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The presidential ambition of Goodluck
Jonathan for the 2011 elections has received a boost from the National
Reformation Party (NRP) led by Anthony Enahoro, which said the need for
a renewed obligation to nation-building and his constitutional right
empowered him to contest.

In a communiqué issued and signed by
Soni Chukwumah at the end of its National Working Committee (NWC)
meeting in Benin City, the NRP said it foresaw a glimmer of hope in
President Jonathan’s personal conduct and devoted approach so far
exhibited in critical sectors of energy and power generation, as well
as his restated global commitment to conduct free, fair and credible
elections in our country in 2011.

The party recalled that its foundation
was based on the desire of patriots drawn from all parts of Nigeria and
the diaspora to arouse reforms that would transform the country into a
modern nation-state as envisioned by the founding nationalists.

“To this end, it affirmed its position
that parliamentary federalism was the driving force for the growth of
critical regional sectors that came before unitary system was imposed
on the country to the country’s collective disadvantage till date,” the
party said.

The meeting, which was presided over by
Mr Enahoro, said any patriotic leadership with practical commitment to
advancing the course of true federalism and welfare of Nigerians would
bring fulfilment to Mr Enahoro’s lifetime persuasions.

Jonathan versus Babangida

Meanwhile, political tension is
building in Edo State, as supporters of Mr Jonathan and those of former
military president, Ibrahim Babangida trade words over the suitability
of their candidates for office.

Former Deputy President of the Senate,
Albert Legogie, had last Monday in Benin City, declared that Mr
Babangida was the best candidate of the PDP owing to his experience and
numerous achievements while he was military president of the country.

But the immediate past deputy governor
of the state and coordinator of the President Goodluck Jonathan
campaign in Edo State, Lucky Imasuen, described the claim as laughable.

“They are supporters of IBB; therefore, they have the right to
support him anyway. But Nigerians are very civilized now. IBB is a
great man, and he was president of this nation for eight years. But the
question is what else he wants to achieve for the nation. I read
Legogie saying that IBB helped in laying foundation for the nation’s
democracy, but I remember that this same man singlehandedly annulled
the freest and fairest election in this country,” Mr Imasuen said.

The Federal
Executive Council yesterday approved N3.59 billion for the construction
of a modern and more befitting headquarters for the Code of Conduct
Bureau (CCB) in Abuja.

The nine-storey
building will cost N3.59 billion, although N594 million has been set
aside for it in the 2010 Budget. The balance will be appropriated for
as an ongoing project over the next two years, at N1.5 billion for 2011
and 2012.

Minister of
Information and Communications, Dora Akunyili, disclosed this while
briefing alongside the minister of state, Labaran Maku, after the 29th
session of the FEC meeting, which was chaired by Goodluck Jonathan.

She said the
president had “presented a memo to FEC seeking for approval for the
award of contract for the construction of one block of nine-storey
office complex as headquarters for the code of Conduct Bureau in Abuja”.

According to her, “the present office space for the Code of Conduct Bureau is grossly inadequate”.

The nine-storey
headquarters building to be completed in 26 months is expected “to
decongest the present overcrowded office and end separation of staff at
the annex complex”, she noted.

A boost for education

The FEC also
approved N1.71 billion for the purchase and supply of Primary 6 English
language, mathematics and science textbooks for distribution in public
schools nationwide.

The project will be
funded by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) from the 2010
supplementary budget under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
textbooks initiative for the procurement of textbooks.

Mrs Akunyili said
the contract will be funded by UBEC, for which N438.6 million has
already been earmarked in its 2010 Supplementary Budget 2010, as part
of its efforts to meet the MDG’s textbooks initiative of the UBEC.

The minister of
education had gone to the FEC with a memo “seeking council’s approval
for the award of contract for the printing and distribution of English
language, mathematics and activity-based science books for Primary 6
pupils in public primary schools nationwide, under the MDG’s textbook
initiative by UBEC”.

Mrs Akunyili stated
that “in efforts to consolidate on the achievements made in the
provision of textbooks to public primary schools, the federal
government appropriated N4 billion under the MDGs Textbooks Initiative
for the procurement of textbooks for pupils in public schools
nationwide.

“The textbooks will be customized with the inscription: “MDGs-UBEC TEXTBOOK INITIATIVE 2010 – NOT FOR SALE”.

The contract is awarded to a total of seven companies, with a completion period of six weeks.

