Ayodele Samuel: Memoir of an unfulfilled Corps member

I was eager to obey the clarion call, no matter the state, I promised not to relocate.  I had these passion years before NYSC time. My service year began on a very interesting note; I made good friends as we began the 23 hour- journey from Lagos to the Nature's gift to the Nation, Taraba state.  My friends are not well traveled, they are all 'aje butter' (pampered kids), our bond grew as we began the journey with heavy prayers from a pastor who found himself  in our bus. Some of us nearly weep as they bid their parents who escorted them to the park farewell. Thou I didn't allow my Daddy take me to the park, my mum was soaked with fear for the safety of her last born. In my mind, I was scared, 'Taraba! North East! Boko Haram! My mind was beating fast but I kept a smiling face while my co-travelers wore sad and hard faces, I sparked up various arguments to ensure we had an interesting trip.  We all slept off around Akure and woke up in Kogi state; we at this point had several rounds of discussions. Our trip was fun but the bad roads between Ajaokuta , Otukpo and Gboko almost marred the journey. We at last arrived Government College Jalingo, NYSC temporary orientation camp to the warm arms of dedicated NYSC staff members who took us through the registration process.  It was a rigorous exercise, there, I learnt to be patient because all through the service year, one had to queue up for just everything.  My 21 regimented days at the orientation camp in Jalingo under a caring mother, Hajia Zainab Isah, then State Coordinator was fun filled, it was a very good way to begin a service year. While in Camp, my commitment to the youth service became stronger. Unlike many other corps members who relocated due to the security situation in the country, it was not an option for me at all after listening to Hajiya Isah's long sermon about unity in the country.  Many of us stayed back because of the confidence Hajiya Isah reposed in us, she presented herself as our mother in the 'no man's land' of Taraba, this she displayed at every given opportunity. When the first bomb went off in Jalingo around April, she called almost all corps members posted to the area on phone, she ordered us to stay indoor for her to study the security situation in the area because our safety was close to her heart. She took it upon herself to visit the remotest places she posted Corps members, checking on our welfare. Her visit to Bang 3 corner, somewhere around Cameroun border in the interior Sardauna Local Government, more than ten hour's drive from her Jalingo residence will always remain fresh in my memory. All these excited me to feel secured in the Nature's gift to the Nation.  I oiled my contacts and began to talk to the people, learning little Hausa language and preparing for my Community Development (CDS) projects. With help of my indigene friends, I located and visited Wurom Musa Village, a small community of about 200 dwellers but which suffers lack of good roads to Jalingo main town, nonfunctional health care center and lack of potable water. After several meetings with the community heads and stakeholders using the skills I acquired during my orientation, we saw the need to open up the village for development. The Jeroum (community head) was of the opinion that the road will open up the village for commerce, so we agreed to embark on grading the road leading to the village; we were putting machineries in place for my dream project, after meetings upon meetings at the State Ministry of Works to release a grader for the project was concluded. We had received serious commitment and support from stakeholders and other sponsors, something I never expected could happen. A few days after Hajiya Isah was redeployed to NYSC headquarters, Abuja precisely on September 6th 2012, around 1 a.m, our lodge housing, with about 24 corps members located in the heart of Jalingo was attacked by gunmen. The incident left many thoughts on my mind, why should a Christian corps member lodge be singled out for a mindless attack ? I lay half dead on the floor when one of the gang members threatened to behead me, the Boko Haram sect came to my mind but I was quick to remember that, Tarabians I knew in the few months I spent were peace loving and hard working people. Till date, it remains a sad experience for me, I had never felt that way in my life, the way I felt the 40 minutes the attack lasted. I lost many things money could not replace till date. Attacking defenseless and armless corps members was the least of my imagination, my annoyance grew with the initial response of the new state coordinator who saw the incident as nothing and the Taraba state government 'we don't care attitude' until we told the world our story. Unlike when some Corps members were assaulted in Zing Local Government during Hajiya Isah's tenure, she mobilized security agencies in the middle of the night, moved to Zing to rescue the victims, she went to court and ensured the perpetrators bagged a year jail term for the assault. Hajiya Isah didn't stop at that, she went ahead to blacklist the community in posting of corps members, just to serve as deterrent to any other community who joked with the safety of her corps members. But in the case of the new coordinator, the reverse was the case. The outcome of the media cry I spearheaded was victimization and frustration. In our own case, the new state coordinator was not interested in going after our attackers; all he did was to grant a press interview denying our attack, calling us names. Till date, the state government neither commiserated with us on the incident nor condemned the attack while the police said the bandits were ' street boys who came with stick and cutlass.' Yet till date, the police have not arrested the 'street boys'. The state NYSC acted in its own volition because NYSC at the national level condemned the attack, collaborated and sympathized with us. The state police Command saw the media reports on the attack as undermining them and would stop at nothing to punish its peddlers. The last option was to relocate out of the state, abandon Wurom Musa, my CDS project. The community leader tried to appeal to us not to go since the arrangement for the project was 40 percent perfected but my mind was made up, all I was seeing was myself out of Taraba, my family members were singing relocation to my ears. Amidst the disappointment, I left Taraba state to Osun state where I completed the mandatory service year barely two months to my passing out.   http://weekend.peoplesdailyng.com/index.php/news/cover-news/782-memoir-of-an-unfulfilled-corps-member

