FG Confiscates N1.5 Billion Hospital Linked To Okorocha’s Aide

Paschal Obi

Okorocha, wife, others to forfeit asset to Nigerian government – EFCC.

A day after a former governor of Abia State, Orji Kalu, was convicted and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for N7.65 billion fraud by a Federal High Court in Lagos, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) secured another victory in its campaign against grand corruption in public service as Justice T.G Ringin of a Federal High Court in Owerri, today December 6, ordered the final forfeiture of Dews of Hope Hospital, a N1.5 billion state-of-the-art 200-bed hospital, allegedly owned by an aide to a former governor of Imo State and serving senator, Rochas Okorocha.

The commission had on August 22, 2019, secured the interim forfeiture of the property from a vacation judge, A. T Mohammed, of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt. The application for interim forfeiture was triggered by evidence that the facility may have been acquired through proceeds of illicit activities, as funds from Government House, Owerri were traced to the hospital.

The commission’s investigation revealed that Paschal Obi, former Permanent Secretary and Principal Secretary to then Governor Okorocha, now a serving member of the House of Representatives was a signatory to the accounts.

However, Mr Obi, like members of the board of the hospital, vehemently denied ownership of the medical facility. The managing director of the hospital on an invitation could not also explain how the hospital was funded. These developments led the commission to file for the forefeiture of the property on July 25, 2019 under Section 17 of the Advance Fee Fraud,and Other Related Offences Act 2006.

In granting the request for the interim forfeiture of the property, the court ordered the anti-graft agency to publish the order in a national newspaper, which was accordingly complied with in the Nation Newspaper of August 30, 2019 and Leadership Newspaper of September 3,2019 respectively, asking interested parties to show cause why the property should not be forfeited to the federal government within fourteen days from the dates of the publications.

Upon the expiration of the fourteen day notice and with no one showing interest in the hospital, the commission filed for the final forfeiture of the facility.

The hospital located at the heart of Owerri metropolis had an adjourning staff and doctor’s quarters.

AHIAJOKU: Wise Men From East Brainstorm On Igbo Culture, Development

Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha welcoming guests to the Ahiajoku Lecture. Image: PM Express

BY HENRY AKUBUIRO

OWERRI (SUN NEWS)--The enthusiasm that permeated New Concorde Hotel, Owerri, last Friday, was apparent: truncated dream suddenly rose from the depth of abeyance to embrace a new vista. Amid an art exhibition, the 2018 Ahiajoku Festival, the Igbo cultural and intellectual harvest, made a comeback since 2010. Love and respect for the Igbo man were rekindled.

The roadmap for the colloquium on Day 1 was given by Dr. Amanze Obi, the Director, Ahiajoku Institute, who informed the three presenters that their presentations would focus on the overall theme of the festival – “The Challenge of Leadership in Contemporary Igbo Society”.

Senator Ben Obi, who introduced the Chairman of the day, Professor ABC Nwosu, former Nigeria’s Minister of Health, thanked the Imo State Governor, Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha. for drawing a rich audience from the Igbo speaking states of Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi, Rivers and Delta, and beyond, to partake in the festival. “That’s a sign of many things to come,” he declared.

Nwosu was humbled to chair the colloquium, for he never lobbied for it. “But I would have lobbied for this one, because Igbo land has lost direction,” he said. He was satisfied, however, with the mantra the state governor had chosen for himself, praying God to guide him.

He added, “You have begun from the right place. You can only rebuild humans that will build society from the mind.” Ahiajoku, he echoed, “represents the potentials of the Igbo man. I salute you for what you have done by resuscitating Ahiajoku.”

He celebrated the ingenuity and industry of the Igbo in surviving against all odds, including pogrom, genocide and unfriendly, post-civil war economic policy by the Federal Government of seizing their money in the bank and handing each depositor a paltry 20 pounds, no matter the savings.

Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa was the first of the three presenters to speak. He spoke on “Aku ruo Ulo: Inventing Political and Communal Leadership in Alaigbo”. For long, he said, Igbo people had bemoaned the rising spate of foreign adventures, developing areas outside Igbo land, yet earning undeserved threats to their lives, and, in many cases, deaths and loss of properties.

He lamented that the entire Southeast, at the moment, had the lowest GDP growth of all the regions in Nigeria due to low investment in the region, submitting that the threat by the Oba of Lagos in 2015 to throw Igbo indigenes into the Atlantic Ocean during the 2015 elections and subsequent and subsisting notices by the Arewa Youths for Igbo settlers to leave the region had been major wakeup calls for Ndigbo to look homewards.

Furthermore, he said the obvious discrimination by this present Federal Government “has added impetus for the need for us to think home and invest home.” Even beyond the borders of Nigeria, “the same message,” he said, “is being sent”, for recent xenophobia attacks in South Africa seem to have affected Ndigbo more than any other Nigerian group.”

The Igbo economy before the civil war, he informed, was the fastest growing, built on agriculture and manufacturing. “We built an industry around coal in Enugu and developed big commercial centres in Aba and Onitsha that distributed the agricultural and manufactured goods from our industries,” he said.

Mazi Ohuabanwa’s speech wasn’t all about painting sad pictures and creating a hangdog air. The pharmacist also proffered solutions. He advised every Igbo businessman outside Igboland, to, within one year, set up an office, a branch, a shop or depot in Igboland to increase employment possibilities in the region.

He, besides, urged Igbo businessmen to give priority to investing in Igboland before putting any investment elsewhere in Nigeria. Over the next three years, he advised Igbo businessmen to transfer the headquarters of their businesses to Igboland while maintaining braches outside Igboland, as ABC Transport, Innoson, Chikason, Ibeto had done.

Responding to the issues raised by the first speaker, Rev. Fr. Chris Ogbonna, said Mazi Ohuabunwa had given all food for thought. For him, the theme of “Aku ruo Ulo” was thought-provoking, nay, “the greatest Aku (wealth) we have in us is human capital.” He moved for leaders who could harness the abundant human capital.

The second speaker, Professor Christian Onyeji, spoke on “Humanity, Sensed Leadership in Contemporary Igbo Politics: Tackling the Challenges.” On one hand, the theme, he said, raised a critical issue of relevance questioning the outcomes, hegemony and direction of existing Igbo leadership methods and their outcomes.” He, therefore, lent support to having Igbo leaders who have the people in mind.

Dr. John Otu, who responded to Professor Onyeji’s presentation as one of the four discussants, said “a time would come in Nigeria when they invite you to be a governor, you will say, ‘No, I am don’t want to be; I am not qualified for that office’; and the time is now.” His position was premised on the fact that oil earnings would soon dwindle and looters would found government positions unattractive, thereby paving way for those with ideas to take the challenge of leadership.”

The third speaker, Chief Osita Chidoka, former Minister of Aviation, focused on “Leadership in Igboland”. He noted that “Igbo people are successful in today’s Nigeria but Igboland is not successful.” He lamented that “our dreams and aspirations have gone low,” compared to the achievements of the Okparas and Azikiwes in the First Republic.

He lampooned Igbo traditional rulers for endorsing bad political leadership for lucre. “I want to assure you that the Igbo man is the future of Nigeria,” he said, nevertheless. Among others, “we are the most socially inclusive in Nigeria.”

The first day ended with a cultural night at Mbari Cultural Centre, Owerri, attended with traditional Igbo performances led by Omenimo and the Saro Wiwa band. But the glow of Ahiajoku thrills wasn’t about to fade yet. Dr. Amanze Obi set the ball rolling the second day at the Ahiajoku Convention, New Owerri, as the Ahiajoku Lecture itself took centre stage, chaired by the Obi of Onitsha, Agbogidi Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe.

“I have a passion for what we are doing today,” said Amanze Obi, former Imo State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, who lamented that the Ahiajoku Lecture series was abandoned by the immediate past administration of Rochas Okorocha for selfish reasons. “Our job is not just the Ahiajoku series; we have a lot of programmes we will run,” he hinted on the enlarged scope of the institute he heads.

Chief Ikedi Ohakim, who chaired the LOC, called on Igbo nation, whether in southeast or in Rivers or Benue to unite. Unlike the former Imo State Governor, Okorocha, who was described by Femi Fani Kayode as an “intellectual barbarian”, the incumbent Imo State Governor, Ihedioha, was lionised for his intellectual bent and visionary leadership by the Obi of Onitsha, in his remarks.

Governor Ihedioha lamented, in his adress, that the last eight years were the beginning of dismantling efforts by the Okorocha administration, and it was incumbent on him to begin a rebuilding process in Imo. He welcomed all to the festival, describing Ahiajoku as “the most cherished Igbo cultural and intellectual summit”, returning “after nearly a decade of abeyance”.

He added, “The 2019 Ahiajoku Lecture certainly marks another milestone in the rebuilding agenda in the present Imo State Government.” He also noted that, “Ahiajoku has remained a unifying essence among Igbo”, with its cultural and intellectual potpourri.

