The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has decided to withdraw all police orderlies and security aides to those whom the police authorities initially gave the privileges. However some groups will still retain their police orderlies. Those to still enjoy their police coverage includes; the President, the Vice President, Chief Justice of the Federation, State Governors, Deputy Governors, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, President of the Court of Appeal, Head of Service of the Federation and ministers, President of the Senate, Deputy President of the Senate, Speaker, House of Representatives, Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Speakers of State Houses of Assembly and Deputy Speakers of State Houses of Assembly.
The following category of Nigerians will loose their Police orderlies according to the Federal Executive Council. They are special advisers, special assistants and other principal staff of the President and Vice President, Secretaries to State Governments, State Heads of Service, Commissioners and Principal Staff of State Governors and their political appointees, Federal High Court, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and State High Courts, Khadis of Sharia Court of Appeal, Judges of Customary Court of Appeal, magistrates, heads of parastatals and extra-ministerial departments, chairmen and members of the Federal and State executive bodies (commissions and agencies.) Chief Judge and Grand Khadi of the States, President of the Customary Court of Appeal, Chairmen of Local Government Area Councils, Chairman of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission.
I support the Federal Executive Council’s idea to withdraw police orderlies from those that do not deserve them. The Federal Executive Council did not tell Nigerians the reason(s) behind this decision, but my guess is that they might want more police people in the barracks due to insecurity in the country. However they might have other reasons for doing this. The Federal Executive Council should also reduce the number of police details attached to those who retained their police coverage. A look at the entourage of some governors, their deputies, ministers etc shows intimidating number of police personnel. I think they have more police protection than they need. Withdrawing some police officers from this group will help make more police personnel available. Be that as it may, the government is simply using the Nigerian tax payers money to provide security to very few, some of whom are corrupt. We are paying to protect those who loot our resources. This is the irony of the Nigerian situation.
Nelson Mandela said that security for few is insecurity for all. The entire country is not secured. Crime rates are too high. All sorts of crime are on the increase. Kidnappings are every day occurrences, robbery, murder, assassinations are too often. Nigerians live in fear. Just recently gunmen attacked the convoy of Delta State Police Commissioner along Benin-Warri road killing about six of his aides.
The primary purpose of every government all over the world is to provide welfare and security to its citizens. To this extent the Nigerian leadership (past and present) has failed Nigerians. Parts of the reasons for the high crime rate are poverty, deprivation, unemployment etc. Remember that an idle mind is a devils workshop. The Nigerian government should be blamed for falling to create jobs and also for falling to create an enabling environment for the private sector to create jobs. An example is the failure of the power project. The House of Representative’s probe of the power sector revealed a lot to Nigerians.
To tackle the insecurity problem in Nigeria requires honesty, determination and transparency on the part of federal government. Government needs to stop corruption in high places. They also need to sincerely partner with the private sector to create jobs and the enabling environment. Till the government does this, the crime rates will soar higher. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Action Speaks Louder Than This “Re-branding”.
The federal government of Nigeria has decided to re-brand our country. This time she brought together who is who in Nigerian politics etc for a political gathering called re-branding of Nigeria. The event took place on Tuesday 17th March 2009 in Abuja. Please don’t get me wrong, am not against re-branding Nigeria. But re-branding should have been action oriented. What I mean is that, the positive actions of the federal government would re-brand Nigeria and not calling people together to sweet talk Nigerians. Nigerians are simply tired of campaigns of this nature. MAMSER, NAPEP, etc are recent examples.
Re-branding Nigeria will not work when there are speculations about removing petroleum subsidy which will invariably increase the prices of petroleum products. This action will certainly worsen the hard times faced by Nigerians. Poverty rate will increase. More so the Nigerian Labour Congress has threatened to go on strike should the federal government go ahead and deregulate the downstream petroleum sector. This is not the time to remove the petroleum subsidy at least for the sake of this global economic downturn.
