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Nigerian youth have
been asked to actively participate in the voters registration and
voting exercises coming up next year so that they can elect leaders
with track records and integrity, President Goodluck Jonathan said
yesterday in Abuja.
The president, who
stated this during the National Youth Summit organised by the Federal
Ministry of Youth Development, said the future belongs to them and it
is their duty to ensure that they use their numerical strength to
effect a change by ensuring the country has good leaders at all level
of government.
Mr Jonathan said as
a former student and lecturer, he knows the needs and desires of youth
and promised that he will not disappoint them if voted into office next
year. The president, who was excited by the loud applause from the
crowd, said the ovation has rekindled his joy and enthusiasm and has
also convinced him that what the youth and the entire country need are
leaders that will turn their dreams into reality.
“You have made me proud of you and I want to promise you that I would not disappoint you,” he said.
He charged them to
always think of how the country can move forward instead of thinking of
things that will not benefit humanity.
“If you don’t contribute to societal progress, foreigners will not come and fix Nigeria for you,” he said.
Youth power
The Speaker of the
House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole said the problems the country
is going through today were caused years ago when none of those
gathered at the summit were probably born. To get out of the mess, he
said, youth should use their large population to effect a positive
change by voting good candidates into office at all levels.
“Nigeria today is
settling heavy debts that were incurred years ago due to
maladministration,” he said and suggested that the only way out is to
ensure good governance for the country. Mr Bankole advised the youth
not to allow themselves to be deceived by politicians who have nothing
to offer and challenged them to look at the achievements of this
government since Mr Jonathan assumed full office as president.
The Minister of
Youth Development, Akinlabi Olasunkanmi said the 2006 census put the
population of the youth at over 60 million and explained that if they
all voted, they can determine who governs the country.
“This generation of
young voters holds the weapon of change from old stereotypes,
primordial conceptions and entrenched cynicism,” Mr Akinlabi said.
Citing instances,
Mr Olasunkanmi said in the United States of America (USA), youth
participation at the ballot box progressively increased from 2006 to
date, noting that it is on record that over 22 million youth voted in
2008 to deliver a major power shift in the U.S,A , producing president
Barrack Obama, the first black man to ever occupy the White House.

President Goodluck Jonathan has accepted the resignation of his special adviser on Niger Delta Affairs, Timi Alaibe.

Mr Alaibe had
informed the President in a letter that he is resigning his appointment
with effect from today to contest for the governorship of Bayelsa State
in the 2011 general elections.

In the past weeks, some ministers have also exited the cabinet with special assistants now towing the same line.

Until his resignation, Mr Alaibe was in charge of the amnesty programme for repentant militants in the Niger Delta.

A statement signed
by the special adviser to the President, Ima Niboro said following the
vacancy created, Mr Jonathan has appointed two other senior special
assistants.

The President
appointed Emmanuel Egbagbe as Senior Special Assistant to the President
on Infrastructure Development Matters and Saidu Yusuf Dutsi as Senior
Special Assistant to the President on Political Matters.

Until his
appointment, Mr Egbagbe, who holds a Masters of Sciences Degree in
Water Resources Systems Engineering from the University of California
and was the best graduating student of Civil Engineering at the
University of Lagos in 1977, was the Director of Infrastructure
Development at the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.

Mr Dutsi, who holds
a Masters Degree in Public Policy and Administration from Bayero
University, Kano has held various elective and Public posts in his
native Katsina State. Until his new appointment, he was the Special
Assistant on Political Matters to the Katsina State Governor.

“Both appointments,
which take effect from January 1, 2011, are to fill vacancies created
by the appointment of Femi Ajayi (former SSA to the President on Social
Development) as Director-General of the National Drug Law Enforcement
Agency and the death of Polycarp Nwite (former SSA to the President on
Political Matters),” Mr Niboro said.

Mr. Alaibe later picked up the nomination form of Labour Party to contest the Bayelsa State’s governorship election in 2011.

He picked the form
at the national secretariat of the party where he was received by the
National chairman of Labour party, Chief Dan Iwuanyanwu.

His entrance into the race makes him the main challenger to the
incumbent governor, Timipre Sylva of the Peoples Democratic Party.

