They die slowly each day

Waiting for their pension,

Waiting patiently, hopefully.

Afterall, having worked so hard

They deserve to rest.

All dues paid including bribes

To facilitate quick payment during rest.

Tomes of files bearing

Their names and benefits entitled

Retrieved from cupboards and hidden stores

Are piled up before the ‘ogas’ for approval.

But one, two, three years after,

No signs of payment yet!

My cousin is already a living dead, pity!

After 35 years serving

Ijebu Ode Local Government

No relief yet in spite of awards for good conduct.

Already a creaky, rickety wagon at 60,

Afraid of death, he begs:

Let them pay me, he moans!!!

Tell them, brother tell them

You know them who lock up our fortunes.

He just lost an elder brother

Who served in Lagos, died shortly after service

While waiting for pension peanuts!

Let it not happen to me, he pleads.

Arise, ye pensioners

Death is knocking at the door!

Eyin lo kan, now it’s your turn

To die miserably!

Birds of carrion are flapping their wings

As the governors look elsewhere!

Tell the gluttons to wake up,

The people are dying!

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This is as the governor described as worrisome a situation whereby judges feels so intimidated to discharge their constitutional duties.

Governor Wike made the remark shortly after the swearing in of two new High Court judges and a permanent secretary at the Government House, Port Harcourt on Thursday.

The two newly sworn in judges are Justice Ben-Whyte Opufaa and Justice Gbasam Okogbule, while the new permanent secretary is Sir Dagogo Abere.

The governor noted that due to fear, some judges instigated petitions against themselves in an attempt to avoid handling some perceived sensitive matters.

Governor Wike urged judges to be assert themselves, be firm and bear in mind the oath of office which they swore to.

He further advised judges to resist attempt to foist the culture of using cost of transportation by lawyers and parties in court as a basis for transfer of a matter  from one state to another.

“This country cannot move forward if the judiciary does not come out to say we must be firm to do our work,” he said.

On the issue of independence of the judiciary, the governor observed that that had been narrowed to the ability of the judiciary to control its capital fund and overhead.

Governor Wike noted that the judiciary might have all the money in the world and still not be independent.

He insisted that what should be of importance to judicial officers was whether they were given the necessary liberty to discharge there constitutional duties in accordance to the law.

The governor advised the two newly sworn in judges to use their energy to advance the course of justice and refused to be intimidated.

“Whatever you believe that is right, do it. It doesn’t matter who is involved. Don’t be intimidated by the federal government.”

Governor Wike directed the State Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice, Professor Zaccheus Adangor (SAN) to expeditiously issue the two judges the Certificate of Occupancy of their official residence.

“It will be proper for us to know how many more judges they will appoint by next year so we will be able to build houses for them now and keep it ready,” he added.

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Also, it was agreed that field commanders would take measures to protect civilian communities as a confidence-building mechanism between the military and those communities.

According to the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a press statement issued, it was believed that when the trust that had been lost between both parties was re-established, there would be improved cooperation in intelligence-gathering and sharing.

The meeting also agreed that poverty and youth unemployment were at the root of the nationwide security challenges, and needed to be addressed with greater vigour by all tiers of government.

The three-hour meeting coordinated by President Buhari, and attended by the Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, heads of defence, security and intelligence agencies, and members of the Security Committee of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum represented by one governor from each of the six geo-political zones (in a Virtual Format), focused on the country’s security policies and approaches in tackling the internal security challenges with a charge that intelligence-gathering and sharing must be optimised for the nation to secure itself.

The president was said to have used the opportunity to dispel commonly held assumptions that the terrorists in the North East had far more weapons and money than the government, stressing that what was left of them were “mere scavengers desperate for food, raiding shops and markets, and killing innocent persons in the process.”

He also expressed concern that in spite of the fact that borders with neighbouring countries had been shut, bandits and terrorists continued to have access to small weapons.

“These terrorists are in the localities. How is it that they are not short of small arms?” he queried the security and intelligence chiefs.

According to President Buhari, “We have said enough on the need for them to rejig their operations. I am glad that there is better synergy and cooperation which are very important. I have directed the Service Chiefs to meet among themselves in-between the National Security Council meetings. The services have resources; yes, they need more, and mobility, and are doing their best, but there is a need for better gathering and interpretation of intelligence. Our intelligence-gathering must be improved.”

The president informed the governors of the imminent shipment of military weapons and aircraft from Jordan, China and the United States, but again asked for patience on the part of the public because the new weapons and aircraft must be manned by trained fighters and pilots who must first receive appropriate training.

President Buhari also expressed satisfaction with the level of support from neighbouring countries in the war against terrorism.

“They are cooperating with us. On Boko Haram, we are making progress with Benin, Niger, Chad and Cameroon,” he said, while restating that intelligence-gathering must improve to be able to track small arms in the North West, North Central and North East states.

