PRESIDENT JONATHAN APPOINTS PRESIDENTIAL COMMITTEE ON 2014 NATIONAL CONFERENCE REPORT

His Excellency, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, has approved the composition of a Presidential Committee to study and draw up the Implementation Strategy for the 2014 National Conference.

The Committee is composed as follows:
(i)Mohammed Bello Adokie, SAN Honourable Attorney-General of the Federation & Minister of
Justice-Chairman (ii)Senator Idris A. Umar, Honourable Minister of Transport-Member (iii)Ambassador Bashir Yuguda - Honourable Minister of State for Finance-Member (iv)Mr. Osita Chidoka Honourable Minister of Aviation-Member (v)Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide Honourable Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory Administration- Member (vi)Architect Mike Onolememen Honourable Minister of Works-Member (vii)Senator Anyim Pius Anyim,GCON, Secretary to the Government of the Federation-Member
Secretary

A CONFERENCE OF FOOLS - FASEYIKU

I have followed with keen interest but a detached commitment the deliberations and also the ways and manners of delegates at the on-going "national conference" taking place in Abuja, Nigeria. I have interest in it because I am waiting (perhaps hoping) that one might, for once, be proved wrong in my pessimism about Nigeria. So my interest is keen but it is of a pessimistic perspective. 

My commitment is detached because the easiest thing to do in Nigeria is go backwards rather than move forward. 

I have always joked that if you put just two eminent and highly intelligent Nigerians together and they have been working unified, just bring religion or ethnicity into the equation and you lose everything. And it is the same thing we are about getting from the national conference.
In an age where we have seen the quality of life of Nigerians plummet to an abysmal low and it has been proven that a most disproportionate percentage of our national patrimony is expended as cost of government, this "national conference of jesters" have recommended the creation of an additional eighteen (18), yes eighteen, new states, in Nigeria. 

State creation divides delegates; Senate confirms Shekarau, Adeyeye others, as ministers

The clamour for state creation pitted delegates against one another at the ongoing National Conference in Abuja. Intensive debate on Wednesday greeted the Report of the National Conference Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government, presented to the Conference on Tuesday by the Committee’s co-chairmen, General Ike Nwachukwu and Hon Mohammed Kumalia.

Although the Committee’s recommendations are yet to be adopted by the Conference, high on the list is the creation of additional state for the South East geo-political zone, to place it on the same level with other zones.

Some delegates claimed that it was wrong for the Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government to have recommended for the creation of one state for the South-East alone without anything for the other zones.

This is National conference of election riggers – Delegate

A delegate to the ongoing National Conference in Abuja,  Aliyu Abdulkarreem has said that the Conference is full of active election riggers. 

Abdulkarreem who said this while contributing to the debate on report by the Committee on Political Parties and Electoral Matters in Abuja on Tuesday, recommended that stiffer penalties must be put in place to discourage election rigging in the country. 

He noted that the product of election rigging in the country had been bad governance and suggested that offenders must be shot to serve as deterrent to others.

“I want the Conference to look at the issue of rigging in the country. It is giving us bad government and that is why we are having bad governance. “Election riggers must be shot. This Conference is full of election riggers and, therefore, I move a motion that election riggers must be shot in order to serve as a deterrent to others.” 

Islamist terrorists shot at FG panel members in Borno –Akinyemi

A member of the Presidential Committee on the abducted Chibok schoolgirls, Prof. Bolaji Akinyemi, on Tuesday narrated how members of the committee were attacked by Boko Haram members in Bama, Borno State.

Akinyemi, who is also the deputy chairman of the National Conference, disclosed this while advising delegates to be cautious in their reactions to the explosion that rocked Kano School of Hygiene on Monday.

“We were attacked in Bama by Boko Haram and it took over 30 minutes of heavy fighting between the sect and the armed forces before we were rescued and taken away,” he said.

National Conference: Delegates Urged to Set Up Asset Verification Commission

The National Conference has been urged to recommend the setting up of an asset verification commission whose main function would be to assess and verify the assets of public officials when in service and immediately after leaving office in the bid to fight the endemic corruption in the country.
A legal practitioner, Mr. Owen Nanakumoh said the issue of corruption among public officials had got to embarrassing propulsion in the country.
He insisted that mere suggestion of fighting corruption without severe sanctions is an exercise in futility.

National Conference: Islamic Scholar Wants Delegates to Focus More on Peace

An Islamic scholar, Dr. Abdulkadir Oba Solagberu, at the weekend urged the committee on religion in the ongoing National Conference to dwell more on factors capable of restoring peace, unity and harmony among religious adherents in the country.

Solagberu, who is also the founder of Darul-Kitab Wa Sunnah College of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Ilorin, disclosed this in Ilorin over the weekend while speaking with journalists.

According to him, “The gesture would go a long way of assisting the nation to witness a new dawn in fostering peace among all the stakeholders in the country. “People must accommodate and tolerate one another irrespective of religious, cultural or political affinities. 

