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Edo State students
have recorded another mass failure in the November/December 2010 NECO
examination, results from the National Examinations Council (NECO) has
shown.

Out of the 25
subjects taken by students from the state, none of the participating
students had up to 50 per cent pass mark in the examination set for
graduating secondary school students.

This has raised
concern among relevant parties, with teachers and parents trading
blames as to who is responsible for the poor academic performances of
students in the state.

Those who spoke to
NEXT on the development attributed the cause of the mass failure to
many factors, including lack of qualified teachers, particularly in
private schools, and the premium they place on money. Others include
lack of reading culture among the students, and loss of societal
values. Owners of private schools were also indicted in the mass
failure of students, as many of them have turned their schools to
‘miracle centres’, where students easily indulge in examination
malpractices after paying high fees to the school owners.

Solomon Osarenren,
who teaches Mathematics in a private school in Benin City, blames lack
of seriousness on the part of the students, lazy approach to study, and
lack of infrastructure in the schools, as some of the factors
responsible for the decline in the performance of the students.

“So long as
students attach more importance to mundane things and spend more time
surfing the Internet and watching movies, it will be difficult for them
to excel in their studies. After all, students of those days performed
even better than students of today, even without those infrastructures
that are in schools of today,” Mr Osarenren said.

An educationist,
Roland Asoro, who decried the rate of mass failure in examinations in
the state in particular and the country at large, advised the
government to take proactive steps to address the trend. He called for
regular training and re-training of teachers, as well as the provision
of learning aids in the schools.

Mr Asoro also
admonished parents and guardians to supervise and regulate activities
of their children at home, with a view to making them more responsible
and serious.

Some parents,
however, said that the bulk of the blame should not be attributed to
them alone. They argue that teachers are also responsible for the poor
performance of students in external examinations.

A parent, Osarobo
Asemota, whose child attends one of the private schools in Benin City,
argued that teachers can only give what they have academically.

According to her,
many of the teachers, especially in some private schools, lack the
minimum qualifications required. She also called for consistency in the
educational policies of government.

“We want all
concerned to urgently address this ugly development. If things continue
the way they are, ten years from now, the country may inherit half
baked workforce,” Ms Asemota said.

When contacted on phone, special assistant on education to Governor
Oshiomhole, Alli Sule, said: “We are still studying the result at the
ministry level. We shall come out with our position later.”

Following the
perceived irregularities that characterised the conduct of the National
Assembly elections in Benue State, the immediate past governor of the
state, George Akume, has called on Senate President David Mark and the
former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
Barnabas Gemade to return the people’s mandate to the rightful owners.

Speaking in his
Makurdi residence yesterday, Mr Akume revealed that Messrs Mark and
Gemade did not win senatorial elections in their respective senatorial
districts given the declining popularity of their party, the PDP. He
alleged that the incumbent member of the House of Representatives for
Makurdi/Guma federal constituency, Emmanuel Jime and Iorwase Hembe of
Vandeikya/Konshisha federal constituency stole the mandate of the
people and they should return same.

According to Mr
Akume, the PDP in the state disregarded the warning of security
operatives and were responsible for the violence in the state during
the national assembly election.

“PDP introduced unprecedented violence but the ACN supporters voted for their candidates overwhelmingly,” he observed.

He lamented that a
32-year-old Aondongu Abuku was killed at about 11am on the election day
at NKST Anakaa polling unit in Logo Local Government, claiming
knowledge of those alleged to have participated in the killing.

Mr. Akume argued
that electoral materials were not sent to other polling units in
Oturkpo, adding that in Ado and Obi local governments, no election was
conducted. He, therefore, urged the Independent National Electoral
Commission, INEC to nullify the election in those places.

The former governor
called on the INEC Chairman, Attahiru Jega to remove the State Resident
Electoral Commissioner, Nasir Ayilara, stressing that the ACN in the
state has vowed to fight and reclaim its mandate until the last person
was dropped. “We cannot be threatened or intimidated,” he declared.

The Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) command of the State Security Service (SSS) paraded two
men in Abuja yesterday for allegedly abducting and attempting to use an
eight-year-old boy, Lokoja Abeshi, for money rituals.

The legal officer
of the command, Tom Aniefiok, told journalists while parading the
suspects – Jonah Jabah, a palm wine tapper, and Alhaji Mamman, both
35-year-old residents of Garaku in the Kokona local government area of
Nasarawa State – that Master Abeshi had been staying with the chief
suspect, Mr Jabah, before he lured him to Abuja.

The suspects
allegedly told the young boy they wanted to enroll him in a school in
the city and the unsuspecting boy did not have any premonition that
they wanted to harm him.

Mr Aniefiok said
the two suspects had owned up to the crime and would soon be handed
over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

He advised members
of the public to take proper care of their wards and devote more time
to them in order to avoid such occurrences. He also urged members of
the public to promptly report such matters to the relevant security
agencies.

