New Nigerian Politics » Chinedu Vincent Akuta

It’s constitutional amendment Nigeria needs -INEC commissioner

admin — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:08:21 +0000

A national commissioner with the Independent Na-tional Electoral Commi-ssion (INEC), Professor Lai Olurode, has said consti-tutional amendments, rather than a Sovereign National Conference (SNC), holds the way forward for the nation.

Olurode spoke in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, on Monday.

He spoke against the backdrop of calls for a SNC, as well as the disclosure by the National Assembly that it would embark on an amendment of the 1999 Constitution, especially as it affected issues of state creation, local government administration and INEC, among others.

“The amendment of the constitution is long overdue in every respect, otherwise it will be difficult for Nigeria to make progress.

“It is the way forward for Nigeria and I commend President Goodluck Jona-than for his proposal to the National Assembly on the need for a constitution review,” he said.

The INEC commis-sioner said the present National Assembly was well placed to carry out the exercise, adding that “there cannot be a better National Assembly that represents the different aspirations of the people of Nigeria than these present legislators, where one party is not dominant.”

Olurode said once the constitution was amended, there would be no need for a resort to a SNC, where nationalities would meet.

Chief Charles Nwodo, national chairman of the Progressive Action Council (PAC), however, told NAN that a national conference remained the way forward.

He said a national conference was necessary to carry everyone along, before any section of the constitution was amended.

Nwodo said areas to be amended should be subjected to a referendum, to ensure everyone was involved in the process.

-Tribune

Labour Ministry Seeks N622.5m For Overseas, Local Trips

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:34:09 +0000

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity yesterday urged the House of Representatives to approve the sum of N622.5 million for local and overseas travels in the 2011 fiscal year.

Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr Emeka Wogu, made the plea during its budget defence meeting with the House Committee on Labour.

The ministry which has a N9.15billion budget proposal, has the sum of N8.283 billion for personnel and overhead costs and a capital vote of N775.9 million, while the proposed personnel and overhead costs were N4.995b and N3.288 billion respectively.

Mr Wogu told the committee that the ministry required N300 million for local travels and transport, and another an additional N322.5 million for international meetings and travels in the 2011 fiscal year.

He explained that there are three international conferences and governing board meetings which will each gulp an estimated sum of N40 million each.

Other expenses include the ECOWAS Ministers of Labour conference and some African conferences which are estimated at N20 million per trip.

Requesting for more funds, Wogu said, for local travels and transport, “Specifically, we had travel commitments of over N71 million that could not be accommodated due to the revised budget of 2010. We believe that an increase of up to 60 percent in the proposed budget could be reasonable.”

New Roles for Atiku – By Chinudu Akuta

admin — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 00:37:22 +0000

By Chinudu Vincent Akuta, London, UK – Jan 22, 2011“There are a lot of ways Atiku can serve Nigeria other than being the president. Except he has other motives for aspiring to be the president of Nigeria. Former Vice President of America Al gore, who served under Bill Clinton for two terms, contested the American presidential elections in 2000 with George Bush. He lost and told Americans than he will never contest elections again. Al gore took up a project towards finding solutions to the threats of global warming. He has won several awards since taking up this project. This project will touch more lives in America and all over the globe. Till date Al gore remains relevant in the world. Atiku can do similar thing in Nigeria and beyond, this can make him a better statesman.Alternatively Atiku can use his influences at the national assembly to influence policies that will better the Nigerian masses. He can be the leader of opposition parties in Nigeria, which we desperately need at this point in our polity. Atiku should remember that people are looking up to him. Whether he likes it or not, he is a role model to many Nigerians. Therefore he should try inspiring Nigerians in a positive manner. Dearest Atiku, kindly use all your political know how to support the clamour for transparency in our electoral system. Use all your political strategies to make sure transparency is established in our electoral process”. (http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/2009/04/atiku-abubakar-and-his-nigerian.html). The excerpts above were part of an article I wrote in 2009, suggesting to Atiku, to reconsider contesting future presidential elections. This is because, there are more he can do for the country. Now that Atiku has lost the Peoples Democratic Party presidential primary nomination, he should devote his time and energy to better the course of democracy in Nigeria.First, I will suggest he join the campaign or lead the clamour for the abolition of zoning formula. Call it zoning, quota system or federal character should be abolished in all its ramifications. President Goodluck Jonathan cum the PDP has set a precedent towards the abolition of zoning. If our president (a signatory to zoning) can violate the zoning arrangement/agreement, then there is no better time to bury this concept than now. Therefore I call on the Turaki Adamawa (Atiku Abubakar) to lead this crusade. He and many more Nigerians are victims. If we fail to stop zoning, zoning will not fail to stop us.

Atiku has criticized some of President Jonathan’s policies in the past. Now can be a better time and opportunity for him to increase his criticisms of bad government policies. Atiku can criticize whoever wins the next presidential election. Here I will suggest constructive criticisms. When he does, he should also provide better alternative solutions. He can be the leader of opposition to checkmate government excesses, for the benefit(s) of Nigerian masses. This he should do if he truly loves Nigeria like he claimed. Above all, strong opposition is vital for the survival of any democracy.

Atiku can also devout his time to finding lasting peace to some trouble spots in the country, such as Jos etc. Former President Obasanjo was appointed a special United Nations envoy to Congo Democratic Republic to find peace (Though he was not the best person for that job). Obasanjo was also spotted in Cote d’Ivoire trying to mediate between Alassane Ouattara and Gbagbo. Atiku can establish a peace institute in Nigeria. But before finding peace in Nigeria, Atiku can champion the setting up of a sovereign national conference to discuss the future of the country. May God bless Nigeria.

