Happenings

Environmental pollution has become part and parcel of daily life in major cities in Nigeria as a result of the lack of political will by the appropriate authorities to enforce relevant laws.

Street trading and hawking on the main road, road verges, medians, setbacks, drainages, pedestrian bridges and walkways have become permanent features in these cities, since those responsible for the menace are well wishers, supporters and loyalists of political office holders.

Even though there are designated market locations, Those-in-Charge are very reluctant to wield the big stick because of the urgent need for political preservation. Indeed, pickpocketing thrives in these locations, as it has become a veritable source of income with the covert cooperation of commuters, transporters and law enforcement personnel.

The free flow of human and vehicular traffic would continue to be hindered in these cities, if the political overlords today fail to facilitate not only the regulation of street trading and hawking, but the enforcement of relevant laws in this respect.

Note- The conferment of national awards and prize giving have little or no impact on the citizenry, in the face of hunger, poverty, unemployment and insecurity. Those-in-Charge ought to leave behind legacies that would impact positively on impoverished Nigerians

To be successful, it is imperative you develop the ability to engage with people, and motivate and inspire them to achieve success.

Make people the first on your priority list in your line of business. Success and happiness are crucial and intertwined, for the best results in whatever you do.

However, you must not forget to give adequate attention to your family.

Interact regularly with your colleagues at the workplace as this brings about the opportunity to discuss prospects, ideas, and suggestions that would put you ahead of competitors.

Furthermore, interactions serve as forums to set goals and apportion responsibilities and re-emphasize the need for the best practices while on the field.

The first priority in the workplace is the people. Make yourself always available and accessible to your colleagues and ensure you arrive at decisions collectively.

Think of immediate solutions to personal problems while ensuring that regular meetings and discussions are held to address challenges. A sustained compassionate leadership would put you at the forefront of your industry. Finally, do not relent to maintain your standard.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – United States Attorney Alexander M.M. Uballez announced today that Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Jeremy Peña will lead the efforts of his office in connection with the Justice Department’s nationwide Election Day Program for the upcoming November 8, 2022, general election. AUSA Peña has been appointed to serve as the District Election Officer (DEO) for the District of New Mexico, and in that capacity is responsible for overseeing the District’s handling of election day complaints of voting rights concerns, threats of violence to election officials or staff, and election fraud, in consultation with Justice Department Headquarters in Washington.

“Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination and to have that vote counted in a fair and free election,” said United States Attorney Uballez. “Similarly, election officials and staff must be able to serve without being subject to unlawful threats of violence.  The Department of Justice will always work tirelessly to protect the integrity of the election process.”

The Department of Justice has an important role in deterring and combatting discrimination and intimidation at the polls, threats of violence directed at election officials and poll workers, and election fraud. The Department will address these violations wherever they occur. The Department’s longstanding Election Day Program furthers these goals and seeks to ensure public confidence in the electoral process by providing local points of contact within the Department for the public to report possible federal election law violations.

Federal law protects against such crimes as threatening violence against election officials or staff, intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input.  It also contains special protections for the rights of voters, and provides that they can vote free from interference, including intimidation, and other acts designed to prevent or discourage people from voting or voting for the candidate of their choice. The Voting Rights Act protects the right of voters to mark their own ballot or to be assisted by a person of their choice (where voters need assistance because of disability or inability to read or write in English).

United States Attorney Uballez stated that: “The franchise is the cornerstone of American democracy. We all must ensure that those who are entitled to the franchise can exercise it if they choose, and that those who seek to corrupt it are brought to justice.  In order to respond to complaints of voting rights concerns and election fraud during the upcoming election, and to ensure that such complaints are directed to the appropriate authorities, AUSA/DEO Peña will be on duty in this District while the polls are open. He can be reached by the public at the following telephone numbers: (505) 224-1451 and (505) 269-2038.”

In addition, the FBI will have special agents available in each field office and resident agency throughout the country to receive allegations of election fraud and other election abuses on election day. The FBI Albuquerque Field Office can be reached by the public at 1-800-CALL-FBI or (505) 889-1300.

Complaints about possible violations of the federal voting rights laws can be made directly to the Civil Rights Division in Washington, DC, by phone at 800-253-3931 or by complaint form at https://civilrights.justice.gov/ .

“Ensuring free and fair elections depends in large part on the assistance of the American electorate,” said United States Attorney Uballez. “It is important that those who have specific information about voting rights concerns or election fraud make that information available to the Department of Justice.”

