IJAW NATIONAL CONGRESS NORTH AMERICA CLEARS THE AIR, DENOUNCES INC PRESIDENT

In a new twist to the lingering crisis in the Ijaw National Congress North America, a US based and registered Pan Ijaw organisation, the Sunny Engi led Interim Executive Committee has cleared the air on the events that transpired the Washington DC Peace Summit and its resolutions.

According to the Press released issued on behalf of the INC-NA Interim Executive Committee by its Organizing/Publicity Secretary Emmanuel Ajih, the earlier circulated resolution by the INC World Wide is false and not a true reflection of what was agreed at the DC Peace Summit.

Below is the full text of the press release.

IJAW NATIONAL CONGRESS, NORTH AMERICA(INCNA)

12001 S. FWY Ste 210, Burleson TX 76028, USA

Telephone: +1(718) 812-5341 Fax: +1(888) 807-4430

Email: admin@incna.org

 

Sunday, October 27, 2014

 

WASHINGTON DC IJAW PEACE SUMMIT

As you may be aware, on November 2013, the leadership of Ijaw National Congress Yenagoa under the temporary leadership of Charles Ambaowei in its determination to import dysfunction to Ijaw National Congress North America (INCNA) created crisis to divide the Ijaws in North America to advance their agenda by renouncing all affiliation with INCNA. Regrettably, they have successfully achieved their agenda but this time; with the active support of a few Ijaws who are determined to bring back the old Rivers State politics and promote solely Eastern Ijaw agenda.

 

You are also aware that the origin of the crisis was based on a frivolous petition written by one Young Fiabema which was not vetted by Charles Ambaowei/Amagbe Kentebe INC Nigeria. Young Fiabema, who was never an INCNA board member was so determined use his Okrika clan affiliation and claimed closeness to individuals in powerful position in Abuja to forcefully take over INCNA. His co-conspirators in Nigeria, notably Charles Ambaowei and Amagbe Kentebe were more than eager to take his claims of access to power as marching orders re-assign INCNA to Eastern Ijaws under the leadership of Young Fiabema or his surrogates. Thankfully the Hon. Kingsley Kuku’s led Ijaw Peace Summit in Washington DC on September 20^th found the petition baseless after subjecting it to rigorous tests and verification. Mr. Young’s baseless petition was rejected on the grounds of it lacking merit by the Ijaw Peace Summit in Washington, DC. 

 

It took the leadership of Hon. Kingsley Kuku to intervene in an attempt to undo immature recklessness demonstrated by Charles Ambaowei/Amagbe Kentebe led INC Nigeria and called for a reconciliation summit in Washington DC on September 20, 2014. We will ever be grateful to Hon. Kingsley Kuku’s good intentions and his commitment to ljaw Nation. Convened Ijaw Peace Summit was a binding arbitration process that all parties agreed to from the onset. Regrettably, Charles Ambaowei/Kentebe INC Nigeria in their cancerous dysfunction, deceitfulness and lunacy rushed to publish resolutions that are totally different from the findings of the Kingsley Kuku chaired Ijaw Peace Summit. 

 

We, the executives of the interim executive council of the INCNA headed by Mr. Sunny Engi went to the reconciliation summit in Washington DC in good faith to achieve peace and unity among Ijaws in North America. We are grateful for the wisdom exhibited by Hon. Kingsley Kuku and the summit participants during the deliberations. The summit arbitration process was considered and unbiased. The panel was able to come up with resolutions that was agreed and accepted by all the factions including the INC Nigeria delegation headed by Amagbe Kentebe and we all celebrated the outcome in Washington, DC before departing for our various destinations. The only reason a communique was not issued in DC was because the summit consensus to provide courtesy notification to the INC Nigeria.

 

To our dismay, a major part of the peace agreement in DC that INC-NAC/INCNA will cease to exist until elections are held was deliberately deleted or replaced by Charles/Amagbe INC Nigeria right after the Peace Summit. Once again, this is a demonstration of hypocrisy and bad faith carried to the peace summit by Ambaowei/Kentebe team of deception. INC Nigeria should know that they do not own a copy right to sowing seeds of confusion, incompetency and backwardness. INCNA is more than capable of coming to Nigeria to create several parallel Ijaw National Congresses to undermine their fraudulent pursuit of using the Ijaw apex organization to acquire personal wealth instead of advancing ljaw nation’s interests. 

