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Resolution of zoning controversy

The distribution of positions in
the country is to ensure fairness and equitable distribution. It is to
ensure that people from every part of the country have a sense of
belonging, so that people are not unnecessarily marginalized. So it is
something that is there.

I am sure the kind of zoning you
are talking about is as it relates to the next presidential election. I
believe people are just overheating the polity by their continuous
debate over the matter and that is the position of the party on the
matter too. The other parties are not discussing it. They pick their
candidates from wherever they feel they have the best candidates to
represent them. So why are people trying to tie the hands of PDP in
terms of what it should do?

The chairman of the party has spoken and his words are the words of the party.

Anybody who is saying something
outside that is just trying to heat up the polity. It is clear that the
PDP rules have nothing against President Jonathan from running. By the
same token, the PDP constitution allows anybody from any part of the
country to run. So, why are people trying to restrict Nigerians to a
particular zone? The chairman has revealed that we have an arrangement
at the beginning in 1998/1999 and after that people have been running
for our presidential tickets from different parts of the country. We
are tired of all these debates .

PDP’s electoral challenges in Ondo State

A number of my people in the state
have been downcast since the last by-election in the riverine area of
the state. They feel cheated. They feel like they have been raped and
robbed. However, I have been talking to most of our leaders in the
state to see happened as a blessing. Eyes marvels at the person who
sees in every cloud some silver lining. I have said that sweet are the
uses of adversity. We lost there and our reaction is to see it as a
challenge, to see it as a process from which we should learn lessons
and ensure that those areas where doors were not properly locked and we
allowed thieves to come, we will now put double padlocks. We are going
to have series of meetings and re-strategize to guard against the
recurrence of things like this. If you are familiar with what has
happened over the last one year, in terms of history of rural elections
in the state, you’ll find out that the Labour Party went massively with
thugs and government machineries and with huge sums of money, bribing
people left and right and they totally over-ran the system there I
don’t remember the exact results there but, according to the official
results, PDP did not get up to 20 percent in that constituency. This,
of course, was a sham. We knew it was not right. By the time we went
for the House of Representatives elections in Akoko South- west and
Akoko South -east, we fared a little better and it was a tough fight.
The result was even still close, it was about 60 per cent to 40 per
cent.

We took that experience to Ilaje
in this last election. Again, we won squarely except for these seven or
eight units where they were able to sneak in. Of course, the result
came out very close again. So we are taking this as a process of
learning. We will learn as much as possible from whatever lapses there
were in this last election, so that we can be very strong in the
elections early next year.

His senatorial ambitions

I have said it to people several
times that, since February 2009 when we had this judgement, I have made
up mind that I was going to just be the leader of the party –
supporting the party and members to get back to power in Ondo State. I
have made up my mind that I have had enough of it and I will just go
back home and help and that is still the position. The truth of the
matter is that people have been calling me on phone and even physically
to try to encourage me to run. If I have the intention to contest to go
the senate, it is also too late right now because the primaries are in
about one month. I ought to be on the street campaigning now while my
posters ought to have been everywhere.

Nothing like that has happened.

Crisis within the state chapter of the PDP

There is no problem in the party
as such. The purported rift between Alasoadura and myself is not true.
What I have said is that there is a subsisting court order that brought
Mimiko into office. The gubernatorial election in Ondo State is in 2013
and it is rather too early to put gubernatorial ambitions on the front
burner now because it will be too divisive. There are about seven,
eight people who want to be governor. The party would be temporarily
divided along those lines, but don’t want to take such divisions to the
next set of elections. It is different from what will happen in Oyo
State or Osun State where may people want to be governors and they will
have primaries in the next three months and one person will emerge. In
our own case, we don’t have any primaries and if we allow the divisions
to prevail, then we will go into next year’s elections divided into
eight places and that will not augur well for us . So I have always
preached that people should temper down their ambitions so that we can
go into these elections with common purpose and strength. This has not
gone down well with some people and it has caused some minor friction
which is being overblown in some quarters.

