Arrests of kidnappers, Otasowie’s murderers justify Obaseki’s call for New CP – Edo Govt. Arrests of kidnappers, Otasowie’s murderers justify Obaseki’s call for New CP – Edo Govt. ON OCTOBER 27, 20173:58 PMIN NEWSCOMMENTS The Edo State Government has said that the recent arrests by the State Police Command of seven persons in connection with the murder of Prof. Paul Otasowie, a lecturer with the University of Benin, killers of three police officers who also kidnapped Andy Ehanire, the Chief Executive of Ogba Zoological Garden, justify Obaseki’s insistence on a new commissioner of police for the state. Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State (right) and the new Edo State Commissioner of Police (CP), Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, at the Government House in Benin City on Wednesday, October 25, 2017. While commending the new Commissioner of Police, Johnson Kokumo, the state government, through the Special Adviser, Media and Communication Strategy to the Edo State Governor, Crusoe Osagie, stated that the security challenges in Edo required a highly experienced operational police officer at the helms of affairs and that it is quite gratifying that CP Kokuma has since hit the ground running, “a result of which is the large hurl of arrests in barely 48 hours of his assumption of duty in Edo State”. Otasowie, a senior lecturer in the Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, was on October 4 killed by gunmen in Ekehuan area, in Oredo Local Government Area of the state. The deceased, who was the Director of the institution’s Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme, was said to have been shot in front of his residence. The police explained that seven out of those principally responsible for the killing have been arrested and each has given useful statement to the police. The police further stated that four suspects in the murder of three police officers and the kidnap of Ehanire of have been arrested. The police, through Moses Mkombe, the force public relations officers, said that the command is still on a manhunt for the rest other members of the group. “Each of them has spoken on the role he played in the crime and we have been able to extract useful information from them. We are currently on a manhunt for the other members of the gang,” Mkombe said.Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State (right) and the new Edo State Commissioner of Police (CP), Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, at the Government House in Benin City on Wednesday, October 25, 2017.

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State (right) and the new Edo State Commissioner of Police (CP), Johnson Babatunde Kokumo, at the Government House in Benin City on Wednesday, October 25, 2017

The world is too small to handle when we are ready to Shear responsibilities????

You are going to follow ME on my blog and share in my ideals



When a single talented person is placed at the top as the head, all the untalented would be well cared for.
 When the government of the day knows his people and their profession, they will be able to turn the wheel of economy in the sense that the little fund in system can be rolled among citizens.

 I CAN REALLY CHANGE THIS WORLD



                                                                                                                                         It has long been said that if you want  to change the world, you start from your bedroom
 THEN I CAN CHANGE EDO STATE, NIGERIA AND EVEN THE WORLD TOO.

Armed thugs invade Edo lawmakers quarters

October 12, 2014 by Alexander Okere 

•The Edo State House of Assembly quarters and the vandalised cars after the attack on Saturday. Photos: Edo State Government House

Hoodlums on Saturday morning attacked the legislative quarters of the Edo State House of Assembly in Benin, vandalising property worth millions of naira.

The action deepened the crisis in the state assembly.Our correspondent gathered that the armed hoodlums, numbering over 100, forced their way into the premises located at Iyama Road of the city at about 6:30am, after overpowering the security personnel at the entrance.

The attack caused the occupants to scamper to safety. When our correspondent got to the scene, some of the windows of the apartments were shattered while bullet holes were seen on some of the vehicles and doors.

The Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole, who arrived at the scene of the incident at about 11am, was conducted round the quarters by the Speaker, Uyi Igbe, condemned the attack on the lawmakers and their family members.

The governor also accused the Peoples Democratic Party of masterminding the mayhem.

He also took a swipe at the police, alleging that they “granted permission” for the attack.

Addressing newsmen after the inspection, Oshiomhole said, “The PDP leaders had a meeting where it was decided that thugs should be recruited to come and perpetrate this attack.

“It is very clear that the police granted permission for this attack because the Commissioner of Police was informed at about 10:00pm last night of the plan of the PDP to attack the legislative quarters and the APC office.

“We made this intelligence available to the commissioner of police and what we then saw was that even the minimal police presence here was vacated so that these thugs could come and have a free reign of terror. It was conveyed to the CP last night that they were going to assemble at George Idah Primary School.”

He added, “They actually assembled at George Idah Primary School this morning before they proceeded and the police provided supervision for this very serious criminal act. It is very clear that the police command leadership granted permission to the PDP to carry out this heinous crime.”

The governor also lamented that the PDP in the state, sought to make the state ungovernable, rather than share the concern of President Goodluck Jonathan, who is a member of the party, to address the challenges of insurgency in the country.

He said, “I think for all Nigerians, at a time when we are confronted by insurgency and other forms of violent crime, one will expect that any functionary of the other party will share the concern of the President on peace and security.

“Some of the PDP leaders in Edo State having lost out and rejected by the people believe that they can create a situation that will make Edo State ungovernable and create complete distraction in their futile calculation that they can remove themselves from power.

“This is a very dangerous thing. I am not so much worried about the violent character of the PDP, I am more worried by what seems to be the police readiness to provide them with cover.”

Oshiomhole, while warning the major opposition party in the state, said, “Power is very transient,” gave the assurance that his administration would not be distracted from its constitutional duty of governance.

He said, “My warning to PDP is that power is very transient. Today you are in power, tomorrow you are out of power. Any crime you have committed and the present political order covers you, when the order changes, you will report to justice.

“Yesterday (Friday) at the airport, the President came and, in line with my conviction that he is the President of Nigeria and not of a particular party, I went to receive him. When he was here two weeks ago to address a rally, I went to the airport to receive him. For me, that is the idea of politics. It is not war. It should not be so primitive.

“Yesterday (Friday) again, I went to the airport to receive the President for the ground breaking ceremony of a private sector investment which we jointly midwifed with over $800 million. This same Pastor Ize-Iyamu organised rascals and they were abusing themselves.”

But the leadership of the Edo State PDP, while briefing journalists in Benin on Saturday, dismissed the allegations that the party masterminded the attack at the premises of the lawmakers.

The State Chairman of the party, Mr. Dan Orbih, debunked the claim that a meeting was held late on Friday night where they hatched the plot.

He said that the only activity conducted on Friday was to welcome the President to the state.

Orbih said, “There is no truth whatsoever in the governor’s allegations. After welcoming Mr. President to Edo State on Friday, many of us went to our houses, had a light dinner and went to bed.

