THE DEPLORABLE STATE OF ENUGU-PORT HARCOURT EXPRESS WAY

With heavy hearts, many friends and relations of the Dilosi’s Dynasty including this writer recently journeyed from Kaduna to Bomu in Gokana Local Government Area, Rivers state in honour of the amiable matriarch of the family, Mrs. Maria Tagalobari Dilosi who was cut short by the cold hands of death at the prime age of fifty one. In less than a decade and half, friends and relations had undertaken yet another sad visit to Bomu for the second time and for the same unfortunate and unavoidable reason. The sudden demise of the patriarch and loving husband of the deceased James Viloo Dilosi in 2003 was likewise the motive for the first journey thirteen years ago. Mrs. Maria Tagalobari Dilosi was described by her children, friends and associates as kind hearted, lovely and caring of all; an intercessor, a burden bearer, a wise counselor, compassionate and mother of all. Our journey to Bomu took us through the Enugu-Port Harcourt Express way instead of Lokoja-Okene-Auch road which was the best option as a result of its terrible state.
It was a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. In fact, the journey turned out an unforgettable nightmarish experience. The two hundred and twenty-eight kilometer stretch road: a federal one for that matter was too bad to be ignored without grumbling and outpour of invectives on those responsible for leaving it in that state of disrepair despite huge yearly budgetary allocations. It was the general consensus of all that; somebody has to be held accountable and responsible for the ugly state of that road and others in like manner. Evidence of the sorry state of the road can be seen in the number of broken down vehicles especially trucks which litter the road. Road users also make frequent detours to the other lane when it seems necessary. At Lokpanta axis of the road where a trailer load of goods broke down leading to the blockage of the major part of one lane, it was practically impossible for free vehicular movement. We came to a standstill and were all forced to alight from the vehicles as the situation deteriorated.  Impatient road users as usual diverted to the adjacent lane creating a chaotic traffic situation. It took more than an hour before we wriggled out of the traffic situation.  In our interactive session with predominantly Hausa inhabitants in the area, they revealed that with what we saw, the road was better and even motorable compared to between July and August which was the peak period of rainy season in the eastern Nigeria.
The dilapidated nature of that road has been in the news for several years but it has failed to attract the desired government attention in both federal and state levels. The endless-man-hour expended by travelers in utter frustration on that express way is better seen, experienced than imagined. Friends from Kaduna state who never travelled to the eastern and southern part of Nigeria save for the honour of the deceased like every other well-meaning Nigerian were of the view fact that urgent steps needed to be taken by government to put the road in good shape. Majority were surprise that a federal road of this deplorable nature exists in Nigeria. Some concluded that they have now seen why there is preponderance of armed robbery, incessant agitation for resource control and the pressure for the creation of the state of Biafra raging on in the two regions.

The energy wasted on that road daily, lives lost, resources and business opportunities missed or lost and the attendant health challenges it throws up later are seriously worrisome. Many of us who embarked on that journey took one form of medication or the other when we finally came back to Kaduna. The same must have been applicable too to majority, if not all of every other user of that road. A journey of less than three hours from Enugu to Rivers state consumes more. It was revealed that armed robbers and kidnappers have taken advantage of the bad road to ply their horrendous trades. This led to military and police check-points within every one kilometer range. The check-points as it was observed assist no one in particular except lining the pockets of those who mounted them. They are known as Automated Transfer Machines (ATM) positioned to draw monies from road users as the check points vanish into thin air on arrival of bandits and kidnappers only to resurface afterwards.

That road to say the least is a death trap and a constant reminder of failure of leaderships both at the federal and state levels. The strategic importance of the road as the gateway to the Eleme Petrochemical Company and the business city of Aba gave rise to the high level of vehicular movement on the road. This same strategic importance should have driven a sensible government to re-build the road and save the people from this man-made punishment. In fact it beats ones imagination that the road which traversed four states namely Enugu, Imo, Abia and Rivers did not catch the fancy of these state governments who saw nothing good in rehabilitating it. Governors build federal roads and later pick up their bills from the federal government. 

Many governors who understood the reason for being in government have done it for the benefit of their people. Therefore, the reason for abandoning this road cannot be explained away.  Government is a social contact between the leadership and the led. This contract is fulfilled by reason of engaging in policies and programmes positively affecting the lives of the governed by those in power. Enugu-Port Harcourt Express way cries for urgent attention. While urging the federal government to discharge its responsibility creditably on that road, governments of these states where the road traversed have no reason to endlessly wait for the federal government before the lives of their people are bettered. 

Sunday Onyemaechi Eze, a Media and Communications Specialist is the publisher of thenewinsightng.blogspot.com. He wrote from Kaduna via sunnyeze02@yahoo.com and can be reached on 08060901201

ON THE SOCIAL MEDIA RESPONSES TO THE LETTER SENT TO BPE BY PHCN STAFF FORUM, KADUNA

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Various calls, emails and facebook responses have trailed the letter sent to BPE by PHCN STAFF FORUM, Kaduna demanding immediate offset of the remaining entitlements of ex-staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria. The forum has taken note of the emotions, reasons, accusations, counter-accusations, frustrations and anger dissipated on the matter. It is quite heart-warming to note that after three years of conspiracy of silence on the unpaid benefits of a group which served the nation creditably well, the issues raised by the forum for prompt address is gathering the desired momentum.
2.1 ONE WORLD MANY VOICES
Having diverse opinions is essential to every social situation, however, it must be well situated that most if not all ex-staff want all their remaining benefits verified and paid as quick as possible. They have also come to the realisation that the issues of Severance Benefits were shabbily addressed by those responsible. It is the candid view of the forum as always that the two unions have failed woefully in this direction and do not have confidence in them. Therefore, those directly affected by the ineptitude of the unions should take the bull by the horns. If you do not take care of your lips, harmattan does. Rights of individuals are fought for not freely given. It is the path to freedom the forum has chosen to tread.
Meanwhile, this piece seeks to give an insight, address passionately various skepticisms, questions and concerns raised on the entire struggle to pay ALL OF US our dues and to also chart a way forward for the common good of all.
3.1 JUSTICE IS NOT EARNED BY PROXY
Questions were raised by a few why the letter sent to BPE reflected only the interest of members of PHCN STAFF FORUM, Kaduna. It must be stated here without prejudices that justice is not earned by proxy. When it comes to personal rights of adult-individuals, the onus lies on them to decide and consent to further actions. However, continuous efforts aimed at ensuring that we are all at par and on the same page are in progress. The forum went as far as discussing the issues with some of our colleagues from other zones and made USEFUL SUGGESTIONS. Those in constant discussion with the forum are Ojo Joseph-Ibadan Zone (Ekiti), Mr. Solar-Kano Zone (Kano) and others from Ikeja, Jos, Benin, Port Harcourt and Enugu Zones who did not give express permission to mention their names. However, it is unfortunate that most zones seem to be at loss as per the reason for this struggle. Most people expect the 16 months like the coming of Jesus Christ. The question is how much is the 16 months compared to other unpaid legitimate entitlements? Every zone is encouraged to liaise with these people as we all journey towards realising this onerous objective while the zones not mentioned should key in.
4.1 NELMCO AND A NEW DIMENSION TO THE LAXITY OF THE UNIONS

A new and different dimension introduced to the laxity of the unions with respect to the welfare of ex-staff was the non-payment of 2013 bulk rent, transfer transport allowances, medical benefits and others across the zones. It is instructive to direct such complaints to NELCOM instead of BPE. However, how much pressure did the two unions exert on NELMCO which is the entity responsible for settling all the liabilities incurred by Distribution Companies before privatisation to commence immediate payment three years on? Those who it seemed buried their placentas at the union secretariat in Lagos or elsewhere at the zonal secretariats across Nigeria should explain the rationale behind the muteness in the face of unpaid entitlements already worked for. Does a labourer not deserve his wage? An inspiring story came from an ex-staff, Mr. Victor Oluwulana who commented on his facebook page how those in Ibadan zone employed the services of a lawyer to compel NELMCO to pay their 2013 bulk rent after the national and zonal union officials abandoned them to their fate. They were paid after a while without any input from any union leaders. This story is verifiable. Those who did not receive theirs should as well tow this productive line of action.

5.1 ZONAL LETTERS OF COMPLAINT TO BPE

With the locking up of BPE by the enumerators and the resolution between them and BPE that an official letter of complaint should be sent to BPE by the latter on issues of unpaid entitlements raised, there was no way one letter from Kaduna would have addressed the peculiar problems of every zone squarely. After thorough analysis of the Severance Advice of both enumerators and other staff of Kaduna zone, the forum felt all ex-staff were short paid and should be carried along. In fact, for ease of administration, convenience, management of issues and people, it was the candid view of this forum that every zone should forward a jointly signed letter reminiscent of the one we did to the BPE. This idea was conveyed to the people I mentioned their names in 3.1 above including those from Ikeja, Jos, Benin, Port Harcourt and Enugu Zones who I have adduced the reason for not divulging their names. At the end, we will all find a common ground to jointly push our demands to the next level.

