I NEVER KNEW WE'LL BE GOVERNOR- OBIANO'S WIFE

 Wife of the governor of Anambra state, Mrs Ebele Obiano last weekend at a function in Aguleri stated that she and her husband never at all dreamt that they will become governor of Anambra state.

Mrs Obiano who was trying to stress the charity work she and her husband were doing in the state, said they started at a time when they never even knew they will be governor, saying that the charity works of her family did not start today.

"In Lagos where we were living, we were still doing charity, and I remember once when we were told that because no school in the whole of Aguleri had a science labourator, our children had to be taken outside to do their practicals.

"When I heard of it I said no, and we asked for the total cost of building science labouratories and when we were told, we also added a computer hall, and that was how Aguleri stiudents started taking their exams here. We were doing tis tjings when we did not even know we will be governor.

NOW READ THE FULL STORY OF HOW SHE COLLABORATED WITH AN NGO TO TRAIN THE PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED AS MOBILE PHONE REPAIRERS.

The premises of the Vocational institute and Welfare Centre, Aguleri, Anambra State swarmed with people in wheel chairs and several support aids, and it was obvious that the function holding therein was one for them. It was the day set aside for the graduation ceremony of 50 physically challenged people, who have for three months been drilled in the art of repairing mobile phones.

The six months programme was at the instance of a Non Governmental Organisation, South Saharan Social Development Organisation, SSDO, which had brought in expatriate experts on mobile phone technology to teach the physically challenged people.

Mrs Grace Nwobodo, the Country Director of the organization in her address said the programme was one well thought out, with the hope of impacting in the lives of those known to be the vulnerable group in the society. Nwobodo said that through the help of Oxfam Novib, the orgnisation, selected 100 physically challenged people for empowerment and training in mobile phone repairs in Anambra and Enugu State. She added that Anambra government showed demonstrable willingness to helping the organization in its efforts to train them, hence the graduation of Anambra trainees, at a time when the Enugu trainees were still in camp as a result of delays.

She said, “Statistics from the United Nations has shown that over 20million Nigerians are living with disabilities, of which over 70 percent were without gainful employment.  This people according to international and local civil societies are mostly stuck in squalor and face inequalities in access to education, healthcare, employment and social-community participation, hence the need to help them.”

Nwobodo said that these groups of people mostly earned a living by begging for alms. She said many of the problems faced by people living with disabilities can be addressed through employment and income generation, hence the intervention by her organization.

According to her, the organization has the primary aim of making development happen for vulnerable people – women, men, children and youths. This is because of a personal conviction that everyone and anyone, if empowered can live full productive lives for the overall benefits of the society.

She stated that to ensure that the trainees obtained the full appreciation of the different working parts of a mobile phone, the training was broken down into hardware and software components, so as for them to know how the mobile phone relates to the software to become a usable communication device. She also expressed confidence in the trainees, saying that they have been adequately trained to fix any type of mobile device.

The commissioner for Women’s Affairs and Social Development, Mrs Victoria Chukwukelu stated that the graduation ceremony was made possible by the steadfastness of the wife of the Anambra State governor, Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano who on hearing of the training quickly ordered that a conducive environment be provided for the 20 female and 30 physically challenged male for the three months duration of the training.

“We swung to action immediately and settled for the Vocational Institute and Welfare Centre, Aguleri, which is spacious enough to contain them all. We were told that the programme will commence simultaneously in Enugu and Anambra, but here we showed enough commitment by providing accommodation and even feeding for the trainees, and ours started immediately.”

Chukwukelu thanked the governor’s wife for her resilience and commitment to bettering the lives of the downtrodden in the state, saying that shortly after the trainees were lodged in the training camp, Mrs Obiano travelled to the US for her annual vacation, in which she spent four months. Throughout the four months, Chukwukelu said Mrs Obiano always called to know how the trainees were progressing, and that once, when she was told that the food stuff of the inmates had exhausted, she had quickly asked her to mobilise and meet some of her political allies for donations to ensure that none of the trainees suffered from lack of food.

Mrs Obiano in her remark said, her husband and hger self were committed to human capital development, and that taking care of the physically challenged in the state was part of their priority. She said the state government has not only empowered physically challenged people but have also built reformation centre for people with special needs, and that by doing, the government is today taking care of the blind, and mentally challenged people too.

“The governor complained to me once that there were too many mad people around the streets, and that he was always embarrassed that any where he took investors in the state, they were always accosted by mad people, and that something has to be done about it. For this reason, we have mopped up the mentally retarded people in the state anywhere we can find them, been taking care of them, and surprisingly, a good number of them have been regaining their sanity, and we have always reunited them with their families,” Mrs Obiano said.

