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Saturday, November 12, 2016

Road Rehabilitation: Residents, Others Applaud Councillor’s Effort





 

Road Rehabilitation: Residents, Others Applaud Councillor’s Effort

Okonta Emeka Okelum, Asaba

Dwellers, business premises owners, natives and residents around the Infant Jesus area, off Anwai road, yesterday, expressed their gratitude over a recently rehabilited road.

Their expression of gratitude was prompted because one of their infrastructural challenges was addressed by their councillor. 

They thanked the Councillor representing Ward 9 at Oshimili south legislative arm, Hon Chinedu Odu, for remembering to attend to one of their needs.

Speaking to our reporter today, when we went to observe the project site, Mr Nwachukwu Uwadi, a resident of the neighbourhood, expressed his gratitude to the law maker for taking up the road rehabilitation project.

We thank the honourable member, we pray for him, asking God to grant him more wisdom to attract more democratic dividends to our ward.

A market leader, Mrs Maryjane Okafor, could not hide her gratitude when our crew met her, while thanking Hon Chinedu Odu, she prayed the law maker to as we seek means to help them address the challenges of drainage, primary health care center, waste management and provision of other basic social amenities.

Local business owners and some religious youth leaders within the neighbourhood also appreciate the law maker’s gesture.

 

Some political actors living within the area remarked that Hon Odu’s rehabilitation work is a welcome development and a sign of greater things to come the ward.

All attempts by our crew to reach Hon Chinedu Odu today, proved abortive.

SOURCE: ASABA POST NEWS WIRE (ONLINE)

 

GOV OKOWA PRESENTS 270.910bn BUDGET FOR 2017 TO DELTA STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY




Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta on Thursday (10/11/2016) presented a budget proposal of N270.91billion for 2017 to the State House of Assembly.

Okowa said N151.909 billion of the amount was for Recurrent Expenditure, while Capital Expenditure stood at N119.001 billion.

He said the 2016 budget christened: “Budget of Fiscal Consolidation and Continued Progress’’ showed a marginal increase of N2.731 billion when compared to the 2016 approved budget of N268.169 billion.

Okowa said the country could not reap the benefit of the oil benchmark $38 per barrel because the nation could not sustain the 2.2mbpd crude oil production target as a result the activities of militants in the Niger Delta which has also continued to impact negatively on the state's Internally Generated Revenue.

"It has therefore become imperative that to explore other sources and we are currently renewing rates and charges and also harmonizing the various taxes in the state.''

He said: “As a result, we have proposed to earn N70.165 billion as revenue receipts from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in 2017.

“The sum of N148.9 billion is expected from Statutory Allocation from the Federation Account in the 2017 fiscal year.

“The proposal for capital receipts for 2017 have been scaled down from N44.29 billion in the 2016 budget to N41.29 billion in 2017.’’

Okowa said that expected revenue from Value Added Tax (VAT) was N10.515 billion, while other capital receipts would be N42.1 billion.

The governor said that the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC) had the lion share of N28 billion of the budget proposal.

The environmental sector had N24.38 billion followed by the economic sector with N29.44 billion.

Okowa said N1.3 billion had been proposed in the budget for job creation, agricultural support package and wealth creation scheme.

He said that the sum of N38.18 billion have been provided for road infrastructure in 2017 noting that apart from N1.3 billion provided for interventions in the oil city of Warri, the sum of N1.2 billion have been earmarked for the reconstruction of the Effurun to Enerhen Junction.

Direct Labour Agency DLA, will get N900 million while N1.6 billion have been provided for storm drainage in Asaba.

The Governor also said that the Central Hospital Asaba is nearing completion while the Contributory Health Insurance Scheme will commence in January 2017.

Okowa assured that his administration would continue to observe the basic principles of prudent management of public finances.

The Speaker of the Assembly, Rt. Hon. Monday Igbuya, assured the governor that the budget would be carefully scrutinised to meet the expectations of the people of the state.

Unveiled... How Gov Willie Obiano Made Anambra the Safest State in Nigeria within few Months



Addressing a special gathering of ndi Anambra resident in Rivers and Bayelsa States at Port Harcourt recently, Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano explained how he tackled the problem of insecurity in the State.

Read him below...

"Long before I was sworn in as your Governor, I knew that my administration would not make its mark if we didn’t find a way to tackle Security. And that was exactly what we did. We launched Operation Kpochapu and organised an International Security Summit that attracted a top Israeli security expert, Moshe Keinan as the key facilitator.

"Then, we launched an all-out war against crime and criminality in the state, pulling down the warehouses where kidnappers kept their human cargoes and running them out of town.

"We were so clinical that we did not only detect and cut off their weapons supply lines but we also tracked a notorious kidnapper to Lagos and picked him up inside a South African bound aircraft. That sounded a loud warning to the underworld.

"We turned our efforts into a Regional Campaign when in August last year we successfully hosted a Regional Security Summit for the five South Eastern states and the Delta.

"We figured that Anambra would be safer if other surrounding states were safe enough.

"In December last year, we raised the game in our security campaign when we donated 25 Smart Cars to the Nigerian Police. These cars are Command & Control Centres with ultra-modern crime-bursting gadgets.

"We donated a Gunboat to the Nigerian Navy to ensure a regular patrol across the water channels and seal off all the routes used by criminals.

"We also launched an aerial surveillance with a Police Helicopter throughout the Yuletide Season.

"With this last effort, we made sure that Anambra was effectively covered on the ground, in the waters and in the skies.

"With that effort too, Anambra became the safest state in Nigeria!" - Chief Willie Obiano

...

When a good man is on the throne...

