2015: Peter Obi predicts Jonathan’s victory over Buhari, others

Former governor of Anambra State, Mr Peter Obi yesterday said President Jonathan would not have problem winning over the All Progressives Congress candidate in the 2015 presidential election. Obi who is the deputy director of Jonathan campaign organization in charge of South East, South South and South West said it had been ordained that Jonathan would serve a second term and therefore, nothing can stop his re-election in 2015. Obi spoke to journalists shortly after his investiture as a Papal Knight of St Sylvester at St Patrick Cathedral, Awka, Anambra State. He said only people above 55 years of age could be made papal knights, but he has been today invested even though he is not up to the age, and that the way he miraculously became Papal Knight before the mandatory age of 55 would be the way Jonathan would be miraculously re-elected next year. On the seeming strained relationship between him, his former party All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA) and the incumbent governor of the state, Chief Willie Obiano, Obi described it as the figment of the imagination of certain people, adding that he had a cordial relationship with the aforementioned. He however said where he would be going politically would be better than where he was before leaving APGA. Speaking in the church, Bishop of Awka Diocese of the Catholic Church, Most Rev Pauilinus Eze3okafor said the recognition of Obi for the knighthood was as a result of his wonderful work he did with his team when he was executive governor of the state when he was governor. The Bishop said one of the most significant contributions of Obi was the impact of his administration on the psyche of the people of Anambra State. He maintained that Obi demonstrated that Anambra State was not cursed but that we were the cause of our problems. “These demonstrations goes beyond the provision of infrastructure- the good network of roads, the new faces and lease of live given to our schools and hospitals, the payment of salaries, pension and gratuities as and when due. “The core of his contribution is with regard to the mental restructuring, the non tangible impressions etched on the psyche of the people,” the Bishop submitted. Speaking on the investiture, the Anambra State governor, Chief Willie Obiano and the APGA national chairman, Chief Victor Umeh in their separate speeches described Obi as an achiever who has put his footprint on the sands of time, adding that they could have misunderstanding with Obi on principle and nothing more. The occasion which looked like a political carnival saw eminent Nigerians like former Vice President of Nigeria, Dr Alex Ekwueme, former minister of health, Prof ABC Nwosu among others in attendance. President Jonathan who was represented by his Special Assistant on Inter Party Affairs, Senator Ben Obi extolled Obi’s virtues and asked his successor, Obiano to emulate him. END.

APGA: Okwu’s faction berates Umeh’s special national convention

The Chief Maxi Okwu-led faction of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has criticised the party’s Special National Convention conducted on Dec. 17 under the leadership of Chief Victor Umeh describing it as “continuation of impunity.” The factional state chairman of the party loyal to Okwu, Mr Shedrach Anaekwe, made the observation in an interview with newsmen in Awka yesterday. It could be recalled that the convention had among other things adopted President Goodluck Jonathan as its presidential candidate in the February 2015 general elections. It also ratified the appointment of Gov. Willie Obiano of Anambra as the party’s national leader and Board of Trustees (BoT) chairman. The convention further approved the extension of the leadership of the party at all levels to not more than 120 days if elections were not conducted for unforeseen reasons at the expiration of their tenure. However, Anaekwe argued that some of the amendments in the party’s Constitution were carried out for selfish purposes. According to him, from inception, the APGA Constitution does not permit the extension of anybody’s tenure by a single day which is why we are already in court. “Again, a serving governor is only the leader of the party in the state and not the national leader of the party. “They forged ahead to ratify his appointment without amending that aspect in the Constitution. “One had also expected that the convention would have replaced Chief Umeh with another person as acting national chairman pending the main convention of the party. “The convention would have been an avenue to reconcile aggrieved members, bring peace back to the party and pacify those not happy with situations of things. “That was the expectation of the party faithful but rather, it became a continuation of impunity,” the factional state chairman said. He however supported the adoption of President Goodluck Jonathan as APGA presidential candidate, saying that it was a general decision for anyone who love the country. Anakwe, who noted that a congress by the Okwu’s faction had ratified his appointment as the state chairman of the party, expressed confidence over APGA’s victory in the 2015 general elections. He urged all party members in both factions to go into the general elections as one pending the determination of the suit by the Supreme Court over who the authentic national chairman of the party was. END

