The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Author: Editor

  • Alleged Public disturbance : Police fails to produce Sowore & others, frustrates bail

     

     

     

    The scheduled ruling on the bail application filed by the publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore, and four others at the Magistrates’ Court, Wuse Zone 2, Abuja was on Friday stalled by the failure of the prosecution to produce them before Magistrate Mabel Segun-Bello.

     

    The court had on January 6, 2021, scheduled ruling for Friday after entertaining arguments on the bail application filed by Sowore and others.

    Sowore, Juwon Sanyaolu, Peter Williams, Damilare Adenola and Emmanuel Bulus were arraigned before the court on Monday on a three-count charge filed by the police.

     

    They were arrested on the New Year’s Eve for their alleged involvement in a protest against bad governance in the country.

     

    The police claimed that the defendants were arrested with placards that called for a violent revolution against the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd).

    But on Wednesday, after taking arguments on the defendants’ bail application, Magistrate Segun-Bello scheduled the ruling for Friday, at 11am.

    By 11am on Friday, Sowore’s lawyer, Marshal Abubakar, and associates of the defendants were in court, but the prosecuting lawyer was absent, prompting the court to reschedule proceedings for 1pm.

     

    By 1pm, when the prosecuting lawyer was still yet to arrive in court, an official of the court invited the defence lawyer into the office of the magistrate.

    While emerging from the office of the magistrate, Abubakar told journalists that he learnt the police claimed to have handed the case file to a Deputy Inspector General of Police for further prosecution.

     

    The lawyer said the DIG, who was called to produce the defendants, claimed to have handed the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution on the instruction of the Attorney General of the Federation, Malami Abubakar (SAN).

     

    No date was, however, fixed for further proceedings. Sowore’s lawyer, Abubakar, said, “At the moment, Mr Omoyele Sowore and the other four defendants are still being held at the Force CID, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, as we speak. There are serious allegations that there are attempts to undermine the judicial process. The reason is this: the ruling on the bail application was adjourned to today, definite.

     

    “This morning (Friday) while we were in court, we made an attempt to ask that Mr Omoyele Sowore be brought to court for him to listen or to hear the conditions upon which his bail would be considered, probably, in his favour or in whatever manner the judge decides it. But this morning, we were informed and we were shown documents, signals first from the office of the DIG requesting the case file of Mr Omoyele Sowore from the office of the Commissioner of Police, FCT, Abuja.”

     

    Source : www.punchng.com

  • 2023 Presidency : Upcoming Political Party by Nigerian activists in a bid to replace PDP, APC

     

     

    The 2023 general elections are only two years away but intrigues by actors in the political space have undoubtedly started.

     

    Prior to the 2014 merger of three opposition political parties, the then ruling People’s Democratic Party had made good use of the divide and rule tactics to run over the opposition especially during presidential elections.

     

    Recall that the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, the All Nigeria Peoples Party and the Congress for Progressive Change, as well as a faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance had merged to form the All Progressives Congress to enable them to defeat the then ruling PDP.

     

    The National Secretary, Project Nigeria, Mr Olawale Okunniyi, who was part of the moves to initiate a coming together of opposition political parties back in 2007, said, “It was late Alhaji Balarabe Musa, the leader of the Nigeria Unite for Democracy, and chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties in 2007, who proposed an alliance of opposition political parties against one-party rule in Nigeria. This later gave birth to the Mega Party Movement under the leadership of late Anthony Enahoro, Alhaji Lateef Jakande and Chief Olu Falae, respectively.”

     

    He recalled that the realignments gave rise to the Congress for Progressive Change, led by the then Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), the Social Democratic Party and the Action Congress of Nigeria, among others.

     

    Okunniyi, however, expressed sadness that the experiment collapsed a few months to the 2011 elections.

     

    He said, “Faced with the reality that you cannot continue to do the same thing the same way and expect to get a different result, opposition leaders received wise counsel and decided to do what many considered the impossible prior to that time-they dissolved their various platforms to birth Nigeria’s first truly national opposition party, the All Progressives Congress.

     

    “The then new party received a boost from five sitting governors of the then ruling party Peoples Democratic Party who moved in with their party structure in states hitherto considered the PDP strongholds.”

     

    Interestingly, the supremacy battle within the PDP over the issue of zoning back then strengthened the APC. This resulted in the PDP’s first taste of defeat in 2015, a failure the party has been unable to recover from till this day.

     

    But five years into the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, now, some Nigerians have described both the PDP and the APC as two sides of the same coin.

     

    Another group of Nigerians, who tried but failed to come together to form a third force to challenge the dominance of the two political parties in 2019, has renewed their bid to create another broad-based platform which they believe will succeed this time.

     

    Politicians like a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Ghali Na’abba; former National Chairman of the National Conscience Party, Yunusa Tanko; academics including Professors Pat Utomi and Kingsley Moghalu; Mrs Remi Sonaya; Dr Hakeem Baba Ahmed, and a host of others, who came together to form the National Consultative Front, have indicated interest in floating an alternative platform ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

     

    Speaking on the new project, Okunniyi, who is one of the prominent promoters of the new group, explained, “We are still consulting and mobilising Nigerians towards this latest move towards rescuing Nigeria from the misgovernance we have been exposed to since 2015.

     

    “It was not as if the PDP was any better, it is just that the current APC regime is progressively worse, Nigerians have never had it this bad.

