Nigeria Content Online

The presidential
task force on NITEL/MTEL have appealed to the federal government to
ensure an immediate release of the sum of N51.692 billion to settle
outstanding debt owed to employees.

The chairman of the
task force and the minister of labour, Chukwuemeka Wogu, while
presenting the report to the vice president, Namadi Sambo, said the
terms of reference of the task force was to address the issue of
outstanding salaries and allowances owed NITEL/MTEL staff and determine
the number of staff to be disengaged to reduce the wage liabilities of
government, as the enterprises were not operational.

The vice president
said a committee constituted by the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE)
has recently recommended the immediate sale of the company.

“The federal
government will be working on the sale of the company, while exploring
other revenue sources to address the problems enumerated by the task
force as a matter of urgency,” the vice president said.

Mr Wogu also catalogued the challenges his group faced in conducting its assignment.

These include
judgments by an Abuja High Court prohibiting the employment of casual
staff, as it goes contrary to the condition of service, which,
therefore, confers on t hem permanent and pensionable status, even
though the ruling is under appeal by BPE; the appointment of actuarial
consultant who was to foreclose the possibility of inflation of
entitlements; and the lack of funds to adequately execute the
assignment.

Three scenarios

He said the task
force explored three scenarios, which were: to disengage all current
employees and immediately re-engage 445 transition staff from the 3389
staff, with a monthly wage bill of N115.5 million, down the current
N695 million, who will remain to hand over to a new core investor; to
disengage all employees who are currently aged 45 and above and those
that have served 25 years and above – which will reduce the work force
by approximately 66% of the staff and reduce monthly wage bill from
N695 million to N187.6 million. The third option is to disengage all
employees who are aged above 50 and employees that have served 35 years
and above. This, the task force says, is capable of reducing the wage
bill from N695 million to N313.8 million.

“The task force
recommended the adoption of the first scenario, where all staff are
exited and paid off their entitlements,” he said.

Mr. Wogu,
therefore, appealed to the government for the immediate release of the
sum of N51.692 billion to downsize and comply with court orders.

Six students of the University of Ado
Ekiti were yesterday arraigned before an Ado Ekiti magistrate court on
a five count charge of breach of peace, unlawful tumultuous gathering,
unlawful damage to properties, causing injuries while rioting and
assault on police officers by stoning them. The students, who were all
male, were alleged to have committed the offence last Monday include
Oluwatuyi Olufemi, 24; Isiaka Muri, 25; Fadoju Olubode, 19; Lawal
Oluwaseyi, 18; Oladeinde Kehinde, 24 and Akinsola Busuyi, 24. The
students had on Monday staged a protest against the decision of the
management to increase the fees payable by incoming students. The
Prosecutor told the Magistrate, Adesoji Adegboye that though he would
call five witnesses for the case asked for an adjournment to enable him
study the case file. Speaking on behalf of others, counsel to three of
the six accused persons, Kayode Akinwumi pleaded for bail for all of
the accuse and promise to produce them on any of the adjournment dates
having spent two days in the police cell. Mr Adegboye, while adjourning
the case till October 8th for hearing, granted the accused persons bail
in the sum of N10, 000.00 each with reasonable surety in like sum.
The student protest nearly marred the
2010 Distinguished Lecture of the institution, which was delivered by
the Chief of Air Staff, Oluseyi Petinrin. Some of vehicles that were
damaged during the confrontation between the security attached to
Messrs Oni and Petinrin and the protesting students were: a Nissan
Sunny, a Nissan Primera, and a Toyota Camry belonging to the wife of
the personal assistant to the governor, Bunmi Ojo. Others are two
Toyota Hilux vans and a Station Wagon belonging to the police.
Blame the opposition
Meanwhile, the Ekiti State commissioner
for information and civic orientation, Taiwo Olatunbosun, has accused
opposition politicians in the state of being the masterminds of the
students protest. Miffed by what he described as the relentless attempt
by the few dissenters to make the state unmanageable at all cost
through instigating chaos and discords at the detriment of the people
in the state, Mr Olatunbosun castigated the instigators of the unrest
for putting the lives of the people in the university community at
risk. He said it was by the grace of God and the benevolence of Mr Oni
that the situation did not deteriorate to a full fledge melee with
attendant loss of lives.
The state official said the students
had no reason to engage in such unruly venture since they were not
affected by the proposed increase in school fees as the new fee regime
would affect only the new intakes that were yet to resume in the
institution.
“The running of the institution was entirely at the discretion of
the board and management of the institution without any undue
interference, and we wondered why the governor was targeted on such
ridiculous and unconvincing excuse,” he said.