“On the 13th April
2011, the FCT command of the State Security Service (SSS), acting on a
tipoff, arrested two suspected ritualists at Durumi II, Garki, Abuja.

“The suspects,
namely Jonah Jabah and Alhaji Mamman, abducted one Lokoja Abeshi (a lad
of eight years) with the aim of sacrificing him for money ritual; one
Muhammed G. Ibrahim, who tipped off the service and in whose residence
the suspects were arrested, stated that the suspects brought the boy to
his residence to be sacrificed for money ritual,” said Mr Aniefiok.

Blame the boy

Mr Ibrahim, a
Muslim cleric, reportedly told the two men that he only prays for
people with problems but does not do rituals. He also reportedly told
them he was going to assist them by getting somebody to help them and
thereafter alerted the service. This led to the arrest of the two
suspects.

“One of the
suspects, Jonah Jabah, who claims to be the boy’s uncle, resides at
Garaku, Kokona LGA of Nasarawa State; he blamed his bad luck and
misfortune in life on the lad (Lokoja). Hence he resolved to sacrifice
the boy,” Mr Aniefok said.

Mr Mamman told
newsmen that he led Mr Jabah to the supposed ritualist when he told him
that the boy had a “bad spirit” and “needed prayers.” On his part, Mr
Jabah said he was a palmwine tapper and also owns a supermarket in his
village. He said the boy, whom he described as being “just like my
pikin,” had been staying with him since he was born.

Mr Jabah said he
had earlier taken the boy to several spiritualists when he learnt that
the boy used his powers as a member of a secret cult to scuttle his
supermarket and palm wine-tapping business.

He said it was when he could not find the solution he needed that he
contacted his friend, Mr Mamman to take him to a mallam who will help
him use the boy to perform the money rituals. He said Lokoja’s evil
powers were what led to his decision to use the boy for money making
rituals to salvage his situation.

Ahead of next
week’s governorship and state House of Assembly elections in Delta
State, the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Delta yesterday carried out a small
exercise for its marines.

Over 15
ready-to-deploy naval vehicles, aided with navy helicopter, ‘Augusta
09’, high-speed cruising yacht, and two marshal-class gunboats were
among the equipment rolled out for action in the Delta waterways.

The fleet would be
used on 26th of April, 2011 to assist the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) in ensuring the smooth governorship and
state House of Assembly elections, the Commanding Officer of the unit,
Henry Babalola, said.

Mr Babalola, who
led other senior naval officers, said the exercise was directed by the
Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) to check the preparedness of the Navy for
the election.

“The operation
today is to assure the citizenry that we are ready to provide an
enabling environment for the successful conduct of the gubernatorial
and House of Assembly, as well as National Assembly that were postponed
in some states,” he said.

“The show of force
is a directory given to us by the CNS as part of our statutory duty to
help INEC in critical areas such as use of naval helicopters to convey
materials to areas that are not accessible by land and to escort INEC
boats to take materials to the riverine communities,” Mr. Babalola
said.

The commanding
officer of NNS Delta said the Navy was committed to providing adequate
security in the waterways to safeguard the electoral materials and INEC
personnel.

“All the naval
fleets paraded during the flag-show would be deployed for consistent
patrol of the waterways as part of its statutory function to provide
security for the polls on water and land, as well as check influx of
people in the waterways during the elections,” he further said.

Mr Babalola also
said there is heavy security arrangement for Delta State, saying
besides its consistent patrol of the waterways, the NNS Delta would
contribute a platoon to aid the Joint Task Force (JTF) in its
‘Operation Restore Hope’ as well as a ready-to-deploy standby platoon
in case of emergency.

“Every of our
fleets and personnel would be on election duty and we are looking at a
strength of almost 1700 personnel ready-to-be deploy on that day,” he
stated.

Closed waterways

He further said two
marshal-class boats would patrol the Escravos waterways while its
capital ships, ‘NNS Zaria and NNS Ogulawaba’ would be rolled out to
patrol the sea to check influx of foreigners sneaking into the country
during the election.

The commanding
officer said one of the fastest boats on the NN fleet, Marshal-class
boat and another power gunboat, Papa 219, would be rolled out in
addition to deployment of more personnel for consistent patrol of the
waterways in the state.

He added that
throughout the period of the election, movement would be restricted in
the waterways to check influx of people in the waterways.

“We would keep
patrolling the waterways to dominate it and prevent illegal activities.
The no movement order on land is also applicable on the waters as from
8am. We will not expect to find people or persons moving on the
waterway at this time. The curfew will be strictly enforced on the
waters until the end of it all and anybody find moving at this time
would be arrested and release after the elections,” he said.