“It is common knowledge that what happened might have been born out of the attack on Rasaq Momoh and the fact that those accused are now free today. What happened this morning was not the work of our party. We believe in the law enforcement agencies to deal with the situation.”

While saying the police would not “join issues with anybody,” the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Foluso Adebanjo, told our correspondent on telephone that the state command had arrested 12 persons in connection with the Saturday attack.

He also claimed that the vehicle purportedly used to convey the attackers had been recovered, adding that more arrests would be made.

“We do not want to join issues with anybody. All I can say is that we have arrested about 12 and we have recovered the vehicle that they used.”

“We are in a meeting now and we are going to get more and more. We will not allow any lawlessness being perpetrated by political gladiators,” Adebanjo said.

Chikungunya fever!

Dr. Sylvester Ikhisemojie
| credits: File copy

October 12, 2014 by Dr. Sylvester Ikhisemojie 

 

The world is in fear as a result of the Ebola virus disease that has evaded all preventive measures and landed almost simultaneously in the United States and Spain. The Liberian traveller to the US who developed the disease several days after arriving in the state of Texas has now died. This has happened despite having access to some of the finest healthcare facilities on the planet. The patient in Spain is relatively more stable but her dog, Escallibur, was euthanized after an unsuccessful campaign by her now quarantined husband to stop it. The reason for that move by the state was clear: it is known that pets like dogs and perhaps cats are prone to developing the disease without having any symptoms. It is not clear if they can transmit the disease to humans. That gap in current knowledge should worry people. We are not allowed in the present circumstances to assume things because that could be dangerous. Preventive actions taken must be with an abundance of caution. Bats, monkeys, gorillas, antelopes and porcupines are known now to be able to transmit the disease. Perhaps, grass-cutters, dogs and cats may also be able to do so. More frightfully, dogs may be able to do this without showing any signs of this terrifying disease. Pet lovers, owners and those who eat dogs need also to be particularly aware. What all these demonstrate is that we are not out of the woods yet and so we must not lower our guard. This is particularly so at a time when there is an outbreak of the Marburg fever in Uganda and an out of control Ebola epidemic in Liberia and Sierra Leone and to a lesser extent, in Guinea and The Congo.

Enter now the bizarre mix of other viral infections suddenly announcing their presence around the world. Of most recent prominence is the Chikungunya virus which bears a striking similarity to Dengue Fever. It is transmitted from one person to another by the bite from a mosquito known as Aedes Egypti which is found in most parts of the tropics. It has been found in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. It is also seen in the Pacific and Indian oceans. In recent weeks, it has made a troublesome appearance in the Central American nations of Venezuela, Colombia and Nicaragua. Hundreds of people have been sickened and this is an area of the world that has never previously seen an outbreak. The original outbreak of this sickness was in Tanzania in 1952 and it means “to bend painfully” or to become “contorted”. It is not transmitted from one person to another directly but through that mosquito vector. There have been reports of more than a few cases in different parts of Nigeria. This infection is established when a mosquito infected with the virus bites somebody who has the infection and goes to bite another who does not have it thereby transferring its infected saliva into such an individual much like it happens when people contract malaria. Most of the bites occur during daylight hours but the Aedis egypti is also known to bite people indoors. There seems to be a peak in these bites in the early morning hours and in the early part of the evening.

The common symptoms begin some two to five days after an infection with a feverish phase and may last for up to 12 days. Majority of those infected will develop symptoms among which are fever, a reddish rash that can involve the trunk and the limbs as well as the non-specific symptoms itemised below. It is known that monkeys, cattle, birds and rodents are natural reservoirs of this disease. The symptoms may include the following: a high grade fever of sudden onset, conjunctivitis, headaches which are throbbing in character and can be quite persistent, nausea and vomiting, severe joint and muscle aches which are very debilitating, photophobia, loss of taste as you might also see in malaria. Swelling of the legs may also occur and it is not related to any kidney, heart or liver disease. However, certain heart complications have been reported nevertheless.

The symptoms are usually mild amongst young people and pregnant women. In elderly people aged more than 65 years, however, nearly a third of sufferers could die. Whether this is due solely to advanced age or the more common illnesses associated with age is unclear. What is known without a doubt is that the elderly people fare a lot worse from this disease. Death from Chikungunya fever is certainly rare but the debilitation it causes with lingering joint pains and relative incapacitation can last for several months or even years. The fever can greatly improve together with other symptoms within sevenp- to 10 days.

Since 2004, Chikungunya fever has reached epidemic proportions around the world. It is most likely to be misdiagnosed also in the regions of the world where Dengue fever is common. There is no known cure for this disease and there is no known preventive vaccine available. Treatment consists of efforts to replenish body fluids with intravenous fluids if they are vomiting or not eating, the administration of antibiotics to deter bacteria which may want to take advantage of the downgraded immune system and the use of analgesics and anti-pyretics to control the fever. Cold baths can also be used in this regard to help in controlling the fever. These are efforts in essence to help the body combat the infection. Rest and sequestration from other people is vital if there is going to be any chance of recovery. There is also no vaccine for this disease.

This disease is diagnosed in the laboratory with a blood test which can identify the virus or the existence of antibiotics developed against the infection. These are the usual ways by which a definitive diagnosis is made and treatment begun. Treatment is supportive in nature and is by no means tailored to attain cure. It is important at the point of diagnosis, to separate a sufferer of this infection from other family members or other patients in a health facility because they can be a risk to others around them if they are bitten by the Aedes mosquito.

The preventive efforts must be geared towards the reduction of the mosquito population, the elimination of their breeding environment among old broken pots for example, old tyres, the elimination of pools of stagnant water around the home. Those who live in densely populated residential neighbourhoods are particularly at risk because of the ability of the mosquito to navigate in such areas. People who live in the rural areas are also not free even if their population density is less. They should be appropriately dressed for the outdoors whenever they are venturing outside. They should wear the traditional wrapper which covers the woman well or as is increasingly common, wear trousers much as the men are likely to do and the men should also wear hats which help in providing extra protection outdoors. This attitude to prevention will avail much. People should also not fail to use mosquito netting on their doors and windows as well as sleeping in insecticide-treated nets. Most importantly, it must be noted here that like the other viral haemorrhagic fevers, this particular one has no vaccine available and has no cure. Prevention of this infection is therefore a key factor to control its spread and its possible complications.

Ask the doctor

Dear doctor, I am a 38-year-old man and I caught my lady using Cytotec. She lost her period for the month of September and I told her that I am ready for the baby. Cytotec is for what? 

