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Abiodun Aremu is a leader of the Labour and Civil Society
Coalition who says wearing Awo’s cap does not make you a progressive. Below is
excerpt of an interview he had with a NEXT reporter:

You led several protests against
the military rule. Has democracy met your expectations of good governance?

One
of the major mistakes made by the pro-democracy activists during the transition
from military to civil rule was that there was no consensus on the term of the
transition. Our campaign under the Campaign for Democracy and later the United
Action for Democracy was essentially to terminate military rule.

But
you cannot transit from military to civilian rule without talking about the
party system. There was no agreement within us whether or not to also include
the electoral agenda in our campaign. There was a section of the pro-democracy
activists made up of political parties like the National Conscience Party,
Democratic Alternative, Peoples Redemption Party, Movement for Democracy and
Justice, the Nigerian Advance Party.

Secondly,
the transition agenda was exclusive. There was no constitution guiding the
midwifery of the transition. So, none of those political parties I mentioned
above were registered. Many of us could not join a party we desired but were
left with the option of joining the PDP, ANPP, or AD. So, our democracy started
on a wrong footage and how can we expect dividend of democracy?

But
what we should have done then was to have insisted on a democratic
constitution. The present Constitution was promulgated only after 1999
elections. And considering that the military government then was unstable, we
should have furthered our agitations, even if it means an extension of the
military government but then, many people were in a haste to see the military
go that they threw caution to the wind.

Without
a democratic constitution, there is no democracy and governance will always be
impaired. So now, we are back at the table crying for a democratic constitution,
which is the root cause of all the insurgents we are having now. One of the
problems we have had to grapple with today is unconstitutional reforms, yet we
have a Constitution that needs to be totally overhauled, not amended. So, for
me, the transition is a failure.

Even
the western countries negotiated the transition for their economic interests.
Structural Adjustment Programme, National Economic Development Strategy I and
II, 7-point agenda, Vision 2020, are programmes tailored around the neo-liberal
paradigms of the IMF and World Bank.

Apart
from the failures, have we made any progress?

In
the Second Republic, you cannot swear-in anybody as the winner of an election
until all litigations and disputes have been settled. Classical example
happened in Ondo State where Omoboriowo was declared the winner of the
governorship election by the then Federal Electoral Council and there was a
dispute. On October 1st, 1983, 18 state governors were sworn-in with the
exception of Ondo. Adekunle Ajasin was not sworn-in until the Supreme Court
pronounced its judgement in his favour. But what do we see now? People occupy
political offices for three years before being pronounced illegal occupants. Do
you consider that a forward or backward movement?

Again,
what many point to as freedom of speech was not won because we now have
democracy. Between 2003 and 2005, there were about eight strikes and mass
protests against fuel price hike. The police dealt with us seriously. At a
time, the president of the NLC then, Adams Oshiomole, was dragged on the tarmac
of Abuja Airport. We had a democratic government, yet our right of assembly was
not respected. We have not made progress; we have only stuffed few peoples
pocket with our budgets.

Today,
an unconstitutional office, like that of the First Lady, controls billions of
naira, but workers are finding it difficult to earn N18,000 as minimum wage.
Dividend of democracy is not constructing a 1km road; it is about meeting the
aspiration of the people.

So,
how do we begin the change process?

The
pro-democracy forces must rise up once again. But this time, the campaign
should be on our electioneering process. We must ensure that process is based
on germane issues of economy, security, and others. We must ask for who
controls the economy. That was how it was done in the first and second
republics. Campaigns were based on issues affecting the people and the nation.
Little wonder that the people who dominated our political offices today are
people who opposed the struggle for democracy, especially in the National
Assembly.

Can
anybody’s manifesto contain privatisation of national patrimonies like NEPA and
still expect people to vote for him? Countries’ progresses are based on how
well they perform on the Human Development Index scale. Nigeria has continually
had woeful performance, yet we won’t ask our politicians what they can do to
solve that problem. Now, it is clear we cannot meet the Millennium Development
Goals and we are not querying our leaders.

Does
your assessment exonerate the progressives?

I
found it difficult to understand those who call themselves progressives. In
Nigerian historical context, being a progressive means you subscribe to the
philosophy of running a welfarist state, that is, to govern in the interest of
the masses. Such governments should not run a private-sector driven economy.
Look at what is happening with the Lekki-Epe expressway now. Fashola says he is
providing low-cost housing, but go to any of those houses, no low-income earner
can afford them but they could under Jakande.

Abubakar
Rimi’s government was the first to declare May 1 as workers day. And this is a
challenge to those of us pro-democracy activists to ignore the fact that we are
friends with the so called progressives today and engage them to prove their
progressiveness.

Progressiveness
is not just about wearing Awolowo’s cap and glasses. The difference between
those who called themselves progressives and the PDP is like six and half a
dozen. First, many of them are not even holding primaries in their parties. So,
why won’t there be rigging if there is no internal democracy?