6.1 THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO A COIN

You cannot take it away from those who it seemed their placentas were buried at the union secretariat in Lagos or elsewhere at the zonal secretariats across Nigeria to see things differently. Despite drowning in the endless ocean of unemployment for the past three years, they still have cause to glorify the union hoping that perhaps miracle will come from them. It is important to reiterate that even in Kaduna; some elements (ex-staff) have gone out to grant press conferences disassociating themselves from the forum. If this can happen in Kaduna, one wonders what could happen in other zones. After his bid to become the NLC President failed in March, 2015, Joe Ajaero Support group echoed the words of Martin Luther –King jnr. on their facebook “Our lives begin to end the moment we become silent about things that matter.” For their group, it is their birth right to protest injustice done while the forum is branded a toothless bulldog. 

7.1 A BUNDLE OF BROOM CANNOT BE BROKEN

One finger cannot remove mice from the hair. We must be resolute, united and patient. We must stand firm and remain unshaken despite all odds. Like a bundle of broom, there must be unity of purpose for us to achieve our desired objectives. It was on this note that the forum urges you to keep on keeping on. 

Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

For: PHCN STAFF FORUM, Kaduna

RE: EX PHCN STAFF CALL ON EFCC TO SHUN GROUP CLAIMING TO REPRESENT THEM

The attention of PHCN STAFF FORUM, Kaduna has been drawn to a press conference granted by a group of idle minded fellows and attention seekers copiously produced on an online news platform: Authentic News Daily, distancing themselves from the activities and actions taken by our trail-blazing forum on the petition sent to the Economic Crimes and Financial Commission (EFCC) concerning the unauthorised deduction of 7.7 billion (2%) from Severance Benefit of our members. It reads, in part, “ex staff of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) in Kaduna have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to ignore a petition by a group that is parading itself as the PHCN Staff Forum, which is requesting for investigation into the deductions done by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Senior Staff Association and Allied Companies (SSAEAC). The ex-staff in a letter dated November 18, 2016, jointly signed by one Ishaya Marcus and Umar Nuhu and addressed to the EFCC Chairman, which was received and acknowledged by the commission on November 21, described the petition as baseless, and one that can further delay the receipt of their outstanding benefits, which the unions are fighting to see materialise. The demand for the refund of 2% union dues is unreasonable and selfish.
We would have ignored the ranting of this inconsequential group for its lack of content and merit save for the fact that keeping mute in the face of this crass innuendo might connote conceding to the blatant lies spewed by this band. It must be rightly placed in the context of the press conference granted by these elements that there is no direct correlation between light and darkness. They purposely refused to address the issues raised in the petition sent to EFCC by the forum because they lack better argument and foresight. Instead they deliberately chose to flimflam and whip up unnecessary sentiments. At no time did the illiterates seen reading prepared speech subscribe to our membership. They have no accommodation in the process of our noble cause. In their state of amnesia, they ignorantly described the petition sent by the forum as baseless, and one that can further delay the receipt of their outstanding benefits, which the unions are fighting to see materialise. This is completely laughable. Nothing too is further from the truth. They have only succeeded in being smart by half and telling some ex-staff what they would momentarily want to hear.
All the ex-staff of PHCN in Kaduna and other zones are hereby informed that, the representatives of the forum visited BPE on 23rd November where an official letter demanding for the full payment of the shortfall observed in the payment of Severance Benefits and other entitlements of ex-staff was submitted. The letter among others gave a 14 day ultimatum to BPE to set machinery in motion to ensure that our demands are met. The obvious land mines laid by the unions to frustrate the demands of the forum and payment of entitlements of ex-staff by compelling BPE to direct every issues arising therefrom to the unions were safely detonated. The forum awaits BPE’s response.  A BPE official who pleaded anonymity revealed that the only delay which could hamper the payment of our remaining entitlements especially the 16 months arrears might be the fact that the National Council on Privatisation which is saddled with the responsibility of approval of payments has not been constituted. One wonders were these folks got the myopic idea that the petition on the unauthorised deduction of 7.7 billion sent to EFCC hampers unpaid entitlements. Is BPE now the same with EFCC?

We are glad to inform the general public and the unfortunate wailing wailers that the petition sent to EFCC by the forum is getting the desired attention and yielding fruitful results. The wind has blown and everybody can now see the chicken’s rump. The National, Zonal and State officers of NUEE/SSAEC are edgy and in state of perpetual apprehension having vividly seen the manacles hovering. In fact, they have come to the sudden realisation of the impending doom and an end to an era of ineffective leadership. The incontrovertible truth was that officials of NUEE/SSAEC are running from pillar to post in search of solutions. THEY WILL NEVER FIND ONE UNTIL THEY REFUND IN FULL ALL THAT THEY OWE ALL THE EX-STAFF INCLUDING THESE INFANTS who granted the press conference. Conscripting a people bereft of knowledge, ideas and wisdom: those who we all know their antecedents and little worth even when we were in the service of PHCN Kaduna Zone as a front to prosecute this war is a hard sell.  The forum has it on good authority that the whole entitlement of ex-staff was appropriated in 2013. Question: What stopped the payments of the remaining entitlements as captured in the entire Severance Package three years after only one item was paid? While the unions feast on the huge deduction made from our collective sweat and globe-trot at the expense of ex-staff, various problems arising from the payment of staff entitlements have been left to those concerned to sort them out individually. 

Those who claimed to have sent a letter to EFCC should brandish the acknowledgment copy as is the tradition of this forum. It makes common sense. These people have lost touch with the reality of life. The forum’s alignment with the anti-corruption drive of this administration must have jolted them to their marrow. In their witlessness, they asserted that “Union dues have been in existence since inception of trade unions and shall continue to exist as long as unions exist. There is nowhere in the world where an individual or group of individuals of any union who were retired, disengaged or voluntarily exited the union come back to demand for ‘profit on investment’ as they called it.”  The forum begs to differ from this archaic belief and tradition. If the union is not a cooperative society where members demand for profit/dividend annually, then what is it? A Santa Claus for union officials or conduit pipe for fleecing members? The era of impunity and financial rascality is over! Here comes a new dawn of change.

As peoples’ faces differ so are their understandings. The forum will no longer waste time arguing with these ignoramuses on the extinction of unions after payment of Severance Benefits because they are those described as who do not know; still they do not want to know. They falsely added that, “the calculation of staff final entitlement was not shrouded in secrecy as the parameters used as the computation of severance was arrived at by the committee set up by the Federal Government which included stakeholders from BPE, PHCN, Ministry of Power, Ministry of Labour, three in-house unions and the EFCC.” Question: who among the ex-staff including these infants has seen it? Why was it not attached like the Severance Pay Advise?  It is the absolute right of the forum or any other ex-staff to raise questions on his entitlements, on how 7.7 billion deduction and others were spent. Nobody, not even these infants can stop the forum. The forum has refused to take the cowardly role of a sheep which kept mute as it is led to the slaughter slab. It stands to demystify this old deceptive order. A servant is not greater than his master but the reverse is the case in the two unions where ordinary employees arrogate upon themselves the toga of masters. With the resolve of the forum, stringent steps and measures taken so far, the repressive old tradition has come crashing. Let the message reverberate in the ears of officials of both NUEE/SSAEC that the day of reckoning is  near, very near. Any attempt to frustrate efforts aimed at ensuring the refund of the 7.7 billion, any attempt to frustrate enthronement of accountability on how the 7.7 billion was expended, any attempt to frustrate investigation of the entire processes leading to the payment of Severance Benefits of ex-staff or anyone who lined his private pockets with benefits of ex-staff should be ready to contend with the forces, wrath and consequences of the law.

After various failed attempts to intimidate, harass, distract and divide us failed, deceiving the public by hiding behind the potency of the media to churn out blatant lies will fail woefully also because the media is not dumb like them. The media has a constitutional responsibility to bring to account actions of governments and groups including the two unions. This is exactly what we have chosen to do. What head or tail could one make out of the antics of a famished group standing against a moving process beneficial to them if not for the fact that they sheepishly preferred to. The worst form of treachery takes place when one foolishly chooses to constitute a standard against action beneficial to one. Let it be on record that the operational latitude for any group irrespective of mission is endless. We therefore do not inhibit any group from lawful assembly. No group should either attempt to blackmail or gag us too in any form or guise. The forum has happily chosen to trouble shoot, reveal, disclose, compel actions and identify the hidden truth and facts of the withheld and unpaid entitlements for the special delight of ex-staff. The rod will not be spared to spoil the child. THE FORUM IS NOT RESTING ON ITS OARS UNTILL THE 7.7 BILLION UNAUTHORISED DEDUCTION IS REFUNDED WHILE ENSURING THAT OTHER REMAINING BENEFITS ARE PAID TO ALL. For us in the forum, we have totally embraced change and change must also begin with the unions. Finally, the sky is capacious and capable of accommodating any flying bird. We are the light and when light appears, darkness as usual flees!

Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

For:  PHCN STAFF FORUM, Kaduna

Biafra: Court refuses Kanu’s bail application

A Federal High Court in Abuja today refused the bail application by the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu an three others.

Justice Binta Nyako ruled that the offences for which the defendants are being charged border on treasonable felony and attempted terrorism.

