Arewa To Commence Oil Exploration
August 18, 2008 by 
Felix Ashimole · 2 Comments
As a sequel to the position of the 19 Northern States governors that the region can survive without Niger Delta, the Group Managing Director of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Engr. Abubakar Yar’Adua has revealed that NNPC will soon commence exploration in the North to ascertain if there is oil deposit in commercial quantity in the region. According to the GMD, the NNPC will use 3D seismic technology as against the 3D that was used in the Niger Delta. The GMD said that the 2D technology was prone to error and can only be used where the base rock is accessible.
The GMD made this disclosure while briefing newsmen on the activities of the NNPC over the past one year. It will be recalled that the GMD drew the ire of MEND when while testifying at a Senate Committee that the NNPC paid about 12 billion naira to the militants in the creeks of Niger Delta to secure oil pipelines.
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Nigerian Journalism : Thisday Newspaper, Tinubu, Fashola, and the Chagoury Tango.
August 18, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
The news that Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu the predecessor to Governor Fashola of Lagos State was hosted in Beirut by the cronies of late Gen. Sani Abacha, made front page in Thisday Newspaper after Thisday hosted her annual musical festival in Abuja. The report has it that using Hitech limited, the Chagoury are in control of over 60% of the total infrastructural development contracts in Lagos.
Since this news broke, the Lagos State government using The Nation Newspaper believed to be owned by Senator Ahmed Bola Tinubu have engaged Thisday. It got to a ludicrous head when the Lagos State Governor returned the award given to him in February as the best Governor 2008 in infrastructural development. Imo State Governor, Ikedi Ohakim also got the best governor in the environmental category. When these awards hit the airwave, my reaction was “why give 2008 award in the beginning of 2008?” More also why should a media house that ought to be a watch dog and an Oliver Twist, be giving an award to governors whose elections as at that time were seriously challenged and the courts were yet to rule.
Arising from the bashing by Thisday’s negative report on Lagos State, the Lagos State governor answered my query. Those awards are Greek gift given to solicit adverts and other concessions from the recipients. This was evident with the deluge of state government adverts that flooded Thisday after the award.
Thisday newspaper is not the only Nigerian media outfit involved in this unethical reportage. A newspaper led concurrently for three weeks with damning exposure of questionable award of pension by Gombe State House of Assembly to Governor Danjuma Goje. When adverts from Gombe State and friends of Gombe State started appearing in the pages of this newspaper and other newspapers, nothing was heard of the Goje pension saga.
This questionable journalism practice is also extended to corporate Nigeria. A GSM service provider gave tariff free lines to major columnists and editors. This Greek gift has ensured that this company does not get the truth about her reported. When any columnist or editor runs out of weekend cash, or money for staff salary, a not too favourable report is done, which is automatically followed by an advert or appearance on the cover of the weekend edition/centre page special report or pull out from the affected corporation or individual. This is how Nigerian media runs.
If not, why did Thisday report a story they have had in their shelf during the award ceremony, only to release it when they were denied right to host this year’s Thisday Music Festival in Lagos? The previous year’s was hosted in Lekki Lagos state.
Though this style of reporting common in Nigerian media is a shame, the issues raised by Thisday have not been addressed by Lagos State government. Was Hitech responsible for the Ijegun fire disaster? Has she and Lagos State government paid compensation to the family of those who lost their lives due to the negligence of Hitech?
Instead of following these leads and investigate the activities of the Chagoury during Abacha’s maximum dictatorship, another Nigerian newspaper has joined the fray. Nation Life in her Saturday August 16th 2008 Edition in page 52 took an upper cut at Thisday publisher Mr. Nduka Obaigbena. This week’s report is part (2) of what must have started last week. The rider reads How Thisday Publisher got into trouble in South Africa. To show the cowardice of the paper, the by-line of the story is merely by Our Reporter. This alleged incident happening in 2004. The report went ahead to claim that the publisher of Thisday has gone to “beg” Mr. Albert, (Gilbert) the head of the Chagoury family. With a graphic description of the conversation, one would have expected Nation Life to reveal the name of Bank’s MD that made the visit with Mr. Nduka and the serial number of the N20 milion cheque that was bounced. In case the publishers of Nation Life do not know, giving a dud cheque is a financial crime worthy of EFCC intervention.
