Chucks Ehirim: A Journalist With Difference, By Yusuf Ozi-Usman

June 18, 2016

When the death of the immediate past chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abuja chapter, Chucks Ehirim was made public on Wednesday, June 15, what came to my mind was, ‘this could be a June Fool’ as in April Fool.
It was not as if the death of anyone would not elicit the same feeling of shock, disbelief and sadness roll into one, but that of Chucks had a ring of surprise because he died on the day he was born, June 15. And at the golden age of 50!
Of course, I cannot describe myself as being close to Chucks, but a few months we worked together in National Accord newspaper in Abuja, brought me closer to him. The two of us happened also to live in the same Area Council – Kuje. While he had his house in Peggy, I stayed in the main Kuje town.
Of course, like every other editor (he was Associate Editor while I was Deputy Editor), Chucks and I would work far into the night to see the newspaper through for the day. Sometimes if I did not go with my car, it was him that would give me a ride in his own. And vice versa.
He was so attached to the Press Centre, the official secretariat of the NUJ in Abuja that he would not go home, over 40 kilometre away, without dropping by at the press centre to greet friends and take a sip of beer.
On two or three occasions when he gave me ride, his car broke down after Ludgbe. While he bundled me into a commercial vehicle to Kuje, he would remain inside the broken-down car till day-break and then called his mechanics to fix the faults.
What actually made Chucks unique was his political leaning, which, by the Nigerian standard, was strange. While his fellow Igbo people in the profession were mainly on the Right, conservatism (those who are in love with the status quo), he was clearly on the Left of the political leaning, representing radical forces for change.
Chucks, until his death, was a star supporter of President Muhammadu Buhari. So strong he was behind Buhari and of course, the All Progressives Congress (APC) that you dare not speak negatively about the man or the party in his presence. This was at the time the mainstream Igbo, especially, those in journalism leaned heavily on the Right political ideology and hated anything that had to do with the APC or the North.
From the distance, one could conclude that Chucks’ philosophy about life is ‘take things as they come.’ He was not the type of person (Igbo) that chased things of this world, especially, wealth with madness or being consumed by it. As a matter of fact, he was an every day man: a man who waited on God for his progress with a lot of prayers.
It was not by mad pursuit of position that he was voted the chairman of the NUJ Abuja Council in 2012. It was not as a result of the cash he distributed to high-breed Abuja journalists that made him win the hearts of his colleagues. It was, more, the goodwill, his simple, innocent-looking mien disposition, his cool headedness, buried in radical disposition to change and his determination to change the system for the better that did the magic.
While I join other colleagues in mourning the gentle soul of Chucks Ehirim and while I commiserate with members of his immediate family (wife, kids, brothers and sisters), I wish to sincerely align myself with the demand of Abuja journalists that President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC should do something to honour him. This is the time the family he left behind should be made to feel the weight of his contribution, in his own way, to the success of the APC and President Buhari in the last year’s general elections. This is the time also that the Abuja NUJ should think of immortalizing his name, for he deserves nothing less.
Adieu Chucks Ehirim! [myad]

Police Inspector General Gives PDP Feuding Parties Marching Order On Crisis

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Solomon Arase, has asked the feuding parties in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), especially Senator Ali Modu Sheriff and Senator Ahmed Makarfi to called their followers to order and avoid the rampaging act of hooliganism at the party’s secretariat.

The police boss who had a meeting with the two warring factions in his office in Abuja on Friday, asked the various interest groups in the party to find lasting solution to the lingering crisis that had crept into the party.

In a statement signed by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olabisi Kolawole, the Inspector General warned the feuding party members to immediately resolve their internal crisis.

The meeting, according to the statement, was attended by the Director-General of Department of State Services (DSS), Lawal Musa Daura, representatives of each of the warring factions – Senator Ali Modu Sherif’s and Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi. They agreed to nominate four representatives for peace talks aimed at a harmonized position within one week.

