Anambra State Governor,Chief Willie Obiano has warned that there will be no room for corrupt individuals in his Government.Obiano handed down the warning at a meeting with top state government officials.
BVI Channel 1 gathered from the Governor that he would not blink an eye in throwing out any official engaging in fraudulent practice.
BVI Channel 1 Comment
We want to advise Gov Obiano to set up whistle blowing Unit to track corrupt cases in Anambra State.Also ,let all the people working with His Excellency declare their asset(s) to the Governor and the Public as not a few of them are after their pockets.
If APGA plans to capture other eastern states,Ojukwu /Biafran ideology of Equity,fairness and justice must be put to work.
Over the past several years, l have been deeply worried about the fate of Ndi Igbo in Nigeria’s political equation. My worry centers mostly on the fate of our youths. I am worried about our growing army of unemployed young people., l wonder what the future holds for them and for the rest of our society.
The unconcealed greed,mindless and criminal wealth acquisition of Igbo political class has kept all manner of economic growth and development in check. So where and when will the jobs come that will sustain our youths? The text of a speech delivered by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe at the ICAM Convention in Mississippi USA on October 7, 2017 with the above title,actually became the trigger that fired all the desired inspiration, direction and focus l needed. I only came across this speech of late,hence the delayed reaction from me. Although the distinguished Senator stated from the outset that what he had to say might surprise many people, It surely did not surprise me and many others.
The Senator representing Abia South senatorial district shared his thoughts on a variety of issues ranging from the prevailing socio-economic condition of Nd’Igbo in Nigeria vis-à-vis the agitation for a separate state of Biafra by the youths, to the paucity of infrastructure in the Southeast geopolitical zone. However, while Abaribe intelligently dissected the challenges facing Nd’Igbo in Nigeria, he failed to shed light on the failings of political leadership in the zone.
He attributed the agitations by youths for a separate state of Biafra to frustrations, arising from the perceived marginalization of Nd’Igbo in the present dispensation.
The Senator noted that President Muhammdu Buhari’s statement in the United States that he would not pay attention to the five percent that did not vote for him during the 2015 election strengthened the frustration by the youths.
This is how Senator Abaribe put it: “You will recall that when this government came into place, President Buhari went to the US where he made a most unfortunate statement that was widely condemned at that time. He reportedly said that he doesn’t need to bother about the 5 percent that didn’t vote for him, but will rather concern himself with the 97 percent that voted for him.
“I had at the time the statement was made raised concern that such declaration from an elected President sounds discriminatory and may create the impression that our elected President Buhari is sending a message to those who didn’t vote for him that he will be partial in his decision making.”
Casting his net wide, Abaribe suggested, “the people who are in and around the president didn’t advise him properly. They left him to make appointments and take decisions that gave the impression that there are some parts of the country that are not supposed to be part of Nigeria.”
To the Senator therefore, all those must have left Igbo youths with the feeling of being left out “and not having anything to give them hope in Nigeria, (thereby) believing that a separate country would be better.”
As a clever politician who has an unbroken record of visible participation in Nigeria’s fourth republic democratic experience from 1999 till date, I am convinced that Abaribe is eminently qualified to adumbrate on issues that he dabbled into in his speech at ICAM Convention in US.
But as an industrialist & wealth creator myself,with more than thirty years of seamless experience in indigenous manufacturing, I find it unacceptable that the Senator representing Abia South district should spice his speech with a supercilious rhetoric of why Igbo in Diaspora do not invest at home.
In apparent show of political double speak, Abaribe had queried: “Should we continue to blame the Federal Government for the dilapidated infrastructures in Ala Igbo? What of our home governments in Igbo States?
“Sam Mbakwe of blessed memory did not wait for the Federal Government before undertaking massive rebuilding of old Imo State. We think that we have not given our best to our people with the little we got.”
Although the main purpose of this intervention is not to throw stones, which sometimes l love doing, I am inclined to say that it is the glib talking politicians of convenience,like Abaribe that stoked the neglect and monumental lack of infrastructure in Ala Igbo.
Perhaps Enyinna forgot that he was part of the same home government he found convenient to traduce. Or was he not the deputy governor of Abia State, the centre of Igbo industrial complex?
It is such a shame that the class of politicians from Ala Igbo that found themselves in top political positions feel comfortable with their primitive accumulation,while the Igbo heartland and countryside wallowed in infrastructure dilapidation.