I am no fan of any government, says Okey Ndibe

Prof Okey Ndibe, a professor in the University of Connecticut, USA and award winning writer and columnist with Saharareporters.com and The Sun Newspaper yesterday in Awka said that he is not a fan of government at any level. Ndibe was speaking at a book reading ceremony organized by the Anambra State Broadcasting Corporation(ABS Radio and TV) tagged a literary evening with Prof Okey Ndibe, and which featured the reading of Prof Ndibe’s latest work of fiction, Foreign gods inc. The erudite professor said that it is not his making that he is not particularly a fan of any government, but his writings are borne out of a desire to make the leaders of Nigeria to do the right thing and provide dividends of democracy to the masses. “I am not a fan of government, I write out of profound passion for change. Nigeria is a country conceding hope but led into hopelessness by its leaders.” Ndibe said. He stated that his book reading in Awka was the best he has had anywhere in the world, and that was because he was reading in his home state in the presence of his mother, brother and peers with whom he grew up decades back. Addressing the gathering, the organizer of the programme, Mr Uche Nworah the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of ABS said that the idea of the event was to bring people together to share knowledge, and not necessarily in a disco party. Nworah said, “We decided within three days to package and hold this event. We spoke with Okey and other people and I am happy that it is a success today. This is the first time an event like this is holding in Awka, and we cannot have people like Okey around who are well sought after and afford not to take from his knowledge.” Also speaking, the commissioner for information in Anambra State, Chief Tony Onyima said there is a new spirit in Anambra, and the government is bringing extra-ordinary talents to the state. “This is the first time an event like this is holding in the state, and this is just a part of a larger show we are packaging. Our dream is to bring home all the wave making artistes from Anambra origin from all over the world. “We will be at Alex Ekwueme Square on 26th December, and all the big musicians from Anambra origin will be there, and we will bogey down from 6pm until early hours of the next day. So you can see that things are changing in Anambra. “We have first secured the state and there will be no fear of robbery, kidnapping and any other vice of such.” Onyima said. The reading was attended by several published authors in the state including the Secretary to the State Government, Oseloka Obaze, the traditional ruler of Obosi kingdom, Igwe Chidubem Iweka and others. END.

Bianca Objects as APGA extends Umeh’s tenure, ratifies Obiano BOT Chairmanship

The All Progressives Grand Alliance has in a special convention held on Wednesday in Awka extended the tenure of the chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh for a period of 120 days. This is following a successful amendment of the party’s constitution by the delegates of the convention, which stipulated that the tenure of the executive s of the party can be extended to give room for proper conduct of election for its leaders to emerge. The governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano who was in October named the leader, board of trustees chairman of the Party by its NEC in Abuja was also officially bestowed with the title after the amendment of the constitution which created the position of leader of the party And chairman BOT. Other amendments were also done in the party’s constitution including the adoption of affirmative method of votes for lone aspirants in primary election instead of printing ballot papers which the party accepted amounts to waste. The delegates of the party voted to amend the constitution to reflect that any member of the party who has not stayed atleast six months will not be eligible to contest for an elective position. This Umeh said is because of what the party has suffered in the hands of politicians who come in overnight to get the party’s ticket and thereafter decamp to other parties. Meanwhile, wife of the late leader of the party, Mr Bianca Ojukwu has opposed the extension of Umeh’s tenure, saying that it makes him a judge in his own case. In moving the motion for the amendment of the constitution for the extension of tenure of leaders of the party, Mr Peter Ezeobi said, being that umeh’s tenure expires in February, and considering that it will be cumbersome to conduct election in the same months when the party will be going for the general election, he moved that approval of 120 days for the leaders. But Mrs Ojukwu argued that Umeh would by this act have been a judge in his own case by presiding and ensuring that his tenure which should be winding up was being extended. Though she was over ruled by a majority of the members, she said her objection was to atleast show her disenchantment. The special convention witnessed a massive attendance form members of the party from all states of the federation, with four governorship candidates attending. The candidates are; AlexOtti, Abia State, Anthony Agbo, Ebonyi, Emmanuel Iheanacho, Imo and Abdulahi Shinkafi, Zamfara.