The former minister
of justice and attorney-general of the federation, Richard Akinjide,
told the Ibadan Elders Forum yesterday to stop inciting other sections
of Oyo State against the state governor, Adebayo Alao-Akala.

Mr Akinjide, who
led other members of the Ibadan elders of the People’s Democratic Party
(PDP) to address journalists in his Idi-Ishin residence on Thursday,
was reacting to the forum’s adoption of Abiola Ajimobi as the
governorship candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Oyo
on Wednesday.

The forum, in a
press conference, declared their total support for Mr Ajimobi, saying
he is the only viable candidate among the options available for the
people of the state to choose as their leader for the next four years.

They chronicled a
litany of allegations against the incumbent Adebayo Alao-Akala, the
PDP’s candidate, as well as Rashidi Ladoja, a former governor of the
state and the Accord Party candidate, to explain why they are not fit
for the post.

While Mr Ladoja’s
sins border on an alleged lack of popularity of his party in the state,
Mr Alao-Akala was accused of disrespecting the traditional institution
and misappropriating state resources, among other wrongs.

But as the nation
prepares for the governorship election coming up on Tuesday, the PDP
elders say the Ibadan Elders’ Forum was wrong both in its assessment of
the candidates and its open support for the ACN flagbearer. According
to them, the attack against Mr Alao-Akala was nothing but an attempt to
call the dog a bad name in order to hang it.

Political opponents

They maintain that
the desperate ambition of the group to always produce the governor of
the state is antithetical to the tenets of democracy and the realities
of the 21st century.

“The truth of the
matter is that the hoopla over Akala’s performance is borne out of a
general feeling of the Ibadan Elders’ Forum, who has the myopic belief
that no one else from any other part of Oyo State other than Ibadan can
be the governor,” Mr Akinjide, himself an Ibadan elder, said.

“A mental incursion
round the states of the federation reveals that out of the 36 state
governors in Nigeria, 28 out of them are not indigenes of the capital
city of their states. Nearly all the states’ chief executives hail from
small towns and villages. Even the late Bola Ige, the governor of the
old Oyo state, was from Esa Oke. Moreover, there is a subsisting
doctrine that every geo-political zone of Oyo State has a legitimate
right to produce the governor.”

A stern warningMr
Akinjide declared that the forum failed in its bid to get Mr Ajimobi
elected in 2007, and will also fail this time as, he said, the members
lack the popularity to push a candidate to electoral success in the
state.

The senior lawyer
further warned that the Ibadan elders must borrow a leaf from other
equally successful senior citizens from other parts of the state who
have not dabbled into politics, urging them to clearly define their
stand.

“Henceforth, if the Ibadan elders fail to heed this advice, mud and
darts will fly in their direction and the respect and reverence usually
reserved for the elders in Yorubaland will henceforth elude them. They
will be treated strictly as political opponents,” he said.

At least 10,000
people have been displaced in Kano State following the crisis that
engulfed some northern states shortly after last Saturday’s
presidential elections, the director general of the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA) has said.

Mohammed Sani-Sidi,
who led a Special Presidential Committee on the Plight of Displaced
People to the Kano State police commissioner, Dan’Azumi Doma, also said
not less than 100 people were arrested in connection with the crisis.

The NEMA boss, who
commended the swift response of security agencies in controlling the
situation, told the displaced people that the team was undertaking
on-the-spot assessment inspection of the trouble spots.

He assured them
that the government would continue to protect and provide basic need of
people in the Internally Displaced Peoples Camps (IDPCs) pending the
return of normalcy to the affected communities.

“President Jonathan
has directed that we should ensure you are adequately provided with the
basic needs as relief materials are being transported to various
locations to improve the condition and plights of innocent people,” he
said. “So far, many more trucks are being dispatched from our strategic
warehouses to meet the demand. However, from the preliminary reports by
response agencies, the crises were neither religious nor ethnic, so we
should be cautious of inputting sectional sentiments into this.”

No gatherings permitted

Mr Doma told the committee that though properties were destroyed and many injured, there was no loss of life in the state.

“There was no
single record of death from the recent incident in Kano and no single
corpse was deposited in the mortuary,” he said.

Mr Doma has,
however banned all forms of political gathering in the state, saying
the police would deal with anyone violating the order.

“No form of
political gathering, including rallies and campaigns would be condoned
until after the governorship election,” he said.

Mr Doma, who urged
leaders of political parties in the State to strictly abide by the
directive in the interest of peace and stability, said the action was
part of measures taken by the police to checkmate the spread of the
violence and reduce apprehension and anxiety among the people,
particularly those taking refuge at military and police barracks.

Mr. Doma also pleaded with parents to caution their children and wards against committing acts capable of breaching the peace.

“The Command and
indeed other security agencies have commenced investigation to
apprehend the sponsors and the brains behind the dastardly acts, no
matter how highly placed they are in society,” he said.