At this period of great global economic recession, what Nigerians would need is a concrete plan of action that will put food on their tables. Government should have been telling Nigerians concrete/practical efforts to create employment. You cannot re-brand Nigeria when there are more hungry men in the land. Am sure the federal government incurred some financial costs in organizing the re-branding campaign. This is another wasted resources in the face of grave unemployment ravaging the population.
The first step towards re-branding Nigeria should have been to properly reform the electoral system so that credible leaders can win elections. You cannot re-brand Nigeria with the same present politicians in power. You cannot give what you don’t have, so how can the present politicians re-brand Nigeria when they have not re-branded themselves. The present federal government headed by Yar’Adua cannot re-brand because of credibility problem. No wonder Nigerians are not too surprised at the way he is treating the electoral reform project.
Let’s remember that Mr. President on his last sallah message to Nigerians reconfirmed that his administration was committed to electoral reforms, so that we can have peaceful and transparent elections in the country. But his recent actions concerning the Justice Uwais report on electoral reforms have suggested otherwise. The president and his men appear to have doctored the Justice Uwais recommendations. Nigerians are carefully watching. Former Nigerian Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari had already accused President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration of double standard. Many Nigerians have equally voiced their concerns over the attempt by the federal government to jettison the most important aspects of the Uwais report.
If the federal government is sincere about re-branding, they should put Nigeria on the right track by tackling official corruption, pass the freedom of information bill into law, improve the power supply, genuinely reform the electoral process, remove the immunity clauses, introduce transparency in governance etc. With these actions Nigeria will re-brand by itself. Action speaks louder then voices. Lets your deeds speak for you Mr. President. Launching the re-brand Nigeria campaign might be meaningless without the above.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
Re-branding Nigeria will not work when there are speculations about removing petroleum subsidy which will invariably increase the prices of petroleum products. This action will certainly worsen the hard times faced by Nigerians. Poverty rate will increase. More so the Nigerian Labour Congress has threatened to go on strike should the federal government go ahead and deregulate the downstream petroleum sector. This is not the time to remove the petroleum subsidy at least for the sake of this global economic downturn.
At this period of great global economic recession, what Nigerians would need is a concrete plan of action that will put food on their tables. Government should have been telling Nigerians concrete/practical efforts to create employment. You cannot re-brand Nigeria when there are more hungry men in the land. Am sure the federal government incurred some financial costs in organizing the re-branding campaign. This is another wasted resources in the face of grave unemployment ravaging the population.
The first step towards re-branding Nigeria should have been to properly reform the electoral system so that credible leaders can win elections. You cannot re-brand Nigeria with the same present politicians in power. You cannot give what you don’t have, so how can the present politicians re-brand Nigeria when they have not re-branded themselves. The present federal government headed by Yar’Adua cannot re-brand because of credibility problem. No wonder Nigerians are not too surprised at the way he is treating the electoral reform project.
Let’s remember that Mr. President on his last sallah message to Nigerians reconfirmed that his administration was committed to electoral reforms, so that we can have peaceful and transparent elections in the country. But his recent actions concerning the Justice Uwais report on electoral reforms have suggested otherwise. The president and his men appear to have doctored the Justice Uwais recommendations. Nigerians are carefully watching. Former Nigerian Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari had already accused President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s administration of double standard. Many Nigerians have equally voiced their concerns over the attempt by the federal government to jettison the most important aspects of the Uwais report.
If the federal government is sincere about re-branding, they should put Nigeria on the right track by tackling official corruption, pass the freedom of information bill into law, improve the power supply, genuinely reform the electoral process, remove the immunity clauses, introduce transparency in governance etc. With these actions Nigeria will re-brand by itself. Action speaks louder then voices. Lets your deeds speak for you Mr. President. Launching the re-brand Nigeria campaign might be meaningless without the above.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Record Breaking Global Recession and the Nigeria’s Economy.