On electoral reforms

Reforms are desirable and they
will always be desirable. We must not run away from the fact that our
democracy is still young, compared to other democracies like that of
the USA. We will continue to reform. My prayer is that in 2011, the
elections will be better than those in the past. Right now, the issue
of settling litigations before the swearing in of election winners are
very much desirable. Six months to the next elections, a number of
governorship cases are still in court. It is ridiculous and it should
embarrass any set of people.

New voters register

People have expressed misgivings
about the costs put forward by INEC. You cannot put a cost to things
that will benefit the people of the state. However, the exercise must
be technologically correct and efficient. We need electronic voting
machines in all the over 17,000 polling units in the country and
commensurate effective security apparatus must be deployed to prevent
stealing and vandalisation of the machines.

It really is
difficult sometimes when we pay attention to issues that would have
been insignificant. This is not because they are not important, but
because we should have been so used to doing them that the entire world
would be saying “it is their culture” or “that is how they behave”.

Unfortunately, what
the world refers to as our culture is heart rendering. This includes:
corruption, 419 and Italian prostitution, amongst other vices. I have
three sisters and I remember my mother telling them, “Please, close
your legs; sit like a woman” or “If you don’t want to come to the
kitchen, your husband will get satisfaction in another woman’s
kitchen”, “A dirty woman must definitely drive her husband out of the
house” and so on.

This is our culture
and they form part of what I looked out for in my wife, guided by these
noble lines from the Bible: “a wife of noble character who can find,
she is worth more than rubies.” So I can confidently say it is the
culture of women the world over. It is the way God created women, to be
in charge of the home, to be virtuous women, wives and mothers.

Unfortunately, a
lot of our girls these days do not mirror the above noble qualities and
a friend of mine, who is yet to be married, said, “Men, there are no
wives around anymore, only girlfriends” while trying to explain away
his unmarried state. Another jokingly said, “Senator Yerima could not
find virgins in Nigeria anymore, that is why he went to Egypt”.

Well, I had to
quickly point to him that, in spite of the gloomy picture, there are
still women of noble character around. But I must confess, they may go
into extinction if we do not make deliberate efforts to retrace our
steps; we are not Americans.

A lot of women and
to my amazement, some men inclusive, are “taking Panadol for another
man’s headache” with this women liberation and girl power programmes.
Liberate the women from where or whom?

For Christ’s sake,
a woman is a woman and a man is a man. You cannot undo what God has
done. Some women have neglected their duties, pursued careers, selling
themselves in the process to different men and now end up buying one
lazy, shameless boy and really wed and weld him down. The boy is not
able to play the role of the man because he is not the bread winner. He
now, in turn, engages in extra-marital activities. He now satisfies
himself with other young girls outside and the vicious circle continues
– he does not stay at home, to avoid being hen-pecked; the wife too is
busy trying to maintain her status. With house helps, DSTV, Internet
and wild friends, our children are becoming American-Nigerians, a
confused race, lacking proper home training.

One woman, however,
provided a counterpoint recently, while I was trying to ginger her to
donate during a launching programme after a man had donated. I reminded
the audience that “what a man can do, a woman can do better.” But when
she took the microphone, she said she was taught that “what a man can
do, a woman should not bother”. I treat my wife like a queen because
she treats me as a king and we are teaching our children exactly these
same attributes. Girls should be trained to be wives and mothers, while
the boys should be disciplined into responsible fathers.

I remember a lecturer discussing a book where one author insisted
that if you buy a ball for your male child, buy a ball for the female
too and that if you asked the girls to join their mothers in the
kitchen, do the same to the boys. The teacher ended her lecture that
day with these very wise saying to the ladies in the class: “if you
want to pass this course, give me back exactly what you have in this
book. But if you want to maintain, retain and sustain your homes,
please do not follow these oyibo people.”

The chairman of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, has
solicited the cooperation of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in
the upcoming voters’ registration exercise and the 2011 elections.