Some voters in
Nasarawa State on Wednesday praised members of the National Youth
Service Corps used by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) as ad
hoc staff in the last two elections. One of the voters, Ahmed Tukur,
made the observation in an interview in Lafia, saying the corps members
displayed a high level of discipline and impartiality in the conduct of
the elections.

According to him,
the government should engage the services of corps members not only for
election purposes but also for other public assignments and functions
from now. “Their conduct in these elections shows they can be relied
upon,” he said

Another voter, Musa
Abdullahi, said the corps members had made the just concluded elections
free and fair by refusing to compromise the resolve of INEC to conduct
credible polls.

“There were no cases of snatching of ballot boxes; that alone was a plus for the corps members,” he said.

The Ogori-Magongo
Diocese of the Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, in Lokoja, Kogi
State has lined up a series of activities to celebrate its 100 years
existence.

The Bishop of the
diocese, Odimtan Davis, said in a statement in Lokoja on Wednesday that
the celebration would start in May with vocational training/seminar and
crusade, outreach rally/carnival and lighting of centenary fire in
June.

The statement
signed by Emmanuel Boro, the Diocesan Communicator, said the
celebration will peak in July with the foundation laying ceremony of
the bishop’s court, centenary service/award and the launching of a N1
billion developments and endowment fund.

According to the release, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, will be the special guest at the grand finale.

The Nigerian Bar
Association (NBA) yesterday called on the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) to postpone governorship elections in
states where cases of violence were recorded following the presidential
election of last week.

President of the
Association, Joe Daudu said in Abuja yesterday said “In the past three
days, hundreds of innocent Nigerians have been brutally and savagely
killed, churches in Katsina, Kano, Kaduna, Bauchi, Yobe etc have been
torched/burnt down. Shops and other businesses of Nigerians referred to
as strangers in their own country have been looted. The highways are no
longer passable as Christians and other identifiable non indigenes are
pulled out of vehicles and slaughtered,” he said.

“Part of the
objective of the masterminds of this purge is to intimidate
non-indigenes for the last election as well as punish them for daring
to vote according to their choice and conscience. It will be a travesty
of the electoral process if the remaining election is conducted under
this very ominous cloud in the affected states,” he said.

Demand for justice

Mr Daudu also
described the security approach to the crisis as deplorable and advised
that the episode must not be swept under the carpet.

“The cold-blooded
murderers must be brought to book and justice served to the memory of
all that untimely lost their lives in this crisis,” he said.

Furthermore, he
said if government omits to bring the culprits to justice, the
association shall be left with no option than to approach the
International Criminal Court of Justice for warrants to issue against
the leaders of organisations that gave platform for these crimes.

He said
government needs to constitute a high-powered commission of inquiry to
collate the extent of loss of lives and property and every opportunity
given to aggrieved or affected persons to speak out.

Mr Daudu also
said such commission should be empowered to pay compensation for lives
and property lost, with same to be deducted from the accounts of states
where the losses or deaths occurred.

He also called on
the National Assembly to consider enacting stiffer laws to protect the
lives, liberty and property of every Nigerian regardless of where he
resides in the country.

The NBA, however, said INEC must be congratulated for conducting a transparently credible election.

“It is on record
that this is the first general election where alarming reports of
disenfranchisement in the way of subserviced polling stations,
inability of registered voters to vote, violence at polling stations
and the hijacking of ballot boxes were recorded at the barest minimum,”
Mr Daudu said. “There is a consensus among all observers, local and
international and men of repute that covered the election so far that
the whole process was free and fair. The NBA has therefore been proved
right when we refused to join others in castigating INEC during the
botched election.”

Mr Daudu said NBA congratulates all those that won in the two elections, including President Goodluck Jonathan.

Controversy has
continued to trail the recent general meeting of the Ondo State chapter
of the Nigeria Labour Congress. The meeting which took place a few
weeks ago was almost marred by protest. Although, Bosede Daramola,
emerged the new chairman of the labour union in the state, workers from
the private sector have rejected the outcome of the election, insisting
that its candidate, Kayode Sotire, was the elected chairman. The
private sector workers described the emergence of Mr. Daramola as a
farce, saying those in the public sector had ruled the union for eight
years, arguing the private sector ought to have produced the next
chairman of the union in the state.

The group claimed
Mr Daramola was a stooge imposed on the union by the outgone chairman,
Momodu Braimoh. They wondered why the congress was allowed to hold when
they had agreed to postpone the election.

Mr Braimoh, however said the election was duly conducted in the
presence of the two officials from the National Secretariat, Abuja, who
served as returning officers. He noted that five unions out of 26
pulled out of the election on the pretence that the election had been
postponed through a radio announcement by the state government. But the
former chairman said they could not take directive from the state
government, stressing that only the National Executive Council of the
union could order postponement of the election.