In other climes, media expositions of crimes have led to the collapse of multi-national corporations and the resignation of government officials. But the Nigerian journalist, for a port of cold portage throws objectivity to the winds and sees no need for adequate investigative journalism.
The Abacha Henchmen Chagourys Take Over Lagos story of Thisday, was signed off thus “ This article is the first in Thisday series on state governments” Nigerians are sceptically waiting for the expose on other governors, provided they are also those that have been giving Thisday centre spread adverts.
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UniJos Partners With Abti-American University Nigeria
August 18, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
A delegation from University of Jos led by Dr. Patricia Lar has visited Abti-America University Nigeria (AAUN) Yola to seek collaboration in the areas of student registration, grading and transcript.
According to Apollos Goyol the university’s Director of Research, “the current registration and grading software in use in AAUN was developed by the students of the institution.
Another member of the team said other Nigeria Universities should visit Abti-America University and learn from her.
Meanwhile in a survey of performance of World Universities conducted by a Chinese University, no Nigerian University made it to the top 500.
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RE: University Degree and HND disparity in Nigeria Civil Service
August 17, 2008 by Guest Writer · Leave a Comment
SOS TO THE PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA ALHAJI UMARU MUSA YAR’ADUA
This is to appeal to the President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria , Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to use his good office to implement the much publicized, recently concluded removal of the existing dichotomy in the conditions of appointments/service of the holders of first degree and HND.
It is a thing of regret that two years after the Federal Executive Council’s recommendation of the removal of the undue dichotomy and ceiling on the Salary Grade Level/Rank attainable by Higher National Diploma holders in the Civil Service (ref: Government White Paper on the Report of the Presidential Committee on the Consolidation of Emoluments in the Public Sector, Chapter 6 Section 6.2 of December 2006 pages31/32 ), the implementation strategies and time fixed at “medium term” are yet to materialize till the present moment.
In a nation where people’s aspirations are directed at serving the fatherland with love, strength, faith, heart and might; calling for leaders to be guided right, helping our youth to know the truth; growing in love and honesty , living in just and truth and building a nation where peace and justice reign and where democracy equally guarantees continuity in governance. One begins to wonder whether all the afore-mentioned aspirations as expressed in the national anthem are mere rhetoric rather than virtues to live by. In the Civil Service,’ Servicom’ was launched to enhance efficiency and right service to the clients. Is it not high time that the same level of efficiency and right service manifested in the public service and similar national executive bodies?
Your Excellency Sir, many technical cadre civil servants(HND holders) attained salary grade level 14 step11( the former ceiling for that level) over 10years ago, officers(Degree holders) on level 10 at that time are right now on levels 15 or 16. Affected officers are annually being exempted from promotion interviews to level 15 even though the Federal Executive Council has accepted the recommendation of the removal of the ceiling since 2004. Paragraph one of page 5 of the quoted white paper states that, ‘On 11th June, 2006, the President set up the White Paper Drafting Committee on the Consolidation of Emolument in the Public Sector, to among others , work out a White Paper or better still, detailed programme of implementation of the accepted parts of the Report so as to ensure that substantial implementation begins in 2007 along with substantial implementation of Public Service Reforms and Right Sizing’. A lot of public service reforms including disengagement from service(right sizing) had been implemented whereas the issue of the removal of ceiling placed on HND holders also covered by the same White Paper still remains a no-go area. Is this not a perversion of justice and fairplay?
It is disheartening to state that the HND holders are still being statutorily and financially dehumanized as follow:
1. The period of study to attain HND is a minimum of five years ( 2yrs for OND, 1Yr of Post OND-Internship and 2Yrs for HND) while some of the first degree programmes require only 4Yrs for Courses in Education, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences , Arts etc. It is a fact to recognize that most Polytechnic students meet the minimum entry qualifications for University admission before choosing a career in the Polytechnic.
