Abia has the prospect to do even more better,and with the way things are going am convinced there is going to be a greater success from abia state...The governor is doing great....so we have taken cognizance of that....carry on T.A

we are aware of what is happening in Abia state;governor T.A has been active.we pray for a continual process of his administration

these are pictures of ukwumango and Danfodio road

there are pictures from this location; http://www.panoramio.com/user/7238079?show=all

Abia, Still God’s Own State

Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Oji

Don Ubani writes that in spite of his many challenges, Abia State Governor, Chief Theodore Oji, has worked hard to ensure that Abia remains God’s own state

When one is entrusted with the people’s confidence, resources and fortune, one would need the amazing grace of God to discharge one’s responsibilities with utmost care, prudence, transparency and equity.


In 1999, Orji Uzor Kalu was elected Governor of Abia State. His mandate was to impact positively on the people of the state using the common wealth of the people. But contrary to this expectation, Kalu, for eight years, only proved himself to be incomparably unscrupulous, greedy and extremely unintelligent.


The combination of extremity of Kalu’s vices amounted to, not only total disappointment to the people of God’s Own State but Abians taking a very strong decision never again to repose their confidence in a charlatan or in one whose pedigree is suspect. Kalu’s atrocities in Abia and against Abians were so devastating that the people of God’s Own State, both individually and collectively, wept and placed a curse on him, his mother and siblings.


When a people, with sorrow and tears, marginalisation, injustice and overwhelming depression place a curse on a greedy opportunist, the consequence is always unimaginably enormous. It is the curse that Abians and, indeed, many other Nigerians placed on Kalu that has continued to torment him. Otherwise, why must he sponsor one Odimegwu Onwumere, to write a piece that is full of incoherence and only amounts to a nonsense.


In the said write-up, Kalu, through Onwumere, fruitlessly and unethically expressed his grouse over the ‘claim’ by one of Governor Theodore Orji’s Aides that the Governor has restored the dignity of the Abia person? Kalu, being conscious of the havoc he wreaked on Abians, would not want to hear of the restoration of the ‘dignity’ of Abia people.


Hence, he has continued to cry wolf where none exists.
For purposes of educating Kalu and equally calling him to order, let me talk on ‘dignity’ and its restoration in Abia State. Kalu does not know that ‘dignity’ is that intrinsic quality in one that earns or makes one deserve respect.


Dignity does not necessarily flow from wealth. Rather, it is an inalienable associate of character. Having taught Kalu this elementary lesson, hoping he would learn though he may lack the mental capacity to absorb and retain simple but decent knowledge, I would now say only a few things to justify the claim by the governor’s aide on restoration of ‘dignity’.

When a person’s ‘dignity’ is restored, the person enjoys enhanced positive image. By virtue of constitutional democracy, every Abian is entitled to certain fundamental human rights such as: freedom of thought, freedom of association and freedom of worship.
Any time that fundamental right of an Abian or any other individual is violated or denied, it goes a long way to cause psycho-social depression. This, certainly, affects the individual and therefore, impacts very negatively on his or her character and by clinical extension, his or her ‘dignity’.

I am saying it for the umpteenth time that during the tenure of Kalu as governor of Abia State, the fundamental rights of many Abians were deliberately and consistently trampled upon by Kalu and his unprecedentedly avaricious mother, Eunice.
Today, Orji has given appointments, contracts and other life-support incentives to many Abians without subjecting any of them to any form of oath-taking. This is restoration of ‘dignity’.


For the eight years that Kalu presided over the affairs of Abia State, he never gave any quantifiable consideration to the health of Abians hence; he did not think it necessary to erect even a one-bed clinic.

That Governor Orji, a quintessential administrator and an accomplished alumnus of Nigeria’s premier University of Ibadan, has been able to build and equip two hundred and fifty health centres spread across the state and two functional diagnostic medical centres in Umuahia and Aba, has definitely tormented Kalu who now perceives the governor’s performance as a deliberate design to dump him in the dust bin meant for non-performance.