Why am not coming to Nigeria- Bill Gate

Bill Gates United States richest man and philanthropist, Bill Gates  says cancellation of his  planned official visit to Nigeria scheduled for March  27  was unconnected to the  controversial presidential but a very tight schedule . Bill speaking through his Communications officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,  Amy Enright told me via e-mail that recent news reports about the reasons for the postponement of an upcoming trip by Bill Gates to Nigeria are false. Amy  said changes to Bill's travel schedule sometimes happen for a variety of reasons. " Bill has visited Nigeria often, closely follows Nigeria's polio eradication and routine immunization efforts and is always keen to see the work of our partners in the field. He looks forward to visiting Nigeria when his schedule will permit." Bill Gates was scheduled to  meet with President Jonathan, state governors and officials of the Federal Ministry of Health in respect of the aggressive polio eradication campaign in the country. Read full report here:  http://peoplesdailyng.com/why-bill-gates-shelves-nigerias-visit/

Member-elect accuses Tambuwal of bias

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for House of Representatives from Anambra East/West Federal Constituency and former President of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS),Comrade Tony Nwoye, has accused the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, of refusing to swear him in after the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC had issued him a certificate of return. Nwoye, in a statement in Lagos at the weekend said he was declared the winner of the House of Representatives election held on 26th April, 2011 but instead of being issued a certificate of return as required by law, one Ameke Chriscato was issued the certificate in June 2011 despite the fact that the person in question never participated in the election. According to a document dated 13th July, 2012, Nwoye secured an order of mandamus mandating INEC to recognize him as the candidate of the election and issue him a certificate in obedience to Supreme Court judgment of 9/6/2012 that Ameke Christaco, John Ameke and others never participated in the said election in Anambra State. INEC, while complying with Supreme Court's directive, issued Nwoye certificate of return on 16th July 2012 and accordingly, withdrew the same earlier issued to Ameke Chriscato. Nwoye then proceeded to the National Assembly, did his appropriate documentation with the office of the Clerk and was scheduled to be sworn-in on several occasions but since then, the leadership of the House has refused to do the proper thing. Tambuwal was later advised in a letter dated 12th September 2012, to swear-in Tony Nwoye, the advice which the Speaker reportedly jettisoned having purportedly persuaded Legal Service Director to change his opinion on the ground that Christaco Ameke had a motion for stay of execution pending at the Court of Appeal, Enugu state. The motion for execution was then discharged accordingly, the Appeal Court sitting in Enugu on 27/02/ 2013, struck out the said motion for stay of execution for lack of prosecution. Hon Tony Nwoye wrote to Mr Speaker and Clerk of the National Assembly in a letter dated 27th February, to swear him in because the only reason the National Assembly refused to swear him in has been cleared," the document said. http://peoplesdailyng.com/member-elect-accuses-tambuwal-of-bias/

Lagos needs N26bn to fight Ocean surge

Lagos needs N26bn to fight Ocean surge Ayodele Samuel,Lagos Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola said the state will require about N26billion in the next three years geared towards finding a lasting solution to the frequent ocean surge as well as protecting the state's shoreline against over shooting its boundary in the nearest future. Governor Fashola was speaking on Wednesday at the opening ceremony of the 5 th Climate Change Summit held at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. Sharing his experience about the Kuramo ocean surge last year, he said the state government was taken unawares by the surge as there was no budget towards mitigating the effects and consequences of the surge in the 2012 fiscal budget of the government. The Governor recounted, "In the implementation of last year's budget, we did not conceive that the uncompleted part of the Eko Atlantic City would be overrun by the ocean. The Kuramo surge late last year came and took away walls of properties from the end of Ahmadu Bello Way right down to Alpha Beach". "We didn't budget for that, we didn't see it coming, but what did we do? In the last quarter of the year, we called all the departments together that everybody must contribute some capital votes so that can start an urgent protection of all of the properties on the road, right down to Alpha Beach". He said the efforts of the state government has seen about N6billion committed to the protection of the shoreline so far, lamenting that the government is yet to receive any assistance from any quarters. "But it gladdened my heart and I am sure I speak the minds of my colleagues when we went there last week and we saw that the shoreline that was already on the fence of those properties is now residing and giving residents a breather". He said the Eko Atlantic City project has also contributed immensely to the protection of properties within the Victoria Island axis from being overtaken by the ocean, affirming that "If that project had not been started, we would not have been here today. Many of the houses that were abandoned and real estate have come back, jobs have returned to that coastline". He said the Climate Change Summit was not another talk shop, but a sincere call for all to begin to adapt to the threats of climate change saying that natural disaster was fast killing more people than war" He added that the focus has shifted from talking climate change to understanding the dangers and threats it poses. He noted that man's quest for survival has distorted the course of nature and planet earth was gradually reaping the consequences. "We are in a constant battle and nature will continue to fight back, we need to slow down and change the way we do some things, that's the heart of the adaptability and what this Summit addresses> Once we agree to slow down on some things, nature will also pull back". Stressing that the state government has engineered policies on climate change mitigation and adaptation, he said over 1000 drainages spread across 24 local governments in the state were being cleared to reduce the incidence of flooding across the state during this year's rainy season. In his welcome address, Commissioner for Environment, Tunji Bello said the previous summits have clearly shown the state's commitment to the development and evolvement of a climate change conscious society so as to lay the foundations necessary to counteract the prospective global threat. He said this year's theme; "Vulnerability and Adaptability to Climate Change in Nigeria with particular focus on Transportation, Housing and Infrastructural Sectors of Lagos State" was apt for the present time. He said the objectives of the summit will seek to promote and sustain an infrastructural system that is environmentally friendly and geared towards reduction in carbon emission. Published in Peoples Daily Newspaper, 14 March 2013, Page 5

