Power tussle in Taraba: SAN petitions Jonathan

Nigeria seems poised to witness another Umaru Musa Yar’ Adua saga in Taraba State, as an ailing Governor returns home and reportedly tries to recover power from an unwilling deputy. Governor Danbaba Suntai’s  home coming has opened a can of  worms in Taraba as his deputy Alhaji Garba Umar, who acted as Governor during his ten months medical treatment overseas, is reluctant to hand over. Suntai was involved in a plane crash last year and was receiving treatment in Europe and America until his recent return. However, renowned constitutional lawyer Sebastine Hon (SAN) has urged President Goodluck Jonathan to call Suntai’s deputy to order for rejecting the changes made by Suntai shortly after his return….

How the Nigerian PLEDGE can turn Nigeria around

Recently, I listened to a Nigerian teen recite the Nigerian Pledge at a Nigerian party here in Baltimore. It was so moving that my mind went back to old good days at the Community Primary School Umueze Amaimo in Ikeduru LGA of Imo State. No school day began and ended without the Pledge. At home, the Pledge resonated daily through the media. IBC (Imo Broadcasting Cooperation) TV would close at midnight with the Pledge. If you forgot to turn off your radio before going to bed, NTA would wake you up with the Pledge early in the morning. I am not sure what the practice is today. Nonetheless, while everyone else ate, drank and danced…

First international flight takes off from Enugu August 24

History will be made in the nation’s aviation industry on August 24, when the first international flight takes off from the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu . Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu yesterday commended the President Goodluck Jonathan administration for making it possible for the Akanu Ibiam International Airport to commence international flight operations. Ekweremadu gave the commendation against the background of the scheduled commencement of international flights at the airport on August 24 by Ethiopian Airlines. Other international airlines, including Emirates and Turkish Airlines would soon commence operations at the airport. Senator Ekweremadu, who described the development as a “major milestone in the infrastructural renewal of the South-East and a monumental boost for…

Deportation of Ndigbo: Obi drags Fashola to Jonathan

-As Igbokwe gives reasons Anambra State Governor Peter Obi has formally complained to President Goodluck Jonathan over the dumping of 72 people at Onitsha by the Lagos State Government. Last week, 723 people were conveyed in a truck and escorted by armed security men and dumped in Onitsha overnight.  The ‘deportees’ said they were picked up on Lagos streets, detained for months before being herded into the truck that was escorted to Onitsha overnight, where they were forced to disembark and abandoned. In the protest letter, Obi stated that the ‘deportation” of people from Lagos to Anambra State was unconstitutional and disregard to the rights of those involved. Recalling that the dumping of people at…

National Outrage on the Pro Child Senate

“Nigeria is what it is because its leaders are not what they should be.” Chinua Achebe Nigeria was recently ranked as one of the foremost countries were children are killed for going to school following the Yobe message of 29 school children. More recently, the senate has made a downward review of the age of consent for girls from 18 years to advance religious sentiments. It is clear that under Islamic practices amongst fundamentalist Muslim countries, it is a stricture of law to validate the marriage of children often, between the ages of 8 to 13 years. A child is termed a woman when she experiences her first menstrual flow, a development that has become…

President, Governors lose immunity

The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and his Vice, as well as the Governor of a State and Deputy can now face prosecution in criminal matters while still in office, following the expunging of the Immunity Clause that used to protect them from Nigeria’s statue books. This controversial clause that had been debated for several years was finally laid to rest Wednesday by the House of Representatives.  Two clauses on the immunity of the National and State Assemblies were dropped. The Lower Legislative Chamber also granted autonomy to Local Government Councils and approved the split of office of the Attorney General of the Federation and that of the Minister of Justice.  It places…

Umuaka Igbo Taa visit Nnorie Parish

As Umuaka Igbo Taa continue their work of re-orientating Igbo children, they visited St James Catholic Parish,Nnorie in Ngor-Okpala Local Government Area where they were warmly recieved by the Parish Priest,Very,Rev Fr. Anslem Ekeh and the Parishioners. After the Mass, the president of the group  Chidi Opara – Ibeleche spoke to the children and youths, charging them to be proud to speak and live Igbo and when those in the cities return to display foreign culture, they should correct them in love and help them to feel at home. “As many of them now wish to return,we should recieve them and not chase them away with various forms of harassments.” The President went ahead to…

