Last week, Hon Declan Mbadiwe Emelumba, Imo State Commissioner for Information / Strategy announced that the government is seeking to borrow fresh N10bn Loan. The commissioner who, spoke to newsmen at the end of the weekly State Executive Council, SEC, meeting at the Imo State Government House, Owerri, further clarified that the said Loan would be used in the construction of ongoing road projects in the state. We have had cause on several occasions in the past to say that, borrowing by government or, organizations or, even individuals, is never…
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Imo Assembly complex: Another Mbakwe Legacy On Brink of Collapsing
Nigeria democracy, like democracies all over the world was conceived on a tripod – Executive, Legislative and Judiciary. They were supposed to be equals carrying out inter related and inter dependent functions for the growth and development of society. At the same time they are supposed to act as check on one another to forstall excesses. However, in the Nigeria context this is not what obtains as the executive seems to hold all the aces due to its control of the treasury from the federal to the state level. This…
Read MoreSouth East Governors’ Ebubeagu Security Outfit: Another Empty Rhetoric?
Last Sunday, April 11,South East Governors, working under the aegis of South East Governors Forum, publicly announced the formation of Ebubeagu Joint Security Outfit. The announcement came with so much fanfare and ceremony, and that initially seemed to have made people excited by the news. However, the early morning celebration seemed to have evaporated after the Governors Forum official communique from the meeting/ security summit hit the public space. Majority of those who reacted after reading first hand the document were of the opinion that the whole exercise was merely…
Read MoreOwerri Easter Sunday Attack: One Too Many.
Last Easter Sunday attack on Owerri, the Imo State Capital was one attack too many, because since the state was created in 1976, it has never witnessed anything like it. The entire state is still shell shocked and speechless, while national gaze is on a state hitherto regarded as relatively peaceful amid galloping insecurity across the country. What that unprecedented attack has forcefully succeeded in achieving is that it has unequivocally demonstrated that nowhere and no one is safe again in Nigeria. In other words, it seems to have lent…
Read MoreSouth East Governors and Alleged Herdsmen Massacre in Ebonyi, Enugu
It was long foretold that someday the insecurity that had held Northern Nigeria hostage would make a disastrous landfall in the South East Zone. Security intelligence had pointed to that inevitable scenario while warning of disaster if proactive steps were not taken to nip it in the bud. Individuals and groups yelled and shouted in similar manner but, the governors of the region who are constitutionally empowered to secure life and property of their citizens looked the other way. Sadly, that prediction has come to fulfilment today as shown by…
Read MoreAs Imo Town Unions Go To Poll This Week
The Association of South East Town Unions, ASETU, Imo State Chapter will be holding election to select new leadership to pilot its affairs on Saturday, February 27, 2021. Consequently, it has become very important to call on members of Association to ensure that they get it right in the forthcoming election. ASETU in the state in view of the critical position Town Unions occupy in the governance and leadership structure in the state, as well as the role they play in the growth and development of their respective towns and…
Read MoreIncreasing police personnel involvement in criminality and need to sanitize the force
The increasing number of checkpoints on South East highways has become a source of concern to the people of the zone. Aside the incessant road block or checkpoints, the activities of some of the policeman at those checkpoints also leave much to be desired. A civil society organization, Inter-Society, was reported to have put the amount of money allegedly extorted from motorists on South East roads alone; in the region of N100 billion. This tends to defeat the objective for which these security agents are deployed to maintain security. In…
Read MoreThe electorate and imperative of choosing good leaders
The 2019 general elections are here with us. On February 16 2019, Nigerians will be going to the polls to elect the president and members of the National Assembly. A few weeks after the national elections, the electorate will also file out to elect their governors and members of the various states Houses of Assembly. The coming election like previous elections in the country has generated a lot of tension and dust that fears are now being expressed in many quarters that it may be marred by violence and bloodletting.…
Read MoreNeed for INEC to conduct credible elections
There have been allegations from opposition political parties that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC wants to rig the coming general election especially the presidential election in favour of the ruling APC. This allegation although not yet authenticated is nevertheless a source of concern. Although INEC has come out to deny the allegation we are still constrained to call on INEC to do everything within its powers to conduct a credible, free and fair election. We feel the electoral umpire has no other option than to conduct an election that…
Read MoreCase against Buhari’s suspension of CJN, Onnoghen
President Muhammadu Buhari’s announcement of the suspension of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Walter Onnoghen has continued to draw comments from within and outside the shores of Nigeria. President Buhari had on Friday last week, announced the suspension of the CJN, reportedly relying on an order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal regarded in some quarters as “an auxiliary judicial panel that addresses assets filings of public officials” rather than a regular or full- fledged court. Prior to his suspension Friday, Justice Onnoghen was dragged to the Code of…
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