Abia is an oil-producing State, courtesy of Ukwa-West Local Government Area. Throughout Kalu’s tenure, every plea made by the people of Ukwa-West for his administration to set up an Oil Producing Area Development Commission naturally fell on his deaf ear. But no sooner had Orji became governor than he set up the Abia State Oil Producing Area Development Commission.


That commission has helped immensely in the development of Abia State, particularly the oil-producing areas of the State. Many traditional rulers from Ukwa-West had no vehicles but today are proud owners of jeeps that have, for sure, enhanced their status. Kalu has always been a victim of ignorance and, so, will not realise that an elevation of this magnitude for traditional rulers in Ukwa-West would go a long way to give impetus to their ‘dignity’. Does this not justify the claim by the Governor’s aide?


Kalu’s eight-year governance of Abia State did not witness any quantifiable empowerment of the Abia youth. His administration only recorded donation of ‘Tokunbo’ motor-cycles and wheel-barrows to Abia youths. On the contrary, the Government of Ochendo has motivated Abia youths with more than five hundred cars and more than two thousand tricycles, otherwise known as Keke-Napep.
The beneficiaries of this unparalleled benevolence of the governor have subsequently become self-employed and are living very responsible life and discharging their social cum community obligations.


For youths that could only dream of motorcycles and wheel-barrows during the administration of Kalu to have their taste redirected and their status radically upgraded, Kalu would not perceive any meaningful restoration of ‘dignity’ in this context. What a pity!


In order to address the problem of youth unemployment and its attendant youth restiveness; a twin problem that was poorly unattended to during the era of darkness which Kalu’s government represented, the Orji government has offered employment to four thousand and five hundred Abia youths and is encouraging them to acquire useful skills with the money they are paid in order to guarantee a stable future for themselves.


Because Kalu would not wish or see anything good in Ochendo’s government, he would not agree that youths that were hopelessly abandoned by his administration but are now being rehabilitated by Governor Orji have had their ‘dignity’ restored.


While the Federal Government of Nigeria legislated eighteen thousand naira as minimum wage for the Nigerian worker, the Abia State Government, under Ochendo, pays twenty thousand and one hundred naira to her lowest public servant. It is only the devil that will not see restoration of ‘dignity’ in this vivid expression of humanity.


In this piece, I do not intend to mention the numerous legacy projects initiated and being executed by the administration of Orji in the state. Should I talk of the civil servants’ secretariat complex that is eighty percent completed or the five thousand seat capacity International Conference Centre, also eighty percent completed?


If Kalu claims not to have seen the new functional industrial market before the University of Agriculture Umudike, would he be justified to say he has not seen the modern Umuahia market at Ubani-Ibeku, which is just conspicuously along his Ohafia-Umuahia Road? There are too many projects to be mentioned that space and time may not permit here. I, however, challenge Kalu for an open contest on the issue of restoration of ‘dignity’ for Abians by Orji.


To ascertain how myopic Kalu and his uninformed Onwumere are, one has to compare and contrast between their preposterous claim that there is not restoration of ‘dignity’ in Abia and their contradictory questioning of the source of money with which the wife of the governor, who through her Non-governmental Organisation, Hannah-May Foundation, has been touching the lives of the less-privileged by building a three-bedroom bungalow, with provision of water and furniture for such people in the State.


It is for the reading public to assess and evaluate if indigenes aof a state that hitherto had no shelter of their own but through the milk of kindness of the governor’s wife now own their own houses should be said to have been impacted positively on or otherwise.
As I had earlier stated in many of my write-ups, former governor Kalu intentionally murdered sleep in God’s Own State, he would, therefore, know no sleep.
*Ubani is a citizen of Abia
source :http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/abia-still-god-s-own-state/136270/

