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The House of Representatives will work towards basic
constitutional changes that will allow millions of Nigerians abroad vote in
national elections by 2015, the chairperson, House Committee on Diaspora, Abike
Dabiri-Erewa, has said.

Ms. Dabiri-Erewa said the ongoing electoral reform has missed
out on making vital provisions that could have empowered many Nigerians
resident outside the country, who have in the past been denied participation in
the past years.

She said her committee will push for a reconsideration of the
issue, as the legislature considers fresh electoral reforms that will prepare
the nation for 2015 elections.

“The amendment of the 1999 Constitution has failed to provide
for Diaspora Nigerians to vote, and time is short. There is also this issue of
logistics for Diaspora voters, but our committee will work hard to find a means
for them (Diaspora Nigerians) to vote in the future,” she said over the
weekend.

“I know that there is no clause in the Constitution that gives
Nigerians in the Diaspora the right to vote, and that is sad,” the lawmaker who
represents Ikorodu Federal Constituency of Lagos State, said. “The Committee
notes the need for Nigerians in the Diaspora to vote, but all the odds appear
to be in that way, so all I can say is that, let us wait for 2015.”

Ms. Dabiri-Erewa condemned the seemingly deliberate neglect of
the provision in the on-going Constitution review, with the National Assembly
dwelling more on primary election issues. As it stands, having legitimate
arrangement for Nigerians abroad to vote cannot be feasible before the next
election in 2011.

Nigerians’s complaint

“A lot of Nigerians out there complain to me that they have been
disenfranchised. But I always tell them to be patient and maintain their good
qualities as ambassadors to the country. A time will come for them to be fully
re-integrated politically and economically to the country”, she said.

Part of the effort the committee intends to bring on, is to establish a
Diaspora Affairs Commission – the establishment bill is already before the
House – to help address issues bothering on Nigerians abroad.

At least three people were electrocuted, on Sunday, at the
Andrew Wilson Housing Estate, along Sapele Road, Benin City following the
explosion of a transformer belonging to the Power Holdings Company of Nigeria
(PHCN).

The victims included a pensioner, Isaac Ojor Legogie, a relation
of former deputy Senate President, Albert Legogie; an 18-year-old girl who was
identified as Lizzy Adogamhe and a middle-aged man, whose name was yet to be
ascertained.

NEXT gathered that the transformer in the estate exploded during
a heavy rainfall and this led to a fire on the step-down that connected the
transformer.

PHCN officials allegedly recently removed the circuit breakers
that would have prevented the fire.

The absence of the circuit breakers, it was also gathered, led
to the re-direction of current to all houses in the estate – which resulted in
all the electrical appliances in the houses within the area being affected.

While narrating the incident to journalists on Monday, the
eldest son of the late Legogie, Benjamin, said that there was pandemonium at
the estate following the explosion of the transformer serving the estate after
it was engulfed by fire.

“People were running helter scatter and my father, in the
process of going to assist a neighbour to put out the fire that engulfed his
house, ran into a pool of water that was on the ground and he was
electrocuted,” he said.

“Apart from my father, an 18-year-old girl, simply identified as
Lizzy was electrocuted while trying to take something from the refrigerator in
their house; while the PHCN officials who were called in simply came and
removed the fuse in the transformers and left.”

Officials unaware

The spokesperson of the police in Edo State, Peter Ogboi, said
he was yet to be briefed by the Divisional Police Officer in charge of the area
but promised to investigate the matter.

The spokesperson for the Benin Distribution Zone of the power
company, Grace Nwobodo, also said that she was yet to be briefed.

The residents of the estate, however, said the power company is
to blame for the incident

“It is regrettable that until now no official of the PHCN has
come to even commiserate with the families of those who neither lost their
lives nor claimed responsibility for what happened,” Mr. Legogie said.

“We are demanding that PHCN should be held responsible for the deaths and
must pay compensation to the family of the deceased in addition to offering a
public apology to us.”

The Bishop-elect of Catholic Diocese of
Ondo, Jude Arogundade, has said he will develop its pilgrimage centre in
0ka-Akoko to strengthen the faithful.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday, Mr.
Arogundade said the centre, named ‘Oke Maria’, would be restructured to
fit in with modern designs and that the project would be achieved with
the support of priests in the diocese, the goodwill of the diocese as
well as the support of his friends.