               

Highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of certificates to the graduands. The granduands were also presented with Dell laptop computers each, tools pack, repair kits and start - up capital, to enable them set up their own workshops. The joy of the graduands grew visibly when the wife of the governor announced that because of perennial shortfall in the supply of electricity, which could hamper their development as technicians, she donated 50 generators to them.

The graduation programme left the trainees with a good testimony as they praised the South Saharan Development Organisation, Oxfam Novib their major partners and the Anambra State government. A representative of the trainees, Mr Damian Nwosu who spoke with our correspondent was full of praises, saying that only few organizations like the SSDO have truly taken cognizance of the plight of the physically challenged, while urging other well to do organizations to always remember the down trodden in the society.

He said that with the empowerment materials donated to them, they will have no reason not to be productive, and that with the level of knowledge impacted on them, they are sure to outdo other phone repairers in the state, just as they will ensure that they spread the knowledge they have learnt to other physically challenged people to ensure financial freedom for all.

WE HAVE STERTED ARRESTING ILLEGAL USERS OF SIREN- ANAMBRA POLICE PRO

The Police Public relations Officer for Anambra State Command, DSP Okechukwu Ali has stated that his command is working hard to ensure that every motorist, who is not empowered to use the siren, and who does so will be arrested.

Ali who was speaking to our correspondent on the indiscriminate use of the siren by unauthorized persons in the state, thereby scaring road users and causing unnecessary panic said that the command has not been resting in ensuring that defaulters were brought to book.

He denied that in most cases, those who flout the law on the use of siren were politicians who always had police escorts. He said that as a result of the enforcement by the police, there have been reduced cases of people flouting the order.

“Our men have been very proactive in this regard, our men from the operations department are constantly monitoring and enforcing this. We have clamped down on most of them on the road and also dismantled the siren.

“Right now, we are expecting a law from the Anambra State House of Assembly, to apportion charges for offenders of the law. As it is today, the law is in place in Anambra, but there is not law stating clearly the fines to be paid by the offenders. The law is underway, and we expect that soon we will have that.”

Ali stated that most of those who flout the law are people coming in from outside the state, who think that the enforcement is not as strict as it is in the states they are coming from.

“Here in Anambra, you cannot say that people who flout the law go with escorts because we have striped all those who are not authorized to have police escorts of such. We have withdrawn their orderlies, and in the same way we have also arrested and dismantled the sirens of offenders.”

Speaking on those empowered to use the siren, Ali said the ban on the use of siren has been effective for sometime now, and that currently, the Force Headquarters, through the Force Public Relations officer is planning sending to all the state commands the review of those empowered to use the siren in every state.

“As it stands now, we are still waiting for the new circular, but in Anambra State today, those who we know are empowered to use the siren are; the governor, deputy governor, speaker of the legislative house, security agencies, ambulance services on emergency.”

He said that anyone outside those listed is illegal, and that the police in the state will not hesitate to impound the vehicles and dismantle the siren in accordance with the law, pending when the house of assembly will impose fines on the offenders.

Urum indigenes protest their monarch’s high handedness

Indigenes of Urum in Awka, Anambra State have protested alleged high handedness of their traditional ruler, Igwe B O Nweke, and the sales of communal lands in the community.

Indigenes of the community were at the government house, Awka on Wednesday to protest the activities of the royal fathers, stating that they have for long tolerated the nefarious activities of the monarch, and that mission to the government house was to ask for his sack.

Though no government official was on hand to address the protesters, security agents were also on hand to forestall a breakdown of law and order as they denied the protesters entry into the government house.

An elder of the community, Sir Charles Nwankwo told journalists that, “We are here to protest the sales of our community lands by the traditional ruler of our community. For a long time, we have kept quiet and watched him sell off our community lands.

“We want the governor to come to our aide, help us recover our lands, and to also remove him as the traditional ruler of the community. We are no longer safe with him as the monarch of our community.”

Another protester, Mr Henry Nwoye said that the community is tired of the high handedness of the monarch, as he has been using his powers to tell off lands belonging to the community to other communities.

“Just last week, our neighbouring community, Isuaniocha were here to protest against this same monarch, he has been selling our land to them and I think his major aim is to bring us to a collision with the other communities. Thank God the others realized it early enough.”

The protesters carried several placards which depicted their grouse against their traditional ruler, including, “we no longer want Igwe BO Nweke, Government should come to our rescue, Sack Nweke now,” among others.

ENDS.

Constitution Review: Why Some Amendments Fail- Sen. Ekweremadu

 

…Calls for Six-regional structure 

…Explains why it is difficult to create new state

 

The Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, has blamed embedded ethno-sectional interests and considerations as major stumbling blocks to Nigeria’s quest for a more acceptable constitution.

 

He stated this while delivering the 2015 Annual Lecture of the Faculty of Law, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State on Monday.