Why we rejected Gov Elechi in APGA - Sen Agbo

The candidate of the party for Ebonyi governorship race, Senator Anthony Agbo has said that the governor of the state Chief Martin Elechi had made concerted efforts to join the party before leaving for Labour Party, but was rebuffed. Agbo said Elechi was very disposed to join the party, but the party was only careful with the kind of people it admits into the party, and also considering that Elechi came in with a bag of request, the party rejected him in order not to be caged. Speaking at the special convention, Agbo stated that he is happy that his governorship bid is steadily gaining the appeal of well meaning people in the state, and that even though Elechi was rejected, most of his supporters have been showing support for the party. “We are more interested about the growth and integrity of the party than admitting a government that is making request in a party in which it is new in. Individually, some of the governor’s supporters have joined us, and that alone is a big boost,” Agbo said.

I am prepared to floor Okorocha, Others in race for Douglas House, says Capt Iheanacho

The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA) in the Imo State 2015 governorship race, Captain Emmanuel Iheanacho has stated his readiness for the election, expressing optimism that he will beat the duo of the incumbent governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha and deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha and others. Iheanacho in an interview with journalists in Awka, the Anambra State capital during the special congress of the APGA said he is confident of victory because the incumbent governor has betrayed the trust of the people of the state. He said, “Okorocha came in with his rescue project, but as I speak with you, I am sure both Okorocha and the project need to be rescued.” He queried the authenticity of Okorocha’s free education policy, saying that the benefit of education at the end of the day is to secure a good job, but because the students are not properly trained in the free education provided by the incumbent governor, the students on graduation can not find jobs let alone establish on their own. Asked how he hopes to floor an incumbent governor, Iheanacho said that Imo was in the same position it found itself in 2011 when the then incumbent, Chief Ikedi Ohakim was voted out for non performance. “Imo people are yearning for change, they are fed up with this government, and we want to provide real change. What is the benefit of free education when no one coordinates the curriculum, education is in shambles. “Let me tell you, I am not frightened by the governor or the deputy senate president. I am just confident because I have the people on my side, and I believe that come February 2015, I will win the election.”

Prof. Wole Soyinka Endorses Goodluck Jonathan For 2015

"Even though I have said it time and time again that the president should control his wife but there is something significant about Mr. President. He is the first president without any ties to the military mafia. All his children are in schools here in Nigeria. You cannot come across a skyscraper in any corner of Nigeria and people will tell you it belongs to him; even a seven storey building. I strongly believe that GEJ is a phenomenal change from before and if we cannot find a better, young alternative, then we must remain with him until we can groom someone better. This is no time to go back to the military mafia and go back to our vomit" - Prof. Wole Soyinka