While their forward looking counterparts from other parts, particularly Southwest, were thinking home and for the collective interest of their people, our own first eleven were only interested in Ghana Must Go transactions at the National Assembly.
It seems the correct index of how far Ala Igbo fared under the prevailing circumstances is to look at the number of state governors facing trial for graft. And the last time I checked I did not hear that Abaribe resigned from his post for a principled stand against lack of institutional focus in the delivery of sustainable infrastructure in Abia State when he served as deputy governor.
Even while he migrated to the National Assembly as Senator, it is not on record that Abaribe rallied round his colleagues on a vision to redress the dearth of infrastructure in Ala Igbo. Rather they have been in competition in constructing hotels and cornering contracts.
There have been subdued allegations that the face of infrastructure in Southeast bears eloquent testimony to the character of political leaders from the zone from the period 1999 to date, of which Abaribe is a proud subset.
From abandoned contracts, to recommendation of substandard contractors,through the diversion of accruable federal interventions, Southeast politicians cannot exonerate themselves from the ugly state of roads and public amenities in Ala Igbo.
Perhaps time has come for the Niger Delta Development Commission, Federal Ministry of Works, Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), National Independent Power Project (NIPP) and Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria (REAN) to publish the list of failed projects, their beneficiaries, contractors and nominees. Many of our Senators must surely have cases to answer. Even in the area of insecurity where Abaribe complained abroad that “nowhere have we hurt ourselves and investment in Ala Igbo than in the insecurity pervading all parts of our homeland,” could he and his ilk be excused of blame. Never.
The preponderance of political thuggery that reigns supreme during elections, represent our own share of democracy dividend initiated by our political leaders.
As they armed and trained these young men, most of whom were emergency students of some tertiary institutions, the politicians deepened their appetite for money through sundry corrupt approaches, including the diversion of money meant for constituency projects and other poverty reduction and empowerment schemes.
And in a nation renown for poor knowledge of history and institutional memory, Senator Enyinna Abaribe found it very convenient to stand before umu Igbo in America to pontificate: “Of course the latest imbroglio in Abia, especially in Aba and Umuahia, has worsened matters. We run the risk of undoing all the efforts made in promoting ‘made in Aba’. l once proudly contributed to the promotion of Made in Aba as a member of National Council of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria. As local industrialists from Ala Igbo we embarked on the Made in Aba project so as to provide the needed catalyst for the industrial growth of Igbo land. “Industries have relocated from Ala Igbo to other parts of Nigeria especially Lagos and Ogun States because of the very serious insecurity such as kidnapping and armed robbery faced by those who attempted to invest at home” claimed Abaribe.
Two things stand out from the above claim by Abaribe. In the first place, some of us who have remained steadfast in investing at home against all odds, know that it was from the college of political thugs that kidnappers and other anti-social elements, graduated and discharged after every electoral cycle.
Without caring about roads, these politicians mostly those in the legislatures, donated motorcycles to young men in the name of economic empowerment. In actual fact those are but facilities deployed subtly for their next election, where ballot box snatching and other electoral offences used to be the main strategy for winning.
I am still at a loss why Senator Abaribe, a former deputy governor of Abia State, forgot to explain to his audience why no legislator ever bothered to establish industries to employ the youths,as part of their constituency projects.
Secondly, the rise of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), which the senator struggled to blame on political marginalization from the federal authorities, was actually a product of frustration and protest. Protest against the politicians, who not only connived with outsiders to deny them of opportunities, and also frustration that their voice could not be heard through rigged elections and promotion of money politics.
Truth be told, in Ala Igbo, political leaders made it impossible for the falcon to hear the falconer, because not only were they dishing lies through false promises, they deceived the youth with false value judgment that the end justifies the means.
Some of us that have been engaged in mentoring young people in Igbo land are aware that the unemployment level in the area is a ticking time bomb. But the politicians, with eyes fixed on the next election, don’t seem to bother; after all with money they can buy their way to the next public office.
We that are involved in indigenous manufacturing in Ala Igbo have been crying out against all forms of debilitating taxes, against unprovoked police and other official harassment, against the impact of bad roads, against high-energy tariff on our overhead costs, yet no single legislator from Ala Igbo has deemed it fit to take up the challenge. How then will local industries grow to create more jobs? Why then won’t many relocate to Ogun or Lagos states,where the environment is safe and enabling?