 

INCNA is an entity that is incorporated in the greatest country on earth (USA) where things are done correctly and on principle. We cannot allow hypocrisy, deception, incompetence and dysfunction to be imported to America. We will like to make it clear that the INC Nigeria NEC peace resolution as recently published is contrary to the outcome of the Washington Peace Summit chaired by Hon. Kuku. Purported INC Nigeria NEC peace resolution is fraudulent, therefore we reject it in the strongest of terms and will not be party to it. 

 

Here’s the true outcome of the Washington DC Reconciliation Summit.

1. Dr. Young Fiabema created unnecessary crises in INCNA by writing a factually untrue petition to INC Nigeria. 
2. INC NEC Should have handle the Dr. Young’s petition maturely by verifying its assertion  before taking rash actions
3. Sunny Engi should have be more diplomatic with Ambaowei when he demand documents instead of asking him to put his request in writing. Evidence also shown that INC Nigeria was informed of everything about the INCNA restructuring exercise. Sunny cannot be blamed in anyway because everything he was doing was supported by INC Nigeria in writing. Sunny Engi was widely praised at the peace summit.
4. The Electoral Committee be expanded to 7 person. Sunny Engi is to nominate 2, Young 1 and INC Nigeria1, plus the existing 3.
5. All interim Officials (INC-NA, INC-NAC) will cease to exist in North America until elections are held for fairness and peace to reign.

 

Ijaw Peace Summit Participants:

1. Hon. Kingsley Kuku (Head of peace delegation)
2. Charles Zuofa…..representing Bayelsa govt.
3. Udengs Eradiri IYC (Panel)
4. Terry Leandon (Panel)
5. Rowland Ekperi (panel)
6. Amagbe Kentebe (INC NEC) a party
7. Steve Benamaisia (INC-NEC) a party
8. Sunny Engi (INC-NA) a party
9. Nyengi Akamande (INC-NAC
10. Mr. Ebi Komonibo (panel)
11. Emmanuel Ajih INC-NA(party)
12. Dr. Cordelia Koin-Nieketien-Tawari INC-NA(Party)
13. George Anibowei (INC-NA party)
14. Edward Ejitu INC-NA(Party)
15. Stephen Benstowe (INC-NAC)
16. Julius Enarusai(INC-NAC)
17. Okorowanta Akpoebi (INC-NACl)
18. Dr.Young Fiabema (petitioner)
19. David Solomon (petitioner)
20. Eugene Irefa Abels (panel)

 

Based on INC Nigeria departure from peace summit binding resolutions, INCNA hereby reverts to its pre-summit posture. This means we cease to recognize Charles/Amagbe led INC Nigeria and any agents of confusion they attempt to create in North America. However, we will embrace the path of peace if INC Nigeria and all parties to the DC peace summit revert to what was agreed on September 20, 2014. Is “Izon” still stands for the truth?  We challenge all those who attended the DC peace summit to forcefully come out to condemn this daylight FRAUD by Amagbe Kentebe/Ambaowei led INC.    

  

Emmanuel Ajih

INCNA, Organizing/Publicity Secretary

FG set to build new airports in Bayelsa and five other states

Five domestic airports will be constructed in the capital cities of Bayelsa, Kebbi, Kogi, Nasarawa and Ogun states, the Federal Government has said.
The government said the plan to construct airports in Yenegoa, Brini Kebbi, Lokoja, Lafia and Abeokuta was to ensure easy movement of passengers and cargoes across the states.

The Minister of Aviation, Mr. Osita Chidoka, who disclosed this in Abuja on Monday, said that work on the new airports would soon commence, adding that the plan was in line with the Federal Government’s strategy of linking the states together and establishing cargo terminals across the country. Chidoka made the announcement at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Aviation while hosting the Kogi State Governor, Capt. Idris Wada.

Explaining why Kogi State needed an airport, the minister said, “Lokoja, being a historic town with different artefacts, has the capacity to serve as a tourist attraction that can generate a lot of revenue for the government.
“So, we are going to work with the Kogi State Government in the construction of the airport to attract investments to the state.”

According to the minister, the proposed airports will further enhance the establishment of cargo terminals for the export of agricultural produce as well as increase Nigeria’s value addition capabilities. Chidoka said the Federal Government was willing to collaborate with the five states in working out the details to ensure seamless construction of the airports in the capital cities.
This, he said, would showcase to the world the tourism potential inherent in each of the states.