 

Senator Ekweremadu regretted that vital amendments, which should have helped to deepen Nigeria’s democratic experience, strengthen equity and justice, and escalate national development had perished at the alters of mutual suspicion and narrow elites interests masqueraded as ethno-sectional interests.

 

“Mutual ethno-sectional and religious suspicions have become so ingrained in our body polity that even the most patriotic and altruistic intentions are almost always interpreted from myopic prisms of such sentiments and interests”, he lamented. 

 

This was even as expressed happiness that although such ethno-sectional tendencies cut across the nation, there was a “growing ranks of detribalised Nigerians who will eventually aggregate to move this nation forward”.

 

The Senator who piloted the first sets of successful amendments to the 1999 Constitution in the 6th National Assembly, said the last efforts to further alter the constitution were scuttled by vested interests due to misperceptions over the attempt to remove presidential assent to constitution amendment bills, set a 30-day timeline for presidential assent to normal bills or indicate refusal of assent, failing which it automatically becomes an Act of the National Assembly in line with the United States presidential system where the president has a grace period of only two weeks.

 

He also listed, among others, the attempt to separate the Office of the Minister of Justice from that of the Attorney-General, which current merger in a political appointee, he said, leads to abuses and clogs in the wheel of justice.

 

He said: "Currently, by simply entering a nolle proseque, the Attorney-General of the Federation can technically quash a case. The same applies at the state level.

 

"So, Section 150 was altered to provide for establishment of the Office of Minister of Justice separate from Office of the Attorney General of the Federation. New Sections 174A-174H were inserted to set out the qualifications and secure autonomy, improved powers for the Attorney-General of the Federation, and insulate the Office from political manipulations.

 

"For instance, while the National Judicial Council was to recommend, the president was to appoint, while the National Assembly was to confirm. In the same manner, Section 195 was amended to provide for the Office of Commissioner for Justice separate from Attorney General of each state”.

 

He however regretted that such patriotic efforts were quashed after the 2015 election as some people thought it would whittle down the powers of the incoming president; hence the former President was misled into retracting his assent.

 

Continuing, he said: "It was very reliably gathered by the National Assembly that former President Goodluck Jonathan indeed appended his signature to the Alteration Bill presented to him and had, thus assented to the Bill. However, the former Attorney General of the Federation who was against assenting to the Bill subsequently persuaded him to veto it.

 

"The Presidency wrote to the National Assembly stating clearly that he was returning the Bill, but the Bill did not accompany the letter. This prompted the National Assembly to demand the return of the original Bill sent to the President for assent in the light of his alleged veto, but the Presidency refused this request, ostensibly because there would have been no way of covering up the fact of the signing of the original alteration bill by the President”.

 

He expressed surprise at the sudden change of heart by the former Attorney-General whom he said never opposed the idea throughout the public hearings.

 

“The answer rests solely on ethno-sectional politics and interests”, he stated.

 

The Deputy President of the Senate said the Constitution Review Committees of both Chambers of the National Assembly were made up people from every part of the country and could therefore not have amended the constitution to constrain or unduly favour any part of the federation.

 

“The truth is that the amendments were completed in October/November 2014 before the 2015 general elections, so, how could we have even known that the former President would lose the 2015 election?" the Deputy President of the Senate, queried.

 

He regretted a situation where the decision of an entire country could be scuttled by the veto of one man/woman, explaining that a bill to alter any part of the constitution was the only bill requiring the approval of at least two-thirds of both Chambers of the National Assembly and at least 24 states of federation to pass.

 

Senator Ekweremadu called on the political elites, North and South, to have a rethink so the nation could move forward.

 

“It is noteworthy that no group or part of the country, whether North or South, can lay claim to innocence in the ethno-sectional intrigues that becloud constitution review efforts in Nigeria; we all have our portions of the blame” he emphasised.

 

He explained: "Our recommendations were in the best interest of the country. Nigerians know and have often complained that too much power is vested in the presidency. Our aim was to democratise power in the best interest of the country.

 

“You cannot make an enduring law with an individual or section of the country in mind because it will not stand the test of time. Importantly, a country is built around enduring laws and institutions, not the trust in the goodness of a leader, whether incumbent or incoming”.

 

Senator Ekweremadu also reiterated his call for the restructuring of the country into six regions, along the six geopolitical zones as the current 36 state-structure was unsustainable due to high cost of governance resulting from unnecessary duplication of political offices and bureaucracy.

 

He said: "If we have anything to learn from the current oil glut and the hard times that have befallen us, it is that breastfeeding 36 states will ultimately not work. We may pretend for as long as possible, but we cannot pretend forever".

 

The Senator, however, said until the nation was ready to embrace the reality, the South East deserved an additional state “for the sake of equity in the distribution of resources and opportunities”.