 

Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others Delta State Govt To Rehabilitate Failed Portions Of Eku/Abraka/Agbor Federal Road, Others








PRESS STATEMENT



In a bid to alleviate the untold hardship being experienced by motorists plying the Eku-Abraka-Agbor Road, the Delta State Government has put machineries in place to rehabilitate the failed portions of the road.


Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, who disclosed this after the State Executive Council meeting held in Asaba on Thursday, said though it is a federal road, the state government decided to work on the road in the interest of the people.


Also approved is the contract for the rehabilitation/asphalt overlay of Ekakpamre/Ekrokpe/Usiefurun Road in Ughelli South and Udu local government areas and the rehabilitation and resealing of Alihiame/Aliagwai/Aliokpo/Agbor-Nta road in Ika South local government area.



According to Mr. Ukah, the Executive Council equally gave it's nod to the construction of Winners Road and Jehovah Street/Umonu Crescent, all in Abraka, Ethiope East local government area and the reconstruction of Owa-Alero/Ute-Okpu road, (from Railway Fly-Over Bridge to Ute-Okpu Roundabout) in Ika North East local government area.



The continuation of the construction of Issele-Uku/Onicha-Uku/Ugbodu/Ukwu-Nzu/Obomkpa/Idumu-Ogo road and the completion of phase two of the contract (2.43 km length) from Onicha-Uku to Ukwu-Nzu in Aniocha North local government area was also approved.



In the education sector, the sum of N876,756,756.76 matching grant for 2015 Universal Basic Education (UBE) scheme was also approved by the state Executive Council.

Tackling Nigeria’s Dubious Population Census Figures



 
…@56: Nigeria Still a ticking time bomb

Last month, Nigeria rolled out the drums, in an unending ritual, to celebrate its 56th independence anniversary. There were congratulatory messages, dances, march past, military parades, lectures and inter-denominational services preaching national unity.
But some issues remained the same: there were pretensions of a united country and the mantra of “one Nigeria” which is very distant from the reality on ground.

Looking at our estimated population, multi-ethnic composition and abundant mineral resources available, Nigeria was designed for greatness. But the progression rate has been stunted by forces of retrogression.

Population Census

For a long time now, Nigeria has lived under the false impression of having a credible population census that gave the current figures of over 150 million or an estimated figure of 182.2 million people in 2015.
What we have had are manipulated figures, lacking biometrics and a total absence of a credible and reliable population census figures.
Starting from the 1963 population census exercise conducted by the Tafawa Balewa government both the southern and northern parts of the country made bogus claims to higher population figures. While the south was said to have presented figures that proved that the south was more in number, an alarmed Balewa government conducted a verification exercise and suddenly found additional 8 million people in the north which showed that they had greater numbers of people.
Accusations that official population figures had been rigged dates back to the 1960s. Apart from the ones earlier conducted under colonial rule in 1911 and that of 1921, considered the most comprehensive while that of 1952/53 was described as the most elaborate. Disputations of the population census figures continued with the 1962 census which was cancelled. The 1963 exercise as noted above was not generally acceptable while the trend continued under subsequent civilian and military regimes.
In the run up to independence, the British government was accused of skewing census figures to favour the north.
The census conducted subsequently in 1973 was so controversial it was annulled and no figures was published. The same fate befell the 1991 census which was disputed and equally annulled in spite of the huge financial commitment to the exercise.

The developmental challenges facing Nigeria today is firmly rooted in a dubious population census figures released by the National Population Commission (NPC) which puts the North-west at 35,786,944 million, North-east, 18,971,965 million, North-central, 18,841,056 million, South-west 27,511,992 million, South-south 21,014,655 million and South-east 16,381,729 million

Dominance Anchored on Fraud

Nigerians are familiar with fraudulent activities associated with census exercises in Nigeria ranging from opening the borders to allow massive influx of foreigners who pose as Nigerians and are counted as Nigerians, deliberate efforts of state governments to compromise census officials to spike population figures, the insistence on the use of state of residence as against state of origin in filling census forms and the humourous inclusion of animals as part of the human figures.

The outcome is that Kano and Lagos states which the 2006 exercise put at above 9 million or more accurately (17 million according to a survey conducted by Lagos State government) are the most populated states. But Kano has 44 local government councils as against 20 for Lagos. Kano’s 44 local government councils equals or outnumbers the entire South-east geo-political zone. The number of constituencies in the state outnumbers Lagos and the South-east.
With the contested figures of the zones in the north, 80 percent of federal appointments, armed forces, paramilitary organisations and the federal civil service are occupied by core northerners in violation of federal character principles not even in the ratio of the above mentioned figures.
For example, a  research carried out by Africapolis – the African arm of e-Geopolis, a global study of urban populations, which is supported by the Agence Française de Dévelopement said: “Unfortunately, it is not possible to give a firmly reliable estimate for the total population of Nigeria. The 2006 census cited a population of around 140 million. The most commonly cited figures today are from the World Bank, and they are extrapolated from that headcount. It reports that 168 million people were living in Nigeria in 2012, which on the basis of 3% growth rates would suggest a population of around 178 million in 2014.
“But because the census figures are so unreliable, neither senior Nigerian politicians such as (former)Senate President David Mark nor the former head of the organisation that ran that census, Festus Odimegwu, are willing to declare confidence in the last census.
One of the researchers, Dr Potts, agreed that it was “almost certainly an over-count”.
That implies that today’s statistics – taken from faulty figures – are equally misleading.
“These figures are just guesstimates. Nobody knows whether the population is 120 million, 150 million, 200 million – no Nigerian, not the NPC, the UN, the World Bank,” Odimegwu explained to Africa Check. “Unless you conduct a proper census, which has never been done without political interference, it is not possible to know,” the report captured on Africa Check, said.

