they wanted to put there.

But from the tune of the letter, I knew that the most senior person was to take over. If she did not take over, that would have been unfortunate for this country. It was just like I went there without knowing, I was invited to come and take this job. That was how she was not expecting that somebody would give her that job. She is such a person that hand of destiny brought into public office. You have the duty to be fair and to do your best and not think of personal interest, otherwise, you will not last in that office. That was how she emerged.

Some people, including you, of course, are saying that President Goodluck Jonathan did not follow the due process in relieving you of your duty. Is that true? In your opinion, how could he have done it?
Yes, one thing you would have said the President didn’t get right would have been, okay, there is a procedure. When people complain against anybody, there is standard procedure. Isn’t it? You set up a panel, invite the person. When these conspirators coalesced, they went straight, marched straight to the President.

What did they do? They didn’t say this man has done some wrongs, let’s investigate him. They said, ‘remove him.’ That was the order, they just ordered the President. They said, ‘remove this man!’ and he told them a proverb Abiola used to give. That ‘you can not shave a man’s head in his absence. He told them to put their allegations in writing. They put it in writing and he minuted it to the Secretary to the Government.

As the chief civil servant, what he would have done was to put the process, the procedure of investigation like, setting up a panel , they look into it and give the Report to the President. He didn’t do that, he went straight away and implemented what they recommended to him and I was laughing because, I know, apart from the fact that my job in the University is secured, I’m also a seasoned practising lawyer. I can survive any time any day. I won’t be too forward about public office, if what is going wrong in a public office I’m occupying is not what I can put up with. I would resign, that’s my attitude to public office.

This is because, I still have, not only my integrity, my profession and all that. The fact that Jonathan did not insist on due legal process…That office is not a political one. The law that set it up stipulated a tenure and that tenure cannot be cut short unless certain things go wrong. That’s why I went to the court, I think they are reckless because they think that if you defeat them in court, they will use government money to pay. That’s a lapse in our system.

Some leaders can be reckless because, they think, okay, it is government money, isn’t it? If they award the damages of say, N100 million, you use government money to pay. It would come to a stage where in future, the law would so define it that if you are reckless or if you abuse your office, you would pay from your personal resources and even when you leave your office. That’ where we are driving to, because we are talking of law reform and all that and that is the kind of thing we are recommending. No person is above mistake, but at the highest office, you cannot afford to make certain mistakes. You cannot tamper with the Rule of Law because, you are the chief enforcer or protector of the law.

In certain places like the US, one mistake with procedure, with the law will make people start wondering, ‘is this how you are going to rule us’? But here, unfortunately, we are where people do not have…, not knowing that it is also the law that protects them. It is not as if there was a time he called us one-on-one and say, what went wrong? Or this is what has gone wrong, what we do about this or that? He relied completely on some conspirators that coalesced. That’s one, because, you are dealing with somebody who also has the potentials of even occupying any office in the country. In this country, we kill our talents and our prospective leaders, because we don’t even encourage anybody who is transparent or who wants to do thing rightly.

I got a PhD in Law and it was paid for by the British government. If it were to be Nigerian government, If I were to pay it by myself, I wouldn’t get it. It cost them about fifty something thousand pounds that time-2002. They paid it because they saw potentials in me. But here, they wouldn’t want to do things to help the country. They prefer criminals to be in public offices. The Electoral system allows former 419 kingpin, well known, his case file pending in the court, to go to the House and then, appointments…

If you see Jonathan today and all these issue arise, what would you tell him?
(Laughs) I would say, oga, all those people told lies against me.

Did you have an inkling that you were going to be removed?
Yes, when we started NITEL privatization, I had known the centrifugal and centripetal interests at work. And I had said to myself, especially, after the advice of Yar’adua not to align to any interest whatsoever. I can not accept any gratification because that is not my way of doing things. Everybody, even myself, regarded the privatization of NITEL as acid test and I was bent on upholding, at least, what Yar’Adua told me – to be transparent. I knew that I was going to step on toes. It was too obvious to me and I was willing to step on them to uphold transparency. It was during the stage of NITEL privatization that I knew that I either stay in that office or leave. And I was prepared. |Everyday, I only left my papers or willing to pick them and leave. That is my attitude to public office.

Value of sale of NITEL?
First and foremost, NITEL was sold to TRANSCOP for 500 million dollars. That was when it was active, the lines were working, M-Tel was working. It was sold for 500 million dollars, which five Nigerian banks contributed together to pay. Now, when NITEL had died, no line was functioning, every infrastructure was powered down and because of my aggressive marketing, advertisements and Road shows and unbundling, which I did, we had not only about 19 expressions of interests, we were able to sell it for 2.5 billion dollars.

That is a feat nobody has performed in this country in one year. And this money was to come from outside Nigeria and not from Nigerian banks. A Middle East financier was willing to pay for it. Now, 2.5 billion dollars at the current exchange rate is about N385 billion.

Those hawks in the Presidency wanted it to go for between, 50 to 100 dollars so that they could have money for election. After the deal and even after this confirmation by the President, I have got a lot of congratulatory letters, many of them saying, if this were to be normal country, I should be entitled to national honours because, make no mistake about it, they had sold it four times and failed. Ask me why they failed. It is because they were all compromised sales. It was the hidden hands of government officials and their interests. All those five times were negotiated sales-willing buyers and willing sellers. And those persons in the office of the Vice President also wanted me to do negotiated sales and they had somebody in their minds.

I now said why do you want to go back to the same way to do it? That was why I brought in the innovation of unbundling, excessive advertisements and then, open and competitive bidding. You would discover that within the one year I stayed there, I did only two privatizations through open and competitive bidding. One was Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCOL) and the other is NITEL. SAHCOL was valued at N1.8 billion and I sold it for N5.5billion. Ask those who are at the airport or those who eventually got it if they had seen my face before, if they knew me.

The same thing with NITEL. The people who won it… It is inability of Nigerians to come to terms that, somebody could decide to have a detached attitude to bidding. They were always thinking, okay, before these people would have bided $2.5 billion, they would have paid 25 percent. That’s Nigerian way of thinking. Even if those people tried it, I wouldn’t have taken it.

They couldn’t come to terms that somebody could do such a deal, 2.5 billion dollars or N385 billion and you cannot say that anybody paid him a dime. Well, they have gone to all the places to investigate, to all my friends, they have gone to them to investigate. They thought I must have taken…, because that is their way of doing things.
The idea is that injustice begets injustice. One of them from Edo state, who is heading the hawks in the President’s office, I heard him telling people, ‘that boy, I wounded him.’

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/nov/15/national-15-11-2010-013.htm

MORE hurdles are on the way for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirants, it was learnt Sunday.

A 10-man committee will screen the aspirants.

President Goodluck Jonathan, ex-President Ibrahim Babangida, ex-Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, ex-National Security Adviser (NSA) Gen. Aliyu Gusau and Governor Bukola Saraki are the leading aspirants.

The panel will soon be constituted, a party source said last night, adding that only aspirants cleared by it will contest the primaries.

It was also learnt that all ministers and other political appointees seeking to contest for offices in 2011 are expected to resign seven days before the primaries.

These highlights are contained in a 31-page PDP Guidelines for Primary Elections obtained by The Nation Sunday.