     

    “The truth is that both the PDP and the APC are two sides of the same coin, they have both failed Nigerians. We are launching a Mega Political Movement in January and have a full inauguration party in June.”

     

    However, a legal practitioner and a chieftain of the APC in Gombe State, Abdullahi Jalo, expressed the opinion that under the APC, Nigerians had seen what good governance and accountability could deliver to a nation.

     

    He said, “I was a member of the PDP but I am now a full member of the APC because of the type of leadership President Muhammadu Buhari has provided since taking office in 2015.

     

    “Nigerians now understand the true meaning of progressive politics. The policies and programmes of our president are non-discriminatory. All he is interested in when a project is proposed is whether it will be to the benefit of a majority of Nigerians; he doesn’t care whether the benefiting state is a PDP or an APC-controlled state. This attitude explains why unlike previous leaders, he doesn’t care who started a project; as long as Nigerians will benefit, he goes ahead to complete it. Is it his achievement in the railway sector you want to talk about or the repayment of money spent by states to rehabilitate federal roads? Nobody is saying there are no challenges, there are but genuine efforts to surmount these challenges are on.

     

    “Without doubt, the APC will remain the party to beat in the next election.”

     

    The National Publicity Secretary of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Kola Ologbondiyan, disagreed with this position.

     

    He said, “Most Nigerians are today regretting the decision to vote in the APC in 2015. Walk on the streets in any state in Nigeria and speak to the people. Will people in the President’s home state of Katsina, or the people of Borno, Zamfara, Yobe states, or in fact, anywhere in Nigeria today sincerely tell you that their lives have improved for the better since the APC came on board? The answer is definitely no.

     

    “How much was the Naira exchanged for the dollar in 2015? How much is it today? How much was a bag of rice then? How much is it today? Most Nigerians today cannot travel home because roads are no longer safe due to banditry, kidnapping and robbery. Nigerians can’t wait to vote the APC out in 2023.”

     

    A chieftain of the Enugu State chapter of the APC, Osita Okechukwu, on his part, said, “The Nigerian political system has always favoured a strong two-party system. Other smaller parties can exist on the sidelines but we have had a situation where two strong political tendencies exist just like in the United States where our system of democracy was copied from. I don’t see that changing anytime soon.”

     

    A former Secretary of the Bauchi State chapter of the defunct ACN, Abdullahi Dauda, who has been a long-time opposition figure before the merger which gave rise to the APC, however, expressed doubts about the possibility of Nigerians taking a risk with a new political platform.

     

    He ruled out this possibility as regards to the 2023 presidential race.

     

    He wondered if Nigerians would be willing to once again risk going for a little-known marriage of strange bedfellows in the name of a political party like they did in 2015.

     

    “I think for many of us the maxim ‘the devil you know is better than the angel you don’t know’  holds true.  The APC and the PDP may be two sides of the same coin but Nigerians have now tasted the two and are likely to make better informed choices in 2023. I honestly don’t see any serious threat to their dominance of the political scene yet.”

     

    Dauda further explained that the situation in 2015 was remarkably different from what is on the ground today.

     

    According to him, one factor stood out in 2015; there was a general consensus especially in the North, that the then President, Goodluck Jonathan, breached the zoning arrangement which had been in place since 1999.

     

    He noted that the deteriorating security situation as well as what many considered unprecedented corruption among the ruling elite at the time made matters worse for the then ruling PDP.

     

    There are also those within the new political movement who are optimistic that the brains behind the #Endsars movement could spring a surprise by bringing in their energy to join the experience being paraded by some of the promoters of the Mega Political Movement, to drive the process.

     

    Those in this school of thought pointed out that the youth had tasted the power of unity and focus and could deploy the same with likeminded people to wrest political power from the dominant political parties.

     

    However, another school of thought expressed the view that the problem would always come from the clash of interests among those who felt they could do a better job given the chance.

     

    Recall that prior to the 2019 general elections, several youth groups came together in an attempt to throw up a consensus candidate but their efforts failed largely because personal ambitions failed to yield the floor to reason.

     

    The Executive Director,  Civil Societies Legislative and Advocacy Centre, Awual Musa, is of the view that what is currently in high demand is attitudinal change among Nigerians.

     

    “We must change the way we do things; our value systems must change if we are to get things right be it politically or in any other sector.”

     

    Events of coming months will indicate if the fresh attempt to provide an alternative to the dominance of the APC and PDP will gain traction ahead of 2023.

     

    Source : www.punchng.com

  • INEC : Electronic voting system more credible than manual

     

    NIGERIA’S election management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), recently reiterated its plan to fully migrate from manual to electronic voting system beginning with Anambra State Governorship election holding in 2021.

    Addressing reporters last month on the sideline of the 2021 budget defence at the Green Chamber of the National Assembly, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, whose reappointment as INEC Chairman has just been confirmed by the Senate, said: “It is difficult to give you an idea of cost or when the process would be concluded, but we are determined that we are going to deploy electronic voting machines, electronic balloting machines very soon in our elections. Possibly beginning with the Anambra governorship election next year.”

     

    Yakubu had equally disclosed in September that in line with INEC’s commitment to fully replace manual voting with automated voting method, 40 manufacturers of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) from different parts of the globe were invited to practically demonstrate the viability of the voting machines.

     

    According to him, “For some time now, the commission has been working on the deployment of technology in voting during elections to replace the current manual system which is tedious and requires enormous logistics to deliver huge quantities of printed materials and a large number of ad hoc staff to administer the process.