 

Population as a Development Tool
The importance of accurate demographic data in a nation’s development cannot be overemphasized. This aides realistic planning of social services and distribution of resources to states and local governments. Census exercises have failed in Nigeria owing to poor funding, poor planning, poor preparations and lack of proper training of personnel. Beyond these, census exercises have failed largely because of the linkage between it and revenue allocation and political representation.
With a perpetually corrupt leadership, relying on revenue allocations based on falsified census figures little or no attention is given to adequate plans for health, education, transportation, agriculture and energy requirements of the population.
The United Nations once offered to assist Nigeria conduct a credible and reliable census considering the ethnic differences and a history of failed head counts but it was turned down by the forces of retrogression in order to hide the truth. Nigeria still lacks accurate data about population size, its distribution, mortality and fertility rates, migration and emigration, sex, marital status, structure for planning purposes in respect of age groups, religion, shelters to be provided for and plans for building schools etcetera.


A Colonial Legacy of Fraud

If Britain entrenched population census fraud that is threatening Nigeria’s corporate existence, should it not benefit Nigeria, to embrace the reality of the 21st century by conducting an internationally acceptable head count that could put the strength of its population to good use as is obtainable in China and India? Must the country be perpetually consigned to neo-colonialism?
In any case, those who are ready to fight with the last drop of their blood to ensure a perpetuation of the fraud are already facing the constant that is change other than the parochial change that is after their heart as we appear incapable of tackling crime with modern technology owing to the absence of a forensic database, neither are we able to confront food insecurity with agricultural policies loaded with fraudulent figures.
Do we even have counter-terrorism methods or close to equipment designed to curb oil pipeline vandalisms and bombings in spite of the trillions allocated over the years on the basis of falsified census figures?
A thief soon looks round and wonders where all the loot he amassed over the years are located, finding none and unable to see the impact on society is left with high poverty rate (74 per cent in North-east and North-west presently), insurgency and militancy.

There have been disparate attempts to build biometric databases at the Nigerian Immigration Service for visas, Bank Verification Numbers (BVN), the National Identity card started by late Head of State, Gen Murtala Mohammed and now managed by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) as well as the sim card registration by telecommunications companies as ordered by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

President Buhari recently directed a harmonisation of all the sectoral databases but how far this would go remains to be seen.

Nigeria Needs N222bn to Conduct 2018 Census

By United Nations recommendations, every country should conduct a population census every 10 years. With the sluggish movement of the present administration, the target is already missed and the new target year is 2018.
At a recent meeting with the Senate committee on National Identity Cards and National Population Commission, Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC),Eze Duru Iheoma, told Nigerians that the commission needed N222 billion to conduct an accurate, reliable and acceptable population and housing census slated for 2018.
He said the amount would cover the pre-census, census and post-census expenditures.
“For the census we proposed, I want to give you some background information. In preparing for this census, since 2015, we have regularly hinted that given the resources, we will be prepared to do a census in 2016.
“We stated how the resources should be made available. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Then, of course, we submitted a budget at that time,” he said.
The Senate committee advised the commission to seek the funding assistance of international donor agencies in view of the precarious economic situation in the country in order to execute the exercise. The committee also urged NPC to commercialise issuance of birth and death certificates as well as vital data to the public and private sectors in order to generate more revenue.
Speaking during a recent debate on the need to conduct a credible census exercise, Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, warned the population commission against embarking on a controversial exercise.

“I want to thank the sponsor of the motion; as we approach the next census, we must take advantage of the development in technology and make the results of the exercise acceptable.
“All the previous exercises have been disputed. We want this exercise to count; every Nigerian must be counted and no one should be counted twice.
“If we do this, we will be able to plan,” Ekweremadu said.

Will President Buhari’s government that has played up ethnicity and religious bias in his appointments so far (95-5 per cent) be able to conduct a credible census exercise that would be acceptable to the rest of Nigeria?

It is important that Nigeria accepts the initial request by the United Nations to get involved in organising a credible census exercise for the country in order to move the nation forward.
Without a credible, verifiable and globally supervised population census exercise, Nigeria would remain stagnant and threats to its corporate existence would remain.

One North and the Mass Murders

We were regaled in Nigeria about one monolithic north. Some sections of the north have hidden under this slogan that expired after the civil war to continue to dominate and occupy every available position without consideration for the danger it poses to the corporate existence of Nigeria.
We have had cases of two graduates who were employed in Enugu and Bauchi at level 8 on the same day. Two years after the Bauchi graduate is already on level 12 and is moved to the federal civil service in Abuja. Within five years, he’s close to director in the federal civil service.
But his counterpart in Enugu is still at level 8, some years later while his colleague is already on level 15, he is at level 12 and should he move to the federal civil service, he is demoted to level 10!
The deliberate killings of thousands of innocent women, children and men, who are christian minorities in Chibok, Borno State, Agatu, Benue State, persistent killings in Southern Kaduna, Shiite Muslims, Biafran agitators in the South-east over the years can hardly be swept under the carpet unless they are satisfactorily addressed. There are also the other Hausa populations, who are neither Christian nor muslim, who have been shut out of Nigeria without any amenities in those areas that are not known to Nigerians. The blood of the innocents are crying for justice. There must be justice! And time is running out for system manipulators in Nigeria.

 

To judge a judge




During the Jonathan era, a near fuss – sometimes amounting to farce – was made about building an institution in place of the strong man. Perhaps because of the personality contrast between Buhari and GEJ, we seem to have collapsed in favour of the person instead of the institution. Jonathan, a backstage man, soft, sly, leading from behind. Buhari, ascetic, gangling, front-room bull, crashing the china.

