CASTING SPELLS FOR 2015 ... LOOK WHO'S TALKING AND HEAR WHAT THEY ARE SAYING : 2015: North to insist on presidency, zoning ... TheNation

Northern political leaders and elite are not about to give up the claim of the North to the Presidency in 2015,The Nation can report today.
They are insisting that the Presidency should return to the North next year after President Goodluck Jonathan would have completed his current term.
Chieftains of  the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF); Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF); Arewa Reawakening Forum  (ARF); Arewa Research and Development Project, (ARDP); Northern Union (NU); Middle Belt Forum (MBF); and the Code Group,at a meeting in Kaduna on Friday  resolved that it  will  not be  in the interest of the region for Jonathan to be re-elected in 2015.
A source at the meeting said:” We all insisted that the North must produce the President in 2015. The parley was called to discuss the state of the North at a time like this. Though the major issue we wanted to discuss was the security situation of our part of the country today, the various contributors spoke of the need for the North to be politically re-awakened if it is desirous of solving its security problems.
“We observed that the North has never been this divided. We have never been this disorganised. And after examining the reasons for our division, it was discovered that the 2015 presidential ambition of the President is behind the crises in the North, hence, it was resolved that in the interest of the North and the country as a whole, the North should insist on fielding a candidate that will emerge as the next president of the country in 2015.”
Asked what would be the reaction of the region should the ruling party refuse to field a Northerner, the  source said it was decided  that the North  should go all out and ensure that it deploys  its numerical strength to produce  the next president.
“Our position is very clear on this renewed demand. There was an agreement on rotating the presidency and now, we want to warn that if the parties to the pact fail to adhere to it, the North would use its numerical strength to ensure that power returns to it in 2015. That is the position arrived at the meeting,” the source said.
“The meeting is just the first of many more that will follow. This is not about ACF or NU or the Middle Belt. It is a new, more vibrant mass movement that was not planned but emerged to redirect the North. We are not making the idea public yet because we don’t want it to be hijacked or infiltrated. We will keep it closed until we achieve the level of mobilisation we desire.
“But as I said earlier, chieftains of all leading organisations in the region were part of the discussion in Kaduna and they all endorsed the new direction that will see us insisting on producing the President in 2015. Another reason why we are not out there talking about it yet is the current mood of the nation. We don’t want to be seen as talking politics while the nation burns. But we must talk politics.”
Another source who claimed  he was invited but could not attend the meeting said there is nothing new in the outcome of the meeting as  the North has never, for once ,abandoned its plan to produce the next president.
“We are just bidding our time. At the right time, those who want to, out of selfishness, drag Nigeria back would be told where the North stands. Not that the North is power- hungry. We are arguing based on the rational agreement that is on the ground today.
“It is morally wrong for President Goodluck Jonathan to contemplate contesting in 2015 since he is aware that such a pact exists. The North is determined and is insistent that the leadership of this country will rotate to it in 2015 and I am making that very, very clear to you.
“The North, on the basis of one man  one vote, can keep power indefinitely.Demography shows that the North can keep power as long as it wants because it will always win elections.”

CALLS TO BRING BACK OUR GIRLS IN FOCUS : Special Report: The rifts behind Nigeria's mass kidnap ... Reuters