Mr Jega made the request yesterday when he paid a courtesy visit to the director-general of the corps, Maharazu Tsiga.

The chairman said
that corps members were the leaders of tomorrow and so a very strong
partner in the “Nigerian project.” “We need patriotic, selfless and
energetic stakeholders for the voters’ registration and for proper
elections next year,” said Mr Jega.

Better treatment

Mr Jega assured the
NYSC management that, under the new commission, issues like the late
payment of corp members’ allowances and other logistical problems,
would be a thing of the past. He said the commission would be happy to
sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the corps, to serve as a
guideline for subsequent engagements between the two organisations.

Mr Tsiga assured
the commission that its request would be promptly approved, but
requested that additional resources be included for corps members’
safety and comfort.

He asked that
identity cards be prepared, to avoid impersonation by fake corps
members. He also appealed to the chairman to ensure that vehicles are
provided for the members so that they can easily locate their duty
posts.

The INEC chairman
also solicited the cooperation of the Radio, Television and Theatre
Arts Union (RATTAU) to assist the commission in mobilizing Nigerians to
come out and register. He said the commission needed the cooperation of
the media so that its activities are not jeopardized.

Owing to
indiscriminate dumping of refuse in the channelized Ogunpa River during
the night, the Oyo State Ministry of Environment and Water Resources is
proposing to raise a team to watch over the river at nights.

The state
commissioner for environment and water resources, Majekodunmi Aborode,
who disclosed this in Ibadan on Thursday, said he had discovered that
residents around the channel hide under the cover of the night to
litter the river with refuse. The river has occasionally wrecked havoc
in the town, when its clogged channels filled with rainfall.

According to the
commissioner, security men from the ministry currently parade the
stretch of the Ogunpa channel on two shifts, between 6.00am to noon,
and noon to 6.00pm, to prevent dumping of refuse into it.

“The indiscriminate
dumping of refuse in the Ogunpa channels is done after 6.00pm when
people are not supervising. I have realized that we need to operate 24
hours. But there must be adequate security for men who will do the
night job,” he said.

Abusing the environment

The commissioner
and his team were also out yesterday to compel traders who display
their wares on the newly expanded Dugbe-Queen Cinema Road to remove
them. Mr Aborode regretted that despite the huge amount the government
had spent on the project, the people still abuse it

“We have discovered
that the only language our people understand is that of legislation and
enforcement,” he said, as he promised to make the exercise a regular
occurrence.

The commissioner
also informed that the state was still searching for a balance in the
area of environmental protection and management, saying, “we are not
where we are supposed to be. We are still in search of balance”.

The U.S. military
is on track to cut numbers in Iraq to 50,000 by end August, when the
7-1/2-year combat mission launched by former President George W. Bush
ends and operations switch to assisting Iraq’s armed forces.

The 4th Stryker
Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, the last brigade mainly focussed on
combat, handed over to Iraqi forces on August 7 and pulls out this
week. Its 100-strong “trail party” will leave in three days after
turning over facilities.

Another 6,000 U.S.
soldiers still need to leave by transport aircraft or by road before
August 31 to reach the 50,000 figure President Barack Obama promised
U.S. voters would be left ahead of a total withdrawal by the end of
2011.

“My personal
experience is it was worth it. We paid a huge cost,” said Staff
Sergeant Christopher Hush from the First Battalion of the 116th
Infantry regiment which headed to Kuwait earlier this week.

There will be
little actual change on the ground come September 1 when all six
brigades left in Iraq officially become “Advise and Assist” units, said
Major General Stephen Lanza, the U.S. military spokesman in Iraq.

Most U.S. military
units began switching their focus to training and assisting Iraqi
troops and police over a year ago when they pulled out of Iraqi towns
and cities on June 30, 2009.

U.S. forces have
not been legally able to conduct unilateral operations in Iraq since a
bilateral security agreement came into force in January 2009, and the
U.S. military began a steady cut in troop numbers, from a peak of
176,000 soldiers.