T.A ORJI is on the right track ,no doubt

the work T.A has done so far speak for him...people could say what they like........as for T.A am praying that God will strengthen him to continue with the work he is doing

more are yet to be revealed as regard to OUK on embezzled Abia state fund

WHY CRITICS OF GOV. T.A ORJI ARE GETTING IT WRONG

I have the initial burden of either writing this piece to correct an impression by a minute section of the press and few critics of Abia state governor, Sir Theodore Ahamefule Orji that tend to stand truth on its head and present falsehood as fact or allowing the mumble jumble they come to town with in the name of criticizing the Abia chief executive to be their albatross since fact is always sacred. But some thing inside of me insisted that I must make these clarifications, having been closer to the system (since 1998) which these commentators are commenting on. Secondly, it will be unexplainable for anybody closer to the government of Abia state to maintain the studied silence when the opposite of splendid the political and social development playing out in Abia state is being forced on the unwary public.
Indeed, I appreciate the sentiments of a section of the media, and also their predicament. But what I can’t understand is the deliberate or will I say orchestrated plan to present one sided documentary of the development in Abia vis-a-vis the relationship between the two Orjis ie His Excellency, Chief T A Orji and former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu. In as much as I agree that journalists should express their opinions strongly on certain issues concerning the state of affairs in the society, I also believe in the notion that objectivity is a significant principle of journalistic professionalism.
One can easily miss the point if he or she maintains a robust interest on a particular issue only to keep a blind eye on the other side of the coin. Me thinks that journalistic objectivity can refer to fairness, disinterestedness, factuality and nonpartisanship. This is why it is appropriate to present the fact as it is no matter how strong one’s opinion on a particular issue is. I regret to state that some of the commentators (by a section of the media though) on Abia Project is based on circumstantial evidence or hearsay and not on facts on the ground. If they could distance themselves from the evidence of a third party and come to Abia state to witness the actual happenings, their public perception of the events in Abia would be anything but prejudice; thus offering the reading public the best of their analyses on Project Abia.
Indeed, a trip to Abia will change the perception of some Lagos and Abuja based journalists who still mirror this God’s Own State from its position before 2007. It is worrisome to read that there are decaying infrastructure ie road, electricity, pipe-borne water etc in Abia when in actual fact the T A Orji’s government alone has provided more roads than all his predecessors (from 1991 when the state was created till date) put together. As at the last count, the 132KV at Ohiya substation that supplies electricity uninterruptedly to Umuahia, while the government had put up the machinery to provide pipe-borne water to the cities.
Today, every sector is being galvanized to achieve optimum result. Is it in health sector, education, agriculture, commerce and industry, housing, security etc that the government of Abia state is not prioritizing? Time was when some people in the state particularly Aba fled the city because of the rampage of kidnappers. It took the intervention of T.A Orji with the support of the federal government and military to restore normalcy to the once dreaded city. Now that normalcy has been restored, international firms like Alkamali petroleum of Dubai, Junohermes, a South African firm, Imoniyame Holdings Ltd, Americare Inc USA are coming to do business in oil and gas, agriculture, banking and commerce etc. Today, farmers are smiling their ways to the banks courtesy of the N1 billion soft loans the government provided for them.
A trip to Abia will expose a lot. Housing estates dot the landscape. They include Amaokwe, Ehimiri, Ohiya, Ubakala, Amuzukwu, Isieke, Osisioma, etc; most of them have been completed and being occupied, while others are at various stages of completion. Or do we talk about the establishment of modern diagnostic health centres ie specialist diagnostic hospitals in Aba and Umuahia. The high courts and magistrate courts building projects in Aba and Umuahia
