Old picture of Flavour and Patoranking

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I Am Probing Amaechi Same Way Buhari Is Scrutinizing Jonathan’s Tenure – Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, on Wednesday vowed
to implement the recommendations of the Justice George
Omereji-led judicial commission of inquiry.
He had constituted the panel to probe the sale of Rivers’
assets and to also look into other matters concerning the
management of state resources by the past administration.
Wike lamented the level of alleged financial crimes
committed with impunity under ex-Governor Rotimi
Amaechi, adding that the criticism against the panel will not
deter him from punishing all those found culpable.
Wike, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media
and Publicity, Opunabo Inko-Tariah, said he was not the first
to establish a commission of inquiry.
According to him, Amaechi, set up the Justice Kayode Esho
commission of inquiry and added that former governor
Peter Odili appeared before the panel.
He dismissed the allegations that the Omereji-led
commission of inquiry was established purposely to indict
Amaechi, adding that the panel was set up based on the
relevant laws of the state.
“The implementation of the commission’s recommendations
shall be devoid of fear or favour, affection or ill will. The
refusal to appear before the panel is an admission of guilt.
The allegation that the Justice Omereji’s commission of
inquiry is a subterfuge to indict Rotimi Amaechi suffers from
the eclipse of reasoning and poverty of logic.
“Amaechi set up the Justice Kayode Esho’s commission and
when former governor Peter Odili was invited, he obliged
despite the fact that Justice Esho had made some
uncomplimentary remarks about a perpetual injunction
concerning Odili,” Wike said.
Wike condemned the All Progressives Congress in the state
for its position on the commission of inquiry, wondering
why his predecessor did not properly hand over to him.
He said, “The Omereji’s panel was set up to probe the
expenditures made by Amaechi’s government, which is what
any responsible government will do because the taxpayers’
money is not for one man, especially when certain financial
transactions are opaque.
“It is even more important when the outgoing administration
demurred to hand over or when there are no handover
notes. The welter of criticisms by the APC in Rivers State is
actuated by the fear of exposure. It is just hocus-pocus.
“Governor Wike inherited a hobbling economy and a
suffocating treasury. He provided the life-saving machine
and today, the state is recuperating. The sittings (of the
panel) were not done clandestinely and all that was
expected of Amaechi and his acolytes was for them to
appear and prove their innocence.”
Wike, added that in establishing a panel of inquiry, he took a
cue from President Muhammadu Buhari, “an embodiment
of probity and rectitude”, who is also looking into how public
funds were spent under the last administration.

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Jubilant crowd welcomes President Buhari to france

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Obasanjo almost fainted the day I shook hands with him -- Alameayeseigha

TEN years after, the anger arising from the impeachment and subsequent imprisonment of former Bayelsa State Governor, Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamie-yeseigha by former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration is still reverberating even though Alamieyeseigha claims he has forgiven Obasanjo.


Obasanjo and Alamieyeseigha
Alamieyeseigha, who spoke to Saturday Vanguard in his country home in Yenagoa, said that he had forgiven all those who plotted and sent him to jail purely for political reasons even though the experience remains very painful to him.

The former governor was impeached and removed from office in December 2005 and was subsequently sent to jail for alleged mismanagement of Bayelsa State funds.

Some of his property alleged to have been secured with stolen funds in and outside Nigeria were confiscated and given to Bayelsa State by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) working in conjunction with foreign security agencies.

But Alamieyeseigha, who was granted state pardon by his former deputy governor and immediate past President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan, last year, said that Obasanjo has not known peace because of the role he played in events leading to his impeachment, arrest and subsequent imprisonment.

He recalled that Obasanjo nearly fainted the first time he met him after his release from prison. He said the former president, who met him accidentally at the Katsina Airport became jittery on seeing him and managed to shake hands with him. Alamieyeseigha said: “I have forgiven all those who plotted against me, including former President Obasanjo. I know all those who plotted against me and sent me to jail. I cannot be living in the past as it does not help me in any way.

