By Dickson Okafor Chief Tobby Anumaka, Patron Okpoko Igbo and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has described the victory of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate and Governor of Anambra State, Willie Obiano in the just concluded Anambra State governorship election as victory for the late Dim Chukwuemeka Odimegwu Ojukwu (Ikemba Nnewi). Has President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the South-East change the perception of an average Igbo about his person? President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the South-East is a strong indication that he does not hate Igbo contrary to earlier insinuation that the President is anti-Igbo. I stand to be corrected; the cook, driver and most domestic staff of President Buhari are Igbo. Most roads, buildings and facilities in some secondary and tertiary institutions in the South-East were constructed by the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) under Buhari. One of the roads he did in the region is the Onitsha Head Bridge/ Upper Iweka road, w
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A philanthropist and Igbo leader in Lagos, Chief Chika Nwokedi, has said that only restructuring can save Nigeria. Nwokedi who is the President General of an Igbo social cultural group, Ndi Igbo Buru Otu Association of Nigeria, believes that Igbo are been marginalised and are left out in the top positions in the country. Igbo are crying of marginalisation, what’s your reaction to this? I would say that the problem started from Nigeria. For instance, you are a mother and you have eight children and of those eight children one is crying every day. You would call that child and find out why the child was crying and find a solution to it. You would discover that the child would stop crying. They are your children, don’t love seven and leave one out. When you refuse to call the child on time and leave him to keep crying, it can cause a powerful headache but when you call the child on time to discuss, the problem would be solved, so that’s what is happening in Nigeria now. Igbo are left
The Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED), the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the police and other security agencies, are collaborating to rid the power sector of corrupt officials. ANED’s Executive Director, Research and Development, Mr Sunday Oduntan, said the issue had reached an advanced stage, as many workers have been investigated for bribery, stealing, extortion of innocent consumers among other untoward practices, by a highly constituted team set up by the association. He said workers that were involved in criminal activities were sacked by their respective DisCos, after they were found guilty. Oduntan said: ‘’ Some workers of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company(IBEDC) and other power distribution companies, who are found guilty of grievious offences such as stealing of electricity facilities or money, have been handed over to EFFC for investigation. Also, they have been forced out of the system by their employers. Many of s
Nigeria’s mall segment of the real estate sector has continued to thrive, notwithstanding the supposed downturn in the industry. This position is further buttressed with the investment of $68 million in the development of Novare Gateway Mall in Abuja. The mall, from the stable of Novare Real Estate Africa, which is being inaugurated today, is the third of such retail and commercial development in the country, and it is the firm’s largest in Abuja. Other malls in Abuja owned by Novare Real Estate Africa include the 8, 267 square metre Novare Apo Mall, located about 18km from Novare Gateway to the southeast of Abuja. Similarly, in Abuja Novare is developing a 12,508-square metre Novare Central Office park- a mix-use centre consisting retail space and A-grade offices. Described as a “modern lifestyle centre offering an enticing combination of shops, restaurants and entertainment,” the Novare Gateway Mall sits on 15,000 square metres of space, accommodating 60 stores, and with the
The Federal Government is adopting ‘’home-grown’’ strategy, to seek $5.2billion loan from the World Bank, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatubde Fashola, has said. He said the loan will be used to improve electricity generation, distribution and transmission in the country, when finally approved by the World Bank. Speaking at an interactive forum with the media and members of civil society in Lagos recently, Fashola said the loan will help the economy to recover from its contraction, once it is well utilised. Under the terms for seeking the loan, Fashola said the private sector arm of World Bank would invest $1.3 billion in power projects and electricity distribution companies, while the bank’s political insurer known as the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency would provide equity of $1.4 billion for gas and solar power programmes Also, the lender will provide $2.5billion ro improve distribution of power, expand transmission capacity and increas
The Lagos State Government has joined the rest of the world to mark the World Toilet Day – a day set aside to promote healthy sanitation practices. At the celebration, which held at the Ojodu/Berger Bus Terminus, in the Ikeja Local Government Area, last week, the Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, said the day brought to the front burner germane issues, such as water, sanitation and hygiene, affecting the people. He noted that the proper handling of these critical issues would help reduce government’s expenditure on the treatment of diseases, and make more money available for other facilities for public use. Adejare said by the United Nations’ estimate, 2.5 per cent of the world’s seven billion people, mostly in rural areas, do not have proper sanitation while 1.1 billion people still defecate in the open. “This has significant impacts on human health, dignity and security as well as the environment, social and economic development. The countries where op
Each country’s skyline is defined by her most iconic structures, be they natural or constructed. This is part of what determines the volume and quality of tourists that visit country, constantly. Tourists visit some countries just to see iconic projects, or monuments. The Flames of Azerbaijan and Burj Khalifa, Dubai are two iconic projects that define the skylines of and confer dignity on their host nations – Azerbaijan and Dubai. While some countries are famous for their religious/cultural landmarks, others are known for their man-made icons, such as the Statue of Liberty, New York, United States, the Eiffel Tower, Paris, and the Little Mermaid, Copenhagen, Denmark, to mention a few examples. Nigeria’s efforts at scripting her name and skyline in the roll of international landmarks is traceable to 1997 with the famous national theatre, purposely built for the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC). Hosting the world was always going to be a big iss
The Federal Government may soon be having a problem on its hands with the release of funds for the payment of earned academic allowances and earned allowances to university workers. Some unions are accusing the government of bias towards ASUU, which got the lion’s share of the N23 billion released to 22 universities. KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE, NICHOLAS KALU, OSEHEYE OKWUOFU, KOLADE ADEYEMI and YINKA ADENIRAN report. It was just last September that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called off a five-week strike over non-implementation of its agreement with the Federal Government. One of its demands was the payment of earned academic allowances, which had accrued to N23 billion as at 2009/2010. The Federal Government, in fulfilling its promise, this week directed the payment of earned academic allowances/earned allowances to 22 Federal Government-owned universities to academic and non-academic members of staff. While academics under ASUU will get N18.3billion, non-teachi
ECOWAS on Wednesday said it would not take lightly the maltreatment of its citizens across countries in Northern Africa. President of the ECOWAS Commission, Marcel Alain de Souza said this this while presenting the Status Report on the State of the Community to the Second Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Parliament in Abuja. De Souza was represented by the commission’s Vice President, Edward Singhatey. Following the presentation of the report, parliamentarians raised concerns over efforts made by the sub-regional bloc to investigate reports on African migrants being maltreated and sold into slavery in some North African countries. Some members of parliament also expressed concerns over the requests made by Tunisia to be an observer country and Morocco to be a member of ECOWAS respectively, in spite of reported abuse against African migrants in those countries. The commission’s president, however, called for thorough investigation of such reports and judicial enquiries to b