The minister decried the aviation sector’s low contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, and stressed that increasing the number of airports across the country would open up the industry to contribute more to the economy.

In his remarks, Wada noted that Kogi State was interested in establishing a world class airport that would be the agricultural hub for the North Central.

The governor said he was at the ministry to seek the Federal Government’s collaboration on the construction of an airport in the state.

Wada said his state was into the production of several agricultural produce and the establishment of an airport in Kogi would enhance its export potential.

He, however, noted that his government planned to work with private investors in joint ventures for the construction of the airport.

Punch

What Exactly is ‘Clueless’ About Goodluck Jonathan? (2) – By Femi Aribisala

Few governments of Nigeria have been as purposeful as that of Goodluck Jonathan.

I am the Chairman of Financial Nigeria International Limited. As chairmanships go, it is an honorary position. All the work is actually done by the Managing Editor, Jide Akintunde, who is really my employer; and his able assistant, Martins Hile. The company publishes Financial Nigeria magazine; a development and finance journal that provides an in-depth digest of the Nigerian economy and other frontier economies in sub Saharan Africa every month. I write a column in this on “Nigeria and the World.”

If you want to know what is happening in global development and various sectors of the Nigerian economy, presented from an objective and non-partisan point of view, you cannot do better than Financial Nigeria.

Over the past five years, Financial Nigeria has organised what we call the Nigeria Development and Finance Forum (NDFF). This colloquium is held in leading (financial) capitals around the world. The first three were held in London, England. Then we moved to Washington D.C., United States. The one of this year was held in New York, U.S.A. The purpose is to provide policy briefings and investment opportunities in Nigeria to the international community and Nigerians in the diaspora; and to tell them why we believe that Nigeria is now a major frontier market they need to come and invest in.

Financial Nigeria is a private non-governmental organization. We are neither backed nor financed by the government. But we contribute our widow’s mite to Nigeria’s development by showcasing Nigeria to the world. Therefore, we fly government functionaries, captains of Nigerian industries and other members of the Nigerian intelligentsia to these NDFF gatherings, and give them the platform to tell the world the changes that are now taking place back home.

Those who have participated at these sessions from Nigeria include Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Honourable Minister of Power; Dr. Sam Amadi, Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission; Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Central Bank of Nigeria; Mr. Roberts Orya. M.D., Nigerian Export-Import Bank; Mr. Gimba Ya’u Kumo, M.D., Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria; and Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, Chairman, UAC Nigeria Plc. The U.S. Department of Commerce has become one of our organizing partners for NDFF conferences in the United States.

Financial Nigeria would not be doing this every year if we did not believe Goodluck Jonathan’s administration is making a major difference to the Nigerian economy. We would not be doing this if we did not know that Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda is laying a concrete foundation for Nigeria’s economic growth and development.

Economic renaissance

When you point to the giant strides Nigeria is making under Goodluck Jonathan, in spite of the Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East, some cynical Nigerians maintain you are either looking for a government “brown envelope,” or you want to replace Reuben Abati as the government spokesman. But I wonder who else is hankering after a handout from Goodluck Jonathan. Could Barack Obama also be looking for a job as our president’s press secretary?

At the U.S.-Nigeria Trade and Investment Forum organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation of the Americas (NIDOA) in Washington DC in 2012, Obama acknowledged Nigeria is now a strategic centre of gravity in Africa, even proclaiming the country “the world’s next economic giant.” He declared U.S. readiness to invest in Nigeria’s success on a wide range of issues. This perspective cannot be divorced from the salutary measures put in place by the Jonathan administration.

Later that year, Obama sent Hilary Clinton, his Secretary of State, to Nigeria. Clinton’s visit was followed by the signing of a bi-national commission agreement to facilitate U.S.-Nigerian cooperation on issues of common concern and shared responsibility. It is on record that Nigeria is the only African country with whom the United States has signed this kind of agreement, and it did not take place until Jonathan became president.

Africa’s economic giant

Under Jonathan, the Nigerian economy has been growing at an average annual rate of 7%. After a number of postponements by previous administrations, the Jonathan administration re-based the Nigerian GDP. The new figures released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics indicate that Nigeria’s GDP is now $503 billion; nearly double the previous estimates. This means Nigeria has leapfrogged South Africa, whose GDP is around $350 billion, to become by far the biggest economy in Africa.

