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The Arewa
Consultative Forum (ACF) has congratulated the President-elect,
Goodluck Jonathan over his victory in the just-concluded general
elections.

The forum has also condemned the call for the abolition of the National Youth Service Corps scheme (NYSC).

The ACF had
earlier opposed the candidacy of Mr Jonathan and the jettisoning of the
zoning arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), insisting
that the North should be allowed to complete its second term based on
the zoning arrangement.

In a communiqué
issued at the end of the meeting of the National Working Committee
(NWC) chaired by the chairman, Aliko Mohammed yesterday in Kaduna, the
body congratulated all the state governors, members of the National
Assembly as well as State Assembly members for their successes at the
polls.

The communiqué
signed by the National Publicity Secretary Anthony Sani, also commended
the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC),
Attahiru Jega for conducting what the forum described as “elections
that have been generally adjudged by both the local and international
observers to be better than previous elections.” “As to the losers, the
forum congratulated them for their spirited efforts in providing the
electorate with alternative platforms needed in a democracy, since
democracy without opposition is a sham.

“Losers should,
therefore, be magnanimous in defeat and seek redress through due
process of law where it is absolutely necessary. Victors on the other
hand should recognise the fact that governance is an art of balancing
competing demands among constituent parts of the united whole.” The
group continued, “While condemning the killings of some NYSC members
who were victims of the violence in some parts of the country, it is
the considered opinion of ACF that the NYSC scheme should not be
abolished. This is precisely because the ideas of fostering national
unity which informed the establishment of NYSC are still relevant.

“What is more,
scrapping NYSC is as good as saying people should not settle outside
their states of origin. Therefore, NYSC scheme should be retained and
spirited efforts be made to ensure the security of members.”

“The forum also
called on victors from the just concluded elections to have a realistic
appreciation of the circumstances of their emergence and make
consciously direct efforts by bringing Nigerians together and enable
them to unleash their synergy by way of living up their collective
challenges.

“This is very necessary because no nation thrives on the victory of
its factions but through their ultimate reconciliations. And in order
to make the desired results come to pass, governments must be peopled
by those with vision, conviction, public intelligence and with
patriotic courage needed to tell power not just what it wants to hear
but also what it needs no hear.” ACF emphasised.

Osama bin Laden was
unarmed when US special forces shot and killed him, the White House
said, as it tried to establish whether its ally Pakistan had helped the
al Qaeda leader elude a worldwide manhunt.

Pakistan faced
national embarrassment, a leading Islamabad newspaper said, in how to
explain that the world’s most-wanted man was able to live for years in
the military garrison town of Abbottabad, just north of the capital.

Islamabad vehemently denies it gave shelter to bin Laden.

“There is an
intelligence failure of the whole world, not just Pakistan alone,”
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani told reporters in Paris. “(If there
are) … lapses from the Pakistan side, that means there are lapses
from the whole world.” The revelation that bin Laden was unarmed
contradicted an earlier US account that he had participated in a
firefight with the helicopter-borne American commandos.

Al Arabiya television went further, suggesting the architect of the 9/11 attacks was first taken prisoner and then shot.

“A security source
in the Pakistani security quoted the daughter of Osama bin Laden that
the leader of al Qaeda was not killed inside his house, but had been
arrested and was killed later,” the Arabic television station said.

White House
spokesman Jay Carney on Tuesday cited the “fog of war” – a phrase
suggested by a reporter – as a reason for the initial misinformation.

Bin Laden’s killing
and the swift burial of his body at sea have produced some criticism in
the Muslim world and accusations Washington acted outside international
law.

“The Americans
behaved in the same way as bin Laden: with treachery and baseness,”
Husayn al-Sawaf, 25-year-old playwright said in Cairo. “They should’ve
tried him in a court. As for his burial, that’s not Islamic. He
should’ve been buried in soil.”

But there has been
no sign of mass protests or violent reaction on the streets in South
Asia or the Middle East, where Islamist militancy appears to have been
eclipsed by pro-democracy movements sweeping the region.

Washington will
weigh sensitivities in the Muslim world when it decides whether to
release photographs of bin Laden’s body which could provide proof for
skeptics of his death.

Bin Laden was shot
in the head. “It’s fair to say that it’s a gruesome photograph,” Carney
said. “I’ll be candid. There are sensitivities here in terms of the
appropriateness of releasing photographs.”

Pakistan has
welcomed bin Laden’s death, but its foreign ministry expressed deep
concerns about the raid, which it called an “unauthorized unilateral
action.”