But nothing reflects this conflict as the recent theatrics over the judges. In a bid to give respectability to its operation, the DSS called its act a “sting operation.” To call it a “raid” would take away from its subtlety or moral grandeur. So, they used a rhetorical sleight of hand. Sting operation means it is choreographed, decent and ineluctably lawful. But a raid? That will hark back to the Buhari-era military, with all its echoes of strong arms and hushed voices.

But the facts are the facts. What happened was not a sting operation. The DSS should know we are no illiterates here. A sting operation amounts to a stage-managed affair, and the culprit is caught in the act. So, if a judge is caught in a sting operation, it means he is taking the bribe while the giver is handing it over. A recent example was the case of the English football coach, who had to step down in the face of overwhelming video evidence.

The DSS probably anticipated a moral backlash, so it dressed up its acts with a meretricious phrase. So, they raided the alleged thieves like the thief in the night. They said they picked up evidence, huge stash of Naira and dollar. In a sting operation, those will be “hot” evidence. In this case, it is “passive” evidence. The judges were not caught in the act, but with the act. Allegedly.

 

But does that make the DSS operation wrong? No. They acted within the law. Could they have gotten the same evidence in a dawn or afternoon activity? Of course. The night gave it a sort of bestial colour. But truth does not often result from smooth dealing. The night affair may not have been a holy act, but an unholy act was unveiled. Allegedly. If in the end, they turn out to be justified, then it is one of those instances where Machiavelli’s morality holds sway. All is well, says the bard, that ends well.

The raid plays on a popular sentiment. Many believe our judges are corrupt, and when the DSS found huge haul of money, what better way to stir support and confirm the lordships’ iniquities? Many top role models, including within the judiciary, have bewailed the deviousness of the judges. They have gone to justice without pure hands. They have acquitted the murderers, killed the innocent, played sly with electoral mathematics, made sinners governors. They are the murderers in the cathedral, apologies to T.S. Eliot. They piss in the pond of justice and get paid for it.

Some judges are reported to be so fertile that they sometimes write two verdicts and wait for the higher bidder. When we sell justice, we sell our souls. The society becomes lost. When the drunken man in The Mayor of Casterbridge sells his wife, he sells his soul and never gets anything back. The judiciary is important, but history has shown that it is on rare occasion that it helps save a society. Judges are, for most parts, weak men and women, who flourish in conformity. They hardly challenge the ruling order even though they have the instrument in their hands. The judicial truth was silent during the treasonable felony in the “my hands are tied” verdict of Justice Sowemimo. It was silent in the June 12 verdicts under IBB’s duress. It was silent during the slavery era until the British and Americans found slavery no longer profitable and Judge Mansfield gave a verdict in 1776 as though he were a man of courage. Jane Austen’s novel, Mansfield Park, is a subtle jibe at a society of self-sufficient affluence gorging on the largesse of slave plantations.

The justices were silent when Abraham Lincoln dumped the rule of law and habeas corpus and only ruled it illegal after the civil war. Nazi Germany, Stalin era, etc in a combustible Europe of the last century saw judges whose lips were clipped. In the 1960’s, the so-called preventive detention laws came pell-mell on dissent.

The judges need to be judged. But who will? The NJC’s response has been hasty and defensive. It ought to have shown balance. It should not have run to the defence of its peers, but would have shown an interrogatory temperament. It would have asked questions more than given answers.

Of course, there are questions the DSS must answer. Even if we know the judges are corrupt, on whose evidence are we to rely? If they found a million in a judge’s home, we need evidence that that is, in fact, the case. It is paradoxical that the DSS is angry that judges have more than they earn, and that is a great point once they prove it in court.

But in this same government, a certain military officer had a home that his lifetime earnings could not muster and we have seen no sting operation, or raid, whether at night, daylight or dawn.

Eventually though, the DSS has said it will have to take the matter to the courts. The same justices who have waded in, in defence of their colleagues will still have to adjudicate. Is it going to be a case of a man being a judge in his own cause? Will the DSS be willing to capitulate to a Supreme Court whose main players are NJC gladiators and have shown a certain “partial flavour” in the matter?

Rather than be a case of strong men clashing, it will be a case of institutional hubris: The DSS in its martial wisdom, the Lordships in their judicial lights. A breach on either side will be ominous.

If it becomes a matter of who will prevail, then we have failed again. What we want is not for the DSS to win or the NJC to lose but for the right values to prevail. That means knowing the truth in a transparent manner and justice dispensed. We want justice, not judgment. That will mean the DSS providing proofs and the judges being even-handed. It promises to be a sombre show, so long as it is not a show of shame.

 

Osinbajo’s knockout punch


After all the hoopla, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo came with the jab. It was a simple sentence: “I was nominated.” He sentenced the controversy to a permanent rest. The so-called authorised biographer of PMB was exposed as a phoney scholar. Even if you write an authorised biography, it is no excuse to lie. He lacked rigour or the curiosity of enquiry. He should have consulted Osinbajo himself. He didn’t. No one should do research under such a professor.

With that sentence, Osinbajo demystified a scholar, punctured a cabal of malevolent naysayers and spoke to history.

He spoke with the conviction of an evangelist, the clarity of a lawyer and the comeback of an avenging angel. He mentioned no names and abused no one. He merely said he was nominated. He was not a politician. He belonged to a group and someone has to put you forward to such a high office. And who else could have done it!

So, folks, those sneaky revisionists who want to distort history, can I hear any more words? I don’t think so. Osinbajo has delivered the blow, like Ali to Frazier when he had nothing more to offer. A knockout was inevitable.

