FirstNation Airways bounced back to operation in Nigeria today, Sunday evening, a month after it suspended flights to enable the aircraft fleet undergo engine maintenance.
The airline made the announcement through its Twitter account which stated that it would resume flights by 4 p.m. on Sunday 18th September 2016. The airline announced the suspension of its flights on Aug. 17; a development some people said created panic in the aviation sector.
However, the airline’s Director of Flight Operations, Captain Chimara Imediegwu, on September 6, told newsmen that a team of engineers were coming to Nigeria to service the planes.
Imediegwu had debunked the claim that the airline was on the verge of folding up, stressing that it voluntarily grounded the aircraft to await the arrival of the manufacturer’s team.
He said “the FirstNation management planned well ahead and kept the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) informed of the progress of the maintenance of its aircraft.
“The airline planned this maintenance action well ahead. We notified passengers and flights are currently loaded online, effective Sept. 15.
“This will ensure that passengers continue to enjoy safe and reliable services that the airline is reputed for.”
It would be recalled that another airline, Arik Air, resumed operations on Sept. 14, after suspending its flight operations for 24 hours over issues relating to aircraft insurance renewal. [myad]
A Lagos-based Graduate School, Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS), has recruited top flight editors and professional journalists as teachers in its faculty of Media and Communications. Among those recruited are the former special Adviser to ex President Goodluck Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, a multi-award-winning journalist and Deputy Editor of The Nation on Sunday, Olayinka Oyegbile; leading broadcaster and General Manager of Metro FM, Cordelia Okpei; ace investigative journalist and Premium Times reporter, Nicholas Ibekwe; veteran journalist and publisher of the Western Post, Tunde Rahman; and Managing Director/ Editor-In-Chief of New Telegraph Newspaper who doubles as President of the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Funke Egbemode. The Director of the Centre, in a statement on the centre’s website (www.ciaps.org), Professor Anthony Kila expressed delight that it had been able to attract somebody like Dr. Abati, saying: “the Centre is very delighted to have Dr. Abati in the faculty.” The Director who announced that the Centre will commence its fast track graduates professional programmes in October, said that Dr. Abati will be part of CIAPS teaching, research, and projects, and that students will greatly benefit from his wealth of academic knowledge and professional experience. Professor Kila said: “Reuben Abati is not new to teaching as he had been a lecturer before. His experience in the private and public sector makes him a major asset for the OBE Programmes. The big idea is to put students in touch with top professionals from every sector of their learning. We want our students to engage and learn from top professionals so that they will be inspired to be even better professionals.” According to the statement, CIAPS OBE Programmes are Outcome Based Educational programmes built on research and inputs from organisations about recruitment needs, as well as their employment and development strategies. A major aim of the programme is to address the employability of graduates and professionals. Rather than focusing on just theory and academic curriculum, CIAPS is working with businesses and employers to establish what kind of graduates they need, as well as the skills and knowledge the graduates should possess. This way graduates will be training for a real job and career rather than just a certificate. The programmes will also help aspiring professionals to familiarise themselves with the working environment. A fundamental part of their study at CIAPS will be their work-experience, work-placements and other various kinds of internships. According to industry experts, many of the companies eager to employ cannot find the right people, as a large number of graduates are not adequately prepared for the work environment. “CIAPS’ plan through its fast track programmes is to bridge this gap by providing very practical training for graduates and help them reach employers. To achieve this we identify and work with the best professional hands that not only have bright minds but a love for sharing ideas and knowledge.” The Centre Director said. Programmes will commence in October 2016, and the main areas of study are in Media and Journalism, Business Administration, Production and Operations Management. Business Development, Project Management, Event Management, Banking and Finance, Graduate Diploma for Senior PAs Executive Assistants and Education. [myad]
It has been proved by nutritional experts that much of a child’s future, and in fact, much of a nation’s future is determined by the quality of nutrition in the first 1,000 days of a newly born baby. The period from the start of a mother’s pregnancy through her child’s second birthday is a critical window when a child’s brain and body are said to be developing rapidly and good nutrition is essential to lay the foundation for a healthy and productive future. If children do not get the right nutrients during this period, the damage is often irreversible. It is established therefore that the first 1000 days of a baby, termed 1000-Day Window, plays very significant role in the eventual development or lack of it. Experts say that the 1000-Day Window has a magic touch in the entire life of babies – from conception to birth and six months thereafter. Conversely, missing the window concept would also lead to permanent damage to the babies, both in physical and mental growth. Indeed, exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months is believed to have the capacity of reducing child deaths by at least 800,000 each year – almost 15% of the total 6.3 million annual child deaths. Babies who are not breast fed are particularly vulnerable to the leading killers of small children and are 15 times