The guidelines, which have not been widely circulated to members, also indicate that any aspirant convicted by any court or tribunal will not be automatically disqualified from participating in the primary elections.

Although all aspirants at all levels will be screened by the PDP, the forthcoming screening of the presidential aspirants has caused anxiety, no thanks to the growing brickbats between some aspirants and the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.

There were fears last night that some presidential aspirants may be technically disqualified by the screening panel.

According to the party, all presidential aspirants will go through three hurdles before qualifying for primaries.

These hurdles are obtaining nomination form; screening; and facing presidential screening appeal panel if there is any complaint.

The guidelines read: "There shall be a Presidential Screening Committee appointed by the National Executive Committee on the recommendation of the National Working Committee of the party whose sole responsibility shall be to screen presidential aspirants.

"The Presidential Screening Committee shall consist of a Chairman, a Secretary and eight ( members. One shall be appointed from each of the six geopolitical zones and two women (one from the North and one from the South).

"The result of the screening shall be announced and a copy shall be prominently displayed at the National Secretariat of the party.

"Any aspirant aggrieved by the decision of the Presidential Screening Committee may appeal in writing to the Presidential Screening Appeal Panel within 24 hours or soon thereafter from the time of the announcement of the result of the screening. The Presidential Screening Appeal Panel shall pronounce its decision on the appeal within 48 hours or soon thereafter of the receipt of the petition.

"Only aspirants cleared by the Presidential Screening Committee or whose appeal the Presidential Screening Appeal Panel has upheld shall be qualified to participate in the primary elections.

"Notwithstanding the provisions of the guidelines and any other rules or regulations laid down by the party, the decision of the National Executive Committee as recommended by the National Working Committee shall be final and binding on all aspirants, officials and organs of the party with respect to the eligibility or otherwise of an aspirant."

The document also states that "the Presidential Screening Appeal Panel shall consist of the 12 members of the National Working Committee plus six members of the Board of Trustees (one from each zone) with the National Chairman of the party chairing".

On the mode of presidential primary election, the document said: "It shall be by Special Conventions using the modified open secret ballot system, otherwise known as open secret ballot."

"The conduct of the Presidential Primary Election of the party shall be under the direction and supervision of the National Electoral Panel, and in accordance with the provisions of these guidelines and the Constitution of the party.

"The National Electoral Panel of the party shall prescribe the format of the ballot papers and provide ballot boxes for the conduct of the Presidential Primary Election, subject to the approval of the National Working Committee."

Ministers, commissioners, NWC members and other political appointees wishing to vie for elective posts, the party said, must resign seven days before the primary elections.

The document added: "Subject to the provision of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), any political appointee occupying any public office shall resign from such office not later than seven days before the date of the primary elections of the party at all levels."

The party listed those it might not clear for any elective office as those indicted, dismissed from public service or convicted by a court, among others.

It states: "An aspirant shall not be qualified to be nominated or to contest the primary election, if he/she has been indicted for any misconduct set out in Article 21 of the Constitution of the party; dismissed from the public service of the Federation of a state or Local Government or Area Council; or has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria or within the Commonwealth or elsewhere for any offence involving homicide, fraud, or dishonesty or the sale or use of narcotic drugs or any other psychotropic substances."

Others are those "adjudged guilty of treason or treasonable felony by any court in Nigeria; an undischarged bankrupt having been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in Nigeria or elsewhere.

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/news/18937.html

The hit man of Abia kidnap kingpin, Obioma Nwankwo a.k.a. Osisikankwu and 448 other suspects have been arrested. Osisikankwu had, in an interview he allegedly granted a national daily (not Daily Sun) last week, claimed that none of his 3,000 members had been located and arrested, saying those arrested by soldiers were innocent persons.

But dismissing the claim with wave of the hand while addressing a group of select journalists in his office at the army camp at Asa High School in Ukwa West Local Government, Maj. Gen. Sarkin Yaki Bello said the army had been meticulous in its operations in Abia, adding that no innocent citizen had been made to suffer the crime of the hoodlums.

He said one of the hit men of Osisikankwu had been arrested and that very soon, the kingpin himself would be apprehended. Bello said the army does not believe in Osisikankwu and his antics, adding that the soldiers were drafted to Aba to restore peace to the city and not to join issues with criminals.

Earlier, while taking newsmen round the camp to inspect some recovered vehicles, the Assistant Director, Public Relations of 82 Division, Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said since the army began operations in Abia on September 28, a total number of 449 suspected kidnappers had been arrested from different locations in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Imo and Rivers states. He stated that out of the suspects, 79 were transferred to State Security Services (SSS), Abia State command for further investigation and possible prosecution. He also said after investigations, 171 of the suspects, who were not found culpable, were released.

Musa further said presently, 183 suspects were in detention, and after thorough investigation those found not liable would be released while the rest would be transferred to SSS for further action. Two men in possession of 11 bags of Indian hemp who were also arrested by soldiers were handed over to National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The 82 Div image maker reeled out further achievements of the JTF in Abia which include restoration of public confidence in the security forces; the rescue of 15 children of Abayi International School and four female corps members; recovery of assorted arms and ammunition from different locations in Ugwuati, Umuezi and Abala evil forest; destruction of many local arms manufacturing factories at Abala evil forest and the recovery of 24 vehicles of different brands belonging to kidnap victims including the recovery last Thursday of the school bus conveying the 15 rescued children to school,

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/nov/15/national-15-11-2010-011.htm

Details have emerged on how President Goodluck Jonathan succeeded in making the organised Labour to back down in the avowed struggle to force government to initiate the process of legislating the new N18, 000 National Minimum Wage into law.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) had given the Federal Government a 14-day ultimatum, within which to commence the process of payment of the new wage. The labour leaders threatened fire and brimstone, warning that in the event government failed to take any action, at the end of the ultimatum, workers would embark on a three-day warning strike, after which the industrial action would be total, if government did not play ball.

To underscore its readiness for war, labour had set up a 12-man strike committee, headed by Promise Adewusi, deputy president of the NLC and national president of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU). Labour had warned that the strike, scheduled to hold between November 10 and November 12, would be total.
However, the National Council of State, comprising the governors, National Assembly leaders, former and serving chief justices as well as former heads of state and presidents met to discuss the matter, at the end of which it set up a technical committee headed by Vice President Namadi Sambo, with five governors as members, to parley with Labour.
At the end of the meeting on Monday, the two parties could not agree or find a common ground. “The strike is very much on course. We just ended a meeting with Vice President, Namadi Sambo. But unfortunately, nothing new was put on the table. So, we are fully mobilised for Wednesday,” Adewusi told Saturday Sun. He said that government team only made appeals instead of making offers.

As the stage was set for the action, it was gathered that President Jonathan called for a last minute meeting with the Labour. Before the parley with the president, National Assembly members, led by Senator Ake, had made a spirited effort at making the Labour change its mind but all to no avail. Having seen that the unionists’ mind was made up, the federal lawmakers then urged the workers’ leaders to reduce the warning strike to one day.
The meeting with President Jonathan was fixed for Tuesday night. Ahead of the meeting, labour leaders had made strategic arrangement for the strike to kick off on Wednesday. They had deployed their foot soldiers to coordinate the action across the federation.