By Isaac Abrak and Joe Brock
CHIBOK/ABUJA (Reuters) - When local people warned that hundreds of Islamist militants were heading towards his remote town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria, Danuma Mphur hurried to summon help.
As chairman of the Parent Teachers Association at the town’s school, Mphur feared for the safety of children who were staying there to take exams. The 15 Nigerian soldiers in Chibok were no match for the forces of Boko Haram, a militant group waging a campaign to create an Islamic state in the region. Reinforcements were needed, fast. Mphur says he called the police and the local government chairman.
In turn the local government chairman also called the police and contacted the military commander in Chibok between 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. on that evening, according to Kashim Shettima, the governor of Borno state, which includes Chibok.
“Can we go further than that?” said Shettima, suggesting there was little more local people could have done than ask for help.
Backup never arrived. The military said in a statement that it received no warning about the attack. It added that when reinforcements were sent, they were ambushed on the “120 km rugged and tortuous road” from Maiduguri, the state capital, and delayed. Chibok’s local government chairman could not be contacted for comment.
Either way, about three hours after Mphur rang for help, Boko Haram militants swept into Chibok and abducted 276 girls from the school. While 57 escaped, according to the state government, most are still missing, and Boko Haram has threatened to sell them “in the market.”
Though Nigeria’s military said on Monday that it now knows where the girls are, it has ruled out using force to try to rescue them.
The mass kidnap on the night of April 14 sparked headlines worldwide – but it was far from the first misstep in Nigeria’s war against Boko Haram. Interviews with witnesses to the kidnapping, Nigerian military and security officials, Western diplomats and counter-terrorism experts, highlight a series of failings by politicians and the military in the struggle against the group, not just in the hours leading up to the raid on the school, but over several years.
Divisions, low morale and corruption within the military have allowed the Islamist militants to take over large swathes of Nigeria’s northeast. Since an initial uprising in 2009, Boko Haram’s campaign to create a breakaway Islamic state has accelerated. It has now killed more than 5,000 people, including an estimated 1,800 this year alone.
A bitter struggle between the federal government in Abuja and at least two state governors in the northeast has made it harder to coordinate a response to the group, say analysts and security sources.
Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, who came to power in 2010 and is expected to run for a second term next year, is a Christian from the south of the country. Many people in the mostly Muslim north, which is less developed and poorer than the south, feel neglected by his government.
In Chibok, where the charred remains of dormitory bunk beds sit amid the rubble of the school, Mphur believes the mass kidnapping could have been prevented. He told Reuters: “What happened ... could have been avoided if the government had taken the necessary steps.”

FROSTY RELATIONS
In the Hausa language of northeastern Nigeria, Boko Haram roughly translates as “Western education is forbidden,” and in 2012 the militant group announced it would specifically target schools.
Since then, Boko Haram militants have torched numerous schools and abducted or killed hundreds of children, according to a senior Nigerian military source.
Three Western intelligence sources in Nigeria estimate Boko Haram was holding between 200 and 300 girls as slaves even before the raid on Chibok. Dozens have escaped - but Nigeria’s security forces have failed to interview many survivors even though their information could help combat Boko Haram or assist in finding girls still held captive, kidnap victims and security sources said.
One escapee was a girl abducted by Boko Haram in a mountainous region near Cameroon last year. “No one ever came to ask me questions after I escaped. I could help them find others,” she told Reuters.
Political differences between regions and poor organization of the security forces are two of the problems.
Borno has some of the lowest economic indicators in the country, and investors shun the state because of poor security. Despite such problems, the president has visited the state only once during his four years in power.
Jonathan and Shettima, the governor of Borno, have a frosty relationship. Shettima is a leading figure in the main opposition All Progressives Congress party and has been openly critical of Jonathan’s administration. According to sources close to the president, Shettima angered Jonathan in February by saying that Boko Haram was stronger and better equipped than the military.
Though Nigeria allocates around 1 trillion naira ($6.5 billion) to security every year, soldiers in the northeast are stretched, several security sources said.
Widespread corruption means a lack of investment in training and failure to maintain equipment. Money is often wasted. Nigeria bought Israeli surveillance drones in 2006 that might have been used to hunt for the girls, but poor maintenance has left them grounded, the aircrafts' manufacturer said.
Boko Haram fighters, in contrast, are well-armed and determined. In dozens of attacks by militants in the past year, soldiers were swept aside by militants arriving in trucks, motorbikes and sometimes even stolen armored vehicles, firing rocket-propelled grenades looted in raids on military facilities.
In pure numbers, Boko Haram is outmatched. It has an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 members, three security sources said, whereas a Nigerian task force in Borno state numbers around 12,000, including soldiers and police.

But soldiers told Reuters that morale is low. Their commanders pocket some of their salaries, they often don’t have enough to eat, and they live in fear of Boko Haram attacks, some said.
“They (Boko Haram) are better equipped,” one soldier told Reuters by telephone, adding that he couldn’t stand up to a Boko Haram attack at his security post. “I’m taking a knife to a gunfight,” he said.
SCHOOL CLOSURE
In December, Boko Haram mounted a large-scale assault on the Maiduguri air force base, putting two helicopters and three military aircraft out of action, the military said at the time. The remaining helicopter gunships were subsequently moved to Makurdi and Port Harcourt airports, at least three hours' flight from Chibok, limiting the army’s ability to carry out surveillance and transport forces, two security sources said.
The military’s weakness was evident again in February when dozens of fighters loyal to Boko Haram descended on a remote military outpost in the Gwoza hills, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Chibok.
The fighters attacked using Hilux trucks mounted with machine guns over ground that offered little cover, a security source said. In a battle lasting hours, 50 insurgents and nine Nigerian troops were killed, the source said. Despite those losses, the militants succeeded in looting the base of its stockpile of 200 mortar bombs, 50 rocket-propelled grenades and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Two weeks later, Boko Haram fighters attacked a college in Buni Yadi in Yobe state, which borders Borno. They killed 59 teenage boys, and two security sources said they also kidnapped 11 schoolgirls.
After that, the Borno state government closed all its schools. Simeon Nwakaudu, spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Education, which falls under Jonathan’s jurisdiction, told Reuters the ministry had sent a written warning to the state governor advising that exams be moved to a safer location.
Nwakaudu, who did not show Reuters a copy of the letter, said the Chibok attack “would have been averted” if Shettima had heeded the warning.
Shettima denies he ever received such a warning. Instead, he decided to reopen the school at Chibok to hold exams.
“We were completely at ease with the security situation in Chibok at the time we took that decision,” Shettima told Reuters. He said responsibility for security lay with the federal government, which controls security forces. “We have security forces in every local government across the state. They could have advised us.”

