Soyinka: Jonathan Has Case To Answer On Ekiti Elections

The 2014 Governorship Elections in Ekiti State may have come and gone, but Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, wants President Goodluck Jonathan to tell Nigerians who authorised the military to prevent some governors of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from attending the final governorship election campaign in Ekiti State.

Soyinka made this statement while briefing newsmen on Saturday, 21 June, 2014 in Lagos, urging the affected governors to seek redress in court.

He also described the actions of security operatives in Ekiti as a dangerous precedent that should not be swept under the carpet.

Soyinka also called on the National Assembly to set up a commission of enquiry to unravel those behind the act, even as he regretted that the military dishonoured itself for accepting to be used to influence a democratic process.

It could be recalled that Governors Rotimi Amaechi of RiversState, Aliyu Wammako of Sokoto and Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State were among the APC governors stopped on Thursday by security forces from attending the rally of Governor Kayode Fayemi, their party’s candidate in yesterday’s election in Ekiti State.

According to Soyinka: "To prevent governors from entering Ekiti is unconstitutional. The matter should be charged to court.

"Supposing the governors were thugs, we will say that what the army did was constitutional. When the army starts acting like thugs, I see no difference between their action and waylaying the governors. So I am asking the military; when did you take up the job of electoral thugs? The governors should sue whoever is responsible."


* Professor Wole Soyinka
The Nobel Laureate explained that the action against the governors was the kind a former Police Commissioner in Rivers State, Mr Matthew Mbu, considered a proper conduct.

He said: “I want us to think about this. When did Police Commissioner Mbu join the military? When we spoke in this hall people said what business does Wole Soyinka have with Rivers, what does Femi Falana have in Rivers State? What we were saying that day was that if we allowed this kind of conduct to be accepted, there will be escalation. It will happen in dangerous dimensions in any other place in Nigeria.’

”We have a responsibility in any part of Nigeria where the rights of the citizens are violated. It does not matter whether the person is a motor mechanic, governor or legislator. We have a responsibility to cry out and to tell Nigerians, ‘if you don’t speak now, it will come to you. And it is going to come with fatal consequences’. It is about time we put a stop to that.”

Soyinka added that, “Who gave orders like that? Is it the Chief of the Army Staff? Is it a General somewhere? Is it the Korofo as they call them? Enough is enough. Fayemi has a name, Amaechi has a name, Oshiomhole has a name. Why is it that those who prevented them from exercising their citizens’ rights do not have names? It is always ‘order from the top’.

"Sometimes we don’t even know where the top is. It happened in Rivers State. And now there is ‘order from the top’ to stop the governors. That type of language should stop. The military is being paid from the public purse. They are now taking sides in a political election. What do we do about this situation? The legislative houses must live up to their duties. They must wake up to their duties.

"There has to be a commission of enquiry about what actually happened. We want a specific investigation. We want to know who is responsible. Who gave the order? We want these people to be called to give evidence. All the governors should sue for the violation of their human rights. They should make a case out of it.

"Let us make an example once and for all. We can not continue with this kind of misconduct which makes us a laughing stock all over the world. Can you imagine what happened in the States just yesterday afternoon. Can you imagine the language that is being used to describe Nigerians. People were asking about what was happening in the wonderland of ours. Some said they heard that some governors were stopped, while one was tear-gassed.”

Meanwhile, the Independent National Electorla Commission, INEC, on Sunday, 22 June, 2014 declared Ayo Fayose of People Democratic Party, PDP, as the winner of the Governorship Elections in Ekiti.

Incumbent Governor, Kayode Fayemi was declared second ahead of Bamidele Opeyemi of Labour Party.

Few hours after INEC’s announcement of the results, Governor Fayemi had accepted the results and congratulated Fayose on his victory.

The Aftermath of Ekiti state Gubernatorial elections.

The Ekiti state Gubernatorial elections just ended with the incumbent conceding defeat with a promise to ensure a smooth transition as a way of showing that he is listening to and respecting the wish of the people.

