Former military administrator in both Kano and Benue States at different times, retired Brigadier General Dominic Obukadata Oneya is dead. He was aged 73.
His death was announced today, August 5, by the current NFF President, Amaju Pinnick.
Oneya, a native of Agbarho Kingdom in Ughelli, died today morning in his home at Effurun GRA in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State. He was born on May 26, 1948.
The deceased served in various capacities in CAF committees and recently headed the ministerial committee on reforms in Nigerian football.
From 1996 to 1998, he was military administrator of Kano State. He was also the military administrator of Benue State during the reign of Abdulsalami Abubakar between 1998 and 1999.
The management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said that there is no COVID-19 positive corps member at any of the 37 orientation camps nationwide.
The NYSC spokesperson, Adenike Adeyemi, said in Abuja today that the rumours making the rounds in both the mainstream and new media that 109 corps members had tested positive is unfounded.
“Management wishes to state that the caption and body of the story are very misleading. Please, note that before any prospective corps member is admitted into the 37 camps, they must undergo COVID-19 test. Only those that test negative are admitted, the same rule applies to camp officials. Those that test positive are handed over to the NCDC for treatment and management.
“It is pertinent to state that there is a gulf of difference between a Corps Member and a Prospective Corps Member.
“One becomes a Corps Member after admittance to the camp, registers and administered the Oath of National Allegiance.
“Anyone mobilised for Service, but has not gone through the aforesaid process is not a Corps Member.
“Consequently, our partners-in- progress, members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm should kindly take note of this explanation for proper guidance in their reportage.
“In view of the foregoing explanation, there is no red alert in NYSC Orientation Camps, as all Corps Members, as well as camp officials admitted in the camps are COVID-19 negative.”
The future of Uche Secondus as the national Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is currently hanging in the air as chieftains of the party are calling on him to resign.
The PDP party’s National Youth leader, Udeh Okoye, in a statement today, August 4, threatened to dump the party if Secondus fails to resign from his position, accusing him of lacking the capacity to take the party to the next level.
Udeh Okoye, who described the national chairman as a weak and incompetent leader, said: “he (Secondus) is not willing to take us anywhere; he is just there to make sure he enriches himself.
“I am here to make it very clear to all Nigerians that if Secondus does not resign, I am going to leave the party and resign for him to eat the party and own the party.
“The governors, if they don’t wade into this matter right now, if the leaders don’t wade into this matter right now, I assure every Nigerian that within the next 3, 4 days, my letter will be public.”
This came on the heel of the resignation from their positions yesterday of seven members of the National Working Committee of the party.
The seven officials – the Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Diran Odeyemi; Deputy National Legal Adviser, Ahmed Bello; Deputy National Women Leader, Umoru Hadizat; Deputy National Auditor Divine Amina Arong; Deputy National Organizing Secretary, Hassan Yakubu; and Deputy National Financial Secretary, Irona Alphonsus; resigned from their positions on Tuesday.
They cited the poor handling of the party’s affairs by the National Chairman, Uche Secondus; as the major reason for their decision to resign from key party organ.
In efforts to resolve the in-fighting, the committee presided over by the Deputy National Chairman North, Senator Suleman Nazif met at ‘Legacy House’ from 9pm Tuesday to about 3am on Wednesday in a desperate move to save the party and give the embattled National Chairman a soft landing, Ripples Nigeria gathered exclusively from a high-placed source.
The meeting reviewed recent developments in the party and resolved to continue deliberations on Sunday August 8, to enable all members to be in attendance before taking a final decision.
Sources close to the meeting which was well attended further disclosed that the chairman was excluded to allow members of the NWC express their minds dispassionately.
Members are said to be unanimous on the failure of the National Chairman and resolved to take ‘painful but decisive’ actions to save the party.
They may in their next meeting, call for the immediate resignation of Prince Uche Secondus in order to save the Party.
A member of the NWC who refused to be recorded said Nigerians are looking up to PDP to save the country and “we cannot fold our hands and allow the selfish interests of one person dash our collective National redemption mission”.
