Nigeria wins its first medal as under 23 team beats Honduras 3-2 to win the Bronze medal

Nigeria beat Honduras 3-2 to clinch the bronze medal. This is the only medal for Nigeria in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Congratulations.... Hurry!!!!!!!

Restructuring will Be in Nigeria’s Best Interest

“27 States cannot pay salaries” That was President Buhari speaking at a recent occasion. Restructuring is not a swan song neither is it a mantra. It cannot also be called a slogan. Rather it is a direct appeal to our collective soul and wisdom to decisively reflect and preserve our nationhood so that, quoting Chinua Achebe in reverse; “the centre can hold”. It is a road to that dream Nigeria that has to be.

In our current environment, it is beyond belief that some people are still advocating for the creation of more states – certainly for selfish reasons. It was that sage William Shakespeare who asked many years ago whether the fault was in us or in our stars. In Nigeria without a shadow of doubt the fault is I n us.

All the indices for growth irrespective of who does the analyses (for some are skewed) point in one direction.

Unless we restructure Nigeria and drastically change our business ethics, economic growth will be painfully slow. For the pessimists who equate restructuring with fragmentation or dissolution of Nigeria, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Restructuring means creating viable economic units possibly along the lines of the current 6 geographical zones. Unless for those who delude themselves or are in denial, our country Nigeria has not made any appreciable progress after 56 years of independence. South Korea and Malaysia which started the race with is at about the same time are light years ahead of us. Infact Seoul is ahead of many western capitals in terms of living standards. Our current arrangement has so much baggage and this must be shed by direct action.

Years ago highly motivated and idealist undergraduates at the University of Ibadan many of us simply identified ourselves as Nigerians. Some in this group include late Stanley Macebuh, Oti Ejobe, Philip Edore, Tunde Akogun, Goke Adeniji, Kemi Ajayi, Julie Onum, Zazza Lorenzo, Dada Iweka, and Jide Osuntokun among others.

How times have changed and our dream of a great nation is almost going into an eclipse.

In the same vein, as a young lecturer of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, I was a contributor to Nsukkascope an in-house magazine positioned to help transform UNN to a world class University. Chinua Achebe was editor. Other contributors were Chimere Ikoku, Emmanuel Obiechina, Ikenna Nzimiro, Mana Obasi and Okey Emordi.

Nsukkascope not only offered constructive criticism but also proffered solutions. That is the kind of debate I believe Nigeria needs. Let us have serious discussions about the gargantum economic problems now confronting us. The more people that are actively engaged, the better the country will be.

When General Murtala Muhammed inaugurated the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) in 1975 under the chairmanship of eminent lawyer Chief F.R.A. Williams SAN he charged them among other objectives to “The constitution of a federal system of government with constitutional law guaranteeing fundamental human rights, maximum participation and orderly succession of political power. To avoid the pitfalls of the first republic the new constitution should be designed to eliminate over concentration of power and ensure free and fair election”. This group aka “the 49 Wise Men” took their assignment seriously. I write from first-hand knowledge because my late uncle Dr. K.O Mbadiwe was a member and anytime he put his hand on the plough, he gave his all.

After much debates, argument, disagreements and walk outs the Constituent Assembly produced a draft constitution which was promulgated as Decree 25 of 1978 by President Obasanjo. It is sometimes historically important to go back retrospectively in order to understand the foundation of the 1999 constitution which we now operate with amendments.

Going back further still the founding fathers of Nigeria agreed at the Ibadan conference in 1950 “ That only a federal system that allowed each of the 3 regions (North, West and East) as created by the Richards Constitution of 1946 to progress at its own pace would be acceptable”. It is important to remember where we are coming from.

The founding fathers in their wisdom recognised that there are fundamental differences between the ethnic nationalities that constitute Nigeria and took steps to avoid unnecessary friction.

Only a person who plays the Ostrich will fail to see the tension in the land and this tension has to be defused. The American Presidential system which CDC recommended and which was adopted cannot in our present circumstances solve Nigeria’s problems. For the Presidential system to work efficiently certain fundamentals must be in place and the most basic is minimum level of education of the populace.