Sportsmanship and a fine move some will say,but I call it none sense primarily because he deceived the people to believe it was his birthright to come back and anything contrary was against all logical postulations. So much so that he got some killed for this course only to quickly concede defeat and start playing the good boy that he isn't. I always say" what goes around comes around"

Now,in Edo state,that same greed is making some of this politicians make claims that suggest that its now their right to determine the faith of the Edo people and not the Edo people themselves.
Why would people make attempt at the lives of fellow men. For what?
This cross carpeting that's going on across the state is an exercise of their rights which should be respected particularly as a precedence has been set on that same hallowed floor of EDHA,not long ago,without much ado but loud ovations.

‪#‎myQuestion‬ : what would all these self styled pretenders, in the name of supporters of the NOW Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Aliu Oshiomhole, do when our very dear Governor ‪#‎decamps‬ or ‪#‎defects‬ to other political party tomorrow?

Remember that Ambassador Osayomore Joseph once sang "100 years no bi forever".
My people,let us learn to understand that we are all equal stake holders in this project called Edo state and Nigeria. Nobody has the right to claim that they have sacrificed more than the rest of us because if you look at it carefully,these folks have benefited already far more than they could ever contribute.

As they have amassed untold wealth while ensuring that those they pretend to represent or work for are wallowing in all time high poverty and untold hardship in the midst of plenty.

Come to think of it,who is fooling who?
While you quickly move to say "not me", would you kindly do a bit more and ensure you are not, really. !!
Cheers

Boko Haram kills 40 in Borno

No fewer than 40 people were killed yesterday when Boko Haram suspects attacked Chuha A, Chuha B and Korongilim villages in Chibok Local Government Area of beleaguered Borno State.

They also destroyed many homes, shops and vehicles after carting away foodstuff and livestock.
Mallam Yakubu Joshua a youth leader in Chibok, who spoke on the telephone: “Some suspected Boko Haram terrorists invaded Chuha A, Chuha B, and Korongilim villages of  Chibok local government area, killing over 40 persons.

“The terrorists injured many villagers, burnt many houses and made away with our foodstuff.

“The attack, which commenced around 7a.m. on Sunday, lasted over five hours before the military intervened.

 Some residents of Chibok made frantic telephone calls to the military authorities but unfortunately, they (military) only started bombing the surrounding after over 40 of our people had been killed.

“The bodies of our people are still littered all around the villages. Our fear is that many innocent villagers may be hit by the bombings by the military,” Joshua said.

Chairman, Sector 5 of the vigilante group, Abba Aji Khalil, said: “our members in Chibok and neighbouring local government areas are already in hot pursuit of the suspected terrorists.”

Borno Police Commissioner Lawal Tanko and spokesman DSP Gideon Jubrincould not confirm the killings.

Also a suicide bomber hit a military post with his bomb laden car near a secondary school in Gwoza yesterday, killing three security operatives suspected to be soldiers while three others were wounded.

The suicide bomber, it was learnt, came through Wala and Warabe villages and hit the military post with deafening noise that rocked the neighbourhood, before people started to scamper for safety.

“We were woken up this morning with a bomb blast on the road near the school. Some of us started to run for safety, while others fled to the hill tops of Gwoza.

 I cannot tell say the exact casualties, but three soldiers were killed, while others took to their heels.
“There were no civilian casualties, as some people were still asleep when the suicide bomber detonated the explosives that killed him and the three,” a source told our correspondent on the telephone.

The source said the casualty figure could have been higher, as people were prevented from plying the road by the military for safety since last month.

Sambo, Tambuwal, Sultan lead prayers

Vice-President Namadi Sambo has led other prominent Nigerians to pray for the nation’s peace, progress and the eradication of terrorism and social vices.

The event, tagged: National Prayers for Peace and Security, was held at the National Mosque in Abuja.

Sambo urged the Muslim Ummah to pray for Nigeria’s peace and progress and an end to insurgency.
The vice-president said prayers are strong weapons against any adversity.

He said: “Let me reiterate that when any adverse situation befell the Ummah during the time of Prophet Muhammad and the Sahabah (the companions), their greatest weapon was resorting to prayers to seek Allah’s intercession.

“We shall continue to organise prayers as frequently as possible, and Allah, in His infinite mercy, will answer our prayers in removing acts of terrorism by Boko Haram and all other vices in Nigeria.

“Let me at this juncture urge all Nigerians to continue to pray for lasting peace and unity of our dear country.”