more likely to die from pneumonia and 11 times more likely to die from diarrhea, compared to babies who are exclusively breastfed. According to Leith Greenslade, Vice-Chairman at the MDG Health Alliance: “it is not that women don’t understand the value of breastfeeding. Surveys repeatedly show that new mothers across many countries know that breast is best for babies. “However new mothers are concerned that they don’t have enough milk or time; that they experience pain, exhaustion and rejection from their babies; that they feel awkward breastfeeding in public; that spouses are often unsupportive and that it’s just too hard to breastfeed and work. And don’t forget that although world health authorities recommend exclusive breast-feeding for 6 months most countries don’t offer maternity leave beyond three months, and typically without pay.” UNICEF’s landmark 2013 report: Breastfeeding on the Worldwide Agenda,” outlines a powerful argument for change, describing the current environment as “policy rich” but “implementation poor.” At the same time, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s flagship breastfeeding investment – Alive & Thrive – is demonstrating that large increase in breastfeeding are possible with multi-sector action to shift attitudes among new mothers, the behaviour of employers and the policies of governments. With this approach, the exclusive breastfeeding rate in the Vietnamese project sites has risen from 19 to 63% and across the Bangladesh sites from 49 to 83% in just three years. Despite this evidence, rates of early and exclusive breastfeeding are very low in Nigeria and are not improving much. The 2013 Nigerian Demographic & Health Survey reports that although almost all babies (98%) are breast fed in Nigeria, only a minority of mothers (33%) achieves the WHO-recommended initiation within one hour of birth and continues to breastfeed exclusively for six months (17%). Further, an alarming 70% of newborns born at home are fed something other than breast milk during the first three days of life compared to 40% in health facilities. Today in Nigeria, the babies most likely to be breast fed within an hour of birth are delivered by a doctor, nurse or midwife at a health facility in an urban area (40%), and the babies least likely to start breastfeeding early are delivered without any assistance, at home in rural areas (30%). There is a large range in early initiation rates by States, with the highest rates in Kogi (74%), Kwara (71%), Borno (68%), Abia (64%), Edo (55%) and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja (51%), and the lowest rates in Kebbi (8%), Zamfara (12%), Taraba (14%), Ebonyi (17%), Katsina (18%) and Lagos (20%). In general, breastfeeding rates are highest in the North Central and South South Zones and lowest in the North West and South West Zones. Across Nigeria, the mothers most likely to start breastfeeding early and continue for six months exclusively have higher levels of education and incomes. For example, 40 per cent of mothers in rich households breastfeed within an hour of birth, compared to 20 per cent of mothers in poor households, and breastfeed exclusively for almost three times as long. Meanwhile the countries that have achieved the greatest progress in reducing child mortality and achieving Millennium Development Goal 4 have all recorded exclusive rates of breastfeeding well above the global average, including Rwanda (85%), Cambodia (74%), Malawi (70%), Bangladesh (64%) and Nepal (70%). Experts are of the view that following these successes and also by what has been learned in the areas of global health that have made the greatest gains though intense, there is need for sustained and collective public and private sector action, especially AIDS, malaria and vaccines, and that it is time for public-private partnerships to drive innovation, progress and deliver results in breastfeeding. With Nigeria’s sharply rising population driven by a very high fertility rate (an average of 6 children per woman), the under 5 population is forecast to grow by 10 million in the next 15 years. We need to look into PATH’s promotion of human milk banks so that vulnerable newborns have access to human milk in the critical days after birth when their mothers cannot provide it. Hauwa Abbas of Silver Lining for the Needy Initiative, an NGO focused on improving child and maternal health rates, suggests integrating awareness, promotion and support at the community level to existing structures in order to accelerate commitment and coverage of sustainable community level activities on breastfeeding, thus contributing effectively to decreasing child morbidity and mortality. Also speaking on this, Dr Luther-King Fasehun of the Wellbeing Foundation, an NGO that works through policy advisory, issue-based advocacy, awareness creation, and philanthropy, for improved reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health (RMNCAH), suggests that a broad-based, multi-sectoral approach, that is context-specific to coordinate the strengths of all stakeholders in different States and regions of Nigeria, including the private sector, religious institutions, government, and CSOs, is necessary, in order to build a massive positive change in attitudes and policies, supported by the appropriate technologies and market dynamics, that will raise the early and exclusive breastfeeding rates for Nigeria’s children The concept of breast feeding generally has therefore, been proved by nutritional experts, to be potent for the development of not only the children being born into the society, but the society itself. Exclusive breast feeding appears simple to practise, but most mothers have so misunderstood it that some kind of advocacy has to be mounted and a big issue is made out of it, which is what national and international NGOs, leading by the UNICEF, have been doing. [myad]
The Kano state Acting Governor, Professor Hafiz Abubakar has revealed that the present government of Ganduje inherited $28 million and over six million Naira debt in respect of foreign and local scholarships respectively from the immediate past governor and now a Senator, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.