     

    “To this end, the commission developed the specifications of the functions required of the machine. After extensive discussion and review, the commission took the decision to invite original manufacturers of Electronic Voting Machines around the world for a virtual or practical demonstration of the machines.”

     

    Basically, there are two ways electronic voting can be used for the conduct of elections. The first is the use of electronic voting machines which are usually located at the polling stations and supervised by officials of the electoral body. In this case, the voters are still expected to be physically present at the polling units to cast their votes with the voting machines provided. The second is the remote electronic voting where voters can submit their votes electronically via the internet to the electoral body from the comfort of their homes or any location. INEC appears to have settled for the use of electronic machines. Some countries use the remote voting pattern while some apply both in their adoption of the electronic voting model.

     

    Electronic voting is often seen as a tool for making the electoral process more efficient and increasing trust in the conduct and management of elections. It is in the view of many that the full adoption of electronic voting system would go a long way in enhancing the transparency and credibility of our elections thereby deepening the country’s democracy. There is also the thinking that electronic balloting would greatly help to prevent and mitigate violence that more often than not stems from electoral malfeasance and manipulations perpetrated during manual voting.

     

    As has been rightly noted by political observers, building a thriving democracy is dependent on getting the electoral process right. It has been argued that Nigeria’s politics suffers deeply because the electoral process has, in most cases, been marred by massive irregularities, such that wrong persons find their ways into elective offices.

     

    Peter Wolf, an author who works for the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), opined that properly implemented electronic solutions can increase the security of the ballot, speed up the processing of results and make voting easier. In one of his papers published by the International IDEA, Wolf whose work focuses on the application of digital technologies in elections, emerging challenges and the sustainable and trusted implementation of ICTs in electoral processes, identified some of the benefits associated with electronic voting as follows: Faster vote count and tabulation; More accurate results as human error is excluded; Efficient handling of complicated electoral systems formulae that require laborious counting procedures; Increased convenience for voters; Prevention of fraud in polling stations and during the transmission and tabulation of results by reducing human intervention; Potential long-term cost savings through savings in poll worker time, and reduced costs for the production and distribution of ballot papers.

     

    Notwithstanding the fact that electronic voting has some downsides and challenges as well, many consider it achievable and therefore think INEC should not relent in its determination to push through. The merits, it is believed, obviously outweigh the demerits.

     

    Countries with huge populations and intricate political systems, like Brazil and India, migrated to electronic voting technology many years ago. Brazil partly used electronic voting for the first time in 1996 and adopted it 100 percent nationwide since 2000. India began the introduction of electronic voting machines in 1998 and since 2004 they have been used in the nationwide parliamentary polls. The upshot of the adoption of electronic voting in Brazil and India is said to have been very positive thus far.

     

    According to Giuseppe Janino, the Secretary of Technology and Information in the Brazilian Superior Electoral Court, “Brazil has about 150 million voters. In the 2018 presidential election, we announced the winner only two hours and 16 minutes after the polls were closed. By that time, we had already counted 96.7 percent of all votes, cast all over the country.”

     

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan has been vociferous in the call for the full adoption of electronic voting system in Nigeria and Africa in general. At different occasions he has hammered on the need for countries on the African Continent to migrate from manual voting to electronic method of balloting. The ex-President believes strongly that the only way to get credible elections in Nigeria and the rest of Africa is by fully  embracing electronic voting.

     

    Source : www.thenationonlineng.net

  • FG directs State Government to domesticate disabilities Act

    PRESIDENT Muhmmadu Buhari has directed state governments to domesticate the Disability Act to make the establishment of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities perform its responsibility.

     

    The President spoke on Thursday when he hosted members of the newly established commission, led by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, at the State House in Abuja.

     

    A statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said President Buhari praised some governors for enacting laws on disability and enjoined those who have not, to do the needful.

     

    The President expressed joy that the commission was in place, as it was among vital issues he spoke about during his electioneering campaigns.

     

    “In December 2014, during my campaign for the President of this country under our great party, I met with the Community of Persons with Special Needs who showed unalloyed loyalty and support for our party and my candidature in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.

     

    “I recall that the most pressing and priority request from the community was the passage of the Disability Bill and the subsequent presidential assent, which I promised them I would do. I am happy to have fulfilled that  promise.

    “I thank the governors of Plateau, Lagos and Nasarawa states for enacting disability laws and establishing Disability Rights Commissions in their states. I am calling on governors of Yobe, Kano and Kogi states, to implement their laws while those states that are yet to do so should take necessary action to enable the Federal Government efforts have the desired impact at the subnational levels,” President Buhari said.

     

    Source : www.thenationonlineng.net

  • Igbo : Ohanaeze threatens to arrest Obiozor

    The Ohanaeze Ndigbo general assembly has threatened to arrest Prof. George Obiozor , a frontline presidential contender in the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation.

    Others being threatened with arrest are those contesting elections into chapters of the organisation at various levels.

    The President-General of the Ohaneze General Assembly, Basil Onyeacholam, disclosed this to our correspondents in Awka, Anambra State, on Thursday.

    Saying any attempt to conduct election for the leadership of Ohanaeze was illegal, Onyeacholam pointed out that his organisation was the authentic representative of the Igbo.

     

    He added that law enforcement agencies had been informed to act accordingly.

    He said,” The law of our land does not prohibit anybody from wasting his money. But any attempt by anybody to hold election in the name of Ohanaeze is going to be an effort in futility.