Emeritus Professor Michael Echeruo, who was the inaugural Ahiajoku lecturer in 1979, make history, once again, as he presented the 2019 Ahiajoku Lecture entitled “Ogu Eri Mba: We Shall Survive”, which unearthed, among others, pre-colonial Igbo practices and politics, dispelling spurious Igbo-Jewish connection and x-raying the historical and Achebean explanations of contemporary socio-political convulsions vis-à-vis Ndigbo.

Aside Governor Ihedioha, the 2019 Ahiajoku Lecture was attended by the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu; Akwa Ibom State Governor, Emmanuel Udom; plus representatives of governors of Enugu, Anambra, Enugu, Rivers and Cross River states.

Others were Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Achike Udenwa, Prof I.D. Nwoga. Chief Nnia Nwodo (President, Ohaneze Ndigbo) and Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe (former Chief of General Staff under IBB). Also present were royal fathers, including but not limited to the Amanyanabo of Opobo and Eze Samuel Ohiri, Chairman, Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers.

Imo Community To Abolish “Osu” Caste System December 27

Illustration courtesy of Jones Archive, Southern Illinois University

BY JUDE AGUGUO OWUAMANAM

OWERRI, IMO (DAILY TRUST)--History will be made on December 27, 2019, when the indigenes of Abba community in Nwangele Local Government area of Imo state will meet to put a final seal on the abrogation of the Osu, Ohu/Ume caste system in the area. The caste, a social stigmatisation system, which had bogged down the Igbo race for centuries, tends to segregate individuals on the basis of birth.

It is an ancient practice in Igboland, which discourages social interaction and marriage with a group of persons called ‘Osu’ and the freeborn called Nwadiala. The Osu, people said to be dedicated to deities, are considered as inferior beings to freeborn.

The ceremony, which will also culminate in the celebration of Abba Day, is being held under the auspices of Abba Ama Ano Community Development Union (AACDU) led by Chief Paul Ozigbo and Coordinated by Barrister Stan Chike Ofoma.

The journey to the ceremony, which started on November 2, with a sensitisation programme to all the four autonomous communities of Umuokwara, Umudurunna, Ekitiafor and Ogwuaga, and the daughters of Abba (Umuada), culminated on December 3, with the rites of abrogation performed by the traditional title holders (Ndi Nze na Ozo and Oji Ofo) and witnessed by a delegation from Nri Ancient Kingdom, said to be sphere of religious and political influence in Igboland. A statement signed by the Chairman of traditional title holders, (Ndi Nze na Ozo), Dr. CKC Anyanjo and the Public Relations Officer, Dr. Okechukwu Akogu, described the rites as an uphill task, but expressed satisfaction that they were able to pull the process through despite all the challenges littered along the way.

The statement said, “The culmination of this whole process into the epoch and historic abolition proclamation by Onye Ishi Nze Abba amano (Nze ( Dr) CKC Anyanjo), at 4:35pm of 3/12/2019, after a sixteen cannon gun shorts and its reinforcement by Ndi oji ofo and another 21 cannon shorts in the four autonomous communities between 5pm to 6:15pm in ala Abba was symbolic – bringing to finality the end of Osu, Ume and Ohu cast system in Abba clan.” Speaking on theevent, the traditional ruler of Ekitiafor, Ekiti II, Eze Ononenyi Uzoma, said that it was the agreement of all the people of Abba that the system must come to and end. He described it as a encouragement to other communities in Igbo land that still practices the system to end it because it has no place in modern times. Queen Mother of Ekitiafor, Her Royal Majesty, Ugoeze Uzoka, who spearheaded the whole process, described the practice as obnoxious and vexatious, stressing that it is incongruous for any person to see another as an outcast, when there is no outward sign or insignia on the face designating them as outcast and others as freeborn.

Croatia 'Wrongly Deports' Nigerian Table Tennis Players To Bosnia

Abie Uchenna Alexandra and Kenneth Chinedu arrive in Zagreb Novembver 12m 2019. Image: Boris Gagic/Al Jazeera Balkans

BY BORIS GAGIC

SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (AL JAZEERA) - Croatian police have deported two Nigerian table-tennis players to Bosnia and Herzegovina, claiming they were in the country illegally, despite the pair having arrived in Croatia with valid visas.

Abie Uchenna Alexandra and Kenneth Chinedu, students from Owerri Technical University in Nigeria, arrived in Zagreb on November 12 to participate in the sport's World University Championships in Pula, according to Hina, the government-owned national news agency.

Following the table tennis tournament, they headed from Pula to Zagreb, scheduled to fly back to Nigeria via Istanbul on November 18.

The pair settled into a hostel on November 16 and the following day went to explore the city, reported the Sarajevo-based Zurnal. They were stopped by police as they got off a tram, and arrested as they were not carrying their documents with them.

"They took us to the police station. We tried to explain who we were and that we had left our documents in the hostel. They didn't pay attention to what we were saying," said Chinedu.

He said police officers then put them in a van and said they were "taking them to Bosnia". They drove the pair to the border, along with several others, and dumped them on the Bosnian side, near a forested area.

"I refused to go into the woods," said Chinedu. "The officer told me he would shoot me if I didn't move."

After being chased, they reached the Miral Camp near Velika Kladusa in Bosnia.

That was two weeks ago.
Legal stay in Croatia

Chinedu said they immediately contacted one of their fellow students who had stayed back in Zagreb, and asked him to send them their passports. However, they now faced a new problem: they were stuck in a camp and their Croatian visas were due to expire when they were due to get their flight home.

The students complained to representatives of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which runs the Miral Camp, where it was confirmed that the students had been staying in Croatia legally.

Dean Sinkovic from the Faculty of Economics and Tourism in Pula confirmed to Al Jazeera that the students were competing in the table tennis tournament, that they had visas and an invitation letter from the university.

Emir Prcanovic, director of the Your Rights Organization, which is currently providing legal aid to the Nigerian students, told Al Jazeera that the documentation from the Croatian consulate proves the students' legal status.

Alberto Tanghetti, a representative of the Inter-University Sports Committee and the organiser of the competition in Pula, said there were a total of five participants from Nigeria - four students and a professor - and confirmed they all had valid visas.

"The two students were participating in the competition, they had a Croatian visa, return plane tickets from Zagreb to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Lagos," Tanghetti said.
Opposition outrage

Hina, meanwhile, announced "the Ministry of Interior does not know how these students ended up in Bosnia", adding "their legal departure from Croatia has not been recorded".

Ranko Ostojic, an opposition leader who chairs the Committee on Internal Policy and National Security, demanded the police explain themselves.

The students were on Wednesday, December 12 transferred to a field office of the Bosnian Foreign Service in Bihac, reported Al Jazeera's Boris Gagic. After five hours, they were released, accompanied by police officers, and made no statements to the media.

It is understood they are being returned to the Miral camp in Velika Kladusa, where they are currently accommodated with refugees and migrants.

"Those people are victims of illegal acts of the Croatian side," said Dragan Mektic, Bosnia and Herzegovina's minister of security. "Respecting legal procedures, we now have to take them back to Croatia … It is obvious that they have Croatian visas, that they are in B&H illegally. From their statements, it is obvious that Croatian police forcibly displaced them and we have to bring them back there."

ANAMBRA POLITICS: Obiano Widens Alliances As 10 Billionaires Eye Anambra 2021 Guber Poll

Willie Obiano. Image: Twitter

BY LEO SOBECHI
AWKA, ANAMBRA (THE GUARDIAN)--For politicians in Anambra State, including the incumbent, Chief Willie Obiano, it is almost as if the governorship election slated for November 2021 would hold tomorrow. Across the major political parties, stakeholders are busy working round the clock regarding who to support as well as mobilizing their associates and foot soldiers.

Already two major issues, namely zoning and godfathering, are gaining prominence in the various conversations about the essential qualities of Governor Obiano’s prospective successor in two years’ time. In November 21, 2017, against all odds, the incumbent governor was re-elected for a second term. But the irony of what is currently playing out in the state is that most of those who contested against Obiano even in 2003 are still in the field searching for the people’s mandate to be his successor in 2021. Most of the political stakeholders believe that apart from riding on the coat tails of former Governor Peter Obi to become governor, Obiano has not displayed the political sagacity or performance that could qualify him to implant a successor or become a godfather.

Sources in Government House, Awka, explained that it was on account of the general belief that the governor’s power of incumbency was not potent enough to impose a successor that not less than ten billionaires have indicated their interest to contest the 2021 governorship election. Prominent among the billionaires are those that contested the governorship in 2013, including Dr. Andy Uba, Tony Nwoye, Ifeanyi Ubah, and Godwin Ezeemo. Other that have so far signaled their intention to participate in the 2021 gubernatorial poll include Dr. Obiora Okonkwo (PDP), Dr. Godwin Maduka (PDP), Dr. Chido Nwankwo, Dr. Chinue Ozigbo (Chairman of Transcorp), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo (APGA), Senator (Iyom) Uche Ekwunife (PDP), Dr. George Moghalu (APC), Hon Chris Azubogu (PDP), Johnbosco Onunkwo (APC), Stanley Uzochukwu (APGA), Nicholas Ukachukwu (APGA).