At the level of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), we have held countless seminars and workshops, none of the politicians showed interest to understand the plight of indigenous manufacturers, who are the highest employers of labour. Abaribe and his colleagues don’t just care. They are only keen over matters that would sustain them on the political front, not love of community or concern for future generation.
But for space constraints, one could go on and on to place the apathy of Igbo politicians to the blind zeal of Igbo youths to take their future in their hands, having been deceived and disappointed by the so called leaders. That, more than lack of understanding that Igbo has more stake in the Nigeria project, propelled their quest for a separate homeland, even if it is utopia. Nnamdi Kanu and his followers find it hard to trust Igbo leaders because they lack authenticity or workable plan for a better future. Abaribe is not a good authority on the sorry state of affairs in Ala Igbo: he wants to live in two worlds at the same time. That Kanu could not heed whatever advise he had to offer is an indictment. That exploits of Igbo entrepreneurs, which resulted in the fact alluded to by Abaribe in his speech that the largest group of direct domestic investors in Nigeria are from the southeast, are traceable to individual efforts rather than a planned line of action.
The absence of a buoyant economy similar to the ones the senator cited as existing in Computer Village in Ikeja, Ladipo Spare Parts market, Alaba Electronic Market, Balogun International Market, Balogun (Trade Fair) International Market
Aspamda market in Festac and Orile Market for house fittings and appliances; is because of the failure of leadership among the Igbo political class.
It therefore amounts to self-exultation for Abaribe to heap the blames alone on governors without recognizing the place of laws as essential raw materials for good governance. I ask, which laws have the Senator and his colleagues put together to protect and preserve the business interests and endeavours of Igbo entrepreneurs.
The situation in Ala Igbo calls for collective action and not sanctimonious preachments from self-serving politicians. If Igbo lawmakers did not find it distasteful that there is no functional seaport on the former eastern region to begin advocacy, what do they have to tell us about investment and economic growth in Ala Igbo? Instead of campaigning for election boycott, Igbo youths should mobilize to sack the present class of visionless and selfish leaders from Ala Igbo for a fresh start. God bless Igbo youths.
1.Nigerian Ambassador seek help to prosecute human traffickers
2.5,000 Nigerians evacuated from Libya in six months – Dabiri-Erewa
3.Jobs, stable power supply will keep them home – Nigerian community
4.President Muhammadu Buhari, in Abidjan, Cote d’ Ivoire, has finally spoken on the vexed issue of allegations that hundreds of African refugees and migrants passing through Libya were being bought and sold to modern-day slave markets.
BVI Channel Comment
1.Many of the Nigeria Government Officials working in different embassies are most wicked and insincere.Many of them do not care about the welfare of Nigerians in their host countries.Many Nigerians prefer dying in the desert than being frustrated at home without anybody to care for them.
2.If 5000 Nigerians could be evacuated from Libya alone ,how many Nigerians are in other African Countries? Perhaps ,millions! Why is Nigerians running away from home? Running away from the political criminals? BVI Channel 1 believes that the cabal in political power are very few people with large pockets and very high propensity to consume.Therefore,instead of taking risk to die on the high sea,it is better to fight at home.Nigeria is practicing democracy and with the power of ballot and voters card,all the political criminals will be sent to early retirement for young,dynamic ,purposeful and visionary Leadership. BVI Channel 1 believes that this is achievable with the right people at the helm of affairs.
3. For Govt to talk about job creation,every Nigerian has to be captured on a biometric identification platform and only then shall we begin to talk of real job creation and not political job.
4. About 110 million Nigerians are slaves.There are corporate slaves everywhere in Nigeria,domestic slaves,Government slaves,religious slaves etc.Because there is weak institutions in Nigeria,the ‘Oga’ on top will always have his way .
First son of late Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chief Emeka Ojukwu Jnr, has turned down overtures of Governor Willie Obiano to return to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
Ojukwu Jnr, who barely 48 hours to the Anambra State governorship election defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC), saidhe is not going back to APGA.
He said he is no longer interested in playing emotional politics, and added that, by wanting to play politics at the centre, he is following the steps of his father.
Speaking to newsmen in Awka, Ojukwu Jnr.described the governor’s overtures as too infantile and smacks of ignorance about the workings of politics in Nigeria.
He said like his father, he ensures that his actions are informed by the best interest of Ndigbo, recalling how, shortly after his return from exile in 1982, his father joined the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) rather than the Nigeria Peoples Party (NPP) seen then as Igbo party.