KSJ 422 celebrates birth of John the Baptist – commissions security house

Knights of St. John International (KSJ) Holy Cross Commandary, and their Ladies Auxiliary (LAUX) 350 Owerri, last Sunday, June 30, 2013 celebrated the birthday of the patron Saint of the Ancient and Nobel Order, St. John the Baptist. The Grand finale of the week-long activity –packed celebration were: the two-day seminar featuring talks by two distinguished personalities- ”Who is John the Baptist and what does he stand for?” by Prof. Goody Obodo and ”Waves of Doctrine” by Major Peter Opara, the Worthy President. There were also Sunday Eucharist celebration at the Maria Assumpta Cathedral, Special Awards and commissioning of the Security House. Preaching the homily at the Mass, Rev. Fr. Andrew Nkwocha, the Cathedral Administrator…

Prof. Celestine Onwuliri; A demise that would continue to live in our minds – Msgr Theo Nwalo

- As family commissions academic block for Major Seminary Activities slated to mark the one-year remembrance of Prof. Celestine Onwuliri who died in Lagos in the ill-fated Dana air crash which occurred on June 3rd, 2012 have been concluded with a memorial Mass at St. Jude’s Catholic Parish Amuzi Mbaise and the commissioning of a Philosophy Block built in memory of Prof. C. Onwuliri at the Seat of Wisdom Major Seminary Ariam, Abia State on Saturday 22nd and Sunday 23rd June respectively. The Mass which witnessed a mammoth crowd of people who came from all walks of life had Msgr. Theo Nwalo, the Catholic Administrator of Ahiara diocese as the chief celebrant and assisted by…

Jonathan condemns irregularities in Oguta rerun election – As PDP, APGA trade Accusations

President Goodluck Jonathan, on Tuesday in Abuja, condemned the irregularities that characterized the rerun election to the Imo State House of Assembly in Oguta on Saturday, June 29, saying that the conduct of certain persons and groups involved in the election negated the spirit of one man, one vote, which his administration was trying to foster in Nigeria. Speaking at an audience with a delegation from the Nigerian Senators’ Forum, President Jonathan urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) and the nation’s security agencies to take immediate steps to bring all those who played any role in the violence and irregularities that marred the election to justice. The President said it had become apparent that…

Egyptians awake to uncertainty as Adly Mansour is sworn in as New Interim President

Egyptians awoke up on Thursday to an uncertain new political order, a day after the military deposed and reportedly detained the country’s first democratically elected president, put a top judge in his place and suspended the constitution. The coup that toppled Mohamed Morsy as president on Wednesday prompted hundreds of thousands of people in the streets across Egypt to both applaud and assail the generals’ decision to step into the country’s political fray for the second time in a little over two years. It also left a series of significant questions unanswered. What will happen to Morsy, who insists he remains the country’s legitimate leader, and his key supporters? Will the sporadic outbreaks of violence…

Why Political merger cannot work in Nigeria – Japhet Anyanwu

National Leader of a non-governmental organization known as “Rebuild Nigeria Initiative” Chief Japhet Anyanwu has criticized the merger plan by minority parties who desire having a mega-party that will challenge the ruling Peoples Democratic Party in the 2015 general elections. According to him, in the 60′s, merger plans between the NPC and NCNC collapsed because the arrangement had no ideological base. He further posits that the proposed alliance between Nigeria Peoples’ Party (NPP) and defunct National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in the second republic failed because of selfishness of the leaders who want power at all cost. The ulterior motive of the proponents of the alliance and or merger is to grab power so as…

Obama starts long awaited Africa tour at Slave Port

Almost four centuries after Africans started being shipped to North America as slaves, the first U.S. president of African ancestry will on Thursday visit an infamous embarkation point for those destined for lives in chains. In his first – and, many Africans say, long-overdue – extended tour of the continent, President Barack Obama will focus on political and economic issues, but is also paying homage to a painful chapter in American history. On the first leg of his eight-day visit he is taking his family to the House of Slaves, a fort built in the late 18th century on Goree Island, off the coast of Senegal, as a transit point for the human traffic and…

