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The Goodluck/Sambo Campaign
Organisation has berated former vice president Atiku Abubakar for
allegedly continuing with his campaign of calumny against Goodluck
Jonathan, despite the president’s clarification on the controversial
zoning arrangement adopted by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The organisation stated this in
reaction to a statement credited to Mr Abubakar that the president
could not be “trusted with the PDP mandate in 2011” because of his
interpretation of the party’s position on zoning.

A settled matter

Mr Jonathan had
last Monday declared that the ruling party never zoned the presidency
to any part of the country. He spoke at the PDP headquarters after
submitting his nomination forms to the leadership of the party.

“The Goodluck/Sambo
Campaign Organisation has noted that in spite of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s clear articulation of the issue of zoning and the decision
of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the matter, former Vice
President Abubakar has continued his campaign of calumny aimed at
impugning the character and integrity of the president,” a statement by
the director of media and publicity, Sully Abu said.

It said that Mr
Abubakar’s comment on the president’s personality was rather curious
given his own antecedents and the fact that he was only recently
admitted into the PDP after long running battles with his local Adamawa
State chapter of the party.

The organization
said the PDP zoning issue has been resolved by the party, just as it
enjoined all its loyal members to respect that position and stop using
it as a diversion from tackling the real issues that affect the
Nigerian people.

The organisation’s
spokesperson said that the decision was a product of a meeting held in
Abuja yesterday by the zonal coordinators of the Jonathan/Sambo for
President Campaign.

Those at the
meeting presided over by Dalhatu Tafida, the organization’s director
general were: state governors: Liyel Imoke of Cross River; Isa Yuguda
of Bauchi; Gbenga Danile of Ogun; and Gabriel Suswam of Benue.

A former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Chibudom Nwuche, was also in attendance.

Following an
alleged intelligence report that there are planned attacks in Abuja by
the popular militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger
Delta (MEND), during the 50th anniversary celebrations, the Nigerian
government allegedly prompted the South African Police to invade the
Johannesburg home of Henry Okah, the leader of MEND, in the early hours
of yesterday.

Sources who spoke
in confidence with NEXT revealed that over 30 South African police
officers smashed down Mr Okah’s doors and gained entry into his home at
about 3am South African time, with sophisticated weapons in full
display as well as about six sniffing dogs, at the instance of the
federal government of Nigeria.

“We have been told
that the Nigerian government informed the South African police that it
is imperative that Mr Okah’s home is searched yesterday because they
would find arms and explosives. The federal government has been sending
spurious petitions to the South African government about Mr Okah,
alleging all kinds of things.

“They said he is
exporting arms and explosives from South Africa into Nigeria. But when
the South African police invaded his home, they found nothing. Even
with their sniffing dogs, they did not find anything,” a source said to
NEXT yesterday in Abuja.

Reports have it
that the search at Mr Okah’s home, which lasted for about 10 hours,
from 3am till about 1pm, yielded neither explosives nor arms.

Ima Niboro, the
spokesman for the federal government neither responded to the phone
calls nor the text messages sent to him to make enquiries about the
role of the presidency in the role.

Federal government’s gripe

Although the Umaru
Yar’Adua led government released Mr Okah from a 13-month long detention
and granted him amnesty in 2009, unconfirmed reports state that Mr
Okah’s name has been placed on the INTERPOL red alert in Nigeria, in
connection with arms and drug trafficking.

Emmanuel Ojukwu,
the spokesman of the Nigerian Police, has denied any knowledge of the
raid. Mr Ojukwu, who told NEXT in Abuja that he is also the spokesman
for the INTERPOL in Nigeria, said that he was unaware that Mr Okah’s
name had been placed on red alert by the INTERPOL.

“I have no
information. I am not aware of that. I speak for the Nigerian police
and the INTERPOL and I am not aware of either the invasion or any red
alert,” Mr Ojukwu said in a telephone interview.

Mr Okah, in
response, said that he was unshaken but that he was upset that his
children were frightened by the police officers who tore down their
bedroom doors and barged into their rooms with rifles.