The CIA said it
kept Pakistan out of the loop because it feared bin Laden would be
tipped off, highlighting the depth of mistrust between the two supposed
allies.

US helicopters
carrying the commandos used radar “blind spots” in the hilly terrain
along the Afghan border to enter Pakistani airspace undetected in the
early hours of Monday.

The Pakistani
newspaper Dawn compared the latest humiliation with the admission in
2004 that one of the country’s top scientists had sold its nuclear
secrets. “Not since Abdul Qadeer Khan confessed to transferring nuclear
technology to Iran and Libya has Pakistan suffered such an
embarrassment,” it said.

The streets around
bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad remained sealed off on Wednesday,
with police and soldiers allowing only residents to pass through.

“It’s a crime but
what choice are you left with if I’m not handing over your enemy who is
hiding in my house?” said Hussain Khan, a retired government official
living nearby, when asked about the apparent violation of Pakistan’s
sovereignty. “Obviously you will go and get him yourself.”

Unarmed resistance

Carney insisted bin Laden resisted when U.S. forces stormed his compound in the 40-minute operation. He would not say how.

“There was concern
that bin Laden would oppose the capture operation and, indeed, he
resisted,” Carney said. “A woman … bin Laden’s wife, rushed the US
assaulter and was shot in the leg but not killed. Bin Laden was then
shot and killed. He was not armed.”

If the country’s health sector is to be in tune with 21st century health practices as practised in developed countries, a focused political leadership and self-development by medical practitioners must be vigorously pursued.

The founder of Ashanti Graham Health and Education Initiative Foundation (AGHEIF), Douglas Okor, made this known yesterday at a Continuing Medical Education (CME) programme organised by the foundation in collaboration with the Edo State chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA).

He also stressed the need to build institutions, and not personalities, to achieve the country’s vision of becoming one of the leading 20 nations by the year 2020.
According to Mr Okor, the leadership crisis in Nigeria would have to be resolved for the country to attain her Vision 20:2020, of which health is paramount.

“Our vision is 21st century healthcare for Nigeria, like the kind of healthcare you have in developed countries and by our projections, in the next 15 to 20 years, we will have that kind of healthcare.

“We have all it takes in Nigeria to get to where we want to be, but what is lacking is the people to get us there. We lack the people for direction and that is what we are now preaching, that we need leaders.”

Leadership factor

“We are talking about building leaders at the level of undergraduate students, building students at the level of postgraduate students, building leaders at the level of heads of departments and parastatals.” According to Mr. Okor, who is the first neurosurgeon graduate from the University of Benin, the just concluded general elections have raised the hope of Nigerians for getting the right leadership.

“The last election in Nigeria gave us great hope. A revolution has begun, we need to inspire leaders that have the passion to make the change and that will drive people to live up to the stage. We have to build institutions that do not depend on one man but on a process. We need to develop the human capacity. Nigeria is a mega-rich country but we need the right leadership to allocate our resources appropriately. Anybody who tells you that there is no fund in the country, that person is lying.

“The Edo State chairperson of the NMA, Philip Ugbodaga, had in his welcome address described the CME as “the cornerstone for healthcare delivery and a vehicle for improving our health indices.” This, he said, was why regulatory agencies all over the world, including the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN), insist on CMEs as a prerequisite for the renewal

The Kwara State
government has evacuated corps members from the state serving in some
northern states in the country. Some of the corps members were attacked
during the riots that broke out in the wake of the presidential
elections, leaving them stranded and traumatised. The secretary to the
Kwara State government, Saka Abimbola Issau said yesterday that youth
corps members of Kwara State origin currently serving in Bauchi State
have been brought back to Ilorin, the state capital.

“The state government placed high premium on the lives of its citizens, irrespective of where they live,” he said.

They arrived in Ilorin on Monday night and have since joined their families.

“The government
thanks parents and guardians of the corps members and other well
wishers for their patience and understanding during the evacuation
exercise and assure them of the government’s readiness to cater for the
welfare of its citizens at all time,” Mr Issau said.

The coordinator of
the state’s corps members serving in Bauchi State, Abubakar Rafiu also
expressed the appreciation of his members to the state government over
the evacuation programme and pledged their continuous loyalty to the
government of Nigeria.

He said his colleagues always prayed to God to intervene in the crisis so that peace would return to the region.