“What I passed through is painful all right but it would not have happened if it was not permitted by God. It is even more important to me that I am still alive today because I passed through many shadows of the valleys of death and still came out of them. ‘’I have met Obasanjo at very close quarters twice since I came out of prison.

I did not know that he was at the VIP Lounge at the Katsina Airport to attend the marriage of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s daughter. Obasanjo came face to face with me at the airport when I went to use one of the rest rooms. It happened that as I opened the door to ease myself, I saw Obasanjo sitting face to face with me and he almost passed out.

“But I held his hands. He was scared and he felt uneasy all through. Then he began to ask ‘DSP, DSP, DSP! What have I done to deserve shaking your hands?’ There were many people there, one of them was Kenny Martins, the then chairman of the Police Equipment Fund.

“I told Obasanjo ‘I was only shaking you for two reasons: one-because of the fear of the Almighty God, who created us and two, for the fact that I am the Ganuma Katsina and you are a visitor to my emirate and tradition demands that I should welcome visitors’. “That prompted Kenny to get up also and greet me, saying ‘great leader, great leader’ and he came and hugged me.’’

The former governor said his second post-prison encounter with Obasanjo took place aboard a Dubai-bound flight where the former president met him seated in the business class and addressed him as ‘Fayose’ out of fear . His words: “The second encounter with Obasanjo was when we met on a flight going to Dubai. When Obasanjo came, I was already seated in the Business Class and he had no choice but to greet me.

But because of possible fear of seeing me, Obasanjo called out ‘Fayose, Fayose, Fayose.’ I protested to him that I am not Fayose and I said: ‘Former President Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Aremu Obasanjo, you are a devil incarnate.’ “I warned him not to talk again or he would face my anger. And I tell you, throughout the flight he could not say anything to me.

The only thing Obasanjo managed to say was to ask me whether I was the only one who had ever been sent to the prison. ‘DSP, is it only you that entered prison

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Things President Buhari must do before December

FOLLOWING the mixed views that heralded President Muhammadu Buhari’s 100 days in office, Second Republic politician and elder statesman, Chief Guy Ikokwu, has advised the president to ensure that he leaves unarguable landmarks within the next three months.

Nigerians were clearly divided on the achievements or failures of President Buhari after 100 days in office. Ikokwu said in six months, Buhari must be seen to have addressed a number of issues, he considered to be non-negotiable
Apart from charting an economic agenda and direction he suggested to be known as Nigerianomics, Ikokwu said insecurity and corruption must be fought headlong with discernible results. And the president must get his cabinet in place and avoiding discredited politicians and allies who dominated the political firmament in the last 30 years.

Major
issues

He said: ‘’The president himself has highlighted two major issues: insecurity and corruption. It looks as if it is taking more time than anticipated. The Nigerian public are watching to see if the president as a General can combat the issue of insecurity and terrorism between now and December, 2015.
‘’Most Nigerians believe that since insecurity is a national issue, it must include other zones. No zone on its own can tackle the issue of insecurity and terrorism, which he said are urgent matters.
‘’The canker-worm of corruption is not something that can be cured within 100 days but at the moment, the president has made the issue of accountability his watchword in the sense that all the areas of leakages in the public sector have to be plugged. This has to involve the civil service, trade unions and professional organisations across the country.

Credible ministers, cabinet

The only clue one can gather at the moment even in the face of non-application of the federal character principle in the appointments made by the president, is he has distanced himself a little bit from the previous public officials and political juggernauts and godfathers, who have been in all political parties since 1990, whether they belong to the peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressives Congress (APC) or any other party or the military as the situation may be.

President Buhari should not encumber himself and his administration with the excess baggage of public officers, godfathers, cronies and perverted politicians and retired devious military administrators of the past era of 30 years. Most of them are still alive, unrepentant and very much implicated in our nation’s loss of over $300 billion causing us such squalor, poverty, ineptitude, illiteracy and ill-health.’’

Diversification of the economy, fiscal federalism
Ikokwu continued: ‘’Although, he has sounded a note that there is need to diversify the economy and we know these cannot be done in 100 days, most Nigerians believe that within this years, the principle of true federalism and decentralisation of the Federal Government will be in accordance with the desire and expositions of our founding fathers like Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Sir Ahmadu Bello.