At the same time the Education Ministry was without clear leadership. Jonathan had sacked education minister Ruqayyatu Rufai along with eight other ministers in a cabinet reshuffle in September last year, and has not filled the position since.
The deputy education minister, Nyesom Wike, had other matters on his mind: He has spent the past six months unofficially campaigning to be governor of a southern state. Jonathan is keen that one of his political allies wins the governorship against an incumbent who is one of the president’s rivals.
To the parents of kidnapped children, both the federal and local authorities failed to do enough in Chibok. Esther Kabu, whose daughter Dorcas is one of those still missing, said there was never any discussion of holding exams other than in Chibok.
“What annoys me most is that they did not consult us, the parents of the school, when they decided that the girls should come back to school for their exams,” she said. “I had this fear in me about her safety in the hostel. They should have provided more security to the school.”
THE ATTACK
On  April 14, the Boko Haram fighters arrived in Chibok at 11:30 p.m., according to Mphur, the chairman of the school PTA. Residents fled into the scrublands surrounding the town.
The gunmen, dressed in military uniforms and carrying AK47s and rocket-propelled grenades, made their way to the school about a mile outside the town, where they tricked the schoolgirls, saying they were soldiers protecting them from Boko Haram.
Lydia Powu, 16, recalled the moment she realized the men who coaxed her out of bed were not soldiers: “They started burning the school, and surrounding us. They grabbed me and my sister and walked us out of the school to another village, where they loaded us into trucks.
“So I asked my elder sister, ‘What are we going to do now?’ We looked at each other and we knew. We jumped out of the truck. I hit my back as I fell but I forgot the pain and we ran and ran.”
In the hours after the attack, no government or military officials arrived to carry out an investigation, residents of Chibok said. “Government security people only came to ask us questions three days later, that is how much they care for us and our children,” Mphur said.
That may partly be because the federal government had another incident to handle, closer to home. On the morning of the Chibok attack, Boko Haram detonated a large bomb at a bus station on the outskirts of Abuja, the country’s capital. The blast killed 75 people.
“ALL-OUT WAR”
The president took more than two weeks to speak publicly about the mass kidnapping. Only when international pressure mounted, driven by a social media campaign known as #BringBackOurGirls, did Jonathan finally accept intelligence and surveillance assistance from the United States, Britain, France and China.
His understanding of the situation has been shaky. As recently as April, he said Boko Haram’s threat was only “temporary.” At an international meeting to discuss the issue in Paris on May 18, he appeared to change tack, describing Boko Haram as an “integral part of the al Qaeda.” Security experts believe the sect remains a largely homegrown insurgency.
At the Paris meeting, West African countries promised to wage “all-out war” against Boko Haram, while foreign nations pledged technical expertise and training for a new regional African effort against Islamist militants. Some 80 U.S. troops have deployed to Chad to help in operations against Boko Haram.
But the Nigerian military remains distrustful of Western involvement. And the education ministry, as one Western official who works with the Nigerian government put it, remains disengaged.
“The ministry should be mapping out a plan of how to avoid Chibok being repeated,” the source said. “But it is rudderless.”
In Chibok, the reasons for the abductions take second place to the loss. At her parents’ house in the town, 13-year-old Happy Yakub still hopes her sister, one of those abducted, may return.
“I will never go back to school until my sister comes back home,” said Yakub. “I miss her. She used to plait my hair and we played together. Now there is nobody to play with.”