Kanu was charged alongside Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi on charges of treasonable felony and terrorism.

In the fresh 11-count charges, they were also accused of belonging to an illegal society and operating an unlicensed radio station.

Data tax raise: Why Senate, Presidency stopped NCC

Twenty hours to the official take off of the new data tariff regime, the Senate and  the Presidency yesterday ordered the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to immediately suspend the policy.

The suspension order came after the country’s biggest service provider, MTN, had sent messages to its customers informing them of the impending rate hike effective  from December 1, 2016.

But the upper legislative chamber resolved yesterday to commence a comprehensive investigation into allegations of service failures in the operation of the service providers.

It directed its Committee on Communications to invite the NCC leadership, telecoms operators and other relevant stakeholders in the telecommunications sector and report back within one week.

The Senate’s position followed a motion of urgent national importance moved by the Deputy Senate Leader, Bala Na’Allah (APC, Kebbi South), who condemned the planned data tariff hike, saying it would cause serious hardship on ordinary Nigerians.

Similarly, Solomon Adeola (APC, Lagos West), in his contribution to debate on the matter, declared the policy as not only “unholy”, but also “unfriendly”.

“We are up to the task and I can assure the Senate that we will swing into action immediately. We will invite all the necessary agencies involved in this policy that is unholy and unfriendly and get back to the Senate unfailingly on Tuesday,” he said.

Speaking on the motion, Senate President, Bukola Saraki, lampooned NCC for not doing enough consultation before initiating the policy. He also asked the committee to investigate allegations of non-compliance to regulations against mobile operators.

Meanwhile the Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, denied the Federal Government approved the NCC data tariff increase.

Speaking on Raypower’s programme ‘Fact File’ on Wednesday, Shittu said “logistics” may have informed NCC’s decision.

“But I want to say that I was not privy to it, I was not party to it. Government never gave any such instruction and as the representative of the people, it has never done that; that the voice of Nigerians must not be muscled.

“This government came into the democratic process and it has a duty to continue to protect the interest of Nigerians and I can assure you, we will do that and we will do the needful in protecting the rights and privileges of Nigerians.”

However, despite denying it ever issued such directives, investigations by Daily Sun revealed that the commission actually issued the directives to all the telecoms operators across the country.

In one of the letters jointly signed by Josephine Amuwo and Yetunde Akinloye, Director, Policy Competition and Economic Analysis and Head of Regulatory Affairs Services respectively, the NCC emphasised that the effective interim price floor is December 1 and that customers should not be automatically migrated to pay-as-you-go and that all service providers should ensure that tariff for data services reflects the determination.

In a statement signed by the Commission’s Public Affairs Director, Mr. Tony Ojobo, suspending the directive yesterday on data segment price floor, it clarified that the price floor was not an increase in price but a regulatory safeguard put in place by the telecommunications regulator to check anti-competitive practices by dominant operators.

Meanwhile, Nigerians have described the Federal Government’s reversal of the planned data raise by NCC as a welcome development that would go a long way in further boosting the economy.

Speaking to Daily Sun on phone, the Lagos State Chairman of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Deji Elumoye, said the reversal was a relief and a step in the right direction because service delivery has never been commensurate with the money paid by subscribers.

“It became worrisome when the messages were sent that data rate would be increased from today but this data pricing suspension is quite good. I should, however, advise that the NCC and telecoms operators should never contemplate tariff increase for now because of the state of the economy,” he said.

Also speaking, Executive Secretary of Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), Mr. Ajibola Olude, noted that NCC has done well by reversing itself but that it still needs to go back to the drawing board to work out the best possible increase in data service rate.

“I think NCC should be applauded for being sensitive to the yearnings of Nigerian subscribers. NCC has to go back to get it right. Like two months ago, the Federal Government hiked the prices of petroleum products and that in turn affected the operators because they have to power their generators and they would also need to cover their overhead cost,” he said.

A telecoms subscriber, Mr. Adesope Joseph, disclosed that at the rate the Buhari  administration is going, the increase in data tariff at this time of recession was not good enough.

“But the suspension came as a relief to Nigerians especially the youths who engage in social media activities. It will also allow people to use their data unhindered and that would increase the country’s  GDP,” he said.

However, in his comment condemning the planned hike, Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, said the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) Federal Government’s plan was to tax Nigerians to death, calling on Nigerians to resist any attempt to impose new tax on them.

The governor described the Federal Government’s plan to increase the cost of data as wicked, adding that, “most Nigerians are still alive today because they are kept busy by their access to social media. They relieve themselves of the burden of hunger and despair placed on them by the Federal Government’s lack of policy direction by reading news and jokes, chatting with friends, watching comedy movies, etc. Denying them this opportunity through increment in the cost of internet subscription will mean that the Federal Government deliberately wants many Nigerians, especially the youths, to die of depression.”

He hailed the Senate for directing the NCC to suspend the planned increment, saying, “the government must be sensitive to the plight of the people. Today, despite all the taxes and increments in services rendered by Federal Government agencies, minimum wage has remained at N18,000 while millions of jobs have been lost.

Do they want Nigerians to pay with their blood?”

In a release issued in Ado-Ekiti on Wednesday by his Special

Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said, “if the only way the Federal Government believes it can take Nigeria out of recession is to impose obnoxious taxes that will further impoverish the people, it is not being fair to Nigerians.”

Also reacting, the National Association of Telecommunications Subscribers (NATCOMS), in a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its President, Chief Deolu Ogunbanjo, described the NCC directive as “insensitive and callous”.

“We view the directive as insensitive and callous. Since NCC is an agency of the Federal Government, the purported directive is one more design by the government to cast more financial burden on the already depressed citizenry.

“The Communications Service Tax Bill, which proposes to impose a monthly Communication Service Tax of 9 per cent on all electronic communication services, which include voice calls, SMS, MMS and data usage is still before the National Assembly.

“There has been a lot of hue and cry against the bill by the citizens. The NCC directive is therefore nothing but a huge effort aimed at enforcing the obnoxious provisions of the bill through the back door.

“The inimical directive, if implemented, has grave and far reaching consequences as the gains of telecommunication revolution we have made so far will be eroded,” he said.

The NATCOMS boss noted that if the planned increment is not put on hold, Nigeria’s desire to achieve 30 per cent broadband internet  penetration by 2018, which at the moment stands at 13 per cent, will not be realistic.

According to him, the already staggering unemployment situation in the country would be worsened as a lot of businesses that depend on data and internet connectivity for service delivery would be forced to close up.

“This is a retreat to pre -2001 era. Within the current suffocating economic situation in the country where prices of goods and services go up everyday and thereby undermining the people’s standard of living, the directive is just a mirror of an inconsiderate policy maker.

“NCC did not do due-diligence and did not carry out any consultation whatsoever, through any of their consumers engagement platforms like the NCC Telecoms Consumer-Parliament, the NCC Consumer Outreach Programme and the NCC Consumer Town Hall Meeting before this insensitive anti-consumer,” he said.

He pointed out that telecom bigwigs like MTN and Etisalat had already sent out millions of text messages to their customers, informing them of the NCC data increase directive.

He emphasised that data or internet accessibility means more engagements for the youths who use data for software programming and to develop applications.

“With what the NCC has done, these young minds, who develop apps will be slowed down and be limited. Data/internet service is the ‘petrol’ of all electronic driven businesses, which means that the cost of doing business will also increase.

“The directive is ill-advised, illegal and parades all features of economic adversity and should be withdrawn forthwith,” he said.

FORUM GIVES BPE ULIMATUM TO SETTLE ALL OUTSTANDING SEVERANCE BENEFITS

PHCN STAFF FORUM, Kaduna has officially given the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) fourteen days ultimatum to pay all the short fall observed in the administration of Severance Benefits of their members and other withheld entitlements as prescribed in Hassan Summonu’s Report. This was contained in a letter dated November, 18, jointly signed by the Coordinator Stanley Ilumah, Sunday Onyemaechi Eze and Eneye Etudaiye on behalf of the forum which was addressed to the Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and received November, 23.
The forum also passed a vote of NO CONFIDENCE on both NUEE/SSAEC. Consequently, the Bureau was adviced to desist from dealing with the above unions on their behalf on the above issue or any others that bother on their welfare except with their express permission emphasising once more that they have ceased to be members of NUEE/SSAEC by virtue of their disengagement from the service of PHCN.
Prominent in the letter also are demands for immediate payment of the following abandoned entitlements: 7.5% Employer/Federal government pension counterpart fund, 10% equity share meant for staff of PHCN, Disengagement Training Allowance, 16 months outstanding arrears and 13 months outstanding arrears (the 13 months arrears was peculiar and accrued to staff of Kaduna Zone only owing to the fact that the company was privatised one year after others across the nation).

BELOW IS THE FULL TEXT OF THE LETTER AS EXCLUSIVELY OBTAINED BY thenewinsightng.blogspot.com.