Just last month, Governor T A Orji flagged off 16 roads in Aba to the delight of Aba residents. And on Tuesday, 4 December 2012, he went on an inspection tour on these road projects to the tumultuous welcome of Aba residents. It baffles some of us when some commentators insinuate that His Excellency is hated by Aba residents. Which Aba residents? His critics also charge that civil servants are owed monthly arrears of salaries and allowances, yet none of these critics could point out the ministry that has not received their salaries up to November 2012. To this end, he has received several awards as a result of his quality leadership. This year alone Ochendo has been bestowed with the best Governorship Award on Security, Icon of Democracy by Champion Newspapers and Knight of John Wesley by the Methodist Church of Nigeria.
If there is a challenge in the payment of pension and gratuities of civil service, it is not as a result of government dereliction but apparently because of some bureaucratic bottlenecks. The government is addressing that issue and very soon senior citizens affected by this tailback will smile. Therefore, it is absurd to insinuate that Abia is not on the fast track of development. Actually, federal roads are in the state of disrepair. Enugu–Port Harcourt road, Aba-Ikot Ekpene, Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene etc are impassable. But critics blame Abia government for their despicable state. They fail to acknowledge the fact that the T.A Orji’s government reconstructed the Aba-Owerri road and Aba-Port Harcourt road; all federal roads. We expect commentators on Abia to question why the federal government should shirk its responsibility in this regard in Abia state.
As a detribalized are focused leader, T A Orji sees everything that belongs to the federal government as his to keep in good shape. Arguably, a politician that is focused towards providing good governance like T A cannot descend to the level of blocking former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu from rejoining the PDP. Kalu has repeatedly said that he has no intention of joining PDP or any political party for that matter. However, instead of abiding by that vow he was reported to have applied to register at the national level against the constitution of PDP that stipulates that intending members or those that left the party and desire to rejoin should either join or rejoin from their ward.
Even at that, and assuming that he applied to register at his Onuibina-Igbere ward level, he is still cannot be regarded as a member of the party if the party at the ward level thinks otherwise. It is one thing to apply for membership of an organization and it is another for the members to accept the applicant as a member. There are determining factors. It is not automatic. Therefore, if the rules were bent to favour a particular applicant, there is nothing wrong if some stakeholders stage a protest. That is how Governor T.A Orji was involved. It is unacceptable to accuse the Governor of leading the stakeholders to Abuja to complain of the glaring case of violation of the PDP constitution while turning blind eye on the genuineness of the exercise. After all, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander.
Former Governor Orji Uzor Kalu should not be treated differently simply because he allegedly “donated $1 million to facilitate the take off and smooth running of PDP in 1998”. The theory of Kalu donating $1 million to the PDP has become a recurring decimal without any empirical evidence to back the claim. The figure keeps changing as his supporters defend him over it.
As for politicians who joined PDP from their former political parties. In as much as I wouldn’t speak for the likes of Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, who left the PDP to ANPP and back to PDP in 2003, Senator Nkechi Nwogu from ANPP to PDP and Vincent Ogbulafor who contested the governorship of Abia state under the then APP in 1999 before joining PDP in 2002, it is obvious that these politicians complied with the provision of the PDP constitution before they were re-admitted. They did not bulldoze their ways into the party. The party is supreme and therefore all joiners should be obedient to its rules.
What should concern every card-carrying party member in PDP or any other party for that matter is the insistence of the practice of internal democracy by its leaders. In underscoring the essence of internal party democracy, Lenin wrote “it means that all the affairs of the party are conducted, either directly or through representatives, by all members of the party, all of whom without exception have equal rights; moreover, all officials, all leading bodies, and all institutions of the party are subject to election, are responsible to their constituents, and are subject to recall”. This postulation makes it mandatory for all; members or applicants to subject themselves to the rule of the party irrespective of their former or present status.
END.
source : Uche Nwosu wrote in from Umuahia.