Sambo advised the Ummah to promote the ideals of Islam by living according to the tenets of the religion.

He said: “Islam promotes peace, good neighbourliness and kindness.”

The vice-president also urged Muslims not to allow “the few disgruntled elements among us to portray Islam and Muslims in bad light”.

He urged Muslim clerics to be modest in their sermons.

The vice-president called for strict adherence to the Sunnah (ways of life) of Prophet Mohammed.

Sambo reiterated the commitment of the Goodluck Jonathan administration to the provision of tight security and at ensuring the nation’s stability and unity.

The vice-president said the Federal Government was doing its best to bring back safely the schoolgirls abducted in Chibok, Borno State, over two months ago.

He said: “The government is working assiduously to support the efforts of the military by increasing its capacity in the search for our missing girls and to further secure the territorial integrity of the nation.”

Sambo expressed appreciation for the support Nigeria was getting from its neighbours and other African countries in the fight against terrorism.

The vice-president hailed the United Kingdom (UK), France, the United States (U.S.), China and other countries for partnering Nigeria on Boko Haram insurgency.

House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal said the National Assembly would do use its constitutional powers to support government’s efforts in the fight against terrorism.

Niger Delta fishermen reject Shell’s $50m

Thousands of Nigerian fishermen have rejected an offer of $50 million from Royal Dutch Shell for “some of the largest oil spills in history,” their British lawyers said Friday after winning a landmark court ruling.

Shell already accepts responsibility for paying compensation and cleaning up spills caused by its own failures. But the London High Court decided that Shell can be held legally liable for spills caused by oil thefts, if it fails to provide reasonable protection for its pipeline infrastructure.

The court case involves one of Nigeria’s worst environmental disasters. Amnesty International called it “a shot across the bows for Shell” and said the ruling “paves the way for Shell to finally be held accountable for devastating oil pollution in the Niger Delta.”

Shell played down the judgment, saying in a statement that it was favorable in limiting litigation to “an assessment of actual damages sustained” in spills.

The oil company, Nigeria’s biggest petroleum producer, claimed that the court found Nigerian law “does not hold pipeline operators responsible for damage caused by oil theft.”

But Judge Robert Akenhead of the London Technological and Construction Court ruled Shell is responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect its infrastructure, including installing leak detection systems, surveillance equipment and anti-tamper equipment.

Shell does not have such equipment in its Nigerian fields, though they are considered mandatory in oilfields in the developed world.

It is the first time Shell has had its environmental record in Nigeria on trial by a British court. The thousands of compensation cases in often corrupt Nigerian courts drag on for years and often end with victims being paid a pittance. Until now, Shell has paid compensation only for spills caused by equipment failure.

Oil thefts in Nigeria have reached an industrial scale, with some $35 million worth stolen daily, according to figures this week from the country’s national conference.

Shell has a woeful record of cleaning up spills in Nigeria. It has yet to clean up the 2008 and 2009 spills that triggered the court case, saying the Bodo community has refused to give it access.

Mutiu Sunmonu, managing director of Shell Nigeria, said the company has accepted responsibility for the “deeply regrettable” spills and urged the fishermen to accept Shell’s “sensible and fair compensation offers.”

Martyn Day of London law firm Leigh Day said Shell’s offer of 30 million pounds (more than $50 million) amounted to about 1,000 pounds ($1,700) for each of 30,000 people who lost their livelihoods. He called it laughable.

Bodo Creek is one of Nigeria’s worst environmental disasters, with some experts saying it caused the largest loss of mangrove habitat ever caused by an oil spill.

Shell documents say the leak started Oct. 5, 2008 and a total of 1,640 barrels of oil was spilled.

Government and community documents say the leak started Aug. 28, and industry experts estimate up to 4,320 barrels of oil was flooding Bodo each day for at least 72 days.

Amnesty International has accused Shell of manipulating oil spill investigations and wrongly reporting the cause and volume of oil spills devastating the Niger Delta, and of making false claims about cleanup measures

‘Fed Govt can use crisis management skills to curb insurgency’

The Federal Government has been urged to encourage the teaching of crisis management skills in schools as a way of curbing the growing trend of insurgency in the country and encouraging mutual co-existence among the youths.