070396xxxxx

Cytotec is a prostaglandin drug that is used to control vaginal bleeding after childbirth, to induce labour in women who are scheduled to deliver their babies on certain dates and as a combination drug to prevent the development of stomach ulcers in certain people on powerful pain killers. However, the school girls also know about its usefulness to procure abortions. I suppose that is the purpose for which your lady used it.

Dear doctor, I am having a swollen heart. What type of food should I be eating? It was shown on X-ray. I don’t want to die now.

090395xxxxx

A swollen heart as you have put it is a very serious issue indeed. This is not a matter for food. It has to do with your age and what disease you suffer from that may have predisposed you to this complication, for it is a complication. You must see your doctor for further examination and a possible referral to a cardiologist for yet more tests and treatment. Do so without any further delay.

Dear doctor, I am a 28-year-old virgin. During my period in September, a painful tiny growth developed on my vulva (labia minora to be specific) but this growth regressed on its own four days after my period without any treatment. Sir, what is this strange occurrence and how can it be prevented in the future?

070577xxxxx

There is no way for me to be certain about what that could have been. It ranges in possibility from a Bartholin’s cyst (unlikely because this is usually a growth on the labia majora) to a simple boil which can occur commonly. The fact that it regressed on its own shows that it may not really be a problem other than its nuisance value. However, you should see your doctor for this.

Dear doctor, I am suffering from Staphylococcus and I have taken several injections but it has yet to heal. My body gets hot with noises in my tummy. My penis also gets weak after one round of sex. Please what is the best medicine for it? 

080381xxxxx                          

You need to understand that Staphylococcus is not a usual cause of disease. Therefore, you may be taking drugs for the wrong reasons. The bacteria were found in what kind of specimen? Urine, blood, swab or semen? If so, it is most likely to be from some contamination rather than an infection because infection from this organism is often very severe. As a result of all the above reasons, there is no best medicine for this organism.

Dear doctor, I am a 68-year-old man. Whenever I go to bed between 9 and 10pm, I do not sleep more than four hours except I take sleeping pills. What is the solution to this? I am worried.                    

080225xxxxx

You did not say whether you also sleep during the day. If that happens, it would explain why you sleep for such a short period during the night. Generally, most people of your age would probably sleep for brief periods at a time and do so several times in a 24-hour-cycle. If that is true with you, there is no need to take sleeping tablets which could damage you if you use them for a long time.

Dear doctor, is there orthodox medicine for “jedi-jedi” in a baby less than a year? Please kindly tell me because my baby has “jedi-jedi”.

080261xxxxx

I have some difficulty understanding what you mean by “jedi-jedi” as I do believe you may be faced with something a bit more serious than what is obvious now. There is orthodox medicine for nearly every ailment described in the world. I believe you should take your baby to see a paediatrician for detailed examination and the correct prescription to treat your baby.

Dear doctor, I always have easy sperm release while having sex with a girl. What can I do about it?      

0803506xxxxx

I believe your problem is due to a combination of factors. Of all the possibilities, anxiety and fatigue from your daily labours may be the key culprits. You should work judiciously to reduce these challenges in order to get better results from your liaisons. As long as you can penetrate the vagina, you do not require drug treatment at this point.

Dear doctor, my friend says that whenever she removes her panties it will be covered within a few minutes by some small ants. Is this normal and what drugs can she use to deal with it?  

081894xxxxx

The presence of ants in the pants indicates there is either an infection resulting in a vaginal discharge or the urine is sweet, perhaps due to diabetes. So what she needs to do is simple: see a doctor for the relevant tests to be conducted so that treatment can be administered.

Dear doctor, I urinate frequently so I went for fasting blood sugar. The result was 113 but I learnt it shouldn’t be more than 110. Does it mean I am diabetic?                                    

080371xxxxx

That result does not mean that you are diabetic but it may be a warning that you are close to it. It could mean that your glucose tolerance is impaired or you are becoming resistant to insulin, the blood-borne substance that controls your blood sugar. You need, therefore, to have the test repeated while you avoid in the meantime a diet that is rich in carbohydrates and sugar. A repeat of the fasting blood sugar with a two hours post prandial glucose measurement will help make a clear diagnosis.

Boko Haram frees 27 hostages;

October 12, 2014 by Agency Reporter 

 

Boko Haram militants

Cameroon’s President Paul Biya said on Friday night that 27 hostages, including 10 Chinese workers, held by suspected Boko Haram insurgents had been released.

Also freed was the wife of Cameroon’s Vice-Prime Minister, Amadou Ali, the British Broadcasting Corporation reported.

President Biya, in a statement on the state radio, said the hostages, seized close to the Nigeria border in May and July, were safe.

Boko Haram is seeking to establish an Islamist state in Nigeria but its fighters often cross the long and porous border with Cameroon.

Many Nigerian civilians in border towns have fled to Cameroon to escape Boko Haram attacks, which have been stepped up in recent months.

In July, Cameroon, Nigeria, Chad and Niger agreed to form a 2,800-strong regional force to tackle the Boko Haram insurgents.

Cameroon has reinforced its troops in its northern regions.

Biya said in the state radio broadcast, “The 27 hostages kidnapped on May 16, 2014, at Waza and on July 27, 2014, at Kolofata were given this night to Cameroonian authorities.

“Ten Chinese, the wife of the Vice Prime Minister Amadou Ali, the Lamido (a local religious leader) of Kolofata, and the members of their families kidnapped with them are safe.”

No details were given on the circumstances of the release

N213bn intervention will reduce electricity tariff — Ekpo

October 12, 2014 by Okechukwu Nnodim 

 

Commissioner, Market Competition and Rates, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mr. Eyo Ekpo

The Commissioner, Market Competition and Rates, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Mr. Eyo Ekpo, in this interview with OKECHUKWU NNODIM dismissed fears that the Federal Government’s N213bn intervention in the power sector will lead to an increase in tariffs

Consumers who buy power assets are calling for a refund. What is NERC doing about this?

It is common knowledge that people have been buying power assets, but the problem with that is that even though you are helping yourself, you are giving an asset to a Disco on which it will now recover the cost of that asset and pocket it. Meanwhile, the Disco did not spend that capital cost. It will of course incur the cost of operating it and cost of depreciation, which is money set aside so that in the future you can buy the asset when it is worn out. But the capital cost, which is also part of the tariff, is not yours (the Disco’s) to recover. It should go to the person that paid for the asset. Because there was no framework previously, the Discos were just collecting all that money without accounting for it and without any clarity as to how those that paid should be refunded. This is not supposed to be so.