The challenges and task of managing this global recession has not been easy at all. The Western nations appear to be running out of ideas on how to jump start their economies. Countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have committed more than $3.5 trillion dollars to help their banks rebuild their asset base and kick start lending again. The responses from these huge government bailouts have been disappointing. The world has never witnessed a recession of this magnitude. Warren Buffett (the richest person in the world during the first half of 2008 according to Forbes) described the current crisis as an economic “Pearl Harbour” He predicted that the US economy will be in shambles throughout 2009. Quoting Skynews, the world’s richest people have watched nearly a quarter of their wealth go in the last 12 months.
“In a February video message to his millions of supporters, US President Barack Obama told them that US had lost 3.6 million jobs since the recession began. But this is dwarfed by the worries of the International Labour Organization (ILO) which predicted in its annual publication, Global Employment Trends, that eighteen to fifty million workers will lose their jobs this year alone and two hundred million are likely to be thrown into extreme poverty” (The World Today, March 2009, Volume 65 Number 3 Page 5).
The survey carried out by the Indian Labour Ministry indicated that about 500,000 people have lost their jobs in just three months in 11 sectors of the economy. The Federation of Indian Export Industries have raised alarm that 10 million jobs are likely to be lost in the months ahead. China has also lost similar jobs and about 68,000 factories had closed in their costal provinces as at mid October 2008.
The case of Japan appears to be worse than that of the United States and the European Union. Japan has suffered an immense economic recession due mainly to her high exposure to the slump in global car manufacturing, electronics, and investment equipment. “Russia has been hit hard by the global crisis, with the stock market down almost 80% from its peak, and the rouble sliding fast. Russia’s top 10 billionaires alone lost an estimated $150 billion last year” (The Guardian newspapers of UK, Tuesday 3 March 2009, page 15).
In the UK, a job will be lost every 25 seconds. Experts have also warned that about 320,000 jobs will be lost in the next three months as the recession hits harder. I wrote extensively on the global economic crisis which I titled; Capturing The Casualties From The Global Credit Crunches. (Published on Sunday, 14th December 2008 on http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com). The global economy has deteriorated more, since my article was first published.
“The International Monetary Fund has identified 26 countries, half in sub-Sahara Africa, that are particularly vulnerable to the crisis. Central and Eastern European economies are estimated to face a financing gap of $100 billion in 2009. And the World Bank estimates that 129 developing countries are facing a financing shortfall of between $270 and $700bn” (The Guardian newspapers of UK, Tuesday 10 March 2009, page 31)
Since the world is a global village, Nigeria cannot escape from the global recession. Nigeria will be affected in some many ways. This is because Nigeria has needs to be met by the international community. There will be decreases in oil revenue owning to the problems in the Western economies. We will be affected mostly by the global withdrawal of credit. Foreign loans and international developmental assistances will surely reduce. International donors to Non governmental Organisations (NGO’s) and charity organization like Red Cross etc will shrink. Nigerian banks are most likely going to find it difficult to source foreign loans from their overseas partner banks. There would be decreases in money remitted from Nigerians in Diaspora. Nigerians in Diaspora remit home more than $5 million dollars each year. This is used for various projects at home. This amount will most likely go down. The unemployment situation in Nigeria will be worsened by the above factors.
I will agree with the Nigerian Finance Minister of state, Mr Remi Babalola who advised state governments in Nigeria to be prudent with their resources and look beyond the federation account for funds to execute their programmes. His advise was reported by the Guardian newspaper of Friday March 6 2009 online version. But I seriously doubt if the federal, state and local governments in Nigeria can ever be prudent since there is still high level corruption in all tiers of government. Besides we still have the official secret act. No transparency on the part of government businesses and no credibility. Nigerians do not have access to government documents. No freedom of information act. Therefore the question of prudence will be difficult to achieve. With the above factors, Nigerians should embrace themselves for the worse case scenarios arising from the global recession.
