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Federal lawmakers
elected on the platform of the People Democratic Party (PDP) may be
given automatic tickets to contest the forthcoming general elections to
return to the parliament. The PDP national chairman, Okwesilieze Nwodo
who disclosed this in Abuja yesterday, however, said only those who
have performed well will be granted such privilege.

According to him,
the aim, is to have some form of continuity in government and also to
grow the nation’s democracy. He added that it will also put an end to
the learning process.

Mr Nwodo, who spoke
at a workshop organised for the women aspirants and political office
holders, in the PDP said “We have said it at the party secretariat and
at the National Assembly when we went to meet members of the House of
Representatives and the senators. We said that, we as a party want to
grow this democracy and in trying to grow democracy, what we need to do
is to have some form of continuity and therefore, we will like as many
members of parliament who are performing and who are also acceptable in
some extent in their constituencies to come back,” he continued.

“Unless we do that,
we will continue our learning process. Every day we are learning; we
would stop learning. We have to build and consolidate the democratic
institution. So, in doing that, I think the next thing I am going to
push for is the return of as many as possible,” Mr Nwodo added. Sources
however said the carrot was dangled before the lawmakers to secure
their support for President Goodluck Jonathan during the forthcoming
primaries of the party.

There are about 80
members of the party in the Senate and about 270 in the House of
Representatives. Earlier in the year, the Senate President, David Mark
had demanded automatic ticket for the PDP senators, saying it will
guarantee legislative strengthening.

Women representation

Mr Nwodo told the women not to relax until their demand for the 35 percent slot in appointments and election positions is met.

According to him,
it is now generally known that women also have the mental capacity to
do it “You will not get 35 percent by sitting at home. When you come
forward in this manner and you say it with great emphasis, people will
listen,” he said.

“Anybody who is
saying that a woman is least qualified for any position on earth is
saying balderdash. It should be condemned because we are endowed with
the same mental capacity to do what any man can do. And these days we
don’t do things by force.

We do things by
intellect, by computer and by inventions and science. We don’t use
force. So, what anybody can do you can do.” Mr Nwodo said that the
National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP at its last meeting,
approved 35 percent slots for its women members in the area of
appointment and elective positions, but that it is merely waiting for
the ratification at the national convention to make it constitutional.
According to him, “What is important is giving you the same
level-playing ground to do what others are doing. In PDP, we have no
impediment to the success, absolutely not. We have been giving you
nomination forms without paying, we have given you 15 percent and now
35 percent.

“The 35 percent I can assure you has gone through our NEC as at last meeting.

What we will do now
in our party at the next national convention is to put the 35 percent
in our constitution. We are not stopping at that. We as a party want to
grow democracy.” Earlier in her speech, the PDP national women leader,
Ina Ciroma said that the workshop was put together to prepare female
aspirants for the challenges posed during the 2011 polls.

Also speaking at the forum, the Minister of Women Affairs, Josephine
Anenih appealed to the PDP NWC to ensure that not less than 35 percent
of female aspirants win during the party primaries. According to her,
democracy entails ensuring a level playing field and that it is only
when everybody is given opportunity to contest that democracy can be
said to be thriving.

The deputy speaker
of the House of Representatives, Usman Nafada, on Wednesday, stunned
his colleagues at plenary when he said the House will abide by the
ruling of the court legalising the stay of Dino Melaye and others in
the chamber.

Mr. Nafada’s
contrasting speech surprised many lawmakers who were already astonished
by the appearance of Mr. Melaye and Solomon Ahwinahi (members of the
‘Progressive’ group), who had evaded security at the Assembly to attend
plenary.

The Progressives, a
pressure group in the House of Reps opposed to the leadership, were the
previous day prevented from attending plenary at the National Assembly
by a joint security siege believed to be carried out on the order of
the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole.

The deputy speaker,
however, deviated from the “tyranny of the majority”, which the court
said was applied by the Speaker in suspending Mr. Melaye and his group
in June, and said that since the Ethics and Privileges committee was
handling the case, the House will allow the committee to submit its
report to it before taking further steps.

Members of the
group were forcefully evicted from the chambers in June after they
accused the Speaker of allegedly misappropriating N9 billion out of the
capital vote of the House. An Abuja High Court, however, nullified
their suspension but the leadership of the House has since denied them
entrance, saying they have appealed the court’s ruling and also applied
for a stay of execution.

“A notice for stay
of order or application for appeal does not constitute an order,” Dino
Melaye countered the House leadership’s claims on Wednesday.