The Resident Electoral Commisioner of
the Independent National Electoral Commission for Adamawa State, Kassim
Gaidam has taken delivery of over 8,000 Direct Data Capture (DDC)
machines, promising that the machines will get to every ward and the
2609 polling units of the state.

Security around the
INEC headquarters’ in the state has also been tightened following the
delivery of the machines. Visitors to the INEC office now have to be
subjected to serious security checks, a measure, Mr Gaidam said has
become necessary to ensure that the machines are protected from theft.

In other states
which had earlier received the equipment, training has already started
for staff on the use of Direct Data Capture machines ahead of the voter
registration scheduled to begin on Jan. 15. In Enugu State, the
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Josiah Uwazuruonye, urged the
trainees to be diligent and receptive to instructions.

He said voter registration is the starting point of the electoral process and should be taken seriously.

“Registration is an
important exercise, given the current political history of the nation,”
he said. “There is a need to get it right this time.” In Adamawa State,
Mr Gaidam told journalists that additional 2,000 DDC machines were
still being expected to be delivered in a second consignment.

He said adhoc staff
being recruited by INEC in the state for the forthcoming voter
registration exercise will be subjected to test at the end of the
training as part of measures to ensure that it got only the best hands
for the exercise.

Train the staff

A staff of the
commission said the office needs to make strenuous efforts to train its
284 registration camp officers on the use of the DDC machines due to
the late arrival of the machines.

At the Federal
College of Education, Yola venue for the train the trainers workshop,
our reporter gathered that the DDC machines which are suppose to be
used for the training a day earlier were only received today, the last
day of the training. A check on the venue revealed that some of the DDC
machines were already been displayed and ready to be used for training.

It was gathered
that the commission directed a shift in the close of the training to
allow for the trainees to be properly skilled on the use of the DDC
machines.

“226 official
registration area camp officers are being trained to preside over each
of the registration area centres of the 226 wards in the state,” Thomas
Umar, head of operations of INEC, said. He pointed out that 62 other
officials are taking part in the exercise.

Mr Gaidam, who re-stated the target of
his commission to register over 2million voters in the state in the
forthcoming voter registration exercise, noted that “there’s much more
awareness now about the forthcoming voter registration exercise.” He
promised to ensure that the DDC machines get to each of the 2609
polling units in the state, promising to put at least 3 DDC machines in
each of the polling units.

The National
Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Okwesilieze Nwodo
yesterday warned officials involved in the on-going electoral process
in the party not to flout the guidelines spelt out for the process.

Mr Nwodo gave this
warning while reacting to issues raised by various aggrieved party
members, especially aspirants alleging irregularities in the process.

The party had,
during its National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting two weeks ago,
approved the fresh guidelines for its State Assembly, National
Assembly, gubernatorial and presidential primaries. It also approved
panels to screen the aspirants and later raised appeal panels to handle
complaints arising from the process.

Mr Nwodo said that
the National Working Committee (NWC) will not tolerate situations where
officials or members violate the guidelines which the party had made
efforts to draw up in order to ensure a credible process.

He said that he has
dedicated a special telephone line (08060095007) to welcome views and
complaints arising from the intra party process across the country.

The party boss
added that barely 24 hours after installing the telephone line, he had
read and reacted to over 25 text messages (SMS) on the election across
the country.

Problem states

He listed the sates
from which complaints came to include Plataeu, Abia, Bayelsa, Oyo,
Anambra and Enugu. Others include Osun, Lagos, Delta, Kwara and Ebonyi.

Mr Nwodo added that
most of the complaints alleged manipulations by some party leaders to
thwart the will of the party members and some deliberate attempts to
exclude majority from participating and picking leaders of their choice.

According to him,
he has referred some of the issues raised by the complainants to the
relevant panels for attention and necessary action.

Mr Nwodo also
reiterated his determination to ensure that internal democracy is
allowed to prevail in the party just as he vowed to provide a level
playing ground to all aspirants.

President Goodluck
Jonathan has accepted to engage his main opponent for the presidential
ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, in a
political debate.

Though he said this
must be done at the instance of the party, he said he expected that the
party’s flag bearer and other candidates will debate on issues based on
manifestos rather than challenging each other as if to a wrestling
competition.