    “We have made our position clear; Ohanaeze is one. We have also reached out to some people that are involved, especially the elderly ones to come and man the elders’ council of our organisation, while the national executive leadership should be left to younger persons, that is the restructuring that is going on in Ohanaeze.

     

    “Anybody that is calling for any election anywhere is trying to organise what that is not proper in the eyes of the law. We have written to the security agencies.

    “Prof. Obiozor is 80 years. If Prof. Obiozor is to be anybody’s father or grandfather, would they allow him to be struggling at that age?”

     

    The Source had reported that the counsel for the Ohanaeze Ndigbo general assembly, recently registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission, Amobi Nzelu, had in November last year asked the police and the Department of State Services to stop the Ohanaeze Ndigbo election slated for January.

     

    Nzelu also urged security agencies, including the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, to arrest the outgoing President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, and other principal officers of the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation, past and present, for allegedly running the organisation illegally.

    Reacting, the President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo in Anambra, Chief Okeke Ogene, described the threat as an empty one.

    He said, “If they feel they have the capacity they should come and arrest us. We are not afraid any threat.

    They should remember that a factional Ohanaeze like them had gone to court and court said they had no right to stop our elections.

    “The election going on is not the decision of one; it’s the decision of Imeobi (parliament) in the South-East that involves all traditional rulers, town unions and governors of the seven Igbo-speaking states.

    “Elections are continuing. Nobody has the powers to discuss the existence of Igbo nation than the Ohanaeze led by Nnia Nwodo is Ohanaeze of the Igbo nation that has history from the late Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. We have a lineage; we have a founder; ask them who their founder is? Why are we wasting our energy to merchants and agents of destruction?

    ‘PG requires someone who has served’

    Meanwhile, one of the leading contestants for the office of President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Joe Nworgu, has said that the position required someone who has had apprenticeship in the organisation.

    Nworgu, who spoke to our correspondent on Thursday, said he was in the race to champion Igbo interest since he had served in the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation in various capacities.

    Nworgu, who is a former deputy secretary-general and secretary-general of the body, said “I am in the race because Igbo are in a crossroad’s and the race required someone who has had an apprenticeship in Ohanaeze. Someone who knows the older men who have rendered service and the younger people who are coming in; therefore you have to stand on this two varies.

    “I have helped formulate policies for Ohanaeze under some president generals. I took part in formulating the present constitution of Ohanaeze that was approved in 2003. I have watched the older men take decisions because I have been a statutory member of Imeobi from 2002. That has exposed me to all the dealings, and who is who among the I gbo top echelon.”

     

    Source : www.punchng.com

  • US : Twitter and Facebook ban trumps account

     


    Social media giants Twitter and Facebook temporarily locked the accounts of US President Donald Trump, as they scrambled to crack down on his baseless claims about the US presidential elections after his supporters stormed the US Capitol in Washington, DC and temporarily forced a halt to proceedings.

    Twitter hid and required the removal of three of Trump’s tweets “as a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, DC,” after the president’s supporters attempted to force Congress to block the appointment of President-elect Joe Biden.

    While urging his supporters to “go home”, Trump also praised the mob as “special” and telling them that they were “loved”.

    “Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account,” Twitter officials said in a statement. The social media handle used by the president is followed by some 88 million people.

    Twitter said Trump’s account would be locked for 12 hours and that if the offending tweets were not removed, “the account will remain locked”.

    In a rapidly evolving sequence of events, Facebook and YouTube also took down videos posted by the president.

    “This is an emergency situation and we are taking appropriate emergency measures, including removing President Trump’s video,” Facebook Vice President of Integrity Guy Rosen said in a tweet.

    “We removed it because on balance we believe it contributes to rather than diminishes the risk of ongoing violence.”

    Meanwhile, Trump’s account on Instagram, with 24.5 million followers, remains active. Instagram is owned by Facebook.

    YouTube also removed a Trump video that repeated his baseless attacks on the integrity of the election he lost in November, following its policy barring claims challenging election results.

    “As the situation at the United States Capitol Building unfolds, our teams are working to quickly remove live streams and other content that violates our policies, including those against incitement to violence or regarding footage of graphic violence,” said YouTube spokesman Alex Joseph.

    Facebook subsequently said it would search for and remove content which praised the storming of the Capitol or encouraged the violence.

    The enormous social network said it would also seek to take down additional calls for protests, including peaceful ones, if they breached a curfew imposed in the US capital or any attempts to “restage” the storming of Congress, which a Facebook spokesman described as a “disgrace”.

    “We prohibit incitement and calls for violence on our platform,” the spokesperson said. “We are actively reviewing and removing any content that breaks these rules.”

    Facebook maintained that it was in contact with law enforcement officials and continued to enforce bans on the QAnon conspiracy group, militarised social movements and hate groups.

    A #StormTheCapitol hashtag was blocked on both Facebook and Instagram, it said.

    A police officer detains a pro-Trump protester during clashes at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 US presidential election results by the US Congress [Shannon Stapleton/Reuters]

    Twitter’s initial actions were aimed at limiting the reach of offending tweets from Trump and others.

    “We have been significantly restricting engagement with tweets labelled under our Civic Integrity Policy due to the risk of violence,” the Twitter support team said.

    “This means these labelled tweets will not be able to be replied to, retweeted, or liked.”

    A Trump video clip posted at the top of his official Twitter account was tagged with a note saying the claim of voter fraud was disputed and that the tweet could not be replied to, retweeted, or liked “due to a risk of violence”.