At the meeting, Saturday Sun gathered that the president told the labour leaders to abort the strike. Sources said that he explained to the labour leaders the position of government not to deny workers their dues. He was said to have told the unionists how he, on the May Day, without prompting, announced a pay rise, which should be completed and paid within three months.

President Jonathan stated further that the pay rise for which the least paid federal workers now earns N17, 100, was 46 per cent increase over what they were earning before.
“Now, if the new minimum wage comes into force, it will only take me N900 to add to it. Is it the N900 that will be difficult for government to pay?” the president was said to have asked rhetorically.
He was also said to have told them that if it were to be just pay rise, all he needed was just to include it in the budget and it will be paid. However, he added that a national minimum wage ought to be legislated on to be binding on states and the private sector.

Saturday Sun gathered that labour leaders expressed concern over the conduct of governors, most of who have denied knowing or receiving any memo concerning the new wage proposal, as recommended by the Justice Alfa Belgore-led tripartite committee of government, labour and employers.

Convinced of the points made by the president, the labour leaders agreed to sheathe the sword but said that it would take more than 24 hours to demobilise the foot soldiers. Also, they said that the decision to suspend the action would have to be taken by the National Executive Council of both congresses, which actually voted in favour of the strike, in the first place.

This much was confirmed by the General Secretary of the NLC, John Odah, who told newsmen that some state governments planned to stall the implementation of the new wage, despite their involvement in the negotiation process.
One labour leader said: “They were part of the negotiation for the minimum wage. The average of what the states submitted came back to N22, 500. One of the states even went as high as N46, 000, which was close to the N52, 200 we submitted in the course of the negotiation.

“So, in the process of the tripartite negotiation, we made sure we carried everybody along, both government and private sector, and we are happy that the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), through a paid advert, stated that they participated and expect government to do everything lawful by ensuring that the minimum wage is implemented.
“Even though we know there are people in the private sector who do not want it, fearing that the minimum wage will affect the outrageous profit they are making, we are hopeful that at the end of this process, the national council of state will have a situation where the state governors will not be the clog in the wheel of progress.

“We told the president that we have heard what he said and that we have to take it to the National Executive Council and thereafter we will get back to him.”
The Council of State is expected to meet on November 25, to deliberate on the new national minimum wage, with a view to taking a position. Labour said it would meet again first week of December to deliberate on the outcome of the Council of State’s meeting.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/nov/13/national-13-11-2010-009.htm

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur is a leading member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He was the chairman of the declaration committee of the Goodluck/Sambo Campaign Organisation. He presented President Goodluck Jonathan to Nigerians at the Eagle Square on the day he declared his intention to contest the 2011 presidential election.

In this interview, Tukur, said the Northern Leaders Political Forum (NPLF) is merely playing to the gallery with the intention of impressing Nigerians with their tough talks on zoning. He posited that the reality of today is that President Jonathan is wearing the presidential gown, adding that his concern is that the gown should not be torn apart.

“If those opposed to him can take off the gown democratically, it will still be a PDP president in control of the presidency,” he said.

Tukur advised Nigerians not to take the comments of political leaders seriously, as they will soon settle and become the best of friends. Specifically, he said that Mallam Adamu Ciroma, who is spearheading the retention zoning in the PDP and President Jonathan would soon become the best of friends. He said that journalist who get themselves involved, to the extent of coming between Jonathan and Ciroma, are the ones who would suffer in the end.
Tukur gave reasons he is supporting Jonathan, with emphasis on the fact that zoning is not sacrosanct. He would want Nigerians to look at the zoning argument from the point of reality.

He also spoke on the politics of the first and second republics and concluded that politicians of today are only interested in positions and money.

As a leading member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), what exactly do you understand by zoning in the party?
Zoning, in PDP, was meant to bring that philosophy of inclusiveness, because in democratic parlance the majority always have their way, in electing the president, members of the National Assembly and other elective offices. This is because it is by majority vote. But if your philosophy is not winner-takes-all, you fashion something into it to add value or colour or sense of belonging. In Nigeria, if you say you are only going by figures, the North is more populated. There is the tendency that people will support their region, religion or their ethnicity. Politics does not rest on that alone. Otherwise, you find that there cannot be that integration, which we are looking for. We need that sense of belonging that will make people to take Nigeria as theirs and you bring something into the arrangement. So, the PDP said let us have zoning, in order to make sure the North and South can have it in turn.

The position of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of PDP that Jonathan can contest, because he had joint ticket with the late Umar Yar’Adua and that others is free to contest is confusing. Could you explain it?
People refuse to understand. You can make your own laws. They are not sacrosanct. Sometimes you have to go by your wisdom and your understanding of the reality of the situation. Jonathan has never contested or campaign for any elective post. It is by providence or circumstance that he is today the sitting president of Nigeria. Even if Yar’Adua was alive, he could still have been the vice president of Nigeria. The deputy and the president are like the tyre of the same vehicle. You need a spare, in case you have a puncture. So, it is normal that Jonathan should continue that ticket without any hindrance. What I expected from the PDP and all Nigerians, when providence took Umar and we were left with Jonathan, was to say that Jonathan should continue. It should be a kind of endorsement without election. I was thinking that when Jonathan presented himself, I expected that after all of us at the Eagle Square presented Jonathan to Nigeria and the whole world, with all serving governors in Nigeria in attendance, Nigerians would say: Jonathan, continue for the next four years. Everybody would have clapped and we won’t have any problem. We should have said let elections hold for only governors and other posts. That is what I expected.

This would have ensured that we all have a sense of belonging. Nigeria is our country and we abide by the will of God. He gave and he takes. But he left us with somebody. After all, we did not oppose Jonathan becoming the vice president of the country. The vice president means the vice president. Immediately there is no president, the vice president takes over.

Why don’t people avoid unnecessary controversy? We should look at the future. If you know the past and you know the reality of the present, why don’t you factor for your future? The reality of today will now fashion the future. We need peace here. We need understanding and unity. We are talking about integration that can unite us into one Africa. The reality is that it is better to allow Jonathan to continue without any rancour and finish the four years. So, when he finishes the four years, we talk of other things.

Was there any time northern political leaders met in 1998 and agreed that power should shift to the South?
I am not a witness to that. But I know we agreed in PDP, because of the episode of June 12. We felt that there was some misunderstanding. It was as if we, in the North, did not want a southerner as president. It was as if we did not particularly want a Yoruba as president. In our philosophy, that is not the case. Every Nigerian has the right to aspire to be president of Nigeria. That is what it should be. We decided that this time, it must be a Yoruba man. So, everybody supported Olusegun Obasanjo without any reservation. The people of the West did not elect Obasanjo. Go and find out. So, our party is not based on ethnicity. It is on understanding of inclusiveness.

In 1998, you put up a very plausible argument that the Yoruba people are only interested in good governance and gave the example of how the people of Lagos appreciated Buba Marwa, who is a northerner while deriding Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who hails from Yoruba land. People are now surprised at your present position.
In my philosophy, it is not the person, but the nation. Nations exist when there is peace and tranquility. So, the reality today is that you need to continue in order to maintain unity, security and peace.

Is your present position based on principle?
Yes. It is on principle. I always work on principle because it is only on principle that you can… I have a principle, in the sense that you allow justice and fair play to be your guide and not your emotions. You may like something, but it can be selfish. If what is not in your favour can bring justice and unity and even though personally you are offending your personal desire, please take it.