This is a sine-qua- non for the people to understand and be part of the discussion and decision making. The other one is absolute respect for the rule of law. That discipline still has to be acquired here. In a largely illiterate society such as ours, a few out of step individuals buy up the votes and impose themselves on the nation. One current governor is reported to have scolded his people who came up with demands by telling them not to bother him since he bought the election. i.e. their votes.

In the last 2015 Presidential election going by results delivered by INEC 29.4 million votes were cast for all the presidential candidates from President Buhari, former President Ebele Jonathan down to Chekwas Okorie – This translates to about 16% of an estimated 180 million Nigeria population. This level of participation in my view is ridiculously low, dangerous and a mockery of democracy.

The American Presidential system is based on a strict obedience to the rule of law and division of powers between the 3 arms of Government. Even America with their level of education and more than 200 years of practice still has imperfections and is a work in progress.

The presidential system when functional is very expensive and carries a lot of baggage which our economy cannot shoulder.

Is it not time to have another look at the Westminster Parliamentary system and see whether we can marry aspects of two systems? The important point really is to have a system that solves our problems.

Restructuring cannot succeed unless the Executive initiate a bill through Parliament followed by referendum. It is only then that we can truly have a constitution starting with “We the People”

We have to look at all ramifications including whether ministers should sit in parliament to eliminate all the public hearings whose recommendations are rarely implemented. It may also be the time to debate whether legislators should work part – time of full-time vis- a-vis remunerations.

I can literally hear someone ask “why rock the boat”? The answer is that some of us know that Nigeria has not performed up to its latent potential.

In any case times change and no arrangements are permanently cast in stone. If Britain can exit the European Union after 42 years of marriage in their national interest, we have to look at ways to make Nigeria a more habitable and enjoyable country. We are working for a country we can truly call home.

Restructuring will promote co-operation and healthy rivalry and eliminate a lot of unnecessary expense among our flamboyant living emperor governors. If we do not restructure, Nigeria will continue to waffle and crawl as we have done for the past 56 years.

For the doubting Thomases who are scared by change let us close with a German proverb which says “Go to weave and God will provide the thread”

800, 969 Applicants Fail Police Screening as 110, 469 Shortlisted take Test Monday

The Police Service Commission (PSC), on Friday, said 800, 969 applicants who applied for openings in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) failed the screening exercise across the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

A total of 911, 438 applicants applied for various positions in the 10, 000 advertised openings declared by government in May.

Briefing journalists in Abuja on the outcome of the screening test, the Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Mike Okiro, said 110, 469 applicants had been shortlisted to write aptitude tests on Monday August 22nd through Wednesday 24th next week.

He however said 115 applicants were arrested for breaches ranging from forged documents and impersonation, adding that they would be further interrogated and prosecuted in due course.

According to him, some applicants took the commission for granted as there were so many mis-match between date of births, year of graduation from secondary schools and University and certificates presented.

On the criteria used in screening, he said: “The commission adhered strictly to the requirements needed from the applicants in terms of qualifications and physical features as many of them fail to meet these requirements were therefore dropped.

“The reasons why some of the candidates were screened out include overage, alteration and falsification of forged documents, physical features, e.g height, chest, eye, bow/k-leg, tattoo marks, year of graduation, class of degree of diploma, certificate of origin of local government/state and first leaving certificate.”

According to him, the break-down of the 110, 469 applicants scheduled for the test are made up of 44,684 shortlisted for Cadet ASPs, 87, 736 for Cadet Inspectors and 205,830 for Constables.

Okiro said the recruitment would be transparent so as to give equal opportunities to all Nigerians who were desirous of pursuing a career in the NPF, adding further, that the commission would be guided by the rules to ensure that the process was merit driven.

In order to sustain integrity in the exercise, he said the commission had decided that questions for the aptitude tests would be known to the State Coordinators in the morning of each examination date.

He warned that state coordinators would be held responsible for any breach of conduct during the examination.

He said: “The commission has sent emails inviting all shortlisted applicants for the test. The master list for each state has also been sent to the State Commands and to be pasted at the Command Headquarters and the examination venues.”

Bail-Out Fund: Dogara, Others Move against Bauchi Governor

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bauchi State chapter have kicked against Governor Muhammed Abubakar over alleged misappropriation of the bail-out fund for salaries of workers.