We are fortunate in
Nigeria to have many elder statesmen. . Wikipedia defines a
statesman/woman as “usually a politician or other notable public figure
who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at
the national and international level. ”

‘Statesman’ is an
ascribed status that cannot be applied for, nor is one elected to it.
It is neither a title conferred by a traditional ruler nor a national
honour conferred by the president.

You can only become
a statesman after you have retired and assessed by the people as having
dedicated a large portion of your life to serving national and
international interests meritoriously.

The international
statesmen that I am aware of do not seek to return to power after
exiting the stage. The status conferred on them means that they remain
highly influential and relevant for the rest of their lives. They are
called upon again and again.

Alas, here at home,
the well-known former politician is not required to have had either a
long career in politics (e.g. interim heads of state), or a respected
career in politics (e.g. military or failed administrations). Once you
have held the top position in a government body, you are called a
statesman. Any of our heads of state and all of our top political
figures are labeled statesmen, including the ones who were disgraced
off the stage.

In seeking a
definition that would satisfy our burning desire for someone who will
take us along internationally acknowledged roadmap to national
development and self-fulfilment, I came across five statesmanlike
qualities in wisegeek.com Statesman-like qualities.

1. A statesman is generally above party politics.

I agree with this
one. The international statesmen I mostly admire belong to one
political party or another and participate actively in promoting their
party; YET, the issues that concern them are broader and greater than
any one party and concern everyone, irrespective of their political
leanings.

2. A statesman
takes the long view of things, and tries to consider what is best not
only for his nation or group, but for everyone concerned.

A classic example
is the poster-boy for national transformation, Lee Kwan Yew, the former
prime minister of Singapore who spent time with advisers and his team
devising a win-win situation that would not only benefit the civil
servants in his government, their nation, and the distinct ethnic
groups within it, but also neighbouring countries and the world at
large.

3. A statesman
possesses the power of persuasion, not only to other national and
international leaders, but to his own constituency.

I would like
someone to point out to me any statesman in our nation’s history whose
constituency engaged with them, understood their vision for their
constituency and for the nation, and have seen real and lasting
development in their areas as a result of the efforts of their
statesmen.

We are a funny
people. We like telling stories of how the big politician returned to
his village or home town and sat under the tree by the mud huts with
the contemporaries he left behind, not too proud to drink palm wine
with them or share their food from a common plate, as in days of old.
Why was the leader not able to elevate the level of development where
s/he comes from to levels higher than were s/he left them?

And our dear
compatriots, instead of being angered that the person who, through
their efforts, was lifted over the development barrier; our people feel
HONOURED that the person has come down to their level!

4. A statesman can be tough when needed, but never loses his/her temper or perspective.

As has been clearly
shown by the recent scuffle on the streets of Ogun State during the
inauguration of a new bridge; by the fisticuffs in the House of
Representatives over allegations of misappropriation of funds and
impropriety; our political leaders lack this statesmanlike quality.

5. The things that a statesman accomplishes often wind up not only in newspapers, but in history books.

Yes, we can say
that our founding fathers, the big three, Tafawa Balewa, Azikiwe, and
Awolowo, accomplished independence, but it did not last. Corruption has
eaten away at all they envisioned for our nation. What will the history
books say about the parade of heads of state, speakers of our national
assembly, and governors of our states?

Statesmen, we are begging you to please step forward.

Madonna and Demi
Moore may be fuelling talk of a growing trend for older women on the
prowl for younger men but a study has said the phenomenon of the
“cougar” is a myth, confined to the world of celebrities.

The study of online
dating, by the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC), issued
last week found men and women are still rather traditional when it
comes to searching for their ideal partner.

Women generally seek an older and, therefore hopefully, wealthier man, according to the UWIC study.

Men, on the other hand, desire a young and attractive female, and often prefer a much younger partner as they themselves age.