The FEC also
approved the ratification of the extension of contract for operation,
maintenance and staff training for the Wupa Basic Sewage Treatment
Plant in Abuja which was commissioned in May 2007. The 12-month
contract valued at N733.31 million is to be funded from the N800
million provision made in the FCT Statutory Appropriation for the
maintenance of the plant.

Mrs Akunyili said the extension of the one-year contract will “allow
sufficient time for the development of local expertise to grasp the
rudiments of the operation and maintenance of the plant”.

The crises rocking
the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) took a turn for the worse
yesterday as a faction of the party headed to court to stop the meeting
of the National Executive Council (NEC) slated for today.

John
Odigie-Oyegun, a member of the splinter faction which last Friday said
it has sacked the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, said
it wants the court to stop the meeting because it is an illegal
assembly.

He told NEXT in an
interview that, “The tenure of Edwin Ume-Ezeoke’s leadership of the
party expired today (yesterday) having assumed office on September 2,
2006. Our constitution allows a four -year tenure. So, we are in court
already and we joined INEC.”

Court can’t stop us

However, Emma
Eneukwu, the publicity secretary of the party, said these allegations
will not stop the congress, adding, “We’ve not got any court paper. In
any case, what is the big deal in going to court?

It is you media
that is making these people important. Come to the meeting tomorrow
(today) and see for yourself.” The leader of the faction, Muhammed A.
Muhammed, a senator, could not be reached as calls to his mobile
telephone yesterday went unanswered.

“Our NEC meeting is still holding tomorrow (today). We are going ahead and there is nothing stopping us,” Mr Eneukwu insisted.

The group which
announced the dissolution of the Ume-Ezeoke-led working committee is
believed to be loyal to the Kano State governor, Ibrahim Shekarau, who
has announced his intention to contest as presidential candidate of the
party. It appointed Mr. Muhammed to head a transition committee
mandated to run the party pending the conduct of its national
convention where new officers are expected to emerge.

Divided interest

Members of the
splinter group include a former governor of Kogi State, Abubakar Audu,
and chairmen of the party from Anambra, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Rivers, Kano
and Ebonyi.

The Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC) which reportedly sent two
representatives to last Friday’s NEC meeting however turned around to
say that the splinter group did not give it the mandatory 21-day notice
required by the Electoral Act before holding the NEC meeting.

In its reply, the
splinter group accused INEC of “double standard” insisting that the
21-day notice was required only for national conventions and not NEC
meetings.

According to it, only a seven-day notice was required, which it gave.

The ANPP had
earlier in the year, postponed its national convention twice over the
inability to meet the electoral commission’s notice requirement. But
there were reports that the disagreement over the zoning of party
offices, particularly those of chairmen and secretary, actually
informed the postponement.

At its meeting in
Abuja late July, the national caucus of the party, adopted a zoning
formula which will allow the South East geo-political zone to produce
the chairman while the North East zone retains the post of the national
secretary.

However, some
members of the party, including Mr Shekarau’s loyalists, reportedly
expressed dissatisfaction with the formula, which has the backing of
two of the party’s governors, Ali Modu Sheriff of Borno State and
Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe.

The two governors are said to be opposed to the presidential
ambition of Mr Shekarau. They are also said to prefer Harry Akande, a
billionaire from Oyo State as the party’s national chairman in the
South West.

The Ondo State
governor, Olusegun Mimiko yesterday directed the state Head of Service
to immediately start compiling a list of workers who are not computer
literate for retirement.

The governor gave
the directive while declaring open the maiden edition of Council of
Information summit, held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.

Mr Mimiko said the
affected civil servants – from grade level 12 upwards – who have no
computer education, have a December deadline to learn how to use the
computer or face the sack. He said despite all appeals to civil
servants to enroll in computer schools, many of them have failed to do
so.

“Since the world
was now a global technological village, harbouring computer illiterate
as senior bureaucrats will be a disservice to the people of the state,”
he said. “The December deadline for all Grade Level 12 officers in the
state civil service to get computer education or leave the service for
new set of vibrant graduates who are well equipped, stands.

“The Head of
Service is here, and I am now giving him a directive to start compiling
the names of those without computer training. They should leave the
service so that we can inject news bloods into the system.”

The governor stated
that for a nation to be free from massive unemployment, efforts must be
geared towards revolutionising agriculture and technology so emphasis
must be placed on creation of jobs through agriculture, a field now
neglected by Nigerians.