“For me not to
enter the chamber, they need a superior judgement or a stay order. What
they have filed can only be compared to a man that has applied for a
job and says that he has automatically got the job,” Mr. Melaye said.

He argued that
until a superior judgement upturns the High Court judgement which
nullified his suspension, he remains a sitting member of the House of
Representatives and will attend plenary the following day.

Dikko entrance

Mr. Melaye’s
entrance into the chamber surprised both his colleagues and security
operatives who did not notice when he entered. Mr. Dino claimed before
bewildered reporters and the cheering crowd that he came into the
chamber using “Dikko style.”

He was apparently
referring to an unsuccessful attempt by a Nigerian military government
to bring a former minister, Umaru Dikko, back from the United Kingdom
in a crate to face corruption charges in 1984.

“The most important
thing is that I came in, I signed the register, and I also got the
order paper of the day. It’s fantastic to be back here!” He said.

Despite heightened
security and thorough search of vehicles entering the Assembly premises
on Wednesday, Messrs. Melaye and Ahwinawhi strolled into the chamber
shortly after the House sitting commenced at about 2.00pm. They signed
the attendance register and collected the order of proceedings for the
day.

They sat in the
respective seats exchanging pleasantries with other astonished
lawmakers who shook their hands. Both men spent about 10 minutes in the
chambers before they left to address the press and a cheering crowd.

However, after Mr.
Melaye left the complex, Independence Ogunewe, another member of the
group, was prevented entrance into the chamber by Emeka Okere, the
Sergeant-at-Arms of the National Assembly based on “an order from
above.” Mr. Ogunewe berated Mr. Okere, saying he was blocking justice.
He reminded Mr. Okere of the case between his daughter and the Nigerian
Navy, where the court ruled in Miss Okere’s favour that she was
molested by Naval ratings.

“It means you are saying there are different standards for different situations,” Mr. Ogunewe said.

However, the Speaker was sighted in a secret meeting with the security heads in the Assembly complex later yesterday evening.

The leadership of
the Senate on Wednesday said it was not threatened by the public outcry
over the fat salaries and allowances of members.

Ayogu Eze, Senate committee chairman on information and media, made the statement while briefing reporters in Abuja.

“We don’t feel
threatened because the people have the constitutional right to make
whatever comments they are making against us as their representatives.
The constitution guarantees freedom of speech, and Nigerians are free
to make comments regarding what we do as legislators.

“We are not above
Nigerians, and as their representatives, they are free to ask us
questions. But such comments should be constructive and based on
facts,” Mr. Eze said.

He said that the
National Assembly was ready to lead the way to sensitise the system if
Nigerians were ready and prepared to fight corruption.

“But we are saying
let such war be holistic and let us wake up as a nation to do what is
right. If Nigerians are saying salaries are too high, we are ready for
a review, but let such review of salaries not be a selective exercise,
but a holistic one,” he said.

On the delay of the submission of the 2011 budget proposal, he said
that the National Assembly could not compel the executive to do
otherwise.

The Federal
Government yesterday said that money laundering, terrorism financing,
and other forms of economic and financial crimes constitute major
obstacles to development in the West African sub-region.

The Attorney
General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello
Adoke, said this in Abuja at the 14th plenary meeting of the Action
Group Against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA). He said that
such crimes have had an adverse impact on regional security and
development.

“I wish to state
that in Nigeria, the implementation of a robust AML/CFT regime has
remained the top priority of the Federal Government,” said Mr. Adoke.

“Nigeria’s resolve
in this regard stems from the fact that development and security are
only possible in an environment free of corruption, money laundering,
terrorism financing, and other economic crimes,” he added.

Mr. Adoke said that
since the country’s adoption of the Mutual Evaluation Report in 2008,
the government had taken practical steps to address all the observed
weaknesses in the report.

Cash transactions

He applauded the
group for its achievements, including the signing of various memoranda
of understanding, thus guaranteeing more cooperation, information
exchange, mentorship, and joint operations in countries in the region.

In his remarks, the
director general of GIABA, Abdullahi Shehu, said the dependence on cash
transactions in the economies of the region presents a unique challenge
in the identification, tracing, and recovery of laundered proceeds of
crime.

He suggested ways
forward, which included raising awareness among stakeholders, examining
payments on cash transactions in financial institutions, and examining
the existing framework, including legal arrangements for the control of
cash movement in the region.