Nobody in any civilised country should pay for the asset that serves that person. So, we now have this framework; we have consulted on it, gone through the necessary process, done the internal work and we have finally got all the comments. We are now working on analysing the framework and at the end of November we should publish that regulation. The refund we are talking about does not include meters because that has been captured by the CAPMI programme. This is about big assets like poles, towers, feeders, substations, transformers and all those things that cost millions and hundreds of thousands of naira. A meter is within the tens of thousands cost and we have got a programme for that.

For over a year, NERC has been threatening to prosecute power thieves, but this has not happened. Why?

This is because no Disco has come forward with any individual. Meanwhile, the Discos actually know the people who are stealing. And when I say the Discos I don’t mean the big men in these Discos like the directors. I mean the guys on the ground that deal with customers every day because they are going around and patrolling. For instance, when you have a prepaid meter which on the billing platform has not shown that energy has been sold to it for months, then there is a problem. So, if you go there and energy is being consumed; that is total proof of bypassing taking place.

This has been happening and they know that it has been happening but they are not coming to us. We have in our laws provisions that enable us to prosecute for energy theft. If a Disco cannot do it, we at NERC can do it. We have said to them, if you are afraid of your customers, report them to us. We will have the police to go there, investigate and apprehend the culprits. The civil defence can also do this. Getting the proof is very straight forward; when you see a meter that has been bypassed, that is enough proof. But nobody is coming. We have said also that we know that the biggest culprits of electricity theft are the biggest consumers such as industries and high net worth individuals who live in very expensive houses. They are the ones who commit these offences.

Who takes the blame for not reporting these culprits?

The Discos of course! This is because the consumer is first and foremost the customer of a Disco.

Will the recently announced N213bn intervention in the sector by the Federal Government warrant a decrease or an increase in electricity tariff?

Tariffs must be cost-reflective and the final stage of tariff setting is what we are now going through. We now know the full cost-reflective tariff for a Disco. For instance, from our presentation, you will see that the average tariff for the Abuja Disco will go from N21 to N31 or something like that ordinarily. But the benefit of the intervention is that we have taken out of that tariff. For that N31, it has been aggregated that for each kilowatt sold over the next 10 years, we have taken a sum, which is N213bn, and given it to the Discos as a bulk sum so as to reduce the tariff. We have taken out of it (tariff) in bulk and given it back to you as Discos. You then collect from the customers over that 10-year period and pay back to the Central Bank of Nigeria during the period so as to reduce the tariff burden on customers.

This is a very neat and carefully calibrated way of minimising the impact of the tariff increase. Also, the second thing that the Discos will be doing is that when you have a tariff and you know how much energy you want to sell, you can quantify how much you will need to recover your cost over a period of time. We call that the revenue requirement. Once my revenue requirement is known, the way to reduce or to maintain without increasing the tariff for your customers is to increase energy being sold.

The more energy you sell the more stable your tariff will be. In some cases, if the economy of the country has improved or has maintained good performance, you can actually keep your tariff at that same level regardless of the fact that you have higher costs.

It is the secret of the volume business; the larger your volume, the easier your fixed cost. This thing that we are calling fixed charge can actually remain constant because you can spread out your fixed cost over a wider or a greater quantity of energy which you sell and that is the secret of managing a Disco.

Should Nigerians therefore demand a reduction in electricity tariff?

We are all natural people because we don’t like high tariff. But we also understand the logic of paying for assets that we don’t even have. And, therefore, what I have heard from people is that they don’t have a problem with this tariff because they expect us to do our job, which is to keep the tariff as flexible as possible.

What customers have problems with is the quality of the service. They want us to provide good service. And that is why I always say the responsibility is on the individuals to continue to apply pressure on NERC by telling us to set our customer care standards and enforce them. This is me, a person that works in NERC, saying put pressure on us for us to perform.

Ebola Containment: Nigeria Receives World Bank Commendation

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by Channels Television  .  Oct 9, 2014

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Nigeria has clearly overcome Ebola virus disease and for the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF), this is a commendable feat.

President of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, after a special meeting of the group and the IMF, said Nigeria has demonstrated high competence in the way the Ebola Containment was handled.
He praised the federal, state and local government and all medical workers and the private sector for working together to contain the Ebola virus in the country.
The meeting of the World Bank and IMF, which held in Washington on Thursday morning, noted sadly that the virus continues to surge in the three worst affected countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
If more countries get trapped in the spread within two years, the financial impact could reach 32.6 billion dollars by the end of 2015.
The United Nations Ebola response coordinator, Dr. David Nabarro, has said that the worst outbreak of Ebola on record can be contained if countries quickly build and staff treatment centers in West African nations hardest hit by the deadly virus.
On Wednesday, the World Health Organization said Ebola had claimed the lives of 3,879 people from among 8,033 confirmed, probable and suspected cases since it was identified in Guinea in March.
Officials with the U.S. Center for Disease Control were dispatched to study how Nigeria achieved its Ebola containment after the United States reported that Ebola had been discovered in Dallas, Texas.
The CDC Director, Tom Frieden, said in a statement, “It’s clear the nation (US) needs a quick and thorough response to its first Ebola patient” noting that “their (Nigeria’s) extensive response to a single case of Ebola shows that control is possible with rapid, focused interventions.”
Nigeria has not reported new cases since August 31. Likewise, Senegal has not reported any new Ebola cases since September 18.
According to the CDC, Nigeria reported their first case July 20 when Patrick Sawyer traveled from Liberia to Lagos, Nigeria. He exposed 72 other passengers with the virus. Nigerian health officials found everyone who had been in contact with Sawyer and developed a mobilization plan.
They reached more than 26,000 households in this process. Nigeria also established the Ebola Management Center in the process

PDP Reconciliation Committee Poised To Promote Internal Democracy

   by Channels Television  .  Oct 10, 2014 726The South South Integration and Reconciliation Committee of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, says its recommendations will promote internal democracy within the party.

The committee concluded its meeting with different aggrieved groups from states in the South South zone as party members from Cross-River State appeared before it.
At the end of the session, the Chairman of the committee, Iya Abubakar, said that they would be considering all they have gathered from the delegations.
He also disagreed with the position of some members of the party from Rivers State that they were prevented from appearing before the committee.
He said that all party members agreed that everyone must work towards the development of the party.
Unlike the scenes from the previous day, there was order at the venue of the PDP reconciliation committee’s meeting.
Meanwhile, the party has commenced sale of forms for elective positions at its national headquarters. One of the first to pick a form is Senator Barnabas Gemade who said that he was confident to pick up the party’s ticket.
It is expected that the national headquarters of the PDP would after this become busy as it signals the start of the political season that will reach a climax with elections in February 2015.