During this period, the economy was diversified and it was not dependent on oil and Nigeria developmental stride was more than 9 per cent per annum, which means, it is only through true decentralisation and true federalism that we can have better education, healthcare, infrastructure and electricity.

‘’The legislature (National Assembly and states assembly) must begin now and by December restructure the country to fiscal federalism. Since the reports of the 2014 National Conference and constitutional amendment of the National Assembly are now on the table of the National Assembly, it is not a question of starting afresh. The materials are already there.

Economic blueprint:
Nigerianomics

‘’There is no reason all the zones should not be united to ensure that Buhari succeeds. The president should set up a committee that should give the whole country Nigerianomics so that all Nigerians will know wh

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Trivails of siblings raped by their dad for three years

At the end of a rugged street in Ikotun area of Lagos, house No 40, a gated storey building stands shoulder to shoulder with other houses, bearing the signs of age and numerous tenants. But in this building inhabited by an elderly landlord, Mr. Sikiru Okunola along with his elderly wife, Bose, and their tenants, one of the greatest crimes a father can commit against his own child, has happened. Pa Okunola and his wife, who were both alarmed when they were hinted about an incestuous act of one of their tenants, summoned his children, 14-year-old Bisi and 16-year-old Biola to confirm from them whether it was true that their father had been violating them. The two girls, who showed signs of advanced puberty, sat down on one of the landlord’s couches. Biola, the fair and the older girl seemed guarded and a little quiet as she sat down in a pair of shorts. Her darker sister, Bisi, on the other hand, sat down with a resolute expression. As Bisi sat with her palms together, wedged in between her knees, she could have passed for any other innocent adolescent girl. Unfortunately, that innocence has been snatched from her by none other than their bricklayer father, Omoyori Adebayo. It all began in 2012, when Bisi was in Basic Five. She has just been promoted to Junior Secondary Class 2. Bisi sighed when she launched into her story, as her demeanour did not betray any particular emotion. This was a story she was dying inside to share. The first time she told this story to a neighbour she confided in, she was told never to tell anybody again. The second time was just a few days ago before our correspondent’s visit, when the case became a family issue. She and her sister were surrounded by unsympathetic family members, who simply told them to let the matter go and forgive their father. Bisi said, “One night when I was in Primary Five (Basic Five), I realised I could not breathe in the middle of the night and I woke up, I saw my daddy lying on top of me. “I first thought it was a dream. But when I realised that I was actually awake, I pushed him away from me. He had removed my pants. I could not say anything. But I could not sleep again. I was so afraid of falling asleep. “Since that day, I have caught him on top of me many times than I can count. He never says anything. When I wake up, I just push him away and he goes back to sleep. I usually tell him, that Daddy, this is an abomination. But still, he continues doing it. “Sometimes I only know he had done something to me when I wake up and feel pain in my private part. Other times, I just know when I see sperm coming out of my private part.” Bisi’s case has become an addition to the rising statistics on child sexual abuses perpetrated by victims’ fathers in Nigeria. Like an epidemic that continues to defy solutions, cases of fathers sexually abusing their children continue to crop up, staring the country’s laws in the face. Adebayo, a Kogi-State indigene, lives in a one-room apartment with his three daughters. He leaves some money for their feeding anytime he goes out to do his bricklaying job. The girls’ mother died a few years ago The youngest of the girls has been taken in by one of their father’s siblings after the family got wind of what was happening. But Bisi and Biola insisted their father had not touched their sister before. Bisi said she and her elder sister could not tell anybody what was going on in their house. But when she could no longer contain the secret, she had to tell a neighbour. “When I told our neighbour, she said I should not tell anyone about it. So, I could not speak out against my daddy. I feel sad that my father sleeps with me all the time. I don’t understand why one’s father would be doing such a thing,” Bisi said. But it seems such secrets do not stay hidden for long. Within the compound, a neighbour, whom the girls befriended was about to send Biola on an errand one afternoon. As she opened the door to their apartment, she noticed the girl