The world umbrella cultural body of the entire Igbo people, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has made it clear that Ndigbo is a major stakeholder in the Nigerian project, even as it commended the Nigerian Army for restoring peace to the trouble Southeast. The President General of the body, Ambassador George Obiozo, at a meeting today, August 4, in Enugu, with the General Officer Commanding 82 Division, Major General Taoreed Lagbaja, remarked: “without peace, nations cannot progress and without the Armed Forces, there will have been more problems.” George Obiozo, who is former diplomat, described the Nigerian Army among the best in Africa and charged troops to continue to do safeguard the nation. This was even as the Major General Taoreed Lagbaja commended the leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo for the pronouncement against threats and violence by the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB). The GOC assured the South-East people of safety, and warned those planning to cause further chaos to have a rethink.
The entrance to the Sultan’s palace, Sokoto, Nigeria
The Sokoto State Commissioner for Health, Mohammed Iname, has confirmed outbreak of gastroenteritis, also known as stomach flu in13 out of the 23 local government areas of the state, leading to the death of 23 people.
Speaking to news men today, August 3 in the state capital, Mohammed Iname said that 260 people have so far been infected with the disease, saying that some of the affected local government areas are Dange/Shuni, Kebne, Gwadabawa, Tangaza, Isa, Bodinga, Wamakko, and Silame.
The commissioner called on the residents to be very careful during this period as the disease is highly contagious and easily transmitted from person to person through casual contact.
He advised them to limit the rate of visitation to affected areas as this has been discovered to be a major source of transmission.
The commissioner also warned medical practitioners and other health workers to stop treating infected persons at home.
He said the state government has made adequate provisions to tackle the outbreak and seeking help from experts and relevant agencies to curb the spread.
The commissioner assured that the state government is addressing the issues around the disease.
Gastroenteritis is an inflammation of the stomach and intestines caused by bacterial toxins or viral infection and marked by diarrhoea, cramps, nausea, vomiting, and fever in an infected person.
It is typically spread by contact with an infected person or through contaminated food or water.
In Sokoto, authorities say Gwadabawa Local Government Area has recorded the highest infection rate with over 47 confirmed cases.
The National Universities Commission (NUC) has sent a bill to the National Assembly to strengthen its power to withdraw the operating licenses of state universities and others which cannot be adequately funded in line with the rules setting them up.
Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, who announced this at the sideline of a meeting with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in Abuja yesterday night (August 2), said: “a bill has been sent to the National Assembly by the NUC to strengthen its arms in terms of delisting universities where funding and other parameters are inadequate. This effort was commended as all the parties agreed that mushrooming and proliferation of state universities, some of which mock the ideals of an ivory tower, should stop.
On the issues discussed at the meeting, the minister said that the inconsistencies in the IPPIS payment were part of it, adding: “there was good interaction and documents were exchanged between IPPIS and ASUU.
“ASUU is to go back to its members so that we can have a proper update on the extent of the inconsistencies in payment. We expressed our displeasure that these things are happening – amputation of salaries, not-too-clear, foggy things happening over peoples monthly emoluments. So we have asked IPPIS and ASUU to work together over this.”
The minister said that the meeting evaluated seven key issues, with both parties expressing satisfaction with the implementation stages of what he termed “work in progress. ”
He said that some of the items in the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) were nearly done hundred percent within the timeline.
Dr. Nigige also said the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) was directed to expedite action on the integrity test on the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) which if successful, would eliminate the challenges posed by the peculiarities of the university system to the current payment platform.
The minister said that government had paid the sum of N30 billion as the University Revitalization Fund as contained in the MOA since January 2021.
The money, according to him, “is however, still lodged with the Central Bank of Nigeria, pending the conclusion of the audit report of the Implementation Committee on the use of previous funds disbursement to universities by the Ministry of Education and the National University Commission.”
“The report has been turned in , deliberated upon and both the Education Ministry and the NUC have promised to write to the Accountant General of the Federation next week for the release of the money to the NEEDS Special Account for onward disbursement to universities shortly.”
The minister said that the monies would be paid to successful universities based on the evaluation report of the committee, while those with shortcomings would be made to make up before accessing the fund.
He said that apart from the N40 billion earned allowance which the federal government had already paid, the Budget Office of the Federation showed evidence that N22 billion Earned Allowances for year 2021 was already captured in the 2021 supplementary budget of the federation, and would soon be accessed.
Dr. Ngige said that evidence was presented that promotion arrears had been paid to some universities while the Budget Office of the Federation and the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation were asked to liaise with ASUU to sort out the rest.
The minister said that the standing committee on the matter had been expended to include National Income Salaries and Wages Commission .