Ukachukwu’s brother, Sen Onyeabor Obi’s son, 3 others to fly LP flag in Anambra

The Anambra State chapter of Labour Party(LP) has elected five candidates to fly its flag for the national and state assembly elections which is due for next year. Among the candidates is a cousin of a PDP bigwig in the state, Prince Nicholas Ukachukwu who recently failed in his bid to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA) for Anambra South Senatorial zone, Hon Ernest Unigwe and son of the first republic senator, Onyeabor Obi, Hon Obiorah Obi. Others who were elected on the platform of the party in an affirmative congress held at the weekend at the party’s state secretariat are; Barr Chinedu Leonard Ubah who is running for a seat in the state assembly to represent Nnewi North state constituency, Hon Onyekwere uzochukwu, Orumba South and Hon Ifeanyi Okeke, Nnewi South2. While Obi is gunning for a seat in the House of Representatives to represent Nnewi North, Nnewi South and Ekwusigo federal constituency, Unigwe is gunning for a seat in the house of assembly to represent Nnewi South 1 state constituency. Chairman of the primary election panel, Hon Rich Ejike Onuorah in his address after the election thanked members of the party for comporting themselves orderly throughout the period of the election, saying the calmness that have been experienced can only be seen in civil and orderly parties like Labour Party. In his speech on behalf of the candidates of the party after the election, Son of the founding member of G34 which latter metamorphosed into PDP, Obi thanked the party for giving them the opportunity to fly the party’s flag, promising to win victory for the party. He described LP as a grassroot party, saying that, that has remained the advantage of the party over other parties that pride themselves as biggest parties in the country. On his part, the secretary of the party in the state, Mr Anthony Orekyeh said that the peaceful conduct of the primary election is a simple attestation of the people’s belief in the party. He said that party is working underground to ensure success for its candidates. The party also stated that it has no presidential candidate for next year’s general election, but chances are that it may adopt a credible candidate from another political party. END.

Yahoo Yahoo: ‘My friend just picked N8m’

