Office of Rivers’ Chief of Staff died with my exit—Wike

Wike’s head got too big for his pillow; he should be concerned about crisis in education— OKOCHA

PORT HARCOURT—There was a war of words between the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike and the Chief of Staff to Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Tony Okocha, when the minister said the office of Chief of Staff died with his exit.
It will be recalled that Wike was the former Chief of Staff to Governor Rotimi Amaechi in the first tenure.

Wike, who spoke at his Port Harcourt residence, said when he was Chief of Staff to Governor Amaechi, he managed the office effectively, adding that it was why the governor neither had issues with the presidency nor dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
He said: “The office of the Chief of Staff, Government House, died when I left office in 2011. That office properly coordinated government activities when I was there.
“Government had a direction. Governor Amaechi would not have had all these problems if I was Chief of Staff.
“That is not to say that there were no problems. But I made sure we approached them pragmatically, taking into consideration the feelings of stakeholders.

“The office of the Chief of Staff is very crucial to the success of the governor.
Governor Amaechi could not have made very costly political mistakes like decamping to All Progressives Congress, APC, when I was Chief of Staff.”
Okocha’s take
Chief of Staff, Government House, Chief Okocha, dismissed the statement, saying that the minister probably meant that indiscipline ended with his (Wike) exit as Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt.

He said: “Wike probably meant that corruption died when he left the office. I am sure he meant criminal acquisition died when he left the office.
“Indiscipline and insubordination to his boss, the governor, died when he left the office of the Chief of Staff. His head was bigger than his pillow because he was not loyal to the governor.

“Wike is not in a position to assess my performance as Chief of Staff. My principal is Governor Amaechi. I am responsible to the governor and not Wike.

“I am implicitly loyal to my principal, Governor Amaechi. I am not perturbed by Wike’s outbursts. I expected Wike to be concerned with the falling standard of education. He should be perturbed about the worsening crisis in the polytechnics.”

Mass failure as WAEC releases May/June exam results:

The West Africa Examination Council, WAEC has released its May/June 2014 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, WASSCE, results, recording mass failure in Mathematics and English Language.
Announcing the results, yesterday, at WAEC office, Yaba, the Head of National Office, WAEC, Mr. Charles Eguridu said: “A total of 529,425 candidates, representing 31.28 per cent, obtained credits in five subjects and above, including English Language and Mathematics.”

He noted that when compared to the 2012 and 2013 May/June WASSCE results, there was marginal decline in the performance of candidates as 38.81 per cent was recorded in 2012 and 36.57 per cent in 2013.
Eguridu, who disclosed that the results of 145,795 candidates, representing 8.61 per cent, are being withheld in connection with various types of examination malpractice said: “The cases are being investigated and the reports of the investigations will be presented in November to the Nigeria Examinations Committee, NEC.

”According to him, out of 1,692,435 candidates that sat for the examination, 791,227 candidates, representing 46.75 per cent, obtained six credits and above, just as a total of 982,472 candidates representing 58.05 per cent, obtained five credits and above.
In addition, he stated that 1,148,262 candidates, representing 67.84  per cent, obtained credits and above in four subjects, while 1,293,389 candidates, representing 76.42 per cent, obtained credits and above in three subjects.

He said out of the 161 visually-handicapped candidates, who registered for the examination, 21 of them, representing 14 per cent obtained credits in five subjects, including English language, adding, “blind candidates do not take mathematics and science practicals in the WASSCE.”
In his analysis, he said: “A total of 1,705,976 candidates registered for the examination, out of which 1,692,435 candidates, consisting of 929,075 male and 763,360 female candidates sat for  the examination.

“Of the total number of candidates that sat for the examination, 1,605,613 candidates, representing 94.87 per cent have their results fully released, while 86,822 candidates, representing 5.13 per cent have a few of their subjects still being processed due to some errors, mainly traceable to laxity on the part of the candidates and the schools, in the course of registration or writing the examination.
“Such errors are being corrected by the Council to enable the affected candidates get their results fully processed and released as soon as they are ready.