(With reporting by Joe Penney in Maiduguri, Pascal Fletcher in Johannesburg, Tim Cocks in Lagos, Bate Felix in Dakar, David Rohde in Washington and Andrew Osborn in London; Editing by Richard Woods and Simon Robinson)

FOR THE RECORDS ... A TRIBUTE TO MAYA ANGELOU ... By Wole Soyinka

The late Maya Angelou

Maya’s ‘AFRICA’ was more than a mere literary metaphor and reference point – it went beyond race identification. To obtain a glimmering of what the continent meant to her, one would have to think in terms of a mystic nostalgia.
That could be because she was so markedly black-regal both in bearing and pronouncements, she made one feel that, in some distant time past, she had been a queen – a philosopher queen – over some part of the black continent.
If indeed she was, Maya was the down-to-earth kind who felt her subjects keenly, a philosopher queen without the aloofness.

Professor Wole Soyinka

It took just one lunch meeting with her, and Queen Angelou tightened her sash like a market mamma, mobilized emergency forces, and personally led the charge to beat down the doors of a lethargic – and/or ambiguous – US administration during the Sanni Abacha murderous dictatorship.
She kept her finger on the nation’s pulse throughout a people’s travails.
Long before that however, what a personal memory to cherish! I learnt the following at an American university where I had gone to lecture, and Maya confirmed the details to me after we had finally met.
Publishers of a prestigious literary journal, the college was also sponsor of a bi-annual international literary prize. She had nominated me for that prize but, finally, it was a German writer who carried it off – I think it was Gunther Grass, but am no longer sure.
Well, at the formal event of the announcement, Maya Angelou was so disappointed, she burst into tears. Our sole contact till then was through our writing.
During reception afterwards, when she was being teased/consoled or whatever, she said something like: “No, it’s all right, I know he’ll win a bigger one”. A year later, I was accorded the Nobel Prize.

MERIT OR BONANZA .... DANJUMA GOJE OF GOMBE STATE STARTED IT LONG AGO : Pension For Former Leaders: Merit Pay Or Bonanza? ... Jangola