Plan To Weed Out..............

Edo State Begins Plan To Weed Out Unqualified Teachers

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by Channels Television  .  Mar 29, 2014

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The Edo State governor, Adams Oshiomhole, has promised to do away with teachers in Edo state who fail to display the required teaching competency level.

Mr Oshiomhole made this known during Channels Television’s Saturday breakfast show Sunrise on Saturday.
“Edo State government will not retain in its employment anyone whose suitability in a classroom has not been ascertained” adding that “I have taken steps to assemble professors of education; various aspects of education from University of Benin and have asked them to handle this issue professionally” he said.
The decision, according to him, was reached after his one-on-one experience with public school teachers betrayed the low level of knowledge they impact on their students.
The governor also added that it is not enough for anyone who claims to be a professional in the area to have only the basic qualification required. He however said not all teachers who fail to pass the state competency test will be asked to leave, as there are some categories who require additional training.

Assassination fears........................

Ekiti: Assassination fears grip politicians

September 28, 2014 by Femi Makinde, Kamarudeen Ogundele, Adelani Adepegba and Bayo Akinloye 97 Comments

Fayemi and Fayose

Politicians in Ekiti State are worried that more assassinations might take place in the state following the killing of a former Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Omolafe Aderiye, on Thursday.

Aderiye, a stalwart of the Peoples Democratic Party and a supporter of the state’s incoming governor, Ayo Fayose, was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, Ekiti State.

His assassination had been preceded by the disruption of the sitting of the state election petitions tribunal by thugs believed to be working for Mr. Fayose.

A day after his assassination, on Friday, the dispute between members of two parties took a turn for the worse when suspected thugs went round the capital setting buildings and vehicles ablaze.

To avert further bloodshed, the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, quickly declared a dusk-to-dawn curfew in the state on Friday. In a live broadcast in Ado-Ekiti on Friday, Fayemi said there would be no movement between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. every day till further notice.

However, politicians in the state, who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday, expressed fears that Aderiye’s murder might be a sign of things to come.

According to them, the state has a history of political killings and if the outbreak of violence was not quickly nipped in the bud, there may be a repeat of past violent incidents.

Some of the high profile assassinations that had taken place in the state in the past included the killings of a World Bank consultant, Dr. Ayodeji Daramola; an Assistant General Manager, Finance and Administration of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria in Kaduna State, Mr. Kehinde Fasuba; Mr. Tunde Omojola, Mrs. Eunice Omojola and Mr. Yemi Oni.

The state Chairman of the APC, Mr. Jide Awe, told SUNDAY PUNCH that he had not been to the party secretariat because he was afraid of being attacked.

“Already tension has been created in the state and people have to look for safety. When there is tension, you have to look for safety. I have not been to the party secretariat since Aderiye was killed. I cannot go there without police protection,” he said.

Similarly, the Director General of Ayo Fayose Campaign Organisation, Mr. Dipo Anisulowo, said politicians were not safe in the state.

“Politicians are not safe. We expect things to change for better, let the outgoing governor do things the right way as soon as he can,” he said.

Some of the other politicians who expressed concerns included a former Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Abiodun Aluko, who called on security agencies in the state to beef up security before the crisis further degenerated.

Aluko, who contested the PDP ticket for the June governorship poll in the state, said the people of the state were worried about Adeyeri’s killing.

“Those affected now may want to retaliate and this would worsen the situation. That is why we are calling on security agents to be alive to their duties. The state must not be allowed to be thrown into anarchy,” he said.

Similarly, the Chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, Mr. Tunji Ogunlola, when contacted also said that the people of the state were afraid.

He said, “With this now, nobody is safe. The only thing I can say is to appeal to the two parties to allow peace to reign in the state.

“Everybody concerned should put the interest of the state and its people at heart. We must desist from actions capable of causing further problem in the state.”

The governorship candidate of the Accord Party, Mr. Kole Ajayi, also expressed fears about the future of the state should the crisis continue unchecked.

He said, “It is quite unfortunate that we have found ourselves in this kind of situation again. Lives are being wasted and we must act fast to stop it.

“Human lives are sacred. When violence is becoming uncontrollable; it can lead to a total breakdown of law and order. As stakeholders all of us must see ourselves as one people. We are brothers and we should stop this mindless killing.”

Also, Senator Ayo Arise said all politicians in the state found Aderiye’s muder worrisome. He said, “Anything that involves loss of lives get me worried. All politicians in the state are worried about the situation. It is very unfortunate. I see no reason why people should begin to kill one another because of politics. I hope there will be no repeat of such.”

When asked what the Nigeria Police Force headquarters was doing to contain the situation in Ekiti, the Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, said the situation had been brought under control.

According to him, the dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed on the state has brought the crisis under control. He also stated that nobody would be invited by the Police High Command.

“We won’t intervene in the state because the situation there is under control. The commissioner of police is able to handle the situation and he has brought everything under control,” he said.

When SUNDAY PUNCH sought the comment of the Ekiti State Police Command on the matter, the Public Relations Officer, Mr. Victor Babayemi, said the command was keeping an eye on turbulent areas in Ado-Ekiti, capital of the state.

Babayemi added that it would be difficult to arrest the Governor-elect, Ayodele Fayose, because there was no substantial evidence connecting him with the violence in the state.

He, however, stated that no one was above the law in the state.

“Because of the seriousness of the situation on ground, we cannot invite or arrest the governor-elect without substantial evidence. We must have substantive evidence to arrest any suspect. But, one thing is certain, the state is greater than anybody and no one is above the law.

“We’re talking to a lot of people. Right now, we can’t reveal the identity of the people we’re interrogating. This is because revealing their identity can jeopardise our investigations,” the police spokesman said.

When asked if the command would ask for reinforcement from Abuja, Babayemi said there was no immediate need for assistance from Abuja but noted that such request would be made if necessary.

ANY HOPE FOR OUR COUNTRY ELECTIONS.....................

Political parties set aside funds for bribery — Jega

September 28, 2014 by Niyi Odebode, John Alechenu and Ade Adesomoju

INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, in this interview with NIYI ODEBODE, JOHN ALECHENU and ADE ADESOMOJU, speaks on the commission’s preparations for 2015 elections and other related issues

How prepared is the Independent National Electoral Commission for the election in Adamawa State in view of recent attacks in the state?