This has pushed Nigeria up by twelve places to become the 23rd largest economy in the world; level-pegging with Poland and Norway, but now ahead of Belgium, Venezuela and Austria. Some of the sectors that showed marked improvement include those where the Jonathan administration made judicious interventions: including agriculture, housing and (Nollywood) entertainment. This shows the government’s economic policy is well-aligned with the growth sectors, and it belies all the negative noises currently being made by the “born to rule” delusionists of the APC.

Nigeria’s emergence as Africa’s premier economy under Goodluck Jonathan is bound to give a filip to the economy by attracting even more foreign investment to Nigeria. Indeed, within the last three years, Nigeria has emerged as the preferred destination for foreign direct investments in Africa. For the second year running, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has ranked Nigeria as the number one destination for investments in Africa, and as having the fourth highest returns in the world.

The World Bank also forecasts that Nigeria will receive this year an inflow of $21 billion in remittances from Nigerians living and working abroad. This will place Nigeria as the top recipient of foreign remittances in Africa; followed by Egypt with projected remittances of $18 billion.

In addition, Nigeria became this year the first country in West Africa to host the World Economic Forum (WEF). It was the most successful forum of its kind in history, boasting a global reach of 2.1 billion people according to estimates. It raised $68 billion in investments for Africa, according to Dr Philip Rosler, the Managing Director of the Forum. Surely, these developments are not the outcome of “clueless” economic policies by the Jonathan administration.

Agriculture

In the agricultural sector, there is a major revolution unfolding under Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda. There is now more private investment in agriculture, including bank lending, than ever before. The new regime of fertiliser subsidy is well-targeted. Middle-men and ghost-farmers have been eliminated. Fertilizer distribution and allocation has been digitalised, thereby eliminating the fraud and nepotism that characterised the process in the past. Farmers now receive assistance in the form of loans, equipment on lease and seedlings.

The result has been dramatic. Under Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria has reduced its food imports by over 40% as of 2013, moving the country closer to self sufficiency in agriculture. The increase in food production has helped to stabilize food prices, driving down inflation into single digits. Today, Nigeria is now the largest producer of cassava in the world, with an output of over 45 million metric tonnes in 2014 according to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The Minister of Agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina is determined to bring about a sea-change in the way Nigerians regard agriculture. The new operational philosophy is that agriculture must be seen as a business and not just as a means of livelihood.

Capital market

In the capital market, President Jonathan is pro-reform and a firm supporter of institution-building. His support has been instrumental to the sustenance of the reforms instituted by the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma Oteh. These reforms have restored confidence to the Nigerian capital market in the aftermath of the crash of 2008/2009.

Today, the main index of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the All Shares Index, has surpassed its pre-crisis level. It is significant that the Nigerian capital market and the naira have held firm; unlike other frontier and emerging markets which experienced downturns when the reversal of capital flows followed the slowdown (or tapering-off) of the bond-buying programme of the Federal Reserve Bank of the United States.

Under Goodluck Jonathan’s leadership, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) was established by law to manage Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund (SWF) as obtainable in almost all oil-producing countries of the world. This Fund of funds is an important assurance that Nigeria’s oil wealth will be trans-generational.

Industries

All indications point to the revival of the industrial sectors and the Small- and Medium-scale Enterprises (SMEs) under the Jonathan administration. For example, FBN Capital, one of the leading financial services groups in Nigeria, avers in a recent report that there is “a dramatic increase in manufacturing growth” in the country. The pool of vocational skills to support the industrial sector is being developed with the revival of the Industrial Training Fund, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria and other vocational centres that are designed to provide manpower for the development of the industrial value-chain.

An industrial revolution has been re-ignited with the revival of automobile assembling plants in Nigeria under the leadership of the indefatigable Minister of Commerce, Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga and with the full support of President Jonathan. Under this administration, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company (IVM), Nigeria’s flagship indigenous automaker, began the sale of its first made-in-Nigeria cars and SUVs in August 2014.

Nigeria has now become a major destination for multinational investment in car manufacturing. Big auto giants, including Peugeot, Nissan and Hyundai, now either assemble, or entirely manufacture, their cars, SUVs, trucks and buses at various locations in Nigeria,

The evidence is overwhelming: “Clueless” Jonathan has revolutionized Nigeria in more ways than many have perceived or are willing to acknowledge. Under his administration, Nigeria has made and is making giants strides. Perhaps the administration should be blamed for not tooting its own horn more stridently. But the truth is that many people who are against South-South rule have simply been maligning the government. These attacks have no validity in fact.

