Nigeria Content Online

Uzodinma Okpara,
the son of the late premier of the defunct Eastern Region, has
abandoned his ambition to contest the governorship of Abia in 2011.

He announced his
withdrawal yesterday at his country home in Okpuala Afugiri, Umuahia
North Local Government, saying that “political developments” in Abia,
especially the recent defection of state governor, Theodore Orji, to
the PDP, necessitated his decision to drop out of the gubernatorial
race.

Mr Okpara, who
contested the 2007 gubernatorial race against Orji under the platform
of the All Progressive Peoples Alliance (APGA) and even challenged the
outcome at the tribunal, said that he was now satisfied with recent
actions taken by the governor. “I am aware that the governor has led
the liberation of Abia and that is acceptable to me and my supporters,”
he said. “In consultation with my family and my supporters, we have
unanimously agreed to support Governor Orji for 2011 elections; the
implication is that I will not be contesting again”.

Mr Okpara said he
would deploy his campaign organisation, Freedom and Progress (FP) in
support of the re-election bid of Mr Orji as well as the presidential
race of Goodluck Jonathan.

He recalled that he
had worked very closely with Mr Orji, who was chief of staff when he
was the state chairman of the PDP, adding that the governor has
“assured me there will be peace and progress in Abia and I strongly
believe”.

The former gubernatorial aspirant further defended his decision to
abandon his quest, saying that “everybody cannot be governor at the
same time; some people will be other things”.

Uche Chukwumerije, the senator representing Abia North
senatorial district of Abia State, has faulted allegations that he is opposed
to the recent appointment of Onyeabo Ihejirika as Chief of Army Staff (COAS)
and described the allegation as cheap blackmail by those who want to tarnish
his image or create disaffection against him.

Mr Chukwumerije, who is from the same senatorial district as Mr
Ihejirika, said the allegation by a group, the “League Of Isuikwuato Patriots”,
that he was signatory to a statement credited to the Igbo Political Forum which
criticized the appointment of the COAS, was wrong. Besides, he said, he did not
attend the said meeting as alleged.

List of signatories

Mr Chukwumerije challenged the authors of the advertorial,
published in a national daily, to produce the list of signatories to the
statement or even the attendance register of the meeting which took the
decision.

“This lie betrays a pathetic ignorance of my consistent
verifiable stand against oppression and marginalization of Ndigbo in Nigeria
since the end of the civil war,” he said.

He said anybody who knows him and his struggle against the
alienation of the Igbo in Nigeria would know that the allegation was a fallacy,
as the appointment was the fulfilment of what he has been championing.

He said he had, in a similar vein, issued a press statement and
commended the president for the appointment, saying “the appointment of Lt
General Ihejirika as Chief of Army Staff has broken a jinx of 40 years,” and so
could not have been opposed to it. Mr Chukwumereije, who picked the nomination
form to re-contest for his seat, urged the people of Isuikwuato and the
senatorial zone to discountenance the statement, as it was false.

On presenting himself for a third term at the Senate, he said the
constitution did not limit lawmakers to any number of terms and, as such, he
was not violating any arrangements.

Officials and members of the National
Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Rivers State have embarked on prayer and
fasting sessions for the release of their kidnapped colleagues.

Five female corps members deployed to
Omuma Local Government Area of Rivers were kidnapped on September 16 at
their lodge, but one of them was freed.

An official of the NYSC told the press
on Tuesday in Port Harcourt that prayers and fasting had commenced for
divine intervention. The source said, “As a family, we agreed shortly
after the abduction that we should commence intensive prayers and
fasting for God to free these young ladies on national assignment. “We
anticipated that before seven days, the kidnappers will free them but
after the expiration of seven days, the girls are still there,” he
said.

The State NYSC Coordinator Esther Chimele-Wogbo, confirmed the move,
saying, “I refuse to speak further on this matter because I might be
emotional. As a mother, I cannot understand how four ladies should be
abducted while on selfless service to their fatherland,” she said.

On October 1, Nigerians will surely
wake up to the pounding of marching boots and martial music,
complemented by a rumble of armoured vehicles, the flight display of
combat aircraft. What else? The inspection of a guard-of-honour and, in
the evening, a state banquet, valedictory speeches, laughter and music,
cultural dances, comedians and clowns spewing banalities and filthy
jokes.

