As Nigerians mark this year’s Democracy Day, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has enjoined them to be vigilant and hold their elected leaders more accountable as a means of halting the seeming indifference to good governance issues. According a statement by his Media Office in Abuja, marking the 14th anniversary of Democracy Day in Nigeria, he identified high level of poverty and unemployment in the country as the greatest challenge facing our young democracy and noted that tackling them should be the focus of elected officials. He contended that the time had come for elected leaders to…
Author: tech
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta state, Comrade Daniel Idonor, has enjoined the Urhobo nation to take advantage of its size as the single largest ethnic nationality in Delta to present and work for credible politicians for all future elections in the state. Speaking at an interactive session with newsmen in his country home in Ughelli, he declared that the Urhobo people can not afford to be in the opposition for another political dispensation. Idonor, a journalist cum politician who has covered the Presidential Villa for 10 years before venturing…
As we approach the midterm period of the Jonathan administration, many young Nigerians have asked me through various fora but especially on Social Media why I support and project this administration’s Transformation Agenda and if the agenda has yielded any fruit. I believe that as a public servant I owe these Nigerians and all Nigerians answers and I will do my best to answer these questions. Firstly, I believe that effective rebranding is a projection of positive things that are already happening and I will try to limit myself to things that the Jonathan administration has done or is…
Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers state has raised the alarm that his life may no longer be safe considering the unfolding political scenario in the country. Amaechi who was suspended by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday, said the way the leadership at the federal level was acting, his life may not be safe after all “I want to say the way these people at the federal level are acting, they may come for my life, so when you pray, please pray for me,” he alleged. He therefore, urged the people…
Azuka Onwuka Three incidents regarding teenage pregnancy in Yorubaland remain evergreen in my memory. Some 19 years ago, on being told that I was posted to a mixed secondary school in the South-West for the one-year National Youth Service Corps scheme, a relative (but born and bred in Yorubaland) warned me with all seriousness: “Be careful! Yoruba girls are very fertile.” I laughed at such a ridiculous statement, asking her if fertility had anything to do with race or ethnicity. A few months later, while discussing with a Yoruba friend on our small street (a close in which…
The African Union (AU) has accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of “hunting” Africans because of their race. It was opposed to the ICC trying Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on charges of crimes against humanity, said Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. The AU would raise its concerns with the UN, he added. Mr Kenyatta, who was elected in March, is due to be tried in July. He denies the charges, which arise from accusations that he fuelled violence after disputed elections in 2007. ‘Chasing Kenyatta’ Analysts say the charges bolstered his campaign in this year’s poll, as many voters saw…
Nigerian military authorities on Monday announced that troops of the Special Forces effecting emergency rule in three northern states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa have killed a high profile Boko Haram member by name Abba. According to the Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig Gen Chris Olukolade, two other insurgents were also killed during clash with troops when as they were trying to regroup and to launch a deadly terrorist attack in Maiduguri. Olukolade said during the clash, one security operative was killed and 25 insurgents apprehended. He said the insurgents were planning to regroup when security operatives…
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is concerned about the crisis rocking the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and has called on concerned founding fathers to speak up to save the party from “imminent troubles capable of leading to avoidable implosion and mortal crisis”. In a statement by his Media Office in Abuja, Atiku said he was particularly disturbed by the worsening polarization of the party and internal divisions which might weaken the party structures at the state and deepen the crisis between Governors and the President. The former Vice President explained that as one of the founding fathers of…
The succession crisis rocking the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) took a new turn on Monday as the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced the suspension of Governor Rotimi Amaech of Rivers state. Interestingly, the suspension which was announced after an emergency meeting of the National Working Committee of the party at Wadata House, Abuja was anchored on Mr Amaech’s inability to rescind his decision on the dissolution of the Executive Council of Obiokpor local government in the state. A statement issued and signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh reads, “the National Working Committee…
As the controversy over who is the authentic chairman of the all-powerful Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) rages on, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra has accused his colleagues that are backing Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers of doctoring the constitution of the Forum. Speaking on Sunday, Obi said he never missed any meeting of the Forum, insisting that at no time was the constitution amended or ratified to make provision for election of the chairman of the Forum. Governors Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers) and Jonah Jang (Plateau) are now laying claim to the chairmanship of the NGF with the former saying…