Dogara led other key stakeholders of the party in Bauchi on Friday to the national secretariat of the party in Abuja to present their complaints to the National chairman of APC, Chief John Oyegun.

Addressing journalists shortly after the closed-door meeting with the leadership of the APC, Senator Ali Wakil representing Bauchi Central said the stakeholders of the party in the state were very miffed with the manner the governor had been running the government in the state.

He specifically made reference to the governors handling of the recently allocated bail-out fund to the state.

Bauchi State has so far received over N8.6 billion as Federal Government’s bail-out meant to assist states with poor finances to pay up arrears of workers’ salaries.

When asked to speak on his mission to the party office, Dogara declined comment but referred journalists to a member of the delegation, Senator Wakil.

Senator Wakil who was flanked during the briefing by Speaker Dogara, and Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu said the leaders deemed it wise to seek the intervention of the APC leadership in order to arrest the pending doom in the state.

“That is part of the problem. You know that it is an agrarian and civil services state and we must do everything to see that workers are paid as, at and when due

“We did not come to speak about the governor; we came to speak about Bauchi State. The governor is not Bauchi State; the people are the determinants of history, not individuals. Individuals come and go. How many governors were there before? He might be part of the problem but it is collective problem we are trying to solve. He is our governor. If you look at section 176, 177 and others of the Constitution, he has the constitutional role of governing the state.

“We are not comparing ourselves with Osun or Edo or other states that have backlogs of nine months, it is not our business, our people must be paid as at and when due and the remaining balances of the stipends must be paid and all the unending verifications must end,” he said.

Earlier another Senator from the state, Senator Suleiman Nazif representing Bauchi North, told journalists that the delegation had come to ask the leadership of the party to rescue the Bauchi chapter for the crisis that had befallen it due to the governor’s handling of the affairs of the state.

“Everything is not okay with the APC in Bauchi State; therefore we needed the attention of the APC at the National level to come to the rescue of the APC in Bauchi because there is fire on the mountain in the Bauchi APC.

When asked to disclose some of the issues that were discussed during the meeting with Oyegun, Nazif said that the party had agreed to wade into the matter.

“There are so many issues, but these are party issues and we felt that there was a need for us to come and discuss with our leaders and those issues are being handled.

The national chairman has assured us that he will take a drastic measure immediately and address the APC Bauchi pending problems.

“No no no, it is not about padding, it is about APC Bauchi politics. It is not about 2019, it is about solving the APC problem in Bauchi and ensuring that APC remains united in Bauchi and as you are aware, APCs strongest hold in the North is Bauchi as far as northern politics is concerned.

“So there is a dire need for us to come to the National Secretariat and we can assure you that the national chairman is on top of the matter and would go back to Bauchi to our key supporters and tell them exactly what transpired. Nobody is against the Governor, the Governor is against himself,” he said.

UN Expresses Dissatisfaction with Volume of Assistance to Bama IDPs

The United Nations is not satisfied with the volume of humanitarian assistance given to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Bama camp, Borno State, its Assistant Secretary General and regional humanitarian coordinator for the Sahel, Mr. Toby Lanzer said on Friday.

Lanza who was in Bama, 78km southeast of Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, where he led a team of UN delegation and officials of the Borno State government to celebrate the 2016 world humanitarian day, said much more needed to be done for displaced persons.

Bama is one of the towns in Borno State that have suffered the worst of Boko Haram destructions. It gained global attention when over 100 persons were reported killed by starvation and malnutrition about three months ago.
The UN under-Secretary flew into Bama in a helicopter, a town that was virtually razed down by the terrorists after their occupation.

He said: “I am happy with what the United Nations and her partners have done to help the people of Bama. But I think we still have quite a road to travel.
“I am still not satisfied entirely and I will be calling for more assistance whether in demand for education, whether to make sure that all of your sisters and wives can give birth in a clean and safe environment; to make sure that people have roof over their heads or food in their stomachs or have access to their affairs so that they can help themselves.
“This is the aspiration of the United Nations and her partners. May they be able to share in this endeavour and to support you.”

