Return toxic waste containers to UK – FG

Director General of the agency, Dr. Ngeri Benebo

Federal Government has ordered that the toxic waste containers on board MV Marivia Monrovia be returned to the port of origin in the United Kingdom.

The Director-General of National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency, Dr. Ngeri Benebo, made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria on Thursday.

NAN reports that the Nigeria Customs Service and NESREA intercepted the ship with Liberian flag, which berthed at the Tin-Can Island Port on Wednesday.

The names of the importers are Messrs Moronuk David and Bonik Investment.

Some containers in the 23, 652-tonnage ship were laden with used televisions, computers, Central Processing Units, DVDs, microwaves, pressing irons and stereos.

Benebo said returning the consignment to the UK was in conformity with the provisions of Harmful Wastes Act, promulgated after the Koko waste saga.

She said, “We are sending the e-wastes back to the port of origin.’’

Chime: Trouble brews in Enugu

…Group demands 2-week ultimatum on gov …They’re attention seekers –CPS

A pro-democracy association known as ‘Save Enugu Group’ has given the acting governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi two weeks to make a categorical explanation on the whereabouts and status of Governor Sullivan Chime. The group, which has former commissioners and top politicians from the state as members also requested the deputy governor to constitute a delegation, which should include eminent personalities from the state to pay a visit to the governor and report back to the people of Enugu State.
The group suggested personalities like, Bishop Callistus Onaga, Catholic Bishop of Enugu, Revd Hyde Onuaguluchi, Prof Bath Nnaji, Igwe Paul Egbogu, Chief Mrs Grace Obayi, Chief Nduka Eya, Secretary General Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo and Dr Louis Anya Chukwuma to be part of the delegation. The letter, which was also copied the Speaker of the State Assembly was signed by former commissioners, Mr Ray Nnaji and Igbonekwu Ogazimorah, former presidential aspirant of the NSP, Chief Maxi Okwu, National Secretary-General of the CNPP, Willy Ezeugwu, Ibuchukwu Ezike and Victor Eneh.
The letter read: “Today makes it 110 days since our great governor was last seen in public. It is in the public domain that Governor Chime was last sighted in public on September 19, 2012. Since then, sightings and near sightings of him have been reported, which all turned out to be a hoax. “This has created a thriving mill of idle gossips, who speculate on his whereabouts and state of health. Matters got to a head December 15, 2012, when the national media was rent with the news of the death of our governor.
“On some occasions, the Commissioner of Information, Mr. Chuks Ugwoke had come out with an official statement that His Excellency was quietly enjoying his holiday and accumulated leave or that he would be in office shortly. These conflicting accounts merely served to exacerbate rather than ameliorate the situation. “We are also told that at the time of his disappearance from public view, His Excellency, as required by section 190 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), duly handed over to the deputy governor.
“We must bring to your notice that the public is awash with accounts of the inability of the acting governor to discharge his mandate under the Constitution, as a cabal of unelected officers have rendered his authority otiose. We, therefore, most humbly submit that this is a most untidy state of affairs. “At this juncture, we make bold to ask: Can the governor hand over and create an acting administration in perpetuity? What is the duration of annual leave for the Governor? How many days make up this ‘accumulated annual leave’? Could the Constitution and government holiday regulations have given His Excellency a carte blanch to take a break for over 100 days? We do not think so.
The question, which we would be most obliged if it is answered is: Where is His Excellency our governor? “We are in no doubt that comparatively speaking he has done well or that government is going on ‘peacefully’ or ‘smoothly’ as his supporters would chime; but the fact of unreasonable absence from office, is suggestive of permanent inability to discharge the functions of his office. In the alternative we would argue that his disappearance for this extended period amounts to grave misconduct.” But in a swift reaction, the Enugu State Government dismissed the letter as a non-issue.
A statement signed by Chukwudi Achife, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Chime said that “though government did not intend to join issues with those he described as habitual attention-seekers, it was obvious that having realized that their media attacks had not achieved their intended results, they have now chosen to issue baseless statements as a group. “Government does not intend to join issues with these habitual attention-seekers. This is, at best, the coming together of men whose views on the incumbent government are well-known and always predictable.
It is obvious that having realized, perhaps most painfully, that their media attacks had not achieved their pre-determined goal, they have now chosen to issue a statement as a group. “However, it is even more laughable that in dabbling into issues beyond their purview, they first mischievously leaked to the press a letter meant for His Excellency, the Acting Governor of Enugu State, Sunday Onyebuchi.
“We urge our people to ignore the hollow argument and baseless call by the group, which merely expose the narrow mindedness of the pay-masters because the people of Enugu State know the real men behind the mask.”

