“We therefore request immediate government intervention to forestall the possibility of the hungry man becoming angry.” These are the words contained in a letter which personal aides to the delegates to the ongoing National Conference under the canopy of Forum of Aides and Drivers of National Conference 2014 Delegates, include drivers, Personal Assistants and other domestic staff addressed to the conference Chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi today.

The aides are protesting over the refusal of the Conference leadership to pay them any entitlements even as they demanded allowances, food and transport.

They said that they have evidence that payments were made to support personnel of similar appointees in the past, including the National Political Bureau of March 1987 and the National Political Reform Conference of 2005.

They, therefore, asked that they should be paid.

One of them said that they have been forced to eat the crumbs from their masters’ tables after lunch served during break time.

The two-paged protest letter was signed by six of the aides and drivers who did not write their names but merely appended their signatures.

Copies of the letter were sent to President Goodluck Jonathan and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.

Each of the 492 delegates is placed on about N2.9 million per month.

The letter reads: “We were also aware that some delegates are against the payment of allowances to us in this regard. We must therefore point out that aides and drivers come from far and wide distances in this country. Usually our salaries are meagre and barely sufficient to support our families

“We have also sampled opinions and discovered that some aides and drivers sleep in the vehicles at the car parks of delegates’ hotels at the expense of their health, safety and security while their principals sleep in the comfort of their hotel rooms. Many of our members get little or no stipends in this regard.

“We state clearly here that many of our members depend on their colleagues to survive in the course of the conference. Our welfare is poor and there is no provision for food, transport and boarding. Some of us are sometimes privileged to eat the crumbs that fall off the tables of the delegates at the Justice Aloma Mukhtar Banquet Hall of the Conference venue at the mercy of the Banquet Hall personnel.

“This is not desirable considering the fact that we are all humans and fellow citizens of this great country working together to chart a course for the united existence of our great country. We therefore request immediate government intervention to forestall the possibility of the hungry man becoming angry.”

Nigeria’s House of Representatives has mandated its Committees on Steel, Privatization and Commercialization and Justice, to investigate the concession of the Ajaokuta Steel Rolling Mill.

It also mandated three standing committees to probe the affairs and failure of the mill and report back to the house for further legislative actions.

The resolution followed a motion by Rep. Ben Nwankwo (PDP-Anambra), which was unanimously adopted without debate when put to vote by the Deputy Speaker, Rep. Emeka Ihedioha.

Nwankwo, while moving the motion, noted that the concession of the mill and National Iron Ore Mining Company in 2005 to two India firms was done without due diligence.

According to him, the concessionaires, Global Infrastructure Holdings Limited and Global Steel Holdings Limited, allegedly operated in ways contrary to the concession agreement.

He said that due to complaints on the operation of ASRM and NIOMC by the concessionaires, the Federal Government revoked the concession agreement of ASRM in 2007.

This, he said, led to protracted arbitral proceedings at the International Centre for Commercial Arbitration in London.

The lawmaker said the pendency of the arbitral proceedings further compounded the woes of the mill.

He, however, said that recent disclosures indicated that the Federal Government had “successfully” re-acquired ASRM from Global Infrastructure Holding Limited in circumstances not clear.

He said that the fate of NOIMC was still not clear.

Nwankwo expressed concern that the employment potentials of the mill has not been exploited.

He said that when fully operational, the rolling mill is capable of generating no fewer than 15,000 direct employments.

He, therefore, urged the house to look into the matter so that the lofty ambitions of the mill’s founding fathers of meeting the nations steel needs and providing employment were achieved

Rivers State Governor, An elated NIPF Leader, Barr. Chuma Chinye, who was moved by the love of the Governor assured him that his commitment towards the welfare of non-indigenes shall never be in vain as NIPF is ready to mobilise all the good people of Rivers State to vote for APC come 2015. Chinye, who is the State Commissioner of Commerce and Industry, thanked the Governor for assuring them that they are now citizens of Nigeria from Rivers State

Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has become the first Governor in Nigeria to abolish the concept of non-indigeneship in his state.
He announced this while welcoming a large crowd of non-indigenes in the State who paid him a solidarity visit at the Government House in Port Harcourt.
Amaechi told his guests, who are members of the Non Indiegne Political For​u​m (NIPF), a support group of the All Progressives Congress (APC) that he did not believe in non-indigeneship, saying: “as far as I am concerned, you are entitled to everything if you have lived in Rivers State for at least five years. We are all Rivers indigenes. If you go anywhere around this State and they segregate you, please, call my attention. The reason is that we are all Nigerians and we remain bonafide citizens of this country. The All Progressives Congress (APC) believes that there is need for change because the government in power does not want money to reach you. We need the bottom-top approach for our people to benefit and improve their standards of living.”
The Governor also announced the approval of a bus for the NIPF and 20 per cent scholarship for non-indigenes in the State amongst other largesse.
A chieftain of the Forum, Chief Williams Samuel Ubaka, presented the delegation’s address on behalf of the Coordinator of the Forum, Chief Uchenna Okokoba. He told Governor Amaechi that they were happy with the uncommon transformation of his administration, especially, in the areas of good and accessible roads, healthcare services, education, the world-class model primary and secondary schools and scholarship for their children.
Chief Ubaka thanked Governor Amaechi for employing 20 per cent of non-indigenes during the last teachers’ recruitment exercise, and the appointment of their sons into political offices.
The visitors however asked for the provision of vehicles for the NIPF, pilgrimage slots for non-indigenes, implementation of employment and scholarship quota, empowerment and skill acquisitions, as well as reduction of burial fees at the Port Harcourt Cemetery.
The Governor instantly approved all the requests presented by the NIPF.
Rivers State APC Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said that with the large crowd of non-indigenes supporting both the Governor and APC, the death of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Rivers State is now very obvious.
Dr Ikanya applauded the Governor for carrying non-indigenes along in his administration of the State, saying that by so doing, he has demonstrated to the entire nation that he is a true nationalist and a patriotic Nigerian whose love for all Nigerians is no longer in doubt.
Dr. Ikanya boasted that no other government in Nigeria has done for the non-indigenes in any part of Nigeria what Governor Amaechi has done for those residing in Rivers State. He noted that the Amaechi administration has sponsored a minimum of 500 Muslims to Mecca annually and that he will sponsor 100 Muslims and 100 Christians from APC by this year.
He also hailed Amaechi for approving 10 per cent positions for non indgenes in the Ward, Local Government and State Executive Councils of the APC, which he described as unprecedented in the country.