Odumakin: We’re Heading for Major Showdown at National Conference

The National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, a Yoruba socio-cultural group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, at the weekend said the southern delegates might eventually head for a major showdown at the on-
going National Conference if the northern delegates fail “to accept that Nigeria is a country of equals.”

Odumakin, who is also a delegate at the conference, gravely lamented the growing influence of what he described as the invisible government in Nigeria, which he said operated in parallel to the
visible government currently headed by President Goodluck Jonathan.


He expressed the views in an interview with journalists in Abuja, where he explained that the pull and push factors, which he said might subvert the purpose for the conference was convoked and eventually culminate in a major showdown between the delegates from the North and South.

Rowdy Session As Confab Delegates Reject Honour For Abiola …say no to immunity clause

Echoes of the June 12, 1993 presidential election reverberated at the National Conference on Thursday when a motion seeking national recognition for the presumed winner of the poll, the late Chief Moshood Abiola, was moved at the confab.

The motion, which was moved by Orok Duke, saw the delegates divided along regional lines as those from the southern Nigeria favoured the motion while those from the North rejected it.

Those who were opposed to the motion, led by a representative of the civil society, Mallam Nasir Kura, were shouting “no!, no!”

DORA AKUNYILI: A TALE OF NIGERIA – A POT-POURI OF ‘THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY'

When Mrs Dora Nkem Akunyili was the Zonal Secretary (South-east) of the Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund in 1998, Nigerian doctors gave her what many of her family members considered to be a health scare. They said she had a growth and needed surgery. Akunyili, then 44, decided to travel to the United States, first to get a second opinion and then undergo the prescribed surgery. The bill for the medical trip was $17,000, including $12,000 for the surgery. During pre-surgery check-up in the US, the doctors told her the Nigerian doctors had made a wrong diagnosis and that she did not need any surgery. It was said to be a minor issue that medication would solve. She thanked the doctors and, to their surprise, said she was going to return the money meant for the surgery to PTF. That was strange. Nigerian government officials had devised a way of making sure such monies were not returned to the treasury. The hospital informed the PTF, under the leadership of Major Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, about one honest Nigerian they had found. Buhari, himself a straightforward person, was very impressed. He wrote a letter to Akunyili commending her honesty. NAFDAC then came 2001.

President Olusegun Obasanjo wanted to appoint a director-general for the National Agency for Drug and Food Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and asked for the recommendation of an honest Nigerian pharmacist. Akunyili’s name promptly came up. Someone who had heard about her PTF record recommended her. There was a little problem, a Nigerian problem. Objections were raised that the minister of health, Prof. ABC Nwosu, was an Igbo from Anambra State and NAFDAC, being a powerful agency under the ministry, should not be headed by another Igbo from Anambra. It was also argued that the market for fake and substandard products were controlled by the Igbo, with Onitsha – also in Anambra State – a major centre for the illicit business. She was going to protect “her people”, the antagonists said. Obasanjo, stubborn to the cause, ignored the observations and appointed her. She went on to do a credible job and ended up as one of the most outstanding public officers in Nigeria’s history, celebrated locally and globally. She had lost a sister to fake drugs, and that was perhaps the impetus she needed to go on the offensive.

AKUNYILI WAS A DIFFERENT BREED-FASHOLA. DE FASH MAGAZINE

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) on Saturday condoled with the family of the former Minister of Information, Professor (Mrs.) Dora Akunyili over her passage.

In a condolence letter to the family of the deceased who had a very distinguished tenure as Director-General of the Governor described Professor (Mrs.) Dora Akunyili as an outstanding woman who showed Nigeria that she was a different breed.

He added that through her dedication and uprightness while serving as the Director General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Control (NAFDAC), she saved tens of thousands of lives of Nigerians and the country will forever be grateful to her for the war she waged and won against the manufacture and sale of fake drugs in Nigeria.

Former Information minister, Dora Akunyili is dead

A Nigerian former Information minister, Dora Akunyili, is dead. A close family source confirmed Mrs. Akunyili’s death. 

Adding that she died Saturday morning in an Indian hospital of a yet to be announced ailment.

Her close political ally and the former governor of Anambra state, Peter Obi, as well as her spokesperson, Isaac Umunna did not respond to telephone calls for further confirmation.

Her family is expected to make an official announcement of her death in the coming hours.

Mrs. Akunyili is considered as Nigeria’s most effective drugs and food administration executive. 

National Conference Okays Removal Of Governors, Lawmakers’ Pension

If the report of the national conference committee on public service is accepted by government, governors, deputy governors and legislators won’t be entitled to pension, life insurance and severance pay. The removal of the entitlements was a key part of the report that was considered and adopted by delegates at Wednesday’s plenary.

The delegates also adopted the recommendation to have federal and state legislators function on a part-time basis. At the plenary that began on a calm note, delegates considered a change to the procedure of debating committee reports to make its adoption faster, in order to meet up with the left time.

Full Text of President Jonathan’s 2014 Democracy Day broadcast speech

Fellow Nigerians, I greet and felicitate with you all, today, as we mark 15 years of uninterrupted democratic governance in our beloved country. 