”Meanwhile, to curb examination malpractice, WAEC has announced the introduction of ICT-driven device which will enable supervisors and staff of the Council on duty to address and record in real time the processes on the day of the examination.

The HNO said: “With effect from the May/June 2014 WASSCE, the Council introduced a device known as Candidates Identity Verification, Attendance, Malpractice and Post Examinations Management System, CIVAMPEMS.

“This ICT-driven device enables supervisors and staff of the Council on duty, to address and record in real time the processes on the day of the examination.
“These include identity verification, capturing and recording occurrences as they happen, such as candidates’ attendance and examination malpractice and transmit same to our data base.

“With this, the Council is able to generate valid examination reports for each examination centre.”
He noted that the Council, beginning with the November/December 2014 WASSCE, will introduce customised, transparent mathematical sets, with in-built non-programmable scientific calculators, which conform with the rules and regulations of its examinations.

He urged all prospective candidates, for both the May/June and November/December WASSCE diets to note that, henceforth, bringing in any other non-approved mathematical set or calculator into examination halls would not be allowed.
“Models of the WAEC-customised mathematical set would be made available to schools to assist them in preparing their candidates for the Council”s examinations,” he said.

He also said that “the Council, with effect from 2014 WASSCE, is introducing biometric enabled certificates.
Each certificate will have a QR code with details of the candidate’s biometrics.”

Youth leaders to Jonathan: Don’t contest 2015 election:

CALABAR – THE Forum of Past Youth Leaders of ethnic nationalities in the South South zone has asked President Goodluck Jonathan not to contest the 2015 general election.
I
n a communique issued at the end of an emergency meeting in Calabar, signed by the chairman, Alhaji Mumakai Unagha and secretary, Mr Ekpo Ukong, the ex-youth leaders said “if he is so desired to contest, he will not receive our blessing.”
“The youth leaders also resolved to mobilize all stakeholders in the region against him come 2015,” they said.

“The youth leaders agreed for two million youth rally in Abuja on 30th of August and towards the end, a 15-man sensitization and mobilization committee to reach out to other youth leaders across the geo-political zones in the country was constituted,” they stated.

The forum rejected the 18 per cent derivation recommended by the National Conference and the criteria for creation of 18 new states, saying they should be created on the principle of derivation.

Culled from: Vanguard

Nigeria 2015: Servicing the instruments of war

Muhammadu Buhari recently survived an attack on his convoy in Kaduna [AP]