Jonathan: OBJ is confused…says FG doesn’t need his advice

Twenty-four hours after former President Olusegun Obasanjo advised the Federal Government to adopt “carrot and stick” approach in tackling Boko Haram, presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, has told the Nigerian leader to pocket his counsel. In fact, Abati said Obasanjo is confused. Obasanjo told Zain Verjee on CNN International interview on Tuesday that President Goodluck Jonathan should use the stick to check the menace of the Islamist sect whose campaign has killed over 2,500 people during attacks on churches and mosques. Reacting to Obasanjo’s interview for the second time yesterday, Abati, in four tweets, said Obasanjo is apparently confused over the Boko Haram menace with his recent suggestion that the “carrot and stick” approach should be employed to address the insurgency. Obasanjo had, in the CNN interview, accused President Jonathan of only using the stick approach to address the problem rather than ‘a double track’ approach.
“To deal with such group, you need ‘carrot’ and ‘stick’ approach. ‘Carrot’ is finding out what, how to reach out to them and ‘stick’ is when you are trying to reach out to them, those that are amenable to be reached out to, you have to use the stick approach”. But Obasanjo’s new posture, however, drew the ire of the Presidency, as Abati picked holes in the suggestions of the former president, saying it smacked of contradiction and confusion.
He said Obasanjo had earlier accused President Jonathan of being too soft on Boko Haram at a function in Warri, Delta State where he suggested an Odi solution (genocide) to the Boko Haram insurgence “Jonathan administration has shown creativity and purposefulness in handling the Boko Haram challenge. Hence, the progress we witness. “One report says Obasanjo is recommending a multifaceted approach to Boko Haram. This government certainly doesn’t need a lecture on that,” Abati tweeted.
Obasanjo and the Presidency had engaged in a veiled war of words since last year over perceived plan by Jonathan to contest a second term in 2015. Although, the President was yet to declare his intention, Obasanjo had never concealed his posture that the next president must come from another zone of the country and not from the South-South where Jonathan hailed from.

Oshiomhole wants DIG sacked over Oyerinde’s death probe

Edo State Governor Comrade Adams Oshiomhole
| credits:

Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole on Thursday in Abuja called for the dismissal of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Peter Gana,  who supervised the investigation into the murder of his private secretary, Olaitan Oyerinde.

Oshiomhole alleged that the DIG was shielding  the real killers and urged  President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in the matter.

He said the State Security Service apprehended Oyerinde’s suspected killers while the police arrested and detained an innocent civil rights activist, Rev. David Ugolor, for two months without trial in disobedience of a court order.

The governor, who canvassed for the scraping of the Police Affairs ministry on the grounds that it politicises the Force, noted that with a functional Police Service Commission, the country would not need a ministry in charge of police affairs.

The governor said this while delivering a key note address at the inauguration of a Code of Conduct for officers and men of the Nigeria Police, Vice-President, Namadi Sambo represented President Goodluck Jonathan.

Oshiomhole said, “I am aggrieved; I am aggrieved over the murder of my private secretary and the way in which it was trivialised.

“I am saying it knowing that the Vice President is here. My secretary was murdered in cold blood and you dispatched a DIG to supervise that investigation; a DIG is a sufficiently senior officer. They came to Benin and they did what Fela (Ransome-Kuti) would have called police magic.

“At the end, they went for a civil rights activist and charged him for the offence of murder.”

Oshiomhole alleged that the DIG conspired with other officers involved in the investigation to shield the killers of Oyerinde, saying they were no longer fit to wear police uniform.

He added, “The DIG Force CID has a case to answer; it is either he is guilty of conspiracy to murder or is guilty of conspiracy to shield murderers or both. In which case he cannot wear his police uniform, he must be dismissed.

