When it was rumoured that Bamanga Tukur was going to be appointed the
\nChairman of the Nigeria railway corporation, I thought it a huge joke.
\nThat is a very critical sector to be toyed with. It is not a sector where
\nwe should be playing politics with. It is a sector that needs a young
\ntechnocrat, not some old politician,I thought. To cut it all short, I did
\nnot believe the rumour. Alas the announcement was made and it was Tukur
\nindeed who was appointed to head that sector. That was compensation for
\nhis removal as the PDP chairman. The president had said he was going to
\ngive him a tougher job and I asked myself,has Chief Bamanga Tukur not
\nserved us enough? Will he be unreasonable enough to accept the
\nappointment? When will he retire and leave the stage?. Appointments like
\nthis drag us steps behind. Are we supposed to,in this time and era be
\ngiving critical appointments out as compensation for God knows what? We
\ncannot get there with appointments like this. It\u2019s time we started putting
\nright pegs in the right holes .
\nTechnocrats, willing to work, abound in this country (and in Diaspora) and
\nit is time we started to engage them. The importance of the railway sector
\ncannot be over emphasized apart from the fact that it is a very good
\nalternative to the roadway transportation. This kind of appointment
\nreminds one of Chief Anenih\u2019s appointment as chairman of the NPA not so
\nlong ago. These guys are guys whose better days are far behind them.
\nWhen the BMW saga as well as the certificate scandal broke out, the sack
\n(or resignation) of Mrs. Stella Oduah was inevitable. It was just too
\nmuch. In fact most people think the decision was made too late. In other
\nclimes, Stella(if she resigned) would have resigned long time ago ,or
\nshould have been sacked by the president(if he indeed sacked her)since.
\nWhether she resigned or she was sacked, the fact is she has left the scene
\nand rightly so. She as far as I am concerned was not doing badly
\nRELATIVELY, but she had to go. There is no excuse for corruption. Our
\nairports, the environment as well as the runways et al can be better. They
\nare nowhere near comparable to the standards in other countries, even
\nthose countries we are better than. That is one critical sector. The shape
\nof a countries airport tells the visitor what to expect in such country.
\nIf your airports are in bad shape, then the first impression of the
\nvisitor is the country might be nothing to write home about. Sadly, our
\ncountry is nothing to write home about( today) and our airports kind of
\nconfirms that.
\nThat said, I think the president does not need to play politics this time
\naround with the appointment of who succeeds Stella. That sector needs a
\nvibrant and sound technocrat. The sector needs someone who knows his
\nonion. That is a sector not to be used for favouritism. Our aviation
\nsector can be one of the best in the world. Some of these countries that
\nhave out of this world kind of Airports are not run by aliens. We have the
\nresources to make it happen, and with sound enthusiastic minds at the
\nhelm; who says our aviation sector cannot be one of the best around?
\nLet\u2019s take a trip to the Niger delta. This is a part of this country that
\nhas suffered a lot. This is a region that produces most of a country\u2019s
\nwealth and is nothing to write home about. How you can be the source of a
\nwhole country\u2019s wealth and the most popular means of transportation is
\nboat beats me. Not enough bridges, No potable water (of course it\u2019s all
\ncontaminated with the same oil), no roads, nothing!
\nUntil the struggle got abused, I was in support of those that felt
\ncheated and demanded for a change, hence the protest by whatever means. It
\nwas late President Yaradua (may his soul rest in peace) who thought it
\nright to create a ministry to oversee the Niger Delta. The ministry was
\nset up to make for infrastructure development, environmental protection as
\nwell as youth development. I thought this was a mean feat and also
\nbelieved the end to the suffering of the masses of the Niger Delta is in
\nsight. Years after, here we are. Just ask an ordinary Niger Delta the
\nimpact he has felt with the coming of this ministry, you are sure to get a
\nnegative response. Why will that not be, when you have someone in charge,
\nwhose interest is not even in running the affairs of the ministry in the
\nfirst place. It did not take days after the minister of Niger Delta was
\nsacked for him to declare for Delta State governorship. I am wondering
\nhow he will convince the people of delta that he will take them to the
\nPromised Land, what with his performance as the head of the Niger Delta
\nMinistry. Just as I said as regards the Aviation ministry, Chief Orubebe\u2019s
\nreplacement should also be a sound technocrat. The president needs to
\nappoint someone who has passion for change. That ministry needs someone
\nwho is not distracted, someone who genuinely cares. It needs someone who
\nhas a plan and can strongly convince the government at the centre (with
\nhis plan) to release more funds for the development of that region. The
\ngovernment is not so daft to see a good blueprint and ignore same. This is
\nno time to play politics with appointments. In fact time is running out.
\nThe Niger Delta is yelling for change and it is time to give them that.
\nThey have been in agony since we struck oil in Bayelsa. It is to say the
\nleast unfair.
\nIt’s time we started having competent hands man our ministries as well as
\nother public institutions as doing otherwise does the country no single
\ngood.
\nIt did not take long for the president to replace the service chiefs that
\nwere sacked recently. I really do not know the criterion for the
\nreplacements, what I care about is the protection of the ordinary people.
\nIt was the Chief of defense staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh after his
\nappointment, who said the terror in the Northern part of the country will
\nend by April. That as far as I am, concerned is not an intelligent move.
\nYou want to shoot, shoot don\u2019t talk. He should have just gone about his
\nplan discreetly and let his actions speak for him. That is what Nigerians
\nwant to hear now, actions. Words? We got tired of that long ago. If terror
\nin the North is going to end in the next two months, how in the world did
\nBoko Haram kill close to 200 people over the weekend?
\nThe president already made that change (service chiefs), I sincerely hope
\nhe made the right decisions as the early signs are not encouraging at all.<\/p>\n
WHILE WE ARE AT IT….<\/p>\n
My sincere condolences go out to the family of Mr John Ndubuka. He was the
\nPersonal Assistant to Chinedu Orji, the son of the Abia State Governor. We
\nknew way back from our days at Government College Umuahia. The
\ncircumstances surrounding his death two days ago are somehow worrisome. He
\nwas shot to death at a Rally in Umuahia is what we heard. We are yet to
\nhear by whom and for what reason. What he killed by the police? Was it an
\naccidental discharge? Was it deliberate? So many rumours have been flying
\nabout, but we do not want to dwell on rumours at this point.
\nThis is calling on the police to do all it can to make sure the killers of
\nJohn Ndubuka are found out and rightly prosecuted. Just imagining the
\nagony the family will be in, especially his young wife and little son. The
\npolice should bring those responsible to book, if for nothing else, for
\nthem.
\nRest in Peace Johnny .<\/p>\n
Chiechefulam Ikebuiro
\nthalynxis@yahoo.ca
\n@thalynxis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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