Former Nigerian head of state, General Muhammadu Buhari, is a war veteran. Even as a retired soldier and now an opposition politician, the man still has some form of romance with war. After losing the 2011 presidential election, this All Progressives Congress (APC) party chieftain became angry with the electoral system. He reportedly said that if what happened in 2011 should happen in 2015, “by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon would all be soaked in blood.” In Nigeria these days, elections seem to be presented in war terms. We all remember former President Olusegun Obasanjo describing the process as a do-or-die affair and it seems that Nigerian politicians are working towards proving him right yet again. The 2015 general and presidential elections are some six months away and yet the drumbeats of war are already echoing in different parts of the country. Power struggles Just a few weeks ago, Buhari warned, “Our country has gone through several rough patches, but never before have I seen a Nigerian President declare war on his own country as we are seeing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President deploy federal institutions in the service of partisanship as we are witnessing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President utilise the common wealth to subvert the system and punish the opposition, all in the name of politics.”     The former head of state was reacting to the removal and threats to remove some state governors who belong to the main opposition party, the APC. In July, lawmakers from the northeastern state of Adamawa removed the state governor, Murtala Nyako, based on an investigation of alleged financial misconduct. A probe was also launched by some legislators in Nasarawa State who threatened to remove the state governor, Tanko Al-Makura; the move did not succeed, as accusations against him were dismissed by the panel tasked with the investigation. Tensions over Nyako and Al-Makura’s probes rose and now there are also rumours that plans are afoot to remove other opposition governors. Although the two probes were hinged on gross misconduct and misappropriation of funds, opposition leaders strongly believe that the presidency and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are the unseen hands manipulating the lawmakers. The Nigerian president and head of PDP has denied this charge, and in response his spokesman, Reuben Abati, announced, “President Jonathan has never at any time ordered that any Nigerian should be kidnapped or that anyone should be crated and forcefully transported in violation of decent norms of governance.” This was a veiled reference to the failed attempt in 1984 to smuggle in a crate the-then exiled former transport minister, Umaru Dikko, from London to Nigeria to face corruption charges. Buhari was the military head of state then. The idea of crating former politicians to face charges died with Umaru Dikko.   The real issue today is Boko Haram and both sides seem to conveniently use the group for their own conspiracy theories. The PDP believes that the opposition uses the dreaded Islamist group to cause confusion and make the government look incapable of governance. The APC believes the ruling party is using the terrorists to destabilise the north, the stronghold of the opposition party, in order to gain political advantage in the forthcoming elections. As an APC spokesperson, Mr Osita Okechukwu, reportedly put it, “The worst of Boko Haram attacks are carried out in areas where the PDP is afraid of losing.” Last month, Buhari cheated death when a suicide bomber suspected to be a Boko Haram member attacked his convoy in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria. He strongly believes the incident was a clear assassination attempt on his life and most of his party members seem to agree with him. As expected, they point fingers at the PDP-controlled federal government. At the same time some pro-government people believe that Buhari masterminded the alleged assassination attempt to attract public sympathy and paint President Jonathan as a bad leader. This exchange of allegations is clearly ridiculous, to say the least. Buhari couldn’t have arranged his own assassination. After all he had condemned Boko Haram and the group had threatened him directly before the incident. It is equally implausible that the government planned to kill him and sent a suicide bomber for the task. Accusations and counter-accusations Some politicians are merely capitalising on the poor security situation in the country to achieve political gains. Their accusations and counter-accusations have become a pastime. In Osun, southwest Nigeria, the PDPclaimed that its governorship campaign train came under attack at a rally in the Ilesa area of the state recently.   The APC followed suit with a petition to President Jonathan, alleging plot to kill one of its governors – Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State. The party further alleged that troops sent to provide security for the June 21 governorship election in Ekiti State also harassed and intimidated the opposition. Ironically, the federal government deployed troops during the governorship election in Edo State in July 2012. That year the opposition governor, Adams Oshiomhole, not only won the election but also commended the Federal Government for deploying troops to maintain law and order. For now, the PDP appears to be gaining ground over the opposition. Since it changed its national chairman in January, the ruling party has been reaping good fortunes. Some strong opposition leaders have defected to the party, including the former governor of Sokoto state, Attahiru Bafarawa; former governor of Kano state, Ibrahim Shekarau; former military administrator of Lagos state, Buba Marwa and former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff. Currently, the PDP controls 20 states while the APC controls 14. In the governorship election held last June in the southwestern state of Ekiti – a supposed stronghold of the opposition – the PDP won. More cross-carpeting and tension will follow when President Jonathan formally declares his intention to run for the 2015 presidential race. Some Niger Delta warlords have threatened that it’s either him or nobody else.  But some northern leaders, who believe that it is the turn of the north to take the presidency, are ready to do anything to stop him. So far, the two main parties have deployed what has been termed “stomach infrastructure” to outwit each other. Occasionally, they dole out gift items, especially foodstuff such as rice, to gullible citizens to win support.  Besides, some politicians indulge in ritual practices to win elections. Each time a major election approaches, as in 2015, there is usually an increase in cases of ritual killings in different parts of the country.    In all this, only a few politicians have the interest of the masses at heart, while the rest of them struggle to grab power for their selfish interests. Casmir Igbokwe is editor of The Union, Nigeria’s daily newspaper. Follow him on Twitter: @CashIgbokwe  The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Sayelba Times’ editorial policy.