T.A is doing great....praying he remains this focus..he has been outstanding lately........and am liking his new administrative play-power this tenure...its exemplary in nature..keep it up T.A

something good is in the offing for abia state...and i can see from what is happening now,alot of good things are happening in abia state now....

@ chimerase,you are not a good critics ,and i think i will be saying this a million times,for you to have not taken cognizance of the recent development in abia state shows how timid and lacking information......there a lot of work that T.A has done,and he has been outstanding this second tenure,those who say he is not working i think are just the opposition parties or those bought over by anti-progressive abians,to malign the good work he is doing...please my good people,visit http://www.panoramio.com/user/akudoude....if you want to be aware the development in abia state...

am not surprise that people have chosen to be blindfolded.....i wonder who is tipping them and greasing their palms,which have made them loose the touch of consciousness....why would people come here and say T.A is not working..? am just made to believe that its only those who have a negative view of this state that are coming here to condemn the good work of governor Orji...but i believe as we have eyes and can't see,so the more sincere ones can't testify that the governor is working....follow this site to get more acquainted with this development in Abia state....http://www.panoramio.com/user/akudoude

if any body says T.A is not working ,i will assume he is just being evilish and anti-progressive in his over view .....lets criticize without sentiments.....as for me ,T.A has been outstanding..and i pray he continues being so hardworking and achieve more before his tenure runs out

Africa must invest in political security, rather than soldiers, police – Rawlings

Former Ghanaian President, Jerry Rawlings has indentified insecurity as the bane of the African continent even as he tasked African leaders to tackle the problem from the roots.

Rawlings spoke recently when Governor Theodore Orji of Abia state led an entourage to visit his him in Ghana.

According to him, African leaders must now invest heavily on political security, rather than on soldiers, police and the likes which have created enmity, pressure and stress on the populace due to misuse of their power.

“We should be investing a lot more time and energy in the political security. That’s how we (Ghana) survived for 18 years because we invested a lot more time in searching for solutions than reaching into the sources of the problem. We survived that long because in the empowerment of our people, we dealt a lot more in education and doing away with social injustices, gender, ethnic issues where one tribe tries to over-ride others.

“In effect it created a better climate to sow the seed for the foundation we needed to build upon. That’s how come we just made it”, he said adding though that these principles have not been sustained owing to some governments resort to physical security by terrorizing the people into a state of subjugation, thereby taking away the creative energy of the people”, the former president said.

According Rawlings to, the crisis in Mali should be another test case of how African leaders can resolve their own problems amicably without escalating it.

“That even as they prepare for military action, they would spend and invest a little more time into looking at the root causes and see how a solution can be found to it before one contemplates the use of physical power”, he advised.

Rawlings urged other governors in Nigeria to emulate the selfless leadership of the Abia State Governor, saying that “we need a few more selfless leaders in our continent”. source :http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/10/africa-must-invest-in-political-security-rather-than-soldiers-police-rawlings/

hahahha,if IVY CATER come resemble JAY-Z,wahala go dey o.becos JZ na worwor man with bign check and big nose ,whith big belly..beyonce should start praying ooooobecos beauty plays a big rols in ones life

i must comment T.A orji for his good work these days....i just went to some location last time i visited abia state and i saw some edifice,some good structures that have been put in place and more so,some good roads being build...it shows some level of commitment....he deserved the award

Why Abia council poll can’t hold in January, by Deputy Speaker
Posted by: Ugochukwu Ugoji-Eke, Umuahia Posted date: October 17, 2012 In: News | comment : 0

The Abia State House of Assembly has said it rejected the proposal that a local government election be held next January because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is not ready for it.

The Assembly noted that INEC needs to put many things in place before it can conduct a credible council poll.

Such things, it said, include the delineation of wards, holding of party primaries and putting in place other logistics.

Deputy Speaker Allwell Asiforo Okere, who spoke in Umuahia, the state capital, explained that after examining what is involved in the conduct of a council election, the Assembly discovered that it would not be possible to hold the election next January.

Okere, who is also the Chairman, House Committee on Information, said after meeting with the state’s chairman of Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC) and other members, the Assembly noted that the commission has nothing on the ground to hold the election.

He said: “ABSIEC does not even have the funds. It has not done the delineation of political wards and the party primaries, which take about three or more months, have not been done with other logistics associated with such election. We then came up with the idea that the election will not hold.”

The Deputy Speaker explained that the Assembly was not against the conduct of the poll.

He added: “But we want the proper things to be done so that our politicians will not waste their money on a venture that will not hold.”

The lawmaker urged ABSIEC to educate the public on when the poll will hold since the January date is no longer visible.