INEC is prepared to conduct Adamawa election even as we are mindful of the security challenges. I’m pleased to say that the reports I have been receiving from our resident electoral officers show that things are on course. Two days ago, the report I received was that in many of those areas, people who had been displaced were going back. In about five local governments, stakeholders that were meeting with the INEC agreed that we could not distribute the permanent voter cards as we had planned to do. In those five local governments, it was concluded that voters would use their temporary voter cards for the election.

Apart from that, we are encouraged that things are normalising and we will be able to conduct a credible election in Adamawa. We are not resting on our oars; we keep monitoring the security situation and we keep receiving and putting into consideration security analysis and reports in the state.

Are there special arrangements for the North-East?

I have said consistently that as an election management body, we are preparing for the 2015 general elections with a view that elections will take place everywhere in this country and we are hopeful and prayerful. I believe many Nigerians are hopeful and prayerful that things will stabilise and security challenges will not prevent the conduct of election in any of these states.

As I said earlier, the spate of attacks in certain cities in the North-East in the last few weeks gives us additional concern. From the information we got, many of the displaced people are back, trying to settle down. We are hoping that in the North-East, by February, there will be sufficient return of normalcy such that there will be no substantial risk in the conduct of elections. We are working very closely with security agencies to plan on how to provide security and how to ensure that nobody is put at risk. Certainly, we will not do anything to put our staff, personnel, materials or even the voters at risk. We are always mindful of security challenges and how disruptive these could be in an election. But we should also be mindful of the fact that elections have taken place in places with more serious security challenges than we are having in the North-East. We shouldn’t give up hope. It’s too early for anybody to say elections will not take place in the North-East.

On many occasions, insurgents strike unhindered where soldiers are absent. During elections it can be difficult to deploy security men in all the nooks and crannies of a state. Under this circumstance will INEC still conduct election?

Again, we should understand the nature of insurgency. It is to cause fear. It is to cause terror and it is to create the impression that everything is unsafe. But our security agencies are doing their best. Elections have been conducted in Iraq; elections have been conducted in Iran; there are more serious terrorist activities in those places. I am saying that it is possible to conduct elections in these places and we are preparing to explore that possibility.

What arrangements are you putting in place to safeguard the lives of your ad hoc staff, particularly the members of the National Youth Service Corps?

Since the 2011 elections and the unfortunate post-election violence, we have been working closely with security agencies to pay particular attention to providing adequate security for the young men and women of the NYSC and for all members of staff who are involved in electoral duties. Some of these arrangements are what translated into what happened in Ekiti, what happened in Osun and even in Anambra. We are putting many measures in place because we cannot play with the lives of our staff. We have an inter-agency consultative committee on election security and this committee has been meeting regularly and we have been reviewing, analysing, planning and strategising on how to address security challenges.

Why do elections appear more expensive in Nigeria than elsewhere?

This is a matter of perception. Elections are not more expensive in Nigeria than in other African countries. If you look at the key index of measuring the cost of election which is called the cost of election per voter, divide the total electoral budget with the total number of registered voters, like you do for Gross Domestic Product per capita and you will arrive at how much it costs per voter in the election budget. If you use that, Nigeria is actually on the average in African countries, not to talk of globally. It is not expensive. The only problem is that Nigeria has size; the funds required to conduct elections in Nigeria is huge. It can’t be compared with that of Ghana, Kenya or Ivory Coast. But if you divide the cost of election in Kenya by number of voters, and in Ghana by number of voters and compare it with Nigeria, their costs are higher than that of Nigeria. The problem here is that people have a perception when they see the huge figure. But in every country, election is an expensive affair because you want to conduct credible elections using international standards and benchmark.

Let me give you an example of how prudent we are and how unfortunately we are not meeting international benchmarks in the conduct of elections. On average, if you look at African countries, or globally, the number of ad hoc staff or temporary workers in a polling unit is seven. In fact, some countries put up to 10 so that for every activity in the polling unit there is somebody supervising it. We have gone all over the world observing elections — somebody is at the gate managing the queue, somebody is inside giving ballot papers, somebody is putting ink on voters’ fingers, somebody is just standing to ensure that the voter does not put the ballot paper in a wrong ballot box. On average, they put seven persons in each polling unit. How many did we use in 2011? We used three. We want to now come close to the average and we want to use six in 2015, but because of budgetary constraint, we are trying to use four. We are improving, we used three in 2011 and now we plan to use four. But we are still far from the average of seven.

How much is it in Nigeria?

In 2011, it was just about $11 per voter. Hence, what we prepared for 2015 in our budget is just about $10.04. That is the cost we are using. Look at Kenya, the cost of their last election was almost $17 per voter; in Ghana the cost of their last election was more than $12 per voter. But because Nigeria is huge and conducting election in Ghana is probably just a few states put together in Nigeria. When people see the huge amount of money, they say it’s expensive, but it is not expensive given what needs to be done.

In 2011 when you acquired some equipment with certain life span, you complained about storage facilities. Has the challenge been tackled ahead of the 2015 elections?

We have done our best to manage what we have, to conduct a successful exercise and to minimise the cost so that if we have to procure equipment again, it will have to be for Continuous Voter Registration, not massive registration. As I speak with you, we have already done CVR in 22 states and the FCT. What remains is the balance of 12 states which we hope to do in late October and early November. We wanted to do it earlier but because we have to conduct the Adamawa election.

Why is the INEC unable to enforce the provisions of the Electoral Act on campaign finance and campaign activities?

The law provides that you monitor the expenditure of a candidate and the expenditure of a political party with regard to a particular election. We have to be careful, because if an organisation is conducting what seems to be a campaign, when actually parties have not actually identified who their candidates are, is that something INEC should monitor? The law didn’t say we should monitor it. There is no candidate as of now. But sometimes, we are blamed unjustifiably without people really understanding what the law says we should do. By the time candidates are nominated and every political party brings its candidates, then we will monitor how much a candidate spends and how much the party spends. And we should be able at that time to come out publicly and announce that this candidate has spent this much, this party has spent this much for campaign. But again, the law, in some provisions, is really ambiguous. There is fundamental need for a review of many of those provisions. For instance, look at the money it says candidates should spend – it says governors should not spend more than N100m. Everybody knows that governors really spend much more than that. Even a local government chairman spends much more than what the law says a governor should spend. But there is no capacity for monitoring — at least now.

Are you saying the law is silent on the campaign finances of aspirants?

Yes, the law does not even recognise aspirants. The law only talks about candidates and political parties.

What about campaign activities? There are many who campaign earlier than the time stipulated by the Electoral Act?