“I am not surprised by the federal government’s actions. What I am
surprised at is that the South African government would allow
themselves to be used by Nigerians. I am, however, not moved by
whatever means the government is trying to use to intimidate me. I am
constantly fighting against the oppression of my people in the Niger
Delta,” Mr Okah said in a statement obtained by NEXT.

The Mayor of the
City of Cleveland, Frank G. Jackson, has declared October 1, 2010, as
the Nigerian-American Day in the city. The Mayor made the proclamation
to mark the celebration of the golden jubilee anniversary of Nigeria’s
independence.

In a statement
announcing the declaration, Mr. Jackson remarked that the proclamation
is also a recognition of the contributions of Nigerians ( about 10, 000
Nigerian-Americans) living in the Greater Cleveland, most of whom are
professionals in the field of medicine, science, engineering, academia,
and business men and women.

“On behalf of the
citizens of the City of Cleveland, I am honoured to offer the
proclamation designating October 1, 2010, as Nigerian-American Day in
the City of Cleveland,” he declared.

In another
development, the Congress woman, representing 11th District Ohio,
Marcia Fudge, will be the keynote speaker at the event scheduled by the
Nigerian community in Greater Cleveland to celebrate the anniversary.

Part of this year’s independence celebration includes the extension
of scholarship awards to Nigerians and Americans in Greater Cleveland,
display of Nigeria’s cultural heritage and artefacts such as Nigerian
dances and masquerades, which will include the Eyo festival masquerade,
Ekwe dance, and Abang dance groups.

Aba, the economic
nerve centre of Abia State, is almost a ghost of itself with schools
and banks closed, as the siege on the city and its adjoining local
governments by kidnappers, continue. There is growing uncertainty over
the early release of the 15 school children abducted on Monday on their
way to school.

The Abia state
Commissioner of Police, Jonathan Johnson, however, said the closure of
banks was a panic measure that did not reflect the real security
situation in the city, adding that there were enough security personnel
posted to each of the banks in the city.

Throughout the
metropolis, as well as the Ogbor hill and Umungasi areas of Aba, there
is a near absence of school buses that usually run through the streets
to pick school children, and the few that were seen were without
pupils, as their parents were afraid of sending them to school.
Virtually every private school in the city has voluntarily closed.

There were also no
march past rehearsals in the schools that were open as was the case in
most of the schools last week, in preparation for our nations golden
jubilee celebration.

One of the
proprietors of the schools visited, who closed her school yesterday,
said it was sad that the government has shown no commensurate interest
in the safety of the kids the same way they did when the four
journalists were kidnapped. She expressed wonder that the government
could not buy tracking equipment for the police since they know that
kidnapping in Aba has become endemic and sophisticated, rather than
engaging in an amnesty that will not work, as the kidnappers are mere
criminals who might not embrace the programme.

“This amnesty thing
will not work. These are armed robbers who are into kidnapping because
it is an easier way of picking their millions without sweat,” she said.

Fighting talk

Meanwhile, the
heavy presence of soldiers was noticed in Aba on Thursday, especially
along the Port Harcourt Express Road, an indication that the government
might possibly go on the offensive against the hoodlums.

In a broadcast to
the state, the governor, Theodore Orji, assured the parents of the
kidnapped children that his administration, in conjunction with the
federal government, was doing everything in their power to ensure that
the young victims are released quickly and safely to rejoin their
parents, teachers and friends.

He emphasised that
his government is determined to stop this trend of kidnapping in Abia
State. “Despite attempts to build a theory of intentions around the
incidents of kidnapping in Abia State, our view now is that these
kidnappers are not reacting to any realistic issues that are of utmost
importance to their societies or to the state,” he said.

“These kidnappers
are mere gold diggers, whose resolution and trade ambition is to make
easy money and to secure the betterment of themselves alone, and so the
government will not allow a few disgruntled elements in criminal garb
to hold the entire state hostage. Government has been challenged, and
we have decided to take the utmost measure available to implement the
might and weight of government’s forces.”

Meanwhile, the police have raided the camps of some suspected
kidnappers in Ukwa West area of the state. However, the kidnappers had
escaped before the arrival of the police.

As Nigeria commemorates its 50th
anniversary today, the governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, on
Thursday assured citizens that there is a future for the nation.