The findings,
published in the journal Evolution and Human Behaviour, disputes the
“cougar” phenomenon popularised in TV shows and movies like “Cougar
Town” starring Courteney Cox and “Sex and the City” of women aged over
40 seeking “cubs.” Psychologist Michael Dunn of UWIC’s Cardiff School
of Health Sciences led the study which involved analysing the age
preferences of 22,000 men and women using online dating sites across 14
countries and two religious groups.

“A critically
important consideration for advertisers on online dating sites appears
to be the age of a potential partner,” Mr Dunn said in a statement.

He said it was a
commonly held assumption that with the advent of female financial
independence, women were now free to target men of any age group, as
securing financial security from older, wealthier males was no longer a
priority.

“The transference
of female desire from relatively older men to relatively younger men,
it has been argued, is reflected by the growth of the toy boy
phenomenon,” he said.

“The results of our
research challenge these assumptions. Although there was some cultural
variation in extremes, the results showed clearly that women across all
age groups and cultures, targeted males either their own age or older.”
Mr Dunn said a strikingly different pattern of age preferences was
evident in men.

Younger men, aged 20 to 25, either targeted females their own age or marginally younger.

Consistent pattern
But as males aged, they clearly expressed a preference for women
increasingly younger than themselves, with this pattern also being
cross-culturally consistent.

“These findings are clearly supportive of evolutionary theory,” Mr Dunn added.

“A wide variety of
evidence has shown that women, when considering a potential long-term
partner, focus more than males on cues indicative of wealth and status
and these logically accumulate with age.

Males conversely
focus more intently on physical attractiveness cues and these are
clearly correlated with the years of maximum fertility.” A UWIC release
added: “Madonna and Demi Moore are said to be influencing a whole new
generation of ‘cougar’ women who see much younger men as their goal
when looking for a long-term partner.

“But this notion of the ‘toy-boy’ phenomenon is dispelled as a myth
which only exists in the world of celebrity rather than reflecting real
life.” The countries involved in the survey were Australia, Brazil,
Britain, Canada, China, Greece, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya,
Mexico, Russia, South Africa, and Ukraine.

The National
Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), on Wednesday, solicited the
intervention of some Yoruba leaders on the crisis of ego plaguing the
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho.

The students’ body,
in a statement made available to journalists, specifically called on
former president, Olusegun Obasanjo, the governors’ forum, and Afe
Babalola to wade into the crisis and call the duo of Governors
Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Adebayo Alao-Akala of Osun and Oyo States to
order.

The call is coming
about 24 hours after the southwest branch of Action Congress of Nigeria
(ACN) warned on the implication of the crisis on the future of
education of the owner states, the institution itself, its students,
and members of staff.

NANS said it
condemned the ‘needless’ struggle over the control of the management of
the institution, positing “the lingering crisis has seriously affected
the reputation of the institution regarded as the ‘Best State
University in the country and the 76th Best University in African
continent.’

“The latest
issuance of two weeks ultimatum by the National Universities Commission
(NUC), for the two states to resolve the crisis, has evidently showed
some publicity.

“We, therefore,
sincerely appeal to the senses of reasoning and patriotism of
Governors’ Forum, the monarchs in the south-west region, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, Aare Afe Babalola, and other eminent Nigerians to
collectively wade into the crisis and find the lasting solution to the
disengagement war.

“Students and
members of staff are grievously suffering from the agony of the series
of actions embarked upon by the Governors Adebayo Akala and Olagunsoye
Oyinlola,” the students said.

Dashed hopes

NANS stated that
the crisis has dashed the hopes of students who had hoped to become
graduates in the next few weeks, urging the governors of the
owner-states to quickly agree on the position of the vice chancellor
and the Governing Council before the deadline issued by the National
University Commission (NUC) to avoid its hammer of licence revocation
on the institution.

“It is our
conviction that in the general interests of the masses of both states,
the two proprietors should amicably resolve, harmonise, and make public
pronouncement that there exist now, a proper governance structure in
the institution,” NANS said.

“To emphasise their harmonisation, they should accede to the
yearnings of the striking unions on the campus as a matter of urgency,
so that the institution will resume normal academic activities. This is
in the interest of the students and the good reputation of the
varsity,” the union said.

