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National Assembly and Yar’Adua’s CBN nominee
IT seems President
Umaru Yar’Adua is
adamant on going ahead to name a northerner as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor.
From all indications, it seems the president wants to name Mr. Sanusi Lamido, the Managing Director of First Bank as the now CBN Governor.
Despite the call for the president to respect the federal character principle in the constitution, it seems he still wants to go ahead with that nomination.
I now want to use this opportunity to call on the National Assembly not to accept any candidate that does not conform with the federal character principle.
At the moment, Nigeria is at the mercy of Northerners.
All the juicy positions in the Yar’Adua administration have gone to the Northerners, leading the Southerners to share irrelevant positions.
The National Assembly is the voice of the people in the country, and members must reject a nomination like this that does not reflect the principle of federal character.
The National Assembly should not be a rubber stamp of the executive, rather, members should stand up and fight for what is right.
This reminds me of the members of the National Assembly who fought against former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s third term ambition.
This is, however, a legislative arm should function. It must be able to check the excesses of the executive.
We hope the members of the National Assembly will once again write their names in gold and fight this injustice against the rest of the country.
Kenneth Akabue,
kenbee@gmail.com
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Democracy Day: Why we could not celebrate
May 29, 2009 was supposed to be a day that Nigerians, both at home and abroad, would have
celebrated a decade of successive democratically elected administrations; a day to be celebrated because in itself, it was supposed to end the pains and hardship of a betrothed citizen full of anxiety and expectation. Democracy Day, as it is called, is meant to be a day that is worthy of note, a day of celebration because it commemorates the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999 when Chief Olusegun Obasanjo took office as President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria after 16 years of military rule.
However, instead of celebrating 10 years of uninterrupted democratic governance, which many patriots, over the years, fought and won to enthrone, even by laying down their lives, while others suffered incarcerations and untold hardships, Nigerians have nothing to celebrate.
While it is true that the executive, legislature and judiciary celebrated what they call “Democracy Day”, the entire masses saw the day as a day the three tiers of government marked their success in plugging the Nigerian people into more hardship, suffering and agony.
We could not have celebrated a day which marked 10 years of human wrongs. We could not celebrate a government that has no focus and no plans for the society. We could not celebrate when the poor are suffering, and living in perpetual state of decay. How would one have celebrated democracy when, while the poor were thinking about how to get the next meal to sustain them to the next minute, some people were thinking of how to amass wealth and others thinking of buying fleet of cars?
Nigerians could not celebrate when human rights records remain poor and officials at all levels continue to commit serious abuses, and as long as Nigerians continue to wallow in abject poverty and grave human rights abuses, Democracy Day will continue to be for those in government and their accolytes alone, and not for all Nigerians.
Adewale Akintayo Olugbenga,
Faculty of law,
Obafemi Awolowo University,
Ile -Ife.
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On Abbe’s statement
Permit me to use this medium to bare my mind on
the recent statement credited to the Minister of Interior, Gen. Godwin Abbe (Rtd), on the Nigerian citizens who were deported back into the country from various parts of the world.
In his statement, he said: “I am concerned about these Nigerians brought in from various countries of the world: Europe, America, South East Asia, indeed other Africa countries. A number of them come with various habit and attitudes; they come in defeated, they come back aggrieved and armed with all sorts of ideals that are anti-social in nature.”
This is not what is expected of a minister. Instead he should admit the failed leadership in the country.
If this country is well governed and the necessary infrastructure in place, why would Nigerians run to foreign country?
Lucky Enoma,
12 Lenthrope Road,
London SE3 9GH UK .
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