You supported Peter Odili in 2007 and he is from the Niger Delta. Many people were surprised.
Peter Odili came out and the zone from which he came always works with the North. The South South always works with the North right from the beginning of our independence. It was either South South or South East. That was why we tried to persuade the South West, by all means, to come into the mainstream of Nigerian politics. It is not good for the country. There should be unity in the way they do things. The majority of the components that make up Nigeria should be ready to work together. No one should work with one leg. It is better to work with two legs.

Do you expect all Nigerians to be in one political party?
No. I don’t mean that everybody should be in one party. If you bake a cake, there will be flour, salt, sugar and there will be pepper. It doesn’t mean that all must be in different places. No. You mix it together, so that you will enjoy it. If you make tea, you have teapot and you put sugar and milk in it. But at the beginning, you bring them separately. When you put them together, they can’t separate again and you will have a beautiful cup of tea.

Why did Peter Odili, who seemed to have upper hand at the time, suddenly step down? You should be in a position to know.
This is politics. It is what they call hard politics. That is the reason sometimes they tell you that politics is hard ball game. Everybody thought that if Peter would not be president, he must be vice president. It was so obvious, isn’t it? He is also from the South South. But he was not given that position.

What happened?
I don’t know. I wish I knew. But here again, it must be hard politics. If I were part of the decision, I would have asked.

As one of his strongest supporters, people expect he would explain to you that he was withdrawing and give reasons for doing so.
He didn’t. The fact is that I love Odili as a person, like my children. Anybody at the age of bearing is my son or my daughter. Believe me. I always pray for them to do better than I, in whatever good thing I have ever done, not the bad one. It is not in everything they ask my advice. But if they ask my advice, I will give them.

What was your position during the third term debate?
We did not want a sitting president after his term. It negates our constitution. Eight years is good enough for a president and a governor. After that, they should step aside and allow others to continue. The fact is that I never considered it to be a serious affair. I knew it wouldn’t fly. Nigerians would not allow such a thing. Nigerians are too politically sophisticated and too constitutionally conscious than to allow any element of manipulation to hold sway.

You did not take any stand at the time?
I knew it wouldn’t work. Nobody ever asked me.

Would you say former President Obasanjo is your friend?
Yes. He is my friend. I worked with Obasanjo, since he was the Federal Commissioner for Works. I worked at the Nigerian Port Authority at that time. He really assisted me to get Yakubu Gowon, as head of state, to allow me to build more capacity for port authority.
He is my friend up till today. The first time he wanted to take this job, he was in my house in Kaduna, six o’ clock in the morning to tell me he wanted to be president of Nigeria.

Did you assist him?
Oh yes, I did. I was one of those who went round all our emirs and to all our leaders, both chiefs and the clerics to pray for him to make sure that he succeeds in becoming the president of Nigeria.

Did you see anything he did wrong when he was in power?
Yes. You cannot be there for eight years and do everything right. Yes, he made a lot of mistakes. He is pragmatic. Somebody asked me why I did not support former vice president, Alex Ekweme and I said no, the situation required an Obasanjo. It is just like having a driver and a truck driver in a rugged terrain. You don’t use your driver in a rugged terrain. You use your truck driver. So, we used Obasanjo because at that time, Nigeria was very rugged.

Did you ever point out his mistakes to him when he was in power?
No. I don’t need to tell you that. But I discussed with him. We discussed together. We agreed and we disagreed. I respect his view and I believe that he also respects my views. But that is not for the public because he is a friend of mine.

Are you satisfied with the performance of President Jonathan since he mounted the saddle?
How many months has he mounted that saddle?

May this year.
He has not been there for a year yet. You see, that is the problem of our people. We are too fast. Even if God wants to bring a baby, the baby would be conceived and remain for nine months in the womb. He won’t do it immediately. I tell you what I see now, when I go out, I don’t have to queue to buy fuel in the petrol station. Is it not good for me? I see them commissioning things. This is what I pray they should do, to be that commander-in-chief and get his own team to do what they need to do. Let his ministers work.

But many complain about the way he handles some issues. First, after the World Cup, he said Nigeria would not take part in football competition for two years. When FIFA threatened him and gave him 48-hour ultimatum, he quickly reversed his decision. France that was threatened at the same time ignored FIFA. Secondly, people complain about the way he handled the October 1 bomb blasts in Abuja.

Listen, you have come here to ask me about politics. If you say you want to talk about the good and the bad for Nigeria, I cannot give you that interview in one hour. For God’s sake, we are talking about politics and zoning. Don’t confuse me. Don’t confuse your readers .I have nothing to do with Jonathan and football. That is not my issue. That is not what you have come for.

Do you believe that President Jonathan is the best for the job today?
God gives power to whoever he wishes. Today, Jonathan is the president of Nigeria. That is the reality. Thank you.

Can you compare the politics of the first and second republics with the politics of today?
The politics of the First Republic was well centred according to what we inherited from Britain. It was mature politics. It was politics of issues and not politics of positions and money. It was politics of patriotism, as opposed to politics of division. So, at that time, people were patriotic. People didn’t talk about their tribes and regions. They talked about issues and development. They thought of what to take to their constituencies.

How do you see your political associates from the North insisting that zoning must be respected in 2011?
It is wrong. They are over-heating the polity. Why zoning? Zoning is only thinking of fairness to the generality of the people. But you also understand the reality of the day. What is the reality today? If, for example, you now say you want to push out Jonathan and you want somebody else, you want to create problem. Because Jonathan is supposed to be representing an area, as you are representing an area. He is sitting on the chair now.

Did you discuss this issue with them?
Well, they did not ask me. If they ask me, I will say what I think. I travelled and came back only to find out that they call them G15 or G20. If they called me I would have told them. Before they can take that kind of position, I expected that in politics today in Northern Nigeria, at least, if they can call 10 people, they could make Bamanga Tukur 11th of them.

You, Atku Abubakar and Jibril Aminu are the renowned politicians from your state. Why is it that you don’t agree among yourselves? Why are you not all backing Atiku who is contesting for president?
There is no question of disagreement. Yes. We disagree on principle. Even in my own home, we can disagree, if I find that the principle governing the home is not just. At the moment, Atiku and Jonathan are in the same PDP. It is a contest. If Atiku wins, I will support Atiku.

But you are supporting Jonathan?
Yes. You must understand PDP is one party. It is a party affair. They are contesting. To me, the reality at the moment is that Jonathan should be supported. Jonathan is wearing the gown now. Constitutionally, he is the right person to succeed Umar and he did so. Now, he said he wishes to continue and others also said they want to contest. Fine. They can contest. But as a member of that party, I am supporting Jonathan because he is now wearing the gown and the gown should not be allowed to be turn apart. If the people want to take the gown from Jonathan, I say it is all right.

What do you say to the approach of Northern leaders insisting on zoning?
Do you know what they call politics? Politics is blowing hot air. They can talk about this and that, don’t mind that. They abuse one another and tomorrow morning, they are the best of friends. When you see politicians trading words with one another, don’t join them. I can assure you that Adamu Ciroma and Jonathan would soon be on good terms. I am telling you. So, newspapers that come between them are the ones to suffer. Just laugh and see it as words politicians use in order to get a clap from the crowd.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/nov/13/national-13-11-2010-005.htm

Executive Director of the Civil Liberty Organization (CLO), Comrade Ibuchukwu Ezike has passed a vote of no confidence in the activities of Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC), accusing its members of betraying the interest of those who were elected to fight their cause for their selfish interest.