That is the issue. Again, the law has some relative ambiguity about what is the definition of a campaign? What constitutes a campaign. If you follow the provisions of the law and you try to extrapolate, a campaign is when a candidate emerges and the candidate says, ‘I am standing for this office, vote me for this office,’ or when somebody on behalf of that candidate says, ‘vote him for this office.’ But look at what is happening — there is relative ambiguity. Somebody will say on behalf of somebody, that the person is the saviour for 2015. It’s very ambiguous and some people are cleverly circumventing the provisions of the law and they have not committed any offence. What we need to do is to sanitise that. The commission and political parties have agreed there is the need for INEC to come out with clear guidelines. As I speak with you, we have finalised the draft guidelines. By the last week of September, we are going to hold our regular quarterly meeting with the chairmen and secretaries of political parties. It is on the agenda; we are going to discuss the draft guidelines so that we finalise it in good time before parties do their primaries and candidates emerge. Then, we can sanitise the campaign process.

Again, the law is ambiguous with regards to campaign. Some provisions say if you campaign when you are not supposed to, which is outside 90 days before election, it is an offence. But in some cases, it does not define what the penalty for that offence is. The ambiguity needs to be clarified but unfortunately INEC cannot do that because it is a matter of an existing law. It means the law has to be reviewed. What I am saying is that people need to understand that we work under constraints and challenges. We can only do what the law enables us to do clearly and unambiguously.

One aspect of the report on the 2011 elections was that there was voter apathy. There seems to be buck-passing between the INEC and political parties on whose role it is. What is INEC doing about voter apathy?

Nobody will contest the fact that in Nigeria, we have a large number of illiterate voters. There are also people who are apathetic and indifferent to the political process. Therefore, voter education is very important and crucial in deepening democracy. The law mandates INEC to do voter education. In every budget, we have funds allocated to voter education but unfortunately a lot more needs to be done in voter education than we have funds to do. The good news is that as we prepare for the 2015 elections, we have increased the budget for voter education and we have revised our communication. We even have a new communication policy which defines how INEC should engage with voters, with different stakeholders and other constituencies and how we can engage and relate with civil society organisations and make our voter education campaign effective. In fact, as I speak with you, we have started implementing that strategy. We have now established in every state of the federation what we call Inter-Agency Committee on Voter Education, bringing different categories of government agencies and stakeholders to do effective voter education. Development partners also now recognise the need to fund voter education and make it more effective and they are contributing a lot of resources through the joint donor basket fund to do those aspects of voter education that INEC cannot do because of limited funds.

But the fact of the matter is that voter education is a collective responsibility. Unfortunately, political parties sit back and expect INEC to do all the voter education. Political parties are the ones who field candidates and who want their candidates to be elected. They want people, first of all, to come out to vote and when they vote, you want them to vote for their candidate. Parties also want them to know how to vote; otherwise they will waste their ballots. Therefore, political parties have an important responsibility to ensure that whoever comes to vote is enlightened and in fact, people are enlightened enough to come out to vote and then to vote correctly. But parties are sitting back, saying ‘INEC, you haven’t done enough voter education.’ Even in voter registration, it may interest you to know that some parties are asking INEC for money with which to do voter education for people to come out for registration. These are important responsibilities they have and they have to pay attention to them. For example, every party must have a budget devoted to voter education and sensitisation because these are linked to their campaigns, for people to vote for their candidates. Do they do that? But they will vote money for bribing electoral officials.

Do they do that (bribing electoral officials)?

They used to do that, but I am hoping that they no longer do that because they can see it doesn’t work and we have the capacity now in INEC to quickly identify, apprehend and punish whoever allows himself or herself to be induced. It used to be a common thing that the first item on the budgetary agenda of a political party in Nigeria was money to be distributed; but the priority for parties in their budgeting should be voter education and sensitisation. It is very important.

How will you contain the alleged excesses of security operatives in the 2015 elections in view of allegations that they intimidated opposition party loyalists in Osun and Ekiti; that ministers also used their offices to do the same and that security operatives prevented INEC from announcing the results in Osun until there was a protest by voters?

There are several issues lumped together in that questions. I will attempt to see if I can separate them. First and foremost, there are systemic security challenges and INEC is not a security organisation. We are an election management body and we want election to be peaceful. We want voters to feel secure to come out and vote. We want our workers to feel protected and the materials too, in order to do their job without fear of intimidation or assault. In Nigerian election, we must recognise that security is important and security agencies have a role.

People have been talking about massive mobilisation of security in Ekiti and Osun and they have even alleged that voters were disenfranchised. The evidence does not support that allegation. In Ekiti, at the time we did the election, the voter turnout in Ekiti was about 53 per cent. That was the highest voter turnout for any governorship election up to that time. In fact, the highest until then was barely 30 per cent. How can you say voters have been disenfranchised? If anything, what the evidence suggested was that the presence of security made voters comfortable to come out and exercise their duties. By the time we conducted the governorship election in Osun, the percentage of turnout was higher than that of Ekiti; it was about 57 per cent. It even came close to presidential election turnout. Hence, the evidence suggests presence of security provides assurance for voters that they may not be assaulted by partisan thugs and that they can discharge their civic responsibilities. I think we need people to recognise this.

Then people talk about militarisation. Yes, the military is present. But the role of the military has been carefully defined. The military does not go to polling units; the military does not do in-town patrols. What they do is called outer peripheral cordon — entrances to the cities and checkpoints. And when there is crisis or civil disturbance which the mobile police cannot quell, the military is invited to do that. In both Ekiti and Osun, that is what they did. In fact, when you talk about militarisation, I laugh. I am a political scientist I know it was not militarisation. The police deployed at least 15,000 or more in Ekiti and Osun. But it is important because we need an average of three policemen or a combination with other security operatives per polling unit. Thus, the numbers are huge. But the military deployed barely 1,000 personnel in both Ekiti and Osun. All these talks about militarisation are just perception.

Sometimes, some politicians who don’t want the security presence because they can stop them from doing what they have planned to do in election will talk about militarisation. A lot of what people talk about security in elections, frankly, is politics. It is politics and it is over-exaggerated.

Will INEC allow the use of masked security men in the 2015 elections?

That is another issue. I don’t want to generate unnecessary controversy. But we have engaged the security agencies and we have conveyed our feeling that on election day, every security personnel needs to be identifiable. That it is why we expect that if it is a policeman or a soldier or whoever, he will have a number and a name tag because everything about election is about transparency and credibility. Otherwise, some miscreants can also start covering their faces and doing things under cover.

The newly created polling units have generated a lot of controversies. Some have said you should have just created additional polling points in the existing polling units instead of creating new polling units.