“Every soldier is a
combat soldier. It’s about the change of mission. It doesn’t change who
we are or what we do,” Lanza said. “You won’t see this big change on 2
September.”

Milestone in war

The end of the U.S.
combat mission in Iraq will still be a milestone in the war that began
in 2003 with the invasion to topple Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein,
whose long rule was marked by an eight-year war with Iran, the invasion
of Kuwait and economic decline and diplomatic isolation.

More than 4,400
U.S. soldiers have been killed, while at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians
also died, according to various counts, in fierce warfare unleashed
between majority Shi’ites and minority Sunnis who dominated the country
under Saddam.

Overall violence
has fallen sharply since the height of sectarian slaughter in 2006/07.
But Sunni Islamist-led insurgents still carry out attacks and Iraq is a
fragile place.

Its leaders have
not resolved a number of politically explosive issues, such as tensions
between majority Arabs and minority Kurds, and reconciliation between
Sunnis and Shi’ites.

Nor have they been able to form a new government five months after a national election that produced no outright winner.

Tensions have been
stoked by a steady stream of suicide bombings and other attacks by
insurgents trying to exploit the political vacuum ahead of the end of
the U.S. combat mission.

Nevertheless,
Iraq’s tentative experiment with U.S.-imposed democracy holds the
potential to upset political power balances throughout a region
accustomed to autocratic governance.

Much of the U.S.
war materiel and many of the soldiers leaving Iraq are being redeployed
in Afghanistan, where NATO forces are fighting a resurgent Taliban. The
50,000-strong force left in Iraq will remain formidable — almost twice
the size of the U.S. deployment on the Korean peninsula.

Obama has said not
a single U.S. service member will remain in Iraq come January 1, 2012,
even though it will be impossible for Iraq to stand up its own air
force and be ready to protect its territorial integrity on its own by
then.

Yet the U.S. public is weary of war, and any decision to remain longer in Iraq would likely be highly controversial.

The war in Iraq has gone on longer than the U.S. Civil War, World War One and World War Two.

Grace Folashade
Bent (PDP Adamawa State) has been honoured by former councillors from
her constituency with the Best Senator award.

She was honored by
the Old Councillors Forum, of Ganye Chiefdom. The forum comprises of
councillors from different political parties in Toungo, Jada and Ganye
council areas. The event took place at the Gangwari square, Ganye
council area, in Adamawa South senatorial zone.

Mrs Bent, a
Yoruba-born lawmaker, is married to a retired army officer from Numan,
in the zone. She has been representing the zone in the Senate since
2007, and wishes to continue.

Although she was
the only nominee for the award, Chairman of the occasion and former
Majority Leader of Adamawa State House of Assembly, Usman Bindau, said
the choice of Mrs Bent for the award was not misplaced, pointing out
that the senator excelled in many areas where past representatives of
the constituency failed.

Informed choice

He added that her
contributions to the Senate and her oversight functions as Committee
Chairperson on Environment are other attributes that informed their
choice to honour her.

Chairman of the Old
Councillors’ Forum, Usman Bobbo Koma, added that the choice of the
senator for the award was done to appreciate and acknowledge her
strides in the current democratic dispensation.

“As a member of the
National Assembly, Bent has continued to offer purposeful and effective
representation, as well as ensuring the zone enjoys dividends of
democracy accruing from the federal government,” Mr Koma said. “Since
we have been voting representatives into the National Assembly, the
southern senatorial district has never witnessed a senator who has
performed his/her function of representation diligently, as
demonstrated by Bent.”

In her acceptance
speech, Grace Bent, who began by singing a Hausa Christian chorus, said
the award was a further challenge to her abilities.

“I see this award being given to me today by the Forum of Old
Councillors as wake up call,” she said. “I thank you all and I shall
not let you down. I am elated and overwhelmed by the momentous
reception accorded me today by the people of Ganye Chiefdom.”