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police has directed that the PDP secretariat at Wadata House Plaza and Legacy House should be under lock and key pending the outcome of the resolution. [myad]

Kaduna Christians Describe Election Of New CAN President, Ayokunle, As ‘Kangaroo’

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

The Kaduna State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has referred to the election which saw Reverend Samson Ayokule becoming the new Oresident of the body at national level as ‘kangaroo election.’

The election was held last week to pick a successor for CAN’s erstwhile national president, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor. At the end of the election, Reverend Samson Ayokunle polled 57 votes to defeat his closest rival, Elder Joseph Otubu who polled 28 votes.

Speaking in an interview with BBC Hausa Service, Pastor Sunday Ibrahim, the secretary of the Kaduna State chapter of CAN, said: “They just go and do something, and they called it election. They should fear God because it was not the election, and we are not part of it and [we] distanced ourselves. We are calling on the national leadership in the name of God to call people again because it is not an election.

“Every association has rules and regulations and our own was not followed. No matter what you did, if it is not in line with [the] Constitution, it is not [an] election. The election will not stand because it has no foundation in truth and sincerity. It’s purely a selfish issue contrary to the rules guiding election of the association. From the beginning to the end, the rules of election in CAN were never applied.”

Pastor Sunday Ibrahim said that the association has an electoral college and permits all members to aspire to lead and also to vote.

“But in this case, there was a person that was vehemently denied the right to participate without justifiable reason. We are appealing to them to fear God and remember that we will all die and give account to Almighty God.” [myad]

Task Force Asks Beggars, Hawkers To Quit Abuja Or Go To Jail

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

Chairman of the Special Task Team on Abuja Environmental Protection, retired Squadron Leader, Abdullahi Adamu Monjel has asked street hawkers and beggars to leave Abuja immediately or risk going to jail.
Adamu Monjel who spoke on Friday shortly after he led members of the Task Team on a “show of force” of its security personnel at the Jabi and Wuse Districts of Abuja, reminded beggars and street hawkers that the ultimatum given to them to leave Abuja had since expired.
He said therefore that his team is going all out against offenders to completely remove them from the streets of Abuja.
“We have already given them the benefit of the doubt and now the time has elapsed. What is left now is to enforce the relevant municipal laws. Anybody we arrest will be taken to court and prosecuted accordingly.
“If somebody refuses to comply with the rules and regulations based on what we have said, then we will arrest the person accordingly.
“As a matter of fact, we don’t want hawkers and beggars within the city centre of Abuja. They should keep away from the streets of Abuja. Anybody that wishes to come out, we are ready for the person as we will take him/her to court where he will be prosecuted and taken to jail.”
Speaking on the cleanup campaign it carried out on Friday, tagged “show of force exercise.” the Chairman said it was to tell the public that the Task Team was equal to the task and would arrest whoever fails to comply with the directives as stipulated by the Abuja environmental laws.
The Chairman said that his Team has started sensitization for operators of Keke Napep, unpainted taxis and motorcycles; adding that when their time expires, they too will be removed from Abuja streets even as the Keke Napep would be restricted to the very large estates.
“The phase two is Keke Napep; then unpainted taxis. However, we don’t want to start with unpainted Keke Napep riders now. We want to give adequate time for sensitization so that by the time we start impounding, nobody will say ‘I didn’t know’.” [myad]