Calling on Nigerians to let go of the
failures from the last 50 years, and look forward to a greater nation,
the governor said that people should be more concerned on how to place
the country in a much better pedestal.

“There is life, there is hope and I
believe that what lies ahead of us really, is more important than what
we have to put behind us,” said Mr Fashola at the presidential wing of
the Murtala Mohammed Airport (MMA), Lagos while speaking to
correspondents.

“I think we should focus more in engaging with the present and the future rather than mourning the past.”

The Lagos State helmsman said that
residents of the city should be expectant of the dividends of democracy
come the next 50 years, adding that the economy of Lagos will receive a
positive boost.

“Expect improved quality service
delivery, safer city state, good quality of life, better life
expectancy for the citizenry, and better opportunity for prosperity in
all sectors of the economy,” he said.

Why there is a slow down

Asked what could be responsible for the
sudden slowdown in his government’s performance in recent times, Mr
Fashola argued that his administration has not relented in its work,
adding that climatic constraints have affected workflow drastically.

“The pace of work has not slowed down.
Traditionally, you must understand that we want to maximise every
distraction that we had. The weather has not helped and, therefore,
there is going to be a lot of waste. Road construction particularly is
a very technical thing that requires asphalt, bitumen to be heated up
and applied on the surface,” he said.

“Once you have bad weather, when the
road has even been prepared for laying of bitumen, you have to stop,
lose all the materials to the rain. Note that you already have labour
on site and you have to pay them even though they can’t work.”

He explained that embarking on
aggressive infrastructural development during the season tends to waste
resources and that as soon as the State government gets a sound weather
forecast it will commence work.

“It is not that the work can’t be done, but it comes with a lot of
waste and therefore we are hoping that the weather forecaster that we
have now will be able to announce accurately and therefore, we will be
able to do more with the little that we have,” he said.

Ondo State indigenes, including the state governor,
Olusegun Mimiko, have called on Nigerians to remain focused as the
nation celebrates its 50th independence anniversary.

Mr Mimiko, in his goodwill message, noted that though
the promise of independence has not been fully realized, this should
not be allowed to diminish the value of freedom and the significance of
becoming a sovereign nation.

The governor’s message which was released by his
spokesperson, Kolawole Olabisi, described Nigeria as a great nation
with great potential.

He said rather than engage in recrimination over our
misses and woes, today’s celebration of Nigeria’s golden Jubilee should
be a forceful reminder of the promises yet to be fulfilled and of
dreams yet to be attained.

He said the attainment of that is the task that must
be done to take the nation to the heights desired for her by her
founding fathers.

While positing that the nation must be re-tooled to
take its pride of place among the comity of nations, Mr Mimiko said for
Nigeria to be given its dues, its leaders must ensure that credible
election hold next year.

“As we celebrate our nation’s golden Jubilee, there
is no doubt that our nation is today faced with a number of daunting
challenges, but in the face of all these challenges, our resolve and
abiding faith must remain unshaken,” he said. “These challenges, to my
mind, should however be taken as ample opportunities waiting to be
translated into stepping stones to an assured destiny of peace,
progress, and prosperity for our common posterity if we all remain
focused and do our bit.”

Tackle the problems

Human rights activist and lawyer, Tunji Abayomi, said
the celebration should serve as an opportunity to ponder how to save
the nation from the multifarious problems which has relegated it among
its peers.

“The nation has gone through a lot of difficulties
basically, the failure of leadership. In reality, the nation should not
be where it is today. Social infrastructure, the well being of the
people have been treated with levity and disdain,” he said.

“If you assess where the nation is today, you are
bound to say that the nation has failed. There is no good road, no
access to health and water, unemployment is on the increase, and
kidnapping is the order of the day and corruption is the highest common
factor.” Mr Abayomi noted that the only way the nation can be freed
from the shackles of poverty and maladministration is to ensure that
people with the genuine interest of the nation at heart are given the
chance to rule.

Leader of the Yoruba Socio Cultural Group, Afenifere, Rueben
Fasoranti blamed the nation’s woes on corruption in high places and
poor administration.