Why
did you say the real heroes of June 12 never went on exile?

A
lot of people who were not really in the struggle went on exile. David Mark was
also on exile then. Adedibu was imprisoned at that time also. We were both in
Ikoyi prison, though he was a snitch. So, going on exile is now their
certificate as June 12 heroes.

There
are very few people who had to go on exile for fear of their lives. Then, the
CD’s ID Card was all you need to get visa in most embassies. Now, they claim to
be heroes, but how many remember those who refused to go on exile but stayed
behind, some losing their lives in the process. Though no role is dismissible
as unimportant, but the real activists of June 12 remained here.

I’m
not sure anybody has ever celebrated Rauf Aregbesola as a June 12 hero, yet he
is a strong one. There are many unsung heroes of June 12 and the governments
now profiting from that struggle should be operating a welfarist economy to
ensure peoples’ struggles were not in vain, to let people know that struggle
pays.

The bottom has fallen out of Phillip Emeagwali’s basket of false
claims. American oil giant, ExxonMobil, has told NEXT exclusively that it has
never dealt with the American-based Nigerian scientist, contrary to Mr.
Emeagwali’s repeated claim that he wrote the equations that the company used to
simulate the flow of oil, water, and gas inside its reservoirs.

Authorities at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, a United
States Department of Energy laboratory, where Mr. Emeagwali claimed he sourced
the Connection Machine for his award-winning experiment, also said they had
never related with the Nigerian scientist.

Even the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, the
world’s largest organisation of computer experts, has reacted to the scandal
surrounding Mr Emeagwali by removing the scientist’s profile from its website.
Mr. Emeagwali’s bio on the site contained some contentious claims, including
one that he has a doctorate.

Read the complete
story in this week’s edition of NEXT on Sunday.

The All Nigeria
Peoples Party (ANPP) is reviewing its manifesto ahead of the 2011
general elections to conform to the developmental needs of the country,
its national chairman, Ogbonnaya Onu, said yesterday in Abuja.

The ANPP chairman
disclosed this while receiving a delegation of the leadership of the
South East Youths Association in Northern Nigeria.

According to him, the party’s programmes on education and youth development are inadequate.

“Our manifesto is
under review and by the time we have completed it, it will be clear to
Nigerians where we stand on education and others things,” Mr Onu said.

The chairman said
that the ANPP is determined to make a difference in governance,
stressing that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has given the
country bad leadership in years that it has been in power.

Noting that the
problems of the country are self-inflicted, Mr Onu expressed regret that
in the last four months, state-owned universities in the South East
geo-political zones have been on strike, and called on governors in the
zone to re-open the schools.

“As we talk, the
state government universities in the South East are still closed for
four months, it is very disturbing,” he said. “The teachers are asking
for a living wage. We in ANPP have called the governors to enter into
discussion with these lecturers.

“Even if you can’t
meet all their needs, you can meet some. We can’t explain why they
should joke with youth education. We ask that they open those
universities in the interest of the state, in the interest of Nigeria
and the youths.”

Youth award

Mr Onu also
criticised the country for aiming at becoming one of the world’s 20
biggest economies, saying instead “we should be looking at being the 13
and above.” He, however, stated that the task may not be achieved if the
resources of the nation’s youth are not fully utilized.

Earlier, the
National President of the South East Youth Association in Northern
Nigeria, S.U. Njoemena, said the delegation had come to inform Mr Onu of
his nomination for the award of “Excellent Leadership.”

Stating that the
award will be bestowed on Mr Onu at an elaborate ceremony later this
month in Abuja, Mr Njoemena noted that the ANPP boss was nominated
because he is a renowned politician.

“The association sat down and took an acetic view of a cross section
of South East personalities and found that you are most worthy to be
given this honour,” he said. “Sir, this award comes on the heels of our
recognition of your outstanding leadership qualities which were brought
to bear when you became a governor of the old Abia State, We believe you
played a very significant role in bringing about the eventual creation
of Ebonyi State.”

Every nation needs
people who think in order to grow and the first place to look for them
is in the academia, President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday in Abuja.

The president who
was speaking at the Nigerian National Merit Award ceremony at the
presidential villa, enjoined Nigerian youth to dedicate themselves to
excellence and strive to make Nigeria one of the leading nations of the
world.

The awardees include Aderemi Oluyomi Kuku for the Sciences; Ladipo Ayo Banjo and Mabel Dorothy Segun for the Humanities.

The 2009 Merit
Award, which is the 24th in the series which started since 1979, is
coming one year late. The President said this was due to the
circumstances that the nation found itself at the time.

Speaking on the need
for men of knowledge, he said, “We have a number of professors, at
least amongst our cabinet we have about six professors – the head of the
civil service and three special advisers. We have nothing less than 10
eggheads with us.