 At the twilight of his administration, immediate past governor of Gombe state, Senator Danjuma Goje, had reportedly paid himself and his deputy the sum of N300m as executive pension benefits.
In the midst of poverty, infrastructure and development deficit, former leaders at both the federal and state levels enjoy staggering sum of money and other perks as pension benefits annually to the consternation of other citizens. NDUBUISI ORJI writes.
How justifiable is the staggering sum paid to former presidents, vice presidents, former Senate Presidents, ex-governors and their deputies every year as pension benefits? Those championing the payment of pension and gratuities to former leaders believe the gesture will reduce graft by public officers, because, knowing that at the end of their tenure they are entitled to hefty pension benefits, the leaders are more likely to serve the county more conscientiously.
For the beneficiaries of the pension schemes, they are well-deserved benefits. But the citizens think otherwise. Several Nigerians have described the pensions as immoral. This group expressed displeasure that former leaders at both the national and state levels are placed on pension after most of them are known to have run the country and their respective states aground when they were in government.
In keeping with the pension law for the former leaders, the federal government and the various state governments have to cough out staggering sums of money running into several billion or hundreds of million naira annually as pension benefits to past leaders. For instance, in the 2013 appropriation bill, the sum of N5.5billion has been budgeted for the pension allowances of past leaders at the federal level. A legal expaert, Prof. Itse Sagay, said it is an anomaly for the government to spend such amount on people who had no financial problems. “It is one of the greatest anomalies of Nigeria.
These past leaders are people who are already very rich. These are people who had access to our resources. Many of them and their families have no financial problems. It is, therefore, ironic that the government prefers to spend billions on these privileged few, while over 70 per cent of Nigerians are living below one dollar per day,” he said. Sagay advised government to reduce its expenditure on past leaders, stressing that such monies could be used for the provision of basic infrastructure across the country.
For former governor of Edo State, Chief John Odigie Oyegun there is nothing wrong with payment of pension to ex-presidents and governors. In his view, not only should pension be paid to former leaders at the state and federal levels, it must must also be very attractive. The former governor argues that this will go along way in checking corruption in the system. “The salaries and pension should be attractive, so that they should not be tempted,” he says. However, the former governor adds that such paymemts must carry with it “a heavy responsibiity. If any one of them if found to have robbed the state, the person should be punished examplaray.
If you dont pay them well, you are giving them room to help themselves. But if after paying them pension and they still steal, you can lock them up and through the keys away.” Sagay says he would prefer a arrangement where former presidents and governors are paid a one off gratuity at the end of their tenure, instead a pension that they fix for themselves. The pension packages for former leaders The pension for former leaders at the federal government level covers past presidents-, including former military leaders, Prime Minister, Vice Presidents, Presidents of the Senate, and Speakers of the House of Representatives. However, those removed from office by impeachment are not eligible for the benefits.
The families of deceased ex-presidents and vice presidents are also entitled to an annual payment for upkeep of their spouse(s) and education of their children up to university level. According to the pension law enacted by the National Assembly, this spousal upkeep allowance will cease the moment the last spouse of the deceased passes on. In the states, the Rivers State pension law recently passed by the state House of Assembly, and signed by the state governor, Mr Rotimi Ameachi, stipulates that former governors of the state and the deputies get 100 per cent of their basic salaries as pensions, two houses each for former governors and deputy governors in the state. One of the houses will be built in Abuja; the nation’s capital while the other will be constructed in any part of the state.
In accordance with the enabling law, the state government will furnish the buildings. Besides, as part of their pensions, ex-governors and their deputies are entitled to three cars each, which will be replaced every three years, free medical treatment for former chief executives and members of their immediate families; provision of cooks, drivers, stewards, gardeners and other domestic workers, who are also expected to earn pensions after retirement.
They are also entitled to eight security operatives. In Lagos State, the pension law provides that a former governor is entitled to a pension that is the same as the salary of the incumbent governor. 300 percent of this amount as furniture allowance, two houses (one in Abuja and the other in Lagos), three replaceable brand new cars amongst other benefits. Like Rivers and Lagos States, Kwara, Edo, Gombe and several other states have equally enacted various pension laws to take care of their former leaders. Albeit, at serious financial cost to the states.
At the twilight of his administration, immediate past governor of Gombe state, Senator Danjuma Goje, had reportedly paid himself and his deputy the sum of N300m as executive pension benefits. Recently, a member of the House of Representatives representing Apapa Federal Constituency Mr. Babatunde Adewale mooted a bill that would provide for pensions for former members of the National Assembly. Adewale had said at a town hall meeting in Apapa, Lagos, that the bill was aimed at reducing corruption among lawmakers. He said it would also aid their oversight function. But is it really justifiable for these colossal sum of money to be paid to the former leaders at both the federal and state levels, especially when most of them are alleged to have ruined the country and the states, when they held sway as the chief executives?
If it is justifiable, is it also morally right for former heads of the executive arms of government at the federal level and their counterparts in the state to pocket such mouth watering benefits after a mere four or eight years tenures in office? A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain in Lagos State and former governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Dominic Adegbola says the pension benefits for the past leaders are uncalled for. Adebgola holds the view that the pension packages as presently obtained across the nation, particularly in Lagos State is “excessive and obscene”.
“Why should an ex-governor receive any pension at all anyway? Was he jobless before he became governor? How many years did he put into public service? How much did he contribute to the pension fund?” he queried He says the argument that it would prevent government officials from stealing while in office does not hold water. “If, as some people suggest, the purpose is to discourage a sitting governor from stealing public money, then that presupposes that the governor had a propensity for stealing and therefore, was not worthy to be governor in the first place”, he argued.
Mr. Bamidele Aturu, a Lagos based lawyer agrees. Aturu says the pension policy is anti-development. He said the huge sums of money that goes to former leaders as pensions shows that the nation’s democracy is only for a few privileged group. He added that the pension policy for former leaders is ridiculous when considered against the backdrop that most of them during the terms of office stole the country blind.
According to him “We are practising gangsterism as democracy. When you pay 5.5 billion naira to former leaders as pensions, and the pensions for former workers, former police officers, former railway people, former doctors, former teachers, they are being stolen by people yet those people who stole the money, you can’t even try them, is that not gangsterism? This democracy is democracy for a few.” Aturu warns of dire consequences if the country continues like this. “If Nigeria goes on like this, there would be an implosion.
There is no way you are going to run a country and the country will develop if this is the kind of selfishness that motivates leaders. How would you go and assign 5.5billion naira for former leaders, those who have had enough money. Some of them have probably even stolen enough money for two generations; you still go and be paying them money.
If a man is getting so much money from the state for doing nothing, and those who worked, those who laboured their pension is been stolen and nobody is being tried. There is no way there is not going to be revolution if this continues.” SUN

AND ROTIMI AMAECHI SECURED HIS TOMORROW TOO : Adding to the accumulated wealth of ex-governors, their deputies ... SocialAction

The signing of the Public Office Holders Pension Bill into law by Governor Rotimi Amaechi has become controversial in Rivers State. CHUKWUDI AKASIKE reports

DEMOCRACY has proven to be the best form of government for most countries seeking to develop at a fast pace. Separation of power, which is one of the features of this form of government, adds colour to democracy and makes government structures in the countries that practise it a delight of the people.