Trump Is Running As Trump; Surprised! By Charles Krauthammer

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

When in his 1964 GOP acceptance speech, Barry Goldwater declared that “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice,” a reporter sitting near journalist/historian, Theodore White famously exclaimed: “My God, he’s going to run as Barry Goldwater!”
Six weeks into Donald Trump’s general election campaign, Republicans are discovering that he indeed intends to run as Donald Trump. He has boasted that he could turn “presidential” — respectful, respectable, reticent, reserved bordering on boring — at will. Apparently, he can’t.
GOP leaders who fell in line behind Trump after he clinched the nomination expected, or at least hoped, that he would prove malleable, willing to adjust his more extreme positions and tactics to suit a broader electorate.
Two problems: First, impulse control: Trump says what he actually feels, whatever comes into his head at any moment. Second, a certain logic: Trump won the primaries Sinatra-style, his way — against the odds, the experts and the conventional rules. So why change now?
“You win the pennant,” Trump explained, “and now you’re in the World Series — you gonna change?”
Hence his response to the Orlando terror attack. Events like these generally benefit the challenger politically because any misfortune that befalls the nation gets attributed, fairly or not, directly or indirectly, to the incumbent party (e.g., the 2008 financial collapse). And Hillary Clinton is running as the quasi-incumbent.
The textbook response for the challenger, therefore, is to offer sympathy, give a general statement or two about the failure of the incumbent’s national security policy, then step back to let the resulting national fear and loathing, amplified by the media, take effect.
Instead, Trump made himself the (political) story. First, he offered himself unseemly congratulations for his prescience about terrorism. (He’d predicted more would be coming. What a visionary.) Then he went beyond blaming the president for lack of will or wisdom in fighting terrorism, and darkly implied presidential sympathy for the enemy. “There’s something going on,” he charged. He then reiterated his ban on Muslim immigration.
Why? Because that’s what Trump does. And because it worked before. It was after last December’s San Bernardino massacre that Trump first called for a Muslim ban. It earned him lots of opprobrium from GOP leaders and lots of support from GOP voters. He shot up in the polls, never to descend until he clinched. So why not do it again?
Because the general election is a different game. Trump assumes that the Republican electorate is representative of the national electorate. It’s not. Take the Muslim ban. Sixty-eight percent of GOP voters support it. Only 38% of Democrats do. And there are approximately 7 million more Democrats in the country. (Independents are split 51-40 in favor.)
The other major example of doing what’s always worked is the ad hominem attack on big-dog opponents. It worked in the primaries. Trump went after one leading challenger after another, knocking them out sequentially.
Hillary Clinton is a lousy campaigner but her machine is infinitely larger and more skilled than any of Trump’s 16 GOP competitors. More riskily, Trump is now going toe-to-toe with a sitting president.
Barack Obama is no Jeb Bush. He’s not low energy. He’s a skilled campaigner who clearly despises Trump and relishes the fight. And he carries the inestimable advantage of the gravitas automatically conferred by seven and a half years of incumbency. Moreover, he now enjoys an unusually high approval rating of around 53%. Trump’s latest favorability is 29% (Washington Post-ABC News).
It’s no accident that Trump’s poll numbers are sliding. A month ago, when crowned as presumptive nominee, he jumped into a virtual tie with Clinton. The polls now have him losing by an average of six points, with some showing a nine- and 12-point deficit (Reuters/Ipsos and Bloomberg).
This may turn out to be temporary, but it is a clear reflection of Trump’s disastrous general election kickoff.
His two-week expedition into racism in attacking the Indiana-born “Mexican” judge. His dabbling in conspiracy, from Ted Cruz’s father’s supposed involvement in the Kennedy assassination to Vince Foster’s (“very fishy”) suicide. All of which suggests, and cements, the image of a man who shoots from the hip and is prone to both wild theories and extreme policies.
Reagan biographer Lou Cannon thinks that the Goldwater anecdote is apocryphal. How could anyone (even a journalist) have thought that Goldwater, who later admitted he always knew he would lose, was going to run as anything but his vintage, hard-core self?
Same for Trump. Give him points for authenticity. Take away for electability. [myad]