It was no surprise that there was no infrastructure to house the displaced persons who had trooped into the town from recently liberated communities around Bama except a military controlled IDP camps, which is the town’s General Hospital.
The Borno State government had wanted to move the IDPs from the premises of the hospital into the rebuilt market complex, but the army commander in the town, had contrary view.
Commander of the 241 Battalion, Colonel Adamu Laka, said the IDPs had been provided with water and hygiene facilities as well as UN built schools for children.
He said he was worried that moving the IDPs may not be backed with resources for installation of water and hygiene facilities.

Lanza was conducted round the expansive camp to supervise the ongoing construction of tent homes being built by the UNHCR. 500 tent pavilions are being put in place for 500 families.
During the visit, thousands of children were seen learning in schools built by UNICEF.
Most of the kids who had no contact with western education before they got to the camp, were noticed reciting the Nigeria National Anthem and the 26 English alphabets, they even counted number 1 to 50.
Speaking on the essence of the World Humanitarian Day (WHD), Lanza said: “On August 19 every year is the day when the United Nations and its partner mark the world humanitarian day.

“It is the day in 2003 that the UN office in Baghdad, Iraq was attacked by a suicide bomber; we lost 20 of our colleagues in one strike. And I know that you here, across the northeast of Nigeria particularly in areas such as Bama have identified with the sufferings of the incident of that nature because of the horrors Boko Haram inflicted on the communities in Borno State.

“I am delighted to be back. I was here with the governor in the first week of April. The Bama I witnessed in April is not the Bama of today. I sense progress; I can see that the army has made Bama more stable and secured. I am happy with what the United Nations and her partners have done a little bit to help.”

Some of the high points of the visit to the camp were the distribution of clothing and shoes to children, men and women in the camp, a part of the N2 billion humanitarian aid donated by the charity foundation of Nigeria’s richest business man, Aliko Dangote.

Officials also seized the occasion to administer polio Vaccines to kids under the age of five.
Bama is less than 50km away from Gwoza which is one of the places an outbreak of the child crippling diseases was reported three weeks ago.

Military to De-mine Farmlands in Adamawa, Borno, Yobe

The Nigeria military will be embarking on massive de-mining and clearance of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) from farmlands in the Northeast, it disclosed on Friday.

Addressing a press conference in Maiduguri, the head of military counter-insurgency operation in the Northeast (Operation Lafiya Dole), Major General Lucky Irabor said the troops would soon embark on the exercise across the three Northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe in order to clear all farmlands of land mines and other explosives.

He disclosed that enough machines and equipment had been procured by federal government and in the possession of military to undertake the task.

He said with the determination and commitment on the side of troops, many of the displaced farmers had started going back to their liberated communities, insisting that there still remained “No go Areas” in parts of Sambisa Forest where farmlands needed to be de-mined and cleared of IEDs planted by insurgents.

He said as soon as the equipment get to the theatre, all identified farmlands would be cleared and declared safe for farmers in the region.

On the success recorded recently in the ongoing operations, Irabor said, “On 23rd July 2016 at about 0530hrs, own troops sprung an ambush against the Boko Haram Terrorists (BHT) element between Komala and Musafanari villages. Some BHT elements on motorcycle and bicycle were engaged while trying to cross SAMBISA Forest. Consequently, two BHT were killed while several items were recovered which include two AK47 rifles, four loaded AK47 magazines, assorted food items, laundry items, a motorcycle, two bicycles and assorted clothing.

“Similarly, on 28th July 2016 at about 0700hrs, own troops conducted a clearing operation in Shuwari 1 and the adjoining villages. The villages were successfully cleared and all BHT structures were destroyed. In all five BHT were killed while a Dane gun and a bicycle were recovered. Also, some food items which were found in several houses were destroyed. Additionally, 13 suspected hostages comprised of a man, six women and six children were rescued”.

Likewise, in an ambush operation, troops at Pulka community of Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State Crossing Point killed some terrorists, while many escaped with gunshot wounds.

Among the items recovered according to the theatre Commander were one AK47 rifle, a General Purpose Machine Gun, a bicycle, a motorcycle, several live ammunition, a TECNO phone with Nexttel SIM card and food items in sacks.