The Young African
Leadership Forum, initiated by US President, Barack Obama, is perhaps
one of the most endearing decisions taken by the U.S government to
support the talented African youth who are distinguished in various
fields. The forum recently brought together some 120 promising young
Africans from over 40 countries to the White House, to meet with the
U.S. president.

The four-day event
was organized by the U.S Department of State, in collaboration with the
White House. Discussions ranged from economic empowerment, HIV/AIDS and
governance. Key points made include: the fact that African youth have
the potential to facilitate social transformation in their individual
countries. Secondly, change must start from the mind set and it must
have a clear focus. Thirdly, change consists of small steps with
symbolic victories.

As an African, I am
glad that the American president has demonstrated genuine interest in
Africa and her emerging leaders. He also has deep knowledge of the
challenges in various problems within African countries. It is for this
reason he invited delegates from across Africa to share their vision
for Africa and explore the role the U.S can play in the actualization
of such. I see this as the beginning of a strategic partnership that
could bring about the change that we all hope for.

Nigeria should
consider the possibility of holding a similar forum, bringing together
youth and the leadership of the country to discuss issues that affect
the development of our country. Youth in Nigeria have been excluded
from governance and this is contributing to the dangerous political and
security situation in the country.

Furthermore, it is
imperative that Nigerian youth have good role models to inspire them
towards greatness. But, unfortunately this is not always the case
because most of our leaders are far from good role models. They lack
integrity and the capacity to mentor young people into selfless
leaders. Thus, while the youth constitute a significant part of the
country’s population, their influence in the polity is limited to
mediocre roles, not entirely by choice, but because this arrangement
serves the best interest of mostly first and second generation
politicians, who have maintained a solid grip on power for decades.

As part of my
contribution to youth in Nigeria, I intend to provide education that
will inspire young people to pursue their dreams and aspirations for
this great country. I witnessed the significant role youth in America
played in making history through the election of the first African
American president in America and I have no doubt that youth in Nigeria
have the potential to facilitate social transformation. But, they have
to believe.

Change is not easy

As Mr Obama has
reiterated on numerous occasions, change does not come easy. It entails
sacrifice, commitment, patience and more. As innovators for change, we
must first have a clear focus or vision. Subsequently, we should start
with small actions that translate to symbolic victories. Also, we
should always manifest change in our attitude. This may include: our
attitude towards other Nigerians, the environment, and governance.

Finally, no
external entity can give Nigerians the country of our5 dream. It is
only Nigerians that can bring about the change we want. I say to youth
in Nigeria: when are you going to be tired of being tired and do
something?

As one of the delegates to the Young African Leadership Forum, I am proud to be a Nigerian and I am also proud to be African.

Federal
investigators are getting ready to probe the allowances drawn by
members of the National Assembly, who are considered the most overpaid
but the most under-performing public servants.

The Independent
Corrupt Practices and other related offences commission (ICPC) last
Tuesday fired the first shot by way of an inquiry to the Clerk of the
National Assembly, asking for details and copies of all the vouchers
that have been used to pay legislators since 2007.

Emmanuel Ayoola,
the chairman of the commission, had stated at a forum last week, as
reported by NEXT, that investigators from his agency would commence a
thorough scrutiny into the allowances being collected by the
legislators. Investigators told NEXT yesterday that they had not heard
back from the National Assembly but could understand the jolt this
could cause a group of Nigerians who had settled into a prolonged
practice of “poor behaviour.” Mr Obasanjo, the former president,
recently lashed out at the legislators, accusing them of grand
corruption, including receiving about N250 million in salaries and
allowances.

“Yes, we have sent
the Clerk of the National Assembly the letter. We expect their response
and also their full cooperation in our investigations,” the media
consultant to the ICPC, Folu Olamiti, told NEXT, confirming the moves
of his agency.

However, Daminabo
Monima, the director of Information of the National Assembly, expressed
ignorance when NEXT tried to find out if the office of the clerk had
received the letter.

“I am not aware of such a request. If I am aware, I will tell you,” Mr Monima stated.

