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Nigerians evacuated from Libya have accused the federal government of neglecting them, since they returned to the country.

About 50 of the 180
evacuees who returned to the country at the weekend said the government
should have left them at the Tunisia refugee camp instead of bringing
them back home and failing to keep promises made to them.

Speaking on Sunday
at the Hajj camp of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos,
some of them said over 48 hours after their arrival in Lagos, no one has
come forward to tell them anything about their belongings, which they
checked-in at the Tunis airport. They also said they were promised $200
(N30,000) each by government officials, but on getting to Nigeria, the
sum was reduced to N5,000.

“We arrived Nigeria
without our luggage and nobody has told us why our luggage did not
arrive with us, because we checked them in at Tunis airport,” said
Muhammed Abubakar, an evacuee who is from Kano State.

“We were told that
we would be given $200 when we arrive Nigeria by our ambassador at Tunis
airport but when we arrived, we were given only N5, 000 and even some
of us have gotten our money.”

Another evacuee, who
identified himself as Winner, confirmed the Mr. Abubakar’s claims, and
added that “it is a huge disappointment to have the federal government
treating its citizens this way”.

“When Ghanaians were
evacuated by the Ghanaian government, on arrival in Accra, they were
given a new hand set and a sim card and they were evacuated promptly,”
he said.

When contacted, an
official of the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) refused to
comment on the issue. However, Margret Isaac, an evacuee who arrived
Nigeria with her daughter, said that the agency earlier promised to
bring back the luggage by Wednesday and Friday.

“I told my husband
to allow us to remain in the refugee camp in Tunis but my husband said
we must go back to Nigeria. In the refugee camp in Tunis, we were given
enough food, water and everything we need but here in Nigeria NEMA is
giving us N5,000; this is not enough. This is not what the ambassador
told us in Tunis,” she said.

Kaduna State
governor, Patrick Yakowa, and four other governorship candidates,
yesterday boycotted the town hall election debate organised by the
African Independent Television (AIT) held at the Gamji Gate
Multi-Purpose Hall, Kaduna. Also, the candidates of the Action Congress
of Nigeria (ACN), Sani Sha’aban, the Nigeria Advance Party (NAP), Yusuf
Abubakar Sadiq, Usman Nafiu of the African Political System (APS) and
David Ahmadu of National Solidarity Democratic Party (NSDP) were all
absent.

Candidates of the
Peoples Redemption Party (PDP), Balaraba Musa, All Nigerian Peoples
Party (ANPP), Muktar Aruwa, All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA),
Mohammed Sagir Madoya and Jimmy Dung of National Trasnsformation Party
(NTP) attended the debate. Others in attendance were Barrister Bello
Mohammed of Labour Party (LP), Haruna Sa’eed of the Congress for
Progressive Change (CPC), Bala Mohammed of African Democratic Congress
(ADC) and Abdul Ahmed Ishak of Social Democratic Mega Party (SDMP).

The organisers of
the event told NEXT that a letter was extended to Mr Yakowa for the
programme which he acknowledged and accepted to participate.

Reason for absence

When contacted, the
Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Reuben Buhari, said that the
governor could not attend because of his governorship campaign tour and
had earlier informed the organisers of the debate of his inability to
attend.

“We had already
fixed today for the completion of our local government tour. I called
the coordinators earlier this morning and explained to them. I also
tendered our apologies that from Igabi, we will proceed straight to
Abuja”, he explained.

The debate was chaired by Abdulwaheed Ujor, a former Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kaduna State.

In their
submissions, all the candidates promised to deliver dividends of
democracy to the people if elected. They emphasised that education,
security, healthcare delivery and agricultural revolution will top their
agenda if elected in office.

Options for the people

Mr Musa of the PRP
and ADC candidate, Abdul Ishak, argued that the 27 percent the present
administration claimed to have been allocated to education is not a
reality. “It is not true that the present administration in the state
has allocated 27 percent to education. If not, education in the state
would have improved. I don’t think that the state government has given
up to 15 percent. It is just to deceive the people.” He said.

He said the PRP
government will ensure that at least 30 percent of the state’s annual
budget will be channelled to education and will provide free and
compulsory education from primary up to tertiary level depending on the
available resources.

Mr Dung of NTP said
his government will transform the education sector to make it attractive
and competitive as well as ensuring that private schools are not
superior to the public ones in the state.

On agriculture,
Muktar Aruwa explained that reviving the sector needs a political will
and bringing together all the stakeholders to address the issue.

He said that reviving agriculture in the state will be part of his programme if he becomes governor of Kaduna State.

Mr Sa’eed of CPC
said the proposed sugar factory in Makarfi Local Government Area of the
state which could have given employment to many has been abandoned for
25 years and promised that if elected, he will revive the ailing
industries and privatise them.

The APGA candidate, Sagir Maidoya stated that revolutionalising agriculture will be the focus of his three point agenda.

On healthcare
delivery, Mr Aruwa stressed that government will focus on sustenance of
rural infrastructural development which will touch all the Local
Governments in the State. He noted that the health facilities in the
hospitals are in a deplorable condition while the present leadership is
doing nothing to address them.

Mr Dung while
explaining that lack of political will and constant power supply
contributed to the closure of many industries in the state said his
administration will address the problem on a public private partnership
programme as well as providing the enabling business environment for
manufacturers.