Our dear nation, Nigeria, has certainly come a long way and made notable progress since our first Democracy Day on May 29, 1999 when the military finally relinquished power and handed over to a democratically-elected government, marking the true beginning of a government of the people, by the people, for the people.” 

Although I have ordered a low-key commemoration of this year’s Democracy Day in deference to the current mood of the nation, there can be no doubt that the past 15 years, the longest period of sustained democratic governance in our country, have been a blessing to us, as a people. 

As we commemorate 15 years of our Fourth Republic today therefore, I believe that it is fitting that we pay tribute once again to all those who played a part in restoring our nation to the true path of democratic governance, built on the foundations of rule of law and freedom of expression. 

As a result of our collective efforts since 1999, democratic governance is now entrenched in our nation and institutions. I wholeheartedly believe that our people are the better for it. The scope of fundamental rights and liberties enjoyed by our people over the past 15 years has been expanded beyond measure. 

Justice Kutigi’s wife, Mariama, is dead

The wife of the Chairman of the ongoing National Conference, Idris Kutigi, is dead.

Mrs. Mariama died at the National Hospital, Abuja, on Wednesday morning at about 2 a.m.

The death was announced by the leadership of the Conference when it resumed sitting at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The conference, therefore, adjourned till Monday.

Premium Times

Why Another Confab Delegate, Dr Mohammed Jumare Dies in Abuja

Another delegate in the ongoing National Conference, Dr Mohammed Jumare, representing elder statesmen is dead. In a statement issued by Mr James Akpandem, the Assistant Secretary, Media and Communications, said Jumare died in the early hours of Monday in Abuja.

He said the elder statesman, who hailed from Kaduna State, had since been buried in Zaria.

“The National Conference sitting in Abuja was on Monday hit by another sad news of the death of a delegate, Dr Mohammed Abubakar Jumare, from Kaduna State. “Dr Jumare who came to the Conference as an Elder Statesman died in the early hours of Monday in Abuja and was buried later in the day in Zaria.

“The late Dr Jumare was born on August 20, 1943 in Kwarbai, Zaria City. “His burial was attended by the Kaduna State Governor, Alhaji Ramalan Yero and the Emir of Zazzau, Alhaji Shehu Idris,” Akpandem said.

Workers' May Day: Nigeria is not poor - President Jonathan tells World Bank

The Nigerian President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan has faulted the World Bank report which placed the Country among the five poorest countries in the world, saying “the nation is not poor’’.

Speaking at the workers' May Day rally held at the Eagle Square, Abuja, Jonathan said: “The challenge of the country is not poverty, but even redistribution of wealth among Nigerians.’’

President Jonathan, who vehemently said the realities on ground did not portray the country as a poor nation, but a nation whose abundant wealth needed to be evenly redistributed, adding that his administration was working assiduously and putting policies in place to ensure that Nigerians had access to financial resources to create wealth for themselves.

 “Nigeria is not a poor country. Nigerians are the most travelled people. There is no country you go that you will not see Nigerians. The GDP of Nigeria is over half a trillion dollars and the economy is growing at close to 7 per cent. He Said.

NATIONAL CONFAB: The Youth Position "On the Structure of Government" - Hassa

On The Structure Of Government BY HASSAN RILWAN

As a follow-up to the first session wherein a viable youth agenda was outlined, I have in this second session deliberated with my think-tank on the Structure of Government as an agenda for the National Conference. Under this broad topic ‘Structure of Government’ other clusters of sub-topics were also treated. These include: Fiscal Federalism/Resource Control, Indigene-Settler Crisis, Federal Character/Quota System and Single-term Tenureship.

Before the think-tank session, we had set up an online polling system to take a poll of the position of the youths on these subjects. The results from the online poll formed a basis for further stormy deliberations by the think-tank; a deliberation which resulted in harmonized positions reflecting the general trend of views on each of the subjects. This however does not remove the right of some youth who may have a different opinion no matter how small their number.

1. Structure Of Government

Background

National Confab: Nigeria Name Should Change From "Nigger Area" To "United Rep. Of Songhai" - Oyebode

National Conference: LAMIDO'S ABUJA GAFFE

By Ochereome Nnanna

THE Lamido of Adamawa, Dr. Muhammadu Barkindo Mustapha, is turning out to be quite an outstanding delegate to the ongoing National Conference. I can imagine, by now, his colleagues will stop their side-talks, whisperings and murmurings whenever the royal turban is given the microphone to speak.

In the two recorded episodes when he addressed issues arising in the gathering, he has managed to ruffle feathers, raise hackles and stoke ethno-religious temperatures, including hurling an outright direct personal insult at a colleague, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, whom he accused of “ranting”. It beats me that the Chairman of the Conference, Justice Legbo Kutigi, did not caution or ask him to apologise to Adebanjo. I shudder at a situation where the situation were turned the other way round and Adebanjo calls the emir’s obvious incendiary contributions a “rant”. It would probably get Hausa/Fulanis and Yorubas stabbing at each other all over the streets of Northern and Western Nigeria, heavens forbid.