Nigerians should not allow themselves to be deceived. There is no doubt that on the basis of merit alone, Goodluck Jonathan deserves another term in office. Few governments of Nigeria have been as purposeful as that of Goodluck Jonathan. (CONTINUED).

A BOI honour for INNOSON

NIGERIA’S march towards home grown industrialization was recently boosted when Bank of Industry inducted ten outstanding customers of the bank into their Hall of Fame. Most importantly was the recognition to the founder/chairman of INNOSON Vehicles  Manufacturing Company, Nigeria’s first indigenous motor vehicles manufacturer.

It is pertinent to remark that similar awards have been bestowed on INNOSON by the Federal Government, Vanguard Newspaper and numerous other organizations, both locally and internationally for his outstanding contributions towards the realization of President Jonathan’s vision in revitalizing the automobile manufacturing sector.

From the inception of the Jonathan administration, he made it clear about his determination to ensure that Nigeria does not continue to serve as the destination point for the dumping of foreign produced motor vehicles. The INNOSON Vehicles  Manufacturing Company immediately keyed into the vision by innovating the local production of Nigeria’s first indigenous automobile manufacturing plant at Nnewi, Anambra state.

With the setting up of the factory, hope came alive that indeed it was possible for Nigerians to replicate what has been achieved in other developed countries like USA, UK, Germany, Japan, China, India  to mention but a few. As a result many unemployed Nigerians were given employment by the company, and there is no doubt that such spectacular feat by the INNOSON Group contributed greatly to the famous rebasing of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product rating, which has placed Nigeria as the biggest national economy in Africa. This is no doubt the right step in the right direction.

With the emergence of automobile manufacturing companies in Nigeria such as INNOSON, Nigeria is at the threshold of emerging as an industrialized economy.

Recently, the World Bank rated Nigeria as one of the few countries that her GDP will grow by 5% in 2015. This obviously is cheering news taking into account that the country is at present waging a lingering battle against some centripetal forces in the North East.

Centripetal forces

What was previously thought to be the exclusive preserve of developed countries, and unimaginable in black Africa has been accomplished by the INNOSON Group under the Jonathan administration, by being the first indigenous company to manufacture wholly-made in Nigeria vehicles.

It is gratifying to note that the company has factored the high cost associated with acquiring new vehicles in their policy, and has started producing cars that an average Nigerian can afford at the reasonable cost of one million naira. Government on its part has directed all federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies to source their vehicles locally.

This policy is meant to encourage local manufacturing of vehicles, and by so doing create jobs, and halt the capital flight associated with the importation of foreign made vehicles.

Simply put, if this policy is well implemented, it will help to boost the nation’s economy, as the huge foreign exchange being wasted in the transactions will be spent at home, and strengthen the naira. Furthermore, with the local manufacturing of vehicles, the much touted technological transfer will be realized faster than envisaged.

It must be stated here that no nation has ever attained greatness by depending on importing every item they need, rather it is through deliberate and concerted efforts such as we see in the INNOSON miracle that countries evolve into developed or what we refer to as advanced countries. INNOSON’S patriotism in investing billions of dollars in setting up a vehicle manufacturing plant in Nigeria is laudable, and the only way the country can reciprocate such uncommon patriotism is to guarantee steady patronage of their products.

In fact, it will amount to economic sabotage to patronize foreign made vehicles in this era when government is devoting much of its efforts to encourage local automobile manufacturers.

We have in the past been regaled with stories of Nigerians stashing away billions of naira outside the shores of this country; we are also aware that some well-to-do Nigerians have billions of naira investments in Dubai, London, USA to mention but a few. Yet despite all the drawbacks of doing business in Nigeria such as lack of power and inadequate infrastructure, INNOSON Group has braved it, and made the country proud by being the first indigenous company that started manufacturing vehicles within Nigeria, bereft of any foreign colourations.. Such a wholly indigenous automobile company must therefore be given all the necessary support to thrive.

Obviously, the advantages of choosing this path are numerous, as apart from creating needed jobs for Nigerians, it will have multi-faceted impact on the nation’s economy, since other ancillary companies are likely to spring from there. One can easily say that this is a win – win game for Nigeria if only the local, states and federal governments make it a policy to patronize local manufacturers like INNOSON, rather than frittering away scarce foreign exchange through the flagrant importation of foreign made vehicles.

