FG Campaign Against Indiscipline

FG to begin campaign against indiscipline, African-time syndrome — Lai Mohammed

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The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says a nation-wide campaign against indiscipline, African-time syndrome and loss of social norms and values will begin before the end of the year.

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Mohammed stated this on Tuesday at a strategic planning meeting he held with the chief executives of agencies and other top management staff of the ministry in Abuja. “You are welcome to this meeting, which I have convened to present to you the template for the massive, nationwide reorientation campaign to be embarked upon by this ministry very soon. “Those invited to this meeting have been painstakingly selected because I believe they have the necessary expertise to help drive the campaign. “However, let me state unequivocally, that everyone in the Ministry of Information and Culture as well as its parastatals, is key to the campaign. “This is because as the lead ministry, we must first buy into the campaign and own it before we can propagate it.’’ The minister said that the National Orientation Agency (NOA) would spearhead the campaign to ensure positive change of attitude, values and behaviours of Nigerians. “As I have said on several occasions, the National Orientation Agency will be in the forefront of the campaign, because it is in line with its mandate to positively change attitudes, values and behaviours. “Make no mistake about it, we need to change the way we do things in Nigeria. “It is important to let our people know that they cannot continue to do things the same way and expect a different result. “The impending campaign must take on indiscipline, the lack of respect for time, loss of our time-tested values and generally lead to attitudinal change in such a way that there will be a paradigm shift in the way we do things. “This is also in line with my vision as Minister of Information and Culture.’’ According to him, the ministry has put enormous work into the presentations that it is about to showcase. He stated that the presentations should be considered the template for the campaign. “But feel free to critique them and make suggestions so that the campaign can be ready on time for its launch this year unfailingly,’’ the minister added.

APC to replace Audu----INEC

KOGI: APC to replace Audu in supplementary election due December 5

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC is to conduct supplementary elections on December 5 in the 59 polling units where the governorship election was cancelled in Kogi State last Saturday.

Besides, the All Progressives Congress, APC which was coasting home to victory before the election was declared inconclusive is to present a candidate to replace Prince Abubakar Audu, the party’s candidate who died in the midst of the election.

The choice on who becomes the candidate it was gathered would be left in the hands of the APC.

The INEC, returning officer for the election, Prof. Emmanuel Kucha of Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, had announced Audu as having polled 240,827 votes to top the election with Wada scoring 199, 514 votes.

He, however, declared the election inconclusive on the fact that no party could be declared the winner since the number of cancelled votes was more than the difference between the APC and the PDP.

Though the election was peaceful across the three senatorial districts, the election was cancelled in 59 polling units across 18 Local Government areas of the state due to non-usage of the card reader, over voting, ballot snatching, violence and other irregularities.

Kucha said, “Since the number of cancelled votes was 49,953 while the difference between the votes scored by the APC and PDP candidates stood at 41,353, the election could not yet be declared as conclusive.

FIFA seeks life ban on Platini

FIFA’s ethics watchdog wants Michel Platini banned for life over a suspect payment, the European football chief’s lawyer told AFP on Tuesday. The FIFA vice president is already serving a 90-day suspension while an investigation is held into a $2 million sum he received from FIFA president Sepp Blatter who is also suspended.

Platini’s lawyer Thibaud d’Ales revealed the FIFA’s life ban demand which he described as a “scandal” and “excessive”. “This ban is subject to the proof of corruption, but the punishment is clearly excessive,” D’Ales said. “It’s not based on anything in the case.”

Michel Platini

Blatter’s representatives refused to comment on whether the same request has been made against the Swiss official. FIFA’s investigatory chamber announced Monday that it has opened a case against Blatter and Platini and that it was aiming to announce a decision next month.

Until then Platini, the president of UEFA, is forbidden to take part in the race to become Blatter’s successor as president of FIFA. He is one of five official candidates to run football’s scandal-hit ruling body with the election scheduled for February 26. D’Ales maintained there was a concerted effort inside FIFA to prevent Platini taking over the top job in football. The 60-year-old French football legend had been favourite for the FIFA post until the latest charges were announced.