“I can afford to stay back (in APGA) and wallow in sentimental politics that ‘Nkea bu Nkeanyi’ (this is our own), but in the long run, what becomes of our tomorrow and place in the great Nigeria project, for which our forefathers laboured, invested their time, talent and even their blood?
“Which is preferable; to be a big fish in a small pond or a big fish in the ocean? Real champions are never afraid of the big league. That could be why late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo asserted that if you cannot reason beyond petty sentiments, you are a liability to mankind. Igbo are not better off with emotional politics.”
Ojukwu Jnr. reacted to a statement credited toGovernor Obiano, that he considers Ikemba’s son as of no consequence, but has extended an olive branch to stakeholders and co-contestants in the recent Anambra governorship poll. He said the governor was still playing kindergarten politics.
He wondered why Obiano and other party chieftains should condemn him for identifying with APC while they struggle to impress President Buhari that they support him for a second term in office.
“So, while they seek to crucify me for joining APC, they express support and solidarity for the APC leader. Which is worse, to walk the talk or pander to politics of deceit and duplicity? What is the essence of being in a party that would rather support the presidential candidate of another party than choose its own?”
According to him, having supported President Olusegun Obasanjo and Goodluck Jonathan in office, Ndigbo have decided to support President Buhari in the spirit of fairness and political goodwill, so that when a president of Igbo extraction emerges, other ethnic groups would reciprocate.
Yul Edochie, Nollywood actor turned politician, under the umbrella of Democratic Peoples Congress (DPC), against all odds, contested during the Anambra governorship election and secured a total of 145 votes.
The state’s gubernatorial poll took place on Saturday, November 18. BVI Channel 1 gathered from the father of two who has returned to his base in Lagos after the loss and he painfully spoke about how he was betrayed just few days to the election. He said: “First let me congratulate Governor Willie Obiano on his victory at the polls. The process was a fulfilling one.
Stressful but I would do it all over again for the good of the people, the youths. I think I saw my loss coming towards the end. Three days to election some of my party members went to pay allegiance to another party, accepted money from them and said that I had stepped down. Which they didn’t discuss with me before doing. And it went viral.
I did a video to counter that. But the propaganda had spread so quickly and my supporters thought I had stepped down. But I hold nothing against anyone, its all politics.” The fine boy Nollywood actor also revealed what’s next for him. “No regrets at all. I’m happy I ventured into it and I have come to stay in politics. And I urge more Nigerian youths to come into politics. We all need to know how our state and country is being run and make contributions.
If you are not part of the solution then you are part of the problem. 95% of the people in Nigerian politics are there to grab money, they don’t care about giving the people good governance. So if we keep waiting for them to change things then we are wasting our time. We need more good people of integrity to come in and kick start the real change we want. Well, I left acting and directing for months to achieve this. And a lot of my people missed me. I missed them too. I’ll be back”
Yes,just by merely spending few minutes to pen down your ugly experience might cause positive change around us.As I write this,I am still in first Bank trying to make cheque lodgement into a corporate account. The cheque was collected from a client who owe the company for many months.
On entering the Bank hall ,I noticed a crowd of about 40 customers with just 3 staffers in attendance.Since mine was just to lodge in Cheque, I was thinking that I should be separated from those depositing and withdrawing cash but I was disappointed.
The Head Teller bluntly told me to join the queue.I wanted to know why I should join those who were standing for cash transaction but he could not offer any form of courtesy .As a former Banking Staff who knew the rules,I went to my Account Officer for intervention but he merely said that he would assist which never came.I was forced to queue with cash customers for a transaction that should have taken less than few minutes.I have waited for 45 minutes.At the end of the waiting,the cheque was returned ,alas, that the cheque was not properly drawn! After an hour of waiting !!
My conclusion is that First Bank Plc is no longer interested in customer service delivery nor customers’ satisfaction.The ordinary man on the street will work so hard to make money under harsh economic condition and would be expected to spend the whole day in the bank .Yet ,central bank will expect people to increase their banking habit.
The big question remains : why is Banks using contract staffers and playing down on permanent and experienced workforce? An answer to this question will begin to unravel why Bank Staffers are not enjoying their work.
Banks hold people lives as they warehouse money that determines the flow of human blood.
Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, has said restructuring is a call for constitutional reforms, to guarantee a more stable country and not secession as being speculated in some quarters.
Dickson insisted restructuring is a return to true federalism.