But perhaps learning some lessons from Governor Henry Seriake Dickson’s experience in the recent Bayelsa State governorship poll, where the governor failed to produce his preferred candidate as successor, Obiano is said to be widening his circle of political contacts to ensure that his succession adorns the badge of inclusion.

One of the strategies, according to sources, was the recent setting up of Anambra State Development Plan Committee, led by Prof. Charles Soludo. Speaking when he inaugurated the committee, tagged Anambra Vision 2070 Committee, Governor Obiano said the team was put together to design a 50-year development template for the state. While charging the members to do a thorough job, the governor reminded them that “the task of the committee includes crafting the Anambra Vision 2070 Development Plan that would also touch on security of the state, determine critical milestones and success factors in the plans.”

The areas of reference, according to Obiano, include defining the mission and vision statements, identifying specific sectors of focus, creation of broad objectives for the sectors, development of programmes and strategies, and categorising them into short, medium and long-term frameworks. The governor disclosed that the committee’s report “would assist subsequent administrations in the state in its development drive.”

But no sooner had the governor finished inaugurating the committee than the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) dismissed the contraption as an enlarged campaign committee to canvass support for the committee’s chairman, Prof. Soludo. One of the men on the 46-man committee regretted that it was becoming obvious that the governor wants to impose a successor, wondering why he should set up a development agenda midway into his second term.

He said: “It does not make sense that such a bloated committee should be set up two years to the end of the governor’s second term. If indeed the governor wants to raise a developmental agenda, he should first tell Ndi Anambra how far he has implemented the Anambra Integrated Development Strategies (ANIDS), including all the laudable economic development plans he enunciated in his first year that have all been abandoned.

“Why should Soludo be made to chair the committee when he is saddled with similar assignments by the Southeast governors and the recent appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari as member of the Economic Advisory Committee? No matter how he tries to hide it, the fact remains that Obiano wants to be political godfather.”

Other members of the committee are as follows: Primus Odili (Executive), Prof Kate Omenugha (Executive), Mr. Ifeatu Onejeme, (Executive), Mr. Mark Okoye (Executive), Patrick Okigbo III (Technocrat), Chris Okoye, (Technocrat), Captain Iheanacho Ebubeogu (Technocrat); Capt. John T. Okakpu, (Technocrat), DIG Val Ntomchukwu (Security Expert), AIG Okey Ezike (Security Expert), Mr. Valentine Ozigbo (Transcorp, Hospitality Expert), Mr. Maduka Emelife, (External Ndi Anambra), Henry Manafa, (External Ndi Anambra), Hon. Chudi Offodile, (Political Class), Dr. Ikem Odumodu (Technocrat).

Others are Joe Anatune (Technocrat), Dr Ndi Onuekwusi (Rep of Anambra – Professionals), Prof. Idemobi, Nneka Ekwuozor, Professor Uche Amazigo, Bryan Mezue, Dr. Uzochukwu Amakom, Engineer Emeka Ezeh (former DG, BPP), David Onyinyechi Agu, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, (Technocrat), Mr. Mac Atasie, (Secretary), Amb. Emma Obi Okafor (fmr Deputy DG, NIA), Dr. Emma Onyilofor, Amb Chudi Okafor, Dr. Oscar Onwudiwe, (President of Aka Ikenga), and C-Don Adinuba (Executive).

However, checks by The Guardian showed that while Governor Obiano seems to be sticking to his verbal promise to support Soludo to take over from him in 2021, his wife, Mrs. Ebele Obiano, has indicated open preference for Chief Stanley Uzochukwu to pick APGA’s ticket.Despite the perceived divisions within the governing All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), PDP has insisted that Obiano’s 50-year Development Plan Committee is meant to usher in the governor’s preferred aspirant, Soludo.

In a statement by its state Public Relations Secretary, Nnamdi Nwangwu, PDP noted that although it sees nothing wrong in planning for both short and long terms, “what the party finds worrisome is the intention of the planner and, in this case, the antecedents of the planner. “The fact that the very bogus committee of 51 persons is headed by Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, who is widely believed to be Obiano’s preferred aspirant to emerge as the candidate of APGA in coming 2021 gubernatorial race in the state, completely gave the intention away. Also a deeper look at the antecedents of Obiano gives the whole plot away as another form of jamboree and showmanship aimed at hoodwinking the people further.”

Picking holes on the committee, PDP further lamented that if the same APGA administration valued planning, “how come they dismantled all the plans inherited from preceding APGA governments for eight years?
“What happened to the UN Habitat plans for Awka, Onitsha and Nnewi painstakingly procured by Mr. Peter Obi from the UN Africa headquarters in Kenya, and already being implemented, handed over to Obiano to follow as part of continuing the same APGA government?
“What of Anambra State Industrialisation handbook, painstakingly prepared by the preceding APGA government of which, very articulately, mapped out steps to industrialise the six industrial estates in the state?”

PDP concluded that APGA and the incumbent governor “know that they have destroyed all the goodwill they built in the first eight years that guaranteed the second eight years,” stressing that that goodwill has been destroyed in the second eight years.Although APGA secured just one House of Representatives seat, it boasts of retaining formidable grassroots presence in the 177 towns and 21 local government councils of the state, which it said would guarantee the party electoral triumph in the governorship.

Falling apart

WHILE Governor Obiano enjoyed the goodwill of his predecessor and benefactor, Mr. Obi, to win the 2013 governorship election, which was predicated on the introduction of zoning, he fell apart with Obi and other crucial stakeholders, including leaders of Omabala Union. Despite the fact that the battle for zoning was stoutly fought in 2013, Obiano mounted the saddle and sidelined Anambra North Stakeholders, including Dr. Chike Obidigbo, who was the zone’s consensus choice for the governorship ticket.

In his acceptance speech after his election in November 30, 2013, tagged ‘Sustaining our Steady March to Progress,’Obiano said: “I stand here tonight in the shadow of history. You made history when on November 16 and today you cast your votes in favour of APGA. In doing so you have affirmed the life-long struggle of our great father, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. You also upheld his view that our people should preserve our heritage through one united political roof. Ndi-Anambra I want to thank you for honouring the memory of late Ikemba.

“In voting Dr. Nkem Okeke and I as Deputy Governor and Governor-elect, you have also expressed your wish that the tradition of excellence, which my brother, His Excellency Governor Peter Obi, has entrenched in Anambra State these past eight years should be sustained. I wish to assure you that Nkem and I are ready and adequately prepared to expand the boundaries of our development and place Anambra State on the map of rapidly advancing states on all parameters of development.

“Nkem and I are fully aware that after Governor Obi’s glorious reign, Anambra can only advance to higher glory. As inheritors of this tradition of purposeful leadership, we shall dedicate ourselves to a life of service. Our administration shall be responsible and responsive to your needs.”But despite those lofty sentiments, Governor Obiano took his political battle against Obi to another level during the 2019 presidential poll, when he mobilized moral and fiscal support for APC and President Muhammadu Buhari to spite Obi who was PDP’s vice presidential candidate. The endorsement of APC by APGA in the last general election led to further division within the party, which ended in a series of litigations that hindered the party’s national convention.

Although attempts are being made to resolve the various leadership crises in the party to ensure that APGA does not repeat Zamfara State’s mistake of APC, stakeholders in the state have continued to agitate against zoning and godfathering. Some of the opponents of zoning, including Dr. Obiora Okonkwo, maintain that aspirants should show interest based on their pedigree and vision for governance, stressing that merit, capacity and competence should guide the election of Obiano’s successor.

But on APGA platform there are those insist on the sustenance of zoning, particularly Prof. Soludo, who declared in 2017 that Anambra is not broken and needs no mending. As preparations for Anambra 2021 guber poll gain momentum, some aspirants in APGA say Soludo is banking on zoning due to a pact with the governor. Sources disclosed that it was in response to reservations expressed about Soludo that the governor’s wife decided to throw up a rival from Anambra South in the person of Chief Uzochukwu. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN 

Experts Want Critical Thinkers To Lead, Transform Nigeria

Chimalu Nwankwo. Image: Chimalu Nwankwo

BY UZOMA NZEAGWU, OSIBEROHA OSIBE

AWKA, ANAMBRA (THE GUARDIAN)--Stakeholders who converged on the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU) Awka, Anambra State have canvassed the emergence of critical thinkers in leadership positions with a view to transforming Nigeria.

They stated this during the Ninth World Philosophy Day of the United Nations Educational, Social and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) at the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, with the theme, “Critical Thinking, Leadership and Social Transformation.”