According to him, the financial commitment covered tuition and other allowances of students sponsored for various courses by the past administration in several universities in about 12 countries as well as unpaid scholarship to thousands of its students in local universities, for four years.
The acting governor said when he spoke to news men at the government House in Kano today, Saturday that the government is proud of such heavy responsibility since it is an investment in education, even as he gave assurance that despite financial challenges facing the administration at the moment, efforts are being made to offset the liability.
“Despite our economic challenges, we have earmarked a monthly allocation of N360 million to the state Scholarship Board to settle outstanding allowances to our students and I am sure our students in tertiary institutions will attest to this.”
When I read in the news, of Bishop Matthew Kukah telling President Muhammadu Buhari to take responsibility, I asked my colleagues covering the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigerian (CBCN) in Akure, what kind of food did Matthew Kukah took before addressing them. Matthew Kukah reminded President Buhari that “Nigerians knew there was problem and voted him to power to solve them and not to be agonizing, crying and blaming the previous governments,” but he forgot to address the massive corruption left behind by the Goodluck Jonathan administration which I believe Matthew Kukah benefited immensely from. This is a story for another day to discuss. I agreed with President Buhari’s statement that he inherited nothing from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Government which was in power before him because all the resources and wealth of the country belong to the people and not the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) It may interest Matthew Kukah to know that President Buhari’s government is already consulting experts that would help in articulating appropriate solutions to the crisis, and reduce the hardship of the people through the Retreat the Government put together on Thursday at the Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja. I need to remind Matthew Kukah that his statement, which I quote here “I think the business of government is not our business; our business is: if the previous government did bad, that is why we voted a new government. It is really about taking responsibility. No matter how much you praise or abuse Jonathan, he is not the President of Nigeria. I think people must understand you take power to solve problems, not to agonize,” is baseless. Matthew Kukah as a Bishop should consider this; If he is voted by majority of Bishops that he should be transferred to a Parish so as to turn around the Parish for good; combined with his own promises to improve the Parish despite the work done by the former Father in that Parish. On getting to the Parish, he met empty purse despite huge crowd of worshippers accompanied offering and tithes coming in on daily basis including donations from those God has given testimonies, how will Matthew Kukah feel? Will he keep quiet when he can easily recover the offering, tithes and other incomes that will help him keep to his promises? Matthew Kukah agreed Jonathan created problems but he kept quiet because he was benefiting from the corruption galore. Other statement that even proved that Matthew Kukah might be found wanting in all the corruption cases is his statement that “those who deserve to go to prison should go to prison, but sending people to prison will only be useful if it puts bread on the table of people.” The preceding remarks do not take away Bishop Kukah’s outspokenness and brand of political activism; but in whose ultimate interest? I asked this question because Kukah has been heard speaking in favour of church leaders distancing themselves from the corridors of power, believing that “we cannot speak the truth to power” or “hear the wails of the poor and the truth” as long as we have closeness with such powers. But as we have noted earlier, the same Kukah who makes and believes this statement does not seem disposed or prepared to walk his talk – to live out his talk in practice! Thus his kind of politics is principally elitist and, therefore, out to serve elitist interests. Besides, its practical expression in a manner that exhibits double standard, double-talk and self-interest together not only portrays it as unprincipled but also lacking of the political integrity and moral justification to challenge the opposing grassroots politics. Furthermore, that brand of politics does not have the sociology-political disposition and capacity to midwife the long overdue needed socio-political conscientization that is necessary for Nigeria to truly “find its soul.” Is Kukah still popular? I say “yes”! But for goodness sake, he is not in the ranks of the likes of the Oscar Romeros and Desmond Tutus of the world. It is time Bishop Matthew Kukah come out to tell us how much he benefited from the massive corruption under the Goodluck Jonathan administration as he is already frazzled from his previous statements that he will be exposed soon.