Unapproved money

However, an
official in the office of the Clerk to the National Assembly, who
requested anonymity, hinted that they have received such a letter,
explaining that “I think it has been forwarded to the Directorate of
Personnel, since it involved payment and allowances to legislators; and
the Directorate of Legal Matters, since it involved an investigation
agency”. A senior official at the same office, however, became hostile
when he learnt that a NEXT reporter was seeking to know about the
letter from the ICPC, declining to answer any question.

Salaries and allowances of legislators, as well as those of other
public office holders, are approved by the Revenue Mobilisation
Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC). As reported by various media,
including NEXT, however, each senator receives N48 million quarterly,
as “office running cost,” while each member of the House of
Representatives receives 35 million naira for the same purpose. This
money is not approved by the RMAFC.

The Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN) and its governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, have been sued
in a federal high Court in Abuja, over their much publicized plan to
sell off the four troubled banks to new investors.

The shareholders
of the banks have approached the court for an order of interlocutory
injunction stopping Mr Sanusi and the central bank from carrying out
the planned sale of the banks.

The shareholders
asked the court to prohibit the two defendants, their servants, agents
and privies from inviting bidders to buy over the four banks pending
the determination of the court action.

The four banks are Union bank plc, Oceanic Bank International plc, Intercontinental Bank plc and AfriBank plc.

In the suit, filed
by Nnodu Okeke, the shareholders operating under the Registered
Trustees of the Proactive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, asked
the Federal High Court to stop the CBN governor from making
pronouncements on the sales bid and from making statements capable of
prejudicing their suit.

The shareholders
also claimed that, as the owners, they have a deep interest to protect
in the four banks, and as such the two defendants be prevented from
making any move or taking any action capable of jeopardizing their
interests.

In a 28-paragraph
affidavit in support of the suit, the aggrieved shareholders are asking
the court to determine whether Sanusi and the Supreme Court have powers
under the law to sell off the four banks in the way and manner they had
planned.

They also claimed
that in spite of the court action and papers served on the CBN, the
defendants had continued to make efforts to sell off the banks.

Nothing to lose

With several
documents attached to buttress their claims, the shareholders stated
that the bank sales, if allowed, would cause them irreparable losses in
terms of their business and investments in the bank.

The affidavit,
deposed to by one Ijeoma Nwankwo, a lawyer, claimed that the rights of
the shareholders are in danger should the two defendants be allowed to
frustrate their suit with the planned sales of the banks.

The plaintiffs claimed that Mr Sanusi and the CBN have nothing to
lose if the interim order was granted and that they were ready to enter
into an undertaking as to damages to be paid to the two defendants if
their case was found to be frivolous in the end. The case has been
adjourned to September 23 for hearing.

The Kogi State
government will soon be reimbursed for constructing federal roads in
the state, President Goodluck Jonathan has promised.

The president made
the remark when he visited the state to inaugurate a specialists’
hospital, the Kogi International Market, and the Lokoja-Ajaokuta Road.

Mr. Jonathan said he was impressed with the projects, as they positively affect the lives of residents of the state.

“I am happy with
the state governor because he never waited for the federal government
to construct the federal roads in his state,” he said. “Rather, he went
ahead to construct the roads.”

Mr. Jonathan
promised that all federal government projects located in the state will
be completed before the end of his tenure in office.

Projects for the people

According to the
state’s governor, Ibrahim Idris, the market, constructed at a cost of
N3.8 billion, is expected to provide over 4,000 jobs in its over 2,000
shops.

The governor also
explained that the new 200-bed specialist hospital was established at a
cost of about N1.5 billion. He boasted that the hospital had 22
consultants and 64 doctors covering virtually every field of medicine.

Mr. Idris said that
the 24-kilometre Lokoja-Ajaokuta Road, a federal road linking the
south-east and south-south to northern Nigeria, was constructed for
N3.3 billion.

He said his
government had spent N6.4 billion in the construction of three federal
roads, and will be grateful if the federal government reimburses the
funds.