We have been reforming INEC since 2011 and we have been saying the 2015 elections will be remarkably much better than that of 2011. We need to keep on improving the reforms that can add to the integrity, the efficiency and the effectiveness with which we conduct elections. We used voting points as temporary measures to decongest polling units but they are not a substitute to having substantive polling units. We have been using a temporary measure for almost four years and we think it is time now to create polling units and to ensure that every voter now knows which polling unit he or she belongs to. We have been unjustifiably criticised for doing that. We believe strongly that those who criticised our position probably didn’t have the necessary information. We are putting out all the information, engaging stakeholders and making people recognise that what we are trying to do is patriotic. It is in the interest of this country and it is supposed to help the voters and ease their difficulties on voting day.

What is the relevance of the new national identity card to elections? Will it be used in 2015?

The national identity card that is being produced and distributed now has no relevance to the election in 2015. But it is important for us to understand that the reason why INEC is given the responsibility to produce voter cards is because in Nigeria, we don’t have national identity cards. In most countries, in fact, in all countries that have national identity cards, you do not require another voter card to vote. The national identity card is used because it identifies that one has a unique number and is used for the purposes of election. Our hope in INEC actually, is that by 2019 general elections, once the national ID card system has become well established, there may be no need to spend money to produce Permanent Voter Cards. All we will do in INEC is to go to the national identity card database, that anybody who is 18 years and above can be taken and then they can now just indicate that they want to be registered as voters. Once they do that, we will put them on the register and then on the election day, they can use their national identity cards for voting. The national identity card, just like the INEC card, is biometric. You can use the card readers with the national identity cards.

What measures is INEC putting in place to address the concerns of people over the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards?

Frankly, if you look at the statistics, you will discover that people are making a mountain out of a molehill — you know our politicians. A lot of that hullaballoo on registration is caused by people doing multiple registrations. People who are already registered, who are already in our database are being mobilised again by politicians to register. You see long queues and once you are in the queue, we have to attend to you. We waste money, we waste time, because eventually we will remove your name and you will be on our list of electoral offenders for doing multiple registration. If you look at the statistics of distribution of the cards, by the time we did the distribution in the second phase of 12 states, the average distribution was about 67 per cent of the registered voters that came out within that period of three days to collect their cards. We have taken the remaining cards back to the local government offices and people have between now and December or even January to go to the local government offices to pick their card. People are just criticising us for nothing.

Don’t you think the perception that INEC, subjectively, allocated more polling units to the North arose because the commission did not do enough consultation?

You can never do enough consultation. We cannot be accused of not doing consultation but people are saying we have not done enough consultation. You can never exhaust the scope of consultation and engagement. We have done our best, unfortunately, our best was not good enough. Hence, there were still misunderstandings.

Unfortunately, some mischief makers, I’m sorry I have to say it, may have latched onto the ignorance of many people and mobilised all sorts of sentiments especially regional sentiments on this matter. But we know that we have done this to the best of our ability and our conscience is clear. We haven’t done it with any agenda and we believe whoever sees the information we are passing will recognise that there is no hidden agenda in this and that the primary objective is to make it easier for a voter to vote.

In INEC currently, we have a register of whoever has registered; we have removed duplicates. It’s clean; it’s called post-AFIS register. There is no way a polling unit can have anybody outside of people that have already registered. All we did was to take each state and say, ‘What is the total number of total registered voters?’ If we are to divide the polling units into a maximum of 500 voters each, how many polling units should this state get and what is the existing number of polling units? What is the difference between the existing number and the requirement if it is divided into 500 voters? And then we said in addition to doing this, we also recognise that in every state or major urban centres, there are new settlements, where there are no polling units. We give 15 per cent of the total number of polling units we are distributing so that every state will have at least 121 additional polling units. That is what we’ve done and it’s very clear.

We have provided the information and let anybody look at that and see whether what we are being accused of is true.

Oshiomhole wants monarchs to tackle oil theft

September 28, 2014 by Alexander Oker

Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole has called on traditional rulers in oil-producing states of the federation to speak up against crude oil theft and identify the perpetrators of the heinous crime in the interest of the country.
Governor Oshiomhole, who made this known while playing host to
monarchs from the South-South geo-political zone at the Government House in Benin, decried the level of environmental degradation in the region and the huge loss of resources incurred by the government as a result of the operations of illegal refineries.
While lamenting that the nation’s wealth was being dislodged by a few unscrupulous individuals, who did not appreciate and believe in the principle of hardwork, the governor urged the monarchs to assist in checking the menace in the region.
Oshiomhole said, “I think Your Royal Majesties have a role to play to lend your voice against oil theft because it is destabilizing the country and creating huge environmental challenges, which we will confront when we may not have the resources to do so.
“When the oil dries up when it will dry up, the damage already done to the environment will persist and the resources that will be required to regenerate the environment to deal with the consequences of the pollution may not be available.
“Across the South-South, too many of our people who want quick money are involved in crude oil theft. In Edo State, around Agbede, it’s not an oil producing area but for some strange reasons, there are all kinds of illegal refineries there polluting and destroying a place that is ordinarily very suitable for agriculture.
“Being in government, there are things I no longer can say. But that does not mean that those things are not in my heart. I am worried about what appears to be a free hand for criminals to help themselves with our common patrimony called oil and gas.
“One of the long term consequences of this kind of situation is that you have small-small boys of very little exposure, having access to huge resources that is not the result of hard work. And because they are criminal in nature, and the volume and sum involved is huge, they have enough money to raise an alternative army to procure the deadliest weapons in order to defend their territory, which is basically an area they have carved out for the purpose of that heinous crime.”
“I am very worried about the future of our country if few people take so much and the rest of us in the country have so little to share and these people are not invisible. If the volume of oil smuggling is so much and you know the amount, it means you should know the smugglers.
“Nigeria must find the courage to speak truth to power, including traditional power and if any of us, president, governor, minister or traditional ruler fouls the atmosphere, we should be dealt with according to law. Nigeria is greater than any of his sons.”
On local government administration, Oshimhole advocated new reforms to make local governments more responsible, adding that “most of the local government reforms are the outcome of ill-digested military solution to far more complex problems.”
Earlier, the Chairman of the South-South Monarchs Forum, HRM, Edmund Daukoru, while explaining that the monarchs were in Benin to hold a meeting and present copies of the book launched by the forum at its conference.
He said,“Our institution is one that can effectively partner with government to penetrate down to the grassroots level and we can’t do that if we stay in our respective palaces. If we never get to meet, we never get to exchange ideas.”