1.0 BACKGROUND
1.1 *We, the above named Registered Forum, stands in the gap to defend and propagate the interest of our members who were disengaged from the services of both Power Holding Company of Nigeria (Kaduna Distribution Company) and Kaduna Electric, covering Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi States. *
1.2 *The Director-General is invited to know that in 2013 when the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) issued Severance Pay Advice/ Payment of Terminal Benefit to the over 50,000 NEPA/PHCN staff across the nation, it was observed that the exact years of service put by most if not all staff who are currently our members under the then Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company did not count in the final computation of their Terminal Benefits.*
1.3 *The complaint was at that time and subsequently brought to the attention of the two in-house unions namely: NUEE/SSAEC who were the principal negotiators and representatives of the entire work force before the disengagement of our members but no concerted effort at genuinely resolving the issue was made even as we write.*
1.4 *Other benefits as captured in Summonu’s Report which formed part of the basis for severance of our members who were then staff of Kaduna Electric but were abandoned three years on includes:*
(a) 7.5% Employer/Federal government pension counterpart fund
(b) 10% equity share meant for staff of PHCN
(c) Disengagement Training Allowance
(d) 16 months outstanding arrears
(e) 13 months outstanding arrears (the 13 months arrears was peculiar and accrued to staff of Kaduna Zone only owing to the fact that the company was privatised one year after others across the nation)

2.0 THE SPIRIT OF PHCN CONDITION OF SERVICE, 2010

2.1 *Section 13.2.20 of the PHCN Condition of Service 2010 states inter alia, “where an employee holding a temporary or contract appointment transfers to a permanent one, the period during which he was on such an appointment will count in full for the purpose of calculating his pension and gratuity provided that he did not receive any extra pay in the form of contract gratuity while holding the temporary appointment.” The above provision is weighty enough for the unions in the power sector to have prevailed on BPE and others responsible for the computation of the entitlements of our members to do the needful but that opportunity was denied.* 

3.0 CESSATION OF MEMBERSIP OF NUEE/SSAEC

3.1 *You may wish to know also that the membership of our members who were staff to the privatised Kaduna Distribution Company and members of NUEE/SSAEC automatically ceased on the 30th day of June, 2012 being the terminal date of payment of benefit of staff, as captured in Severance Benefit Advice (Statement of Final Claims), dated 10th June 2013, signaling final exit of the employees’ from union activities and end of the employees’ appointment with the former PHCN Management and the Unions (NUEE/SSA) respectively. 

3.2 *The end of unionsim in the pre-privatised power sector was solemnly celebrated between 30th November- 4th December, 2014 when Kaduna zone which was the last company to be sold was handed over to the new owners. The above exercise resulted to the issuance of Letters of Disengagement from Service by PHCN Management to our members, just as it was done nationwide. 

4.0 VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE

4.1 *It is evident from the above that our members are not employees of any sector in the power industry thus; have ceased from enjoying the benefit of membership of either NUEE or SSAEC. It was on this premise that we inform you that our members do not have implicit confidence in the two in-house unions in the power sector namely: NUEE/SSAEC at the moment. Consequently, we implore your good office to desist from dealing with them on our behalf and on the above issues or any other that bother on our welfare except with our express permission.*

5.0 PURPOSE OF THIS LETTER

5.1 *The purpose of this letter is to implore the Director General of BPE to put in place immediate machinery aimed at working out re-imbursement in the observed short fall in the payment of Severance Package and the above benefits as contained in items a, b, c, d of 1.4 to our members under Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company covering, Kaduna, Zamfara, Sokoto and Kebbi States.*

6.0 OUR CONVINCTION

6.1. *It is our conviction that our members who were employees of the then PHCN/Kaduna Electric discharged their responsibilities diligently at that time in accordance with the PHCN condition of Service, 2010. Therefore, a labourer deserves his wage and terminal benefits in full.*

7.0 SUMMARY AND PRAYER

You are graciously entreated to use your good office to: 

7.1 Ascertain whether the years of service put by our members counted in the computation of their Severance Benefits in accordance with PHCN condition of Service 2010 and Summonu’s Report.

7.2 Release forthwith the Template deployed in the computation of the Severance Benefits of our members to ascertain if it reflected the overall interest of all.

7.3 Determine whether payment of our members possibly from 2007-2012 or from any other year reflects the decisions in Summonu’s Report and the provision of section 13.2.20 of PHCN Condition of Service, 2010.

7.4 Establish whether any other ex-PHCN staff benefited from their entitlements in accordance with their years of service except our members.

7.5 Give all our members the opportunity of further verification to ascertain the above claims.

7.6 Immediately arrange for payment of items a, b, c, d in 1.4 above, the short fall and other outstanding benefits if any.

7.7 Hence forth relate with this Forum in addressing the issues afore stated

*TAKE NOTICE* that, if by the close of business on 12th December, 2016, our demands are not acceded to; we shall be compelled to seek appropriate redress without further recourse to you. This is respectfully submitted for your information and further necessary action. Kindly accept the assurances of our most humble and best regards.* 

STATEMENT ISSUED BY PHCN STAFF FORUM, KADUNA ON THE HIJACK OF FORMS MEANT FOR SHORT PAYMENT OF THE SEVERANCE BENEFIT OF EX--PHCN STAFF BY UNION OFFICIALS

Dear Comrades, the attention of PHCN STAFF FORUM, Kaduna has been drawn to the news making the rounds that some self-acclaimed, relevance-seeking leaders of some unions in the power sector have roguishly hijacked the process in an attempt to assert leadership role on the issuance of forms meant for capturing staff who were short-paid at the time of Severance. When the forms were eventually handed over to them, they designed an addition to perfect their sinister motives. It was reliably gathered that these so called union leaders were the ones who caused the stoppage of the issuance of the forms which led to the crisis in Abuja in the first place.

The addition of the second form calls for urgent interrogation. We have it on good authority that these people have a different agenda from ours. These elements have something up their sleeves. If these people knew what leadership entails and had lived up to their responsibilities, these forms would have been sent ab-initio to every zones for our people to fill instead of allowing us to take risk, waste time, energy and resources only for some irrelevant group to come up with claim of direction and leadership. Did any union leaders inform anybody throughout the zones via a circular, phone call or SMS about this verification? Where were they three years ago when in their very kporo kporo eyes an injustice of this magnitude was perpetrated against our people?

Comrades, the requiem for the extinction of unions in the pre-privatised power sector was solemnly celebrated at the hand-over of Kaduna zone which was the last company to be sold to the new owners in December, 2014. You do not put new wine in old bottle. They should find a new name in the post-privatised power sector and open a fresh page of unionism if they choose with the new companies. It is laughable for the union to shamelessly arrogate unto themselves now the leadership role of a people who are no longer employees of the sector under review or impose membership on people who the union deserted even when they were in service. The membership of over 50,000 disengaged staff of PHCN throughout Nigeria to any union ceased between 2013 -2014 except for those qualified for pension. These people have put their all to the service of Nigeria and are eminently qualified to join the NPU.
After a cursory look at the Severance Advice issued by BPE, one has every cause to query it. It must be stated clearly here that the issue of short payment generally affected all thus the form issued is no longer for ENUMERATORS only. Every ex-staff of PHCN is by this medium enjoined to check his or her Severance Advice issued by BPE and cross check if the year of computation corresponds with his or her first year of employment. Within the bio-data area, one should also check if the year of employment was captured accordingly. Therefore, if your year of employment was 1980, 1990, 2001 as the case may be and your computation starts from 2007, you deserve an answer as to why the computation did not start from the year you are employed.

Dear Comrades, we wish to state categorically clear that, “the days of   deception are over. The empire of the unions built on sinking sand is fast collapsing before the very eyes of those who like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar challenged the omnipotence of God. We have left Egypt, now we abode in Hephzibah. This is a new dawn, this is time of and for change and we can on our own stand and fight for our rights.” The Forum wishes to assure all ex-staff that no stone will be left unturned this time around as nobody; nobody will be left out in this new process. Never again will some people posing as leaders deceive us. We have taken our destinies in our hands and the bull by the horns. Our hands are placed on the plough and there is no going back. We are confident of victory at last. The forum is keenly watching and monitoring events closely. Members who were not able to go to Abuja but have got forms from these people in various zones are urged to COMFORTABLY fill them accordingly but be on red alert too as to the rationale behind the second one. The forum is not resting on its oars to ensure that everybody who was short paid gets his balance. The tortoise was asked: how many times would you be deceived before you learn? We shall continue to keep you posted. Aluta Continua!