Mr. Jonathan’s 2011
political ambition took a step forward when he was yesterday
unanimously endorsed by South-South delegates to the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) national convention during a meeting between the president
and the south-south delegates in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State.

The delegates from
the six states of the region openly endorsed the Jonathan/Sambo ticket
as the best ticket. While thanking delegates for their support, Mr.
Jonathan said he was ready to take up the challenge of his main
opponent whenever the party deems it fit for them to meet.

“I am waiting for the party to invite me for presidential debate,” he said.

The president also
assured the people of the region that he will do his best not to let
them down, noting that whatever he does while in office will rub off
positively or negatively on the people from the south-south region.

He further noted
that he will ensure that he does nothing that will jeorpardise the
chances of others from the region in the nearest future.

“If I mess up, the
people will reject us (zone) completely, and this is why I have to do
everything possible to ensure that we do well as a government,” he said.

Working for progress

He reassured the
people that come March next year, the country will enjoy relative power
stability, as all the efforts put in by the administration should have
yielded tons of fruits.

The president said
after considering the other aspirants from the party, he is convinced
that he and his vice president present the best that will lead the
nation out of the woods.

“That is why our
administration is assuring Nigerians that if given another four years,
we would try and make the country better,” he said.

Mr. Jonathan, who
had earlier met with the chairman of Rivers State traditional ruler,
King TJT Princewill JP Amachree, Amanyanbo of Kalabari Kingdom, also
reiterated his plan to send to the National Assembly a bill that will
recognise the traditional institutions in the country.

This he said he
will do early next year. He asked the traditional rulers to contribute
towards the bill when the National Assembly commences public debate on
the it.

The president, who
also reacted on the Jos killings, said the situation is a national
embarrassment, adding that terrorism has become a global plague which
the government is working hard to tackle and make a thing of the past.

The Socio-Economic
Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has called on President
Goodluck Jonathan to arrest and repatriate suspected perpetrators of
the violence in Jos, Plateau State to the International Criminal Court
(ICC) in The Hague for prosecution.

It, however,
attached the salvation of Jos to the government’s readiness to fight
against impunity in Jos by ensuring that no offender is shielded by
security agencies.

“President Jonathan
should meet this challenge head on and exercise the required political
will to make the arrest and transfer of perpetrators to the ICC
happen,” SERAP Executive Director,

Adetokunbo Mumuni
said. “It is now time for this government to show that it is truly
committed to putting an end to impunity for the crimes in Jos by
immediately arresting and surrendering suspected perpetrators to the
ICC.” The group called on Mr Jonathan to “show strong leadership in the
face of increasing violence in Jos, and the killings of innocent
citizens, by urgently arresting and surrendering suspected
perpetrators.” It stated that the court is already investigating the
international crimes being committed in Jos.

Doing little

No fewer than 80
persons have been confirmed killed and 109 wounded in the bombing and
reprisal attacks which took place in Jos from Christmas eve to date.

“It is on record that successive governments have failed to
implement the country’s international legal obligations to respect,
protect, and fulfil the human rights of the people of Jos by
persistently failing to deter and prevent recurring outbreaks of
violence, and by failing to effectively investigate and prosecute
suspected perpetrators,” SERAP says. “This in turn has fostered chronic
impunity for perpetrators, and total defenselessness of victims and
their relatives. The surest and most effective way to restore and
maintain peace and security in Jos is for this government to allow and
facilitate the investigation and analysis of Jos by the ICC by sharing
with the court important information that will lead to the transfer of
perpetrators to the court for trial.” The International Court had, in
November, promised to investigate and analyse the situation in Jos with
a view to prosecuting the relevant crimes. This followed a petition
sent by SERAP’s solicitor, Femi Falana to the ICC Chief Prosecutor,
Luis Moreno Ocampo.

The crisis in Enugu
State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party may have been settled
following the intervention, on Tuesday night, of President Goodluck
Jonathan, who reportedly ordered that the two factions of the party in
the state be harmonised.

The factions are
headed by the state governor, Sullivan Chime and the national chairman
of the party, Okwesilieze Nwodo, who is a former governor of the state.

Mr Jonathan was
said to have given the order at a meeting held at Presidential Villa
and which was attended by the vice president, Namadi Sambo, as well as
Messrs Chime and Nwodo.