He also said he had visited many
pilgrimage centres in the world and seen the human ingenuity, planning
and the technology which accorded them the global attention.

He solicited for the support of Ondo
State indigenes who had benefitted from Catholic training to help in
enhancing the growth of education in the diocese.

“It is the responsibility of those
people to come back to build their community schools and impart what
they have learnt within and outside to the people of the state,” he
said.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Mr. Arogundade on February 15, and he
will be ordained on May 6.</

Nigerians has been urged to be united
and live in peace with one another as a means of ensuring a stabilised
nation, Jerry Gana, a former Minister of Information said. He said this
in Doko, Bida on Sunday in his Easter message at St. Peter’s Church.

“We strongly need this unity if we are
to continue to forge ahead as a united and indivisible entity.”
According to him, without peace and unity, socio economic development
will continue to elude the society.

The former minister said Nigerians
should learn to live in peace with each other irrespective of religion,
tribal, political or ethnic differences.

“Nigerians must also be free to live in any part of the country, as
the nation belongs to all of us,” he said.</

The new Bishop of
Asaba Diocese of the Anglican Communion, Justus Mogekwu, has decried the
dearth of infrastructure in public schools.

Receiving members of
the Ubulu-Uku Anglican Grammar School Old Boys Association, who paid
him a congratulatory visit in Asaba, Mr. Mogekwu blamed the dilapidation
of such structures on the lack of maintenance.

He said the lack of
maintenance had been plaguing post-primary institutions in the country
since their take-over from the missionaries.

The bishop added
that while new structures had scarcely been erected in the affected
schools, the old ones were not being maintained.

He also said that though the teachers are better qualified, their
impact on students is not being felt because they are not committed to
making the best of their profession.

The Katsina State governor, Ibrahim
Shema said on Sunday in Abuja that electoral reforms would accelerate
the growth of the nation’s nascent democracy.

Mr. Shema argued that the reforms are
also necessary for the development of the country.

“My views are that electoral reforms are
necessary; in fact, reforms are necessary in every emerging programme.
Every emerging programme will go through some difficult times, will
require some amendments here and there,” he said.

The governor argued that since Nigeria’s
democracy was only 10 years old, it should not be compared with that of
the U.S. which had clocked more than 250 years.

“For us to do what is right, we have to
keep improving like America too. Their constitution was amended on
different occasions over time,” he noted.

Asked whether he would run for a second term, Mr. Shema said
“Everything is in the hands of God Almighty and the people that elected
me.”</

The Gombe State government has declared
Tuesday work-free in honour of two senators from the state who died
recently.

A statement signed by Yahaya Baba on
behalf of the Head of Service, Ibrahim Biri, said the work-free day
would enable workers to mourn the loss of the two illustrious sons of
the state.

Tawar Wada, 53, representing Gombe South
District in the Senate, died in Abuja on March 31, while Kawu Peto, 52,
also representing Gombe North, passed on in Kaduna on April 2.

The two died after brief illnesses, according to reports.

The Katsina State governor, Ibrahim
Shema, on Monday said the state government has spent N45 million to
rehabilitate the Jibia Dam, constructed by the Federal Government more
than 20 years ago.

The governor said the dam had stopped
functioning two years before he assumed office, adding, “The equipment
had gone to waste. The channelisation had broken down; the wiring and
electronic components had all burnt out; the generator was not
functioning. Land clearance was another issue.

“Forty-five million naira only was what
we used to rehabilitate the entire dam and put it back to use, and
cultivate 1,540 hectares. I am quite happy that we made a lot of
progress in this area,” he said.

He also claimed that his administration has properly accounted for
all the funds it collected for the 34 local governments in the state.</

As travellers take
advantage of the holidays to visit relatives and ‘unwind’, domestic
carriers have disclosed that tickets on most local routes are all fully
booked.

The high passenger
traffic, which has been visible at both the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2
(MMA2) and General Aviation Terminal (GAT), Lagos, since last week
Friday, resulted in increased vehicular traffic around the airports.

“The turnout of
passengers was high on Friday and Saturday, but is low today (Sunday),”
said Adepoju, a ticketing and reservation officer of Virgin Nigeria, at
the departure terminal of MMA2.