 

Senator Ekweremadu was also quick to add that creating extra state required political solution and understanding as the military had “planted stumbling blocks in the Constitution”.

 

“Creating a state in Nigeria by the provisions of Section 8 of the 1999 Constitution is like passing a camel through the eye of a needle as the military have more or less locked the structure of the country the way they wanted it and threw the key into the Atlantic Ocean”.

 

The Governors of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, Deputy Governor of Anambra State, members of the diplomatic corps, among other renowned academics and politicians from across the country, attended the public lecture.

Police arrest Pro Radio Biafra Director in Anambra

 The Anambra state police command yesterday arrested some supporters of Radio Biafra director, Nnamdi Kanu at various points in Awka , the state capital.

The protesters numbering in their scores, mostly women carried placards with various inscriptions matched from Amawbia to the Government House.

When the protesters were approaching   government house, the police men stationed at the place opened fire in the air to scare them.

Dared by the protesters, the police threw some canisters of tear gas on them, forcing them to retreat.

 But at the Arroma junction, scores of the Pro. Kanu demonstrators where picked by the police.

Anambra state coordinator for IPOB, Ikechukwu Okoye, told our correspondents that they were not protesting to cause any form of trouble , saying the protest was for the release of their leader, Nnamdi kanu.

 

He said they were marching to the state government house to plead with Anambra state Governor, Chief Willie Obiano to prevail on President Mohammadu Buhari to intervene on the matter.

 

According to him, “we are only freedom agitators who obey the laws of the land; this is democracy and there is freedom of speech, freedom of movement  and so on”

 

“Why would anybody detain our leader and in the process demanding bail of N2million. We have not come to fight anybody because we are peace makers”

 

Anambra state Police Commissioner, Hosea Karma, confirmed the arrest of some persons who according to him were parading along the Enugu-Onitsha express way.

 

According to him, “there is nothing like Indigenous People of Biafra. Those people constituted nuisance on the high way and they were picked.

 

“Right now, I do not know the numbers that were picked, but I want to assure you that anybody who wants to disturb the peace that exists here will not go unpunished. 

We do not have any group that goes by such name, they were causing obstruction on the federal high way” Karma said.  

 Meanwhile , the factional leadership of the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra had given solidarity to the cause of Nnamdi Kanu. 

 

 In a press statement made available to newsmen in Awka on Tuesday the  National Director of Information of MASSOB , Mr Uchenna Madu said “In the brotherhood spirit of Biafra and coalition of one stronger force of self determination, MASSOB hails Radio Biafra Director and his executives.

 

.

 It said “Nnamdi kanu was not suspended by Ralph Uwazuruike or MASSOB. He left MASSOB in 2009 on his own.

 

“Uwazuruike should close his mouth in shame in any matter concerning Biafra because Biafrans are no longer happy with him or celebrating him. “

 

The Uwazuruike led MASSOB had disowned Kanu recently in a press statement.

Anambra Journalists prepare for elections, lift ban on campaigns

Bans have been lifted on campaigns for the triennial delegates conference of the Anambra State council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ), where journalists in the state will be electing a new executives, following the coming to an end of the tenure of the incumbent executives led by Comrade Henry Nwasike.

Four journalists will be slugging it out in the election which holds in November, 13^th, 2015, with top contenders already working to outwit each other, just as some of the candidates have worked hard to remain in the race, following petitions from others for their disqualification.

The four candidates running for the position of the chairman of the council include; Mr Abuchi Nwozor, a staff of the state owned Anambra Broadcasting service(ABS), Mr Odogwu Emeka Odogwu, a staff of the Authority Newspaper, owned by oil magnate, Ifeanyi Ubah, which is also yet to hit the state, Mr Emma Ifesinachi of the State Information ministry and Mr Emeka Arinze, also of the ABS.

For the position of the Secretary, Mrs Ngozi Obi Chukwuma of ABS will be slugging it out with Mr  Nduchris Nwanna, who is popularly know as Okwuoto, and works with the federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria(FRCN), Purity FM.

Some other contestant in the election include; Mr Ikem Asika oif FRCN who is contesting for the position of Vice chairman, Mr Peter Okoli of News Agency of Nigeria, NAN who will be squared up against Mr Henry Duru of Orient Newspaper.

More candidates are Mr Ekwi Ajide of ABS, who is running against Mr Chukwudi Chukwuenyem of FRCN, and others.

The stakes for the positions seem high, and all candidates are working hard and ensuring that no stone is left unturned just to ensure victory for themselves.

Some onlooker have already positioned themselves to see what the fraternity of the brothers of the pen will be able to do to hold a free and fair election, considering that they are always in the forefront criticizing others other inability to get it right in elections.

…stay tuned for more…