“This is the highest
and most prestigious award bestowed by our nation on Nigerian citizens
at home and in the daispora for creative intellectual and academic
contributions that have national as well as global significance. This
ceremony is holding one year behind schedule due to the circumstances
the nation found itself at the originally appointed time.” Speaking on
the integrity of the award, the president noted that only few Nigerians
have received the award since its inception in 1979.

“Only 60 Nigerians
have been honoured with the award, this is a clear evidence that of the
high standard and quality of the merit driven evaluation procedure used
in selecting the winners of the award,” he said. “It also underscores
the high expectation of the nation that the new recipients of the award
by their predecessors that hold the banner of creativity and
intellectual attainment high at all times will be beacons of hope and
role models for the younger generation of Nigerians”.

Mr. Jonathan further
noted that the NNMA also serves as a reminder that our survival and
collective vision as a nation and as a people rest with the contribution
we make to the national and global development effort in science,
technology, Economics, Arts and other fields.

Congratulating the
awardees, he noted that the three recipients of the 2009 award are among
the best in the world in their fields.

He therefore
enjoined the youth to emulate their good work and “hereby dedicate
themselves to excellence and strive to contribute their quota to the
arduous task of getting Nigeria on the track of becoming one of the
leading nations of the world”.

Working on 2010 awards

Four specialised
committees of assessors drawn from universities and the private sector,
totalling 38 were set up to screen the participants.

The minister of
special duties, Taoheed Adedoja noted that following the delay in
awarding the 2009 awards, the 2010 assessment exercise as well as the
Annual Forum of Laureates could not take place this year due to the late
reconstitution of the governing board of the NNMA, the body legally
charged with the responsibility of processing and approval of the award.

He noted that the
board however hopes “that all applications received for the 2010 award
will be assessed along with those of 2011”.

He also disclosed that the cash price for award was increased from N1 million to N5 million by the present administration.

The chairman of the
NNMA governing board, Oluwafeyisola Adegoke, said the three awardees
passed through rigorous screening and were found qualified to be
presented for the conferment of the award.

He added that the nation is blessed to have such a crop of Nigerians.

The NNMA, which was established by Act no. 53 of 1979 under the
military administration of Olusegun Obasanjo, entitles a recipient to
use the designation Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) after his or
her name, as well as receive a stipulated cash price, a certificate and
a medal and enjoy other benefits.

Twelve Nigerian
students have been selected for participation at the 7th International
Science Olympiad, which opens today in Abuja.

Nigeria is hosting
about 31 other nations participating in this contest, said Mohammed
Abubakar, minister of science and technology, while briefing
journalists yesterday in Abuja.

He said the Nigerian participants were selected after state level competition, which produced state champions.

“The state champions participated in a national competition from where we selected 20 for training,” he said.

“These brilliant
young scientists were camped for four and half months in total, over a
two year period. The students were coached by eminent scientists and
Science teachers. At the close of training, 12 were selected to
participate in the 7th IJSO in two teams,” Mr. Abubakar said.

The International
Junior Science Olympiad is a key member of the pack of 12 International
Science Olympiads. It was established in 2004 for students not older
than 15 years. Each country sends a team of up to six students and
three team leaders. It consists a theoretical test and experimental
examination. Knowledge, understanding, and skills in Physics,
Chemistry, and Biology are tested.

The inaugural
edition of the programme held in Indonesia in 2004 while Brazil,
Taiwan, South Korea, and Azbaijan are among the countries that have
hosted the event.

Mr. Abubakar said
the competition is coming to the African continent for the first time
and is being hosted by Nigeria, and 31 countries are participating in
this year’s exercise.

Boost science

He said hosting the event will have tremendous impact on the nation’s development of the science and technology sector.

“One of such
benefits is early identification of exceptional talents in Science that
can be nutured to be future nobel prize winners and top-rate scientists
who will contribute to driving Nigeria’s economy in our march to
realising vision20-2020.

“Our nation has
been facing acute shortage of scientists and engineers, so any
programme that gives encouragement in these fields is desirable and
provides benefits to students and the nation. It will lead to an
improvement in the quality of Mathematics and Science education,
re-ignite students enthusiasm in science subjects, and foster students’
creativity, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills.

The competition will be interspersed with guided tours, cultural
events, inter-regional Science debate and quiz competitions, and
special lectures by eminent scientists. The winners will be awarded
prizes on December 10.

Lagos State
yesterday escaped sanctions at the end of the 123rd meeting of tax
administrators in the country for non-adherence to laws guiding tax
administration in the country. Organised under the auspices of the Joint
Tax Board, the meeting also said the state’s understanding of
federalism was at variance with what is contained in the country’s
constitution.