He noted that those who wish to participate in the poll would be better prepared.

Boko Haram vows to attack Southern Nigeria – Names Cities to Attack
**The cities among others are Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Onitsha and Warri.**
Security Agencies today uncovered the plot by the militant Islamic sect, Boko Haram, to commence its operations at the southern part of the country. Source tell us in Abuja on Friday that the sect had pointed at some prominent cities for possible attack. The cities among others are Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Onitsha and Warri.

It was gathered that the move to extend its tentacle came due to the constant attack on the sect members in most parts of the North. Another source revealed that the reasons for for the extension of its operation to the South, was to avoid limiting its campaign to an ethnic affairs.

Another security source revealed that it’s possible that some of the Boko Haram sect members were presently in the some Southern states. The source revealed thus, “It was not a coincidence that Sokoto, who had been on the wanted list of the police before December 25, was sighted in Lagos. “His presence in Lagos was not for fun. This is one of the angles security agencies are working on. “I think the group has noticed that security is not tight in the South and there have not been bombings. They are out to cash in on the laxity.” The Senate Committee on Police had stated that Sokoto was also seen in Lagos after his escape.source www.thejuristlaws..com

GOVERNOR Theodore Orji of Abia State has charged Muslims across the country to use the occasion of the Eid el Maolud to pray for peace and stability in the country.
Governor Orji in a goodwill message said peace is one of the major ingredients that sustain development and democracy in any society.
Speaking through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ugochukwu Emezue, Orji said efforts must be made by Nigerians irrespective of religious leanings to maintain peace at all cost in their various areas.
Referring to the killings in some parts of Northern Nigeria by the notorious Boko Haram, the Governor noted that life is sacred, and cautioned those involved in the killing of fellow citizens to desist from such acts which constitute a threat to the corporate existence of the Nigeria.
Assuring Muslim community in the state of their safety and protection, Orji urged them to peacefully go about their businesses.

culled from http://thejuristlaws..com/2012/02/eid-el-maolud-orji-urges-muslims-to.html

Abia state governor chief Theodore Orji has advocated for a new Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) That will carry out its mandate to the satisfaction of the people.
Speaking when he received in audience members of the house of representatives committee on FERMA who were in the state on official assignment, governor Orji lamented that FERMA as it is today has performed poorly in Abia and the entire south East states.
The governor regretted that non of the roads given to FERMA has been done including the Ohafia –Arochukwu road, the Enugu-PortHarcourt Road, among others, adding that most of the roads are in a state of disrepair.
According to him, the money budgeted to FERMA should be advanced to state governors for judicious use in putting federal roads in good shape.
Chief TA Orji said that Abia has suffered seriously in terms of bad Roads ,maintaining that it was for that reason that his government has taken the challenge of repairing some federal roads in the state including those that were given to FERMA to do inorder to alleviate the suffering of the people.
He therefore appealed to the committee to prevail on FERMA to sit up and observed that people have lost confidence in the outfit.
The governor thanked the Abia representatives in the house for moving a motion on the poor state of the Ogbor Hill bridge and requested that pressure should be mounted on FERMA to do the job.
Speaking earlier, the chairman House of Representatives committee on FERMA, Hon Prince Offor Chukwuegbo said that they were in Abia to accertain the present condition of Ogbor Hill bridge in Aba which he said is in avery bad shape and almost collapsing as well as to check the state of the entry points into Abia state.
According to him, the committee has directed the engineer incharge to look at the bridge and report back to them by Friday this week and commended the governor on his effort s atgiven federal roads in the state a face lift.
CULLED FROM http://www.abiastate.gov.ng

KINGDOMS OF CONFLICT is an interesting book, and it draws attention of readers with its fashionable eclogue,oedema of expressions, truculent gestures,scenery,intriguing suspense, turpitude and tragedy. i think this is a drama i have read so far and see that there is a departure from the very often scenery and storyline seen in African literature.The Author who ever he is has done something different from what we see in every day literary work around Africa.I pray he does more fascinating work that would take him to some step further into the hall of fame.