He made the declaration at a retreat organised by Southern Senators Forum in Calabar, capital of Cross River State, at the weekend.
Dickson, who advocated protection of ethnic minorities to make Nigeria sustainable as a country in a paper, “Protecting ethnic minorities in project Nigeria,” argued that constitutional provisions or military force cannot ensured the continued unity of Nigeria.
Re-echoing his views that Nigeria’s unity is negotiable, the governor advised proponents of restructuring to rally round among themselves to advocate an equitable Nigeria rather than focus on constitutional provisions which cannot guarantee a country anchored on fairness and justice.
Dickson, who likened the situation in Nigeria to that of Soviet Union which eventually disintegrated, in spite of its military strength, noted that critics of restructuring should not interchange the word with disintegration.
“Restructuring does not mean secession. It is not co-terminous with a Nigeria that is divided. Restructuring simply means a call for constitutional reforms, to guarantee a more stable country.
“In other words, it is a return to true federalism.
“We should not shy away from the issue of restructuring, the more the opinions the better.
“That is the reason we need this debate. Nobody should tell Nigerians that our unity is not negotiable.
A lot of people talking about restructuring do not even know the issues,” he said.
Three soldiers were killed and six others injured in a raid by Boko Haram, on Magumeri, in Borno State, last Saturday.
Boko Haram attacked Magumeri, about 35 kilometres north of Maiduguri, the state capital, at about 6:00pm, last Saturday.
The Nigerian Army said the insurgents had earlier launched a daring attack on the 5 Brigade Garrison, a military base in the town, as a prelude to the attack on the serene town.
Deputy Director of Army/Public Relations, 8 Task Force Division, Colonel Timothy Antigha, confirmed the deaths and the injured.
He said the remains of the dead soldiers and the wounded were evacuated and taken to a military facility, and also, assured “the military is doing everything possible to ensure the safety of Magumeri town and the neighbourhood.”
Sources, however, said more than three soldiers and some civilians may have died in the attack described as “bloody.”
Boko Haram had, in the past, attempted to seize the town but the attacks were repelled by the military troops.
In August, Boko Haram abducted some oil workers and University of Maiduguri staff around Magumeri during an oil prospecting trip. Dozens of people, including soldiers, civilian Joint Task Force members, oil workers and five UNIMAID staff have killed by the insurgents.
Meanwhile, the state government has said it will convert the house of Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf, to a museum.
Commissioner for Home Affairs, Information and Culture, Mohammed Bulama, disclosed this on the sidelines of the ninth National Council for Culture, Tourism and National Orientation held in Dutse, Jigawa.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported that the council, with the theme “Tourism and culture as panacea for Nigeria’s economic recovery’’ was organised by the federal Ministry of Information and Culture.
Bulama said the museum would help archive all things related to Boko Haram insurgency, attract tourists for the benefits of future generation.
“The place is called Maarcas; we want to build a museum there, where all the things that had happened relating to the insurgency will be archived. We want to document and archive all that had happened so that our future generation will be able to have first-hand information,” he said.
Yusuf, sect leader and founder of Boko Haram, was killed in 2009 and his group has continued to constitute serious security threat to Borno and other states in the North East.
The commissioner said the state is also planning to turn Sambisa, which used to be the insurgents’ haven, to a tourist centre by reviving already existing games reserve in the forest.
Also, the Nigerian army has prevented Boko Haram from taking over Magumeri town.
Kaka Audu, a member of the civilian joint task force (CJTF) in the area, said the insurgents attacked the town from the military checkpoint and Bengel area of the town.
Audu disclosed that some of the insurgents wjp attacked from the Bengel axis managed to enter the town and torched some buildings before they were finallypushed back. He noted that echoes of gunshots and explosive devices prompted residents to flee to nearby forest. The local militia added that most of the residents who had earlier run to the bush returned to their homes later.
The military authorities are yet to comment on the incident.
Meanwhile, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, (CBCN) has praised the relative peace emerging in Borno State and the infrastructural development recorded in the state despite six years of Boko Haram insurgency.
President of the conference, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, who led other catholic bishops on a courtesy visit to Governor Kashim Shettima, in Maiduguri, at the weekend, said they were overwhelmed by the development they saw especially in the state capital, contrary to stories of woes, blood and death since 2009 when Boko Haram struck.
The bishops were in Borno to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Maiduguri Catholic Diocese (1966 to 2016) and to dedicate a new cathedral built by the diocese.