Abuja Journalists In Tears Over Ehirim’s Demise; Atiku Mourns

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

Journalists in Abuja, especially, those covering the All Progressives Congress (APC) could not hold back their tears yesterday when the news of the death of their former chairman, Chucks Ehirim broke out. This was even as the former Nigeria Vice President Atiku Abubakar described his death as shocking.
The journalist gathered around the APC national secretariat to mourn the passing away of Chuks Ehirim.
The late Ehirim died at the Garki hospital after a protracted illness on thursday, the day he was supposed to celebrate his 50th birthday.
In different tributes, late Ehirim’s colleagues at the APC press Corps, described his death as a rude shock and a great lost to the journalism in the country.
The Journalists also described late Ehirim as the pillar of reporters covering the APC and had spent more years covering the opposition parties.
The newsmen testified to the fact that late Ehirim was a progressive and passionate Journalist who contributed immensely through his reportage and news analysis to the government of change and accountability in governance.
“We can vividly remember that our late colleague has been reporting President Muhammadu Buhari and his political activities since the President joined politics.
“The most recent was the tour of political campaigns across the country with President Buhari and the APC during the last general elections. But unfortunately for us, our colleague died of a treatable illness.
“Sadly for us again, late Chuks Ehirim did not wait to enjoy the regime of the government he laboured for”
They, however, called on the leadership of the APC as a party he passionately reported and President Muhammadu Buhari, to extend kind gesture to “our colleague’s family who left behind five young children.”
In his own tribute, Atiku said: “Chuks was a fair-minded professional, a conscientious journalist, a progressive democrat and committed nationalist.”

Atiku noted that the late Ehirim was a frontline champion of democratic ideals who used the medium of mass communication to advocate his avowed interest in equity, fairness and justice.

Atiku said it was painful to learn that the man, popularly called “Eze-Igbo” by his peers, for his belief in the identity of the Igbo nation within the Nigerian entity, would succumb so casually to the cold hands of death after a long struggle to install the current government of change.

The APC chieftain recalled that Ehirim’s activism dates back to his students’ union days at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, from where he later joined forces with democratic forces to battle the military in the annulment of the June 12, 1993 elections.

Atiku condoled with the Ehirim family, NUJ and his employers, The Niche on Sunday Newspaper. [myad]

Nigerian Government Holds Stakeholders’ Forum On Automotive Industry

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

The Nigerian Federal Government has scheduled a One-Day Stakeholders Forum on June 20, to address the on-going review of the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) and the re-positioning of the automotive sector.

A statement by the senior special assistant to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in media and publicity, Laolu Akande, the Forum would also focuse on how to eliminate the limitations in the implementation process of the NAIDP.
He said that the, forum, scheduled to hold at Skyline Terrace Hall, Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, would also review the strategic direction options available for the repositioning of the Nigerian automotive industry as a more competitive sector that will deliver much-needed jobs for Nigerians.

“The high level stakeholders forum is intended to also engage with representatives from the industry to deliberate on how to diversify the economy, increase exports and foreign exchange earnings, and create sustainable economic development.
“Stakeholder discussions will equally focus on specific actions and steps required by Government towards achieving the strategic objectives of the Development Plan.”
laolu said that the Presidency and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment will host the industry forum in conjunction with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).
He said that Members of the National Assembly, Industry chieftains, bureaucrats, local and international experts as well as investors are also expected to attend the forum. [myad]

62 Year Old Saves Her 32 Year Old Marriage, Agrees To Husband’s Demands

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

A 62-year-old wife, Tawakalitu Ariori has respectfully saved her 32 year old marriage from collapsing in court on account of lack of sex and other things demanded constantly by her 64 year old husband, Mustafa.

At the Lagos Island Customary Court, on Thursday, Tawakaltu promised that she would never starve her husband of sex and that she would constantly cook for him whenever he demands any of the two.
Tawakalitu, who is a mother of two, also promised Mustafa that she would change for better, saying: “I thought that since I have reached menopause I cannot make love with my husband anymore, but now I know better.”
Mustafa had on June 1 asked the court to dissolve the 32-year-old marriage on the fact that his wife had consistently denied him sex and that she had stopped cooking for him.
He said that even their children and other members of the family had intervened in the matter at various times but she would not bulged, adding that same people have also pleaded on her behalf when they saw that he was serious in ending the marriage.
“My wife has promised to change and I have forgiven her,” Mustafa told the court when thewy appeared on Thursday.
The President of the Court, Awos Awosola, advised the couple to go and put their home in order.
“If you take care of your wife and make her happy, she will also go to any length to please you,” Awosola said. [myad]