A former Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Rev. Fr. Professor Obi Oguejiofor noted that leaders are drawn to the led if they possess critical thinking, analytical, communicative, creative, open-minded and problem solving to lead and transform organisations or institutions socially and economically.
He lamented that the problems dogging Nigeria and Africa’s developmental path stem from absence of leaders who could think critically from time to time, likening the failure of Nigerians to think critically in the clamour for power shift, which he said, does not produce the best leader who could give justice.

Also, former Chair, Department of English and Speech, A & T State University, North Carolina, United States of America, Professor Chimalu Nwankwo lamented that Africans do not think critically hence their inability to think on their own, but rely on dictates of foreigners.

Another stakeholder, Professor A.U. Igwe wondered if Nigerians apply critical thinking in whatever they do just as he condemned leaders who choose to become egocentric rather than critical thinkers when occupy leadership positions,

Igwe, who is a Professor of History, at NAU, said there were few African leaders who were guided by critical thinking, particularly the former President of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara who he described as an ideal leader who employed critical thinking and rational application of force during his regime.

He observed that the UNESCO knows the important role philosophy plays in leadership; hence the declaration of November 21 every year as World Philosophy Day, stressing that critical thinking propels leaders to better the lot of their people.

On his part, Dr. Emmanuel Umezinwa of the Department of Music and the first Master Degree Graduate of Philosophy Department, said western system of thinking has inadvertently made Africans to sharpen their intellect and give too much thought to thinking, adding that there is an “overblown idea of thought.”

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

Ahiajoku: When Igbo Leaders, Intellectuals Gathered For Introspection, Culture Feast

Events at the Ahiajoku Lectures. Image via Imo State Blog

BY GEORGE ONYEJIUWA

OWERRI, IMO STATE (SUN NEWS ONLINE)--Owerri, capital of Imo State, was agog recently. Between November 29 and 30, the city played host to the crème de la crème of Ndigbo – politicians, eminent academics, business moguls, professionals of all hues and first class traditional rulers.

Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr Emmanuel Udom and a former Minister of Aviation, Chief Femi Fani- Kayode were also in the city.

The personalities, and many others, were in Owerri for the 40thanniversary of the Ahiajoku Lecture Series. The lecture was delivered by Prof. Michael J.C Echeruo, who is the William Safire Professor of Modern Letters, Department of English, Syracuse University.

This is an eloquent testimony to the fact that the Ahiajoku lecture series, which was initiated by the governor of old Imo state, late Sam Mbakwe in 1979 ostensibly to celebrate the goddess of cultivation, fertility and harvest in Igbo cosmology, has transcended beyond its initial beginnings and become a pan-Igbo intellectual harvest. It not only spotlights contributions the Igbo have made and are still making to culture, civilization and to humanity but also serves as a platform which seeks to encourage Igbo scholars to undertake relevant researches on Igbo culture in relation to the world view and overall human development.

Therefore, the enthusiasm with which the revival of the Ahiajoku lecture series by Governor Emeka Ihedioha was celebrated by the entire Ndigbo after about a decade of hiatus was not surprising, especially as the event marked the 40th anniversary of the lecture series.

To kick-start the event, a colloquium was held. This was followed by a cultural night at the traditional parliament of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers where the guests were entertained by the Ome na Imo Cultural troupe.

The Obi of Onitsha and co-chairman of the Ahiajoku Lecture Series, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe praised Governor Ihedioha for bringing back the Ahiajoku Lecture Series, which he noted is a platform for Igbo who he described as a global tribe to further bond together as a people.

“We must thank Governor Ihedioha for reviving this Ahiajoku Lecture Series and going further to make it an institute for research into the culture and tradition of Igbo people. In 1981 when I returned from the Netherlands to work as the regional manager of Shell in Port Harcourt, I had paid Chief Sam Mbakwe a visit in Owerri and he asked me if I established a village in the Netherlands and that every Igbo man must establish a village at his location. What I understood by what he said is that Igbo is a global tribe because you find them everywhere and in every discipline. One thing about a global tribe is focus and cohesion, and the Ahiajoku is a major platform to achieve this cohesion.”

Chief Femi Fani-Kayode commended the Imo State government for organising the event noting that the immediate past administration could not organise the intellectual event primarily because the head of that administration is anti-intellectual. He commended Governor Ihedioha for again providing a cultural platform for Igbo intellectuals to exchange positive ideas for the benefits.

“This is my first time in Owerri and I must say that I was impressed that Governor Emeka Ihedioha has brought back this Ahiajoku which most people have aptly described as an intellectual harvest.

“Right from the colloquium and through the cultural night where the culture and tradition of the Igbo was on display, especially the performance of the culture. I think that the immediate past administration had scrapped this event because the head of that administration does not appreciate scholarship and so nobody should be surprised about that. But I have known Governor Emeka Ihedioha as a man who appreciates intellectualism and also a man who appreciates the culture and tradition of his people and that is why he has made it an institute for research and promotion of the culture and tradition of Igbo people,” he stated.”

The monarch of Umudioka autonomous community in Orlu, Eze Thomas Obiefule who was elated about the return of the lecture Ahiajoku series, said ex-Governor Rochas Okorocha had scrapped the lecture series but commended Governor Emeka Ihedioha for his foresight in bringing it back.

He noted that Prof. Michael Echeruo, the lecturer, had aptly entitled his lecture ‘OGU ERI MBA (WE SHALL SURVIVE)’ and that for the Igbo race to survive, the culture and tradition must be sustained.

“As a traditional ruler, I am very happy that the Ahiajoku lecture series is back which in the last 40 years has continued to provide Ndigbo with a platform to discuss and proffer solutions to the issues militating against our people. And if you look back you will see that illustrious Igbo intellectual giants, including the iconic Professor Chinua Achebe had in the past delivered lectures. But unfortunately, in the last eight years, the former governor, Rochas Okorocha, for reasons better known to him, scrapped the Ahiajoku Lecture Series and even renamed the Ahiajoku Convention Centre built by his predecessor, Dr Ikedi Ohakim to Imo Trade and Investment Centre. It was the same governor who destroyed all the artefacts at Mbari Centre. So, I am happy that Governor Ihedioha has not only revived the Ahiajoku Lectures but has made it an institute. Above all, he has made Igbo language a compulsory subject in the state because it is the language with which to identify our people.”

Director General of the newly established Ahiajoku Institute, Dr Amanze Obi said it was gratifying that after nine years, the event was back and better. He said the event would henceforth remain as a think tank for the way forward for the Igbo race.

“From now on, we are not just going to organise the lectures, but it will become a forum that will evolve into researching into and promoting the culture of Ndigbo,” he said.

SOURCE: SUN NEWS

Ahiajoku Lecture: Echeruo Faults Igbo Jewish Link

Prof. Michael Echeruo. Image via Rethinking Africa

BY CHRIS NJOKU

OWERRI (THE NATION)--The debate over Igbo’s Jewish origins and connections is undermining the sense of Igbo identity.

Delivering a lecture titled “Ogueri Mba: We shall survive” at the Ahiajoku Lecture 2019 and 40th anniversary held on Saturday at the Ahiajoku Institute, Owerri, Imo State, Prof. Michael Echeruo said the debate is fast undermining the sense of Igbo identity, attaching Ndigbo to a legacy in which they have absolutely no hope of acceptance.

“This feature of our public discourse does not have a single or simple motivation. Some believe that because we have been unjustly persecuted and misunderstood as a people, we must be Jews.

“Some others, standing anti-Senitism on its head, regard themselves as Jews by a fabled Igbo love for money, our new god.”

He described all these supposed links as a matter of folklore that could be easily ignored.

“We stand to gain nothing by claiming a Jewish identity parallel to that which we already have as Ndigbo.

“Even the Yoruba claim a Jewish origin at the time as they hold on to the mystical emergence of their ancestor. And they have, most of them, got over it, except the Igbo.”

He added further “the pattern of Igbo civil discourse, the quality of Igbo leadership at state and national levels even our quality of our pride in ourselves and our inheritance as Igbo people left to be desired.

“Our capacity for serious introspection has apparently diminished under the pressure of our needing to just survive and the anguish of having to put a stop to our dreaming of the might have been.”

Land Ownership Tussle Threatens Enugu Airport Reopening

BY EMEKA UGWUANYI

ENUGU (THE NATION)--Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, may not open soon as expected despite resolving safety concerns that led to its shut down by the Federal Government.

This is so because a fresh crisis over ownership of adjoining land at the airport is threatening its reopening.

There is a land contest between a private estate developer, Arch. J.J Emejulu and the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), which, according to the airport authorities, may jeopardise moves to reactivate the airport.

The land dispute is based on series of unconnected court cases in which Arch. J.J Emejulu is seeking to exercise ownership right over spaces of land in the vicinity of the airport.

A source at the airport also stated that conflict between the Nigeria Police and the Nigerian Air Force attached to FAAN over land ownership is also there.

The source stated that the airport might be permanently closed down if there is encroachment into the reserved space.