A socio-cultural group, Nedoghama Nedo, has endorsed the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo State, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, ahead of the September 28 governorship election in the state.
The group, comprising chiefs from the palace of the Oba of Benin, traditional priests, business owners and professionals, announced the endorsement after a meeting in Benin, the state capital.
The Eson of Benin Kingdom and one of the leaders of the group, Chief Amos Osunbor, explained that, having assessed Ize-Iyamu and his counterpart in the All Progressives Congress, Godwin Obaseki, members of the group were convinced that the PDP candidate had the capacity to take the state to the level desired by its citizens.
Osunbor said, “We have painstakingly assessed the two candidates (Obaseki and Ize-Iyamu) and we have found that Ize-Iyamu is the man for the job.”
In his response, Ize-Iyamu promised to live up to the expectations of the citizens, who he said were committed to effecting a change in government on September 28. [myad]
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia may be heading for another diplomatic row over the seizure by the Saudi authorities of electronic wristbands introduced by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) for the use of the Nigerian pilgrims. Th wristbands were introduced by NAHCON to monitor each pilgrim’s movement and facilitate easy identification where the need arises. Reports reaching us said that thousands of the items were seized at the airport in Madinnah by security officials and that all entreaties by Nigerian officials for release fell on deaf ears. It was learnt that NAHCON was forced to quietly suspend the use of the wristbands, leading to a huge sums of money and time invested in the project being rendered useless.
Reacting to the development, the Nigerian Consulate-General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Alhaji Muhammad Yunusa, vowed to launch a serious protest against the Saudi Arabian authorities to appropriate quarters.
Muhammad Yunusa, who spoke at the post-Arafat meeting, organized by NAHCON in Makkah, said that the action of Saudi authorities ran counter to the understanding reached by the two governments before the introduction of the wristbands. He said that the embassy had in February informed the Saudi government of Nigeria’s plan to introduce the wristbands and this was followed up in July. “This action is unfriendly, undiplomatic and we are going to protest against it.” The diplomat urged state officials of pilgrims welfare agencies to caution their drivers against reckless driving, saying it was giving Nigeria a bad image. Meanwhile, Nigerian pilgrims commenced the return journey from the Holy land today, Saturday, with the airlift of at least 966 Kogi and Kwara pilgrims from Jeddah, after the successful performance of the pilgrimage.
About 465 pilgrims were this morning airlifted from Jeddah in Fly Nas flight KNE7268, while 501 were airlifted in flight operated by the same airline with flight number KNE7200. The 465 pilgrims on the first flight were from Kogi State and made up of 199 men and 266 women. For the second flight, 251 men and 250 women from Kwara State were on the flight. [myad]
The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello bids President Muhammadu Buhari farewell as he departs from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, for the 71st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA71) Session in New York, the United States of America on Saturday, September 17. Photo by Sunday Aghaeze. [myad]
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu is back in hospital, just days after being discharged following three weeks of treatment for a recurring infection.
Tutu, who has been a moral beacon for the entire continent for many years, is 84 and has been suffering from prostate cancer for several years.
The Nobel Laureate had also been admitted to hospital in Cape Town on several occasions in recent months due to an unidentified recurring infection.
Tutu’s family said the Nobel Laureate was being treated for a surgical wound which is showing “signs of infection.”
Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986 and the Pacem in Terris Award in 1987.
He also got the Sydney Peace Prize in 1999, the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2007 and South Africa Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
Report said that Tutu was widely regarded as “South Africa’s moral conscience’’ and was described by the late President Nelson Mandela as “the voice of the voiceless.’’