Al-makura! 'Nasarawa 4' must not die in vain

For over three weeks, the Nasarawa State University community had suffered non-availability of Basic amenities (water and electricity supply) without the authorities of the University either explaining the reasons for the lack of these essential amenities to the students and the entire community or making efforts to fix the problem or make alternative arrangement for the supply of the amenities before the students embarked on a peaceful protest to drive home a demand .A demand for what is right, a demand of good live yet a demand that take away four promising lives, it remind us of the 1986 ABU massacre. Deploying armed military officers and police personnel to employ the use of excessive force to quell civil protest by students who were not armed was very wrong and unreasonable -though the University management denied inviting them to quell the protest ,no official explanation or excuse can erase the guilt of the army as their act was  brutal murder of innocent protesters demanding decent welfare conditions. While I place the responsibility to ensure safety of its students either protesting or not on the University management, Governor Tanko Al Makura still remains the Chief Security Officer of the state, he should explain to Nigerians, who invited soldiers to quell a legitimate protest, who killed the students as the police and Nigerian Army are finding it difficult to take responsibility. He should pay adequate compensations to the families of victims and recommend ways to forestall future occurrence. It should be stressed that students protesting lack of basic amenities do not deserve to be killed. Those students should not be allowed to die in vain. Those responsible must be brought to justice. http://www.weekend.peoplesdailyng.com/index.php/opinion/issues/669-al-makura-nasarawa-4-must-not-die-in-vain

Maku: A scam is a scam

Ayodele Samuel Labaran Maku is a foremost comrade, vibrant student union leader, articulate politician, former activist per excellence turned reactionary, Nigeria's Minister for Information and leader of the now most criticised 'Good Governance Tour' who, it would seem cannot differentiate between a scam and a scam. The tour of projects across the country, either failed, uncompleted or poorly executed by contractors is a blatant waste of public funds and will be best described as another of one of the hundreds of scams of the present government which Maku represents. Even the blind know that good projects don't need to be toured before people know they are in the interest of the public, but let's pretend that the policy is masses oriented and face the scam buried in it - based on the alarm sounded by the Edo state government last week. - Already, the Federal Government had set aside funds for the tour; yet a multi-million naira proposal as revealed by Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole was to be bank rolled by the state government to support the course. The question is - What happened to the funds provided for the Good Governance Tour in the first instance? Maku must tell Nigerians and the world with all honesty at the end of the tour, how much it cost the nation and state governments in undertaking the tour of all federal government project sites across the nation and the benefits to the country's economy. What has this tour cost the respective state governments and where is this development model copied from? Nigerians are not too blind to see good projects where they are. We have heard of performing state governors without multi-million naira tours. Why should Maku force us to remember that the PDP-led Federal Government has performed below any sane government in the world or want us to pay from the Federal Government purse for lies and propagandas we have been fed with since the 14-year reign of PDP? Did Maku's team visit South-east roads, the Otukpo-Gboko road in Benue state, or the Ikom-Calabar Road in Cross River state? What of the abandoned Benin-Ore Road? Nigerians lack basic amenities; all indices across trhe country point at the absence of essential services and the abnegation of governance. Yet, Maku and his train went on a good governance jamboree - gamboling across this massively deprived country while making deceitful speeches on television. Methinks the minister has been using the opportunity to build a political career; campaigning ahead of 2015 in an obliviously wrong way. Can Maku since the beginning of his tour show Nigerians one major highway his principal has completed in the last four years in office? Or any project of significance to the populace this government has embarked on since 2009. What is the importance of this jamboree on 50 million unemployed Nigerians youths? How has the tour shown good governance to the people? The falsehood in Maku's tour shows in his praise singing of all the governors, which runs according to the dictates of the payer calling the tune for the piper. My verdict: This tour is an orchestrated scam - the most ingenious in recent times and given a national scope and political approval of Maku and his masters. Nigerians are watching! http://www.weekend.peoplesdailyng.com/index.php/opinion/issues/670-maku-a-scam-is-a-scam