Bad experience

Some of the
affected corps members expressed their displeasure over the incident.
Bello Saheed Olanrewaju, a graduate of the Kwara State polytechnic who
was deployed to Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State, said:
“The crises erupted as a result of the outcome of the various elections
conducted in the state, with opposition parties challenging the victory
of the ruling People Democratic Party (PDP).

“We were rescued by
the local government inspector in Alkaleri Local Government Area who
sneaked us into the 301 Artillery barracks in Bauchi, where we spent
two days before joining a bus to Jos, Plateau State and finally to
Ilorin,” he said.

Owolabi Bolaji, a
corps member deployed to Misau Local Government said: “our lodge was
set ablaze by the protesters and we quickly find rescue with the State
Security Service (SSS) officials in Bauchi. We spent two days there and
later added another two days at the Army barracks in Bauchi before
finding our way down to Ilorin.

“It was a terrible experience. We call on the Federal government to
look into the welfare of the corps members across the country so as to
ensure the survival of the scheme.”

Health workers in Nasarawa State, including doctors
at the Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital have suspended their four-month
old strike following an appeal by the state’s governor-elect, Umaru
Tanko Al-Makura.

The health workers, who are under the aegis of
Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Medical and Health Workers Union of
Nigeria and National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives, had
embarked on an indefinite strike in order to force the state government
to implement the new salary structure approved by the federal
government for health professionals.

The workers said their colleagues in other states
have started benefiting from the new wage structure, wondering why the
state government was unwilling to follow suit. As a result of the
strike, activities in most of the state’s hospitals were paralysed over
the past four months. Majority of the residents also resorted to
alternative health providers because of complaints that the fees
charged by private hospitals were prohibitive.

This is said to be one of the reasons why the state
governor, Aliyu Doma of the Peoples Democratic Party lost to his
opponent, Mr Al-Makura of the Congress for Progressive Change. The
governor-elect, during his acceptance speech, appealed to the health
workers to return to their various posts and promised that he would do
everything possible to meet their demands.

Mr Al-Makura, yesterday thanked the health workers for returning to work.

“We extend our gratitude to you for heeding our
appeal to discountenance the recalcitrant posture of the out-going
administration by suspending your protracted strike action,” he said.
“Your prompt response to our clarion call is a testimony of your
responsiveness and desire to contribute to the enthronement of a new
social vista in Nasarawa State.”

Rescue from despair

The governor-elect further assured the workers that
they, and indeed all workers and people of the state, will not be
subjected to rejection by his administration. “Never again will you and
the people of Nasarawa State, be watched as you suffer in silence
before your leaders,” he said.

He also assured workers in the state of his
commitment to their welfare, pledging to rescue them (workers) “from
the throes of despair and agony into a life of hope, fulfilment and
relief.”

The workers reached the agreement to suspend the
strike at an emergency meeting held in Lafia last Sunday. The state NMA
chairman and secretary, Clement Onwube and Musa Abdullahi, directed all
the health workers to resume work on Tuesday.

“Consequent on the passionate appeal by the Nasarawa
State governor-elect, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura to doctors to suspend the
on-going strike action on the premise that our demands will be
expeditiously attended to on assumption of office,” the men said. “That
considering the attendant effects of the strike action on the good
people of Nasarawa State as well as the passionate appeal of the
general public.

“We, hereby, suspend the four-month old strike with effect from 8am
on Tuesday, May 2011 and all our members are hereby directed to resume
work in their various locations on the said date.”

Some leaders of the
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) led by its acting national chairman,
Bello Mohammed met with President Goodluck Jonathan on Monday in Obudu
Ranch, where the president is currently on retreat, with heads of some
government agencies.

The meeting, a PDP
source revealed yesterday, was in connection with the zoning of
principal positions in the National Assembly and the nature and
character of the president’s next cabinet.

The national
secretary of the PDP, Kawu Baraje, who is currently outside the
country, is expected to join the party’s team today.

“Apart from the
composition of the new federal cabinet, the issue of the zoning of the
principal positions in the Senate and House of Representatives is also
expected to feature in the talks between the president and PDP
leaders,” the source said.

Intensive lobbying
has already commenced for the principal positions in both chambers of
the federal legislature even though the party has not decided on the
zoning formula. It was also learnt that the PDP leaders will discuss
the composition of the national executive committee of the ruling party
following Mr Jonathan’s victory.

It is the tradition
of the party to overhaul the National Executive Committee (NEC) and
National Working Committee in line with new zoning arrangement after
every major election. The NEC was last reshuffled in 2008 after the
election of late President Umaru Yar’Adua.

