LAURETTA ONOCHIE

Oliseh Metuh Is there any one left among Chief Oliseh Metuh's friends who can explain to him the true situation of things in Nigeria? I ask because I am beginning to think that the Oliseh Metuh's of this nation, get really upset that not only are Nigerians now in power, they are also happy with the leadership they chose for themselves.  It's true that Oliseh Metuh, who is now sounding like a broken record, did not correctly read the handwriting on the wall before and during the last election that swept him and PDP out of power. They had it coming but they had plans which did not include the Card Reader. Who is to blame for their misreading the mood of Nigerians who were clamouring for a change of direction but were ignored by the PDP administration of Pres. Jonathan? Who is hounding dissenting Voices? It's also true that during the reign of PDP, they hounded those who did not agree with their oppressive regime using EFCC, the police, ICPC, NDLEA, etc. Ca

Many Nigerians have watched with tongue in cheek as the group known as Ohaneze Ndigbo has paraded itself as the group with the interest of Ndigbo. For starters, let us look at the meaning of Ohaneze Ndigbo. Oha means the ordinary people. Eze means King or in this case, Elites. The phrase Oha na Eze Ndigbo as an organisation would mean an association that is for all Igbo people, irrespective of whether they are elites or ordinary Ndigbo or their social status. But what we have seen in Ohaneze is an organisation that is far from representing the interests of the ordinary Igbo people. The 'Oha' have been completely relegated to the background. For many years, children of school age would be seen at various markets in Eastern Nigerian learning how to use calculators and shunning formal education. Their main ambition, or should I say the life plan for such children by their parents is a life in one of those dingy market stalls, with 10,000 power generating sets and no ventil

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and civil society on Wednesday advocated capital punishment for corrupt officials as obtained in China and India. Making the call at a joint news conference in Abuja, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, and TUC President, Bobboi Kaigama, said the campaign against corruption must be intensified and sustained. To drum support for the anti-corruption crusade of President Muhammadu Buhari, they said the organised labour would hold a mass rally on Thursday in Abuja. Mr. Wabba said the NLC was in support of whatever would address the issue of corruption in the country, including death sentence. “If such capital punishment can happen in China, India and South Africa, it can also happen in Nigeria; whatever measure that will address the issue of this mind-boggling corruption in the country, NLC will support it,” he said. Mr. Wabba noted that corruption had badly damaged the core of the country’s national existen

Abuja – The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Solomon Arase, has ordered an immediate clampdown on persons or group of persons inciting violence and social disorder across the country. This is contained in a statement issued by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olabisi Kolawole, acting Assistant Commissioner of Police, in Abuja on Thursday. The statement explained that the directive became imperative because of recent activities of members of the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign States of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in some parts of the country. It said that the order empowered the police to arrest anybody fomenting any act of violence or disorder, or any act inimical to the security of the nation. The statement said that the following arrests had been made ; Anambra four, Imo six, Delta11, and Abia one. It further warned that all persons so arrested for inciting violence, irrespective of their class or status in the societ

A former governor of Bayelsa State, Timipre Sylva, and a former Nigerian Ambassador to Japan, Emmanuel Otiotio, on Monday submitted their expression of interest and nomination forms for the forthcoming All Progressives Congress governorship primaries in the state. They became the last set of aspirants to submit their forms at the party’s National Secretariat. After submitting his forms, Sylva told newsmen that he is in the race to salvage the state and complete the good work he started but was not allowed to complete before he was forced out by a combination of forces from within and outside the state. He accused the incumbent governor of the state, Seriake Dickson, of abandoning most if not all the projects he executed when he was governor. Sylva said, “As of 2012, we were poised to celebrate in 2013 one year of uninterrupted power supply in Yenogoa city, I had installed turbans and there is a turban that was 93 percent complete when I was ousted. The outgoing government r

President Buhari Nigerian Immigration Service has ordered former Nigerian public office holders to immediately hand over official and diplomatic passports issued to them while they were in office. Vanguardngr reports that the officials says the action is based on the directive of president Muhammadu Buhari.  The categories of officials affected by the directive are former governors, former ministers, former senators, former members of the House of Representatives, and former members of state Houses of Assembly. Others involved are former commissioners, former special advisers/special assistants, former chairmen/deputy chairmen of local government areas, all retired heads of parastatals and retired public servants. “These categories of persons are hereby informed that these passports which were previously held by them have been revoked and should return them to the Nigeria Immigration Service Headquarters Sauka Abuja with immediate effect,” the Comptroller-General of the Imm

A member of the Senate, Shehu Sani, who represents the central Kaduna constituency in northern Nigeria in the Senate, said he was worth 22 million naira and has several houses and cars. Sani on Monday became the first sitting member of the legislature to declare his assets publicly, following President Muhammadu Buhari’s example for greater transparency and accountability in the graft-riddled nation. Sani, a human rights activist who heads the Civil Rights Congress lobby group, said his decision was prompted by Buhari’s “moral standard” for more openness in public life. Buhari last week declared he had no foreign bank accounts or oil concessions, owned five houses but only $151,000 (135,000 euros) at a local bank.  Aides said it was an indication of the 72-year-old’s “spartan lifestyle”. His deputy, former lawyer Yemi Osinbajo, said he had about 94 million naira ($466,000, 418,000 euros) in his local bank accounts, $900,000 and 19,000 pounds in other bank accounts, four