“Specifically, when
youth who are jobless are directed towards development of technology,
the nation will reap from it,” he said, adding “That is why Ondo State
recently trained about one hundred graduates on technology advancement.
These youths after six weeks of training, the youths assembled a panel
of solar powered component which is still functioning today”.

The state
commissioner for Information, Ranti Akerele, said the programme was
organised to ensure that government information are properly managed.
He added that the programme would go a long way in ensuring that
government information managers are exposed to modern day training.

The Guest Speaker,
Yinka Lanihun, an associate professor at the University of Ibadan, said
the world has become a global village where information is disseminated
through the aid of Internet, and urged state governments to make use of
ample opportunities provided by the new technology.

“Government should make use of available opportunities on the
Internet, like facebook, twitters and other sites to inform the
populace about government activities,” Mr Lanihun said.

Action Alliance has declared its support for Gbemisola Saraki to run for the governorship of Kwara State.

Ms Saraki, a serving senator from Kwara State, is a sister of the current governor of the state, Bukola Saraki, who has declared his interest to run for the presidency in the next general elections.

While the party supports Ms Saraki, its chairman, Suleiman Salawu, said they do not support the ambition of her brother, Mr. Saraki.

Mr. Salawu told reporters on Wednesday that Mr. Saraki is
inexperienced for the presidency of Nigeria.

“He is not experienced at all,” he said.

He argued that of the current gubernatorial aspirants in the state, Ms Saraki is the best despite claims that her emergence will enshrine lordship of the Sarki dynasty in the state.

Mr. Salawu claimed that 57 political parties, including his, met and adopted the candidacy of Ms Saraki.

“Ms Saraki is one of the 15 gubernatorial aspirants and for her track record which have become open to the people of Kwara State, she is hereby adopted as our sole candidate under your People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform for the coming 2011 gubernatorial elections,” Mr. Salawu said in a letter he wrote to the chairman
of PDP, on Monday.

He urged the PDP to also adopt Ms Saraki as their candidate.

Support for Jonathan The party leader also added that his party will not be fielding any candidate in the presidential election and will support the ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The group’s support is an addition to the already 1027 independent groups campaigning for the president to run in the coming election even though he is yet to declare his interest in the job.

The Action Alliance chairman berated other contestants who have expressed their interest in the race saying they are selfish and not good enough for the nation.

The Independent National Electoral Commission has
promised to punish political parties who mock their internal democratic
rules and illicitly substitute candidates after college nominations.

Attahiru Jega, the INEC chairman, said part of the
commission’s approach to delivering credible elections will be to
ensure there is internal democracy in parties.

“If you don’t follow the rules of conducting
primaries, by law we can decide not to accept it,” he told a women
rights advocacy team yesterday.

“We want parties to be serious and respect their own rules.”

The group, led by Women Affairs Minister, Josephine
Anenih and the chairpersons of the Senate and House committee on Women
Affairs, Eme Ekaete and Binta Garba respectively, said it needs the
support of the commission to help scale up women’s participation in
politics nationwide, and part of the bane disallowing that, is the
culture of arbitrary replacement of candidates after primaries, in
which women, the team said, are often the victims.

Not shy to punish

Responding to questions on how that will be tackled,
Mr. Jega said parties breaking their internal basic guidelines will not
escape sanctions.

“We will not be shy to apply the sanctions if and
when it becomes necessary to do so. Anything we are permitted to do by
the law, we will do,” he said.

He said the commission is “working extra hard” and
“examining and re-examining” options driven at improving issues of
logistics vital to curbing the late arrival of election materials at
polling centres, another challenge that has helped mar Nigeria’s polls.

“It is possible to do it and we are applying our mind and energy to
getting that right,” he said. Mr. Jega said he still believes securing
good elections, “is not an impossible task, it is doable and we will do
our best.”

Although Nigeria
contributed much to liberate South Africa from the stranglehold of
apartheid and, thereafter, threw her economic doors wide open for South
African investors and goods, these actions have not stopped a low
estimation of her citizens by South Africans, the South African High
Commissioner to Nigeria, Kingsley Mamabola, said on Tuesday, in Abuja,
at a meeting with the minister of interior, Emmanuel Ihenachor.