Such importations only serve to boost the economies of other countries, create jobs for their youth while back home we contend with an army of unemployed graduates.

As INNOSON begins to expand into neighbouring African countries, it comes as a challenge to other Nigerian entrepreneurs to follow suit, not only by setting up factories in Nigeria, but by emulating the example of INNOSON.

VANGUARD

Enugu Council Chairmen in Police Net

Five local government Chairmen in Enugu State are in police net over allegations of embezzlements and misappropriation of public funds for political patronages.

Their arrest followed a petition to the Inspector-General of Police by the Enugu West Peoples Forum entitled “Looting and Fraudulent Diversion of Public Funds by Local Government Chairmen in Enugu State.”

Similarly, about 10 commissioners from Enugu State are currently guests of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), in Abuja.

They are answering questions on allegation of corruption, graft and other related offences, perpetrated in their respective ministries. This is even as Governor Sullivan Chime has stormed Abuja to lobby the presidency and other top party officials to stave of the pressure of anti-graft agencies on his administration. The petitioners accused the council chairmen, of deducting and diverting N10 million of their respective council allocations in the past 10 months, totalling about N450 million to allegedly fund the senatorial ambition of Governor Sullivan Chime.

THISDAY

1.5m died of TB in 2013 — Report

A new report in the World Health Organisation, WHO, has revealed almost half a million more cases of the disease than previously estimated.
Tagged WHO’s “Global Tuberculosis Report 2014″, the report shows that nine million people developed TB in 2013, and 1.5 million died, including 360 000 people who were HIV positive.

The report stresses, however, that the mortality rate from TB is still falling and has dropped by 45 percent since 1990, while the number of people developing the disease is declining by an average 1.5 percent a year. An estimated 37 million lives have been saved through effective diagnosis and treatment of TB since 2000.

“Following a concerted effort by countries, by WHO and by multiple partners, investment in national surveys and routine surveillance efforts has substantially increased. This is providing us with much more and better data, bringing us closer and closer to understanding the true burden of tuberculosis,” says Dr Mario Raviglione, Director of the Global TB Programme, WHO.

Although higher, these revised figures fall within the upper limit of previous WHO estimates. The report, however, underlines that a staggering number of lives are being lost to a curable disease and confirms that TB is the second biggest killer disease from a single infectious agent. In addition, around 3 million people who fall ill from TB are still being ‘missed’ by health systems each year either because they are not diagnosed, or because they are diagnosed but not reported.

Insufficient funding is hampering efforts to combat the global epidemic. An estimated US$ 8 billion is needed each year for a full response, but there is currently an annual shortfall of US$ 2 billion, which must be addressed.

Diagnostic capacity for MDR-TB increasing faster than treatment capacity.

Meanwhile, multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) crisis continues, with an estimated 480 000 new cases in 2013. Worldwide, about 3.5 percent of all people who developed TB in 2013 had this form of the disease, which is much harder to treat and has significantly poorer cure rates. While the estimated percentage of new TB cases that have MDR-TB globally remains unchanged.

VANGUARD

Tambuwal decamps to APC today, to contest Sokoto governorship

Citing the division of the  Sokoto State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal  is expected this morning to  decamp to the All Progressives Congress, APC. It would be the first time since the advent of the Fourth Republic in 1999 that any of the two presiding officers of the National Assembly would belong to another party apart from the PDP.

Today’s decamping will provide him the necessary party qualification to vie for the governorship ticket on the platform of the APC, which itself, is to amend its constitution tomorrow to allow Tambuwal and other last minute decampees from the PDP to vie for elective offices on the party’s platform.

Besides adopting a manifesto, the APC convention would scrap the provision in its constitution stipulating a 30-day membership duration for anyone seeking to use the party’s platform to campaign for public office.

Tambuwal, who is expected to make his first public appearance at an APC gathering at tomorrow’s national convention, would remain in office till next June.

Associates of the speaker, who disclosed the plan ahead of today’s sitting of the House of Representatives affirmed that the speaker’s announcement would not in any way affect his continued stay as speaker or a member of the House.

“He is going to announce it in plenary and he will not resign as speaker and he will not resign as member,” a close associate of the speaker privy to the development confided in Vanguard last night.