What exactly is NLC agitating for?
The primary thing everybody is talking about is the minimum wage. Labour is demanding that the minimum wage should be N18,000 while the Federal Government is offering N17, 000 but that is not even the major issue because more than 70 or 80 per cent of Nigerians are not civil servants.

They are all workers in the public sector, the majority of Nigerians are not beneficiary of this N18,000, although some are dependent on the workers. We are talking about the collapse of government and infrastructure in Nigeria because when you look at the road, transport and power sector and the social service sector, everything has collapsed. The civil society insists that we cannot be talking about payment of the workers’ salary but issues that affect the entire Nigerians.

Nigeria is one of the richest countries in the world. There is no reason people should go to bed hungry. There is no reason the education of this country will not be the best in the world. The whole thing boils down to corruption. When money is appropriated for social services, it goes into the private pockets of some people in government. What we are saying is that we are not going to be asking for increment alone, let us look at the governance issue where a senator goes home with about N8,000 per hour and you are begging for only N18,000 for civil servants. Recently, they approved money for those who used the barrel of the gun to get into power and these are people whose families are entitled to pension when they die. Yet, they find it difficult to enhance the living conditions of Nigerian workers.

What effort have the civil societies put in place to reduce the cost of governance in Nigeria?
We in the civil societies are fighting to ensure that democracy works in Nigeria but the only setback is that corruption has been rooted in our system. The government only set up anti-graft agency that is fighting the enemies of the government and not the people. That is why in our latest meeting, we agreed that the time has come to fight for all associated problems that have collapsed the governance of this country. These include the bogus earnings by the National Assembly members, and other public office holders in Nigeria. At the level of CLO, we have already started discussing with our lawyer on the possibility of going to court to stop the assent of the president to the approval of the National Assembly on payment of entitlement to families of late leaders when people are queuing at the pension offices across the country for the pittance. There are people who retired in the past 15 years that have not been paid their gratuity and you are paying people who came to power in a lawless manner.

On the issue of the proposed pension for past leaders and their family, shouldn’t Nigeria see it as a way of appreciating the past leaders and their contribution to the growth of the nation?
There is no way you will justify that a woman or man who came to power by the barrel of gun should be paid an entitlement. It means you are justifying illegality. Even if people are to be paid, it is not those who came in through the barrel of the gun and there is no justification for you paying people who have served as senators in this country. Are we talking about the mass unemployment in the country that has caused a lot of problem in this society? We are talking about the younger generation, if you go out there, you will see young people roaming the streets. We are also going to challenge the bogus salary earned by the National Assembly members.

Is the amount canvassed by the Labour as minimum wage commensurate with the present economic situation in Nigeria?
For us in the civil liberty organization, the labour leaders are not honest. What justifies the demand of the working class people is the analysis. These civil servants are the ones that calculate the bogus payment for the so-called leaders and yet their take-home pay is nothing. If you go to the market with N18,000, you will come back with nothing, so the important thing is that they will sit down and analyze the indices, the resources available and come out with a genuine wage. This is not the kind of labour that Imoudu led in those days. Let them take a look at the history of the labour leaders, people who offered their lives for the good of the populace. It is like the present labour leaders did not do their homework very well, because they would have looked at all the strata of the economy and come out with a better demand.

What if government decides to prune down the number of those in its payroll since it is obvious that most civil servants are not productive?
If government decides to do that, the CLO should be the first the organization to go to court because we are talking about mass unemployment. We are talking about not sending people back to the street. It will create more social problems. So, we will not be part of any agenda by the government or any person to sack workers. It is just unacceptable. There was a governor of old Anambra State that used to move from one hospital to the other. He caught students who were going to school late on the streets. If you are the governor of a state, it means that you are the chief servant of the state. If you are the president of the country, you don’t just limit yourself to the comfort of the air conditioner. You move around and see the place you are governing. You move around and see how things are working. If the civil servants are not doing their work, then it is the failure of governance. If you say things are not going fine, you hold the leaders accountable.

You don’t go to the market to sell and then go to government to receive your salary. So, it is the failure of the government that civil servants are not working. If you have more than one teacher in a class in the urban centre, there are also 50 classes without a teacher in the rural areas while in the urban centres, there are five teachers to one class. So, why not transfer those teachers and civil servants who are converging on the urban centres to the rural community.

The Federal Government has requested that they be given up to November 25 to make a decision. Is it not fair on the part of NLC to grant the request?
Why shouldn’t the president listen to them? We are talking of the lives of Nigerian people till November 25, what does it take Mr. President to sign. As I said, what the NLC is asking for is a pittance compared to the resources of this country. If you go to other oil countries in the world, the citizens are well treated, free education, free medical services for everybody, good roads, quality education. There is no sector in this country doing exceptionally well. There is no country in the world that is paying as much tariff that people are paying in this country. So, where has the government stored the resources God has blessed this country with?

What is the way forward?
The way forward is that come 2011, we hope to elect a credible leader who will have the interest of this country at heart and wash away the disability and stigma that the previous leadership had placed on this country. We need credible leaders who are honest, who will stay in Nigeria and solve our problems and not run from one place to another. You cannot solve the problem of Nigeria because Obama is fraternizing with you. You have to sit down with Nigerians because we have the best brains.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2010/nov/13/national-13-11-2010-013.htm

TO honour Chief Obafemi Awolowo for the exemplary life he lived and the role he played in Nigerian politics, President Goodluck Jonathan Friday named the Liberty Stadium, Ibadan, Oyo State after the late sage.

This is coming 23 years after the death of the late politician.

Jonathan made the announcement during a courtesy call on Chief (Mrs) Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo, matriarch of the late sage, at her expansive country home, Ikenne, as part of activities marking his official visit to Ogun State.

The stadium was built during the tenure of the late politician as the premier of the defunct Western Region. Chief Awolowo was celebrated during his his life time and even in death for giving the region a head start in education.

Jonathan, who was accompanied by the Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, pledged to continue Awolowo’s dreams and vision.

The President, who spotted the same Agbada, a Yoruba traditional dress with his host, Governor Daniel, started his speech with "Awo, the Voice of Wisdom; Awo, the Voice of Reason; Awo, the Voice of Courage".

Jonathan noted that late Awo started his political career early in life, saying that the main ambition of Awolowo in life was to improve the quality of life of Nigerians.

Also Friday, President Joinathan said that the gas project - Olokola Liquified Natural Gas [OKLNG] in Ogun State, will soon commence operation to enhance the nation’s access to refined and clean gas for domestic use and export.

The Petro-Chemical and gas project located in Ode-Omi, a rivering community in Ogun Waterside and jointly managed by the quartet of Shell Petroleum, British Gas, Chevron and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation [NNPC], is targeted at shoring up Nigeria’s earning in gas as well as stimulate economic activities in the area.

Jonathan stated this in Sagamu while commissioning Gateway International Stadium built by the present administration.