Many are of the view that Nigeria operates a pseudo-democracy that has separation of power only on paper. The three arms of government appear to be dependent on each other in carrying out their functions. This is why most of the State Houses of Assembly in the country are seen as mere rubber stamps of the executive.
In Rivers State, the handling of the Public Office Holders Bill, which is targeted at paying pensions and other fringe benefits to public office holders in the state, failed to invalidate the fact that the legislature in the country’s democracy is an extension of the executive.

The bill, which sailed through all the roadblocks, was recently passed into law by the state assembly.

Apart from receiving 100 per cent of their basic salaries as pensions, the bill, which recently received the assent of the governor, will provide two houses each for former governors and deputy governors in the state.

One of the houses will be built in Abuja, the nation’s capital while the other will be constructed in any part of the state. The buildings, according to the document, will be furnished by the state government.

Other benefits are three cars each for the ex-governors and their deputies, which will be replaced every three years, free medical treatment for former chief executives and members of their immediate families; provision of cooks, drivers, stewards, gardeners and other domestic workers, who are also expected to earn pensions after retirement.

On the security of former governors and their deputies in the state that prides itself as Treasure Base of the nation, over eight security operatives, including employees of the State Security Service will be provided for them.

The state is not alone in the provision of pension for governors and deputies’ as the Kwara State House of Assembly also passed into law similar bill for the benefit of former governors and deputies in the state in 2010, while Dr. Bukola Saraki was still in power.

The passage of the Pension Bill in Kwara was sequel to a unanimous decision of the lawmakers. Saraki had in a letter urged the House to extend entitlements under the payment of pension to all democratically elected governors and deputy governors of the state since 1967.

Gombe State is not left out as former governor, Danjuma Goje, had also ensured that a pension scheme that would last the lifetime of former governors was worked out for him and his deputy at the end of their tenure.

Goje was said to have paid himself and his deputy the sum of N300m as executive pension benefits.

The National Assembly had also approved a new and comprehensive pension package for past Nigerian leaders. The beneficiaries include past presidents, heads of the government of the federation, prime minister, vice presidents, presidents of the senate, and speakers of the House of Representatives.

President of the Senate, David Mark, had said the pension scheme was aimed at discouraging coups.

In Rivers, controversy began the moment the motion for the pension was moved by the House Leader, Mr. Chidi Lloyd. It was passed without much ado that usually follows bills that could directly affect the ordinary masses. The Petroleum Industry Bill is still with the National Assembly since 2008, while the Freedom of Information Bill was passed into law after spending about 11 years in the Legislature.

The state Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr. George Ukwuoma-Nwogba, defended Amaechi’s action, saying it was in order because it would prevent chief executives from short-changing the state.

He said, “What the governor has done by giving his assent to the bill is a welcome development. We have seen former chief executives getting very poor after they left their official positions. The law will prevent any governor in the state from stealing while in office. This is because while in office, the chief executives will have it at the back of their mind that they have something to gain after their stay in office as governors and deputy governors.”

Also, the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. David Iyofor, explained that there was nothing wrong in giving assent to the bill. Iyofor pointed out that contrary to the opinion in some quarters, the document on Public Pension was not an executive bill. He said the bill originated from a member of the House and was passed into law before it was brought to the governor for his assent.

The governor’s aide noted that the bill would have been vetoed into law if the governor had refused to give his assent to it, adding that the document was not the only one that got Amaechi’s endorsement. “There were other bills among the five bills that are directly beneficial to the people and the governor approved them alongside the Public Pension bill. Again, the bill is not an executive bill; it was sponsored by a member of the House.”

But a chieftain of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, Chief Asukewe Iko-Awaji, described the House as a rubber stamp of the executive.

Iko-Awaji argued that for the House to have thought of paying governors pensions and other benefits after leaving offices was an indication that the legislature in the state was an extension of the executive.

Iko-Awaji, who is the former National Vice Chairman of the ANPP, South-South, said the new bill would be challenged in court.

He, however, doubted the ability of the judiciary to handle such petition because the third arm of government had not proved that it was independent.