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on january 16th,Protesters gathered and staged a peaceful protest in the capital city of umuahia against the killing of Igbos in the northern part of the country. The governor in his address to the protesters assured all Igbos that their lives and properties will be safeguarded and protected as the government has earmarked necessary means to end the killing. He also reiterated the need to live in peaceful co-existence and love among Abians and non-Abians. At the end of his address,Prayers were made for the souls of those that died during the killing. culled from juristlaws..com

Protesters gathered and staged a peaceful protest in the capital city of umuahia against the killing of Igbos in the northern part of the country. The governor in his address to the protesters assured all Igbos that their lives and properties will be safeguarded and protected as the government has earmarked necessary means to end the killing. He also reiterated the need to live in peaceful co-existence and love among Abians and non-Abians. At the end of his address,Prayers were made for the souls of those that died during the killing. culled from juristlaws..com

Protesters gathered and staged a peaceful protest in the capital city of umuahia against the killing of Igbos in the northern part of the country. The governor in his address to the protesters assured all Igbos that their lives and properties will be safeguarded and protected as the government has earmarked necessary means to end the killing. He also reiterated the need to live in peaceful co-existence and love among Abians and non-Abians. At the end of his address,Prayers were made for the souls of those that died during the killing.

The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has advised the National Assembly to begin impeachment moves against President Goodluck Jonathan, if he fails to return petrol subsidy.
The umbrella body of lawyers also ordered its members to embark on nationwide strike from Monday.
This is in line with the mother of all strikes declared by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to protest the removal of petrol subsidy by the Federal Government.
In a statement yesterday in Kaduna by its President, Mr. Joseph Daudu (SAN), NBA said the “much-touted palliative” measures reeled out by the government will “destroy what is left of the lives of Nigerians”.
The association regretted that “government took advantage of its people’s distress arising from the Christmas bombings and killings by the Boko Haram terrorists and insensitively caused the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (a creature of statute) to announce the withdrawal of petroleum subsidy”.
“If government should apply half the vigour with which it has pursued the issue of the removal of subsidy to the eradication of corruption in all the arms of government and in society in general, then trillions of naira would be freed up for developmental projects”, it said.
In the statement, entitled “Holding Government Accountable and Responsive to the People”, the NBA said the Justice Belgore Committee raised by government to negotiate with the labour and the civil society organisations is a waste of time “because there is in reality nothing to negotiate”.
“The minimum position is the immediate reversal of this provocative and uncalled for increment of petrol”, it stated.
The association recalled how it cautioned government against the subsidy removal and advised it to adopt a different strategy.
The statement reads: “The impression given by government was that the issue will be debated and the views of Nigerians properly considered. Government led its people to believe that the earliest time any possible action would be taken in the direction of subsidy removal was the April 1, 2012. Instead, government took advantage of its people’s distress arising from the Xmas bombings and killings by the Boko Haram terrorists and insensitively caused the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (a creature of statute) to announce the withdrawal of petroleum subsidy, thereby escalating the price of PMS from the already suffocating N65 to the unbearable range of N141-N250.
“Nigerians have in the past four days reacted angrily to government’s action described above. It is considered not only premature, but wicked and insensitive. Nigerians have now concluded that their leaders are truly detached from the reality of economic hardship endured by Nigerians. This is so because virtually all high government officials and their families feed and live off tax payers’ funds, yet they enjoy outrageous salaries and other emoluments. In some cases the amount budgeted for feeding and catering is as much as N1 billion. Government officials travel limitlessly round the world for the flimsiest of reasons collecting estacodes in billions even where the object of most of these journeys can be achieved by simply browsing the Internet. Consequently Nigerians have reacted spontaneously to this unwise and ill-motivated manoeuvre by demonstrations and other forms of protest nationwide.
“Government clearly does not understand the seriousness of the situation. It has failed to understand that all governments, be they dictatorial or otherwise, enjoy power because the people allow it to remain in power. No government can outlast the will of the people. It is clear that Nigerians do not and will not tolerate subsidy removal under the terms and conditions set out or laid down by government. Any removal of subsidy based on the importation of petroleum products is unacceptable to Nigerians. Government must create the infrastructure for the refining of 100 per cent of petroleum products in Nigeria and by Nigerians. It had been done in the past, it was sabotaged, and it can and will be done again.
“The response of government has been to say that there is no alternative to the removal of subsidy; with all due respect there are many alternatives.
•If government should apply half the vigour with which it has pursued the issue of the removal of subsidy to the eradication of corruption in all the arms of government and in society in general, then trillions of naira would be freed up for developmental projects.
•Government should identify areas of wastage in governance, such as the allocation of largesse and booties in the name of allowances and withdraw same forthwith.
•Government must embark on a re-orientation of its own values and ethics and those of Nigerians.
•Law and order must be enforced in accordance with the Rule of law.
•And many other urgent and indeed numerous measures.
•Where and if government persists on this suicidal course of action, the options open to the people are limited but clear.
They include: “ A call on the National Assembly to officially and formally declare its position on the removal of fuel subsidy.
“If as we believe the National Assembly sides with the people, then it must in the same transaction call on the President to rescind or reverse its actions on subsidy removal.
“ Should their call not be heeded by the President, then National Assembly should seriously consider impeachment proceedings; the President having lost the confidence of Nigerians to continue to rule or lead them.
“If the legislators fail to take the desired actions then Nigerians will commence the constitutional process to recall them.
“The Nigerian Bar Association believes in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Rule of Law. Where its elected officials believe that government and governance have become private property run at the master’s whims and caprices, then the time has come for these officials to be reminded that that the people are in charge.
“It must be mentioned that it appears to be more than a coincidence that government chose to remove subsidy at a time when the nation was reeling and mourning from the activities of anarchists and terrorists. Be it noted that Nigerians will not be cowered either from the activities of terrorists or those of an insensitive government. We shall deal with and resolve these issues with or without Government.“
Daudu said the NBA had since the purported removal of fuel subsidy been in active consultation with the NLC, TUC, NMA and other professional bodies and civil societies.
“For the avoidance of doubt, all members of the NBA shall participate in the nationwide strike commencing on January 9, 2012.
“The strike shall be comprehensive with all lawyers withdrawing their services from courts and elsewhere except as it is necessary to facilitate the continuation of pressure on government to rescind its actions.”