2. The point of entry into the Civil Service is Salary Grade Level 08 for holders of both qualifications. They undeniably assume the same responsibilities
3. It is a national shame to see some Nigeria Universities quoting the HND as one of the acceptable Entry Qualifications (into Part One of First Degree Programmes) while at the same time same or some others accept the same qualification (with PGD) for their masters programmes. (the NUC needs to revisit this issue). This waste of human resources and retardation of the national technological advancement need to be arrested forthwith. Some universities need to be aware that tertary institutions abroad afford HND holders from this country admission for post-graduate studies without any discrimination.
4. Technical Cadre staff on the so-called ceiling are being paid same salary (i.e. GL 14/11) year-in, year-out, without any annual increment even if they have to stagnate there till retirement decades after and nobody seems to care. More embarrassingly these officers are being paid the same Duty Tour Allowance of N8,500 with their sub-ordinate officers on salary grade level 07. Where are the so called incentives to enhance staff efficiency and productivity? What are the prospects for tertiary Vocational Technical Institutions in Nigeria ? Where is Nigeria ’s technological drive heading to? A lot of Physical structures are presently rotting away in Polytechnics for lack of students while those of Universities are being over-stretched. Some Departments in the Polytechnics are either without Students or their lecturers outnumber the students’ population. Is this country not loosing her focus on Technological Education? This country has to borrow a leaf from a country like Japan whose philosophy and objective of education is, ‘aggressive survival technology and effective use of adapted technology’.
Right now some Federal Ministries and Parastatals are gathering data for the next promotion exercise but the technical cadres on SGL 14 are completely excluded for the reason that the afore-mentioned white paper does carry with it ‘any directive’ to implement. What other directive is required, going by the Pages 5, 31 and 32 of the quoted White Paper?
Your Excellency, Mr. President, I wish to appeal once again that you use your enviable, and honourable office to save the affected officers the psychological trauma of the predicament they find themselves.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Long live Mr. President.
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Nigerian University Commission Fails Nigerians
August 16, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
According to the world ranking of universities released by Centre for World Class Universities Jiao Tong University China, no Nigerian University made it to the top 500. The report is alarming in view of the reason given for the proliferation of private universities in Nigeria. The federal government unable to sustain university education and guarantee quality education opened the flood gate to private sector participation. Despite these mushrooming universities that has become a thing of pride and competition among the religious sector of Nigeria, nothing has improved. Graduates from these universities, cannot hold a candle close to the old school graduates of government ran universities.
In a reaction to the ranking, Professor Isaac Adeyemi, the Vice Chancellor of Bell University Ota (believed to be owned by Obasanjo), said the absence of Nigerian University on the medal table was due to the absence of reliable Nigerian university website. He said that the assessors based their assessment largely on data collected from university websites worldwide.
In this era of info-tech highway, the VC’s admission is an indictment that Nigerian University Commission is yet to appreciate that the world has gone paperless. Even JAMB that has gone online for registration still cannot put her acts together. Students on exam date discover to their horror that they have conflicting exam numbers.
The professor failed to address his mind to the fact that the quantum of Nigerian undergraduates jetting out to Asian Campus of European Universities could also be a vital data used by the assessors at arriving at the rating. European Universities, especially British through British Council now come to Nigeria to organise admission and visa procedure for Nigerian Undergraduates. In the days of yore, Nigerians only went outside the shores to acquire Masters Degree or a discipline not on any Nigerian University’s curriculum. An active accomplice in this brain drain and underdevelopment of Nigeria is United Bank for Africa (UBA). Aside from the top 10 staff of UBA not obtaining any degree in Nigeria, UBA as official policy is assisting the influx of these Universities into Nigeria. Our investigation reveals that some of these Community Universities are not among the top notch in their country.