Chinedu Vincent Akuta.

An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK

akutachinedu@yahoo.com

http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/

State of Emergency

admin — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 01:00:40 +0000

By Chinedu Vincent Akuta, London, UK – Jan 3, 2011 - Fellow citizens, the insecurity level has deteriorated beyond the critical level. Desperate times require desperate measures. Therefore, this is the time for citizens to declare a state of emergency on both leaders and the country. The reasons are thus:

Warri Bomb Blast(s): In March 2010, there was a bomb blast in the city of Warri, Delta State. The bomb exploded near the government house annex where post amnesty dialogue was going on. About 8 people died, with so many injured persons.
Abuja Bomb Blast(s) of October 1st 2010. There were bomb blasts at the capital city Abuja. Two bombs exploded outside the ministry of justice, while another exploded few meters away from the eagle square where the 50th independence celebration was going on. About 8 people died and many others injured.
Jos Bomb Blasts: On Christmas Eve (24/12/10) bombs exploded in the city of Jos (Plateau State). About 80 people died and estimated 120 people injured and hospitalized. Yenegoa Bomb Blasts: On Wednesday 29/12/10 bombs exploded in Yenegoa (Bayelsa State Capital) during a Peoples Democratic Party rally. Luckily there were no casualties.
Abuja Bomb Blasts of 31st December 2010: Two bombs exploded at Mogadishu military cantonment Abuja killing about 30 people and injuring many. In all these bomb blasts, properties worth millions of naira were destroyed.

Political Assassinations: In the last 10 years, Nigeria has witnessed over 160 high profile politically motivated killings/assassinations. The most recent being; (a) the killing on Wednesday 29/12/10 of Comrade Chidi Nwosu (Aba based Human Rights Activist and Social Crusader), (b) killing on Thursday 30/12/10 in Ibadan of Alhaji Lateef Salako (a.k.a Eleweomo), A factional leader of the proscribed National Union of Road Transport Workers, Oyo State. (C) Two supporters of Senator Teslim Folarin (Senate Leader) killed on 30/12/10.

Kidnappings and Armed Robberies: These crimes have become so rampant that most Nigerians do no longer report to the police. It’s almost like daily occurrences. The fear of kidnappers and armed robbers has become the beginning of wisdom. No one is sure if the authorities have accurate figures/statistics of these crimes in the last 10 years. Permit me to assume a conservative estimate of four thousand cases, (Apologies if its over). South East part of the country has almost become no go area. People are no longer sleeping with their two eyes closed. Life has become unbearable.

Religious Crises: In the last three years, 2008, 2009, 2010, Jos city (Plateau State) alone has witnessed about 3 deadly religious crises. Between 2001 to 2006 there were about four crises in Jos. The most recent being the Christmas Eve crisis (see details of casualties above). Bauchi crisis (Kala Kato) of 2009, about 200 people were killed. Boko Haram crises in 2009 that took place in Maidugiri and Bauchi, over 700 people were killed. Extending the scope to the last 10 years, then the deaths figures from religious crises will be more than 3000. (Apologies if this figure is over).

Corruption: “The World Bank estimates the country’s generals and gangster politicians stole $300 billion in the three decades to 2006”(Time Magazine, May 3rd 2010 Edition, Page 42). There are no figures for 2006 to 2010. I leave you to estimate how much would have been looted.

Government and Security Failures: In 2009, the Director General of the State Security Services (SSS), Afakriya Gadazama, revealed publicly that information about numerous religious crises (Boko Haram, Jos crises etc) and other crimes such as kidnappings in Niger Delta, armed robberies in South East was passed to the appropriate quarters. However, actions were never taken to prevent these crises. This statements appear relevant today, otherwise how can you explain the insecurity level. Alternatively, one wonders if the security services need the permission of the government/politicians before carrying out their constitutional duties. It’s also possible that securities services might not have the intelligence needed to avoid crises before it happens. Prevention is better than cure. In both cases both the government and security services have failed Nigerians. To make matters worst, the perpetrators of these crises are never prosecuted or given severe punishments to deter others. Concerned Nigerians are scared that no nation(s) can develop or make progress the way we are going.

Recommendations: For the reasons above and many others, Nigerians have to become security conscious wherever they may be. I suggest citizen’s surveillance, covert operations and spying. I have made these suggestions in the past. We have no choice but to spy people, government etc. Whatever information you get, post it online, or to media houses. There are hundreds of Nigerian online forums/media. Imagine what Wikileaks has done with the information at their disposal. Let us do to our country, what Wikileaks has done to the world. Information can put a government/group on their feet.

Citizen/group led Sovereign National Conference: This is non negotiable. There is no need to wait for the government to convoke this conference. Evidences have shown that the government is not ready to convoke any conference that will restructure Nigeria. Not too long ago, President Jonathan dismissed the idea of sovereign national conference. Till date, no presidential aspirant has spoken in favor of sovereign national conference. Therefore, the citizens are left with no choice but to start talking on their own. Pressure groups, community/village leaders, opinion leaders, religious leaders, professional bodies, labour unions, etc, should commence citizens led sovereign national conference. If Sudan can talk and even plan a referendum for the future of their country, then we have no choice.

As a starting point, kindly follow the enclosed web link http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/512452 and vote yes or no to sovereign national conference. Please note that the identity of each respondent will be anonymous. The result of your votes will form the basis for, recommendations to Nigerians as well as to the authorities.

Finally, this year (2011) affords us an opportunity to effect some political changes. All eligible Nigerians should take part in voter(s) registration and elections. Both exercises should be observed and monitored. This is to enable us vote in credible leaders that will help restructure the country. May God bless Nigeria.

Chinedu Vincent Akuta.
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/