He said effort was being made to ensure that a similar gas project - Brass Liquified Natural Gas [BLNG] in Bayelsa, his homestate, takes off soon.

"The Federal Government is working to see how OKLNG and Brass Liquified Natural Gas in Bayelsa will take off as soon as possible," he said.

The President, who arrived the stadium at about 3:25pm was received by the Akarigbo of Remoland, Oba Michael Sonarinwo; Ogun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Salmot Makanjuola Badru and Ambassador Folake Marcus - Bello, among other dignitaries.

However, two persons, including Mr Wale Oduntan, Governor Daniel’s consultant on labour, fainted while waiting for the President at Sagamu Stadium and they had to be revived by medics attached to the Gateway Foundation Front ambulance.

Earlier, the President, who arrived Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos, at about 11:00am aboard Nigeria Airforce Jet marked 5NG FGT, and was received by House of Representatives Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, Industry and Commerce Minister, Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye, his Works counterpart, Senator Sanusi Dagash, Governor Gbenga Daniel and former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mr Femi Pedro.

He also commissioned a number of projects, including Rainbow 94.1 FM radio, owned by Dr. Alex Onabanjo.

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The widespread jubilation that greeted Samson Siasia’s appointment as Super Eagles coach is a testimony to how he has been accepted by the football faithful. That was one wise decision by the current NFF board. They have given the people what they asked for, but it also behoves them to support Siasia to achieve the set goals. There is no doubting the fact that Siasia’s task is onerous but it would be made easier if the FA lives up to their promise of non-interference. I am aware that the last time Siasia had a national assignment, he had issues with the top echelon of the FA who wanted to impose players on him. When he refused, one had told him; "I hope you will look for another job after this tournament because as long as I remain here (the NFF), you will never handle any of the national teams again". This explains why he had been severally overlooked for the Super Eagles job before now.

The current board has promised to allow him free hand to execute his progammes.

Siasia is brimming with ideas and given the enabling environment, he will surely deliver. But I have my doubts over the FA’s sincerity. Do they really mean to allow Siasia do it his own way? If yes, why impose assistants on him? I am particular about those who should assist Siasia because they are potential banana pills. You may not understand where I’m coming from. I will explain from a first-hand experience.

A particular Super Eagles chief coach had been undermined by his assistant. For the purpose of this piece, I will call the chief coach Ojo and his assistant Musa. Ojo, an easy going man, had given Musa a lot of room to operate. Unknown to him, Musa was eyeing his (Ojo’s) job. During a major tournament, Musa would gather selected journalists (yours sincerely inclusive) in a section of the hotel where the team lodged, telling them how he influenced his boss’ substitutions that changed the course of the game. On the days the team lost, Musa would blame Ojo for not heeding his advice. On one very occasion, while Eagles were struggling during a match, Musa walked up to veteran journalist, Paul Bassey (who was a CAF Media Officer for the tournament) complaining how his boss had turned down his advice to introduce a player, who should add more bite to the attack.

Trust Sports Bassey, he lampooned Musa urging him not to bring such interactions with his boss to public glare. Back to the media gallery where we sat, Bassey narrated this experience. Does this sound like a scene from Wale Adenuga’s ‘Super Story’? No…no…no…This happened for real. The rivalry in Eagles technical bench was obvious during the tournament. Unfortunately, Ojo was not aware of his assistant’s shenanigans. Some of us wondered why an assistant would want to take credit on the days the team won and shift the blame to his boss on the bad days.

We saw the reasons when, after a dismal outing, Ojo was sacked and Musa appointed chief coach. Ojo and Musa should have been given the boot or a substantive coach appointed to boss Musa but, in this case, Musa had done so well to discredit Ojo while playing up his own potentials. It was more like ‘give me the job and I will do better’.

Have you seen why Siasia should guard against having a Musa as an assistant?

Musa was as ambitious as Ojo. He felt he should be the chief coach instead of Ojo. You don’t need such people assisting you. Siasia knows those who would be

loyal to him and should be allowed to hire them as assistants. We don’t want a repeat of the Ojo/Musa scenario.

KAILIKA’S WORLD CUP TARGET

While Siasia and Stephen Keshi were being interviewed for the Super Eagles job at NICON Luxury Hotel, Abuja last week, I was at the hotel lobby with Siasia’s wife. We got engaged in a discussion on the state of Nigerian football. Mrs.

Siasia had utmost confidence in her husband’s ability to reposition the national team. Her words;"When my husband came out this morning, I told him not to go with any paper because I know this game called football is at his finger tips.

The way he analyses and reads a match, he is simply gifted". Then she said a prayer; "God, if my husband is not the one to change the fortunes of Nigerian football, please don’t allow him to get this job. But if he has been anointed from above to bring smiles back to Nigerians’ faces, may they (the NFF) not have

peace till they give him his dues". She lends credence to the saying that ‘behind every successful man there is a woman’.

Though it has been long in coming, the will of God has ultimately been done in Nigerian football.The best madam can do for all of us, now, is to help her husband get focused on the task at hand. The ovation has died down. The celebration is over. This is time for him to roll up his sleeves and get down to

work. He has just bagged Nigeria’s most difficult job. I learnt Siasia’s first assistant, Simon Kalika has set a World Cup semi-final target. Did he really speak on Siasia’s behalf? I think Siasia has to monitor the utterances coming from his camp. It is too early to make such promises. While not doubting

Kalika’s technical competence, he goes overboard in his utterances which are sometimes credited to Siasia. We need to draw a line between when Kalika talks and when Siasia does.

The key word now should be ACTION. Setting such targets will only make him lose focus on the main task of rebuilding the national team. The national team has passed through series of managers who had battered the traditional Nigerian pattern of play. Siasia’s major task is to package a team that plays the way his boys did in Holland and Beijing. He should dwell more on the quality of the team and not some ‘World Cup semi-final target’. Once he instills the requisite freshness and mobility, the results will come naturally. Who even says he can’t play in the World Cup final or win it? But, first things, first.


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The Senate, yesterday concluded debates on the second reading on another amendment on the 2010 Electoral Bill, seeking to democratise the National Executive Committees (NECs) of political parties.

This was coming as the upper chamber of the National Assembly began move to ensure that the May 29 handover date was not tinkered with as it commenced the enactment of a law aimed at making the date sacrosanct.
The amendment of the Electoral Act 2010, according to the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, who are sponsors of the bill, is aimed at institutionalising internal democracy within the nation’s registered political parties.

Daily Sun gathered that the move, which will wrest control of the parties from state governors, has already sparked anger in the rank of the ruling PDP governors. In his lead debate, Senate Majority Leader, Teslim Folarin, said one of the highlights of the bill was the amendment to Section 87 of the Principal Act to strengthen internal democracy by ensuring that the National Executive Committee (NEC) of a political party was the highest decision making body.

Folarin said it was in that wise that the bill was seeking to include, in its membership, presiding officers of the National Assembly, chairmen and vice chairmen of standing committees in the Senate as well as chairmen and deputy chairmen of standing committees in the House of Representatives. The bill with the title, “A Bill for An Act to Amend the Electoral Act No. 64 of 2010,” Folarin further said, was to ensure robust discussion on party issues by a larger number of party members and to avoid a situation where a few party members sat to decide the faith and affairs of a political party.