“A situation where a university professor is paid N107, 000 out of mistake or over deduction is unacceptable.”
In his remarks, ASUU President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke expressed satisfaction with the outcome and promised that ASUU would reach out to members.
Pensioners in Nigeria, under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Pensioners have given glory to President Muhammadu Buhari for the payment of their 18 out of 24 month pension arrears.
In a letter of appreciation and commendation to the President today, August 3, the pensioners described Buhari as a leader who listens to the yearnings and aspirations of his subjects.
The letter, signed by the Secretary of the group, Elder Actor Dal commended the President for making deliberate efforts to positive put smiles on the faces of the members of the association.
The text of the letter reads thus:
“The leadership and entire members of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners wishes to express her profound appreciation to His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, for the release of enabling circular for the payment of the consequential adjustment of pension and the immediate release of funds for the payment of the accrued two years arrears.
“Despite the economic odds, the moment the circular was released, the President through the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) commenced payment to pensioners nationwide by the initial release of 12 months in June, and another payment of six months in July, leaving the balance of six months pending. We do sincerely hope that the balance will be cleared in due course.
“The Union notes with great nostalgia the deliberate efforts being put in place by your government to put smiles on the faces of our members nationwide and we are appreciatively indebted to your government.
“This singular action of yours goes to attest to the fact that you are, indeed, a listening President who listens to the yearnings and aspirations of your subjects.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that it had not yet issued a new operating license to MTN Nigeria as claimed in a publication in an online media, entitled “Govt renews MTN Nigeria license amid 20 years of GSM Phones.”
The online publication had cited regulatory filings by the NCC as its source, adding that “MTN Nigeria, the nation’s largest mobile network operator, has secured regulatory approval of the renewal of its operating license for another 10 years with effect from September 1, 2021.”
But in a statement today, August 3 by the spokesman, Ikechukwu Adinde, the NCC admitted that MTN Nigeria had applied for the renewal of the Unified Access Service License ((UASL) granted to it by the Commission, but that “the application is yet to be approved as it is still undergoing required regulatory processes.”
Senior Partner in the Babalakin & Co. Dr. Wale Babalakin, SAN has lamented the drop in the quality of the training of lawyers in Nigeria and called for urgent overhaul.
Dr. Babalakin, who spoke at the just concluded 2021 Law Week of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Lagos Branch, insisted that the overhaul should start from the training of lawyers in the universities and the Nigerian Law School.
He stressed that unlike in the past when high premium was placed on quality, emphasis currently is on the quantity of lawyers produced.
Babalakin recalled that when he was a law student at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) between 1978 and 1981, the faculty was so well structured that a large tutorial class would have about 10 students.
“In the process, you are able to engage your teachers and learn in detail and he will be able to identify all the talents in you.
“Then, there was the general consensus that once you did well at UNILAG, you could do well anywhere around the world.
“I’m not blaming the young people, I’m blaming the system that has created this confusion that we have today. The system lays so much emphasis on quantum, instead of quality.”
The legal luminary called for a redesign of the curriculum of the Nigerian Law School, even as he said that there should be a separate curriculum clearly defined for those who want to leave the law school and go to the corporate world and those leaving the law school and go to the bar. “Today, you have a judicial system that is far cry from what I met when I started coming to the bar in 1982.”
According to him “criminal cases that seems to take forever these days were being presided over in those days by a Judge or set of Judges.
“The lawyers were so prepared that trials were being concluded in three days; one day for the prosecutors to present witnesses and conduct cross-examination; another day for the defence and the next day for the address.
“It was impossible then for a lawyer or prosecutor to start seeking for adjournment. There was serious consequences for trying to seek for an adjournment when somebody is facing trial.
“It was impossible for a lawyer to come in and say he is not ready. That was possible because the quality of training we had and the discipline we got was very high.
“But routinely now, simple trials go on for years at the convenience of counsels. This is not right.
“We have to invest more in teaching in the universities and make the law school more viable and relevant. We can have a session for advocates and another session for those who want to be solicitors, but it is unfair to the system that we all go to crowd the court learning in the court and sometimes displaying lack of preparation.
“In addition, you must find a chambers to accept you as a pupil. After a successful pupilage, you can then be considered for tenancy. It is not sufficient that you have a degree in Law. We have to enhance our legal system comprehensively.”