Having said the above, I will ask the government both at the federal and state levels to make some policy changes in our educational sector. The change am propounding is to make skills acquisition a compulsory subject/course in the primary, secondary, tertiary and university levels. If English Language, mathematics, and Gss courses are compulsory in secondary schools and universities, then I see no reason why skills acquisition should not be made compulsory. The idea will be to produce graduates with skills. Skilled people don’t need to search for jobs like unskilled people. Low level job creation is needed to reduce unemployment in Nigeria. Job creation is highly needed this period of global economic recession.
I will also wish to appeal to private educational operators to make skills acquisition a compulsory part of their academic curricular. With measures like this in place, schools in Nigerian will be graduating people with both academic qualifications and skills. Finally I will also appeal to the unemployed people to consider volunteering where they can acquire skill know how. This appeal also extends to various skilled people, workshop owners etc to train the unemployed people who cannot afford to pay for the cost of training. Let there be elements of humanitarian assistance in combating unemployment in Nigeria. We need jobs creation to combat the global economic down turn. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
“In a February video message to his millions of supporters, US President Barack Obama told them that US had lost 3.6 million jobs since the recession began. But this is dwarfed by the worries of the International Labour Organization (ILO) which predicted in its annual publication, Global Employment Trends, that eighteen to fifty million workers will lose their jobs this year alone and two hundred million are likely to be thrown into extreme poverty” (The World Today, March 2009, Volume 65 Number 3 Page 5).
The survey carried out by the Indian Labour Ministry indicated that about 500,000 people have lost their jobs in just three months in 11 sectors of the economy. The Federation of Indian Export Industries have raised alarm that 10 million jobs are likely to be lost in the months ahead. China has also lost similar jobs and about 68,000 factories had closed in their costal provinces as at mid October 2008.
The case of Japan appears to be worse than that of the United States and the European Union. Japan has suffered an immense economic recession due mainly to her high exposure to the slump in global car manufacturing, electronics, and investment equipment. “Russia has been hit hard by the global crisis, with the stock market down almost 80% from its peak, and the rouble sliding fast. Russia’s top 10 billionaires alone lost an estimated $150 billion last year” (The Guardian newspapers of UK, Tuesday 3 March 2009, page 15).
In the UK, a job will be lost every 25 seconds. Experts have also warned that about 320,000 jobs will be lost in the next three months as the recession hits harder. I wrote extensively on the global economic crisis which I titled; Capturing The Casualties From The Global Credit Crunches. (Published on Sunday, 14th December 2008 on http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com). The global economy has deteriorated more, since my article was first published.
“The International Monetary Fund has identified 26 countries, half in sub-Sahara Africa, that are particularly vulnerable to the crisis. Central and Eastern European economies are estimated to face a financing gap of $100 billion in 2009. And the World Bank estimates that 129 developing countries are facing a financing shortfall of between $270 and $700bn” (The Guardian newspapers of UK, Tuesday 10 March 2009, page 31)
Since the world is a global village, Nigeria cannot escape from the global recession. Nigeria will be affected in some many ways. This is because Nigeria has needs to be met by the international community. There will be decreases in oil revenue owning to the problems in the Western economies. We will be affected mostly by the global withdrawal of credit. Foreign loans and international developmental assistances will surely reduce. International donors to Non governmental Organisations (NGO’s) and charity organization like Red Cross etc will shrink. Nigerian banks are most likely going to find it difficult to source foreign loans from their overseas partner banks. There would be decreases in money remitted from Nigerians in Diaspora. Nigerians in Diaspora remit home more than $5 million dollars each year. This is used for various projects at home. This amount will most likely go down. The unemployment situation in Nigeria will be worsened by the above factors.
I will agree with the Nigerian Finance Minister of state, Mr Remi Babalola who advised state governments in Nigeria to be prudent with their resources and look beyond the federation account for funds to execute their programmes. His advise was reported by the Guardian newspaper of Friday March 6 2009 online version. But I seriously doubt if the federal, state and local governments in Nigeria can ever be prudent since there is still high level corruption in all tiers of government. Besides we still have the official secret act. No transparency on the part of government businesses and no credibility. Nigerians do not have access to government documents. No freedom of information act. Therefore the question of prudence will be difficult to achieve. With the above factors, Nigerians should embrace themselves for the worse case scenarios arising from the global recession.