A safety and crisis management expert, Mohammad Sani Isa spoke in Abuja at the weekend while speaking of plans for the public presentation of a book on crisis management titled: “Crisisology: Charting a course through crisis.”

He said the book, a monograph to be launched on June 26 at Merit House, Maitama, Abuja is intended by his group, the Society for Safety and Crisis management (SSCM) to propagate the concept of Crisisology as an emerging academic discipline within the broader concept of social science.

“Its central theme is that crises can be detected, prevented and managed effectively and efficiently through education and sensitization,” Isa said
He argued that the emerging trend of insurgency in the country results mainly from ignorance, which promotes the unwillingness of those behind it to understand and tolerate contrary views about human existence.

Isa noted that it has become glaring that ignorance drives those behind the Boko Haram sect, who claim to detest Western education and their ways of life, but yet depend on their inventions, like the sophisticated weapons, which are products of Western education, for their activities.

“What the government should do is to focus on ways of enlightening the younger generation about the need to resolve disputes amicably, learn to accommodate others’ views and realise that violence bears no positive fruits.

Isa, who is the President of SSCM, suggested a departure from the current practice of deploying the nation’s energy to responding to crisis as against seeking ways of preventing crisis and nipping it in the bud, where it arises.

“Crisisology calls for improved, dedicated and scientific study of crisis for proper vigilance, extended due diligence and strict enforcement of extant control mechanisms. Today’s operating environment demands that we should be prepared to develop a crisis mentality that recognizes that crisis can occur any time,” he said.

Fed Govt, trade partners ‘revive’ Ajaokuta Steel

Efforts to revive the Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited have failed in the past. But a fresh experiment by the Fedetral Government seems to be producing positive results, reports Sani Adamu

By all accounts, the present administration appears fully prepared to complete the hitherto moribund Ajaokuta steel project in Kogi.

The idea behind a steel project in Nigeria started in 1958, when the colonial administration commissioned a feasibility study on iron ore deposits in the country.

In 1967, a United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) survey identified Nigeria as a potential steel market; which led to the signing of a bilateral agreement between the defunct Soviet Union and Nigeria.

The Soviet steel experts that conducted a feasibility study confirmed the availability of raw materials and recommended further geological surveys.

They also recommended the Blast Furnace/Basic Oxygen Furnace (BF/BOF) process, capable of producing 570,000 tonnes of rolled products per annum.

In 1971, an extra-ministerial agency, the Nigerian Steel Development Authority (NSDA), was established by Decree No.9, to focalise efforts required to actualise a steel plant in the country.

Besides, the discovery of large deposits of iron ore at  Itakpe  in 1972 by the Soviet aero-magnetic survey team, catalysed the formal signing of a global contract in 1975, with Tiajpromexport (TPE), a Soviet state-owned firm, for an integrated steel plant of 1.3 million tonnes of long products.

However, the actual work on the Ajaokuta Steel Company commenced in 1979 during the administration of Alhaji Shehu Shagari.

Record, however, showed that the Ajaokuta steel plant was inaugurated in 1983 when it had achieved almost 95 per cent completion, with most of its vital rolling mills, including light, billets, wire rod, medium section and structural mills, operational.

However, since its inauguration in 1983, the plant has been embroiled in managerial inaptitude and controversy, ranging from allegations of obsolete machines and outdated blast furnace model.

Despite its initial completion, the plant had suffered years of neglect under successive administrations.

In 2005, the efforts by the President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration through the concessioning of the plant to Global System Steel Holdings Limited (GSHL), an Indian firm, also failed to revive it.

The agreement was terminated in 2008 by the late President Umaru Yar’Adua’s administration.

This, perhaps, underscores the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to reactivate the plant and ensure its final completion.

Three years down the line, available records showed that work on the critical sections of the massive steel complex had been completed and ready for operation.

Acknowledging the progress made so far, Mr Musa Sada, the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, said that the Federal Government had also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with some private firms to facilitate its completion.

He, however, said that the investors were trade partners and not core investors.

Sada, who spoke during a working tour of the company, said that the investors would be engaged on a short-term basis to operate the completed facilities.

He said that the new approach was to avoid past mistakes in appointing management teams to handle the plant.