The bill read in part; “No political appointee at any level shall be a voting delegate at the convention or congress of any political party for the purpose of nomination of candidates for any election, except such a political appointee is an elected officer of a political party and every political party in Nigeria shall establish in its constitution a National Executive Committee (NEC), which shall be the highest decision making body of a political party.”

If the bill scales through its third reading, members of NEC of political party shall include the president and vice president in addition to presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives, and chairmen and vice chairmen of standing committees of both chambers of the National Assembly.

In a related development, a new law seeking to regulate the handover date has been adopted by the Senate. The new law followed the report submitted to the Senate by its Committee on Establishment and Public Service in which it sought inauguration of the president and vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and their swearing-in shall be organised and conducted by the National Assembly. In the same vein, the proposed law equally seeks to ensure that the presidential inauguration shall take place in the arcade of the National Assembly.
Section 1(ii) of the Bill states; “The entire inauguration ceremony, apart from the actual administration of the oaths of office shall be conducted and officiated by members of the National Assembly.”

In the same vein, Clause 6 (1) of the bill requires all serving and former presidents, Heads of State, Heads of the Federal Government, vice presidents or their equivalent, President of the Senate and Speakers of the House of Representatives and the Chief Justices of the Federation, shall be in attendance with their spouses while the president-elect and the vice president-elect and their spouses with their immediate families, shall be the last to come in the procession for the inauguration.

The Bill further states that the inauguration shall have a 13-member Committee drawn from the legislature, executive and judiciary to be headed by a chairman, appointed from the National Assembly.
The Bill further states that the Clerk to the National Assembly shall be the head of the secretariat of the inauguration ceremony.

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The Federal Government, yesterday summoned Iran’s ambassador over an arms shipment it seized last month, in Lagos. The Iranian Foreign Minister, Manouchehr Mottaki attended the meeting held at the office of the Foreign Affairs Minister, Odei Ajumogobia. An official at the Iranian embassy in Abuja confirmed that, trully, the Iranian Foreign Minister was in Nigeria but declined to comment further.

“The Iranian ambassador has been summoned, and he is holding a meeting with the (Nigerian) Foreign Affairs Minister,” said an official at the Foreign Ministry, who refused to be named.

“Part of the agenda of the meeting is the issue of the shipment of explosives and the visit of the Foreign Affairs Minister of Iran,” the official told Reuters. A diplomat with access to intelligence on Iran had told Reuters in New York. Mottaki had gone to Abuja to discuss the seized arms and take permission from the Federal Government to bring two Iranians linked to the shipment back to Tehran.

In a statement released on Monday, Nov 1, the embassy neither accepted nor denied that Iran was involved in the arms shipment. It also declined elaborating on Israel’s allegation that the arms were destined for Hamas controlled Gaza.In the statement, the embassy said that “any unnecessary word would add to the confusion already existing.”
A diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonimity said the two Iranians were at the Iranian embassy in Abuja and that Tehran appeared reluctant to have them questioned by Nigerian authorities.

The Iranian embassy had earlier denied reports by a local newspaper that some Iranians had been arrested over the weapon seizure just as it was reported that two Iranians linked to the arms shipment were hiding there.
Security agents had intercepted 13 containers declared as building materials and discharged from the CMA CGM Everest vessel at the ever busy Apapa port.

At the time, CMA CGM said, “the shipment in question was booked as a ‘shippers owned container’ and supplied loaded and sealed by the shipper, an Iranian trader who does not appear on any ‘forbidden persons’ listing.” CMA CGM based in France operates the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel. The company said the containers were loaded in Bandar Abbas by a local trader, at the southern port city of Iran, and discharged in Lagos in July. After three months, the shipper asked to have the containers reloaded and sent to the Gambia. According to the firm. clearance had been obtained before customs offiials intervened and halted the shipment.

Diplomats in New York said Iran would appear to be in breach of the United Nations sanctions regime, which forbids it from exporting any kind of weapons directly or indirectly, if the seized weapons were originally loaded on its territory.
But they said it was difficult to assess the case because Nigeria had not yet notified the U.N. Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee about the seizure. Only on Wednesday, the States Security Service (SSS) faulted the reports that the arms shipment was meant for Nigeria

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AFTER a brief break, the zoning controversy resurfaced Thursday.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) told the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory that it has not zoned presidency to the North.

It also claimed that there is no provision in its constitution for the zoning of its presidential ticket.

The party, which made its position known on oath, for the first time, said President Goodluck Jonathan has the constitutional right to aspire for another term in office.

The PDP made these submissions in a counter-affidavit sworn to by one of its legal officers, Owukori Akuyibo, with the consent of its National Legal Adviser, Chief Olusola Oke.

Oke, who is leading PDP’s legal team, is also representing the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo (1st Defendant), in the matter.

The party was reacting to an application by a PDP member, Cyriacus Njoku, from Zuba Ward in Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja. He is urging the court to stop Jonathan from participating in the presidential primaries because the presidency has been zoned to the North since 2007.

Njoku, through his counsel, Mr. Osuagwu Ugochukwu, urged the court to compel the PDP to stick to zoning.

The PDP, however, asked the court in the November 11, 2010 affidavit to dismiss the application of the PDP member because it did not zone presidency to the North either in 2007 nor 2011.

The party said on oath: "The 3rd Defendant (Jonathan) as a sitting President has a constitutional right to aspire for another term of office on the platform of the 2nd

Defendant (PDP).

"Contrary to paragraph 10 of the affidavit in support, at no time was the President of Nigeria or the presidential ticket of the PDP (2nd Defendant) zoned to the ‘North’ for 2007 and 2011. To the above extent, paragraph 10 is not true.

"At no time was the Presidency zoned to the North for 2007-2015 or any term. The late President Umaru Yar’Adua emerged from a primary election conducted at a National Convention defeating other aspirants from different parts of the country.

"There is no provision in the constitution of the 2nd Defendant (PDP) for zoning her presidential ticket. On the contrary, the PDP presidential candidate is provided to emerge from primaries conducted at a Special National Convention for that purpose.

"There is nothing in Article 7 of the PDP excluding any qualified aspirants from any part of the country, including President Jonathan, from participating in a primary election where majority of the delegates will determine who the candidate will be."

The party submitted a document showing that 30 aspirants vied for its presidential ticket in 2007 with the late President Yar’Adua.

The aspirants the party said participated in the 2007 presidential primaries were Mrs. Sarah Jibril; ex-Governor Victor Attah; Gen. Buba Marwa; ex-Governor Peter Odili; ex-Governor Sam Egwu; Prof. Jerry Gana; Gen. Mamman Kontagora; Amb. Princess E. Ogbon-Day; Rear Admiral Okhai Michael Akhigbe; and Sen. A. P. Sawa.

Others are: ex-Governor Abdullahi Adamu; Dr. Mary Olutimayin; Chief Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe; ex-Governor Achike Udenwa; Chief Zeb Abule; Rev. Mary Onueka; ex-President Ibrahim Babangida; Dennis Uzoma Ehederu; ex-Governor Donald Duke; late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua; ex-Governor Ibrahim Saminu Turaki; and Amb. Ralph Uwechue.