The lawyer commented: “I’m wondering if the person in charge of the investigation shouldn’t be called instead ‘the person in charge of eliminating Michel Platini’ from the FIFA presidency?

“It’s a pure scandal, and by making it public there’s clearly an intention to cause harm.

“The masks are slipping one by one at FIFA – the electoral timetable’s being manipulated and there’s a stategy to get rid of Platini as a candidate.”

FIFA’s investigative committee affirmed that the report with requested sanctions had been handed over to Platini and Blatter’s legal team.

“I can confirm that Michel Platini and his lawyers have got the report and they have also received the request of the investigative committee,” spokesman Andreas Bantel told AFP, without reference to the sanction demanded.

“They know what is in the report and they are free to comment on it,” he added.

On Saturday, FIFA’s ethics committee, citing privacy and the presumption of innocence, said it would not disclose the nature of the punishments requested against Platini and Blatter.

Swiss prosecutors said in October that Blatter is under criminal investigation  for mismanagement at FIFA. Platini was named in the investigation, but is not yet a suspect, over a two million Swiss franc ($2 million) payment made by FIFA in 2011 for work he did a decade earlier.

Blatter has said the two had an “oral contract” for the payment and that this is allowed under Swiss law and FIFA regulations.

Appeals by both Blatter and Platini against their 90-day suspensions were rejected last week, and Platini has taken his case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with a decision expected soon.

BLATTER AND PLATINI TO FACE TRIAL IN DECEMBER

The judgement arm of FIFA’s ethics committee on Monday opened a case against the body’s suspended president Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, with a verdict in the corruption allegations surrounding both men due next month.

“The adjudicatory chamber of the independent Ethics Committee … has today opened formal adjudicatory proceedings against Joseph S.

Blatter and Michel Platini based on the final reports submitted by the investigatory chamber,” a statement said, adding that the “chamber intends to come to a decision in both cases during the month of December.”

Former Kogi Gov, Abubakar Audu laid to rest at Ogbonicha

The remains of former Kogi governor, Prince Abubakar Audu was this afternoon laid to rest at Ogbonicha, Ofu Local Government Area.

The burial took place at his residence.

The burial rites were conducted by a team of Imams from across Igalaland.

Controversy had trailed the burial of the former governor when rumour filtered into town that he had resurrected. A prophet had earlier promised to revive Audu to life.

There was mild drama between the prophet and members of the Audu family refused to let him in. The youths of Ogbonicha broke the door to the room where Audu was laid.

The prophet however failed to resurrect Audu, prompting the youths to go berserk in search of the prophet”s head.

The burial was well attended as scores of the who-is-who in Nigerian politics as well as members of the business community were in Ogbonicha to give their last respect to the departed hero.

Many residents of Ogbonicha paid tribute to arguably their most illustrious son.

Hajia Mariam said the death of Audu is an irreparable loss not only to Igala Kingdom, but Nigeria as a whole. She said the late Audu will be greatly missed by the people of Ogbonicha.

There was an ocean of tears when his body was lowered into the grave.

N18,000 minimum wage: Prepare for war, NLC tells govs

THE Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, yesterday warned that attempts by the governors through the Governors’ Forum to renege on the N18,000 national minimum wage signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan in March 2011, was an open declaration of war against the Nigerian workers.

Congress equally told President Muhammadu Buhari to prepare to receive the proposal for the review of the minimum wage as contained in the agreement, noting that the proposal was delayed because the NLC wanted to give the government time to settle down before coming up with the demand.

While insisting that the ability to pay even above the wage was not the problem of the economy, NLC recalled that the 2011 national minimum wage came into existence after almost two years of agitation and eventual negotiation by the tripartite of government (represented by the federal and state governments), the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, representing other employers (in the private sector) and organized Labour.

NLC, in a statement by its factional President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, told the governors to prepare for war and organised labour would have no alternative than to mobilize to respond appropriately to this act of aggression by the political class on workers’ welfare.

The statement read in part: “The Nigeria Labour Congress is shocked by the statement credited to the chairman of the Governors Forum, Governor Abdulaziz Yari, that the N18,000 national minimum wage promulgated into law in 2011 was no longer sustainable because of the fall in the price of crude oil. The governor, who was speaking on behalf of his colleagues at the end of a meeting of the forum, also claimed that the national minimum wage was ‘imposed’.