The national chairmanship of the PDP is expected to return to the
North in the new arrangement while the position of the National
Secretary will revert to the South.

The business
manager of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in Akwa Ibom
State, Chukwuemeka Otiji, has expressed fears that the non-payment of
electricity bills owed by customers in the state, currently standing at
N900 million, was capable of crippling the electricity company if the
debt was not paid.

Mr Otiji, who said
this in Uyo yesterday, added that the amount could ground the company
as it relied on such payments to run its operations since they were
operating without government subvention.

Speaking with
members of the customers consultative council, Uyo Business District,
Mr Otiji explained that 81 out of 755 substations in the district had
been vandalised since 2009 and that the management of the unit had been
able to replace only 48 of the vandalised substations through help from
benefiting communities.

“I’m therefore calling on you to appeal to members of your communities to pay their bills promptly,” he pleaded.

He stated that the
business unit, which was formerly one, had been split among the three
senatorial districts of the state to include Uyo, Eket and Ikot Ekpene.
He advised the people not to build houses or do business under low or
high-tension lines of the company.

“A lot of people
have received injuries or have died as a result of snapped conductors
either resting on their buildings or falling directly on them. We
should always avoid doing anything under the PHCN lines,” he advised.

Mr Otiji decried
situations where people molest PHCN staff in the course of their work,
saying, “Management frowns at this barbaric act and therefore appeals
to this august gathering to assist PHCN by advising youths in your
respective communities to desist from such act.

“The company will
not hesitate to disconnect electricity supply to any such community or
area that prevents our officials from carrying out their official
duties, if we realise the area is not safe for our field workers to do
their work,” he said.

The newly elected
chairman of the customers consultative council, Uyo Business District,
Emmanuel Ebong, promised to work with the organisation’s management for
smooth service delivery in the area.

Mr Ebong, who said electricity was an important national resource,
enjoined members of the council to support the business unit to achieve
efficiency.

The election of the
governor of Kwara State, Bukola Saraki as a senator has become the
subject of litigation. A member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),
and a senatorial contestant in the party’s primary election, L’Aziz
Ayinla Kolawole Jimoh wants the governor’s election as senator
overturned.

Mr Jimoh asked the
Federal High Court in Abuja to declare that at the time of collection
and submission of nomination forms for the senatorial election, Mr
Saraki was a presidential contestant.

Mr Jimoh went to
court to seek for a declaration that the purported election of Mr
Saraki as the PDP senatorial candidate for the Kwara-Central senatorial
district at the re-run of the party primary election which was held in
Ilorin on Saturday, January 29, 2011, is illegal, unconstitutional, and
therefore null and void. In the suit, the PDP is the 1st defendant
while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the 2nd
defendant, and Mr Saraki is the 3rd defendant.

Mr Jimoh also
sought a court order to restrain the PDP from authenticating,
recognising, or accepting the result of the re-run primary election,
and the nomination of Mr Saraki as the PDP’s senatorial candidate for
the Kwara Central senatorial district.

Furthermore he said
that he paid for, and was duly issued with the nomination form to seek
nomination as the PDP senatorial candidate in the district.

“Apart from myself,
one Gold Sola Isiaka from Ilorin-West of the Kwara-Central district
also obtained and paid for the necessary forms of the party and was
also screened and cleared to contest the primaries of the party,” Mr
Jimoh said. “I know that myself and Gold Sola Isiaka were screened and
cleared to contest the 1st defendant’s primaries on 30th day of
December 2010 by the screening panel committee of the 1st defendant.”

He stated that only
he and Mr Isiaka contested for the party ticket at the party’s primary
election held at the Ansar ul-Islam School, Okekere, Ilorin on January
7, 2011.

“At the end of the
said election, I was credited with 12 votes while Gold Sola Isiaka was
credited with 1,064 votes and he was accordingly declared the winner,”
Mr Jimoh said.

No internal democracy

Mr Jimoh said that
while at home on Friday, January 28, 2011, the secretary of the Kwara
State PDP, Yekini Ilobu brought to him a letter from the state chapter
of the party. The letter stated that Mr Isiaka, the elected senatorial
candidate of the party had withdrawn and a proposed re-run election was
slated for January 29, 2011. He said that at the re-run primary
election, Mr Saraki and one Yunus AbdulRahaman were listed as the
aspirants.

“I know that the
3rd defendant and Yunus AbdulRahaman were not aspirants at the close of
nomination and screening on December 29, 2010 and the primary election
held on January 7, 2011,” Mr Jimoh said.