According to an FAAN official at Enugu, the contested land is located at the takeoff end of the airport, and would breach safety headroom for planned extension of the runway.

In response to enquiries on the encroachment, the Chairman of House Committee on Aviation, Hon. Nnolim Nnaji, declared that nobody would stand in the way to reopening the airport as scheduled, warning those fighting for land to stop sabotaging the interest of the Southeast zone.

Also, the erstwhile President of Southeast and Southsouth Professionals, Mr. Emeka Ugwuoju, advised all parties in the land dispute to concede their personal stakes to public interest.

He stressed that the ongoing rehabilitation and upgrade of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport remains strategic to the economy of the region.

According to him, all government institutions and facilities are built on land acquired from original owners in public interest.

He wondered why acquisition of lands for development of critical development infrastructure would be a major issue in Enugu State.

He stated that anybody taking actions that would affect the reopening of the Enugu Airport is an instigated agent working against the people of the entire southeast region.

It would be recalled that the predicament of the Akanu Ibiam International Airport began with a declaration by the Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, in May that the airport would be downgraded due to safety and facility deficits.

He listed some of the safety concerns to include bad runway, closeness of a market and birds attracting-abattoir, and an aviation focused free trade zone.

But in a concerted tripartite agreement, the Enugu State Government, Ministry of Aviation and the National Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) smoothly resolved all observed concerns about the airport, leading the minister to declare rehabilitation work at the airport.

Managing Director of FAAN, Capt. Hamisu Rabiu Yadudu, had expressed satisfaction with the relocation of the Orie Emene market, abattoir, and the dismantling of the Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) Radio/TV mast.

Yadudu said the issue of the ENPOWER Free Trade Zone has also been resolved with its Chief Executive Officer, Engr. Emeka Eneh, during the inspection.

He declared that “the required land FAAN wants to protect is secured” for safety and security, adding: “We are happy with that and ENPOWER Free Trade Zone is also happy that with the remaining land, they can still go ahead with their initiative and develop the land.”

Despite the resolution of the issues, the airport was shut down on August 24 due to bad state of the runway and other navigational facilities. After series of high profile visit by southeast governors, President Muhammadu Buhari expeditiously approved N10 billion for rehabilitation and upgrade of the airport.

A construction firm, PW Limited, has been deployed to reconfigure and reconstruct the runway to accommodate wide body aircraft including the Boeing 787 and dreamliner series.

National Aviation Management Agency (NAMA) has also announced commencement of work on airfield lighting and safety systems as well as on modernization of the terminal building and new reopening deadline was fixed for April 2020.

Hon. Nnaji stated that the entire southeast region would rise against anyone that might be working with enemies of the zone to sabotage the prevailing presidential fiat on speedy rehabilitation of the airport.

Mr. Ugwuoju advised those whose land might be affected by the developments at the airport to approach the government for resolution of the issues in line with established provisions.

He warned that sustained bickering over the land would derail the prevailing momentum for reopening of the airport.

‘Imo No Longer A Laughing Stock’

Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha waves to the crowd upon declaring Free Health Care for children and the elderly. Image: The Governor, May 30, 2019.

BY DAMIAN DURUIHEOMA

OWERRI (THE NATION)--Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha is gradually introducing a new paradigm in the execution of projects and development of the state writes

Before the inauguration of Imo State Governor Emeka Ihedioha on May 29, the ‘Eastern Heartland’ was seemingly known as a place where absurdities were elevated to statecraft.

The immediate past governor, Rochas Okorocha, on many occasions, proudly declared that his ideas drove him “mad”. He also took delight in the fact that his “madness” worked for him in governing the state in his eight years as its chief executive.

However, since Ihedioha took office, there seems to be a paradigm shift in the governance of the state. In his quest to change the narrative of Imo State and get it working again, Ihedioha has taken bold steps in addressing major challenges bedevilling the state.

Barely six months in office, Ihedioha’s efforts in repositioning the state are yielding the desired impact.

During his campaigns in the run-up to 2019 general elections, Ihedioha promised a better deal and a departure from the past. The governor reinforced this promise when he stated his administration’s willingness to encourage due process and rule of law as well as rebuilding the state.

To fulfil these promises, Ihedioha initiated positive actions in critical sectors. These include power, roads rehabilitation, agriculture, floods and erosion control, security, good governance, education, health, pensions, and civil service.

Governor Ihedioha said he inherited a dysfunctional government where every department of the state was in ruins.

He said, however, that within six months, he has restored sanity in governance and has eased the way the government is run.

He said: “When I came in, the style of governance deviated from every norm, and Imo was the worst run state of the federation. There were institutional and infrastructural disorder and decay. No state had the number of garnishee orders such as Imo; land cases against the Imo government were numerous. The state was sufficiently distracted that we had to spend money hiring lawyers from private firms because the government doesn’t have enough lawyers to prosecute its cases.

“It took me two weeks before I got where to operate from because the Government House was nothing near its name; the judiciary was in bad shape; with the Judges being owed close to 30 months’ salary; promotions and appointments in the civil service were arbitrarily done with the result that the sector collapsed.

“The House of Assembly, which is supposed to be a place of dignity for the state lawmakers is currently debased and in ruins and the lawmakers had no houses to stay.

“We are planning to pull the building down but if we do, it would be misrepresented; so I think we have to rebuild it despite the lean resources at our disposal.

“Go and take a personal look at the building, the infrastructure there has decayed. If the lawmakers are your family members, you cannot allow them to stay there. So, we are thinking of relocating them to another site so that we can rebuild the place.”

He decried the discomfort of the offices of the lawmakers, describing the situation as a shame.

Ihedioha said the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has advised him to evacuate the state lawmakers away to a temporary accommodation to avoid disaster.

The governor, however, has good news for the people as he said that Imo is now on the right footing.

“What we started first was finding men and women of various professional competence to man various sectors of our economy; we also started by fixing our roads,” he said.

According to Ihedioha, his government has already procured a total of 25 road contracts worth over N40 billion. The 25 projects, spread across the state, include the three key exit routes from the state capital – Owerri-Orlu Road, Owerri-Okigwe Road, Owerri-Umuahia Road- all of which are federal roads.

The governor also informed that, away from the practice in the previous administration, no fewer than 16 notable construction companies were on-site in Imo State working on the 25 roads.

According to him, for the first time in eight years, the Ministry of Works had begun procuring contracts.

“Every project we’ve done in Imo has passed through a deliberate and diligent public procurement process,” he said.

He noted that all the affected companies, after due procurement processes, have been mobilised with a 15 per cent retainer.

“For every construction company that is working in Imo State currently, the condition is that we must inspect and evaluate your equipment; the company must open an office in the state and employ Imo citizens,” he said.

The governor added that signposts for the projects with names of the contractors would soon be displayed for public consumption, adding that his interest was to establish good governance through the Bureau for Public Procurement.

“At present, our state is no longer a laughing stock. Imo people now know that they have a governor who talks and works. We are putting a round peg in round holes, while our civil service is now performing well,” he added.

On the introduction of a Single Treasury Account (TSA) in the state, the governor, who justified the policy, said while the state’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) had increased from N200 million to N877 million, the state was saving the sum of N280 million monthly following the successful verification of pensioners.

The governor, who revealed that the total monthly allocation the state receives stood between N4.8 billion and N5 billion, said the state’s monthly salary, wage and pension bill stands at N2.7 billion and N680 million respectively, just as about N1.5 billion is being deducted monthly from the Federation Account as repayment for the bailout funds given to the state under the Okorocha administration.

In spite of the grim financial condition of the state, Ihedioha insisted that he would not take any loan to prosecute the plethora of projects his administration has so far initiated, nor tamper with the local government funds.

“The only loan I told them to take is agriculture loan from the Central Bank of Nigeria. And anyone who takes and misuses it will spend the rest of his life in jail because the money is meant for agricultural production and development,” he said.

He reiterated his determination to run a transparent government with the principle of separation of power in place.

On the construction of stadia in various local government areas, the governor said the state is set to bid for the national sports festival with over N200 million injected in the renovation of the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri, while modern sporting equipment is being installed to bring the sporting arena to international standards.

He expressed happiness that the autonomy his administration had given to local government areas in the state has started bearing fruits as according to him, life has returned to the rural communities.

“This was actually what I had always wanted for our people in rural communities. I wanted to stop rural-urban migration. I want our people to live in their villages. The liveliness in the local government areas will increase,” Ihedioha said.

Apart from this, he revealed that his administration has huge plans to make agriculture the state’s destination with the ongoing reinventing of Adapalm and Avutu Poultry.

To make this possible, be said, he sent over 500 youths of the state to Nasarawa State to acquire modern agriculture skills that would help them venture into the sector.

Why Nigerian Education Curriculum Is Not Gender Friendly — Ndidi Nwuneli

Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli. Image: Wikipedia

BY EBUNOLUWA SESSOU

Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, MFR is a Co-Founder of Sahel Consulting and serves as its managing partner. She has 23 years of experience in international development, and through her work with Sahel has shaped agriculture strategy and policy in West Africa for a range of clients in the public, private and nonprofit sectors.