Senator Shehu Sani Gives DMO Marching Order On How To Educate Nigerians

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

The Senate has stressed that with more advocacy on the issue of debt management and servicing, Nigerians will be better placed to lend their support to government’s effort in raising funds from the capital and bonds’ market for development purposes.
The chairman, Senate Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, Senator Shehu Sani, has advised Debt Management Office (DMO), to embark of enlightening Nigerians why debts are taken, for what purpose and what the society stands to benefit from such borrowing.
Senator Shehu, who spoke at a three-day retreat, organised for members of the committee by the DMO in Minna, Niger State said with such enlightenment, Nigerians would be in a better position to support initiative aimed at driving development.
He advised the DMO to develop a framework in the major languages in the country to get the citizens to understand the nitty gritty of debts.
“There is need for strategy mix anchored on proper advocacy on what debt management is all about. Nigerians want to know why governments borrow, to what purpose such debts are taken and I can say that once it is well explained, the people will key into the programme.
“I therefore hope that the DMO will rev up its advocacy especially in the major languages because a whole lot of Nigerians don’t seem to understand why their states governments will take loans and they cannot see why the loan was taken in the first instance.
“Debt is a veritable tool for economic growth and development if properly managed. I also believe that an effective debt management that emphasizes transparency due process, and fiscal discipline can precipitate a turnaround in the economy.”
Senator Shehu promised that the Senate will look at the DMO Act to amend it to meet the realities of the present economic situation, even as he said that the legislature should be involved in the negotiations of loans as it will not only enhance their capacity but offer a clear insight into the terms and conditions of such loans.
Also, a member of the committee, Senator Sani Yerima, said there was need for greater collaboration between the National Assembly and the executive so that Nigerians can stand to reap the benefits of borrowed funds.
Yerima explained that loans help to fast track development, employment generation and helps government to bridge the funding gap but decried a situation of arbitrary borrowing by states without a ceiling.
“As governor, we had caps to what we could borrow. But today states borrow arbitrarily and leave debts that will be repaid for the next 3- to 40 years. The National Assembly will work closely with the DMO to develop a framework on this matter.”
This was even as the Director General of the DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo said that the workshop with the theme; Processes and Procedures for External and Domestic Borrowing and Settlement, has become imperative given the funding of the 2016 budget from loans.
Nwankwo said that the federal government does not just borrow for borrowing sake but to address the challenge of development and infrastructure growth.
He explained that the workshop is not only to keep the lawmakers abreast of developments in the Nigerian debt sector but to get their buy-ins in the DMO’s drive to seek for funding from the capital market.
The DMO boss said that states have not been barred from raising funds rather that the National Economic Council was against borrowing from commercial banks but supports states seeking for capital from bonds, which is cheaper and more sustainable in the long run. [myad]

Dino Melaye, Stop Fighting ‘God’ In Kogi, By Omeiza Ajayi

Greenbarge Reporters

June 17, 2016

“Kogi voted for Audu but God voted for Yahaya Bello.” Perhaps, this quote should have been the title of this piece, but before I delve into the main issue, it is important for you to know that I am a native of Ihima in Okehi Local Government Area of Kogi state. Secondly, I am a journalist with close affinity to the hierarchy of the APC and INEC. Thirdly, I am a youth. Although, I am not your constituent, but the above qualifications provide sufficient premises for me to draw conclusions or contribute to issues that have to do with Kogi, APC or the nation, particularly in the realm of politics.

I would have called your cell-phone to bare my mind to you, but knowing from experience, that you hardly pick calls nor reply text messages of people you have not met or interacted with before, I have chosen this medium only as a last resort.