According to Mr.
Adepoju, though passengers travel on Sundays, some of them would prefer
hanging out with friends and families on an Easter Sunday.

The ticketing and
reservation officer, however, disclosed that “almost all seats” on
their Monday and Tuesday flights have been fully booked.

“This is because most of them will either be resuming for work after the holiday, or going back to their primary station.”

An employee of Arik
Air at the General Aviation Terminal, who spoke on conditions of
anonymity, disclosed that fares were not affected despite the rush, as
he argued that airfares are not determined by increase or decrease in
passenger traffic.

“As you can see on
our stands, the rates for our tickets have remained the same, despite
the high number of people travelling,” the officer said.

“This is because whether there is rush or not, airfares are usually not affected. If not, you will hardly get promo tickets.”

Bukola Johnson, a
passenger at the GAT, disclosed that she is not surprised with the high
traffic at the airports, because of the nationwide holidays.

“The increased
number of people travelling is not only peculiar to aviation. If you go
to bus stations in the morning, you will also see hundreds of people
travelling,” she said.

“This is a season of celebration and a time to go and visit family members, old friends and colleagues, as well as unwind.”

The continued slashes in the prices of
air tickets by some domestic carriers have triggered mixed reactions
among passengers and industry professionals.

This is coming after last week’s
announcement of a new airfare of N3,000 to be booked online by
travellers across all domestic routes covered by Aero Contractors – one
of the oldest carriers in the country involved in domestic and regional
transport business.

With an average of N16,000 for an hour
one-way flight in the country, the recent introduction of promo
airfares by domestic carriers like Dana Air, Nigerian Eagle Airlines
and Aero have no doubt increased the number of air travellers, but the
situation has also led to series of complaints from passengers who
claim that some of the airlines fail to provide enough seats for
travellers with low cost tickets.

“After booking online for N6,000, I
almost missed the flight because the flight was overbooked with
preference given to people that paid the regular amount; so talking
about N3,000 is practically impossible,” said Yemi Samuel, an Abuja
bound passenger at the Murtala Mohammed Airport 2 (MMA2),

Lagos.

Hot air

Mrs. Samuel argued
that for any scheduled flight, the airline involved should ensure that
it get the accurate number of passengers who booked online and those
that purchased tickets from either agents or ticketing and reservation
officers, so as not to cause confusion and “unnecessary delays” to
travellers.

Expressing his
doubts as pertaining low cost tickets, another traveller, Nwabueze
Godswil, who admitted to have benefitted “once” from reduced air
tickets in the past, disclosed that his second experience trying to
travel with a low cost ticket was “regretful.”

“I got to the
airport as usual but was told that I can’t fly because the aircraft is
filled, while I saw some passengers boarding,” he said. “Tell me if
such can happen to someone who paid N5,000, what then is the fate of a
person who books the N3,000 advertised ticket.”

Mr. Godswill,
however, called for safety of lives and properties, adding that though
the reduced rates are to attract customers, the airlines should not
compromise on their services in a bid to woo clients.

It would be
recalled that Aero last year introduced reduced fares of N8,000 for an
hour one-way flight, and later in the same year dropped the rate to
N5,000, while Nigerian Eagle Airlines, formerly Virgin Nigeria,
announced mid last month its low cost ticket of N4,999 on all its
domestic routes when purchased at any of Silverbird cinemas nationwide.

Not long enough
after Virgin’s promo airfares, Aero came up with its N3,000 ticket, a
development which travellers described as an act aimed at retaining its
customers.

Civil Aviation Authority position

Commenting on the
development, Sam Adurogboye, the media head for the Nigerian Civil
Aviation Authority (NCAA) disclosed that the authority does not
regulate whatever amount is decided by an airline to sell its tickets.

“Airfares have been
deregulated so they (airlines) are free to advertise,” he said. “Why
not wait and see if the fares are feasible or not.?”

Mr. Adurogboye,
however, assured passengers that the authority will not compromise on
the stipulated standards when it comes to safety and security of lives,
adding that any defaulting carrier will not be spared.

“The NCAA in line with the 2001 Civil Aviation Policy is required to
check predatory practices by airlines,” he said. “Anyone found wanting
will definitely face the consequences.”