Community denies kidnap of 18 pupils

Leaders of Ngor Autonomous Community in the Ngor-Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State, have described as false and misleading, newspaper reports (not THE LEADER) that a commercial bus driver (name withheld) and a female teacher (name withheld) were intercepted by eagle-eyed security men as they were conveying 18 abducted pupils. According to newspaper reports, the children who are pupils of Umuohie Primary School in the Ngor-Okpala LGA, were being ferried to Rivers State before the abductors were caught. In a reaction to the news, the President General of the community, Mr. Justus Ugochukwu Okoh, who told our correspondent that he followed up the case from Umuneke Police Station to the State Criminal Investigation Department…

Venezuelan Official Asks for Papal Mediation in Nation

Opposition Leader Requests Francis’ Help in Beginning a ‘National Dialogue’ The president of an opposition parliamentarian group in Venezuela, Acción Democrática leader Edgar Zambrano, asked Pope Francis for mediation to begin a national dialogue. Zambrano spoke with the Holy Father for a few minutes after last Wednesday’s general audience. Two days before that, Venezuela’s new president, Nicolas Maduro, met with the Pope in the Vatican. Zambrano told ZENIT that last Tuesday, he and his delegation were received by the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, to whom they explained the situation of the country and pointed out the need for Parliament to approve amnesty legislation, as a condition to move towards dialogue…

Why Obama shuns Nigeria – US

The United States of America Government has explained why President Barack Obama’s visit to three nations in Africa that started on Tuesday with Senegal does not include Nigeria. A statement issued by the Public Affairs section of the US Consular Office in Lagos noted that Obama’s visit was intentionally targeted to cover West, East and South Africa.  But beyond the geographic spread, the major plank in choice of the nations to visit was their democratic inclination and standing. The statement derived from a conference interview the Lagos office had with three key Obama aides – Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Adviser, Grant Harris, Senior Director on African Affairs and Gayle Smith, Senior Director for Development…

St. Charles’ Umunumo Catholic Youths honour “Friends”

The Catholic Youth Organization of St. Charles Parish Umunumo, Ehime Mbano recently gave awards to some members of the community. The occasion started with Mass celebrated by Very Rev. Fr. Donatus Uwah, Parish Priest, assisted by Rev. Fr. Innocent Okoronkwo, Rev. Fr. Leonard Nwosu and a Deacon on internship. In a homily, Rev. Fr. Nwosu urged the “Ezienyi” awardees to be generous so as to facilitate the realization of the parish showroom project. He enjoined the parishioners to make sacrifices with their resources and their names will be written in the book of life. The theme of the event was taken from 1 Kings 8:13, which says: “I have built thee an exalted house, a…

Talks between U.S., Taliban on Afghan war expected soon

Peace talks between the United States and the Taliban over the war in Afghanistan will probably be held “in the next few days,” a senior U.S. administration official told CNN on Wednesday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not offer up a time line for the discussions. But a prisoner exchange is one of the issues the United States intends to discuss with the Taliban. Senior U.S. officials say they want the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, a soldier captured by militants in 2009. “We have every reason to believe” Bowe Bergdahl is alive, a Pentagon official told CNN. News that the meeting was moving forward followed a tumultuous day that saw…

KSJI St. Charles Borromeo Commandery ends retreat – As Rev. Fr. Dieme harps on love

Knights and Ladies of St. John’s International Borromeo Commandery (565), Ehime Mbano concluded a two-day retreat on Saturday June 16, 2013 at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. In his homily at the concelebrated Mass to round-off the two-day retreat, Rev. Fr. Tony Dieme, the Spiritual Director of the commandery, harped on the virtue of love, forgiveness and charity. He went biblical citing the Apostle John, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, who in all his preaching and writings emphasized on love of man, love of God, charity and forgiveness. Rev. Fr. Tony Dieme who was assisted by Rev. Fr. Jude Ekemkpa (C.S.Sp.), implored members of Knights of St. John International to ensure that they constantly…

Police retirees decry neglect by pension managers

Retired personnel of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) at the weekend in Benin, Edo State, expressed concern voer what they termed “gross isolation and neglect by their pension managers of the PENCOM Act 2004”. They said they were in the dark on what accrued from their contributed pension scheme after 35 years of service in the country.  President General of the association, Dr. Moses Ajeka, made the lamentation while inaugurating Edo State Chapter, Elders Club of Nigeria (PENCOM retired police officers) in Benin.  According to him, the club, which came into being in October 2010, was an umbrella body of the retirees aimed at correcting the challenges arising from the PENCOM Act. “We are the…