According to him, the move will save vital components of the plant and machines from further deterioration, stressing that the workers are among the best trained in the industry.

The minister said that reviving the steel plant was necessary in view of its crucial role towards the attainment of the country’s industrial revolution.

Nonetheless, the National Iron Ore Mining Company Ltd (NIOMCO), says that the Ajaokuta Steel Company will require about 2.3 million tonnes of iron ore concentrate to enable it start production.

Malam Abubakar Ibrahim, the Sole Administrator of the company, said this in Itekpe, Kogi, during a 3-day facility inspection tour of the plant.

He said that with adequate supply of iron ore, the steel company could produce more than 1.3 million tonnes of steel annually.

Ibrahim, however, said that in order to meet the iron ore requirement of the Ajaokuta Steel Company, NIOMCO must also be able to produce and process seven million tonnes of raw iron ore annually.

He also said that in order to guarantee 15 to 20 years of uninterrupted iron ore production, sufficient amount of iron concentrate must be stockpiled at both Itakpe and Ajaokuta.

“At that level of production, our in-house study has shown that the operating cost per tonne shall be about N7,000, which means that a net monthly operating income of about N228 million shall be realised at current world market concentrate price of N16,000 per tonne,’’ Ibrahim said.

He identified lack of appropriate storage facility for explosives and shortage of serious suppliers of the iron ore concentrate as some of the challenges confronting the company.

However, Sada allays such fears, noting that the Federal Government is doing everything possible to ensure that NIOMCO bounces back.

Sada also said the recent launching of National Industrial Revolution Plan by the government would address such challenges.

Interestingly, Vice-President Namadi Sambo also restated government’s commitment to make the plant functional within the shortest possible time.

Sambo said President Jonathan had also directed the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) to restore life to the steel industry through the speedy revival of the company.

“Very soon, I want to assure you that the promise Mr President gave sometime in Kogi  that the Ajaokuta Steel Industry will be brought back to life will be actualised.

‘’I want to categorically state that all the encumbrances to the progress of the project have been removed by Mr President,’’ he said.

The vice- president spoke at the foundation laying ceremony of Kogi House in Abuja.

To justify the huge investment, the Ajaokuta Steel Company also said it would collaborate with Industrial Training Fund (ITF) to train 1,000 youths in each of the 36 states of the federation.

Mr Isah Joseph, the Sole Administrator of the company, said that the youths would be trained at its Metallurgical Training Centre (MTC) in Ajaokuta on various skills beginning from the third quarter of this year.

According to him, the programme will go a long way to empower the youths.

“It is our plan that training will commence at MTC under the African Centre for Human Capital Development (ACHCD) arrangement in the third quarter of 2014.

“A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed with the ITF to actualise the skills acquisition programme of the Federal Government.

“The training of 1,000 youths per state in artisanal skills was worked out for the MTC,’’ he said.

Joseph said the 36,000 youths would be trained on carpentry/joinery, mechanical/machining, electrical installations and wielding, among others.

He said since inception in the 1970s, the company was conceived as a project that would lead Nigeria to industrialisation.

“The project, however, had history occasioned by an inter-play of forces that has made the integrated inauguration of the steel plant elusive till date. The bane of Ajaokuta Steel Company over the years has mainly been poor funding. Capital allocation to the project has remained a mirage for a number of years.

“Added to this is the case instituted against it since 2008 by its erstwhile concessionaires, which is in the process of being definitively concluded through mediations, courtesy of Mr President,’’ he said.

The sole administrator said the detractors of the project had continued to canvass for its sale.

He stressed that the plant was a strategic and rugged national investment, designed to last for several generations with minimal conservation efforts.

Joseph said privatising the company at this point would scuttle the dreams of the founding fathers.

According to him, it will also amount to disservice to the nation and generations yet unborn.

“The technical audit of the plant by the international and local experts attests to its sound health, courtesy of the patriotic efforts of the staff,” he said.

Industry watchers, nonetheless, applauded the efforts made by the Jonathan administration to revitalise the ailing company, in order not to waste the huge investment made by successive governments.

“The dream of making Ajaokuta an industrial hub of the country is coming up slowly; the journey is still far, but it must be a reality,’’ says an observer.