Answering a
question from NEXT at the meeting planned to explore ways of broadening
the existing bilateral relationship between both countries, Mr.
Mamabolo gave reasons for the increasing hostilities and physical
attacks launched against Nigerians in South Africa.

According to him,
the regard for Nigerians in South Africa is very low because the
criminal activities of a few Nigerian citizens there are the most
visible things to the hosts. He denied, however, any insinuation of
government backing for the attacks, insisting that a lot of effort was
being made to offer Nigerians in South Africa more protection under the
law.

“There is a lot
that needs to be done about the perception of South Africans about
Nigerians. The perception South Africans have about Nigerians is not
good at all. Those Nigerians of a very tiny percentage – I will say
just about one percent – engage in crimes that are generally seen by
all and which overshadow the good works of the majority of Nigerians.

“South Africa is a
law abiding society. There is law and order in our country. There is no
lawlessness. South Africans as a whole fight for human rights in
general. So, it is not true that the government is not doing anything
on the situation. It is only in the newspapers that you see that (the
hostility against Nigerians),” Mr. Mamabola said.

Responding, Mr.
Ihenachor openly refuted a tag of ‘haven of piracy’ and related
criminal activities wrongly placed on Nigeria in the global maritime
industry.

Poor perception

The minister
denounced the poor perception and challenged promoting the perception
to either show evidence of the high activities of pirates in Nigeria or
stop the image smear.

“I remember that he
said that when he (Mr. Mamabolo) was posted here (to Nigeria), people
were saying: ‘why are they punishing you? Why are they sending you
here?’

“Now, he is enjoying Nigeria. It is an issue of perception,” the Nigerian minister said.

“If you read the
papers and go on the Internet, you will never want to come to Nigeria
because they say Nigeria is the second piracy capital in the whole
world. This is untrue. I, as a master mariner, I have always been
saying that I have not seen even one pirate in Nigeria. I do not know
where those reports are coming from. If you report that Nigeria is a
piracy nation, then there is a tendency that insurance on all the goods
coming to Nigeria will rise,” Mr. Ihenachor said.

Mr. Mamabolo
promised to look into the case of the deportation of a Nigerian from
South Africa for non-possession of yellow card, with a view to
preventing a future occurrence.

Apart from
immigration issues, other areas the FG is planning to explore through
the meeting with the South African government include prison management
and maritime enterprise.

The South African
government says it hopes to learn from Nigeria how it has successfully
engaged in international peacekeeping for years now, as well as how it
has effectively managed the conflicts of its federating units to form
unity in diversity.

Nigeria needs to
create 25 million jobs within the next ten years if it wants to tackle
poverty and unemployment, according to a report presented yesterday in
Abuja.

The five-chapter
report was an independent project by Next Generation Nigeria, a youth
group exploring how the nation could benefit from its young people. It
was compiled in collaboration with the British Council and the Harvard
School of Public Health.

Presenting the
report, Frank Nweke, director general of the Nigeria Economic Summit
Group, who worked on the project, said a shortage of jobs is a serious
challenge.

“Without remedial
action, the crisis in the job market will worsen rapidly as growing
numbers of young Nigerians enter the workforce,” he said.

Mr. Nweke said the
country cannot generate new jobs unless it diversifies its economy. He
called for a reduction in the overdependence on oil and more
investments in agriculture, information and communications technology,
textile, and leather.

“The oil industry
contributes 40 percent to the national GDP [Gross Domestic Product],”
he said. “But it is highly capital-intensive and employs only a tiny
fraction of the population.”

More investment

Nigeria needs to
spend up to 4 percent more of its GDP on the infrastructure that will
underpin a world class economy, said Mr. Nweke.

Poor power generation, in particular, has forced a lot of industries to close down in the last few decades.

“Unless we address
those things that made them shut down, the kind of employment needed to
take the youth off the streets, make them more productive, and prepare
the country to be the largest economy, cannot be generated,” he said.

Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, managing director, World Bank, and chairperson of the
Next Generation Nigeria, said at the event that Nigeria must tap into
the energies of the young. If this demographic are managed well,
Nigeria can take off in the manner that countries like South Korea were
able to do in the 1980s and 1990s.

“However, this demographic dividend will not come up automatically,” she said.

“Immediate policy actions need to be taken to seize the window of
opportunity. We need to invest in the health and education of our young
people,” she said.

Workers of the
Union Bank of Nigeria have shelved their plans to go on strike until
discussions over their disagreement with the management is resolved on
September 30.