DRAMA AS BPE AND EX- PHCN STAFF DISAGREE ON SHORT PAYMENT OF SEVERANCE BENEFIT

The Bureau of Public Enterprisee will never forget November 3, 4 and 5 in a hurry. It was drama of some sort as ex-staff of PHCN who came in droves across the nation to the Bureau of Public Enterprise to fill a form which they said was issued to correct the anomalies noticed as a result of shortfall in computation of their Severance Benefits were denied having access to the the said forms. Officials of BPE who addressed the ex-staff on the matter denied issuing any forms to ex-staff claiming that they only verified those who were not paid at all across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. The officials claimed that if any verification is to be carried out at all, adverts to that effect will be placed in the media as was the tradition. They however presented a different form urging ex-staff to fill and state the nature of their individual complaints.
This irked the already enraged ex-staff who shouted and protested what they call a hidden agenda orchestrated by BPE to deny them of their entitlements and rights three years after they shortfall was noticed. They affirmed that their colleagues filled a different form the previous days querying why they were issued a different one altogether. The ex-staff insisted that the right must be done by BPE. As tempers begin to rise leading to the locking up of and blockage of the entrance of BPE, solidarity songs rented the air. Sensing imminent breakdown of law and order, some officials of the agency came forward once again to address the ex-staff who vowed that no business goes on in BPE if their demands are not met.  According to Dickson Ekwakili an ex-staff who had served eleven years in Kaduna Zone said we are Nigerians and we deserve better treatment.
Five leaders namely:  Mathew Aibola Ojo (Ikeja), Kem Tony Anakwe (Jos), Sunday Onyemaechi Eze (Kaduna) and Dickson Ekwakili (Kaduna) were eventually nominated to meet with some senior management staff of BPE to resolve the contending issues as confirmed information filtered in that the DG has directed a female Director to see to the amicable resolution of the issue. An official whose department was in-charge of the issuance of the form in BPE evaded questions on why the issuance of forms was abruptly stopped even though information at the disposal of ex-staff says that the filling of the form ends on 4th November, 2016. The ex-staff bared their minds on the nonchalant attitude of BPE officials who they accused of hidden agenda and bringing out the beast in them. At the end of the meeting, it was agreed that forms be issued to about 391 ex-staff of PHCN present the first day. The meeting also extended the exercise for another one week to enable others on their way to participate while ex-staff were implored to send a formal complaint on the issue to BPE. It was not clear whether BPE will adhere to the terms of the resolution as there are indications that it only bended backward to allow peace to rein.
Addressing the media Sunday Onyemaechi Eze, from Kaduna Distribution Zone said, the ex-staff of the then NEPA/PHCN discharged their responsibilities diligently in accordance with the PHCN condition of Service, 2010. At the time of the issuance of Severance Pay Advice/ Payment of Terminal Benefit to the over 50,000 NEPA/PHCN staff across the nation by BPE, it was observed that the exact years of service put by many staff  did not count in the final computation of their Terminal Benefit. In fact, the computation of the entitlements of almost if not all the staff as reflected in the Severance Pay Advice issued by the Bureau of Public Enterprise is in conflict with the year of employment of ex-staff. For instance, those who were employed between year 2001-2003 had their entitlements computed from year 2007-2012 instead of 2001-2012.  On his part, Mathew Ajibola Ojo of Ikeja Distribution Zone stated that the complaint was brought to the attention of the two in-house house unions namely: NUEE/SSAEC which were the principal negotiators and representatives of the entire work force but no concerted effort was made to correct the anomaly.
Section 13.2.20 of the PHCN Condition of Service 2010 states inter alia, “where an employee holding a temporary or contract appointment transfers to a permanent one, the period during which he was on such an appointment will count in full for the purpose of calculating his pension and gratuity provided that he did not receive any extra pay in the form of contract gratuity while holding the temporary appointment.”  The above provision is weighty enough for the unions in the power sector to have prevailed on BPE and others responsible for the computation of the entitlements of the ex- staff of PHCN to do the needful but that opportunity was denied.
An official of BPE who does not want his name in print reliably informed thenewinsightng that some elements in BPE working in cohort with union leaders have short changed staff of privatised agencies of government. At a time president Buhari's anti-corruption drive is gathering momentum,  the auspicious time to fight on is now, said the BPE official.
In view of this, the ex-staff calls on the government and well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on BPE and stakeholders in the power sector to first ascertain whether the years of service put by ex-staff counted in the computation of their Severance Benefits in accordance with PHCN condition of Service 2010 and Summonu’s Report. Second, critically look into the template used in the computation of ex-staff Severance Benefits which was shrouded in secrecy to ascertain if it reflected the actual entitlement and the overall interest of the entire staff. Third, determine whether payment of ex-staff from 2007-2012 or any other years different from year of engagement negates the provision of section 13.2.20 of PHCN Condition of Service 2010. Fourth, determine whether some ex-PHCN staff benefited from their entitlements in accordance with PHCN Condition of Service 2010 and their years of service taken into account while others did not. Finally, give all the ex-staff the opportunity of verification to ascertain the above claims.

HAVE THINGS FALLEN APART IN APC?

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre; the falcon cannot hear the falconer; things fall apart; the centre cannot hold…” - The second Coming
What else can aptly situate the current embarrassing state of affairs in the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC)? After one year of enduring and concealing the much acclaimed unity, the reality of discontent and commotion within the party is here with us. The obvious cracks in the party morphed into a wide range of animosities with a call for the resignation of the Chairman of APC Chief John Odigie Oyegun by the national leader, Jagaban Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Tinubu’s media aide Segun Adegbenro in a media statement to that effect upbraided and accused Oyegun of sabotaging the will of democracy in Ondo state by overriding the decision of the appeal panel which recommended a fresh governorship primary following investigations into allegations of doctored delegates’ lists by some candidates. It would be recalled that Tinubu’s anointed candidate Olusegun Abraham lost out in that primary.
The voluminous statement reads in part, “…Oyegun’s comportment regarding the Ondo State primary will become the textbook definition of political treachery and malfeasance of the basest order… There exists a regressive element in the party that cares nothing for the progressive ideas upon which this party was founded. They joined the APC because it was the best ride available at the time… These people did little to build the party but now will do much to wreck it. Such a man is Oyegun and those who conspired with him to sabotage justice and democracy in Ondo. Our party was to stand for change. Oyegun and his fellows seem to be on a different wave length. They are the cohort of Un-change… Oyegun has revealed his team’s game plan: It is the destruction of progressive politics and governance on behalf of the people. As party chairman, Oyegun was supposed to protect our internal processes and be an impartial arbiter, a person in whom all had confidence. Instead, he donned the garment of a confident man, duping the NWC, the party, and INEC in one fell blow. He has robbed APC members in Ondo State of the chance to pick in a fair manner who they believe is the best candidate… Much is at stake. On the chopping block lies the future of the political party in which the majority of voters had placed their confidence. To rescue the party, Oyegun must go.”  Have things fallen apart in APC?
Media reports had earlier suggested a strained relationship between Tinubu and the presidency. Two instances will suffice: First, Tinubu was away at the grand finale of APC governorship campaign in Edo state. Second, at the commissioning of projects to mark Ogun at 40 graced by the president, he was conspicuously absent. The press statement which mentioned Oyegun’s name twenty-five times was a long awaited sucker-punch delivered from Tinubu’s camp. In short, the aftermath of Ondo APC primary election had eventually turned out a convenient platform to vent accumulated grievances carefully concealed under-belly. Jagaban has laid it bared for all to see and judge. The call for the resignation of the Chairman of the party is a clear cut suggestion that APC like the famous Titanic is heading for the rocks. Tinubu factor was a key magic wand for APC which cannot be wished away wherever and whenever 2015 election victory songs are rendered. The matter has come to a close for Bola Ahmed Tinubu who was celebrated even by president Muhammadu Buhari for deploying his political arsenal and sagacity to demolish the political umbrellas of PDP to accuse the Chairman of wrong doings. Before now the Deputy Publicity Secretary of APC Timi Frank had raised concerns about the brewing hostilities in the party. Political pundits had also concluded that it was a matter of time before the scourge suffered by PDP consumes the APC. It was simply a time bomb waiting to explode.
Political party is defined as a voluntary association organised by persons bound  with common interest or aim which seek to acquire or retain power through the election of its candidate into public office.  An American political scientist Anthony Downs wrote: “A political party is a team of men seeking to control the governing apparatus by gaining office in a duly constituted election.” In the same vein, an Italian Scholar Giovanni Sartori defined political party as “any political group identified by an official label that presents at elections, and is capable of placing through elections, candidates for public office.” The first definition of political party emphasised “common interest” while the other two accentuated “control and participation” in elective processes to gain public offices. The last two definitions are common features of Nigerian political parties with no common interest or aim as a factor. Political parties are a conglomeration of strange bed fellows propelled by the avarice for grabbing power at the centre, state or local levels. Various contending interest of gladiators is the meeting point in politics. The enemies of yester years could be clinging glasses together tomorrow.  A man can win election on a political platform today, leaves for another tomorrow and continues on an unending journey of political prostitution. Most political parties lack discipline and defined canons. Parties with any ideology at all abandon it half way as those at the helm circumvent rules and deploy the perks of office to feather their political nests. The Peoples’ Democratic Party is a text book definition of absolute lack of similar beliefs and defined ideology. After bearing the incessant flagrant abuse of internal democracy, institutionlisation of anti-democratic precedents and the overbearing attitudes of some party chieftains, the house caved in before 2015 general elections. The PDP is currently writhing in pain and anguish for that political hara-kiri.
The usual stand-offs between the god-father and godson immediately after elections since 1999 was a known fact to the likes of Tinubu. So also do the studies of betrayal as an element in contemporary politics stand out across the globe. After elections, absolute powers conferred on office holders tend to corrupt absolutely. Those who stood on the shoulders of some giants: godfathers and political parties to win elections lock horns and turn out overnight adversaries over choice of political appointees, balkanisation of state resources and attempt to hijack or control party machineries to service their personal political or business interests. New elements at the corridors of power are recruited while some take it upon themselves to burst and jeopadise existing cordial political relationships. Since 1999, political parties were built on weak and suspicious tripods. The outcome remains breeding ground of mistrust and unwarranted discontents. It stands to be argued that APC was formed with the sole purpose of defeating the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015 general elections. The emergence of the party culminating into the marriage of convenience of three or four political parties did not carefully take into account the peculiar, common interests or aim of stakeholders and political differences of the gladiators before tying the nuptial. This singular slip is a drawback and one sad reminder of a political gamble which will continue to define the peaceful co-existence within the party for a long time to come. Could it be that the All Progressive Congress as it were is headed the same direction like the PDP? All fingers are crossed to see how the party wriggles out of this major internal crisis before it spirals out of hand.