Stan Chira “Odera” – Blackmailing Obiano In Return For N115,000 Per MonthStan Chira “Odera” – Blackmailing Obiano In Return For N115,000 Per MonthStan Chira “Odera” – Blackmailing Obiano In Return For N115,000 Per MonthStan Chira “Odera” – Blackmailing Obiano In Return For N115,000 Per MonthStan Chira “Odera” – Blackmailing Obiano In Return For N115,000 Per Month




 

By Polycarp Ubaka, Onitsha

It is usually not customary in Igbo culture to tell a full grown adult to step out of the sun and into the shade. Only a child is told to step out of the sun. And this is for obvious reasons.

The case of Stanley Chira aka Mazi Odera puts customs on its head completely upside down. Watching his antics lately against the government in Awka, Anambra spells disillusionment and disappointment of how a fully grown adult in his late fifties could allow himself to be dipped inside the sewage repeatedly. No shame and no regards to reality or décor.

 

Every blessed morning his wakes up with matching orders from his pay master. Most times the orders are written and dispatched into his email box – ready to be dished out to the various e-groups and social media outlets where he is listed as a member. The email write ups are often fabrications and concatenations of a made up delusional reality of what they want the gullible to accept as facts. And for the past two years, Stanley Chira has wasted his energy propagating these sexed up lies. 

 

Stanley’s background may be the responsible factor to his actions. To those of us who know him personally, his actions are not out of the ordinary compared to his normal person.

 

The Awka Etti born blackmailer – was a secondary dropout who started his adult life in the far China where he was engaged in trade. He traded in buttons and zippers at the ghetto business district of Shenzhen.

 

His initial arrival to China in the late 1990s was through Lanzhou City, Gansu Province. He initially arrived Lanzhou to engage in “hustling” until his run-in with the legal authorities and law enforcement. He served a six months jail sentence and was released. His released from jail changed his path and left Stanley economically devastated particularly for someone in his position who had only arrived China with little family support or relatives. He relocated to Shenzhen – a low income settlement for migrant workers.

 

As the year 2002/3 came around, Stanley had already become active within the Igbo communities. He was already registered with many of the fora groups in China and even in far America. He was registered with Anambra State Association in the USA [ASA-USA] and some other Biafra groups. He was also political active in the various foras. He was not shy to air his political opinions. He made it open his Biafran allegiance and by extension his membership of the newly formed party, All Progressive Grand Alliance [APGA] under the leadership of the then Chairman, Chekwas Okorie.

 

The 2002/3 gubernatorial elections in Anambra State marked a turning point for the economically devastated Stanley. At the many foras, it was widely believed the election that brought in the Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] candidate, Dr. Chris Ngige as the winner – was rigged against the APGA candidate – Mr. Peter Obi.

 

Stanley who had not made contact with Peter Obi - and had not known Peter Obi personally then, was fanatically engaged in presenting a daily argument of vilification against the PDP government. He quickly developed a reputation for comical presentations. He also caught the attention of Peter Obi – who was also a member of ASA-USA fora.

 

Shortly after Peter Obi recovered his mandate, he asked ASA-USA for Stanley’s contact. But ASA-USA had already sacked Stanley out of the various fora – for his unwanted nuisance value. Through some other means, the newly sworn governor found Stanley’s contact in China. Arrangements were then made on how the two will meet.

 

Peter Obi told him, to hold tight, that when next he visits China – he will search him out.

 

Peter Obi’s visit to China came and the two met along with Valentine Obieyem. Peter Obi was not pleased with the economic situation of Stanley. Peter Obi, being a gifted businessman, saw an opportunity to utilize Stanley cheaply. It was easy to offer Stanley a job to return home and assist Valentine Obieyem as the side kick noisemaker – to help bat away would-be detractors of the then Gov. Peter Obi. Stanley returned home on a paid flight by Peter Obi – for the first time since he left the shores of Nigeria.

 

He was housed in Lagos initially on the tab of Peter Obi, maintained financially by tips and stipends until the end of 2010 when Peter Obi’s second gubernatorial election came about.

 

He was brought in fully and offered N115,000 per month to mount a watch over the social media and the various online foras. Along with the N115,000, Peter Obi offered to pick up the tap on his children school fees and payment of house rent. 

 

Stanley was made the head of social media during the gubernatorial election that brought about Chief Obiano to the governor’s seat.

 

Following Obiano’s victory, Stanley requested for an upgrade in pay. He requested for N550,000, a vehicle, a job for his wife and a house in Awka. He even submitted a proposal, and was invited for talks by a member of the media team.

 

He promised to begin promoting the government of Obiano if the Governor would release the initial sum of N5million. The media team were left speechless.

 

Stanley Chira has since opted for daily suicidal missions against himself and his dwindling ‘emailing’ career in his attempt at vilifying the seating governor of Anambra State. He has called the Governor a drunk, a liar, a cheat, a looter. He has claimed the governor’s security votes to be over 1billion monthly, he has claimed that the three beautiful edifices in Awka – flyovers – have failed structurally. His latest is that the Miss Anambra sex-tape debacle was the doing of the Governor. How desperate?

 

Why a man approaching his 60s would so belittle his adulthood for pittance?    

 

__._,_.___



 by Ezeana Igirigi Achusim <ezeana1@yahoo.com>



PRESS RELEASE






 


1.0 INTRODUCTION

The Ministry of Energy was created on 27th March, 2001, following the splitting of the former Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport into separate Ministries including the present Ministry of Energy which was constituted by the Electrical Unit in the defunct Ministry.

2.0 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MINISTRY

The responsibilities assigned to the Ministry by the Secretary to the State Government’s Circular No. SGD.10/T/1 of 4th June, 2007, include:

Formulation of Energy Policies;

Urban and Rural Electrification;

Provision of Infrastructure for Electricity Power Supply;

Electrical Engineering Services; and

Electronics Engineering Services.