Telecommunications
operators in Nigeria want the federal government to do a better job of
protecting telecom infrastructures, such as base stations and
fiber-optic cables, across the country.

Operators say the
regulation has become necessary because of the rise in vandalism,
abuse, and the indiscriminate shutting down of cell sites. He said such
activities threaten the functionality of the equipment and impact
negatively on the quality of service rendered by the operators.

Gbenga Adebayo,
chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of
Nigeria (ALTON), made this call when his group paid a visit to the
executive vice-chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC)
on Tuesday, in Abuja.

“We are of the view
that telecom infrastructure should be classified as national security
infrastructure and should be protected by law. These infrastructures
are owned by operators, but they provide services for the public,” he
said.

Mr Adebayo said
that without adequate protection of the infrastructure, the entire
national network is open to all forms of abuse.

Government issues

He condemned the
recent disconnection of some telecommunication installations by the
National Environmental Standard Regulatory Agency (NESREA), saying that
the agency did not follow due procedure.

He said the agency
had asked the group to submit an environmental impact assessment audit
report on sites across the country by the 24th of August. However, the
group said the agency began disconnecting sites in Abuja, Kaduna, and
Lagos on the 23rd – a day ahead of schedule.

“It is very
unfortunate and our concern is not just on the commercial losses, but
on the impact on quality of services. It is sad that an agency of
government would subject operators and Nigerians to that kind of
hardship,” he said.

Mr Adebayo said
that some of the sites that were shut down were hub sites that provide
services to other secondary stations. He called on the NCC to intervene
in the standoff, adding that the matter could go to court if
negotiations fail.

The NCC’s Eugene
Juwah promised that the commission will continue to hold discussions
with NESREA to mitigate the impact of such disruptions on quality of
service. However, he said the commission could not protect
infrastructure; rather, that was the priority of the police.

Twenty-two members
of the Plateau State House of Assembly have been quizzed by
anti-corruption officials over how they spent N880 million in two years.

The lawmakers
reportedly received N20million each in 2007 and again in 2008 as
“constituency allowance,” and are now being quizzed by investigators of
the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission
(ICPC). “The lawmakers were guests of the commission since last week as
the commission’s investigators took them in batches,” said Folu
Olamiti, the Media Consultant to the agency. “The last batch of eight
was attended to yesterday.” The commission began investigations after
it received a petition from “concerned elders of Plateau State” who
complained that none of the lawmakers executed projects for which they
received the money. The ICPC officials will also be looking into
whether the contracts were inflated, how the contracts were awarded to
determine whether there was competitive bidding, and whether or not the
contracts have actually been executed. Investigators would be going to
the contract cites.

Illegal allowances

Salaries and
allowances of state legislators, as well as other elected public
officials, are by law to be determined by the Revenue Mobilisation
Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). The approved amount as annual
constituency allowance for state legislators according to the RMAFC
website is 50% of their basic salary which amounts to less than N400,
000. The annual N20million being received by the Plateau State
legislators as constituency allowance is not only higher than the
approved figure, but is higher than the approved total package
(salaries plus all allowances) the legislators should receive.

Mr Olamiti explained that the commission would be finding out if the
“legislators violated any law by approving such an amount for
themselves.” A source at the anti-graft agency said “there is no doubt
that they collected the money, what we want to find out is whether they
utilised the money they received for the purpose it was meant.” The
source confirmed that although the lawmakers collected the allowance
again in 2009, the ICPC may not include that in its investigations
because “they (the legislators) could claim that the 2009 contracts
were still ongoing.” Collection of illegal and unapproved allowances is
not limited to Plateau State legislators. Members of the National
Assembly are believed to receive between N35million and N48million as
office running cost every quarter. Following statements credited to
former President Olusegun Obasanjo, the ICPC last week asked the clerk
of the National Assembly to furnish it with the vouchers and slips of
all payment made to federal legislators since 2007.

The future of the
present leadership of the All-Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) hangs in the
balance as the party convenes its National Executive Committee (NEC)
meeting tomorrow.