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Woman pronounced dead found alive in Aba

…Relations shy to take her home as she’s now mad From Okey Sampson, Aba For many, Mercy (not real name) from an Edo State community had long been dead and buried by her kinsmen. But miraculously she is still very much alive. The story of Mercy is one wrapped up in mystery. Before the mid ‘90s, the tall, dark and beautiful lady was living a normal and healthy live in a community in Edo State, where she was said to be involved in a business with which she took care of herself and members of her family. Mercy, as was now named, was said to have at times travel to Onitsha, Anambra State to purchase some goods which she resold at home. Loved by all, she was reportedly leading a happy and fulfilled life. But one day, according to a report by a lady relation, who pleaded anonymity and equally refused to give the name of their community for fear of in her words projecting them in bad light, Mercy got missing from her home. According to the lady, usually comes to Aba to buy goods, there was confusion in their community as Mercy who was not used to be traveling about except on trips to Onitsha for business, which she did not embark on at that time, could not been seen for days. Confusion then made way for apprehension. Having waited for days and yet their daughter could not be found, leaders and youths of the community set out to look for her. First, the police in the area were alerted on the search for the lady and they swiftly spread their dragnet to see if they could get a clue of Mercy’s whereabouts, but all yielded no fruits. Having been satisfied that finding Mercy was beyond the police, the community decided to look for her in their own way. But the result was the same, there was no trace of their daughter anywhere and they left her case to fate, believing that one day she would come home alive on her own. But that was not to be. In Mercy’s community tradition forbids a missing person to be presumed dead until after a stipulated time if he or she was not found. Within this window of time allowed by tradition, there was still high hopes that Mercy would come back home alive. But as this period elapsed without Mercy being found, the community went into mourning because their daughter had by the dictates of tradition died. So, burial rites were reportedly performed. Although her body was not found, but as far as the community was concerned, Mercy was dead and buried and her name on the community’s register marked with red ink. But years after, in 2014 to be precise, something happened. Mercy who had long been ‘buried’ in her community in Edo State was found roaming the streets of Aba as a mad woman. How Mercy was found The lady, who told Mercy’s story, was the one who found her. She said she was in Aba late last year on a business trip as usual and went to see some of her customers within the Ogbor Hill area of the commercial city when she saw somebody who resembled Mercy. She said two things crossed her mind, either she was seeing a ghost because Mercy who had long been ‘buried’ way back in Edo years ago had not been to Aba before, or she saw someone that resembled their ‘dead’ sister. But out of fear, the lady could not make further enquiries. When the lady went back after that business trip and narrated to her people what she saw, opinions were divided. While some people were of the view that she saw somebody who resembled their sister, others believed she might have seen a ghost, yet another group encouraged her to sermon courage and approach the mad woman when next she visited Aba and sees her. So, on a recent visit to Aba, the lady again was heading towards the Federal Housing Estate along Opobo Road, Ogbor Hill to see her customers. As fate may have it, on getting to Emelogu junction, she saw Mercy coming in the opposite direction. Instead of dodging as she did in the first time, when Mercy approached, she called her by the name for which she was known back home. The mad woman recognised her and stopped. Both ladies greeted themselves and engaged in a lengthy sisterly discussion to the bewilderment of onlookers. After the discussion, the lady gave Mercy some items she bought for her and reportedly told people around that she would take her case back to their community so that her people could come and take her home. But checks by Oriental News showed that since then, nobody as promised has come for Mercy who is now domiciled in front of a disused factory building on Opobo Road, adjacent St. Dominic’s Catholic Church, Federal Housing Estate, Ogbor Hill, Aba. When this reporter went to take her photographs, Mercy charged at him, calling him a mad man and threatened to deal with him if he ever took her picture. A resident of the area, John Ndudi described Mercy’s case as pathetic. He said if her people have been looking for her all these while and she was eventually found in Aba, they would have braced all odds to reach her irrespective of her current condition of health. For the relations of Mercy who had looked for her over the years believing she was dead and performed a mock burial for her, she is not dead and may recover from her present state of mind if proper care is extended to her, many in Aba believed.

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