Sunday Onyemaechi Eze, a Media and Communications Specialist is the publisher of thenewinsightng.blogspot.com. He wrote via sunnyeze02@yahoo.com and can be reached on 08060901201,Twitter @thenewinsightng

MOTHER TERESA: A LIFE OF POVERTY, CHASTITY, OBEDIENCE AND JOURNEY TO SAINTHOOD

 “By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”- Mother Teresa

On September 4, all roads led to St. Peter’s Square, Vatican City where His Holiness, Pope Francis after due consideration by the church proclaimed Mother Theresa of Calcutta a Saint. “After due deliberation and frequent prayer for divine assistance, and having sought the counsel of many of our brother bishops, we declare and define Blessed Teresa of Calcutta to be a saint, and we enroll her among the saints, decreeing that she is to be venerated as such by the whole church,” Pope Francis said in Latin. An honour exclusively reserved for those who uniquely served God and humanity with their all. The price for those who according to Saint Paul in 2 Tim 4: 22, “have fought the good fight, have finished the race and have kept faith.” No doubt this world acclaimed papal proclamation came on the hills of her good fight, a good race and a well-kept faith here on earth. Even before her demise she had already carved a niche and earned herself that sobriquet with a dint of her diligence, perseverance and dedication. The world only waited for her transition for that to be accomplished. It was a solemn gathering of the faithfuls with the hosts of heavenly powers in attendance. 

Mother Teresa gave hope to the hopeless, voice to the voiceless and life to the even the “lifeless.” Her works of charity, love for the poor resonates throughout the world and cut across all colours, race, ethnic and religious divides. Her service to humanity broke down barriers and immensely opened up unimaginable frontiers. The lives and times of Mother Theresa was characterised by her un-relentless and unreserved life of giving. In 1928, at the age of 18, Agnes Bojaxhiu set out to become a catholic nun by taking up the cross of Christ, as she forsook the pleasures of the world to serve God and humanity.  She joined the congregation of Sisters of Loreto in Dublin, Ireland where she adopted the name Sister Mary Teresa after Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. One year later in May 1931, Sister Mary Teresa was went to Darjeeling, India, for her novitiate period and afterwards sent to Calcutta, where she was assigned to teach at Saint Mary's High School for girls, dedicated to teaching girls from the city's poorest Bengali families. On May 24, 1937, after taking her Final Profession of Vows to a life of poverty, chastity and obedience, she took on the title of Mother Teresa. Through her kindness, generosity and unfailing commitment to her students’ education, she sought to lead them to a life of devotion to Christ. “Give me the strength to be ever the light of their lives, so that I may lead them at last to you,” she wrote in prayer about her students. She taught in India for 17 years before she experienced a “new calling” in 1946 to devote herself to caring for the sick and poor. The school took off in an open space while the established home for the dying destitute came up in a dilapidated building she convinced the city government to donate to her cause. 

She was the founder of the Order of the Missionaries of Charity, a Roman Catholic congregation of women dedicated to helping the poor. In October 1950, she won canonical recognition for the new congregation, which she founded with only a handful of members most of them former teachers or pupils from St. Mary’s School. Her order established a hospice, centers for the blind, aged and the disabled. In 1971, Mother Teresa opened her first American-based house of charity in New York City. And in the summer of 1982, she secretly went to Beirut, Lebanon, where she crossed between Christian East Beirut and Muslim West Beirut to aid children of both faiths. While there, she also opened Gift of Love, a home to care for those infected with HIV/AIDS.  The charity was considered one of the greatest humanitarians of the 20th century. Over the course of the 1950s and 1960s, she established a leper colony, an orphanage, a nursing home, a family clinic and a string of mobile health clinics. By the time of her death in 1997, the Missionaries of Charity numbered more than 4,000 in addition to thousands more lay volunteers with 610 foundations in 123 countries around the world.

On December 17, 2015, Pope Francis issued a decree which recognised a second miracle attributed to Mother Teresa, paving the way for her to be canonised as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. The miracle involved the healing of Marcilio Andrino, a Brazilian who was diagnosed with a viral brain infection and lapsed into a coma. His wife, family and friends prayed to Mother Teresa, and when the man was brought to the operating room for emergency surgery, he woke up without pain and was cured of his symptoms, according to a statement from the Missionaries of Charity Father. She was awarded the Jewel of India, the highest honor bestowed on Indian civilians, as well as the now-defunct Soviet Union’s Gold Medal of the Soviet Peace Committee. In 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in recognition of her work “in bringing help to suffering humanity.” In 1979 she received the Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian work. She died in September 1997 and was beatified in October 2003. 

The Pope fondly spoke about Mother Teresa’s life of service in the homily thus: “Mother Teresa, in all aspects of her life, was a generous dispenser of divine mercy, making herself available for everyone through her welcome and defense of human life, those unborn and those abandoned and discarded, he said. She bowed down before those who were spent, left to die on the side of the road, seeing in them their God-given dignity. She made her voice heard before the powers of this world, so that they might recognise their guilt for the crime of poverty they created. Mercy was the salt which gave flavor to her work, it was the light which shone in the darkness of the many who no longer had tears to shed for their poverty and suffering adding, may she be your model of holiness.” This woman of virtue was one whose worth is far above rubies. She was a dependable friend and comforter in times of need. The shoulder for the destitutes, the neglected and those abandoned in our society. She was a symbol of humility and an ardent lover of God, the society and her religious calling. Words are not weighty enough to describe Saint Mother Teresa. She was an enigma far beyond human comprehension. This was a compendium of the life and times of a woman of substance whose life of poverty, chastity, obedience and journey to sainthood the world gladly celebrates. It is said that what matters most in the life of a man was not the number of years spent but the lives touched and positive impact made. She was a model of her time and generation including ours. Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Pray for us! 

Eze, a Catholic, Media and Communications Specialist is the publisher of thenewinsightng.blogspot.com

Embattled Boko Haram leader, Shekau, resurfaces in video

The embattled leader of jihadist group Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, resurfaced in a video posted online Sunday, rejecting assertions by the Nigerian army that he had been seriously wounded.

“You have been spreading in the social media that you injured or killed me,” Shekau said in the 40-minute video released on YouTube and dated September 25.

“Oh tyrants, I’m in a happy state, in good health and in safety.”

The Nigerian army said on August 23 that Shekau had been seriously wounded in the shoulder in an air raid in which several commanders were killed.

The army’s claim was bolstered when Boko Haram released a video on September 13 without Shekau in it.

That video, also posted on YouTube, shows an unidentified man who says he is representing Shekau, who had allegedly been ousted by the Islamic State group to which Boko Haram pledged allegiance in March 2015.

Nigerian soldiers, with the support of regional troops, have recaptured swathes of territory lost to the jihadists since they launched a military campaign in February 2014.

The mass kidnapping of schoolgirls from the remote town of Chibok provoked global outrage and brought unprecedented attention to Boko Haram and its bloody quest to create a fundamentalist state in northeastern Nigeria.

AFP

No plans to sell off all national assets, says Udo-Udoma

THE Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma, has assured that the Federal Government has no plans to sell off all national assets to fund the fiscal stimulus strategy.
Udoma gave the clarification in a statement by his Media Adviser, James Akpandem, yesterday, in Abuja.
He said that the primary objective of the government’s fiscal stimulus plan was not to sell off all major critical national assets but to source for immediate funds to get the economy out of recession.
He said the intention of government was just to get enough money to fund the 2016 budget and to put the economy back on the path of recovery.
A report on Freedomonline, a newsblog, stated that the Economic Management Team had been working on a plan to generate and inject large amount of funds, estimated at between 10 billion dollars and 15 billion dollars into the economy.
“This unfortunate scenario has prompted the team to urgently work out a fiscal stimulus plan to generate immediate large injection of funds into the economy,” he said.
He said the plans were to generate funds through asset sales, advance payment for license rounds, infrastructure concessioning and use of recovered funds to reduce the funding gap.
The other option, according to the minister, would have been to source for additional loans, beyond the level of borrowing, already projected for in the 2016 budget.
“This would not be a wise option as it would raise the level of debt service to an unsustainable level,” Udoma said
He also said the government was exploring several options in the asset sales proposal including repurchase options, which would make provision for buy-back of those assets when the situation improved.
The minister said the country’s economy might not have gone into recession but for the drastic fall in oil production levels and disruptions caused by oil pipeline vandalism.
Udoma said the government appreciated that the downturn in the economy had brought hardship to the people, adding that government was committed to redressing the situation.
“Our goal is to unlock the economic potential of the non-oil and high-employment sectors. This is to achieve a sustainable inclusive growth that will ensure that the majority of Nigerians become more productive, thereby reducing poverty.
“We are deliberately working towards diversifying the economy by ensuring that the non-oil sector drives the economy, because this is the sector that contributes most to GDP,” Udoma said.
Dailysun

Grumbling in FRSC over promotions

Crisis is brewing at the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) over allegation of ‘favouritism’ and ‘marginalization’ of some officers in its ongoing promotion exercise.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that the FRSC invited 57 officers for the 2016 promotion exercise scheduled to commence today in Enugu. But some senior officers of the Corps have petitioned the National Security Adviser, accusing the management of ‘bias’ against officers from the North in the exercise.