When I wrote last week about President Goodluck Jonathan’s participation in Council of States Meeting that held penultimate week I didn’t expect the kind of vitriolic reactions it elicited, especially the responses that were received through The Facebook feedback pages. More than 90 percent of the responses called for my head. However, I found out that only a few read through the full length of the article as published. Others only put up shows of rage by merely glancing through the few paragraphs that were chosen by the editors responsible for publishing the piece to promo the article. While some labelled me a traitor, a few were able to discern the literary elements of mischief and sarcasm therein. But like President Jonathan, an ethnic Ijaw like me, popularly opined at a time, ‘I don’t give a damn.’ The message was well delivered in the first part of the piece but because only a few got the gist of the article. The discussants didn’t notice that many of Jonathan supporters had waited for the September 7, 2016 council of states meeting. Quite a number had argued that he wouldn’t attend the forum. Those who took to bet believed that their hero will stay clear of that environment having been bashed and still being demonised for the current economic woes. Adducing that such a man that has not been spared by opponents and a section of the media from the day he mounted the saddle of leadership till the time he was shove out of power by voters shouldn’t sit among his castrators who must be amuse by his suppose ignorance of the character assassination he has suffered from the barrage of allegations heaped on him, even if many of the accusations may not be true but fictitious and politically motivated. Alas! Those who argued against the idea carried the day. Advocating that, Jonathan is a man with a broad heart and a sound mind. They felt that as a statesman he has become, in the Nigerian context, he shouldn’t begrudge anyone who tries to heap hot coals on him to repress his belief on Nigeria’s ability to transform significantly through peaceful negotiations. Like him or loathe him but his advocacy for peace through declaration that ‘my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian’ speaks volumes in defence of the man. With further assertions that he is a believer in a united Nigeria even though he was unable to protect all of the country’s territory from terrorists, kidnappers, armed robbers and the bigoted psychopathic messengers of death in the northeast called Boko Haram who at some point held on to some territory in parts of Borno State at some point towards the end of 2014. What the readers who pronounced me guilty did not perceive is that, I am a witness to the fact that the Jonathan administration built more kilometres of road than any government that has administered the affairs of this country. With echoes that ignorance had fuelled my write up, I felt I should use this opportunity to make further clarifications on why the man who built 25, 000 kilometres of roads in his five years as a president of this country shouldn’t sit amongst those who can’t stop bashing him in spite of their myriad of one-day one-trouble they are grappling including the rather embarrassing Barack Obama speechgate plagiarism. Don’t be surprised if Jonathan is somehow blamed for that too. Until the Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh announced that the government was going ahead with the Jonathan administration’s agricultural transformation programme by saying the ‘regime does not want to suffer a policy somersault’, the administration had on every open opportunity carpeted the programme insisting that nothing was achieved through it. A serving and a well known loquacious governor of the APC-led administration also came forcefully at talking down the programme until the initiator of the programme, former agriculture minister and now head of the African Development Bank silenced him with a highly technical and deflating response. There was the case of another minister who couldn’t also find the rail tracks initiated and constructed by the Jonathan administration until he was meant to lead the president to commission one of such projects a few months ago.
The minister had during his tenure as the leader of the governor’s forum vehemently kicked against saving for the rainy days. Insisting that all monies garnered from the sales of crude should be shared amongst the states without saving. Today, that rainy has come but nobody seems to recall he was the loudest voice among the share-the-money campaign. Today this people are heroes of change. Why then should the derelict Jonathan have anything to do in their company? The vision of the Jonathan led agricultural transformation strategy achieved a hunger free Nigeria and this was proven by absence of food shortages after the flood of 2013. As earmarked in the vision, the sector was to accelerate food and nutritional security, generate employment and transform the country into a leading player in the global food market and create wealth for millions of farmers, especially young people who were incentivised to take up farming. The same programme also curbed frauds in fertiliser distribution. Yet, the man who anchored such and ran with the vision is demonised today. In the past few days it has been one day one trouble, from one denial to another refutation on issues relating to the suppose ineptitudes of Jonathan. Which makes it not just appalling but unacceptable in seeing Jonathan trusting, and sitting amongst people who keep discrediting him for leaving nothing in the coffers of the government despite initially owning up that his administration left behind over $30 billion in the foreign reserves, about $3 billion in the excess crude account and another $1. 5 billion in the Sovereign Wealth Fund, so much for not saving and leaving the coffers empty. Meanwhile, that same foreign reserve has been depleted by over $6 billon into months and another $1 billion shed in five weeks. All these form parts of the reason Jonathan needs to have a rethink by keeping away from any jamboree that can never be appreciated by those who have taken up a better, glaring and highly visible role in cluelessness even if Jonathan’s diehard supporters will disagree with me.