The dilemma facing many Nigerians at the weekend was, if you have a very good police officer, kind of one in a million, who has been combing the bushes and the digital world and apprehending some of our vilest kidnappers and murderers, and some foreign agency is accusing him of collecting bribes from a scammer and doing the scammer’s bidding to settle intra-gang scores, what is the best thing for us to do?
This question immediately elicited four clashing points of view between imported African legalism, old fashioned African morality, instinctive African cynicism and native African practicality. Each one of them has a large following in Nigeria. Nigeria has some legalistic people who believe that in modern society, the law is everything, and it should be applied whether it is moral or not. These are mostly legal types, either steeped in White mindset or those who play the NGO game with money from foreign agencies.
Majority of Africans think that the law is an inconvenience to be evaded, sidestepped or short circuited. Ask taxi drivers, who think traffic lights are meant for private motorists. Ask bus drivers, who think it is ok to drive against the traffic because they are in a hurry to earn some money. It is only these legalistic types who will say, “FBI indicted Kyari? Hand him over to them quick, so he can clear his name. Our embassy and consulates in America should provide consular services to him, of the kind that British High Commission here is offering to provide to Kanu.”
Some [old fashioned] Africans however believe that morality is the most important thing, higher than the law itself, and law should be thrown overboard if it is immoral. They don’t even want the inconvenience of going through the tedious process of amending the law; just test the law for morality. These ones will say, “If DCP Abba Kyari was found to be dishonest to the point of collecting bribe from Hushpuppi and detaining the scammer’s accomplice because he shortchanged Hushpuppi, damn it, he should be punished! His glitter of medals and his long list of achievements in crime busting be damned!”
On the other hand, Africa is full of cynics who will never believe anything that Europeans and Americans say, especially their government agencies such as FBI, CIA, State Department and British Home Office or their adjuncts such as Commonwealth, EU and NATO. These are the Nigerians who, upon hearing of Kyari’s FBI indictment, will say, “You know these White people can tell lies! They said they came here to civilize us whereas they came here to steal our resources. Recently they claimed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. They killed one million Iraqis looking for it but did not find anything. They are detaining Hushpuppi when they have their own scammers there in America. Now they want to take away our best policeman so that bandits and kidnappers will have a free reign. We should hold onto him! If they are looking for crooked policemen, they should look for Derek Chauvin, who murdered George Floyd in cold blood, in broad daylight.”
Sandwiched between the legalists, moralists and cynics, there are the Africans of practicality. They are the ones who will say when they heard the news, “Ah, Abba Kyari did that? That is bad! He is such a good policeman. Are the Americans sure of what they are saying? If we hand Abba Kyari over to them to jail him, then who will arrest the bandits that are terrorizing us here? The Inspector General has only one Intelligence Response Team. We don’t know why he did not train and equip many more such teams in the last ten years. Anyway, the deed is done, we have only one IG’s IRT. Wherever there is a particularly heinous kidnapping, it is Kyari that goes there to solve it. If they jail him in America, will the FBI send somebody to replace him? After all, he did not commit the crime in their country. Let them send the evidence and we will try him here. EFCC can file the case and it will languish in court for ten years, like all the others. Meanwhile, he will be catching kidnappers for us. We should not throw away the baby with the bathwater.”
How do we resolve these conflicting points of view? Somebody should go to Otuoke and ask former President Goodluck Jonathan whether accepting bribe from Hushpuppi is corruption. “Ordinary bribe, people call it corruption. Is bribery a serious thing here? It is White people who think bribery is a big thing. In their Constitution, Americans even wrote that their President should be impeached for ‘treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanor.’ In Nigeria here, if we impeach leaders because of bribery, how many will remain? Joh, kidnapping is our biggest problem. If we have a policeman who is fighting it well, he should kontinu.”
Culled from the Gallery in 21st Century Chronicle.
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The management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said that there is no COVID-19 positive corps member at any of the 37 orientation camps nationwide.
The future of Uche Secondus as the national Chairman of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is currently hanging in the air as chieftains of the party are calling on him to resign.
The world umbrella cultural body of the entire Igbo people, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has made it clear that Ndigbo is a major stakeholder in the Nigerian project, even as it commended the Nigerian Army for restoring peace to the trouble Southeast.
Pensioners in Nigeria, under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Pensioners have given glory to President Muhammadu Buhari for the payment of their 18 out of 24 month pension arrears.