He said, “The problem we have is that we don’t have a House that is in support of the masses in the state. What we have is a rubber stamp House. We were happy when the National Assembly said it would raise a bill to make state Houses of Assembly in the country autonomous. How many times has the House passed a bill that would benefit the people of the state?”

Also dissatisfied with the handling of the bill, the Niger Delta Citizens and Budget Platform charged the House to begin the process of repealing the new law on Public Office Holders Pension.

The NDCBP coordinator, Mr. Ken Henshaw, who described the law as obnoxious, undemocratic and anti-people, said the state legislature should abolish the law in the interest of the people.

He said, “The provisions in the law are unsustainable and will put further pressure on the already weak economy of the state. We observe that the passage of the bill into law is coming at a time when Rivers State Government has at various times admitted that its financial situation was precarious.

“Politics is supposed to be a part-time venture and it is not pensionable. Youth unemployment is an admitted problem in Rivers. The money that would be used to cater for former governors should be used to address the problem of unemployment. The wealth accumulated by former governors and deputy governors while in office is enough for them. Adding pension and other benefits to it will affect the polity,” Henshaw added.

While the controversy on the new law appears to be unending, there is no doubt that the economy of the state will be sapped in the next 20 years when many ex-governors, their deputies, drivers and the retinue of domestic workers continue to draw funds from the state treasury.

Currently, not a few have likened the recent development in the state to the proverbial “taking coal to Newcastle.”

SECURING THEIR TOMMORROW 2 : Ex-Gov. Attah attacks Akpabio over scandalous pension law: Says “Publish what you pay me” ... PremiumTimes

Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom

Former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Victor Attah, has challenged the incumbent, Governor Godswill Akpabio, to publish how much he has paid him (Mr. Attah) and past leaders of the state as pension.
This followed claims by Mr. Akpabio that the government had been spending huge resources in taking care of former governors as well as deputy governors and their spouses.
Mr. Attah, who spoke in a telephone interview with PREMIUM TIMES on Friday, also berated journalists, especially those who recently interviewed the Akwa Ibom state governor, for not asking Mr. Akpabio pertinent questions about his management of the state resources.
He said, “If Godswill Akpabio says he conceived the new law to put a ceiling to the expenses made on previous leaders of the state, somebody should have had the guts to ask him how much he has been paying to the past leaders.
“You journalists are afraid of Godswill Akpabio and that is why you have always shied away from asking some pertinent questions.”
Governor Akpabio, who appeared on a breakfast show on Channels Television earlier in the day had described as laughable, the criticisms that have trailed the new law that would enable him earn over N200 million as pension annually.
Mr. Akpabio said, “It’s a laughable situation that people generate controversy over the pension law. The law has been in existence in Akwa Ibom State. I am the one implementing it.
“I know what I am talking about and because I wear the shoe, I know where it pinches. All the former elected governors and their deputies have been enjoying the pension. The pension was first established in 2000 and was further amended with certain provisions added in 2006.”
While explaining the general principles of the new law, he said, “It’s really not a retroactive law, neither is it a new law. It is an existing law that went through amendment.
He noted that the old law was open-ended in terms of benefits payable to past governors, deputies and their spouses.
He said, “We had a situation where bills from former deputies and their spouses worth N29 million were brought from several hospitals they claimed they went for treatment abroad.
“Because the bill did not specify whether the hospital should be in Nigeria or not, most of what I have seen in the past seven years has been bills from hospitals abroad.”
In the course of implementing the existing law, Mr. Akpabio said some former governors and their deputies have brought bills ranging from $50,000, $70,000, and sometimes $112,000.
He argued that it was against decorum to question the medical bills of past leaders on grounds that there are high, and mentioned an instance where a former leader requested for funds to hire an airline to take his spouse for treatment abroad.
But Mr. Attah, who sounded angry said,  “Why don’t you people ask him how much the state has paid to its past leaders? Why don’t you people ask him how much has been paying to Obong Attah and others?
“I don’t like it when journalists always come to ask me about what is wrong in Akwa Ibom State instead of asking Godswill Akpabio.
“He is the one who said he has been paying so much to past governors and wanted to put ceiling on what is paid out to check wastage of public funds. Those who interviewed him should have asked him to mention just how much he has paid so far.
“They didn’t ask him such questions; they didn’t ask him to clarify on the projects he said he has been carrying out in the state.
“I don’t have anything to tell you since you do not have the guts to ask Governor Akpabio to present proofs of what he has been paying to past leaders of the state.
“You journalists should go and look at the law critically and ask him whether Obong Attah has been enjoying any of the benefits provided for in the law.
“You should also ask him whether he built a retirement home for me either in Uyo or Abuja. Ask him to tell you how much he has been paying to Obong Attah as retirement package after I left office.
“These are questions Akpabio should answer and should provide verifiable records to Akwa Ibom people and Nigerians. Journalists should stop asking me questions they should ordinarily ask Governor Godswill Akpabio. I want to enjoy my retirement in peace.”
Mr. Attah said journalists should stop using him as a shield against their inability to confront Governor Akpabio to tell them the truth about what is happening in Akwa Ibom State.