She is also the co-founder of AACE Foods, a social enterprise which processes nutritious food made from the best of West Africa’s cereals, herbs, pulses and spices. She is the founder of LEAP Africa which works across Africa inspiring, empowering and equipping the next generation of dynamic, principled and innovative young leaders. In this interview, she speaks on the need to change the Nigeria education curriculum which she said poses danger to the lives of a Nigerian woman, girl child in ensuring she takes her place at the table.
What are your views about the Nigeria education curriculum and issues hampering quality of the girl child?

There are several issues to talk about. I have the two major angles and these are education and policy. Nigerian women today are scared to open a bank account for themselves and they are also know that if their husbands find out it will be trouble. What is happening in the society is so terrible what women have become. It is an atmosphere of fear for women. Some women are trapped in economic abusive relationship.

My first point is the fact that the educational system need to be changed. There is the book that says the father goes to and the mother clean the house. This is the ministry of education. Today my children’s book also have it. I know that we have many Influenced people in the country, we have to change the ministry of education curriculum. A father can stay in the home, there is nothing wrong with that. The efforts made by both the father and the mother are supposed to be such that can make a 5 years old boy say, my mother can not sit at home, she has to work. It is a very sad situation if it is only the fathers that are the soul providers.

I am an igbo woman and I have learned over to years to be able to work alongside my husband because I know that, together we can rise. That mindset is really important because together, we can rise. So, the impression that the men have that women should be a full time house wife is difficult in our environment especially with the economic downturn our country is experiencing, we have to do it together.

…Policies

The second big change that we have to make is really around our policies in this country and I am so happy that His Royal Highness, Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi spoke about it during his speech. He actually instituted processes for women in the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and that we are seeing those positive changes. The question is what will it take to have policies in place across board to ensure that women are treated as an important vessel? Not just in the banking sector but every other sector in the society and to ensure that we can make a place at the table because we know that there are qualified women who can sit at the table.

Mentorship

We have to provide mentorship, practical role models to serve as experience for our girls. It is not just about education and I so happy that there is a foundation, ASMAF that is already doing something in that regard. There is an urgent need to ensure that mentorship for the girl child is given a prominent attention. If we should stop at education and we do not get around access to good mentorship to be able to take a seat at the table, if they do not have network, they cannot get a job because our society still believe in network which they call man know man. We must be able to do women know women also.

We must ensure that we have women who have access to the wealth of the nation. And when they get into such position, they need mentorship to rise up. There is something I see in a corporate Nigeria and it is a global phenomenon. Women are optimal because they have the right. But, if you ask them if she would like to become a board member, she will say no because, she believes she should not be too successful because the society believes if she is too successful, she will not get an husband. If she is too successful, the husband may be afraid, if she is too successful, the society will say, I am not a good mother and wife. There are huge challenges which I have been made to deal with as a woman in the society. The truth is, how do we ensure that what women are going through, they are mentored to become successful people in the society?

Male champions

Women need the company and support of the male champions in the society. We have people including Dr. Kolade and Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, among others,men who are ready to take a risk and fight for women because they know that they are their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters. We need more male champions in the society. Women need the wing of both male and female champions to be trained and fly. We need more men who are willing to do out and fight for women. We need more male champions that would be able to promote women in the society. Any society that failed to harness the energy and creativity of women is a huge disadvantage in the global world. These are quotes from male champions. And that is the reality that we are faced with.

Engagement of female teachers

The country is faced with the challenge of engaging female teachers. More female teachers need to be educated and mentored in Nigeria. We have seen examples in the African countries. Currently Rwanda is having 57 percent of women in his parliament. And I know how many people have been to Rwanda? The strive that have been recorded in that country is a demonstration of what is possible when women are given opportunities to impact and be their best to achieve the highest potential. In Nigeria, we have many organizations including Women in Management, Business and Public Service, WIMBIZ. We have organization that are having mentioned programmes, we need more women in leadership and in the decision making. I know that I have given a few messages to all the stakeholders.

Message to the young girls

As young girl, it is important to be focused. The young girl should not fear. The Holy Bible has fear not written in it multiple times. I always warn young people not to be afraid of what anybody else thinks about you. Focus on what God has called you to be. Many young girls care so much about what their peers say about them. So many young people are struggling with the sense of identity. Know That’s has destined you for a purpose and that you have a great future. The second thing is that young people should take advantage of opportunity.

There are so many opportunities for young ladies today than what I experienced as a young child. With ASMAF, there are lots of opportunities that the girl child can take advantage of. These are opportunities are boundless which means that you can do so much with your life. Young people should also know that character is key to a successful position. You need a positive and strong character and the foundation of a strong character is integrity. There is need to have integrity. Your words should be your bond. It means young people should not cheat and lie.

As young people, there is pressure in all quarters to become evil in the society but if you possess good and strong characters and you are known to be an honest person, you will always succeed. Young people must also know that they are unique. There is nobody who is the same. No woman is the same, we are not the same size and colour. And what God has deposits in us is not the same. If we realize that we are unique, you can accomplish anything. And finally, service is so important. Young people must desire to serve because there is huge success is pure service to humanity. It will make tremendous influence in your life.

My foundation

I set a foundation for women. That foundation depicts the role of a wife as a pillar of strength and someone who should possess wealth. And I started the organisation because I believed there were more to be done in terms of helping the female folks. When my brother was born, the whole Enugu came to our house because they believed that a male child is so important. There were prayers that mother should have a male child because the impression was that the son will succeed the family’s name. Thank God, that is changing in Nigeria today.

We must be begin to clean our mindset so that young women will believe that they can attain the highest potential. Every day, we build an alumni for the foundation because we realize that the biggest battle is the mind. Young people should be focused to ensure that they achieve their God’s given potential. The older people should also know that they must set up a legacy that would bring about positive changes forever.

They should think about what they will be remembered for and how they positively change the society. Older people must be conscious of what the younger generation will say about them. They should commit the rest of their days to fighting for equity because that is the key to the Nigeria’s future. You must fight about gender discrimination. You must ensure that we leave a legacy in this country, so that in ten years from now, we have female governor, female president, female vice chancellor, there will be more female CEOs. We must plant a seed that can transform the future of Nigeria.

SOURCE: VANGUARD

The Sullivan Chime Era

Sullivan Chime. 

Title: An Honour to Serve: Enugu State in the Sullivan Years
Publisher: Bookcraft, Ibadan
Editor: Tony Onyima
Year of Publication: 2018
Pagination: 456

REVIEWED BY HENRY AKUBUIRO

Comely, humane, urbane and self-effacing: such qualities are usually associated with the make-believe world where the artist has the latitude to delineate an ideal hero without hubris. Among the Nigerian political class, it is almost a wishful thinking to find such real-life archetype to lionise, for our politicians, going by recent precedents, tend more towards the nondescript character whose dispositions and actions elicit odium and ridicules.

However, Barrister Sullivan Iheanacho Chime, former Enugu State Governor, is one of the few exceptions. “I saw a beautiful Enugu as a child and I later saw it go down. I knew we had the capacity to rebuild Enugu. That was the passion that drove my government,” the ex-governor admits on page 29 of a new book documenting his eight years in the Lion Building, Enugu State (May 29, 2007 – May 29, 2015), edited by Tony Onyima, an accomplished media practitioner.

In a 456-page and 14-chapter glossy package, the book recounts that the Sullivan Chime administration was predicated on a Four-Point Agenda, the details of which are fleshed out in the fourth chapter of the book –“The Promise”. They include Physical Infrastructure (comprising road, housing, water and electricity), Economic Expansion and Employment, Rural Development, and Service Delivery. From the fifth to the thirteenth chapter, the reader is regaled with giant strides of the highflyer with accompanying pictorial evidences.

By 2015, when he left office, the promise had been fulfilled to a very large extent, according to the book. Chime, working in concert with a team of committed commissioners and aides, left indelible footprints to serve as a model in modern-day statecraft. Chime easily stands out in the class of 2007-2015 governors with his many innovative and groundbreaking initiatives. Some of these outstanding achievements can be highlighted under his Four-Point agenda.

His Enugu urban renewal under the Physical Infrastructure agenda still attracts accolades even years after leaving office. From its previous colonial outlook, Chime gave Enugu metropolis a total makeover in terms of look and feel. Most of the major roads in the metropolis were expanded and re-developed. The massive road construction and re-development was complemented with construction of modern bridges, such as Nyama Bridge, Zik Avenue Twin Bridge, and underpass at Enugu-Abakiliki Road. Akwata, a challenging terrain in Enugu metropolis, was transformed, against all expectations.