The Ministry was created with the aim of co-ordinating activities of the State Government in the energy sector through ensuring a sustained partnership with the Federal Government and the Private Sector for the development of Infrastructure for generation of adequate and reliable electricity power, for use by Deltans. The Ministry also explores avenues for the utilization of Renewable Energy resources in the State for Energy Services as well as Telecommunication and Electronic Engineering Technology Development.

The above responsibilities fit into the current administration’s SMART agenda of:

Stratagic Wealth Creation and Provision of Job for all Deltans

Meaningful Peace Building Platforms aimed at Political/Social Stability

Agricultural Reforms and Accelerated Industrialization

Relevant Health and Educational Policies

Transformed Environment Through Massive Urban Renewal

The Ministry’s responsibilities are clearly covered in the first and last aspects of the SMART agenda.


3.0 ACTIVITIES OF THE STATE GOVERNMENT THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF ENERGY – IMPACT ON DELTANS.

The Policy thrust of the State Government in the Energy Sector is to ensure the adequate provision of electricity infrastructure and services to all communities in the state to enhance the standard of living, socioeconomic and industrial growth and development.

The problem of inadequate supply of power from the national grid is one that has given so much concern to Government across the Federation. The role that power plays in promoting the growth of industries, micro, small and medium scale enterprises and in the provision of opportunities for self-employment cannot be over-emphasized. It should be mentioned that for such industries and enterprises to be sustained, they require adequate supply of power. It is in realization of this that the State Government has:

embarked on provision of requisite electrical infrastructure including transformers of various categories to boost power supply,

carried out reactivation of broken down infrastructure;

undertaken reinforcement of electricity supply lines where they are required;

constructed substations, high tension and low tension distribution lines, etc

The above are efforts made by the State Government towards improving power supply in the State. Realizing the importance of adequate power supply in the sustenance of micro, small and medium scale enterprises to which many Deltans are engaged for their livelihood, Government has taken far reaching steps in its effort to boost power supply to the operators of businesses under the enterprises. Tailors, Barbers, Hairdressers, Electrical/Electronic Mechanics, etc. in the state have been beneficiaries in this regard. The objective of Government is to improve the standard of living of this set of citizens in its avowed objective of prosperity for all Deltans. It is also aimed at provision of employment opportunities for the teeming population of unemployed youths who are being encouraged to learn various entrepreneurial skills, to ensure that they are gainfully self-employed. The final destination and goal of government effort is the reduction of poverty in the State and institution of an enduring and inclusive development.

Apart from the above mentioned activities aimed at reducing poverty and providing employment opportunities, the government through the Ministry of Energy vigorously engaged in:

extension of electricity power supply to Urban/Rural communities;

upgrading/reinforcement of power supply networks in towns/cities/urban centres;

installation/operation of generator/solar-powered streetlights in urban cities and other communities; and

installation/operation of generators in Government offices and residential quarters.

Presently, the electricity power supply in the State is inadequate. The State requires about 1010 megawats (mw) of electricity, while just about 100 megawatts (mw) is available from the national grid. The State is served from 5 different 132/33kv transmission substations. Two of the substations are located at Sapele and Ughelli, while the remaining three are located outside the State.

Altogether there are five power plants in the State that deliver power into the national grid. They are: two at Sapele; two at Delta IV Power Station, Ekakpamre and one at Okpai. The plant at okpai is the only one operating at full capacity.

4.0 ACHIEVEMENT OF THE MINISTRY UNDER THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.

In response to the power supply situation highlighted above, the State Government has undertaken a total of 13( thirteen) power supply projects since 29th of May, 2016 at a total cost of N433,650,525.69(four hundred and thirty three million, six hundred and fifty thousand, five hundred and twenty five naira, sixty nine kobo). A list of projects undertaken by the Ministry is attached for reference:

4.1 Electricity Power Supply

The Ministry has undertaken projects such as:Re-activitation of electricity power supply schemes in places like Ogbein Ama town in Bomadi Local Government Area,

Reinforcement/ rehabilitation of electricity power supply in towns like Ibusa, in Oshimili North, Local Government Area and Effurun in Uvwie Local Government Area.

Installation of various capacities of Transformers in the state capital and other locations.

4.2 Conversion of Generator Powered Street Lights to Public Power Supply

The State Government is currently undertaking the conversion of the generator powered streetlights to Public power supply. The idea is to cut down on high rate of government expenditure in purchase of diesel to power the generators. With the conversion, government expenditure will reduce with the resort to the public power supply. The first phase of the project is on-going in the State ca

pital.

4.3 Renewable Energy Development

Apart from provision of infrastructure aimed at boosting power supply from the national grid, the State Government has gone on to exploit opportunities provided by alternative sources of power supply. Sources given due attention include:

Solar Energy Deployment

Bio Energy Development

Wind Energy Development

Presently, a number of memoranda of understanding (MoU), have been signed between the state Government and foreign investors towards generating sustainable power from the above mentioned sources of energy. They include agreement with:

Luxra Nig. Ltd., a British based Investor – for generation of 300 megawatts of electricity from Solar PV Plants to be sited in the State.

Yutai-Li Nig. Ltd. – a China based Investor – for construction of 100 megawatts of Solar PV Plant at Otolokpo/Umunede in Ika North East Local Government Area.