Also listed are ex-Governor Ahmed M. Makarfi; Princess Hadiza Ibrahim Golen; ex-Governor Chimaroke Nnamani; Owelle Anayo Rochas Okorocha; Gen. Aliyu Mohammed Gusau; Dr. Godson Nnaka; Chief Albert Korubo Horsfall; and ex-Governor Ahmed Adamu Mua’zu.

Regarding the right of any Nigerian to contest for the presidency, the PDP said it is guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution.

It explained that only delegates to the National Convention could determine who should be the presidential candidate of the party.

It added: "There is nothing in the Constitution of Nigeria or the PDP to prevent any aspirant from any part of the country from contesting for the presidential ticket of the PDP.

"Where such aspiration is manifestly unjust, inequitable, the delegates at the National Convention reserve the power not to vote in such person.

"The PDP cannot exclude any of the aspirants on the ground of where they come from without breaching the provisions of the 1999 Constitution."

According to the PDP, it is wrong to exclude Jonathan because only South-West, out of the three geopolitical zones in the South, has produced the President on its platform.

The party said that there had been no threat to peace and security since Jonathan declared interest in 2011 poll.

"The allegation is an invention of the Plaintiff designed to stir up panic and cause avoidable tension. No such threat had ever been issued or could be justifiably issued," it said.

The party urged the court to dismiss the application because the plaintiff is not from the North and has no mandate of the North to initiate the matter.

"The plaintiff, suing for himself, has no authority of the "North" to commence the action," the PDP submitted.

The hearing of the suit by the Chief Judge of the FCT, Justice Lawal Gumi, will begin on November 15.

A member of the party, Cyriacus Njoku, from Zuba Ward in Gwagwalada Area Council and with PDP registration number 1622735, is urging the court to ask the PDP to respect on zoning, in line with Article 7. 2(c) of the party’s constitution.

He says the declaration of Jonathan (3rd Defendant) to contest the presidency under the PDP is contrary to Article7.2(c) of the PDP 2009 Constitution (as amended).

Njoku seeks a perpetual injunction restraining the 2nd (PDP) and 4th (INEC) from fielding and admitting any candidate for the PDP presidential primaries who is from the South.

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General Mohammed Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) has described the decision of the government to establish six more universities in each of the six geo-political zones as a surreptitious move to siphon public resources to help the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2011 general elections.

Besides, the party which asked that the projects be stopped, said President Goodluck Jonathan should be told that “Nigerians are not idiots and that there is limit to which one can be played around.”

Faulting the decision, CPC said the planned universities would end up as white elephant projects because the existing ones were starved of funds and were therefore in comatose with their teachers complaining every time. National Publicity Secretary of the party, Dennis Aghanya in his reaction to the development, said by the decision, government was just playing to the gallery to score cheap political points.

“All the existing federal and state universities in the country are in comatose because of the lack of infrastructures and desired manpower to get them to a reasonable learning standard. It is no more history that Nigerians studying in neighbouring West African countries alone, in search of quality education, constitutes a major source of economic loss to the country,” he stated.

Recalling that the universities in the South-east had been under lock and key for months with the authorities obviously not worried, CPC said the move to establish more universities could not impress anyone because it was misplaced.
While noting that corruption had been the bane of the nation’s education underdevelopment, the CPC asked the government to use the money that would be used for new institutions to resuscitate the ones in dire need of funds to function well.

It stated: “For the past months, all the South-east state universities have been on strike. Yet, it is not a source of worry to our shameless leadership in the country. President Goodluck Jonathan should be informed that Nigerians are not idiots and that there is limit to which one can be played around. We are ready to resist his corrupt and imperialistic tendencies inherited from his master.

“Corruption has been the bane of the country’s economic woes and no genuine effort seems to be in place to tackle this canker worm. The fight against corruption by the PDP government since 1999 has been a lip service. “Funds voted for the UBE programmes are used by the governors as if they are meant for their security votes, in addition to the local governments’ allocations which are at their beck and call. Our primary schools are in sorry sights, yet billions of naira is voted every quarter in the name of UBE programmes.

“Our existing universities are nothing better than glorified nursery schools. The lecturers barely access funds for necessary research work.” CPC then advised government to channel that huge sum earmarked for the white-elephant project into the existing universities saying; “their structures can be expanded and improved on to accommodate more students seeking admission into our universities.”

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It was indeed a spectacular and scintillating sight to behold over the weekend when some of the biggest names in Nollywood stormed Owerri, for the well-attended public declaration of Ikedi Ohakim, the Imo State Governor, for a second term in office.

The movie and music stars who invaded Imo, for the declaration, which held at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, came under the aegis of Nollywood Democrats, with top actor and comedian, Okey Bakassi as its founder and national coordinator.

Aside adding razzmatazz and glitz to the declaration ceremony with their intimidating presence on stage and around the venue, they equally hailed Ohakim, for consolidating on the new face of Imo vision and mission.

The stars who spent two memorable days with Ohakim, his delectable wife, Chioma and the entire Imo people, were first hosted to a lavish dinner/reception at the State’s multi purpose hall, inside the Government House, upon arrival, by Ohakim and members of his executive, who immensely thanked the entertainers for coming to felicitate with them in Imo State, which Ohakim, happily and boldly told them was now in the hands of God.

Among the famous names that stormed Imo for the talk of the town declaration, which was beautifully anchored by Bakassi, a former Executive Assistant to Ohakim, but now aspiring to lead his people at the Imo State House of Assembly were: Emeka Ike, Patience Ozokwo, Tony Umez, Victor Osuagwu, Charles Awurum, Emeka Enyiocha, Francis Duru, Uche Elendu, Gentle Jack and Tom Njemanze. Others included: Rita Edochie, Thelma Nwosu, Mike Nliam, Theodore Anyanji, Dickson Iroegbu, Andy Ike, Ugo Stevenson alongside several Imo based entertainers.

The highpoint of the visit was when the stars that wowed all at the capacity filled stadium with their intimidating presence were called on stage to greet Imo people. In fact, upon mounting the stage, the entire stadium erupted in cheers for over five minutes; it took the intervention of Bakassi to calm the excited crowd whose cheers were deafening. With that ritual over, the stars were led to the VIP section of the stadium, where they shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with visibly elated Ohakim, his wife, top government officials and other dignitaries present.

Leading acts such as: Ras Kimono, Raw Nwanne, Flavour Digidi Dunhill, Saro Wiwa and some Imo-based entertainers equally mounted the stage to thrill Ohakim and Imo people. In fact, we heard an indigene jokingly telling his friends that Lagos entertainers had succeeded in turning the declaration into a music and movie concert. Speaking on the rationale behind Nollywood Democrats, Bakassi, disclosed that it’s a non political and very conscious movement that seeks to help entertainers speak with one voice while pushing their demands and interests to those in positions of authority.

“Nollywood Democrats is a body we formed to help Nigerian entertainers speak with one voice, especially when pushing or seeking for better welfares from those in authority. It’s apolitical, but will continue to work closely with those in authority, because we cannot isolate ourselves from them. We are here in Imo to thank Gov. Ohakim and also ask him for more support and assistance since he’s an entertainment loving leader…”

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Many relationships collapse after the first one month of dating because of several reasons from both couples.



Reasons include:

Firstly, the expectations from the couples such as one bearing financial burden of the other, infidelity arising from any of the partners.

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