The book recounts that all the roads constructed were also fitted with modern road furniture such as signs, markings, drainages, reflective road guards, bus shelters, etc. The success of the accompanying “Light Up Enugu” was so groundbreaking that it led to Enugu being recognised as the city in the country with the highest number of streetlights. At the end of his eight-year tenure, Chime’s administration constructed over 1,159 kilometers of urban and rural roads. Out of this figure, the different local governments collectively constructed and asphalted 232.596 kilometers of roads while the state government collaborated with the local councils to construct 299.4 kilometers of roads. The state government alone constructed 295 kilometers of urban roads and 332 kilometers of rural roads.

Chime’s physical infrastructural revolution, details the book, also touched the housing sector tremendously. He initiated and supervised the building of twenty-four housing estates in the state, the first of its kind in the history of Enugu State. In most of these estates, his government provided sites and services like roads (59 kilometers of asphalted), drainages (111 kilometers), streetlights, walkways, electricity (38 transformers), water reticulation, etcetera. Some of the estates include Coal City Gardens, Liberty Estates (Phases 1 and 2), Greenland Estate, Maryland Estate, Palm Beach Estate, Sunrise Estate, Ekulu East and the Centenary City. Just as he was developing housing estates in Enugu city and across the state, he didn’t leave public buildings behind.

Also, a new state-of-the art State Secretariat with thirteen complex structures housing all the ministries was built. He not only constructed a new Governor’s Office (The Lion Building) in Enugu but also constructed a Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja. Today, when you navigate the major streets of Enugu on Google, it is thanks to the “Enugu Virtual Streets” project embarked by his administration, working in tandem with Google.

In implementing his Four-Point Agenda, the Sullivan Chime administration, chronicles the book, brought many innovations to bear on governance. His government carried out a comprehensive reform of land administration by digitally archiving every single file. The Ministry of Lands was repositioned for increased efficiency; the process of transfer of titles and mortgages was enhanced; while all land titles in the state were revalidated. Needless to say, he ensured that the foundation for Enugu State Geoid was laid by establishing Geodetic Controls.

Under the title of “Service to the People”, chapter six of the book details Chime administration’s strides in transportation, health, waste management, education and security. With a revamped road infrastructure, the administration introduced the Enugu Taxi Scheme, which was popularly called “Sullivan Taxi”. All the 720 vehicles in the scheme were given out to unemployed youths under an incentivized repayment arrangement. A color scheme and numbering system was initiated for the taxi scheme, while the state-owned transport company, ENTRACO, was revamped.

Likewise, the Coal City Transport Services was given a massive boost with 50 air-conditioned buses. Under its Strategic Health Development plan, government paid for all expenses for care of the pregnant woman, child delivery and the child till age of five. As a consequence, there was a surge in maternal care attendance in the state. This maternal and child care scheme was unique to Enugu State, because, in other states, only child delivery was free, families paid for antenatal and child immunization. The state also established the Enugu State Medical Emergency Response Team (ESMERT). Equipped with 25 state-of-the-art Advanced Life Support (ALS) ambulances, ESMERT was used to respond to road traffic and home medical emergencies.

As part of its Strategic Health Development Plan, the Chime administration, in 2009, started the construction of an ultra-modern diagnostic center in Enugu, named after Dr. Simon Ezevue Onwu, an Enugu native and the first person of Igbo extraction to be qualified as a medical doctor. The administration also upgraded the Enugu State University of Science and Technology Teaching Hospital, Park Lane, which went on to graduate its first set of medical doctors after many years of being in the limbo. In addition, he implemented the district health system as adopted by the National Council of Health, dividing the state into seven health districts for efficiency. His administration engaged 1,000 health officers, renovated old and built new heath centers across the state.

The Chime administration, according to the book, re-organised the state’s waste management authority to sanitise and enforce cleanliness in the state. The state purchased a total of 37 quality heavy-duty compactors used in ridding the streets of filth of all sorts, such as household refuse, abandoned vehicles, industrial and drainage wastes, etc. The state acquired three heavy-duty road sweepers and thus became the first state in Nigeria to use street sweepers to improve efficiency and make street cleaning work easier.

The chroniclers of An Honour to Serve: Enugu State in the Sullivan Years do not leave anybody in doubt about the giant strides recorded in education. Chime’s administration, we learn, initiated the Volunteer Teachers’ Scheme in which retired school teachers were recruited to teach in underserved communities, as well as the School Linkage Programme, which partnered schools in the UK with a select number of schools in Enugu. Thirty thousand new primary and secondary school teachers were recruited, while over 10,000 teachers in all the 1,223 public primary schools received one-year training. Under his watch, still, Enugu State became the first state to carry out a statewide school-based deworming exercise for its public school pupils.

In addition, the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB) made it a priority to distribute textbooks and other teaching materials to schools. The book informs us that he made education free from primary to junior secondary in the state. It also recounts that the state tertiary institutions were repositioned, with Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) and Institute of Management and Technology (IMT) as major beneficiaries. In the same vein, he established the College of Education Technical, Enugu State, which is now fully accredited. College of Agriculture, Iwollo was also set up.

In designing its development agenda, the Sullivan Chime administration was guided by international best practices. One of its 4-point agenda, service delivery and good governance forms the thrust of chapter seven of the book. Specifically, the administration set out to revamp law and order, general security, public service empowerment, citizens’ participation in governance, promotion of transparency in fiscal management and institutional reforms. In securing the state, the administration built strong partnerships with security agencies such as the police, army, air force and the Department of State Security.

The most important outcome of this partnership was that Enugu State was adjudged the state with the least crime rate in the country in 2013 by Alhaji M. D. Abubakar, the then Inspector-General of Police. Also Security Watch Africa, a non-governmental organisation, at her annual awards held in Dubai on November 14, 2014, picked Enugu State’s Neighborhood Watch as the “most outstanding community policing in West Africa”. It is on record that Enugu State, during Chime’s tenure, was the first state in Nigeria to make kidnapping a capital offence. With the support of Justice for All (J4A), an intervention program run by DfID, Enugu State became the first state to establish a Witness Support Unit. The Sexual Assault Referral Centre was also established.

Perhaps his background as a lawyer helped much, as Enugu State became the first to establish the Bail Information Center. Under Chime’s watch as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, the state’s laws were revised. This chapter also details citizens’ inclusion initiative of Chime administration such as the unique Visit Every Community aimed at ascertaining the immediate needs of communities; involvement of town unions in governance process and recognition of traditional rulers as central pillars in societal engineering. He also constituted the Council of Elders, comprising of eminent citizens from the state, who met periodically to rub minds and offer ideas to the governor.

One of the sore points of governance in Nigeria today is consistent inability of most state governments to regularly conduct elections into local government administrations. Enugu State under Chime was perhaps the only outstanding exception, as we find discover here. “We conducted the first local government election few months after my inauguration in 2007. We conducted four of such elections every two years before we left office – 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013. It was also a way of ensuring citizens’ inclusion; of ensuring that the people were allowed to have their real representatives at the local government level,” Chime is quoted as saying in the book.

In contrast to what is happening in most of the states, Chime ensured the autonomy of local governments in Enugu State as prescribed by the constitution and the state law, which enabled the LGAs to embark on accelerated provision of infrastructure, using the state’s Economic Planning Commission as an interface to approve projects jointly executed by the state and the third tier of government. The Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority (ECTDA) was established by law by the Chime administration to be the implementation and regulatory arm of all the agencies that had anything to do with urban development.

ECTDA’s achievements under Chime include the following: Enugu pay-and-display project for state traffic management system; special development control team on illegal buildings, buildings on water ways and street trading; and automation of the building plan approval process by capturing of all building plans in the system. Others include data gathering on the number of communication masts, petrol filling stations, and the number of banks and hotels. The high point was the enlistment of Enugu as one of the 100 Resilient Cities in the world by Rockefeller Foundation in 2014 out of the 331 cities applicants in the world.

Passionate about an Enugu State that worked, and determined to return her pride, Sullivan, with the benefit of experience both in life and in government, resolved to expand the state’s economy through serious planning, improving on her agriculture, tapping the cultural and tourism potentials, and industrialisation. Chime’s economic expansion agenda is aptly captured in chapter eight. The economy also boomed as the ex-governor created an avenue for private and public enterprises to thrive. State owned industries, like Sunrise Flour Mills, Niger Gas, the Presidential Hotel and Ikenga Hotels, were privatised.