“We wish to make it abundantly clear that this attempt to reverse the national minimum wage is a declaration of war against the working people of this country, and we would have no alternative than to mobilize to respond to this act of aggression by the political class on our welfare.

“For us in the Nigeria Labour Congress, we know as a fact that ability to pay minimum wages is not the problem of the economy. What is the problem for states and other tiers of government is the amount many political office holders and their unproductive aides take away as wages. For the private sector, the greed to accumulate more and more profit is also always a motivating factor to keep wages down.

“Similarly, we have been in the forefront of campaigning that the cost of governance at all levels needs to be drastically cut down, to free enough resources for development. The hundreds of billions of Naira our public office holders continue to filter away in the name of governance is what is not sustainable.

“For instance, the annual cost to the public purse of governors ‘security votes’ which is an unaccountable drain on the public resources, is worth several thousands of minimum wages per state. Secondly, Nigerians who have the means to travel by air would recall that in the last 6-10 years, majority of, if not all our governors, no longer use commercial airline regular flights as a means of transportation from one place to another. They now have ‘official’ aircrafts and helicopters, which they maintain at huge costs to the state treasury.

“Their less ‘fortunate’ counterparts charter aircrafts and helicopters at the cost of millions of Naira to tax payers to attend any manner of functions from marriages to child naming ceremonies.

“States are in the poor financial state they are in largely on the developmental choices they have made; largely on the basis of priorities they have chosen which has nothing to do with the public good. Workers salaries cannot be sacrificed on the altar of challenges of the economy which is not the making of workers. It has never happened in the history of our country, and it will not be said that it is during our leadership of the Nigerian labour movement that this calamity was allowed to happen to Nigerian workers.

“Governors and other political office holders were not elected and/or appointed to only go and share proceeds from crude oil and petroleum products sales monthly in Abuja. Any one putting himself or herself out to serve does so on the assumption that he or she have intellect above the average which would be leveraged to provide good and responsive governance to the rest of the populace.

“In the 60’s when Nigeria did not have oil as the main source of our revenue, our fore bearers raised funds via efficient taxes, agricultural produce and other forms of internally generated revenue to provide development and pay living wages to the workers. Our current crop of leaders, who put themselves up for election to high government positions, must deliver by paying the working masses their due pay. This is not negotiable.

“As early as May 2015, we gave notice that the N18,000 National Minimum Wage was due for review, and that we would be submitting a new proposal once the incoming government settled down. We have been patient and waited for the President Buhari government to appoint ministers and thus have full compliments of officers to run the government.

“With the recent devaluation of the Naira, and the attendant increase in inflation and cost of living, even without the last minimum wage Act reaching the mandatory five years when it is due for review, we would have been justified to request for review.

“Now the five years is here – we are at the end of 2015, and with the cost of living being so high, we will soon table our new minimum wage demand to the federal government. If the recent statement by the Governors Forum is intended to manoeuvre them away from addressing this imperative, then it is bound to fail as we are ready to do battle to raise the living standard of the Nigerian working people.”