“The Deputy Commissioner of Police that he used claimed that they had done a thorough job. He has no business wearing police uniform because by my judgment, in his own narrative, he is a criminal.”

The governor lamented that one of the problems of  Nigeria, including the police and even the civil service was the culture of impunity where people do things wrongly and got away with it.

In his response, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, said the case was still under investigation and assured the governor that the outcome of the probe would be made public.

Jonathan charged officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force to exhibit the finest ideals of professionalism in the discharge of their duties, and directed the IG to furnish him with details of assessment of police conduct on a quarterly basis.

Jonathan and 2015

Wale Sokunbi CURRENTS, 08056180228 walesokunbi2003@yahoo.co.uk
Residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, woke up on January 1, 2013 to the spectacle of re-election campaign posters of President Goodluck Jonathan adorning the streets, including the highbrow Asokoro and Wuse areas of the city.
Coming barely six weeks after the president declined to speak on his interest or otherwise in the 2015 presidential election, saying it was too early to do so, the posters of the president with screaming inscriptions such as 2015: No Vacancy in Aso Rock, Let’s Do More, One Good Turn Deserves Another and Support Dr. Goodluck Jonathan for 2015 Presidency, jolted many Nigerians.
The opinion that has been expressed in several quarters is that the pasting of the posters, especially the one declaring that there is no vacancy in the presidential villa in 2015, is unbecoming, coming from a government that is still grappling with the challenge of delivering on its campaign promises to the people. Although presidential spokesman, Dr. Reuben Abati, has denied any involvement of the Presidency in the printing or pasting of the posters, and quoted Jonathan as asking those “playing games” with the posters to allow him concentrate on the job at hand, many Nigerians, including leaders of some political parties and civil society groups such as Campaign for Democracy (CD) are unimpressed with the presidential denial.
The CD, through its president, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin, has said that the pasting of the posters smacks of “high-level insensitivity” coming from a president that, after two years in office, is still saying he does not want to make mistakes. Abati, however, put up a strong defence of the president. According to him: “There is no reason for the president to engage in any form of scaremongering. He has said that by 2014, his position on the 2015 presidential race would be made public. “Nigerians should wait till then.
Those pasting the posters are trying to express their own views… They do not have the consent of the president. What is most important now is for the president to deliver on his electioneering promises to Nigerians and not to embark on pasting of posters.” This is explanatory enough, if only Nigerians will believe their presidents!. Unfortunately, we have a culture of disbelieving our leaders, which is borne out of their serial deceits of the past. It is not a peculiar “Jonathan problem.
”Flying of kites through pasting of controversial campaign posters before actual commencement of campaigns for political offices is a well-known gimmick of Nigerian politicians. Official denial of knowledge of such controversial campaign posters is also a popular past time of Nigerian leaders. It is a practice that was embraced by the late former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha, former military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, and even erstwhile president, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo, before the unveiling of his bid for a third term in office.
It is a tactic that has been used now and again by our politicians to introduce controversial political propositions to test the waters. The appearance of Jonathan’s campaign posters on Abuja streets may not, therefore, be an exception. This posting of campaign posters for an election that will not be taking place till April 2015, which is more than two years away, is however, not the way to go for the the sponsors of this poster campaign.
In spite of the fact some of the posters were reported to have the imprint of the South South Peoples Action Group, the subterfuge surrounding the posters is unhealthy. Considering the secrecy surrounding the pasting of the posters, many Nigerians cannot be blamed for taking the denial of the Presidency with a pinch of salt. They can, indeed, be excused for refusing to take the denial by the Presidency on its face value.
These are people who believe that the posters were pasted with the president’s passive approval and endorsement, if not his direct involvement. This hide-and- seek game on the campaign posters is, however, unnecessary, considering the fact that if the president wants to run for a second term in office, he is qualified to do so. He has every legitimate right to go for a second term.
Therefore, if he is interested in another term, all he has to do is to say so, and get on with his work. There would be no need for amorphous groups to paste his posters, thinking they are doing him a great favour by flying a kite on his behalf. . Since there are no time limitations on when a president can declare his interest in a second term, Jonathan should just come out and let Nigerians know his plans for 2015..
He should avoid methods employed by duplicitous politicians who prefer to speak from both sides of their mouths while sounding out the public on their political plans. I believe he is forthright and I expect expect him to be different from his predecessors in office. Although what is expected of President Jonathan now is for him to concentrate on his efforts to improve the quality of life of Nigerians as he works harder at delivering on his campaign promises, the people also expect him to be straightforward and unequivocal on his political aspirations.
Nigerians should be able to be sure of the concentration of the president on his duties and not have to bother themselves with shenanigans over funny re-election posters flying around the Federal Capital Territory. There are so many problems facing the country today that all Nigerians should be thinking of ways to put behind the nation. The 2015 presidential election is not one of these.
Jonathan will, therefore, do very well to either put the matter of 2015 behind him for now and concentrate on the task before him, or come out clearly and vigorously on his plans for the poll. There is no need at all for the controversy on those re-election posters.