He added that: “On 29th July 2016 at about 1830hrs, own troops embarked on an ambush operation to a suspected BHT Crossing Point off Damboa- Kubwa road towards Multe village axis. As troops laid in wait, some Boko Haram terrorists (BHT) elements on bicycles appeared and were accordingly engaged. Consequently, one BHT was killed. Items recovered include an AK47 rifle with 14 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, a Dane gun (shaped like an AK47 rifle), a locally fabricated double barrel pistol and four bicycles.

“On Cordon and Search Operations and following an intelligence report that large quantity of arms and ammo were being moved into areas outskirts of Gamboru for a possible BHT attempt to retake Gamboru and Rann Local Government Areas of Borno State, own troops conducted a dawn cordon and search operations around Gamboru town. A total of three AK56 and two AK-L rifles were recovered. Also, 235 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition and seven AK magazines were recovered”.

He also said: “On 1 August 2016 at about 2000hrs, own troops in response to a distress call at Yauri village came in contact with some BHT elements and engaged them. As a result of the operation, five BHT were killed and several items were recovered which included two AK47 rifle, a General Purpose Machine Gun, a 60mm mortar tube, an FN rifle, two Dane guns, two AK47 magazines and two FN magazines”. Others were 131 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, 31 rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition, a 60mm mortar bomb, 10 bicycles and a sum of N31, 275.00.

Irabor said the insurgency attack on troop locations in Kangarwa which took place on 15th August was repelled during which 16 insurgents were killed, adding that 11 AK 47 rifles, one 60mm mortar, one RPG tube, one RPG Bomb, 12 x 60mm bombs, one hand grenade 5x magazines and one handset and a bandoliers were recovered from the terrorists.

On the recent video released by Boko Haram through the social media, Irabor claimed all the attacks shown in the video were archival materials gathered by the Boko Haram over a long time.

“The incidents were in those days that BHT lived in illusion. Currently, they have lost initiative and have been routed. The video is an elusive attempt to recruit support. I therefore implore you all to inform the public to be rest assured that there is no cause for alarm as far as the degradation of BHT capabilities is concerned.

“These are confused bad elements of the society who are suffering from shock of total defeat from the military. As you all know, these are mere BHT propaganda which could not hold any water. Let me once again use this medium to remind the remnants of BHT that their days are numbered because their future is going to be disastrous if they fail to surrender and lay down their arms”. Irabor concluded.

Man slumps and dies while arguing with friend

By Chidi Nkwopara & Chinonso Alozie, OWERRI. A bizarre scenario played out yesterday at the Okigwe Road roundabout, Owerri, as a man slumped and died while having a heated argument with his friend. The deceased, whose name could not be ascertained before press time, was said to be a block moulder and hailed from one of the communities in Ngor Okpala local council area of Imo State. According to a man who claimed to have witnessed the entire incident said, the duo were arguing over a possible business transaction. “From the way the argument flowed, they obviously had a transaction that probably went sour. There were no exchange of blows and I can’t remember hearing any of them threatening the other, but one of them slumped and died”, the man recounted with shock. Vanguard gathered that shortly after the deceased slumped, some sympathisers rushed him to the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, where he was confirmed dead on arrival. However, it was also gathered that the dead man’s friend, who was identified as Dozie Eze, from Orodo, Mbaitoli local government area of the state, is said to be answering a few questions at the State Police Headquarters, Owerri. Speaking to no one in particular, a relation of the suspect, Mr. Iyke Eze, fumed that “Dozie is being persecuted for no just cause, especially as those at the scene of the incident have testified that there was no exchange of blows before the man slumped and died”. When contacted on his mobile line, the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Andrew Enwerem, confirmed the incident. “Yes, such a thing happened. However the report available to me is that somebody slumped and later died”, Enwerem said. Continuing, the PPRO said that it has not been established that there was a fight or verbal threat before the deceased slumped and died. When asked to confirm if anybody was detained in connection with the incident, the PPRO said he was not aware of such a development. “I am not aware that anybody was detained in connection with the incident. There are necessary indices that must be established before the police detains any suspect. The instant case can’t be one of them”, Enwerem explained.