SECURING THEIR TOMORROW : Abiodun Aladetan: Akpabio’s pension for life and the fear of tomorrow – a failure of the ruling class ... DailyPost

The hottest part in hell should be the exclusive preserve of the corrupt ruling class who see politics as a means of escaping poverty. As a matter of fact, a first class ticket should be reserved for the Governor of Akwa Ibom state that will take him straight to hell for his new Pension for life initiative.
This scheme is evil, corrupt and capable of increasing crime rate among the millions of jobless graduate who suffer as a result of the failure of the ruling class who care about themselves and their cronies.
Late president John F. Kennedy once said “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country”, but in Nigeria, after serving for many years and in several capacities, the ruling classes are still asking the government what to do for them and their families. The reason is obvious, the fear of tomorrow.

The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio, has defended his N200 million annual pay retirement perks, saying the new law was in the interest of the state. How can that be in the interest of the state? Or is Akpabio’s interest now also the state interest?
Based on Section 1(1) of the law, “An indigene of the state who has held office as a democratically elected governor or deputy governor of former Cross River State and a person who has held office as a democratically elected governor or deputy governor of the state shall when he ceases to hold office be entitled,” to the new perks.
Although similar laws have been passed by many Nigerian governors including those of Lagos, Rivers, Bauchi and Benue states, among others. Under the new law, Mr. Akpabio and others listed in Section 1(1) are entitled to a monthly pension for life at the rate equivalent to his current salary. Under this law, Mr. Akpabio and his deputy; Mrs. Ebe will, therefore, pocket a total of N2, 223, 705. 00; and N2, 112, 215, 00 respectively as monthly and a total of N26, 684, 460,00 and N25, 346, 580 respectively as pension, per annum. This is based on approved remuneration package for state executive and local government executive by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission. The governor is also entitled to a new official car and a utility vehicle once in every four years, one personal aide and the provision of adequate security for his person during his lifetime at the expense of the state government. Akwa Ibom taxpayers are also expected to provide an amount not exceeding N5 million or an equivalent of $50,000.00 monthly for Mr. Akpabio to engage the services of a cook, chauffeurs and security guards.
This is unfortunate. Why should an elected civilian governor and one who flaunts his “good boy” and “good performance” credentials with swagger be the harbinger of this bold advert of corruption and public profligacy?
Is Akpabio scared of tomorrow? I think the answer is a capital YES. This is premised on the fact that there is much uncertainty in the country, everybody especially the ruling class wants to accumulate enough wealth for themselves and their children’s children.

However, this line of thought by those who claim to have seen or known it all is flawed because nobody knows tomorrow. In other civilized climes, they approach the future with hope and confidence by putting structures as well as positive policies and programmes that guarantees a better tomorrow for all, and not the avaricious unilateral approach of stealing the present to create a better tomorrow that most of them don’t use in good health. In Nigeria, it pays to steal because there are no stringent laws against such act. No wonder the president said stealing is not corruption. This is the only country where a sitting president makes such a statement and its business as usual.
No nation can survive without strong moral and ethical foundation. Correspondingly, a nation devoid of morals and strong code of ethics is a nation without a soul. In plain language; such a nation is without identity and can never take a pride of place in the comity of nations.
Our leaders must therefore, note that in their mad rush to scandalous wealth accumulation, they murder the hopes and aspiration of our children who have also now imbibed the culture of thievery and lasciviousness. The implication being that we are raising a generation of Nigerians who are blind to the difference between right and wrong. They (the brand new corrupt youths) will kill, maim, rape, kidnap and defraud with impunity, even more than they have been taught by the bad examples of our present crop of corrupt leaders which means that the future the ruling class wishes to protect with their insatiable desire for wealth accumulation will be loaded with regrets and pains if this unacceptable trend is allowed to continue.
Abiodun Aladetan
A labour practitioner from Lagos