The president also expressed satisfaction with the level of Naval activity in the Gulf of Guinea, using newly-acquired equipment, but demanded that hard-to-reach areas of Lake Chad where Boko Haram terrorists have found new havens, as well as the forests now inhabited by bandits, must be accessed and rid of nefarious elements.

“The Chief of Defence Staff has spoken about their study of the forests and their potential danger to security. We must make sure we follow the bandits and terrorists, but there must not be deforestation in view of the climate situation,” said President Buhari.

In their submissions anchored by their Chairman, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, and Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State, the governors highlighted the problems of poverty, unemployment, trust deficit between the military and civilian populations and the inflow of small arms into the country.

The governors also pointed to the problem of coordination among military and security chiefs and played up their own security roles which included USD1 billion they allowed the president to withdraw from the Excess Crude Account for weapons procurement two years ago.

They, therefore, urged the president to consider a “bail out” for security for the states in view of the enormity of the resources they now expend in support of the military and the police.

The post Buhari, governors end meeting, agree on how to end insecurity appeared first on Frontpageng.

Also, the bill seeks to make the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) the minimum qualification for those seeking positions at the National and state assemblies.

The bill is being sponsored by Sen. Istifanus Huang, (PDP, Plateau).

The bill seeks to alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to provide for the amendment of Sections 65 (2) (a), 131 (d), Section 106 (c) and Section 177 (d) on minimum educational qualification for those seeking such elections.

The bill is entitled, “The Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (in this Bill referred to as “the Principal Act”) is altered as set out in the Bill.”

It reads in part: “The bill is seeking the alteration of section 65 (2) (a) of the Constitution which deals with the qualifications for intending members of the National Assembly.”

The extant law which the bill seeks to amend reads: “A person shall be qualified for election under subsection (1) of this section if he has been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.

Section 65 (2) (a) is now rephrased to read “if he has been educated to at least National Diploma level or its equivalent.”

The bill also seeks to alter Section 131(d) which states that a presidential candidate and the deputy must have “been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.”

The amendment is now rephrased to read: “He has been educated up to at least HND level or’ its equivalent.”

For House of Assembly, the bill seeks the alteration of section 106 (c) of the Constitution.

According to the existing law, anyone aspiring to be a member of the House of Assembly must have “been educated up to at least the School Certificate level or its equivalent.”

It is however, now rephrased to read: “If he has been educated up to National Diploma level or its equivalent.”

For governorship candidates, the bill seeks the alteration of section 177 (d) of the Constitution which currently states that the person must have “been educated up to at least School Certificate level or its equivalent.”

It is now rephrased to read: “If he has been educated up to at least Higher National Diploma Level or its equivalent.”

Source: NAN

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Tagged Nigerian Youths Walk Against Corruption, AbdulRazaq was joined in the over two-hour walk by the Speaker of the House of Assembly Yakubu Danladi; zonal head of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Isyaku Sharu; State Coordinator of the National Youths Service Corps Esther Ikupolati; members of the House of Assembly; hundreds of members of the NYSC; artisans; and civil society organisations.

The walk was one of the EFCC’s public awareness programmes to draw attention to the danger of corruption.

AbdulRazaq, who arrived the EFCC office at 7 a.m. and joined the walk from the beginning to the end, repeated President Muhammadu Buhari’s refrain that corruption would kill the country if the country fails to kill the cancer that the governor said was responsible for the slow pace of development.

“We have been walking the talk, now we are walking in support of the war (against corruption). The message is very clear: kill corruption or it will kill us all,” he said.

“We have to do the right thing and be cautious. We have seen what has happened to those that have been in (this) position before us. Nobody wants to live office and be going to EFCC’s office daily. So, we will do the right thing in Kwara State. We appreciate the EFCC, they had earlier given us over N100 million. They have invited us (again) to collect another N200 million (recovered looted funds); they have made a lot of progress.”

The anti-corruption walk was organised by the EFCC in partnership with the NYSC.

Also at the occasion, the Speaker of the state’s House of Assembly, Danladi, said the corruption crusade required the support of all Nigerians to succeed, asserting that graft was deadlier to the society than HIV/AIDS and must be stamped out, especially in Kwara where he lamented how billions of naira had been diverted to private pockets at the expense of the masses.

He also lamented the negative impacts of internet fraud on the country and called on the youths to shun it.

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The former Minister of Solid Minerals, Fayemi, was sworn in on Tuesday by the Chief Judgte of Ekiti State, Justice Ayodeji Simeon Daramola.

His deputy, Bisi Egbeyemi, also took the oath of office.

Fayemi succeeds Ayodele Fayose.

To emerge the new governor, Fayemi defeated 34 other contestants, including the then Deputy Governor, Professor Kolapo Olusola of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP during the July 14 election.

Kolapo was supported by his boss Fayose.

It would be recalled that Fayemi was the governor of the state between 2010 and 2014 before he was defeated in his bid for a second term by Fayose.

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