None of these activities will suggest
when or where young school-leavers will get jobs, and in some cases,
even scrape out their next meals. We are obsessed with conviviality and
love partying against all odds. Nigerians transform into a celebration
frenzy at the slightest excuse. Culture or phobia? A propensity for
hedonism could also be interpreted as symptomatic of a suffering
people, an analgesic to kill the pain of poverty instantly, but only
temporarily.

One day Nigerians woke up to find a
foreign poll electing them as the “Happiest people on Earth.” How
farcical! Peripherally, it could be true. If you’ve been to a night
party in Lagos and Sunny Ade is on the bandstand, the sheer amounts of
raw cash sprayed, the quantity and colour of textiles worn, the food,
the sensuous dancing and womanizing will convince you of what Rome
looked like the week before the Barbarians destroyed it. Will Nigeria
meet the same fate? Rome had at least reached a pinnacle of excellence
before it fell.

Nation building is unknown here.
Rather, Nigerian leaders and captains of industry are preoccupied with
acquiring dual citizenship to flee their country. The process
facilitates health care in advanced countries, siphoning of stolen
money out of Nigeria and the children’s education in primary schools,
colleges, and universities abroad. Some of these kids are on federal
and state government scholarships, but will remain in foreign lands;
they will work, pay taxes and become citizens there. These are huge
financial and managerial losses to Nigeria.

Target countries of Nigerian emigration
and capital flight are unconcerned and sometimes happy over our plight.
Your brain drain is their gain. The monies embezzled in Nigeria and
deposited in their banks are never returned because they enrich their
economies.

If leaders of an independent nation are
not interested in building institutions and an environment that will
make life worth living for their people, the United Nations should
request such countries to rescind the instruments of sovereignty and
revert to colonial status.

October 1, 2010, must be marked, not
celebrated. The day should serve as a serious warning that time is
running out for this nation. A bugler is already sounding “The Last
Post”; vultures are hovering above in expectation of a putrescent
cadaver, when a very sick Nigeria is finally strangled to death by its
corrupt elite. The British are sending out the Duke of Gloucester, a
junior royal, not the Duke of Edinburgh, for our Golden Jubilee. It may
be tactical. Prince Philip, like many old men, often speaks his mind
anywhere, at anytime and within earshot of anybody. I could well
imagine him bullying Goodluck Jonathan, telling our president that
Nigeria has not fulfilled the potential he saw during his first visit
in 1956. But if I were the Duke of Gloucester, I’d enquire from
President Jonathan about the health of Alamieyeseigha and the
whereabouts of Ibori, wishing them well and expressing gratitude in
respect of so much money donated to the UK economy.

Our leaders are fiddling while Nigeria
decays and burns. The masses don’t care about anything, anymore. This
jubilee will be anything but golden.

The thrill is gone.

The Kano State police have arraigned Usman Musa and Abubakar
Hamidu before a Kano Chief Magistrate Court on a four-count allegation of
allegedly conspiring to kill the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero.

According to the charge sheet read out, Usman Musa, a
19-year-old resident of Layin Habu Hanifa, and Abubakar Hamidu, a 65-year-old
resident of Batakaye village, both in Kano metropolis, on July 9, 2010,
criminally conspired and abetted to kill his royal highness.

“You, Usman Musa ‘m’ of Dourayi quarters, Kano went to the house
of Abubakar Hamidu of Batakaye quarters, Kano and criminally conspired on
assignment to kill his royal highness, Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero.

“Where you (Abubakar Hamidu) gave him one gas wielding muzzle
iron, in the shape of a pistol, to throw at the emir, after jumma’at prayers at
Kano Central Mosque, and you also gave him a tiny charm to put in his mouth,
that after the assignment he (Usman Musa) is going to disappear.” The two
pleaded not guilty to the four-count allegation of criminal conspiracy, attempt
to commit homicide, abetment and being in possession of dangerous weapon
brought against them before the court.

