POLITICS
Press Week: There’s huge strength in united Nigeria – Don
Prof. Adepoju Tejumaiye of the Department of Mass Communications, University of Lagos, says there is huge strength in Nigeria being together as a country as against its dismemberment.
Tejumaiye made the assertion at the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Lagos State Council Public Lecture, with the theme: “Nigeria and Nation Building: Overcoming The Challenges Of Security, Restructuring and Self Determination For Progressive Development”.
According to him, Nigeria does not need disintegration but devolution of powers to return the country to the pathway of growth and development.
“This country belongs to everyone of us. I am not someone that subscribes to the dismemberment of Nigeria.
There is a big strength, huge strength in unity.“Let us be together, we are going to achieve our goals but let there be sense of belonging for everybody.
“Population should not be used to share the national revenues, let revenues be shared on equal percentages and we will see that things will change,” he said.
Tejumaiye, the Professor of Media Studies and Political Communications, said that the present system is spoiling and breeding indolence because it doesn’t allow people to use their initiatives.
“Every state in this country has resources, huge. There is no reason why Nigeria should be in debt, that is the truth. What can solve it is devolution of powers.
“Decentralisation is the best way to go. Anything outside that will make this country to remain as it is. There is an urgent need for the devolution of powers to the respective federating units.
“Decentralisation of everything-The Police, Tax System, Revenue System, etc need to be decentralised. If we can get that done, then Nigeria is going to change for better,” he said.
Tejumaiye said that the system in operation before the first coup in Nigeria, where different parts of the country were developing at their pace, is the best.
He said that the country needs to go back to that system because it would solve most of the problems confronting the nation.
“There is need for serious rethinking and this is in our hands. This is the time to get things right,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Adeleye Ajayi, the Chairman, NUJ, Lagos State Council, said that Nigeria has raised the stakes especially in tackling the incidents of economic-induced kidnappings and other crimes.
According to Ajayi, security remains a major challenge in Nigeria but unlike what obtained in the pre-independence period, security problems escalated partly due to the diverse nature of the country.
“The trends leading to this situation are reversible, if serious proactive and sustained measures could be adopted by the government.
“The implication of this is that policy makers have the duty to arrest this drift through social justice and development,” he said.
The NUJ boss said if Nigeria is to develop, there must be leaders who were broadminded enough to campaign for justice, equity and fairness beyond narrow group interests.
The lecture was delivered by Mr Segun Adeniyi, Chairman, Editorial Board, This Day Newspapers, and the occasion was chaired by Prof. Ralph Akinfeleye.
The panel of discussants include Prof. Adepoju Tejumaiye, Head of Department, Mass Communications, University of Lagos, and Dr Jide Johnson of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ).
The press week, which started on Media with a news conference to unfold lined up activities, witnessed novelty matches on Tuesday while Thursday is slated for Chapels’ Rendezvous.
A Jumaat Service at the Lagos State Secretariat Mosque and a Gala /Award Night, at the Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja are slated to hold on Friday.
The council would pay a visit to the Little Saints Orphanage, Abule Egba, and Regina Mundi Old Peoples’ Home, Mushin, on Saturday while a Thanksgiving Service at the Chapel of Christ The Light, Alausa, Ikeja, is billed for Sunday. (NAN)
A two-term member of Edo House of Assembly, Mr Ojezele Osesua, has dumped Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for All Progressives Congress (APC).
Osesua, representing Esan South-East Constituency, announced his defection on Monday in Benin at a news conference held at the APC state secretariat.
The development came less than two months after PDP lost the state to APC in the governorship election.
NAN also reports that the lawmaker was received by members of the State Working Committee (SWC) of the party headed by Jarrett Tenebe.
Osesua said that he decided to dump the opposition party over what he called”irreconcilable crisis.”
He said that his defection was like paying back a debt he owed the ruling when he left the party in 2020, after it had sponsored him to win election in 2019.
“In 2019, I was elected into the assembly on the platform of APC. Due to some challenges, I left the party and joined PDP after one year.
“Though I was elected on the PDP platform in 2023, I have been indebted to APC. It is that debt I have come to pay with my defection,” he said.