Justifying the decision of the speaker to decamp, a reliable source in the know of the plans said on the basis of confidentiality: “Every politics is local and the direction of Sokoto is towards the APC and because he is representing some people in Abuja, he has to move along with the dictates of the people and it cannot be said that the people in his constituency are in a particular party and he is in another party.”

Giving the constitutional justification, he said: “The justification is that there is a faction in Sokoto PDP and if there is no faction, Anenih would not have led a reconciliation meeting to Sokoto last week and secondly, Wamakko would not have decamped if it was a party that is in peace,” he added.

Tambuwal’s decampment to the APC is to pave way for his bid for the Sokoto State governorship. The speaker had earlier been speculated to be in the race for the 2015 presidential race but was prevailed upon to change direction towards the governorship in Sokoto, given the circumstances that were made to favour him.

Tambuwal had last week been reported to have attended a meeting of the APC in Sokoto State. That meeting, which was convened by Governor Aliyu Wamakko, was among others, held to set a direction on the succession to the outgoing governor.

The meeting, it was learnt, resolved to zone the governorship to Sokoto South, which is Tambuwal’s constituency.

“Apart from zoning it to Tambuwal’s senatorial constituency, they also agreed that the right person to succeed Wamakko should be someone known locally, nationally and internationally and that the person must have a pedigree in terms of performance, all of which were meant to favour Tambuwal,” a source privy to the development said.

Contacted on the development yesterday, Tambuwal’s spokesman, Mallam Imam Imam said Tambuwal would soon make known the outcome of his consultations on his political future.

“I wish to say that on every issue, Nigerians know where Tambuwal stands. On every issue, politics, policy Nigerians know Tambuwal, he is not a man who hides his feelings on anything,” Imam said.

“The issue of defection or no defection or his political future is not something that is different. He has said it severally that he is consulting, however, what I have to concede to you is the fact that the outcome of the consultations will be made public sooner rather than later,” Imam said last night.

VANGUARD

A President’s Report Card (1) By Okey Ikechukwu

Today we begin an evaluation of some of the major policies and programmes of the Jonathan administration, as well their impact on national development. This evaluation will not begin with the major policy underpinnings in the Transformation Agenda, as that would come in later interventions. Today we shall be content with largely ‘episodic’ issues. The danger this presents is that picking single good or bad programmes, or actions, of a government allows counter-comments that could use same as summary proof of either genius or incompetence. This can easily mar a cogent analysis. It would have been good to begin by situating the regime within the political economy of regional cleavages and elite distrust within which it was born and how it has so far navigated this terrain, using the Transformation Agenda. But that is a matter for another day.

Let us begin by pointing to a little-acknowledged paradigm shift in the conduct of elected public officers introduced by the president. It was something of a national surprise when, last year, President Goodluck Jonathan addressed Nigerians and presented a mid-term report. The report was an account of his stewardship so far. The move had several advantages. First it provided a standard of self-assessment that was hurriedly emulated by many state governments and even non-state actors. Second, it created the image of a president who had the presence of mind to actually prepare and address those who elected him into office and invite them to confirm and contest his claims about performance. Third, the president’s mid-term report took the winds off the sales of some of his detractors, who could then not put him on the defensive, as was usually the case on such occasions. These later were constrained to react to his self-assessment, rather than overwhelm him with the negative prognosis.

Of course, the matter of whether or not anyone agreed with the ‘report’ was secondary to the fact of an existing report which had set the agenda for public discourse on the government and on governance. The move worked. The opposition found itself reacting to the propriety, or otherwise, of the report and its details.

When, therefore, on October 1 the president also used the occasion of the 54th independence anniversary to address the nation on the journey so far, it was yet another occasion for stock taking. He said: “This is also the tenth month of our journey into a new century, having marked the centenary of our nation in January this year” and acknowledged that the nation was in a sombre mood, occasioned by “…the crises of nationhood occasioned by the activities of terrorist elements who have done the unimaginable to challenge our unity as a people”.

True, the terrorists in the land have maimed, defiled and wrecked thousands of lives and neighbourhoods. True, the Victims Support Fund recently launched by the federal government was a response to this. True, the fund is an independent, multi-sectoral charity that is designed to solicit financial and other resources to augment government’s statutory intervention, in bringing succour to the injured, the displaced and the bereaved. True, there is also now the Safe Schools Initiative, a long overdue intervention that aims to provide and promote safe learning environments for education nationwide, and especially in the North-east region and other vulnerable areas. But these are episodic interventions, commendable as they are. Again, they are needed and vital interventions all the same.