He also said that
by the result of the re-run election, Mr Saraki was declared the winner
with over 1000 illegal votes and the result was sent to the INEC who
received and acted on same.

“Even though I did
not appear in the purported re-run, I was credited with five illegal
votes by the agents of the PDP and Mr Saraki who conducted the re-run,”
Mr Jimoh said. “I know that with the withdrawal of Gold Bola Isiaka, I
became the candidate of the party who is to be confirmed at the re-run
primary election and whose name is to be submitted to INEC.”

He added that the
conduct of the PDP in accepting and adopting Mr Saraki and, or any
person other than himself as the senatorial candidate is against the
spirit of internal democracy and democratic governance.

The acting chief judge of the Federal High Court, Ibrahim Auta,
ordered Saraki to file his response and the matter was adjourned to May
26, 2011 for hearing.

Even with Obiora
Akubeze already ordained as Archbishop of Benin Archdiocese, the
members of Edo Liturgical Group appear undaunted in their quest to oust
him. They have again appeared before Justice Rowland Amaize of the
Benin High Court with another demand. This time they are seeking the
return of the case challenging Mr Akubeze’s ordination to the state
chief judge, for the case to be reassigned to another judge for retrial.

The group had two
weeks ago secured an injunction to stop the ordination of Mr Akubeze as
Archbishop of Benin on the ground that he is of Igbo descent. They are
demanding for a Benin bishop in his stead. The same court, however,
overturned its former decision on the injunction, thereby permitting
the ordination of Mr Akubeze last week.

Counsel to the
plaintiff, Jonathan Aghimien (SAN), expressed displeasure over the way
the court vacated its order restraining the Catholic Church from
installing Mr Akubeze as archbishop, saying that he was not properly
served. This he said was responsible for his absence in court on the
day the lawyer to the respondent, Mike Ozekhome (SAN), secured the
order vacating the restraining order.

Mr Aghimien said
that a lawyer in his chamber signed for the process on Good Friday
(April 22), adding that someone drew his attention to the matter over
the telephone. He argued further that one could not be served court
processes through the telephone. He noted that what pained him the most
was that he was made to appear as if he dodged the court. He therefore
sought for the transfer of the matter to another judge for
adjudication, alleging that his clients were being intimidated and
harassed, threatened with de-robing as knights of the Catholic Church.

“This is not the first time a member of a church would be going to court, especially on issues of administration,” he said.

Responding, the
counsel to the defendant, Mr Ozekhome, said a lawyer in the plaintiff’s
lawyer’s chamber signed for the court processes, saying that great
damage would have been done to the image of Nigeria if the order was
not vacated to facilitate the installation of the archbishop. Mr
Ozekhome said the judge gave an undiluted ruling, adding that they
agreed that the case should be transferred to another judge.

Having listened to both parties, the trial judge, Justice Rowland
Amaize, therefore granted the prayer of the petitioners and ordered the
case to be returned to the chief judge for re-assigning to another
judge.

The Ogun State
governor-elect, Ibikunle Amosun yesterday constituted a transition
committee to work with the relevant organs of government to plan and
work together towards his (Amosun) swearing-in scheduled for May 29,
2001.

Mr Amosun had
written to the out-going governor, Gbenga Daniel requesting him to
allow the committee members to have access to information and
facilities required to achieve a hitch-free transition.

The Committee is
headed by former secretary to the state government, Poju Adeyemi, while
other members include: Sam Durojaiye, Olumide Ayeni, Muyiwa Oladipo,
Yewande Amusan, Dolapo Atekoja, Adebayo Fari and Aderonke Folarin.
Others are: Lekan Adegbite, Gbolahan Dada, Ibrahim Jimoh, Lanre Tejuoso
and Olufemi Allen.

Content of letter

“I have great
pleasure to forward to Your Excellency the attached list of the members
of the transition committee that has been constituted to liase and
interface with the relevant organs of the government to plan and work
together to achieve a smooth and orderly transition leading to the
inauguration of the new administration on 29th May, 2011.” It was
stated further in the letter personally signed by Mr Amosun that: “It
is my understanding and, therefore, a request for the kind
consideration of Your Excellency that the committee will have access to
information and facilities required to achieve the objectives of a
hitch-free transition.

He also used the letter to thank the out-going governor, “for the
telephone call during which you congratulated me on my victory at the
polls. I am most grateful for this demonstration of goodwill and trust
that I can count on these in months and years ahead.”