On his part, the APC chairman commended the legislator for joining the party.
Tenebe described Osesua as a ‘focused, election-winning’ member, adding: “It’s not APC’s fault that PDP has issues.
“You will recall that during the election campaigns, I said our doors were open and the doors are still open,” he said. (NAN)
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of politicising the recent stampedes in Abuja, Anambra, and Ibadan, where several lives were tragically lost.
In a statement issued on Monday in Abuja, the APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Felix Morka, condemned the PDP’s actions, calling them “grossly indecent, insensitive, and despicable.
”Morka criticised the opposition party for using the national grief over the stampedes to launch a political attack on the APC-led administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Morka stated, “At a time of national grief over the stampedes that resulted in the deaths of citizens, the PDP seized the moment to engage in callous political chicanery.
“Rather than genuinely commiserate with the victims and their families, the PDP chose to politicise the tragedy, blaming the incidents on the APC government.”
He emphasised that the tragedies had united Nigerians in mourning and reflection, with a collective focus on how the incidents might have been avoided through better planning and organisation.
“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the victims and their families,” Morka added.
Morka also rebuked the PDP for exploiting the stampedes to attack the APC, particularly since the current administration was committed to addressing the challenges inherited from nearly two decades of PDP rule.
He reminded the PDP of the 2014 Nigerian Immigration Service recruitment stampede, which occurred under its administration, where many job seekers lost their lives.
“The PDP’s allegations only serve to remind us of its sordid record of maladministration and incompetence,” Morka said.
He noted that the party’s suggestion that President Tinubu’s administration was not committed to the welfare of Nigerians was “mischievous and out of touch with reality.”
He pointed to the current administration’s efforts to invest in alternative energy sources and the introduction of the Credit Corps scheme and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
Morka also highlighted salary reviews for workers and increased allowances for corps members as part of the government’s commitment to improving the welfare of Nigerians.
Morka further highlighted the government’s commitment to provide free and subsidised transportation during the holiday period, approving grants for farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), and other humanitarian initiatives.
He asserted that this administration is “the most people-centric in our history.”
He also dismissed the PDP’s claim that the APC’s policies had damaged the economy.
“For years, successive PDP governments operated a phantom economy riddled with distortions and corruption, deceiving Nigerians into believing the economy was thriving.”
Morka commended President Tinubu for suspending his scheduled activities to honour the victims and expressed condolences to the families affected by the tragedies.
He wished a speedy recovery to those injured in the incidents.(NAN)
By Mike Odiakose, Abuja
Journalists covering the Senate have honoured Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Barau Jibrin, with award on highest number of private member Bills sponsorship.
Records on Private Member Bills sponsorship among serving Senators in the 10th National Assembly , obtained from Rules and Business office , indicated that Senator Barau tops with 21 bills within the last 18 months.
One of the 21 private member bills sponsored by Senator Barau was the NorthWest Development Commission Bill which is now an Act of Parliament legalising the creation of North West Development Commission (NWDC) after assented to, by President Bola Tinubu.
Barau in his response to the honour, said it would make him to do more for his constituents in Kano North Senatorial District and Nigerians generally.
”Your recognition of my legislative inputs in the Senate within the last 18 months, particularly on series of development – driven bills sponsored so far, is something that will energize and propel me further to do more.
“Once you are given an award, it’s a kind of telling you to go and do more. To whom much is given, much is expected.
”This to me also is considered as your contribution to making sure that the legislature remains vibrant.
”Once you identify those who are doing well and you honour them through awards of this nature, that will create some kind of competition and will propel others to do more so that they can be recognized at some other time in the future.
”We can’t perform here in the best manner possible, without your contribution to what we are doing. And you are contributing in a very robust way to what we do here, making us as partners in progress for the good of Nigeria and Nigerians .
”So our relationship with you is sine qua non to our success. We can never succeed without you because without you reporting what happens here , Nigerians can’t know what we are doing,“ he said .
Earlier, the Chairman of the Corps, James Itodo, told the DSP that the honour is strictly on performance as contained in the records and not for any other thing.
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