The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has said that it had not yet issued a new operating license to MTN Nigeria as claimed in a publication in an online media, entitled “Govt renews MTN Nigeria license amid 20 years of GSM Phones.” 
Senior Partner in the Babalakin & Co. Dr. Wale Babalakin, SAN has lamented the drop in the quality of the training of lawyers in Nigeria and called for urgent overhaul.
4 Viewpoints On Abba Kyari, By Mahmud Jega
The dilemma facing many Nigerians at the weekend was, if you have a very good police officer, kind of one in a million, who has been combing the bushes and the digital world and apprehending some of our vilest kidnappers and murderers, and some foreign agency is accusing him of collecting bribes from a scammer and doing the scammer’s bidding to settle intra-gang scores, what is the best thing for us to do?
This question immediately elicited four clashing points of view between imported African legalism, old fashioned African morality, instinctive African cynicism and native African practicality. Each one of them has a large following in Nigeria. Nigeria has some legalistic people who believe that in modern society, the law is everything, and it should be applied whether it is moral or not. These are mostly legal types, either steeped in White mindset or those who play the NGO game with money from foreign agencies.
Majority of Africans think that the law is an inconvenience to be evaded, sidestepped or short circuited. Ask taxi drivers, who think traffic lights are meant for private motorists. Ask bus drivers, who think it is ok to drive against the traffic because they are in a hurry to earn some money. It is only these legalistic types who will say, “FBI indicted Kyari? Hand him over to them quick, so he can clear his name. Our embassy and consulates in America should provide consular services to him, of the kind that British High Commission here is offering to provide to Kanu.”
Some [old fashioned] Africans however believe that morality is the most important thing, higher than the law itself, and law should be thrown overboard if it is immoral. They don’t even want the inconvenience of going through the tedious process of amending the law; just test the law for morality. These ones will say, “If DCP Abba Kyari was found to be dishonest to the point of collecting bribe from Hushpuppi and detaining the scammer’s accomplice because he shortchanged Hushpuppi, damn it, he should be punished! His glitter of medals and his long list of achievements in crime busting be damned!”
On the other hand, Africa is full of cynics who will never believe anything that Europeans and Americans say, especially their government agencies such as FBI, CIA, State Department and British Home Office or their adjuncts such as Commonwealth, EU and NATO. These are the Nigerians who, upon hearing of Kyari’s FBI indictment, will say, “You know these White people can tell lies! They said they came here to civilize us whereas they came here to steal our resources. Recently they claimed that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. They killed one million Iraqis looking for it but did not find anything. They are detaining Hushpuppi when they have their own scammers there in America. Now they want to take away our best policeman so that bandits and kidnappers will have a free reign. We should hold onto him! If they are looking for crooked policemen, they should look for Derek Chauvin, who murdered George Floyd in cold blood, in broad daylight.”
Sandwiched between the legalists, moralists and cynics, there are the Africans of practicality. They are the ones who will say when they heard the news, “Ah, Abba Kyari did that? That is bad! He is such a good policeman. Are the Americans sure of what they are saying? If we hand Abba Kyari over to them to jail him, then who will arrest the bandits that are terrorizing us here? The Inspector General has only one Intelligence Response Team. We don’t know why he did not train and equip many more such teams in the last ten years. Anyway, the deed is done, we have only one IG’s IRT. Wherever there is a particularly heinous kidnapping, it is Kyari that goes there to solve it. If they jail him in America, will the FBI send somebody to replace him? After all, he did not commit the crime in their country. Let them send the evidence and we will try him here. EFCC can file the case and it will languish in court for ten years, like all the others. Meanwhile, he will be catching kidnappers for us. We should not throw away the baby with the bathwater.”
How do we resolve these conflicting points of view? Somebody should go to Otuoke and ask former President Goodluck Jonathan whether accepting bribe from Hushpuppi is corruption. “Ordinary bribe, people call it corruption. Is bribery a serious thing here? It is White people who think bribery is a big thing. In their Constitution, Americans even wrote that their President should be impeached for ‘treason, bribery or other high crimes and misdemeanor.’ In Nigeria here, if we impeach leaders because of bribery, how many will remain? Joh, kidnapping is our biggest problem. If we have a policeman who is fighting it well, he should kontinu.”
Culled from the Gallery in 21st Century Chronicle.
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mmjega@21stcenturychronicle.com