Sources said
yesterday that the meeting was convened by members to show their
disapproval of the committee, led by Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, the National
Chairman of the party, and its handling of party affairs. The crisis
erupted after the current executive committee nullified the party’s
“caretaker committee clause.” The clause would have created a temporary
committee to run the party while it was on vacation until the current
executives’ tenure expired on September 6. Following the move, party
members gave the executives seven days to call a meeting, in line with
the party’s constitution. “When the deadline expired last week, the
party’s state chairmen, vice-chairmen, and other members called the NEC
meeting,” said a party member who spoke under condition of anonymity.
“From their body language, they are not willing to go and so that is
why we have decided to call the meeting.”

Party insiders also say members who are dissatisfied with its
affairs are “filtering away.” “Due to the behaviour of the executives,
the party has lost prominent members to other parties,” said the
source. “Instead of attracting new members, the old members are leaving
and it is not good enough for our party.” ​

The Oyo State
governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala, on Wednesday condemned the recent strike
by the state chapter of the National Union of Teachers (NUT).

Describing the
strike as unreasonable, Mr Akala, while speaking to correspondents at
the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 (MMA2), Lagos said that the employees
are aware that they will go back to their job, but still went ahead
with the industrial action.

“The only thing is
that we should try as much as possible to be reasonable in this
country,” he said. “You (workers) know you are going to come back to
work, why do you have to suffer our children for no just cause?”

Two months ago,
primary and post primary school teachers in Oyo State embarked on an
industrial action, which lasted for seven weeks following agitations by
the workers for the implementation 27.7 per cent of enhanced Teachers
Salary Scale (TSS).

The strike was, nevertheless, called off on Tuesday after the state government responded to the yearnings of the teachers.

Mr Akala, however, expressed satisfaction with the teachers’ resolve to end the strike.

“But we thank God that they (teachers) are back. We have given them what they want,” he said.

Meanwhile, the
governor also talked about the recent ban of the state chapter of the
National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) will bring a lasting
solution to the protracted crisis bedevilling the leadership of the
association.

Mr Akala declined
commenting on the developments after the proscription of the union by
his government, stressing that he does not care about whoever is not
comfortable with the ban.

“What I know is
that I’ve banned activities of NURTW in my state and that is all. I am
not interested in who is who; let them go and meet their national
leaders,” he said.

On August 8, Dotun
Oyelade, special adviser to governor Akala, in a statement, announced
the proscription of the union following series of crisis in the
management of the association, adding that all corporate activities
undertaken by the union in the state were hitherto suspended.

Condemning the
fracas in the union and the loss which it has cost the State, the Oyo
helmsman maintained that ‘lasting’ peace and quiet will be returned to
the association following the ban.

“It (the ban) will bring solution,” he said. “When they (union
leaders) are no more in power, that will be the lasting solution to the
crisis in the state.”

The governor of
Ogun State, Gbenga Daniel, has evaded a challenge by the House of
Assembly for a live television debate on the controversial N100billion
bond.

The lawmakers,
while ruling out the possibility of granting the governor’s wish for
the bond as a result of alleged loopholes in the documents backing the
bid, said if Mr Daniel is not satisfied with their position on the
matter, he should present himself for a public debate.

Reacting to the
challenge, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Sina
Kawonise, at a press conference held at Governor’s Office press centre
yesterday, said the lawmakers were trying to make mockery of the
governor, therefore Mr Daniel would not engage in such a debate.

“We will not drag
ourselves to gutter level. It is childish, a serious government should
not be part of the shenanigan. It is insulting to the integrity of
people of Ogun State. It is ridiculous. Assembly wants to make mockery
of serious issue,” Mr Kawonise said.

“Debate what? Who is to be the judge? We will leave people of Ogun State to judge them.”

The information commissioner said he was optimistic the current set of legislators will not be in the Assembly in 2011.

“All of these funny
characters in the assembly will not be part of history when the next
legislature comes into place, to grant the bond.”

He alleged the
lawmakers have an agenda to kill the ruling Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) in the state and move to another party.

Indebted to PHCN

In another
development, Mr Daniel said as a result of the poor financial status of
the state, the government is owing Power Holding Company of Nigeria
(PHCN) a huge sum of money that it cannot pay. He said the company has
since sent a letter threatening to disconnect power supply to a number
of government offices.

Mr. Daniel claimed that the State House is one of the premises marked for disconnection by the company.