When in late January, during the swearing-in of “Mallam” Bello, in a crass display of sycophancy, you abused and made mockery of the voting power of the Kogi electorates, you did not foresee what laid ahead. You had unabashedly stated that while the people of Kogi state voted en mass for the late Prince Abubakar Audu, the immortal God voted for Alhaji Yahaya Bello, and then, at the height of your self-proclaimed, albeit false claim, to prophet-hood, warned of dire divine consequences for those who may want to go against the tide.

As a partisan politician, you conveniently elected to forget the Latin maxim, Vox Populi, Vox Dei. Sir, you should have known that the voice of the people is the voice of God.‎ The people voted for APC, irrespective of who its candidate was.

It was therefore with great consternation that on Monday, June 13, I saw you and your fellows of identical plummage flock into the national secretariat of the APC in Abuja in a manner that appeared more like a breach of protocol.

You had just finished a meeting where you constituted an 11-man disciplinary committee to probe the alleged anti-party tendencies of Gov. Bello.

While you chair the committee, other members include some “yesterday men” – Sen. Mohammed Salami Ohiare, Sen. Salihu Ohize, Sen. Abubakar Abdulrahman and Sen. Nicholas Ugbane. Others are Haddy Ametuo, Hon. Buba Jibril, Hajia Hajara Aliyu, Folasade Joseph, Suleiman Baba Ali and Barrister S. Adejoh.

And your grouse according to you is that; “Out of 15 commissioners the governor appointed, 13 are from PDP and two from the APC. Out of 105 members of the caretaker committees for the 21 local government areas, PDP has 72 and APC 33.

“Out of the 28 special advisers and senior special assistants he appointed, PDP has 24, APC one, APGA one, Labour Party one and Accord Party one”.

Knowing that you were once in the PDP along with many of those on your committee, would it be right to deny you full integration into the APC and still refer to you as “PDP guys?”

Should President Muhammadu Buhari be accused of anti-party activities for appointing Rotimi Amaechi, Nasir el-Rufai, Audu Ogbeh, Heineken Lokpobiri and many other ex-PDP bigwigs into his cabinet? While you might be right to say that some of the governor’s appointees were ex-PDP men, just like you, you would most certainly be stretching political lunacy too far to still posit that those appointees are currently card-carrying members of the PDP.

Perhaps, rather than just brandish figures, it would do you much good to mention the names of Bello’s appointees who are PDP members so that they can directly defend themselves.

In any case, these allegations, on the surface value, are weighty except that they lack any evidential value.

As you very well know, in law and in fact, the onus probandi or burden of proof lays with you. To put it more explicitly, semper necessitas probandi incumbit ei qui agit, (that is, the necessity of proof always lies with the person who lays charges).

Indeed, rather than “summoning” the governor, a power which, ab initio your committee does not possess and cannot consequently exercise, you should be proving to the relevant organs of the party, by way of a strong petition with evidences showing that your allegations are worth the paper on which they are penned.

In the light of the ethno-political fault-lines and tension in the state, would it even be a bad idea to run a Government of State Unity just as we have governments of national unity in some climes?

Distinguished, what has changed between January 27 and June 13? Why the sudden change of attitude? The governor has accused you of wanting to nominate all his appointees from the Western Senatorial flank of the state and that his insistence on “following his mind” is the reason why your ego is bruised. Anyway, that was what he said. It’s left for you to give us a counter-narrative.

Lest I forget my manners, how is family? Hope you are all doing fine? Please, say me well to Uncle Bukky, and Bros #CommonSense. Lastly, don’t forget my Ramadan rice o. Plus millet too. Boys are not smiling, atol, atol.

Ehen, don’t forget to remind Adayi Ohiare of the character that wrote the petition which eventually led to his disgraceful sack from the senate. We hear they are now together in arms against the governor.‎

Omeiza Ajayi, JP, is an Abuja-based Journalist and can be reached on Whatsapp via: 08050562095 or, omezonline@gmail.com.

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