EFCC arrests Soludo over currency contract scam

A former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Charles  Soludo, was on Thursday arrested by the Economic and Financial Crimes  Commission over his role in the Australian polymer banknotes bribery scam which occurred between 2006 and 2008 when he was in office.

A sources in the commission said that Soludo arrived the EFCC  Headquarters about 2pm from his Abuja residence and  immediately faced a team of operatives who quizzed him for several hours to ascertain his level of complicity in the scandal.

It was learnt that the decision to look into the polymer deal was followed  a petition by  Human and Environmental Development Agenda.

According to the chairman of HEDA, Mr. Olanrewaju Suraju, the group’s petition had demanded the investigation and possible prosecution of those involved in the alleged contract scam.

The petition had demanded that both the EFCC and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission  pursue the investigation and prosecution as provided by laws establishing both anti-graft agencies.

Sources also indicated that other top management staff of CBN, who had worked with Soludo, were also picked and currently being held alongside other ex-staff of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company.

However, all efforts to get the identities of other  detained suspects  proved abortive, as no one was ready to volunteer information.

It was not clear whether the ex-CBN governor would be remanded at the EFCC detention  as he was still being held as at 8pm on Thursday.

Spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the arrest, but could not be categorical on whether the embattled former 2010 Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in Anambra State would be detained or not.

Chime: Where are the people of Enugu?

Enugu State Governor, Sullivan Chime

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”

—Martin Luther King, Jnr.

 It should be of utmost concern to the indigenes of Enugu State that the peaceful state   is gradually drifting into a state of anarchy, following the intrigues playing out on the whereabouts of the state governor, Sullivan Chime. It is obvious now that the absence of Governor Chime for more than four months has truncated the political hierarchy of the state, thereby turning Enugu  into a motionless and ungoverned state! Unfortunately, the people of the state have been pretending that all is well, while on the contrary, the state  is sitting on  the keg of gun powder!

The nonchalant attitude of Enugu people on the political crisis ravaging the state like a wildfire can be likened to the story of the proverbial frog and how it endured to the point of death! The parable of the frog is a typical story of change. When you put a frog into a bucket of hot water, it will quickly jump out of the hot water. But if you put a frog inside this same bucket of water at ordinary room temperature, it will stay put. If you now put the bucket on a stove and increase the temperature of the water gradually with the frog inside it, the frog will remain inside the bucket. If you continue to do this until the water boils, the frog will still be there inside the hot water until it dies of heat and burns. What a tragedy!

This is how Enugu citizens are behaving now concerning the political turmoil going on in the state. In an attempt to adjust to the current political crisis in the state following the long absence of the governor from office, they continue to endure executive rascality and legislative indolence until the whole state goes up in flames! It is no longer news that Chime is overseas treating an undisclosed ailment many say has incapacitated him. Funny enough, we live in a country that has good laws, but has little enforcement mechanics for her laws. The constitution has envisaged a situation where the governor may be incapacitated by reason of illness, in order to ensure that the smooth running of the state government is not interrupted. The constitution has made it expressly clear  that the deputy governor will take over as the substantive governor, but what is happening in Enugu is different; an obviously incapacitated governor has refused to toe the path of honour by throwing in the towel! To me, Chime should resign now and allow his deputy to take over. It will be wise and more honourable for him than what he is doing now, lying on a sick bed fighting two battles: his life and the governorship seat he left behind.