    Rival social network Parler, which has been praised by Trump supporters, showed posts lauding the mob assault on the Capitol.

    “Hope to see some of the DemonRat residences getting torched,” one user wrote.

    Source : www.arise.tv.com

  • Updated : Elon Musk Overtakes Jeff Bezos to become the world’s wealthiest person

     

    Elon Musk, the outspoken and envelope-pushing chief executive of Tesla, overtook Amazon boss Jeff Bezos to become the world’s wealthiest person, US media reported Thursday.

    Musk is a major shareholder of the electric car company and has benefited from Tesla’s surging share price over the last year. CNBC estimated Musk’s wealth at $185 billion.

     

    The distinction is the latest superlative for the South African-born Musk, who leads the aerospace venture SpaceX in addition to Tesla, which has become a pacesetter for the car industry as conventional automakers try to catch up to Tesla’s lead in electric autos.

     

    Tesla had a strong 2020 as it ramped up auto production, broke ground on new factories and reported a series of profitable quarters that enabled shares to rise more than 700 percent during the year as it was added to the prestigious S&P 500 index.

     

    Musk has hit a stride after stumbling in 2018, when US securities regulators required the Tesla chief to step down as chairman and pay $20 million to settle charges he defrauded investors with false claims on Twitter in August about a possible bid to take the company private, which was quickly  aborted.

    Shares of Tesla surged 5.9 percent to $800.43 in late morning trading, lifting the company’s market capitalization above $750 billion.

     

    Source : www.punchng.com

  • Covid 19 : Two professors in UNILAG test postive for covid 19

    There is palpable fear among workers and residents of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, as two more professors including a law lecturer and incumbent attorney-general of Oyo State, Oyelowo Oyewo, have been confirmed positive of the deadly coronavirus disease.

    This is coming on the heels of the country’s new record high figure of confirmed cases as announced on Wednesday evening by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).

    The centre had announced a total of 1,664 new cases which ranks as the country’s highest daily figure so far since the index case was first recorded on February 27, 2020.

    But while Mr Oyewo neither picked his call nor replied to a text message sent to him on the matter, the chief press secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Taiwo Adisa, simply said; “I don’t comment on what I don’t know.”

    Meanwhile, a top management official at the university, who does not want to be named due to the confidentiality of the matter, confirmed that both Mr Oyewo and a professor of African History at the university’s department of history and strategic studies, faculty of arts, Rufus Akinyele, are down with the disease.

    The source, however, learnt that while Mr Akinyele has been discharged from an isolation centre at the infectious disease hospital (IDH), Yaba, Lagos, and recuperating at his official quarters on the campus, Mr Oyewo is on self-isolation at an undisclosed location.

    Contact tracing

    The university in partnership with relevant authorities has also commenced the tracing of some contacts following the <span;>death of the institution’s former dean of the faculty of education, Duro Ajeyalemi<span;>, on Wednesday.

    This newspaper exclusively learnt that Mr Ajeyalemi had on December 31 reported at the university’s medical centre before he was referred to the university’s teaching hospital in Idi-Araba.

    The university’s vice-chancellor, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, who confirmed the contact tracing process to our reporter on the phone, however, allayed the fear of the residents.

    Mr Ogundipe said the doctors and other officials that attended to Mr Ajeyalemi at the medical centre had been asked to self-isolate while they also go for proper testing.

    “We are making efforts to ensure that those to be tested for the disease are able to get tested on time. There is no need for panic, the situation is well under control but we advise everyone to follow the Covid-19 guidelines and protocols adequately,” Mr Ogundipe, a professor, said on the phone.

    Further findings by our reporter revealed that an unidentified daughter of one of the lecturers on the campus was also on Wednesday transferred to LUTH with the medical centre’s ambulance.

    But the vice-chancellor said he could not confirm the report, saying he was yet to be briefed on any development relating to that.

    Panic on campus

    Many academic and non-academic workers who spoke with  The Source on condition of anonymity said they are afraid of moving around on the campus for fear of interacting with possible carriers of the virus.

    The vice-chancellor also confirmed that he had to work from a hideout on the campus on Wednesday to avoid contacts with many visitors who might want to sympathise with him and the university on the death of two retired professors – Oye Ibidapo-Obe and Duro Ajeyalemi.

    The two dons had died within the same week having contracted the disease. Though it is unclear whether they both attended the same event, the rumour circulating the campus was that both Ibidapo-Obe and Ajeyalemi, among other lecturers of Ijesha origin had recently attended a social event in Ikoyi.

    Mr Oyewo was also recently hosted at a reception in his honour over his attainment of the status of a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN).

    A lecturer in the university’s faculty of social sciences told our reporter on the phone that he would not risk any interaction with anyone, and “so I have opted for virtual channels to interact with anyone.”

    The university’s deputy vice-chancellor in charge of development services, Folasade Ogunsola, had on Wednesday advised Nigerians to avoid partying “at this critical time.”

    The professor of medical microbiology said the best precaution is for people to use masks appropriately and sanitise their hands regularly if they don’t have access to running water and soap.

    Source : www.premiumtimesng.com

  • US : Joe Biden certification by the United States Congress

     

    After the chaotic scenes in the US Capitol Washington where supporters of President Donald Trump stormed the building in anger over his election defeat. The United States Congress has affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory over President Donald Trump on Thursday.