The Ekiti State government has revoked contracts awarded to three dam concessionaires by the last administration.

The General Manager
of the State Water Corporation, Julius Olofin, told the News Agency of
Nigeria in Ado-|Ekiti, said the job were awarded in 2008 for dams in
Ureje, Itapaji and Ero communities for the following concessionaires:
Kemeng Services Ltd, Batiments Techniques Ltd and Ero Power Company Ltd
respectively.

Under the
concession arrangement, the companies were responsible for water
production while the state water Corporation took care of the
distribution of water to customers.

Mr Olofin explained
that the contracts were terminated due to the failure of the companies
to produce water for distribution one month after the incumbent
governor; Kayode Fayemi assumed office. “It is true that the state
government has directed the three dam concessionaires to stop
production and leave the corporation premises” he said.

The state
government has directed the Water Corporation to commence the
production and distribution of water immediately. The Production
Manager of Kemeng services Ltd; Abiodun Fatoye, the concessionaire in
charge of Ureje dam confirmed the story. He said the directive to stop
production was communicated to the company on Tuesday morning by the
water corporation authorities.

Mr Fatoye said the
company had stopped production on December 2, 2010, due to the
inability of the state government to settle bills for three months due
to the removal of Segun Oni as the governor of the state by the Court
of Appeal.

He said the
government owed the concessionaires for September, October and
November, adding that the companies had commenced the process of
disengagement from the contracts. Visiting the premises of the state
Water Corporation at Ekute in Ado-Ekiti, officials of the corporation
and the concessionaires were seen taking inventory.

NAN

The scheduled
arraignment of seven people alleged to have duped Diamond Bank of N7.8
billion was stalled in Ibadan on Wednesday as the court could not sit
due to the absence of the presiding judge.

The accused –
former members of staff of Diamond Bank PLC, a female customer and her
three firms – were to be arraigned before the Federal High Court,
Ibadan, over a five-count charge of alleged granting of unsecured N7.8
billion facilities and money laundering.

Adesoji Adekunle,
Utienyen Obioru, AbdulAzeez Salau, Chukwuma Kalu, Gbolahan Ladoja and
Tokunbo Obayemi; Modupe Sobodu (customer) and her three firms: Dupsob
Nigeria Limited, Nukep Nigeria Limited and Mofadeb Investment Limited
were being prosecuted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission
(EFCC).

According to the
charge sheet, the accused were allegedly involved in granting the
customers “unsecured and unauthorized credit facilities to the tune of
N7.8 billion contrary to the Failed Banks (recovery of debts) and Other
Financial Malpractices in Banks Act Law of the Federation of Nigeria
2004.”

They were also
charged with ‘granting of credit facility against the security of
Diamond bank shares to the tune of N7.8 billion, an offence contrary to
the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act laws of Federation of
Nigeria 2007” as well as conspiracy to launder money contrary to
Section 17A of the Money laundering Act 2004.

On October 28, the
accused had secured the order of an Abuja High Court restraining the
EFCC from arresting, detaining or in any way interfering with the
fundamental human rights of five former bankers.

Second trial

The court’s order
was premised on a motion on notice filed by Afe Babalola on behalf of
Utieyin Obioru, Chikwuma Kalu, Tokunbo Obayemi, Gbolahan Ladoja and
Adesoji Adekunle for the enforcement of their fundamental human rights
by the court.

Following a
petition from the bank’s management, the accused were arrested in Lagos
by the EFCC on March 16 and were taken to the commission’s headquarters
in Abuja where they were detained till March 23.

The commission rearrested the accused and brought them to Ibadan for arraignment on Wednesday.

The accused were
brought to the court but were returned to Lagos yesterday by the
commission’s operatives, as the court has rescheduled the arraignment
for next week.

The federal
government yesterday approved the award of contract for the procurement
of a 360 degrees visual tower stimulator for the training of Air
Traffic Controllers (ATC) in the sum of £1.405 million.

This is intended to upgrade the status of the aviation sector in the country to attract trainees from other parts of the globe.

The visual Tower Stimulator is an equipment which allows for the flexibility training of Air Traffic Controllers.

The
FG also approved that the proposed USD500 million 10-years Sovereign
Bond be issued in the United States dollar instead of the Nigerian
naira currency.

While briefing reporters alongside the
minister of information, Dora Akunyili, and the minister of state,
Labaran Maku, after the Federal Executive Council meeting, the aviation
minister, Fidelia Njeze, said the approval was intended to turn the
institute to a hub for aviation training in West Africa.