Plans have reached advanced stage for the signing of MoU with Bastanchury Power Solutions Ltd., for the development of an 8.5 megawatts Gas-Turbine Asaba Integrated Power Project, to provide electricity power to all Government offices, residential quarters and facilities in the State

CSO Committs To End Gas Flaring And Oil Spills


Okonta Emeka Okelum, Asaba

With increasing environmental and human challenges bedevilling the Niger Delta, due to Gas Flaring and Oil Spillage, a civil society Organization has raised their voice against the trend.

The National Coalition on Gas Flaring and Oil Spills In The Niger Delta (NACGOND) rose from a recent training session of their members with a firm commitment to proactively address and seek means to bring an end to gas flaring and oil spillage.

Rev Fr. Edward Obi, national coordinator of the coalition, told our reporter that the 25 NGO strong membership coalition, came on board to address and intervene into the region’s lingering environment degradation.

We employ research and evidence based advocacy approaches to attract immediate attentions to the Niger Delta twin challenges of Oil exploration.

The coalition foresees a Niger Delta free from environmental degradation, promotes environmental sustainability and livelihood security through involvement of all stakeholders.

Our coalition’s major areas of thematic focus include good governance, oil spill/gas flaring, environmental sustainability and livelihood security, Rev Fr Edward Obi remarked.

Recently at Port Harcourt, the coalition organized training for her members, community leaders and social media experts on advocacy, campaigns and lobbying techniques.

According to one of the training facilitators, Godson Dim-Dorgu, maintained that armed with social media networks and sound documentation, stakeholders engagement through advocacy and lobbying will record tremendous result driven outcome.

Maryann Okon helped participants understand how they can use opportunities social media networks avails them as they seek to an end oil spillage & gas flaring within the region.

Jesse-Martin Manufor, a media consultant, shared how best coalition members and community leaders can positively engage journalists with positive outcome.

When asked what is the probability that the issues and challenges of oil spillage and gas flaring will be a thing of the past, Rev Obi’s response was remarkable and hopeful.

The coalition is very hopeful that the region’s challenges will soon be forgotten because we are committed to pursue proactive result oriented actions.  

Our ongoing advocacy for peaceful and constructive dialogue, evidence based engagements and researches are some of the means that strengthen our commitment to press forward.

The coalition members’s geographical spread, our focused solution driven engagements with stakeholders strengthens our hope and commitment with a ‘WE CAN’ spirit.  

 

Our credibility, independence and partnership built with international partners points to the fact that we can bring an end to Niger Delta Oil Spillage and Gas Flaring, Rev Obi noted.

 

How the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari cashed in on the political capital of global jihad


By Osita Ebiem

 

Some Nigeria’s analysts see Muhammadu Buhari’s emergence as the “accepted” “saintly tough-guy” Nigerian corruption killer in a different light from the general make-believe one. These analysts attribute Buhari’s final success after many failed attempts to become Nigeria’s democratically-elected president to some external influences. They claim that some powerful international figures have often meddled in Nigeria’s internal affairs to affect the outcome of events in the country. And Buhari’s recent victory at the polls was not an exception.

 

One remarkable example that these critics cite is the especially patronizing speech by the American President Barack Obama just before the 2015 Nigerian presidential election which brought Buhari to power. In his speech Obama urged Nigerians to maintain a united country no matter the outcome of the election. Many saw the speech in which the president used an old Biafran-Nigerian wartime “genocidal slogan:” “To keep Nigeria one is a task that must be done” as an outward expression of clandestine political machinations which in the end installed a preferred candidate in Nigeria’s supreme leadership saddle.

 

In the opinion of many observers, Buhari is an Islamic extremist who believes that he; "will continue to show openly and inside me [him] the total commitment to the sharia movement that is sweeping all over Nigeria," and "God willing, we will not stop the agitation for the total implementation of the sharia in the country." Those are Buhari’s own words. For having the foisted posture of the “saintly tough-ruler” as well as an Islamic fundamentalist, Buhari fitted well the ideal consensus candidate of Nigeria’s Islamic north. He was chosen because he was believed to be a capable and willing candidate who would boldly implement the so-called north’s long term ambitious Islamic agenda for Nigeria – extending the global Islamic caliphate project to cover the entire country, including Christians’ and other religions’ areas. Nigeria for many reasons has long been considered important in this local and global Islamic caliphate agenda. It is said that the ultimate goal of this agenda for countries in Africa’s south of the Sahara is to eventually overrun and conquer them for Islam like those in the northern half of the continent. The advocates and financial sponsors of this agenda see the conquer and subjugation of the entire Nigerian geography as being strategic because by virtue of its position and clout the country will serve as a launch pad whose reaches cover the entire target-region.

The Nigerian jihad as part of the greater global Islamic agenda

 

In Nigeria today there are two manifest champions of this “global caliphate” agenda. They are members of the deadly Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram who have very strong connections with the most powerful people in Nigerian political, military and business establishments. The second group is also an equally well-connected Islamic terrorist group modeled after the fearsome Sudanese Janjaweed. Its members are mostly Fulani, members of the ethnic group (the group sometimes referred to as Nigeria’s “born-to-rule” over others) from which the current Nigerian president comes. They are generally known as the Fulani Cattle Herders (FCH.) Like Boko Haram, Fulani Cattle Herders are also generously financed by the northern elite and ruling oligarch class.

 

In the last few decades Saudi Arabia and some other Islamic countries like Iran, Turkey and Nigeria have dreamed of and fanatically pursued the archaic fantasy of an eventual Islam-subjugated world. These countries have expended in the process, a chunk of their petrodollar and other national incomes in pursuing the agenda. Some observers think that they have been successful in more ways than most people will care to admit. It is believed that among other achievements, that perhaps their greatest is being able to successfully infiltrate the Western news media establishment. Through this subversive penetration of the mainstream news and information dissemination process of Western societies, the jihadists have over the years, exerted pervasive subtle but unmistakable influence on the editorial opinions of media outlets in the West. Some analysts think that the prevalent editorial stance of most mainstream Western media where each tries to outdo the other on who would best be described as the most “politically correct,” “tolerant” and “civilized liberal,” can hardly be explained otherwise.