Others at the
meeting were all PDP members of the National Assembly from Enugu State
led by the Aviation Minister, Fidelia Njeze. Allison Madueke, husband
of the Petroleum Resources minister, Diezani, was also in attendance.

Sources at the
meeting said it agreed that both factions should nominate members into
the party executive committee in the state to ensure balance of power.
It was not clear, however, if the chairman of the dissolved committee,
Vitalis Abba was retained in that position.

It was further
gathered that following the agreement to harmonise the executive
committee, the fresh congress ordered by the national working committee
(NWC) of the party in the state on Monday, was shelved.

Screening of candidates and court cases

The meeting also
agreed that the screening of all aspirants to the elective positions
for the 2011 general elections should be moved back to Enugu State.

The National
Working Committee had on Monday, through the national organising
secretary, Uche Secondus, instructed all the aspirants to come to Abuja
for the screening following reports of poor security situation in the
state arising from the aborted exercise.

The Aso Rock
meeting, our sources added, ordered individuals and groups which
instituted cases in courts on the crisis, to withdraw such cases with
immediate effect to ensure total reconciliation. It was also resolved
that since the Chime-led administration is a “winning team”, it should
be allowed to continue.

The national
publicity secretary of the PDP, Ahmed Alkali, could not be reached
yesterday as he was said to have travelled to Gombe State where he is
running for the governorship election.

Working on resolution

After the meeting,
Mr Chime and the deputy senate president, Ike Ekweremadu were at the
PDP national secretariat yesterday where they met with Mr Nwodo and
members of the NWC.

Although,
discussions at the meeting were not disclosed to journalists, it was
learnt that they came to brief the NWC officially on the resolutions of
the meeting with Messrs Jonathan and Sambo.

Mr Nwodo had in
late October, ordered the dissolution of the Enugu State chapter of the
party following a letter from the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) saying that the congresses in the state and seven
others were inconclusive.

However, the
governor and his group resisted the dissolution, insisting that the
national chairman acted unilaterally. As the governor’s groups
challenged the chairman’s action in court.

There were,
however, reports that Mr Nwodo took the action because he was not
allowed to have a say in the running of the party in the state. The
chairman was also said to have opposed moves by Mr Chime to give
automatic ticket to elected lawmakers, saying it was undemocratic. The
issue allegedly led to the order to shift the screening of the
aspirants in the state to Abuja; that has now been reversed.

The stand-off between the governor and the chairman got to feverish
pitch when both reportedly clashed at a recent meeting of the national
executive committee of the party. Mr Nwodo has since denied the report.

The wait for the
burial of Fuji maestro, Sikiru Ayinde Balogun, popularly known as
Ayinde Barrister at his Isolo residence in Lagos had all the feel of a
royal funeral.

Frenzy atmosphere

His corpse was to be brought in from the United Kingdom, yesterday, for his burial which is now expected to take place today.

With each passing
hour, the residence got rowdier and noisier, as hundreds of fans and
well wishers continued to throng the scene; some taking time to dance
to his music which did not stop blaring from large speakers stationed
around.

Interestingly, his
other residence at Okota, some distance away, maintained a quietness
contrasting the venue of the burial where there was a lot of pushing
and shoving with more and more people showing up to eulogise the late
musician.

Rain of praises

His wife of 25
years, Yetunde Balogun, described her late husband as very loving and
humble and added that it will take some time to get over the loss.

“I’d miss
everything about him; his love for people and his humility, because he
was very humble to the core,” she said. “I’m yet to get over everything
and everything is not the same; when somebody you’ve known for over 25
years suddenly departs; it can’t be the same, even in the music
industry, he will be missed because he has made landmark which nobody
will be able to fill.” Dayo Odeyemi, the media and Information director
for Barrister Organisation, described his former boss as a “comedian”
and “prophesier.” He said, “He is more or less a comedian. He will joke
and laugh with us; even when he’s on stage and one of the members
introduces a friend to him, he will eat and drink with that person and
in 30 minutes, you will think that they have known each other for a
long time. He also doesn’t keep malice and if you do something wrong
and apologise, everything will be fine again. He even predicted that he
would die in London and that his death would create controversy between
Ibadan and Lagos people, and that happened too, because people in
Ibadan wanted him to be buried there since he is an indigene of the
place.” Mr Odeyemi also assured that the musician’s “music composition”
and “lyrical idioms” will be missed in the music industry.