“Sequel
to a memo presented by the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Fidelia Njeze,
council approved the award of contract for the direct procurement of 1
no., Micronav 360 Degrees Visual Tower Stimulator, in favour of Messrs
Micro Nav Ltd. in Bournemouth, UK, in the sum of £1,405,293.00
(equivalent of N326.3billion) plus N454,683,264.84 for import duty and
other taxes,” Mrs. Akunyili said.

Mrs. Njeze said the approval
for Nigeria College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) is a clear
manifestation of Federal Government’s commitment towards upgrading the
facilities at the college.

“We have installed virtual
stimulator that is meant for cockpit training; one approved today is
for radar training. Currently, we have been training our air traffic
controllers outside the country, with the attendant huge economic loss.
With this approval, we will now be training air traffic controllers
within the country.

“We are also acquiring helicopters, and for
the first time, the college will go into training of helicopter pilots
and it will be the first in Nigeria and West Africa. Now, we are going
to save that foreign exchange for other priority projects of
government,” she said.

Working on budget

Council also
approved the direct procurement of two Bell 206L-IV helicopters, in
favour of Messrs Bell Helicopter Textron Incorporated, USA, in the sum
of N1billion, with a completion period of 12 months.

Another
approval by council is the award of contract for the construction of a
2 x 60MVA 132/33KV substation in Kaduna, in favour of Skipper
Electrical Limited, with a completion period of 18 months.

During
the post FEC briefing, NEXT sought to know when the Council will end
the awarding of contracts for the year and Mrs. Akunyili said the
council will not stop giving contracts because government will not stop
working.
However, the council has till the end of March next year to fully execute its 2010 budget.

In the Yoruba
movie, “Aye Olomokan” starring Funke Akindele, a mother demanded
“academic excellence and nothing else” from her daughter, and that is
what she got: Academic excellence and nothing else.

The girl faced her
studies, was diligent, hardworking, and did very well in school –
studies were paramount. She was not expected to tidy her room or the
house, cook, clean, run errands, be generally helpful….so she wasn’t.

When not studying,
she went out with her friends, hung out with her mum, or lazed in her
untidy bedroom watching TV, talking on the phone and playing computer
games. In a hilarious scene, the houseboy rigorously and courageously
protested having to wash her underwear.

We are bringing up
a generation of young people whose only set goals are to pass exams;
not to be good citizens, good neighbours, to contribute to their
community, to help the needy, to be self-sufficient, to be clean, tidy,
neat, to know how to cook and entertain, to have manners, to
automatically say please and thank you, to inquire after the welfare of
others.

And what are the carrot and stick, reward and punishment, for behaviour?

Purely material
things. Behave and you will get the latest mobile phone handset, IPod,
computer, clothes, cash, jewelry, watch, shoes, or bag.

Misbehave and have
those things withheld. Oh yes, and my driver cannot take you to that
party! Where is the naming and shaming? Where is the intensive home
training to become a rounded and responsible person? Who is sending
them on errands that prepare them for life? Learning to do something
for the first time. Making a mistake and living with the consequences.
Opening a bank account, making withdrawals and deposits, booking a
ticket, changing money, bargaining in a market for food or equipment.

Where is the
apprenticeship around the ‘village fire’, in the kitchen, or bedroom,
or at their parent’s workplace, to learn how to do things right.

When do they get
lessons on how to run a home, or a business, to impart wisdom from the
experiences of others? Where and how do we convey the values that we
loudly declare we live by, that the religious houses preach about? How
are they prepared for the required qualities to look for in their life
partners?

Growing without guidance

So, they grow up
without real guidance and home training; and then, for those privileged
to go to University, National Youth Service sends them away from their
home state to be a corps member and live in another part of the
country, interacting with Nigerians who they would be unlikely to meet
otherwise.

The objective of
the exercise is often achieved. Young professionals expanding their
self-identity to include Nigeria and not only their ethnic and regional
identity. Young ladies ready to live and work in other parts of the
country, having seen that life goes on there too. Young Nigerians with
close friends from every part of the country.

By the time they return home, academic achievers and Youth Corps
survivors, how well do we really know them? What we prepared them for
and focused them on – their studies – are over. Can we swear to what
they will or will not do? Can we predict the type of people they will
associate with? Can we gauge how they will react to the politics they
will face at work? Can we realistically expect them to react well to
the hardships of life?