     

    The counting of Vermont’s three electoral votes put Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris over the 270-threshold needed to win the presidency.

    The certification comes after Pro-Trump rioters invaded the US Capitol on Wednesday.

    Congress rejected challenges to Biden’s win in Arizona and Pennsylvania. Efforts were made to challenge the counts in Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, but after the mob violence, Senate Republicans dropped objections to Biden’s wins there, eliminating any need for debate.

     

    “The announcement of the state of the vote by the President of the Senate shall be deemed a sufficient declaration of the persons elected President and Vice President of the United States, each for the term beginning on the 20th day of January 2021 and shall be entered together with the list of the votes on the journals of the Senate and the House of Representatives,” Vice President Mike Pence said following the count of all the Electoral College votes.

     

    The news source reports that the disgraceful riot at the US Capitol had sent lawmakers scrambling for safety, but members of Congress returned undeterred to fulfill their duty in certifying Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College win.

     

    Some of the lawmakers, who earlier supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, made a U-turn after the “shameful” incident that led to the death of one woman.

     

    After the affirmation of Biden’s 306-232 victory over Trump, the president immediately released a statement pledging an “orderly transition“.

     

     

     

    “Even though I totally disagree with the outcome of the election, and the facts bear me out, nevertheless there will be an orderly transition on January 20th,” he said.

     

    Biden had called the violence an “insurrection“, saying, “Our democracy’s under unprecedented assault. This is not dissent. It’s disorder. It’s chaos. It borders on sedition. And it must end now.”

     

    Historians said it was the first time that the Capitol had been taken over since 1814 when the British burned it during the War of 1812.

     

    For more than two centuries, the joint session of Congress has been a quiet, ceremonial event that formally certifies the election winner.

     

    Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, closely aligned with Trump throughout his presidency, had tried to prevent the challenges. He noted that the election results were not even close, and that dozens of courts had thrown out lawsuits alleging irregularities.

     

    “If this election were overturned by mere allegations from the losing side, our democracy would enter a d eath spiral,” McConnell said.

     

    Source : www.punchng.com

  • While Wailing, They Feasted – By Onochie Jon-Igwesi

    While Wailing, They Feasted – By Onochie Jon-Igwesi

    Adaeze finished from a private and reputable secondary school in Enugu at a tender age of 15 and at 16, she had already gained admission into one of the universities in the country to study Architecture, at a time when most of her age mates were just beginning their senior secondary classes.

    In school, she was outstanding as her academics witnessed no setback despite participating in virtually every curricular & extra-curricular activity on campus. By her 300level, she already had a CGP of 4.59. She was a good basketball player and as if that wasn’t enough, she had the voice of the heavenlies.

    To say that Adaeze was pretty was an understatement; she was fit for only Kings and Princes. As expected, boys were always on her matter-without committing to anyone, she just went with the tide. On social media, she was a hottie and influencer. She had a thriving lingerie & perfume business that fetched her extra cash aside her monthly upkeep from her apparently wealthy parents.

    Did I mention that her Dad was a reputable Architect and she already had a position reserved for her in her Dad’s company? One thing was certain-the future was already set for and beckoning on Adaeze.

    Fast forward to her final year, she wrote her degree examinations, defended her project and began the usual clearance preceding NYSC. One fateful day, two months into her wait for her call up letter to NYSC, she complained of feeling excruciating pains in her stomach, she got drugs to relieve her of the pains but when the pains wouldn’t go, she was admitted in a hospital. Three days later, she bade the earth farewell in a manner most painful to her family and friends.

    (Exhales) After all the struggles and seeming promises of bliss and greatness the future held for Adaeze, she died just like that. Her family wept profusely over her inexplicable death, her mum quickly developing high BP from the news. Her demise shattered the walls of social media, trending for weeks, non-stop. Her course mates were too devastated to believe it was true. It just didn’t make sense that one minute Adaeze was alive, apparently responding to treatments and the next minute she was dead; lots of questions with no answers. Well, life had to go on.

    What followed next was the preparation for Adaeze’s funeral. Her family vowed to accord her a deserving last respect. There were invitations to be sent to different groups, radio announcements to be made, uniforms to be bought, distributed and sown, posters to be printed, polo shirts with her face and name to be produced, different kinds of food to be cooked for both the night of songs and funeral proper, drinks to be bought, burial brochure to be produced, cows, goats and fowls to be slaughtered, coffin to be bought, decorators to be consulted, meetings between the church and Adaeze’s family, services of undertakers to be employed; it was as if the list of things to be taken care of were unending.

    After months of careful preparation by Adaeze’s family to which the extended family and friends contributed little to nothing, the D-day finally came; the day the gorgeous and promising Adaeze was to be buried. Immediately Adaeze was interred to mother earth amidst the cries and wailings of family, friends and well-wishers, plates of food began flying around the “event”. People were seriously clamouring for their own share of foods and drinks; voices were raised and the attendants were cussed by those who felt cheated by the sharing formula-tears began to diminish & disappear from people’s eyes. Even Adaeze’s parents were so busy doling out instructions to the attendants to make sure that all attendees were satisfied that they forgot they had just lost their gem of a daughter. Hmmm! At that point, barely no one remembered again that the future of a young and promising girl was just snuffed out in pitch darkness by inexplicable events. Needless saying that all attendees were really satisfied because Adaeze’s burial was the talk of the town for months.