“I do not have a lawyer. The old man has not conspired with me
and I did not intend to do anything to the emir. The old man is a spiritualist
to my mother. I want the court to release me on bail,” Mr Musa said.

Junaidu Aminu, the police prosecutor, told the court that the
police investigation into the matter was still in progress. He, therefore,
prayed the court to adjourn the matter to another date for mention.

Plea for bail

Yahya Abdullahi, counsel to Mr Hamidu, applied for the accused
man to be released on bail. He said his client was a respectable Islamic
scholar and cited the deteriorating health status of the accused as a reason
why the court should admit him to bail.

“The health of the accused is deteriorating and even before us
here he almost fell down. He is an old man. Since his arrest, he has been in
police custody. The accused is presumed innocent until he is tried and found
guilty. At this stage, it is a mere allegation,” he said.

“He will not escape from justice. He will not commit any offence
if granted bail. I want to refer this honourable court to the case of the
federal government versus Asari Dokubo reported in Nigeria weekly law report.
The Supreme court said the court could admit an accuse into bail provided there
is assurance the accuse will face his trial.” Mr Aminu objected to the bail
request.

“The charges levelled against the accused persons are serious in
nature. Bayero is a father to all and justice of peace. The bail application
ought not to be granted to avoid repetition,” he said.

The court ordered that the accused persons be remanded in prison
custody till September 29, for its ruling on the application for bail.

The court also ordered the counsel to furnish the court registrar with
copies of the citation made in his application for the release of one of the
accused on bail.

As arrangements for
Nigeria’s 50th golden jubilee celebration heat up, some Heads of State
and representatives from invited countries on Tuesday landed at the
presidential wing of the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA), Lagos.

Somkid Jatusriptak,
the deputy prime minster of Thailand, who is one of the visiting Heads
of State invited to join in the celebration of Nigeria@50, arrived the
presidential lounge of the Lagos airport in the early hours of
yesterday, amidst tight security.

Joseph Kabila,
President of Democratic Republic of Congo, was the second to arrive the
presidential wing of the Lagos airport and was received by both
protocol officers of the VIP, heavily armed security operatives,
diverse cultural dancers and top state executives.

Mr Kabila flew into
Nigeria on board his country’s presidential aircraft, at about 3.30pm.
The Duke of Gloucester, Prince Richard, who is to represent the Queen
of England at the golden jubilee celebrations, also landed at the Lagos
international airport around 6pm, on a British Airways Aircraft.

The guests and
their respective entourages were entertained by the various cultural
groups that performed at the presidential wing of the airport amid
stringent security from the police, military personnel and State
Security Service operatives.

Richard Aiseubeogun, managing director of the airports authority,
last week disclosed that the Nigerian airports where major upgrades of
facilities are going in preparation for the country’s 50th anniversary
include: Lagos, Abuja, Minna, Kaduna, Ilorin, Kano, and Port Harcourt.

For Nigeria to
make any meaningful headway, the electorate must learn to hold those in
public office accountable for their stewardship, Speaker of the House
of Representatives, Oladimeji Bankole said yesterday in Kaduna.

Speaking on
effective representation at an event organised by the Nigeria Textile
Workers Union, Mr Bankole said the electorate deserves blame for not
holding their representatives responsible for the state of affairs and
the lack of delivery of the dividends of democracy and good governance.

“Despite the
foundation laid by the nation’s founding fathers, those who came behind
have eroded the good works they did, hence the need for Nigerians to
rise for the making of a new Nigeria,” he said.

Chairman of INEC,
Attahiru Jega, who spoke on ‘Labour Partnership for Free and Fair
Election’, pointed out that labour has a vital role to play for our
nation to get credible, free and fair elections.

“If labour
succeeds in positively mobilising Nigerian workers to actively and
enthusiastically participate in the unfolding process, if labour
succeeds in enlightening workers to decently and with uttermost
integrity discharge their civic duties in the electoral process, the
commitment of INEC to conduct free, fair and credible 2011 will be
substantially accomplished,” he said.

He reiterated his
pledge that INEC is committed to guaranteeing the right environment for
achieving the goal and will want Nigerians to judge them by their
openness, fairness, decency and integrity.