A copy of the petition signed by a group of ‘Concerned Officers’ sighted by Daily Trust on Sunday argued that “the FRSC released a timetable for 2016 promotion exercise under an administrative instruction referenced FRSC/HQ/CS/516Vol.2/03 dated 16 September, 2016 and many of us from the North are feeling short-changed because we were not invited for the exercise after waiting for more than 10 years on one rank.
“The list showed that only southerners were favoured to write the exams even though many of us from the North have satisfied the needed requirement for the exercise. For example, out of a total number of 28 level 15 officers, who were called to be promoted to level 16 (CC-ACM), only three are from the North - Kano, Kebbi and Benue. Again, out of 25 level 14 officers (DCC_CC) invited for the exercise, only one is from the North-Adamawa.”
The list obtained by Daily Trust on Sunday indicates that Ondo State had the highest with number officers invited for promotion, while no one was invited from 12 northern states.

From the North, Kogi State has two officers invited. Other northern states with one officers each are; Benue- S.A. Ajenge (15-16), Kebbi- P. Kibo (15-16), Kano- H. Dauda (15-16), Niger- M.I. Garba (15-16) and E.O. Abe (15-16). For level 14 officers being promoted to level 15, two are invited from the North and they are; H. S. Nehemia - Adamawa and J.A. Babalola - Kwara. On the list, A.D. Adejoh from Kogi State was also invited for promotion from level 13 to 14.
A breakdown according to the six geo-political zones shows that South West got highest number of officers on the promotion list with 22 in all cadre, followed by South-east with 15, North-central, six, South-South, five, North-west, two and North-east, one. The ‘Concerned officers’ further alleged that “in FRSC, public service rules are not applied in promotion exercises.
“Marginalization of northern officers in FRSC is common. Just last year when the FRSC released its 2015 promotion of officers on level 12-13 (CRC -ACC), out of a total number of 113 officers promoted to level 13, only three were from the northern part of the country and nobody said anything,” the group said.
The aggrieved officers called on government to suspend the 2016 promotion exercise and investigate FRSC management for its role in the said ‘marginalization saga’.
When contacted, FRSC Head of Media Relations and Strategy, Bisi Kazeem, said the allegations were not true. He said “promotion in FRSC is one of the most transparent exercises in the country. Every eligible person writes promotion examination, that forms the highest criteria. The papers are marked by appointed scholars from outside the Corps, who do not know whose paper they are marking. On interview day after the examinations, scripts are shown to individuals to peruse and confirm markings. Other criteria include seniority. To show transparency and openness, an officer from the Secretary to Federal Government (SGF)’s office is always present to witness the exercises. It should also be noted that promotions are done according to vacancies.”

North divided over Nigeria

FOR the combined effects of the general despondency and lack of future assurance, a vast majority of the populace is increasingly losing faith in the unity of Nigeria as a nation. And to stave off the looming danger of a forceful break-up, some critical stakeholders have been engaged in a sustained campaign for a restructuring of the present federal structure. Their strident agitation for a reconfiguration of the polity is anchored on two major premises. One, some proponents of the change of the old order strongly believe that a review of the system in favour of stronger federating units would lead the country out of the woods, as it would engender more competitive development among the constituent units.

On the other hand, there are those who argue that devolving powers to the grassroots would reduce the current wave of separatist agitations and ultimately ensure continued existence of the country as a united entity. Power devolution, they further argue, would not only promote participatory democracy, but also guarantee public accountability and good governance. Another argument in support of enhanced political power for the grassroots is that people would more easily be able to check the profligacy and prodigality of those in public office. The debate is still raging.

While various ethnic nationalities in the South have maintained a united front in their quest for a change of the status quo, their counterparts in the North are sharply divided into pro and anti-restructuring groups. Traditionally, the North is known for speaking in one voice, especially on matters that border on their collective interest and aspiration. However, that common unity of purpose seems to have momentarily eluded the region due to political consideration. Thus, as some prominent figures throw their weight behind the agitation; other concerned stakeholders view those supporting restructuring with suspicion, and accusing them of nursing selfish political ambition. In between the two sides of the divide are the moderate elements who maintain a subtle position, saying that it is better for the constituent units to go their separate ways peacefully than for the country to go into war.

A former vice-chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and notable member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Prof. Ango Abdullahi, belongs to this latter school of thought. Speaking at a public presentation of two books:

Boko Haram: The Charade vs Reality and The Life and Times of Umaru Turakin Bauchi, written by a former diplomatic editor of the Voice of America and now visiting professor in ABU, Zaria, Dr. Hadiza Isa Wada, he said: “We are hearing about the restructuring of Nigeria. We’re hearing about secession; we are hearing all sorts of things and who are the promoters of this rhetoric?

“These are from the elite of the country. They’re right to say their minds, but they should also leave me to say my mind when the time is right.

“If Lord Lugard made a mistake in 1914, let’s correct it now. Why not? If Nigerians cannot live together and allow peace and development to take place, then let’s go our different ways and to our different places, so we can concentrate and develop our children and grandchildren in peace.

“There’s nothing wrong with that.
So many countries have gone through that before. So, I don’t believe in all this emotion and sentiment that Nigeria is indissoluble. There’s nothing like indissolubility in any country.

“So what is so special about Nigeria? If we find truly that we cannot develop and guarantee the welfare of our people as a nation and the solution is to go our separate ways, why not? This is the thing we have to always discuss at all times honestly.”

In another breadth, a chieftain of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mohammed Abdulrahman, expressing
a strong support for restructuring of the country said the nation would be better for it. “I am in total support of the call for restructuring of the country. The North we have today is not what it used to be. Our politicians are not interested in the development of the region. They only care about their pockets. If the country is properly restructured, it is hoped it will benefit the masses and not some politicians who are only interested in buying cars and building houses for their families,” he stated.

In his own case, a Kano-born politician, Senator Rufai Hanga, while not totally in support of restructuring as a solution to Nigeria’s problems, said he would want to see a peaceful breakup of the country rather than going into war with separatist agitators. He said in an interview with Sunday Sun: “Right now, when I see some people talking of restructuring. I look at them as non-conformists, I see them as hypocrites who want cheap popularity among the people that are disgruntled. I see some of them as just merely following the train of bandwagon because they hear people saying restructuring. Let whosoever wants the country restructured come out and put it in black and white the way they want the country restructured. Even if they want the country divided, I welcome it. True to God, I welcome it because I will rather prefer we separate peacefully to fighting ourselves. Rather than having internal crisis like religious or ethnic, I will prefer everybody goes his way. It will be better for everybody to go and start afresh. There are lots of countries that have separated and they are doing fine. If that is what they mean by restructuring, then it is welcome. I personally welcome it than fighting ourselves. I don’t want crisis. People who are agitating and instigating people don’t know the implication of what they are doing. We should not let such people drag us into crisis because it is dangerous.”

However, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, a prominent leader of thought in the North, in a radical departure from this sentiment, lashed out at those calling for restructuring, arguing that it was intended to shut out the region from having its fair share of revenue from the federation account.
His words: “You see the way most of those people agitating for restructuring is unpatriotic. Most of those people who are calling for restructuring in Nigeria today are doing so with some kind of hate in their minds. The thing that is working in their minds is to find a way of denying states from the North of getting the kind of shares they are getting from the federation account. Some of the factors that government is using to distribute the revenue are God-made and not man-made. For instance, when they talk of population, the Nigerian people were not created by the Nigerian government.

“It is God who created the Nigerian people and concentrated some of them in a particular area, which is the North and which always has more than 55 percent of the total population of Nigeria. If you go through the records from 1911 when census was started even before the amalgamation, the  percentage in the North was roughly 55 percent of population in Nigeria. Now, if you go with the other factor, that is landmass, the North has
two third of the total landmass of Nigeria. You cannot deny a Northerner those advantages given to him by God simply because he gets some revenue based on those creations. Those who are talking of restructuring are actually hiding their real intent under the slogan. They are yet o explain what this restructuring means. They are only shouting and fighting restructuring because of the share of revenue the North is getting.”