Having said the above, I will ask the government both at the federal and state levels to make some policy changes in our educational sector. The change am propounding is to make skills acquisition a compulsory subject/course in the primary, secondary, tertiary and university levels. If English Language, mathematics, and Gss courses are compulsory in secondary schools and universities, then I see no reason why skills acquisition should not be made compulsory. The idea will be to produce graduates with skills. Skilled people don’t need to search for jobs like unskilled people. Low level job creation is needed to reduce unemployment in Nigeria. Job creation is highly needed this period of global economic recession.
I will also wish to appeal to private educational operators to make skills acquisition a compulsory part of their academic curricular. With measures like this in place, schools in Nigerian will be graduating people with both academic qualifications and skills. Finally I will also appeal to the unemployed people to consider volunteering where they can acquire skill know how. This appeal also extends to various skilled people, workshop owners etc to train the unemployed people who cannot afford to pay for the cost of training. Let there be elements of humanitarian assistance in combating unemployment in Nigeria. We need jobs creation to combat the global economic down turn. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
Sunday, March 8, 2009
The Sharp Contrast, and Who Is A Militant?
The governors of Delta state (Emmanuel Uduaghan), Rivers state (Rotimi Amaechi) and Bayelsa state (Timipreye Silva) came to Chatham House London. Chatham House is the home of the Royal Institute of International affairs, equivalent to the Nigerian Institute of International affairs. The governors came for a roundtable on Niger Delta, and also to argue against the travel advice given by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office to Britons against coming to these areas. Part of the advice read thus, “We advise against all travel to the Niger Delta States of Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers (including Port Harcourt) and advise British nationals in these States to leave. This is because of the very high risk of kidnapping, armed robbery and other armed attacks in these areas”. Akwa Ibom State, Bauchi State, and Plateau State were also listed as danger zones.
The governors’ visit to London was reported by Guardian newspaper of Saturday 28th February 2009 online version. The contrast to the governors’ visit appeared on the same paper. The same edition of Guardian reported that the Joint Military Taskforce (JTC) operating in the Niger Delta area killed six suspected militants during an invasion of the militant’s camp in Daroama enclave of Bayelsa state. The paper also reported about shooting between the militants and the men of the Joint Military Taskforce. The question is how will the governors’ visit convince the British people and the world that the area is safe with all the negative reports that appeared on the same paper?
Three days later, Thisday newspaper of 3rd March 2009 online version reported that oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta areas are suffering from declining outputs, forcing them to withdraw expatriate workers due to kidnappings and militant attacks. There has been increased rate of kidnapping and violent crimes in the Niger Delta areas. The true situation in the Niger Delta as reported by these newspapers makes the governors’ visit to be fruitless. The entire world knows the true situation in the Niger Delta. They read and watch Nigerian news regularly.
The cost(s) incurred by the visit of these governors would have been enough to establish a cottage industry that would engage at least five youths. The governors need not visit London to make a point, they could have called a press conference, invite the press to Niger Delta or make their submission to the British Embassy in Abuja and Lagos. Am sure it was the British Embassy in Nigeria that sent in the report to their foreign office to warn their citizens against coming to Niger Delta.
The Niger Delta crisis is a by product of the corrupt system in Nigeria and the true militants are actually the politicians who loot the treasury thereby spreading poverty and causing restiveness among the youths. When a poor man is hungry the rich cannot sleep, a hungry man is also an angry man. The truth is that the federal government has failed the Niger Delta regions. In addition also, some of their former governors made matters worst by excessive looting. Examples are, former governor of Delta State James Ibori who has a case of money laundering worth over £30 million pounds in the UK. He also has a case with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). Former Edo State governor, Lucky Igbinedion has a case of money laundering with the EFCC. Former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili was mentioned in a scandal of lending N2 billion naira to Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN). Former Bayelsa State governor, Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha was arrested in London for money laundering. He jumped bailed and sneaked into Nigeria. He was later arrested by the EFCC.