    This is just Fiction. I’m merely trying to use it to drive home a point. Let us go back in time to the creation story-the good old days of Eden. When God made man, He never intended that man would go down six feet deep after a time on earth but due to the fall of man, He gave us death, not as a revel but as a reminder in strong terms of man’s depravity. Suffice to say that today, it appears death and its inevitability has lost its message.

    Funerals have become feasts and opportunities for outrageous merrymaking. The hearts of most are only heavy for as long as the Preacher’s heart-rending sermon during the funeral lasts. You scarcely hear dirges sung in funerals again. Mostly gone are those days when during the funeral of a deceased, family and friends become melodramatic, wanting to jump into the grave and be buried together with the deceased. These things no longer happen. They are now moribund and can only be seen in Nollywood movies.

    At present, aside walking down the aisle, one other easy way to bankruptcy is funerals and woe betide you, if the person you are to bury lived up to 85years and above. You know, we call the funerals of those at that age and above “Celebration of life”. I am not saying that it is entirely wrong to give a befitting funeral to an outstanding person. What I am saying is that the grandiosity of a funeral has never, can never, and will never be a criterion for measuring the essence and usefulness of one’s life.

    When a man dies, what should be of utmost importance are the things to learn from his life, how to extend and bequeath the memory of his legacies to the present and the unborn, not how to canonize a horrible person using a costly funeral. Sometimes, I wish we could take a cue from the Westerners on issues of funeral.

    Even if our funerals should be such revelry then everyone must learn decisively to cut their coat according to their cloth. The rich should bury like the rich and the poor like the poor. I do not see a reason why funerals should put one’s account on red simply because one wants the echoes of a funeral to be heard louder than that of a neighbour.

    Let’s try not to forget the cause of death and the clandestine message it carries. We must not forget that no matter the affluence of a funeral, the same fate awaits us all. We must also begin to be reoriented that after we have gone the way of all the earth, the living shall only remember us because of our works.

  • Explosion : Rivers state residents panic as gas explosion shatters their community

     

    The Rivers State Government and the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency have said they will investigate the gas pipeline explosion, which shattered the serenity of Oduoha and Elibrada communities in the Emohua Local Government Area of the state on Wednesday.

    Sources told our correspondent that the rupture occurred around 3am, resulting in a leakage, which caused tremor, though there were conflicting claims by residents as to whether the incident took place in Oduoha or Elibrada.

    The state Commissioner for Energy and Natural Resources, Dr Peter Medee, said officials of the ministry had been assigned to visit the location as the government would not rely on third party information.

    “I have passed on the information to the Head of Department of Petroleum and Gas. So, they will go there tomorrow (Thursday) to get all the facts, because we cannot rely on any information that is given to us by a third party. They will go there and then feed me back before we can go to the press,” the commissioner stated.

    Similarly, the Port Harcourt zonal Director of NOSDRA, Ime Ekanem, said the agency was aware of the leakage, adding that efforts were on to avert a possible fire outbreak though he did not say if any preventive measure had been put in place.

    “We are aware of the gas leakage at Emuoha and the agency is going to respond. Our investigation is tomorrow (Thursday). By the time we visit the scene and come back, we will be able to give details of what really happened,” Ekanem stated.

    Confirming the incident, the Chairman of the Emuoha Local Government Area, Tom Aliezi, said Oveku and Oduoha communities were affected but no life was lost to the incident.

    Aliezi stated, “Around 3am, I received a call from Eduoha because of the incident. When I asked what happened, I was told that one of the pipelines ruptured. I immediately contacted the security agencies. I called the LNG zonal controller in Emuoha Local Government Area, but he didn’t take his call.

    “Then I spoke to the Controller of Pipelines and he said he was going to immediately make his management know about it. When he called me back, he said they moved in at once and that what they had been able to do was to stop the flow.

    “I was there myself, so I said: ‘I am standing there, none of your people are here. So, whatever you are going to do, please do’. So that has been the situation. They said they came. I didn’t see them. We are still on them. As I speak, I am in Emuoha.”

    Aliezi added that he had reached out to the operators of the oil and gas facility for them to take charge of the situation and advised residents of the area to steer clear of the scene.

    He stated, “I have advised my people to stay clear. So far, there is no casualty and from the information reaching me, I think it is an eroded pipeline, but that is subject to investigation.

    “For now, everybody should stay clear of that place until we are sure that the experts are there to advise on what to do.”

    Earlier, residents of Elibrada and Uduoha had raised the alarm of a possible fire outbreak as the deafening sound of gas leakage could be heard miles away, while the escaping gas could be seen from the facility located in the middle of the forest.

    An eyewitness and indigene of Emuoha, Chizi Enyi, said the area was experiencing tremor due to the burst pipeline.

    He said, “It is a gas pipeline rupture, but it is without fire and it has been making noise since 2am. I visited the site and the noise is too loud.

    “However, we got information that the NLNG and Agip (companies believed to be the operators) people are mobilising to the place.

    “Let me also thank the local government chairman for his quick response in trying to make all the necessary contacts to ensure that the leakage is stopped. So, we are still waiting for the companies to see how they can stop the leakage.”

    Another indigene of the Emuoha said the whole area and nearby communities were enveloped by the odour of gas.

    “We have been calling on the fire service but they have not been responding to calls. We are living in fear. For now, we have not heard of any casualty, but we are afraid there could be fire anytime,” the indigene stated.

    It was gathered that the facility was being jointly operated by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Company and the Nigeria Agip Oil Company.