Chime is a public figure whose earning is got from the taxpaying Enugu citizens. His health status information is deceptively managed by his aides who see the seat of the governor as a personal property of the Chimes. While in an Indian hospital, his salaries and allowances are still running including security votes when he is in a limbo with only his aides becoming his mouthpiece. Almost a replay of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua incident. Not even the acting governor in the employ of the state has spoken with him. I think this is an instance of a ghost governor in office! His media crew are still insulting the sensibilities of the people of the state by insisting that he is on “vacation”. Since September! What a load of horse crap! I am not wishing him death, because as mortals we are, none of us is immune from sickness or death, but until he learns to start showing respect to the people of Enugu State who elected him, then he does not deserve the respect and sympathy of Enugu citizens either. Governor Chime should do the right thing and abdicate power as he is incapable of continuing in office, he is an elected governor and not an emperor or a King! He was not born as governor of Enugu State, but as Sullivan Iheanacho Chime. His life and that of his family members are not tied to Lion Building (Governor’s Office), he did not inherit the governorship throne from his father, because Enugu State is not practising a monarchy!

Some people have been calling for prayers for the quick recovery of the ailing governor. As good as that might be, I think there is no how someone should start telling the people of Enugu State to pray for a governor which the Government House, Enugu declared fit. How can Enugu citizens pray for quick recovery of someone who is on “vacation” or holidays? Who is fooling who? I wonder whether they see Enugu citizens as a bunch of dullards and dummies! It is only in Africa that her leaders want to die in office. They rather leave offices in their corpses than resign or retire. How many times have we heard that the Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, went for cancer surgery in Cuba last year? Whenever he was going; he would tell Venezuelans that he was going for operation on this or that. They would join hands and pray for their leader to go and come back successfully, but ours is a  different ball game: our rulers will hide it till the person dies! South African legend, Nelson Mandela, spent his Christmas in a hospital, the whole world was aware of that. The late president of Ghana, John Atta-Mills, died in a Ghanaian hospital after a long battle with cancer, Ghana citizens were aware of that unfortunate sickness. A situation where we have an absentee governor for more than four consecutive months is not only crazy, but shows that we do not have a country in the first place!

It is a known fact that Chime has not been in a sound health all this while. He has been reported to be debilitating and in an instance, reportedly collapsed in a state function. It is very sad that the national leadership of the PDP, his party, has refused to address this issue appropriately, thereby leaving the good people of the state in a political quandary. The fact that his deputy is acting is not enough reason to keep an incapacitated and non-functioning governor in office. As pathetic as it may sound, the 1999 constitution as amended, did not stipulate the time limit within which  the deputy governor can act, before he will be sworn in as a substantive governor if the governor fails to show up and resume normal duties. Instead, it just says “…until the governor returns…” (even if he is away for eternity?). If this is the case, it is absurd! It is very unfortunate that a state that has produced great men such as the late C.C. Onoh, Chief Jim Nwobodo, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, Senator Ken Nnamani, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani, Prof. Barth Nnaji, among numerous others has been hijacked by a cabal led by some power hungry elements!

Despite the hue and cry of the citizens of the state, Eugene Odoh has refused to use the powers conferred on him as the Speaker of the House of Assembly to resolve this quagmire. There is this Igbo adage that says an elder does not sit in the house and watch a goat being strangulated by a rope. Where are the elders from Enugu State? The Nwobodos, the Nnamanis, the Nwodos, the Nnajis, the Mbakas, the Igwesis, among others? Can we continue to sit down and watch Enugu State run into a ditch like a fully-loaded luxury bus without a driver steering the wheels? I wonder whether the Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, is waiting for the state to drift into a full-blown anarchy before he intervenes to ensure the resolution of the political crisis in the state accentuated by Chime’s long absence by ensuring the swearing-in of Sunday Onyebuchi as the substantive governor of the state, because there is a time when silence becomes a betrayal. An injustice done anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere; apology to Martin Luther King, Jnr.