Don’t mind the caption of this piece; we will get back to it. Introduction; I am a journalist and a blogger, the major tools for my trade are my laptop, android phone, ipad and other such high-tech equipments my lean resources can afford. My office is anywhere that is conducive enough for me to work with the gadgets that aid my job, and that includes in peoples’ offices waiting to meet appointments, restaurants, my house, joints, my car or any other place. But I have very recently become worried that the rich display of gadgets on the table while carrying out my job leaves suspicion in the mind of people as to who I am. Once, I was in my mechanic’s workshop, and while he was fixing my car I decided to scribble something so I will beat deadline later in the day. As I typed away on my mini laptop, he came to confer with me about what the problem with my car was, then he met me working, and instantly his countenance changed. He asked, “Oga you dey follow do this thing? Guys for my area, small small boys don hammer all for this thing.” He told me. You can’t imagine the surprise on my face because I am sure he was referring to internet fraud. That was not the first time, I was also doing some typing once in a beer joint, and was already running short of time to beat my company’s deadline as network was not encouraging. I was frantic and needed to push the report, and all of a sudden network improved and I checked my status and saw that the mail had delivered. I heaved a sigh of relief and started smiling to myself and the guy who sat close to me sipping from a cold bottle of Orijin beer joined me in smiling. He then asked me and said, “ol boy, maga don pay?” Another way of asking if my dupe had complied by paying money to me. Again, I sat and typed my story while also browsing the internet on one occasion and a guy walked in and said, “Bros, you dey take risk oo.” I enquired what the risk was and he said, “to dey outside dey do this thing now. If na for Benin police go just arrest you here.” I tried telling him it was not what he thought, but his mind was already made up that typing on a laptop meant one thing… I am a scammer. Now, back to the caption above; Two guys, apparently students of a higher institution domiciled here in Awka, Anambra State sat in a joint and engaged each other in conversation, the first started with these words; 1st Guy: I have this job I have been programming for months now, I was hoping that it would have yielded last week but it did not. 2nd guy: What is it worth? 1st Guy: it was supposed to pay N20million but somehow, it dropped. But once it works, I will be picking N11million 2nd guy: My friend just picked N8million. 1st Guy: Which of them? 2nd guy: You should know Chike now? 1st Guy: Ah! I know Chike now, we are in the same department. No wonder, I saw him with a new model Toyota Corolla on Monday. 2nd guy: True! He did not even tell me, but I know he has bought a new Apple laptop, and several costly softwares. Kai, that guy sef. These two are not more than lads. They are second year university students and not older than 21 years each. But as small as their age may be, they habour tall dreams and are working assiduously to attain them, but the route for the attainment are all crooked. High Money to the tune of N8million which is enough to cover a high grade civil servant’s salary for years can be picked by them in a twinkle of an eye. A friend regaled me recently with stories of how these internet fraud things are done. According to him, an acquaintance of his recently made it big. Though the job took him close to a year to fine tune, he had posed as a high profile professional in the oil sector, working in oil rich Saudi Arabia. He met an equally rich woman who resides in USA on the internet through a dating site and they struck a relationship. The Nigerian youngster figured that if he gave his true identity as a Nigerian National, being known for internet fraud the lady may be pissed off. He sent her several fake pictures of a dashing young whiteman and even went ahead to send flowers to her. He did this through his contact in Saudi Arabia and the woman was now convinced that her lover boy is a Saudi National, and was also rich as instead of demanding from her sent her cards, clothes and flowers. With the game set, the young man now positioned himself to go to USA and the overzealous US lover sent down real money, but to tidy some business before coming, the lady had to help the guy with some money so the loose ends in business will be tidied fast to give him room to come faster, this is supposed to be a loan; and the lady had no problem sending that too if only to meet this wonderful lover. The snag then was that the money arrived Saudi and needed to be moved, but after some time, through contacts, the money was moved and thus the woman was scammed. That is the length these guys can go to scam one. Internet scam is now the in-thing in Nigeria, and among the youths there is nothing more of a fad than it is. They apply several means to ply their trade, and their identities can change. It could be as young lover boys, ready to provide a shoulder for rich promiscuous women to lean on and get sexual satisfaction, rich widows who have so much money bequeathed them by their late husbands but need responsible men to spend time with, or young girls whose parents died in air crashes and need to move funds bequeathed them for investment in safe countries. These categories are not the only ones I regard personally as fraudsters. Beyond this, there is now a culture of youths wanting to get rich by any means possible, and to a large extend they have always succeeded, and this has continually lured even those who did not have such inclination. Even the female folk among the youths are not exempted. Young undergraduates now attend lectures in modern cars that beat those of their lectures, and their friends who envy them want to hit it big too. For the boys it may be internet fraud, and the ladies who have the necessary tools join. But for those who do not, they engage in what has come to be known as ‘runs’ which if translated is not far away from prostitution, and most raise their game a notch by pimping. If nothing is done to stop the current trend of youth jettisoning quest for knowledge for quest for wealth, then the future of the country is not secured. As a way if making quick money, young people now believe in making unmerited wealth, such that the new fad is now sports betting. Older people will agree that pool of those days used to be very dangerous and only left for never do wells. It used to be so addictive, and those who indulged in it were usually written off because talking them out of it was not so easy. Today the culture of sports betting has taken over our youths. Maybe I am naïve, but I was shocked recently after listening to the conversation of two young men. The first started by telling his friend; “Liverpool fucked me up yesterday.” His friend responded by scolding him for betting two goals in favour of a team like Liverpool against Arsenal. The former revealed that he had stacked N7,000 for a match and that after Liverpool failed to score even a goal, he begged for a slash of price on the premise that the money was part of his school fees, but they refused. His friend had a different story to tell, the same match, in which his friend had stacked N7,000, another guy he knows had stacked just N3,500, predicting correctly the number of corner kicks and the name of the player who would score Arsenal’s goals against Liverpool, and guess what; he made a whooping N500,000 from the match. Beyond being lucky, the tendency that the winning will only bring him close and also wipe him up on a later date is high. In the past, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) lived up to its bid in not only pursuing politicians who indulged in money laundering, but also ensuring that cyber cafes where fraudsters patronize are raided frequently, but these days when every one browse in the comfort of their homes with their laptops, EFCC has to device new ways of keeping youths out of fraud if Nigeria will maintain a good image outside. Eleke, a journalist, blogger and social commentator sent in this piece through donbaron2004@gmail.com.