 

The infiltration seems to be so thorough and complete that today no matter how realistic and objective a critic is, there will always be a way to accuse him or her of being  “politically incorrect,” suffering from “islamophobia” and expressing a “dangerous far right extremist views.” Today anyone can easily bet their most valued possessions to predict that the editorial opinions of Western media will always sing in unison the well-rehearsed chorus that “not all Muslims are terrorists” therefore the critic who deviates from the accepted “liberal” and fear-induced “civilized tolerance” is condemned and labeled; “unsophisticated,” “bigoted,” “crude” and “uninformed racist.” The new Western standard is simple; even after the attacker had called the authorities on the phone to announce their reason for the attack, Western authorities in the name of “not being at war with Islam,” should spend an endless period of time investigating to ascertain the motive behind the attack.

 

The ultimate goals of all terroristic or Islamic jihad campaigns are to receive attention, elicit fear and intimidate or cow the target-victims (the infidels.) Those goals have substantially been achieved in many places around the world, Nigeria inclusive. The ongoing global jihad has not only successfully used fear and intimidation to cow much of the international community, it has also compelled everybody to “tolerate and endure happily” the prevailing globe-wide displays of barbaric Islamic violent extremism. So, the fear campaigns have successfully cleared the way for the emergence into powerful offices, such extremist bigots like Buhari in dysfunctional societies like the Nigerian country. As a result, people in the mold of Nigeria’s present leader, rather than being censored are patronized by such world leaders like United Nations’ Ban Ki-moon with such unrealistic words like: “You are highly respected by world leaders, including myself. Your persona has given your country a positive image.” Yet the so-called Nigeria’s “positive image” is nothing more than the continued descent to the lowest levels of religious intolerance and flagrant abuses of the human rights of peaceful citizens. The brutal killings of hundreds of non-violent Biafran separatist protesters by government security forces are too recent to be swept under the carpet by the patrons of these extremist elements.

 

While campaigning for and on assumption of office, Buhari did not need to present any complex political agenda. Having proved himself as an Islamic fundamentalist, he could cash in on the well-established global jihad’s political capital of the “global caliphate.” Nevertheless, Buhari who became the posterchild of Nigeria’s “saint-and-tough-guy” messiah, winning became a do-or-die obsession. At 70 plus years, he became desperate as he felt that time was running out on him. In his own words; “baboons and dogs would be soaked in blood” should he fail again to win the election to become Nigeria’s next president in 2015.

 

Buhari and his handlers managed to convince the uninformed public that he was the “poor” candidate who never stole money since his more than forty years in public office (but there are abundant public records to the contrary) who is suited to kill the monster of Nigerian corruption. Yet this wretched candidate was able to easily afford the $10 million consultancy fee of the American political strategist David Axelrod of the Obama phenomenon. So, an indigent Buhari who would kill the Nigerian corruption saw nothing wrong in paying a “modest” $10 million to a foreign political consulting firm for a local election in a country where the people live on less than $2 a day.

__._,_.___



 by Osita Ebiem <ositaebiem@yahoo.com>

 

CSO Coomitts To COMBAT oik spillage and gas flairing



Okonta Emeka Okelum, Asaba

With increasing environmental and human challenges bedevilling the Niger Delta, due to Gas Flaring and Oil Spillage, a civil society Organization has raised their voice against the trend.

The National Coalition on Gas Flaring and Oil Spills In The Niger Delta (NACGOND) rose from a recent training session of their members with a firm commitment to proactively address and seek means to bring an end to gas flaring and oil spillage.

Rev Fr. Edward Obi, national coordinator of the coalition, told our reporter that the 25 NGO strong membership coalition, came on board to address and intervene into the region’s lingering environment degradation.

We employ research and evidence based advocacy approaches to attract immediate attentions to the Niger Delta twin challenges of Oil exploration.

The coalition foresees a Niger Delta free from environmental degradation, promotes environmental sustainability and livelihood security through involvement of all stakeholders.

Our coalition’s major areas of thematic focus include good governance, oil spill/gas flaring, environmental sustainability and livelihood security, Rev Fr Edward Obi remarked.

Recently at Port Harcourt, the coalition organized training for her members, community leaders and social media experts on advocacy, campaigns and lobbying techniques.

According to one of the training facilitators, Godson Dim-Dorgu, maintained that armed with social media networks and sound documentation, stakeholders engagement through advocacy and lobbying will record tremendous result driven outcome.

Maryann Okon helped participants understand how they can use opportunities social media networks avails them as they seek to an end oil spillage & gas flaring within the region.

Jesse-Martin Manufor, a media consultant, shared how best coalition members and community leaders can positively engage journalists with positive outcome.

When asked what is the probability that the issues and challenges of oil spillage and gas flaring will be a thing of the past, Rev Obi’s response was remarkable and hopeful.

The coalition is very hopeful that the region’s challenges will soon be forgotten because we are committed to pursue proactive result oriented actions.  

Our ongoing advocacy for peaceful and constructive dialogue, evidence based engagements and researches are some of the means that strengthen our commitment to press forward.

The coalition members’s geographical spread, our focused solution driven engagements with stakeholders strengthens our hope and commitment with a ‘WE CAN’ spirit.  

 

Our credibility, independence and partnership built with international partners points to the fact that we can bring an end to Niger Delta Oil Spillage and Gas Flaring, Rev Obi noted.