He expressed
displeasure that the nation’s democratic history is characterised by
dubious elections on account of deliberate exclusion, rigging of
results in connivance with electoral officials, thuggery and lack of
internal democracy among the political parties.

Arik Air, Nigeria’s largest commercial carrier involved in
domestic and international air transport business, on Tuesday, accused oil
marketers in the country of conspiring against the airline, a situation which
has disrupted the carrier’s flight operations.

The airline stated that the marketers have teamed up against it
because of its recently constructed mini-depot which it uses in storing
aviation fuel, adding that some of its aircraft are out of the country for
routine checks and repairs. “Major oil marketers, under the aegis of Major Oil
Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), have ganged up against Arik Air
starving the airline of aviation fuel, otherwise known as Jet A1,” said
Adebanji Ola, media officer for the carrier. “The marketers are not happy that
the airline has built a mini-depot for the storage of Jet A1,”

Mr Ola said that the marketers believe that the carrier is
trying to drive them out of business despite the airline’s explanation that the
mini-depot, which stores only 100,000 litres, is a strategic reserve for its
150 daily flights. “The 100,000-litre capacity of the mini-depot is far below
the airline’s average daily requirement of 700,000 litres of Jet A1,” he said.
“The major marketers are now refusing to sell fuel to Arik Air thereby causing
a lot of delays on flights.”

Arik not alone

Mr Ola argued that Arik is not the first or only airline in
Nigeria to have a mini fuel depot, stating that Aero Contractors and Caverton
Helicopters have such facility in Port Harcourt and Lagos respectively.

Efforts to get the reactions of some major oil marketers were not
successful, as calls made to the mobile phones of different distributors were
not answered. “Efforts are on by the airline to resolve the fuel issue with the
major marketers while two of our aircraft are expected back in the country next
week from C-checks,” said Mr Ola. “The airline therefore appeals to its valued
guests to please bear with it.”

A Judge of the Lagos High Court, Igbosere,
Ayotunde Philips, yesterday directed the Economic and Financial Crimes
Commission (EFCC) and the Nigeria Police to properly file their processes
before the court in the suit by sacked Director-General of the Nigerian Stock
Exchange (NSE), Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke.

Mrs Okereke-Onyiuke had filed a motion under the
Fundamental Rights (Enforcement Procedure) Rules 2009, praying the court for an
order of interim injunction restraining the respondents from violating any of
her rights pending the hearing and determination of the substantive
application.

At the resumed hearing of the suit, Robert
Clarke, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and counsel to Mrs Okereke-Onyiuke,
indicated that his refusal to reply to the notice of preliminary objection
filed by the EFCC was because it was technically faulty. He said the anti-graft
agency did not comply with the Lagos State Civil Procedure Rules. While noting
the technical errors in the preliminary objection filed by the EFCC, Mrs
Philips ordered the parties in the suit to regularise their papers.
Consequently, she adjourned the case to November 9, 2010.

Action based on
speculation

The EFCC had challenged the jurisdiction of a
Lagos High Court restraining the agency from arresting sacked Mrs Ndi
Okereke-Onyiuke. According to the preliminary objection filed by the EFCC, the
court does not have the jurisdiction to make orders restraining the agency from
performing its statutory duty of investigation, arrest, and prosecution of
crime. Also, the counsel to the EFCC, Godwin Obla, maintained that courts of
laws in Nigeria do not have the competence and jurisdiction to base decisions
on speculative, hypothetical or moot issues, arguing that the materials
provided by the applicant did not disclose a cause of action against the
Commission. The EFCC described the suit as “speculative, vexatious and abuse of
the process of court.”

Mrs Okereke-Onyiuke had, in the motion, argued, among others, that since her
removal on August 5, 2010, unknown persons both in mufti and uniform, strange
vehicles, either of the EFCC or police had been parading her residence. She
deposed further that, “two black unregistered Highlander Toyota SUV buses were
sighted parading her residence repeatedly with their mission unknown to her.”
She stated that the immediate intervention of the court was required to protect
her fundamental rights to life, movement and properties and more importantly,
from being intimidated, arrested and detained since she has not been charged
with any offence before a court of competent jurisdiction.