Ahead of the April
general elections in Edo State, Governor Adams Oshiomhole over the
weekend said the work his two years old administration has successfully
carried out will further campaign for the candidates of the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN), as it would help to show what the party
candidates can achieve if voted into power during the elections.

Mr. Oshiomhole,
while speaking to journalists after the inspection of the
Jattu-Uzairue-Ayohan-Okpekpe Road in Etsako West and Etsako East local
governments and the Ekperi-Anegbete Road in Etsako Central Council, also
admitted that he was not popular among the political elite in the state
because of his frugal management of the state’s lean revenue and his
award of contracts to competent contractors instead of politicians who
may eventually abandon the job.

While on inspection
of projects at Okpekpe, he said, “the truth of the matter is that I am
the first to admit, I am not too popular among a good section of the
political elite because, for them, resources should be shared and even
if contracts should be awarded, it should be awarded to party leaders.
It does not matter that those party leaders know nothing about road
construction.

“So, what has
happened is that because we are giving jobs to those who are competent
to do it and because we have carried out proper studies and designs and
proper costing of projects, we are able to do what we have to do.

“All we have done is
to block the loopholes in the system and like I said at the beginning,
we are not going to put too little every where such that to make impact
nowhere,” he stated.

He said his
administration was determined to wipe out poverty from the land: “We
cannot address the challenge of rural poverty in our rural areas without
opening up the roads to those rural communities. I believe that the
starting point in any bold attempt to defeat poverty is to reintegrate
our rural communities where the bulk of our people live.

“I believe that what
we are doing here will not only open up the rural communities; those of
our people who are interested in mechanised farming, they now can drive
out and appreciate the work of nature and see how much of natural
endowment we have in this part of the state.”

The presidential candidate of the Action
Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Nuhu Ribadu, yesterday, vowed to jail those
who have looted the treasury in the last 12 years if elected as the next
president of the country.

Mr Ribadu, the former Chairman of the
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, made the statement in Ado
Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital during his presidential rally. He likened
the Action Congress of Nigeria to a revolution that would sweep the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) out of Nigeria.

Mr Ribadu and his running mate, Fola
Adeola, accompanied by other party leaders, entered the venue of the
campaign rally along Iworoko Road at about 3.55pm. He said he would fix
the country’s economy if he becomes the president

“ACN is changing Nigeria and is going to
kick the PDP out of the country,” he said. “I represent the youth
generation; a young man is taking over the country after 2011. If we are
elected, we are going to provide employment, build hospitals, create
wealth, build industries to take care of the youths. PDP have destroyed
Nigeria by its inability to impact on the lives of the people in the
last 12 years.

We are going to focus on peace and
unity, provide security. This will not be a great task to achieve
because of my experience in the public service and that of my running
mate, Mr Fola Adeola, in the private sector. PDP has destroyed Nigeria.
They have stolen our money, and now, we should come together and rescue
our nation.”

A revolution

Two PDP members in
the House of Assembly, Adebayo Morakinyo and Femi Adeleye, representing
Ikole 1 and Ido/Osi 2 constituencies respectively, defected to the ACN.
Former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, said youth revolution has
entered Nigeria, calling on all and sundry to embrace the progressive
revolution and chase away the PDP out of Nigeria. He regretted that the
ruling PDP has not been able to proffer lasting solution to the
lingering crisis of poor power supply in Nigeria.

“God will deliver Nigeria the way it delivered the Babylon,” he said.
“PDP has become a disaster to this country. When the former President
Olusegun Obasanjo got to power in 1999, he promised to provide stable
power in six months, but did nothing after eight years. This was a
confirmation of my belief that the PDP is a power disaster party.”

The former President
of Botswana, Festus Mogae, will lead the Commonwealth Observer Group
(COG) to the forthcoming general elections in April.

This was revealed by
the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Kamalesh Sharma on Monday in London
after constituting the group which he claimed was at the invitation of
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Mr Mogoe is
respected in the global community for the effective reforms he undertook
during his two term as the leader of the South African country. Mr
Mogoe in 2008 won the prestigious Mo Ibrahim prize of Achievement in
African Leadership. A prize that has remained elusive ever since then as
no other African leader has been found worthy.

The COG is expected
to comprise 13 experienced persons, supported by a team from the
Commonwealth Secretariat headed by Amitav Banerji, Director of the
Political Affairs Division. They are expected to arrive in Nigeria on 26
March 2011, and to stay until 15 April 2011.

According to Mr
Sharma, “the Commonwealth has a long and substantial history of
engagement with Nigeria” as he noted that “it is important that the
forthcoming elections are well-organised, credible and peaceful.” He
expressed his delight over the observation mission noting that the
elections were ‘critical’ in the nation’s history and he stated his hope
that the electoral process and the outcome will further strengthen the
democratic process in the country.”

Role of the observer group

The mandate of the
Commonwealth Observer Group is to observe the preparations for the
election, the polling, the counting and the results process, and the
overall electoral environment. It will assess the conduct of the process
as a whole and, where appropriate, make recommendations for the future
strengthening of the electoral framework in Nigeria.

The group will determine in its own judgement whether the elections
have been conducted according to standards for democratic elections.
The group’s report will be submitted to the Commonwealth
Secretary-General, who will in turn send it to the government of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, the INEC, political parties, and eventually
to all Commonwealth governments.