The workers accused
the bank’s management of mismanagement, ethnic prejudice, and massive
layoff of workers without adherence to due process.

The agreement,
signed between the warring parties, include an accord to halt
retrenchment, and the cut off of workers’salaries, and tax deductions
reverted to previous pre-July status, among other contentious issues.

Denja Yakub, the
secretary of the Nigerian Labour Congress told NEXT that a one-month
discussion framework has been agreed upon by workers and the bank
management.

Reaching a consensus

“We agreed on the
contentious issues that they would resolve all those issues that were
raised before the 30th of September. And then they say they are not
retrenching and do not have the plans to retrench. They also said that
those who were affected by the sack the bank embarked on would be
reconsidered,” he said.

Last week, the
Nigerian Labour Congress published a letter it wrote to the governor of
the Central Bank of Nigeria stating that dangers abound if Funke
Osibodu, the bank’s GMD/CEO, is not checked. It added “No bank in the
country has the record of unfair labour relations and attitude as being
exhibited by the Madam Osibodu-led management team.”

Bank denies allegations

In a rejoinder
published in a national daily yesterday, the bank denied the
allegations levelled against it by the union stating, “We view with
concern the inaccuracies and misinformation contained in the
advertorial letter written by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to the
Central Bank of Nigeria.”

The statement by
Francis Barde, head of corporate affairs, stated that it has noted the
list of demands from the NLC and dialogue had since commenced. “The
bank states that it values the harmonious relationship with the
in-house staff unions and will continue to work and dialogue with them
and the NLC.”

The bank said that
it is on record that most of the staff that were terminated or
dismissed were involved in various acts of gross misconduct, which
resulted in losses by the bank.

Mr. Barde in an
interview said, “The agreement is that the management will revert to
what the members of staff were enjoying before, pending when they are
able to sit down together with the management to decide where we are
now. So, whatever that it was before, they have been reverted, since
the staff are not comfortable with what the management have done, so if
there would be any change now, they would sit down with the management
and decide, because that is the crux of the argument.”

The previous
management of Union Bank, along with seven others were sacked by Sanusi
Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank governor, on grounds of mismanagement
of funds, lax credit risk management practices, among others.

The Ekiti State governor, Segun Oni, yesterday asked
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to explain
statements credited to its officials that the tenure of office of all
the governors that won rerun elections should be counted from May 29,
2007 when they first assumed office, saying INEC needs to explain what
happens to the period spent in office by acting governors in those
states.

State governors such as Timpre Sylva of Bayelsa
State, Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, Aliyu Daikingari of Kebbi
State, and Segun Oni were removed from office midway into their tenure
after losing at the electoral tribunal before winning back their posts.

But Mr. Oni said the issues surrounding the tenure of office is simply a constitutional matter.

“Even as we are not afraid of standing for elections
anytime, provided the constitution is followed, it must, however, be
stated that laws are not known to take retroactive effect,” he said.
“Though the issue of tenure of office of the states where by-elections
were held is still a subject of various law suits, we must state
without fear of contradiction that tenure of Oni and other governors
whose elections were nullified and returned to office after winning by
or rerun elections is not for the Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) to fix. It is simply a constitutional matter,” said
Wale Ojo-Lanre, the spokesperson to the Governor Oni.

Blaming the opposition

Mr. Ojo-Lanre, in another development, described the
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state as a party of failed
politicians who abhor development and progress of the state. He was
referring to statements credited to the ACN that the Ekiti State
University Teaching Hospital has not witnessed any development since Mr
Oni took office.

“The party’s comment on the Haemo-Dialysis Centre
donated to the state University Teaching Hospital (UTH) by MTN is a
demonstration of their frustration and hatred for the well-being of
Ekiti people,” Mr Ojo-Lanre said.

“It is on record that only 12 hospitals were selected
out of 60 applications that were submitted. Governor Oni also wrote a
personal letter to the MTN Foundation, reiterating the state
government’s commitment for the project,” he said.

The spokesperson said that the hospital was picked as
one of the 12 recipients of a dialysis centre due to the report of a
team sent to the state by the foundation that claimed that it met the
standard set for the installation of the dialysis equipment.

The Ekiti State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria had on
Tuesday lauded the MTN Foundation for donating the haemodialysis centre
to the University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti. But the party said the
state government has not fulfilled its obligation to the hospital.