    As a result of the development, it was gathered that some of the residents had fled the area.

    Speaking on the development, the Paramount Ruler of Oduoha, Chief Ferdinand Ogbuehi, said the leakage caused panic in the community, adding that many residents had already fled.

    He stated, “From 4am till now, the people have been living in fear. The vibration has sent many packing. We are not at rest at all. We had not seen this type of thing before. We want the government to come and see what is happening.

    “We have announced to the people that nobody should go to the scene. We don’t want a fire outbreak from that place to destroy our community. We want the government to come. We are afraid of going closer to the place.”

    Also speaking, acting Paramount Ruler of the Elibrada community, Abel Obillor, called on relevant government agencies to intervene and protect the area from any harm that the leakage could cause.

    He said, “Around 3.55am, we heard a sound. Everyone in my community ran to the junction. The sound can still be heard from that particular place. I called on my people to stay away from the place and until the government comes to our rescue.

    “We don’t know how this thing came about. We need the government to come and help us and see what is happening here. Our crops and everything will be affected; so, we need help.”

     

    Source : http://punchng.com

  • 2023 Presidency: Ekweremadu, Anyim, others call for zoning to S/East

    NOTABLE Igbo leaders yesterday urged all the major political parties in the country to cede their presidential tickets to the South-East geopolitical zone in 2023 in the interest of justice, equity and national unity. Rising from a cross-party meeting of South-East leaders in Igbere, the home country of Senate Chief Whip and former governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzo Kalu, the leaders said that the South-West and the South-South zones, which together with South-East make up the South had respectively produced presidents in Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    In a communique jointly signed by Kalu; former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim; Deputy Chief Whip of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon . Nkeiru Onyejeocha; Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu; and Chief Chekwas Okorie at the end of the meeting, the leaders also called on Nigerians across all geopolitical zones and ethnic nationalities to support a Nigeria’s president of Igbo extraction in 2023. The communique read: “Political leaders of the South-East across all political persuasions met at Igbere, Abia State, on January 5, 2021 to discuss the political future of the geopolitical zone vis-à-vis the 2023 general election. “The meeting recalled that Nigerians across political, ethnic, and religious divides fought hard, long, and collectively to enthrone the current democratic dispensation as the surest way to engender national development and guarantee a just and equitable society where every section of the country enjoys a sense of belonging. “The meeting observed that the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has rotated between Northern and Southern Nigeria and among the various geopolitical zones. Thus, the South-West and South-South geopolitical zones in the southern part of the country have produced the President of Nigeria. ”Hence as power is expected to rotate to the South in 2023, the meeting noted that the South-East is the only zone in the South that is yet to produce a President of Nigeria in the current democratic dispensation.
    “The meeting further observed that the people of the South-East have continued to demonstrate their commitment to the unity and development of the country. Not only has the geopolitical zone actively supported the emergence of Nigerian President of other geopolitical extractions, the people are also known to be major agents of development and heavy investors outside their zone and often the next in population after the indigenes in any state of Nigeria. Our well-pronounced presence and investments in every nook and cranny of the country represent the firmest and most practical demonstration of faith in the unity, peace, and continued corporate existence of the country, for where a man’s treasure is, there his heart lies also.” Resolutions, demands “In view of the above and after exhaustive and incisive deliberations, South-East political leaders resolved to: “Consequently implore all the political parties to cede their presidential tickets in the 2023 general election to the South East in the interest of justice, equity and national unity. To make good our demand and reciprocate such good faith, we have decided, as a geopolitical zone with substantial presence in every part of the country to give a block vote and throw our full weight behind any major political party, particularly the APC and PDP, that zones its presidential ticket to the South East in 2023 general election. We resolved to work for such a party irrespective of our different individual political parties. S/East govs blast organizers Meanwhile, South-East Governors, yesterday came hard on the initiators and conveners of the Igbere meeting and dissociated themselves from it. The Governors argued that “if there should be such a meeting which they feel is very necessary, the governors must be seen to be informed and be part and parcel of calling such a meeting.” Chairman of the South-East Governors’ Forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. David Umahi, stated this during a virtual meeting with other governors of the region. Said Umahi: “Today 5th January, 2021, the South East Governors had their meeting and all the governors were in attendance and the meeting resolved as follows: “There was a bi-partisan meeting called today and the initiator went ahead to use the names of governors without consulting them as part of the conveners of such a meeting. “The Governors of South-East frown at such attitude and would want to disassociate themselves from such a meeting. If there should be such a meeting which they feel is very necessary, the governors must be seen to be informed and be part and parcel of calling such a meeting. They strongly feel that Ohanaeze is in part position to speak on such issues. “So, they want to say that the Governors are not involved and they encouraged all their people to boycott such a meeting.” On the issue of security, Governor Umahi said the governors are so much worried on the killings and kidnappings that are going on by our people in south east; killing our own people  and then killing security agencies and the situation is being heightened by the activities of very desperate politicians. “There are so many desperate politicians in all the political parties that are so desperate for power and they have aligned with some bandits in South-East to destabilise the nation.” Umahi further stated that the governors of the zone would ”do everything possible to ensure that all our people are protected; the security agencies and all the people that are from other regions that are living with us. “We have agreed that the South-East Security Committee will be expanded, we have agreed that this year we are going to have a common patrol. Our vehicles are going to be the same, the uniform will be the same and we will do this for our vigilante and we will continue to work with the people of South-East to give them greater protection.”

    Source: www.vanguardngr.com