The Minister of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Saturday admitted that Nigerians don’t trust the government because of the failure of successive administrations to fulfil their promises to the people.

The minister, who was interviewed on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria’s current affairs programme, Radiolink, which SUNDAY PUNCH monitored, said the issue of mistrust, had posed a challenge to different governments.

Okonjo-Iweala said, “I really agree on the issue of mistrust; I think it is part of the problems governments faced over the years. Nigerians have not seen their governments fulfilling promises. I really understand how people feel and that is why this government and this programme (fuel subsidy removal) must be completely different.

“These programmes we are going to implement will not be handled the usual way; they will be overseen by a committee that has trusted Nigerians. President Goodluck Jonathan already announced Dr. Christopher Kolade as the head of these programmes, I think everybody knows his antecedent. When you have this kind of committee with people who are known for their integrity, they will make sure every aspect is implemented.”

The minister promised that government would handle post-subsidy programmes ‘very transparently,’ adding that it would publish the amount of the subsidy savings each month for Nigerians to verify.

She added, “The information from the Petroleum Resources Ministry and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation is that they have contracted the people who built these refineries to come and do the turnaround maintenance, which was not done in the past. People were brought in but it was not properly done.

“They have gone to the original people and they are expecting that within 18 to 24 months, these people, having built these refineries, will really do the proper turnaround maintenance that had not been done.

“We expect that when we bring the people who built the refineries, it will give us value for our money and we will be able to refine our own oil here, and that will help to bring down the prices.”

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