However, while Lagos
escaped sanctions, the same cannot be said for the over 65,000
foreigners in the country whom the tax board has turned its search light
on, for tax related issues.

The tax board, which
is seeking to extend tax administration to foreigners said it has
already secured the names, addresses and locations of employers of this
group and is hoping to improve tax administration in the country.
Consequently, state governments across the federation are to be
furnished with information about immigrants domiciled within their
domain for appropriate action.

The joint tax board
which stressed the importance of collaboration and information sharing
among stakeholders, also reiterated its condemnation of all incidences
of multiple taxation in Nigeria and urged all tiers of government to
take steps towards its eradication.

The board’s
resolution is however viewed to be directed at LagosSstate giving the
increasing concerns by other states of the federation with the refusal
of the state to obey subsisting tax laws of the country,

particularly as it
affects the Tax and Levies (Approved list of collection) Act established
under the military era by decree no. 21 of 1998 , now an Act of the
National Assembly, which sets out a list of taxes and levies to be
collected by the federal government, state government, and local
governments councils respectively.

The Act, apart from
making illegal any tax or levy not included in the list, also prohibits
the use of road blocks for tax collections and enforcement.

The contention of
the Lagos State government is with the “legality” of the Taxes and
levies Act , a military era law which it insist is at variance with
relevant laws in the 1999 constitution. This position of the government
of the state, contained in a memo presented by Ade Ipaye, the special
Adviser to the state governor, says the “federal government no longer
had the competence to create tax agencies for states and local
government councils or to stipulate the taxes which might be collected”.

Differing interpretations

Another area of
looming conflict between the government of Lagos and the other states
was its position that the state does not have the “problem of multiple
taxation”. Mr. Ipaye said the state has paid close attention to the
“issue” and found that the major problem, especially at the local
government levels where they were most rampant, were of illegal levies
and fake tax collectors. He maintained that most of the allegations of
multiple taxation do not pay close attention to the distinction between
taxes, levies, penalties and user charges.

Ifueko Omogui, in
her contributions on the deliberations on whether to sanction Lagos
State, said the issue was wider than that. “It is not just about taxes,
it cuts across board and it is tied to Lagos State’s definition of its
understanding of federalism and not what the constitution says. I will
like to separate the two issues. Their own understanding of the way
federalism should work, regardless of what is written in the
constitution. That is where we come apart, it is not about Joint Tax
Board.”

The Joint Military
Taskforce (JTF) in the Niger Delta, on Wednesday, raided the Bubogbene
axis of Ayakoroma in Burutu, Delta, in search of militant leader, John
Togo.

Code named
‘Operation Restore Hope’, the air and sea raid was aimed at flushing out
the militant leader and his gang from the area.

The media coordinator of the JTF, Timothy Antigha, announced the raid
in an online statement on Wednesday, saying that “as part of ongoing
operation to eliminate criminal gangs from the Niger Delta, troops of
JTF seized the notorious John Togo camps located in Ayakoroma and
Okirika in Delta State.The operation lasted for about one hour.”

The Katsina State government has urged council chairmen to be prudent in the management of public funds.

Musa Adamu, the
state’s Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, told
the chairmen in Katsina at the monthly joint meeting of the fund
allocation committee that, “Public funds are given in trust; so we
expect each and every one of you to keep that trust in order to ensure
even development of your respective areas.”

He also appealed to
the council chairmen to continue to execute projects that would enhance
the living conditions of the people in their domains.

According to him, the monthly salary for all the staff of the 34 local governments and their overhead costs is N1.1 billion.

Joseph Golwa, the
Director General, Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, on
Thursday called on journalists to promote peace in reporting conflict
situations as their contributions to conflict resolution.

Mr. Golwa made the
call in Kaduna at a workshop it organised in collaboration with the
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for media professionals.

He said that such
practice would promote dialogue and broaden the range of opinions being
held to make significant impact on conflicts.

“Journalists do not
often provide in-depth analysis of the context of conflicts, but rather
tend to always focus on the episodic and fragmentary accounts of the
most dramatic positions,’’ he said.

He however said that with the 2011 elections around the corner, it
was the responsibility of journalists and the media at large to ensure
that all issues were reported objectively.

Chibuzor Ugwuoha,
the Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, has
appealed to leaders from the region to support the implementation of the
Niger Delta master plan.

Mr Ugwuoha made the
appeal in Port Harcourt on Thursday while inaugurating a 16-man
management committee for the Niger Delta Regional Partners for
Sustainable Development (PSD), which is provided for in the Commission
regional master plan to identify priority projects for execution in the
region.

Represented by
Henrietta Ogan, the agency’s director, Planning, Research and
Statistics, Mr. Ugwuoha said that partnership among all relevant
individuals would make for faster development of the region.

He also said, “With the pedigree of the committee members, I am
confident that the vision of the Niger Delta Regional Development Master
Plan will be achieved.’’