The love for the
late musician’s songs was one generally shared among fans and well
wishers who have come to show their last respect.

A fan, Adeola Amolegbe, said he could recite all the songs of the late musician.

“I love him and I
love his songs because they always have a lot of meaning; there is no
song of Alhaji (Barrister) that you won’t take a message away from,” he
said.

Business all the way

The large crowd
also presented traders with an opportunity which was quickly exploited
by traders for business. Branded handkerchiefs, caps, calendars,
shirts, and CDs of the late musician, ranging from N50 to N250, were
hawked about the premises for the fans.

Fatima Olanrewaju
who has been visiting the residence since the beginning of the week,
said she sells over 300 CDs of ‘Ayinde Barrister’ each day.

She said, “The 300
CDs I brought today remains only six; people have been buying
seriously.” Another hawker selling caps branded with the face of the
late musician, Kehinde Adeniji, said he came from Ibadan, a
neighbouring city to “make sales”.

‘Ayinde Barrister’ died in a London hospital earlier this month, at the age of 62 after a protracted illness.

There were mixed reactions yesterday over accounts of Tuesday’s explosion in Barkin Ladi, which injured a man.

Initial reports had
said a bomb had exploded in the town killing the bearer. However, the
Commissioner of Police for the Plateau State Command, Abdulramman
Akano, yesterday refuted the report. According to him, a teacher of
chemistry at the Islamic Orientation Secondary School, Barkin Ladi,
identified as Abubakar Musa was carrying out an experiment when some
chemicals he was mixing exploded.

Mr Akano said what
has happened in Barkin Ladi was just an explosion and not a bomb,
adding that the teacher was already undergoing treatment at a hospital.

However, many are wondering what experiment Mr Musa was conducting when the school is actually on break.

The commissioner
added that the teacher was conducting an experiment with some students
during an extra-mural class in the laboratory when it resulted in a
fire outbreak, which immediately engulfed the laboratory leaving him
with burnt hands.

The school is
situated near a market along Hospital Road in Barkin Ladi, sources said
it was when the students saw the speed of the spread of the fire that
they ran out yelling, before sympathizers assisted in putting out the
fire.

A source within the military intelligence, who spoke on condition of
anonymity dismissed the chemical experiment story as a cover up,
arguing that the school is on holidays and there is no examination
immediately ahead.

Leader of the
opposition coalition within the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo
State, Lekan Balogun, has called on the state governor, Adebayo
Alao-Akala to apologise to the people of the state for using the
state-owned media to peddle falsehood on situation of the PDP in the
state.

Mr Balogun, who
commented on the PDP congresses which took off in the state yesterday,
said it was the governor who used the media to hide the truth about the
party.

“It was a
confirmation of my group’s position that people of the state still love
the PDP, but were only tired of governor Akala who needs to apologise
to the people of the state for his maladministration, by using the
state owned electronic media to mislead the masses of the state about
the true position of things,” he said.

The coalition and
the group loyal to the governor hold different viewpoints on the
legality of the state executive council of the party in the state.
While the coalition had insisted that the party exco was illegal, as
the election that brought it into place had been restrained by an High
Court order, the other faction thought otherwise.

The National
Working Committee of the party finally waded in last Monday to dissolve
the exco and ordered fresh congresses to produce officers of the party
in the wards, local government and the state.

Mr Balogun
expressed satisfaction on the ward congress held yesterday which
witnessed large turn-out. The former senator also berated former
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Richard
Akinjide, for opposing the order of the party’s NWC on the state exco.

Support for NWC

Mr Akinjide had
declared the order illegal, unconstitutional and contemptuous, arguing
that an High Court had granted the exco a leave against any
interference from any body.

But, Mr Balogun noted that the exco was not known to the law in the first place.

“You don’t build
something on nothing, hence the purported certified true copy of court
order said to have proclaimed that nobody should interfere with the
executive council of the party in Oyo State had no basis on the ground
that there was no executive council for the party known to law in the
state ab initio,” he said.

He praised the
national leadership of the party for giving the order, insisting that
it was timely and capable of correcting the alleged maladministration
of the current government in the state.