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A Lagos-based Graduate School, Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS), has recruited top flight editors and professional journalists as teachers in its faculty of Media and Communications.
When I wrote last week about President Goodluck Jonathan’s participation in Council of States Meeting that held penultimate week I didn’t expect the kind of vitriolic reactions it elicited,
Is Bishop Kukah Tactically Supporting Corruption? By Kelvin Adegbenga
When I read in the news, of Bishop Matthew Kukah telling President Muhammadu Buhari to take responsibility, I asked my colleagues covering the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigerian (CBCN) in Akure, what kind of food did Matthew Kukah took before addressing them.
Matthew Kukah reminded President Buhari that “Nigerians knew there was problem and voted him to power to solve them and not to be agonizing, crying and blaming the previous governments,” but he forgot to address the massive corruption left behind by the Goodluck Jonathan administration which I believe Matthew Kukah benefited immensely from. This is a story for another day to discuss.
I agreed with President Buhari’s statement that he inherited nothing from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Government which was in power before him because all the resources and wealth of the country belong to the people and not the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP)
It may interest Matthew Kukah to know that President Buhari’s government is already consulting experts that would help in articulating appropriate solutions to the crisis, and reduce the hardship of the people through the Retreat the Government put together on Thursday at the Banquet Hall, State House, Abuja.
I need to remind Matthew Kukah that his statement, which I quote here “I think the business of government is not our business; our business is: if the previous government did bad, that is why we voted a new government. It is really about taking responsibility. No matter how much you praise or abuse Jonathan, he is not the President of Nigeria. I think people must understand you take power to solve problems, not to agonize,” is baseless.
Matthew Kukah as a Bishop should consider this; If he is voted by majority of Bishops that he should be transferred to a Parish so as to turn around the Parish for good; combined with his own promises to improve the Parish despite the work done by the former Father in that Parish.
On getting to the Parish, he met empty purse despite huge crowd of worshippers accompanied offering and tithes coming in on daily basis including donations from those God has given testimonies, how will Matthew Kukah feel? Will he keep quiet when he can easily recover the offering, tithes and other incomes that will help him keep to his promises?
Matthew Kukah agreed Jonathan created problems but he kept quiet because he was benefiting from the corruption galore.
Other statement that even proved that Matthew Kukah might be found wanting in all the corruption cases is his statement that “those who deserve to go to prison should go to prison, but sending people to prison will only be useful if it puts bread on the table of people.”
The preceding remarks do not take away Bishop Kukah’s outspokenness and brand of political activism; but in whose ultimate interest? I asked this question because Kukah has been heard speaking in favour of church leaders distancing themselves from the corridors of power, believing that “we cannot speak the truth to power” or “hear the wails of the poor and the truth” as long as we have closeness with such powers. But as we have noted earlier, the same Kukah who makes and believes this statement does not seem disposed or prepared to walk his talk – to live out his talk in practice!
Thus his kind of politics is principally elitist and, therefore, out to serve elitist interests. Besides, its practical expression in a manner that exhibits double standard, double-talk and self-interest together not only portrays it as unprincipled but also lacking of the political integrity and moral justification to challenge the opposing grassroots politics.
Furthermore, that brand of politics does not have the sociology-political disposition and capacity to midwife the long overdue needed socio-political conscientization that is necessary for Nigeria to truly “find its soul.”
Is Kukah still popular? I say “yes”! But for goodness sake, he is not in the ranks of the likes of the Oscar Romeros and Desmond Tutus of the world.
It is time Bishop Matthew Kukah come out to tell us how much he benefited from the massive corruption under the Goodluck Jonathan administration as he is already frazzled from his previous statements that he will be exposed soon.
Kelvin Adegbenga is a freelance Journalist based in Port Harcourt. He can be reached through: kelvinadegbenga@yahoo.com. [myad]