All these looted funds would have gone a long way in engaging the youths or developing the region. Lootings of this magnitude will surely cause people to be jobless. Many will die because there would be no money to provide them with social amenities like hospitals, good water, housing etc. That’s why I consider our corrupt politicians and leaders as the true militants. Mismanagement of funds, corruption and maladministration is a recipe for agitation, kidnapping etc. The youth have limited choices. I have the following suggestions on how to bring peace to the Niger Delta region.
The Federal government should withdraw all their armed forces (JTF) in the area. I have said this because no force on earth can defeat a determined people. Fighting or wars have never solved any problem. Dialogue has always been the way out. The federal government should declare amnesty to all agitating youths. The solution is political. The federal government needs to be transparent and honest in their dialogue with these youths. The government should deal directly with the youths. No intermediary or third parties. Discussions should be continuous till a solution is found.
The Niger Delta state governments should also declare amnesty for these youths. Offer these youths post in their government. I suggest a government of unity between various Niger Delta state governments and their youths. Being part of their state governments will reduce tension and guarantee communication with the youths. Local governments should offer positions to these youths and also form unity government with them.
Finally the youths of Niger Delta should form a political party like Hamas did in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) In West Bank. Many people have transited from hunted insurgents to state presidents (Yesser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Mandela etc). With a platform like a political party, they can contest elections into local government levels, state levels and federal level. If they manage to win elections, which am sure they will. Then they should develop their area. Being in power will be a better way to fight for resource control and redress injustice. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
The governors’ visit to London was reported by Guardian newspaper of Saturday 28th February 2009 online version. The contrast to the governors’ visit appeared on the same paper. The same edition of Guardian reported that the Joint Military Taskforce (JTC) operating in the Niger Delta area killed six suspected militants during an invasion of the militant’s camp in Daroama enclave of Bayelsa state. The paper also reported about shooting between the militants and the men of the Joint Military Taskforce. The question is how will the governors’ visit convince the British people and the world that the area is safe with all the negative reports that appeared on the same paper?
Three days later, Thisday newspaper of 3rd March 2009 online version reported that oil and gas companies operating in the Niger Delta areas are suffering from declining outputs, forcing them to withdraw expatriate workers due to kidnappings and militant attacks. There has been increased rate of kidnapping and violent crimes in the Niger Delta areas. The true situation in the Niger Delta as reported by these newspapers makes the governors’ visit to be fruitless. The entire world knows the true situation in the Niger Delta. They read and watch Nigerian news regularly.
The cost(s) incurred by the visit of these governors would have been enough to establish a cottage industry that would engage at least five youths. The governors need not visit London to make a point, they could have called a press conference, invite the press to Niger Delta or make their submission to the British Embassy in Abuja and Lagos. Am sure it was the British Embassy in Nigeria that sent in the report to their foreign office to warn their citizens against coming to Niger Delta.
The Niger Delta crisis is a by product of the corrupt system in Nigeria and the true militants are actually the politicians who loot the treasury thereby spreading poverty and causing restiveness among the youths. When a poor man is hungry the rich cannot sleep, a hungry man is also an angry man. The truth is that the federal government has failed the Niger Delta regions. In addition also, some of their former governors made matters worst by excessive looting. Examples are, former governor of Delta State James Ibori who has a case of money laundering worth over £30 million pounds in the UK. He also has a case with the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC). Former Edo State governor, Lucky Igbinedion has a case of money laundering with the EFCC. Former Rivers State governor, Peter Odili was mentioned in a scandal of lending N2 billion naira to Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN). Former Bayelsa State governor, Chief DSP Alamieyeseigha was arrested in London for money laundering. He jumped bailed and sneaked into Nigeria. He was later arrested by the EFCC.