How can Nigerian Universities have a reliable website or be among the top 500 when Nigerian University Administrators connive with GSM service operators to host campus parties and lewd competitions instead of establishing a department of Information/Communication Technology/Law?
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Rethinking the Clean-up Exercise in Nigeria
August 14, 2008 by Guest Writer · Leave a Comment
The practice of designating one day in a month as a general clean – up day has assumed the status of a culture in this country. It is the day we try to do all the cleaning we failed to do in the past one month. On such a day all the rubbish that was dumped inside the drains are scooped out to make room for the ones we plan to deposit there right after the clean-up exercise. All the obscure corners of markets and open places that have served as dump sites are emptied out. On such clean-up days, the roads and streets are blocked with refuse from all nooks and crannies of the city. The original concept is that pay-loaders and refuse trucks will be handy to cart away the refuse as they are being generated. What is on ground however, owing to the endemic corruption in the system is that adequate arrangement for the carting away of refuse is not made before announcing a clean-up day. The result is that the state of the city on clean-up days and many days and even weeks after is indeed a sorry sight.
The problem of rapid generation of refuse is one of the evils of urbanization. The rural communities manage their refuse much better than the urban areas. The reason is simply that the population in such places grows naturally, mainly through birth. They can afford to manage refuse in the same way their forebears managed theirs because the population is stable. Urbanization is characterized by the massive influx of people into an area that is already saturated with inhabitants. This astronomical and abnormal increase in the number of people living in a place affects every aspect of life. Advanced nations of the world are so called because they factor these evils of urbanization into their plans for their cities. They plan these cities to make them truly habitable.
Urbanization takes people out of their natural habitats and forces too many people to complete for too little space. Without adequate planning a lot of catastrophe could result from such an arrangement. This is why the so-called third world countries are grappling with all kinds of man-made catastrophes. Hardly anything is actually planned in these countries. There is no effort made to regulate the number of people that troop into the towns on a daily basis, and yet every public utility sector is in crisis. Power supply, water supply, accommodation, transport sector and road maintenance agencies are all problematic.
One of the worst effects of urbanization is environmental degradation, which directly affects the health status and life expectancy of urban dwellers. Poor management of solid waste, unhealthy disposal of human waste, improper disposal and channeling of liquid waste, misuse and abuse of drains that encourages the breeding of mosquitoes and harbouring of rodents and vermin, all contribute to make urban areas in the third work uninhabitable.
I am strongly of the opinion that governments that are not yet ready to tackle the solid waste problem should stop escalating the environmental degradation problem by conducting baseless, plan less and aimless clean-up exercises. It is obvious that the only people that benefit from the half-hearted fire-brigade approach we call sanitation exercises are those who use such shams to make money from the public treasury.
Nigeria has produced quite a substantial number of experts in the field of environmental health sciences and other related fields. We do not need to hire expatriates to help us manage our environment when we are sincerely ready to undertake this all-important task. In essence, any sincere administration within this nation has at its disposal all the human and material resources required to provide a lasting solution to the menace of solid, liquid and even gaseous waste. What is lacking is the will-power and the sincerity of purpose to do what ought to be done.
It is high time we rethink the way and manner this exercise is carried out. Rethinking it will help toward enthroning a culture of cleanliness rather that the routine exercise which it has become. What do you think?
Guest Writer: Perpetua Ihebom
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Nigeria Qualifies For 2008 Olympic Quarter Finals
August 14, 2008 by Felix Ashimole · Leave a Comment
The Nigerian U-23 gunning for gold in the on going Beijing Olympics booked a place into the last 8 teams in the male football event by beating the short one United States 2-1.
Nigeria in all West-African quarter finals will meet the young elephants of Ivory Coast.
The match comes up on Saturday 16th .
Meanwhile the Nigerian junior Falcon failed to qualify from their group. Despite an early lead in their last match against Brazil, they gave up to a 3-1 defeat.
Nigeria’s presence is yet to be felt on the medal table. Zimbabwe leads the African gods with 3 Silver medals gotten by a white Zimbabwen in swiming.
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