Nigeria can still break up

In the Holy Bible book, Matthew 26:41, Jesus Christ advised his disciples to “watch and pray” so that they would “not enter into temptation”. What God is saying in this quoted passage is the necessity for all His children to walk and tread in consciousness in all we do because one single mistake is more than enough to derail us, even in a well-planned journey. Nigerians need to pay more attention to this advice because forces of “darkness” still hover around us as a people and a Nation.Some years ago, there was a major threat of this country [Nigeria] breaking up. That was the fact that confronted us when the Nigerian civil war broke out with the crack of the first bullet of that war coming from the Federal Government troops in a small village of Garkem, near Ogoja, on July 6, 1967.That avoidable war that was fought for two years led to about two million lives being lost on both sides. Yet, we could not prevent it because we took too many things for granted. Things that bordered on human arrogance, corruption, nepotism, promotion of tribal egotism, uncontrollable greed of some national leaders, total disrespect for rule of law and many other evils brought us to the point where the centre could not hold anymore. Sadlyenough, 45 years after the war ended,  all the national maladies that led us to it are recklessly still at play, even at larger level. If this is true, then the fact remains that our inability to learn anything from the calamity of our past while we seemed to have forgotten all the lessons of the failures of yester-years, we are most likely to come face-to-face with the country breaking up still. There are other indicators that we may want to evaluate.Towards the last days of Olusegun Obasanjo’s second tenure as president, the so-called “Police man” of the world, America and some European countries predicted that if care was not taken, Nigeria may “break-up before the end of 2015”.   However, 2015 came and is almost gone without Nigeria breaking up, many thanks to former President Goodluck Jonathan’s efforts at up-holding democracy. This success must not blindfold us into believing that the so-called “doomsday conspiracy of the false prophets”, as some Nigerians would like to refer to the prediction, is over. No, as long as the indicators remain germane in our everyday national life, the nearer to the precipice the Nigerian Nation gets. This is where we need to combine prayer for Nigeria not breaking-up to doing what is right for our prayers to be answered. The truth that needs to be told is that there is no way Nigeria will continue without falling apiece given the way we are being presently governed by   these fraudulent dealers parading themselves as leaders.   I need to cite some pointers and comments from a few notable God-fearing citizens.Speaking at the 25th Anniversary of the Scriptures Union of Nigeria in Abuja on October 31, 2015, General Yakubu Gowon, former Military Head of State, warned of a looming danger to Nigeria. “We face great consequences, if we don’t follow the path of rectitude”, the most respected leader warned, adding that “if we do not arise to bring our youths into the path of rectitude, then their future will appear gloomy, and, therefore, we cannot build a virile nation of trust, integrity and good governance”. He mentioned many other calamities bedevilling the nation. What that man of peace who fought and brought peace and unity back to Nigeria by declaring “no victor, no vanquish” at the end of the Nigerian civil war, has just told us is that unless we watch and pray over most of our national behaviours as a people, we may soon come to that point of total disintegration.In addition, l read with adorable respect, the book of another principal actor in the Nigerian civil war, Brigadier General Godwin Alabi-Isama, appropriately titled: THE TRAGEDY OF VICTORY. He gave good historical back-ground of both the circumstances that led to the first-ever military coup of 1966 and the Nigerian civil war, including an account of the military operation throughout the war, with particular reference to the exploits of the 3rd Marine Commando – first commanded by the late Brigadier General Benjamin Adekunle before General Olusegun Obasanjo took over. In his conclusion, he said that all the maladies like “corruption, tribalism, nepotism and other evils which led to the first military coup of January 1966, and eventually to the civil war, ”which ought to have been eliminated remain with us till today”, adding: ”This Is What I   Called Tragedy Of Victory”.My summary in this work is to warn that the Federal Government of Nigeria has a responsibility of showing good example in leadership to the remaining two tier of government – states and local authority. The incumbent Federal Government needs to show its sincerity, respect and total commitment to democratic ethos and ethics, human rights and rule of law plus promotion of welfare of the Nigerian people. There must be paradigm shift from “languages of body movement” which can never be a replacement for sound and enduring economic policy, from uncharted navigational course on fight against corruption to a defined path of wealth creation that shows in the lives of the citizenry. A man [surrounded by a selected few of brain-washed sycophants] who is guided by myopic idiosyncrasy in running a country of 180 million people with two-third of this population being internationally proven egg-heads, can only push Nigeria to a precipice.There is too much poverty in the land today. The Nigerian people are daily being alienated from government’s security machinery which has failed to protect them, hence the emergence of tribal militias and cultists to “protect themselves”. This is the same way the ‘’Mafia and Mafioso” started in those hilly northern cities of Italy some decades ago. By the time these groups become well established, the “roads to Niger Delta militancy, Movement for the Restoration of Biafra, Arewa Defensive Front, Cattle Rustlers, Fulani Herdsmen, Odua People Congress and even Boko Haram would have been paved with gold”. These are the fastest groups that can quicken the break- up of any country. So we need to watch and pray for Nigeria not to break-up. Will PMB walk Nigeria into this grace?