All these looted funds would have gone a long way in engaging the youths or developing the region. Lootings of this magnitude will surely cause people to be jobless. Many will die because there would be no money to provide them with social amenities like hospitals, good water, housing etc. That’s why I consider our corrupt politicians and leaders as the true militants. Mismanagement of funds, corruption and maladministration is a recipe for agitation, kidnapping etc. The youth have limited choices. I have the following suggestions on how to bring peace to the Niger Delta region.
The Federal government should withdraw all their armed forces (JTF) in the area. I have said this because no force on earth can defeat a determined people. Fighting or wars have never solved any problem. Dialogue has always been the way out. The federal government should declare amnesty to all agitating youths. The solution is political. The federal government needs to be transparent and honest in their dialogue with these youths. The government should deal directly with the youths. No intermediary or third parties. Discussions should be continuous till a solution is found.
The Niger Delta state governments should also declare amnesty for these youths. Offer these youths post in their government. I suggest a government of unity between various Niger Delta state governments and their youths. Being part of their state governments will reduce tension and guarantee communication with the youths. Local governments should offer positions to these youths and also form unity government with them.
Finally the youths of Niger Delta should form a political party like Hamas did in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) In West Bank. Many people have transited from hunted insurgents to state presidents (Yesser Arafat, Fidel Castro, Mandela etc). With a platform like a political party, they can contest elections into local government levels, state levels and federal level. If they manage to win elections, which am sure they will. Then they should develop their area. Being in power will be a better way to fight for resource control and redress injustice. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Open Letter to Nigerian Lawmakers
The Senate President,
The Speaker, House of Representatives,
Distinguished Senators,
Honourable Members of House of Representatives
National Assembly, National Assembly Complex,
Three-Arms Zone, P.M.B. 141, Garki-Abuja,
Nigeria.
Dearest Lawmakers.
You owe Nigerians a specially duty to update us regularly on the stages of the Freedom of Information Bill. The importance of this bill requires a monthly update till it becomes an act/law. Am aware that this bill has a lot of sensitivity attached to it, but for the sake of transparency this bill should be passed. In my own thinking, this bill should be the next priority after the yearly budgets. What Nigerians don’t understand is how long will it take you the law makers to pass this bill? I suggest you people should conduct an opinion poll to determine how urgent Nigerians want this bill to be passed into law.
The delay in the passage of this bill is intentional. This delay is also against the national interest. What you the law makers fail to understand is that this bill if passed into law would strengthen the nation’s democracy, guarantee transparency in politics and the revenue sector which is in dire need of transparency. You should follow the path of the judiciary which has done Nigerians so much proud by saving our democracy. Freedom of information bill if passed into law would guarantee transparency, and transparency will bring credibility to government. Right now our government is lacking credibility.
Nigerians are tired of our official Secret Act which makes it impossible for the government business to be conducted in the open. Many countries have long passed the freedom of information Act. Credible government all over the world conducts their business in the open. Nigerians have the right to know how government spends their money. Government owe this as a duty to explain how every kobo is spent. We want to know how government awards their contracts, to whom, and what the criteria are.
Every government department, ministry or agency should conduct all their businesses in the public. This is for every one of us to see for ourselves. As a matter of urgency all tiers of government, all ministries, and government agencies should have a working web site. This web site should also be updated regularly. Every person should be free to access every information online without having to travel miles to have one. Nigerians all over the world should be able to access information from every part of the globe. Every governmental issue that affects the Nigerian society should be available online for us to see. More foreign investors might be willing to visit Nigeria only if they could access this information from there home countries. Wealthy Nigerians in Diaspora will likely invest their money back home when they have all the information they need. With internet, information cost little or nothing.
With freedom of information and access to documents, Nigerians can ask the oil and gas companies to disclose how much is being remitted to government purse. Presently am not sure Nigerians are aware of how much is remitted to our government. It is our right to know. Canada and Norway have made the disclosure of every revenue to be mandatory. With revenue transparency, Nigerians can hold the government to account for how every revenue is spent. It will bring accountability.