Also, bluntly rejecting the calls for a reconfiguration of the present federal structure, a former spokesman for the ACF, Anthony Sani, declared: “The North is currently opposed to the restructuring of Nigeria precisely because there is nothing to restructure. The North does not believe the problems of Nigeria can rightly be attributed to the form of government the country chooses. What we believe is that the problems of Nigeria are due to the failure of leadership.
“Those who hanker for ‘true federalism’ to enable each constituent unit to develop at its own pace are unwittingly advocating that Nigerians should live as if they are in different countries, where some citizens would live in a comfort zone, while others would live on the fringe. Such a split would be a harbinger for split.”

“There is nothing universally accepted as true federalism. And that is why there are no two countries with federal systems that are self-same or clones of one another. All federal systems depend on circumstances of their emergence. For example, 13 American colonies came together and formed the United States and evolved to be what America is today, while in the case of Nigeria, the national government has created the federating units. But the common mantra in all federal systems is a national government that is strong enough to keep the country under one roof but not too strong as to tilt the country into unitary system,” he added.

This submission is apparently at variance with the position earlier canvassed by former vice president Atiku Abubakar, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), who at the launch of a book by Chido Onumah, entitled, We are all Biafrans, in Abuja, openly renewed the call for restructuring of the country as a way to overcome the myriad of socio- economic challenges confronting the nation. He said: “As some of you may know, I have for a long time advocated the need to restructure our federation. Our current structure and the practices it has encouraged have been a major impediment to the economic and political development of our country.”

“When I was invited to chair this occasion, I immediately understood that the title of the book is a metaphor for the legitimate feelings of marginalisation by diverse segments of Nigerians that cut across the country. Agitations by many right-thinking Nigerians call
for a restructuring and renewal of our federation to make it less centralised, less suffocating and less dictatorial in the affairs of our country’s constituent units and localities.”

“In short, it has not served Nigeria well, and at the risk of reproach, it has not served my part of the country, the North, well. The call for restructuring is even more relevant today in light of the governance and economic challenges facing us and the rising tide of agitations, some militant and violent, require a reset in our relationships as a united nation,” he posited.

On the overall, the aggregate opinions of those opposed to restructuring underscores the negative consequences of oil discovery on the autonomy of the constituent units, as it sweeps away the competitiveness that characterized the old regional arrangement where states were free to develop at their own pace and do as they pleased.

In spite of the obvious limitations of the present federal structure, however, some stakeholders still insist that the status quo must be maintained. One
of such individuals is Senator Joseph Waku, a former vice chairman of the ACF, who believes that the restructuring would lead to breakup of the country. “We have been staying together as one nation since over 100 years ago when amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorates took place under Lord Lugard. Then as an independent country, Nigeria is now about 55 ears old. What are we now talking about? Those calling for restructuring are indirectly calling for a breakup of the country or a return to the era of regionalism, but we have gone beyond those stages,” he declared.

Unlike their counterparts in the
South, stakeholders in the North are yet divided on the appropriate modalities for ensuring the unity of the country
in the face of the threats of the rising social discontent, youth unemployment, challenge of insecurity and economic recession. And, of course, President Muhammadu Buhari is not considering a rethink of his position on the present structure either. Many cynics believe that doing so would run counter to
the interest of the North. But like the proverbial bird that perched on the line, neither the North nor the South has known peace since the present wave
of separatist agitations took the centre stage in the polity. The nation is drifting. Something urgent needs to be done to rescue the country from the brink.
Dailysun

Ondo guber: Uneasy calm in APC as Akeredolu makes INEC list

It is no longer news that Rotimi Akeredolu’s name has been finally submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) by the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) as its governorship candidate in Ondo State for the November 26 election.
Controversy has trailed his victory at the governorship primary election, following the recommendation of the three-member Election Appeal Committee chaired by Mrs. Helen Bendega, calling for cancellation of the poll that produced Akeredolu.

Bendega and her Secretary, Alh. Musa Umar, were said to have called for fresh election because of alleged irregularities in delegates list, a decision which the third committee member, Nikky Ejezie opposed.
But a twist was added to the political drama on Friday when the party which had explained the reason for its decision to submit Akeredolu’s name suddenly issued a statement to withdraw its position.
“The All Progressives Congress (APC) withdraws its earlier issued statement titled, ‘Re: 2016 Ondo State APC Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee Report. Thank you for your cooperation,’” the statement reads.
In the withdrawn statement, the APC National Working Committee (NWC) explained the reasons why it rejected the recommendation of the Ondo State 2016 Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee which called for the cancellation of the poll that produced Barrister Akeredolu as the party’s candidate.
The party, in the statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, dismissed the insinuation that its National Chairman Chief John Odigie-Oyegun overruled the NWC on Ondo Appeal Panel’s report.
“For the records, the party’s NWC decision to reject the 2016 Ondo State APC Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee Report was taken on Tuesday, September 20, 2016 in an executive session after careful and exhaustive deliberation. The minutes and rejection was confirmed by the NWC on Thursday, September 22, 2016.
“The NWC, in its four-point resolution, rejected the Appeal Committee’s recommendation on the grounds that the report was fundamentally and fatally flawed. The NWC observed that the Appeal Committee contradicted itself when it admitted that the Primary Election Committee substantially complied with the rules guiding the process but still proceeded to recommend the nullification of the Primary election,” the release added.
The NWC, in its four-point resolution, faulted the failure of the Appeal Committee to invite the National Secretariat to either authenticate or reject the source of the disputed delegates list as the custodian.
The Appeal Committee, the release stated, did not invite the chairman or members of the Ondo State Governorship Primary Election Committee to clarify the allegation of manipulation on the accreditation process.
The party said the Appeal Committee rather relied on unsubstantiated evidence to recommend the nullification of the primary.
The NWC equally observed a serious contradiction in the Appeal Committee’s report in respect of the number of the accredited delegates.
“Whereas the Primary Election Committee’s report indicated that 2,774 delegates were accredited, the Appeal Committee’s report erroneously recorded it as those who voted in the election, thereby creating a false impression of over voting in the exercise. The actual total number of votes cast was 2,754, according to Primary Election Committee’s report,” the release further read.

The party, therefore, stressed that the issue of fresh primaries did not arise since the NWC had already rejected the Appeal Committee’s report in view of the stated flaws and upheld the election.
It further explained that the election was even time barred, saying by the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), all governorship primary and issues relating to it ended on September 19, 2016.
The party added that voting on the issue did not arise in view of the NWC’s rejection of the Appeal Committee’s report.
The former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) had won the APC governorship ticket at a keenly contested Primary election.
Akeredolu, who defeated 23 other aspirants, polled 669 votes to beat the aspirant believed to have been endorsed by the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Chief Olusegun Abraham, who garnered 635 votes.
Chief Olusola Oke, a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the 2012 election, came third with 576 votes at the Primary election conducted by the Jigawa State Governor Badaru Abubakar-led five-man committee.
The incumbent senator, Ajayi Boroffice, representing Ondo North Senatorial District in the National Assembly polled  471 votes to come fourth at the election held in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The senator representing Ondo Central, Tayo Alasoadura, polled 206 votes, while a serving member of the House of Representatives, Bode Ayorinde, garnered 67 votes.
Jumoke Ajasin Anifowose, the only female aspirant, got one vote.
The results also showed that Tunji Ariyomo got  two votes, Tunji Abayomi, five votes; Adefemi Mayowa, 13 votes; Adegbomire Adebiyi, eight votes; Adekunle Adekunle, eight votes; Senator Ayo Akinyelure, three votes; Jamiu Afolabi, 44 votes; Olabitan Victor, 18 votes and Oyewumi Taiwo polled seven votes.
Governor Abubakar, who announced the result, declared Rotimi Akeredolu as winner and the APC candidate, having scored the highest votes.
Abubakar, who said one of the 24 aspirants, Paul Akintelure, withdrew before the election, congratulated other aspirants for accepting defeat.
He implored them to work with Akeredolu to win the November 26 governorship election.
A total of 2774 delegates participated in the primary election which recorded seven invalid votes
Akeredolu, in his acceptance speech, lauded the electoral committee, the delegates and the aspirants for what he called their positive contributions.
“Today, our great party has produced a candidate for the governorship election in Ondo State. We are looking forward to all aspirants working together as a family to win the next election in Ondo State,” said Akeredolu.
The controversial primary election was postponed twice after the party had faced revolt from the aspirants who had earlier shown lack of confidence in the Ondo State APC chairman, Mr Isaac Kekemeke, for allegedly supporting one of the contenders believed to have been endorsed by the APC national leader, Tinubu.
As a result, the APC national chairman, Chief Odigie-Oyegun held a meeting with the party’s chairman and secretary in Ondo, Mr Kekemeke and Mr Rotimi Rahman, including the 24 governorship aspirants to assure them that the party leaders at both national and state levels had no preferred candidate ahead of the governorship primary election.
The meeting was convened, following the crisis that rocked the state chapter of the party after the state chairman, Mr Kekemeke, was accused of backing one of the aspirants, Mr Abraham, believed to have received the backing of Tinubu.
Mr Tunji Abayomi, one of the APC governorship aspirants, consequently told Tinubu to steer clear of the contest in a letter. But Tinubu replied by telling him that he had the right to endorse any of the aspirants.
As political intrigues continue to trail the emergence of Akeredolu, only time will tell the fate of the APC in the governorship election.