There is today a Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), which was introduced to create jobs, generate wealth, diversify the economy, substitute imports, boost exports, and broaden the tax base (NIRP, 2014). Sustaining the implementation of the master plan will drive industrialisation and midwife related economic gains for the nation. The National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP), which is designed to create millions of jobs, improve productivity and drive national development, is also to impact on the youth bulge, reduce unemployment, reduce crime and improve national and personal security. The programme will harness the opportunities in the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Sector (MSME), it will also promote inclusive growth, through skills training, job development and wealth creation. It will be coordinated by a National SME Council, with representation from the three tiers of government to streamline and harmonise SME activities and programmes.

Another intervention of the Jonathan administration, with projected wide positive impact on the nation and the economy is the Integrated Tax Administration System (ITAS). This targets a re-engineering and automating of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) core tax administration processes. Such a seamless, integrated solution that incorporates international best practices for revenue administration with clear monitoring and evaluation systems, can only lead to measurable results. As a major governance solution, ITAS supports improved revenue collection, eliminates corruption in the tax system, and improves corporate governance, transparency and efficiency in overall revenue administration. The result can only be visible reduction in the turnaround times for providing services to taxpayers, thus promoting voluntary compliance.

The ITAS has also reduced tax compliance costs and expanded the tax system to create a harmonised system. It has also widened the tax base and eased the registration of eligible corporate and individual tax payers. The impact of this is easy to see, because a harmonised TIN could be utilised as national security number that may be used in all official documents and transactions carried out by tax payers. All things considered, and with ITAS in tow, the government is well on its way to achieving the 2014 tax revenue collection target of N4,182,394, 656, 000. The foundations are yielding results, aren’t they?

Regarding the power sector, highlights of major improvements in the power sector since the inception of President Jonathan administration include: an increase in the total amount of electricity generated from 3,674 megawatts (MW) as at December 2013 to 4,306MW currently. There is massive inflow of investments, leading to the conclusion of some power plants and others due to be completed before the end of the year. The MoU signed with General Electric (GE) can only further leverage the drive for improvements in the energy sector, so will the revival of the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs) with most of the 10-medium-sized gas-fired NIPP plants at over 80% completion.

The Kashimbilla dam, which will serve as one of the global examples linking the nexus of food, water and energy being constructed by the federal government, would be ready for commissioning this December. Work will also soon commence on the Mambilla hydro power project. It was initially designed to provide 2, 600MW, but has now been redesigned to generate about 3,050MW of power.  While the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency speaks of providing electricity to some 295 communities in different villages across the country, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has explained that the market was stable, but required some loan to help support its transition into a contract-based regime. Terms and conditions for accessing the funds from the CBN have been unveiled by NERC.

•Regarding health, the World Health Organisation (WHO), last week officially declared Nigeria Ebola-free after six weeks of no new cases. Then, good news, the Executive Secretary of NHIS, Dr. Femi Thomas, just disclosed that the federal government has extended the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to students of tertiary institutions, under a new arrangement called the Tertiary Institutions Students Health Insurance Programme. The government has also directed all military hospitals in the country to immediately commence the provision of medicare for retired military personnel in the country, irrespective of whether they can or cannot pay. The costs of such treatments are to be charged to the NHIS.

The federal government and Bayelsa State Government have also signed a an MoU on the transfer of the Cottage Hospital, Otuoke, from the state government to the federal government as an outreach hospital for the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa. The MoU is perhaps the first step towards eventually transforming it into the teaching hospital of the Federal University in Otuoke.

The assurances of the Minister of Agriculture that the government would generate about $11.5 billion from cocoa this year suggests that all the goings on in that ministry has not been without impact on agricultural productivity. The federal government’s agreement with Germany and Pakistan on pragmatic development of cotton and its entire value chain through the supervision and coordination of Arewa cotton is also coming on board, even as the CBN has been directed to set aside N50 billion as agricultural mechanisation intervention fund for farmers to encourage wheat production, in line with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). The government has also approved N922m to mop up 7,000 metric tonnes of breeders foundation and certified wheat seeds. This will expand the wheat value chain in the country and protect endangered farmers.

The implementation of the Nigerian Sugar Master plan and the N500 billion this would save annually are all still episodes in governance. The holistic approach of government to sustainable development shall come later.