I read on the Guardian newspapers of 25th February 2009 online version that the Senate has announced a legislative measure to boost the operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). This is with a view to re-invigorate the anti corruption crusade. Honestly this measure will have no effect without the freedom of information act. The EFCC cannot catch every corrupt government official, but with the freedom of information act, Nigerians can request for every detail of government transaction. This way Nigerians can catch many corrupt officials.
The much expected electoral reforms will have little or no impact if Nigerians cannot have access to government documents. Without freedom of information, electoral reformation will not be complete. Nigerian people are the government. Power belongs to them. Therefore give them their right of information. This is the time for you to prove that, there is no skeleton in your cupboard by passing the freedom of information bill. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
The Speaker, House of Representatives,
Distinguished Senators,
Honourable Members of House of Representatives
National Assembly, National Assembly Complex,
Three-Arms Zone, P.M.B. 141, Garki-Abuja,
Nigeria.
Dearest Lawmakers.
You owe Nigerians a specially duty to update us regularly on the stages of the Freedom of Information Bill. The importance of this bill requires a monthly update till it becomes an act/law. Am aware that this bill has a lot of sensitivity attached to it, but for the sake of transparency this bill should be passed. In my own thinking, this bill should be the next priority after the yearly budgets. What Nigerians don’t understand is how long will it take you the law makers to pass this bill? I suggest you people should conduct an opinion poll to determine how urgent Nigerians want this bill to be passed into law.
The delay in the passage of this bill is intentional. This delay is also against the national interest. What you the law makers fail to understand is that this bill if passed into law would strengthen the nation’s democracy, guarantee transparency in politics and the revenue sector which is in dire need of transparency. You should follow the path of the judiciary which has done Nigerians so much proud by saving our democracy. Freedom of information bill if passed into law would guarantee transparency, and transparency will bring credibility to government. Right now our government is lacking credibility.
Nigerians are tired of our official Secret Act which makes it impossible for the government business to be conducted in the open. Many countries have long passed the freedom of information Act. Credible government all over the world conducts their business in the open. Nigerians have the right to know how government spends their money. Government owe this as a duty to explain how every kobo is spent. We want to know how government awards their contracts, to whom, and what the criteria are.
Every government department, ministry or agency should conduct all their businesses in the public. This is for every one of us to see for ourselves. As a matter of urgency all tiers of government, all ministries, and government agencies should have a working web site. This web site should also be updated regularly. Every person should be free to access every information online without having to travel miles to have one. Nigerians all over the world should be able to access information from every part of the globe. Every governmental issue that affects the Nigerian society should be available online for us to see. More foreign investors might be willing to visit Nigeria only if they could access this information from there home countries. Wealthy Nigerians in Diaspora will likely invest their money back home when they have all the information they need. With internet, information cost little or nothing.
With freedom of information and access to documents, Nigerians can ask the oil and gas companies to disclose how much is being remitted to government purse. Presently am not sure Nigerians are aware of how much is remitted to our government. It is our right to know. Canada and Norway have made the disclosure of every revenue to be mandatory. With revenue transparency, Nigerians can hold the government to account for how every revenue is spent. It will bring accountability.
I read on the Guardian newspapers of 25th February 2009 online version that the Senate has announced a legislative measure to boost the operations of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). This is with a view to re-invigorate the anti corruption crusade. Honestly this measure will have no effect without the freedom of information act. The EFCC cannot catch every corrupt government official, but with the freedom of information act, Nigerians can request for every detail of government transaction. This way Nigerians can catch many corrupt officials.
The much expected electoral reforms will have little or no impact if Nigerians cannot have access to government documents. Without freedom of information, electoral reformation will not be complete. Nigerian people are the government. Power belongs to them. Therefore give them their right of information. This is the time for you to prove that, there is no skeleton in your cupboard by passing the freedom of information bill. May God bless Nigeria.
Chinedu Vincent Akuta
An activist and leader of “Support Option A4 Group” Leicester-UK
akutachinedu@yahoo.com
http://briefsfromakuta.blogspot.com/
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