The state, in addition, witnessed a micro, small and medium enterprises revolution during his tenure. According to the book, the Sullivan Chime administration, joining forces with local governments and the Central Bank of Nigeria, raised billions of naira to fund MSMEs in Enugu State, with a sizeable number of them going into packaging and value addition of products, which guaranteed exportability. The Enugu State Industrial Park, Emene and Enugu State Trade Free Zone came into existence, in partnership with a Chinese company, Golmark. With the commissioning of the Polo Park Mall in 2013 by the Sullivan Chime administration, it became the biggest mall in Nigeria, and the Enugu Power and Energy Industrial Zone around 9th Mile teed off, too

In this well researched publication, you will find everything you need to know about the Enugu commercial agriculture success story. Large scale agriculture got a fillip under his watch as the state governor. Thus, the Enugu San Carlos Farms, a large-scale pineapple grower meant to make the state a major exporter, stretching from Ihe through Amoli in Awgu LGA, Umuabi and Umuaga in Udi LGA to Achi in Oji River LGA, began to thrive. Also was the Songhai Agriculture initiative at Heneke, Ibinofia Ndi Uno in Ezeagu LGA. His era, in addition, witnessed the massive expansion and renovation of Adani Farm Settlement in Uzo Uwani LGA, with the establishment of a new rice mill there, together with a new road linking it, which resulted in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture designating Adani a staple crop-processing zone. Also, his government’s establishment of the College of Agriculture and Entrepreneurship in the state was recorded to be the first of its kind in Nigeria.

Reading this book, you will also be fascinated by the role the ex-governor played in upgrading the Akanu Ibiam Airport to an international airport. In 2009, he secured the approval of the extension of the runway from 2,400 to 3000 meters, and the width from 45 to 60 meters to accommodate wide-body aircraft, while re-asphalting the runway. A brand new terminal was also built in keeping with international standard. By August 23, 2013, an excited Chime witnessed the arrival of an Ethiopian Airlines flight at the airport, thus, crystallising to reality a struggle that began over five decades ago.

While he was in office, the former governor, the book tells us, ensured that civil servants were paid salaries on the 25th of every month as a way of strengthening the public service, and pension arrears owed to civil servants were cleared. His administration equally recalled 5,000 civil servants disengaged from service by the previous administration in the state. Civil servants deserving of promotions got just that in the course of regular promotion exercises. The Office of the Head of Service ensured that continuous training exercises were affected. A total of 524 housing units were provided for different cadres of civil servants. Above all, the state became the first in the country to pay the new minimum wage.

Prudence and strict fiscal management became his watchword, cognizant of the fact that the Enugu State monthly allocation was not comparable to Lagos, Port Harcourt or Rivers State. With Enugu State Pay-Direct Account System, he was able to block revenue leakages, hence, generating billions of naira within a short time of its implementation. In fact, many projects executed by his government, like the new Enugu State Secretariat, were funded with internally generated revenue account.

Under his tenure, Enugu also became a tourist destination. Nollywood harnessed the potentials of the state as an ideal location for shooting movies, the government having made it a secure and conducive place to inhabit and explore. Part of his vision to make Enugu an ideal destination for tourism was the creation of Ministry of Culture and Tourism out of the Ministry of Information. Thus, the Enugu Road Block, an annual event that showcased the best Nigerian talents in music and comedy, became a new national rave.

In the judicial sector, twenty-five new magistrates were appointed during his tenure in each of the 17 LGAs in the state as the customary courts in the state increased from under 60 to 150. Also, his administration established the Customary Court of Appeal and appointed a President and seven judges. Among others, it built a befitting edifice for the Judicial Service Commission and a massive auditorium within the High Court premises.

These achievements are just a tip of the iceberg. His tenure, from facts on ground, was nothing short of an Olympian spell. With the passage of time, memories can fade. But a well-documented vista lives with us and with generations unborn. This is what An Honour to Serve: Enugu State in the Sullivan Years, a book that chronicles a storied renaissance, intends to achieve.

Placed on the table of any aspiring Nigerian or African leader, it can get him cracking, for, as the former Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Professor Chinedu Nebo, pens in “The Renaissance of the Coal City”, a poem in the book: Coal City damsel… you now awake, groggy eyed, though/ Alluring looks, mimicking the famed portrait/ Of Mona Lisa legend.

SOURCE: SUN NEWS

Yankees ‘ll Not Kill Air Peace

Air Peace CEO Allen Onyema.

BY EMEKA OBASI

The United States represents an act of will. It is not a homogenous ethnic nation. It is not the heir to some historic Empire or monarch. It is not a unified religious community. It is not a simple linguistic group. It does not have a particular cultural tradition reaching back through several millennia ———W. Tapley Bernet [Jnr.]

Bernet was US Permanent Representative to NATO. Americans say they are one out of many and God’s own country. They adore the Star and Stripes and believe in the star spangled banner.

I love America and owe no apologies for this. I wish President Donald Trump could just add Nigeria as the 51st state of his country. What some British land grabbers from the Colonial Office destroyed could be salvaged from Washington D.C.

I also love Japan, land of the rising sun. When I see a Jap, I scream ‘Nipponski’ [I love Japan]. Many Nigerian governors have not considered that part of the world as the route to technological leap. They are all jumping to China.

Allen Ifechukwu Onyema is a lawyer, I am not here to defend him. He is a well known businessman. As a man of peace, he set up Air Peace in 2013. There is no doubt that he made money from his peace efforts in oil rich Niger Delta.

And his life is not paved with gold. This man was once a squatter in Oshodi, before being employed by Chief Vincent Nwizugbo, a lawyer from Achina, Anambra State. His office was on Lagos Island and monthly pay, 500 naira.

Onyema has some questions to answer in America concerning his investment. America, their America. It is also our America. The Air Peace boss is ready to defend himself.

I will not read any meaning to this yet. Onyema has not been tried and so remains innocent. Some of his admirers think that his Igbo background is working against him.

I strongly disagree with this reasoning. Onyema is one Nigeria. He hails from Mbosi, in the Ihiala area of Anambra State but was born In Benin City, Edo State 55 years ago.

His wife, Ojochide Alice Ejembi, is Igala from Kogi State. The man who gave Air Peace an Air Operator’s Certificate, Engr. Benjamin Adeyileka, is not from the South-East.

All those who played huge roles in his rise to the top came from different backgrounds. President Umaru Yaradua, Obong Victor Atta, Chief Timi Alaibe and even President Shehu Shagari recognized the worth of a mediator.

America is also Onyema’s America. He was received by President Barrack Obama and has bought enough airplanes from Boeing to add value to their economy. As an Igbo entrepreneur, I do not see the United States crashing his dream.

Mark my words here. America has been good to the Igbo spirit. There is Igbo Village in Virginia. The first Nigerian to graduate from an American University, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was Igbo.

The first African employee of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration [NASA], Austin Esogbue, was Igbo. The first Igbo man and first African to win two world boxing titles, Richard ‘Dick Tiger’ Ihetu, achieved that feat in America. To become NBA World Middleweight champion in 1962, he defeated Gene Fullmer at Candlestick Park, San Francisco.

When Dick Tiger climbed up to Light heavyweight, he knocked out Jose Torres at Madison Square Garden, New York in 1966 to take the belt. He was the only one to be voted Boxer of the Year twice, in that decade by the Ring magazine.

Nigeria’s first Olympic gold medal was won by Chioma Ajunwa in the United States. The Dream Team, led by Nwankwo Kanu, won Africa’s first Olympic gold medal in soccer about 24 hours later.

Americans sacrificed a lot for the Igbo in Biafra during the Civil War. There was Bruce Mayrock, the student who set himself ablaze at the United Nations to draw attention to the genocide.

The first African American commercial pilot, August Harvey Martin, died with his wife, Gladys, at the Uli Airport on a mission to send food to hungry Biafran kids. Captain David Brown was killed in the air as he flew relief materials to Biafra.

I have pointed out all this to encourage Onyema. No matter what it is, America cannot dismantle his business empire. The spirit of all those Igbo who helped shape American will guide him.

While Americans do their investigation, I will not rule out the fact that international trade politics is at play. Some foreign airlines know how huge the Nigerian market is. Air Peace is trying to compete with them.

At home, I know President Muhammadu Buhari has done Onyema a favour once. However, this idea of Air Nigeria is still being brewed. Experts say government should stay away from the business.

Capt. August Okpe, who was a Squadron Leader in the Biafra Air Force and served as chief pilot before joining Nigeria Airways where he ended up as Deputy Chief Pilot, hit the nail on the head.

Okpe said: “I think it was government involvement that killed Nigeria Airways. Government is only to regulate and take taxes.”

Capt. Rufus Orimoloye had earlier voiced his mind and blamed the Nigeria Air Force for driving the airline from the sky.

“The Air Force killed Nigeria Airways. They should never have introduced the Air Force into Nigeria Airways,” he lamented.

Orimoloye qualified as a pilot in 1962 after Capt. Bob Hayes blazed the trail by becoming the first Nigeria pilot in May 1955. Captains Joe Ajakaiye and Sam Ohioma, came after the pioneer.

The Federal Government remains grateful to Onyema for bringing back Nigerians from South Africa during the madness that engulfed the former apartheid enclave. I do not see Buhari’s hand in this.

Air Peace has sent some airlines gasping for breath. From the United States to South Africa, to the United Arab Emirates, Onyema is moving fast.

I believe in America. President Trump thought more about business interest when Saudi journalist Jamal Kashogi was murdered in 2018. It is possible he remembers the business behind Air Peace: Jobs for thousands and huge cash for American manufacturers.

SOURCE: VANGUARD