Please note, however, in the case of a crime of violence or intimidation, please call 911 immediately and before contacting federal authorities. State and local police have primary jurisdiction over polling places, and almost always have faster reaction capacity in an emergency.

Source-FBI

It is very disturbing that the lack of scale and coherence feature prominently in most of the initiatives to address the youth empowerment challenge in Nigeria. The population of youths who are gainfully employed in the critical economic and social sectors is very discouraging. Indeed, a sizable number of the population do not possess relevant digital skills to fit into these sectors. Indeed, a lot still has to be done to the psyche, value and attitude of the youths in this clime, to enable them to have access to decent work and productive employment.

The government at all levels have, over the years, failed to equip young Nigerians with globally sought-after skills to ensure that they are useful not only to themselves, but also to society. In the absence of the interventions of the government and the Organized Private Sector(OPS), the youths have now embraced lawlessness, crime and all forms of criminality as credible means to ends and the political class are taking full advantage of their development.

Note- A number of state governments have persistently covertly supported lawlessness, crime and criminality.

In many state capitals, the brazen and daring attitude of those who are believed to be the supporters and loyalists of these state governments is the major discussion in every mouth.

These sets of people trespass on landed properties which do not belong to them. The heavy presence of roadside car outlets and make-shift shops has become an eyesore on the environment.

The Nigeria Baptist Convention among several others has a lot to state about its landed property and trespassers situated at the Scout Camp area of Ibadan, Oyo state.

Free and fair elections are the cornerstone of American democracy. Individuals who oversee and participate in the administration of elections to include poll workers, volunteers, and election officers, help safeguard the integrity of the democratic process. The FBI continues to prioritize identifying, mitigating, and investigating threats targeting election workers and provides the following information to assist the public in reporting threats of violence against election workers.

Threats to Election Workers

Threats to election workers not only threaten the safety of the individuals concerned, but also jeopardize the stability of the US electoral process. The FBI defines “election workers” broadly as individuals who have responsibility over one or more aspects of election administration in the U.S., including elected officials, appointed officials, staff, volunteers, contractors, vendors and liaisons. Specific examples of election workers include, but are not limited to:

A Secretary of State or someone in their staff

An employee of a state or county’s board of elections

An individual volunteering at polling stations

Clerks handling and counting casted ballots

There are various means in which threats can be communicated to election workers, such as telephone communications, social media posts, e-mail communications, as well as in-person. Regardless of the manner in which the threat or harassment is conveyed, the FBI takes all threats of violence targeting election workers seriously.

What the FBI is doing

In June 2021, the Department of Justice, in close partnership with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, established the Threats to Election Workers Task Force (Task Force) to identify, mitigate, and investigate reports of threats targeting election workers. The Task Force receives and assesses reports of threats targeting election workers to determine next steps, in consultation with the Department of Justice.  

Victim Reporting and Additional Information

The FBI encourages the public to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to their local FBI field office. For additional election-related assistance and resources, please visit the following FBI webpages:

Election Crimes and Security

Protected Voices

Consistent with past practice, the FBI is providing this information to ensure that all qualified voters have the opportunity to cast their ballots and have their votes counted free of discrimination, intimidation and suppression in the upcoming Nov. 8, 2022, general election.

Source-FBI

The Powers-That-Be had, in the course of time, lamented that age was a limitation to the capacity to deliver the much expected dividends of democracy to millions of impoverished Nigerians.

Indeed, in 1999, a presidential aspirant and a former Governor of Old Andambra state, Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu had explained, stressed that no sacrifice was too much for national unity and progress.

This was after the merger of the Alliance for Democracy(AD) and the All Peoples Party(APP). Almost eight years later, the APP changed its name to the All Nigeria Peoples Party(ANPP) after the merger with the United Nigeria Democratic Party(UNDP), Dr. Onu was elected the party's national chairman and three years later, the ANPP merged with four other political parties to form the All Progressives Congress(APC).

Today, Dr. Onu, who by 2023 will be 72, remains the second presidential aspirant from the South East, after Dr. Alex Ekueweme of blessed memory, even though presently he is not a presidential candidate.

Interestingly, the former Old Abia state Governor has been a consistent and busy political ally of the Commander-in-Chief, all these years.

Of note, is the fact that Nigerians of the South East extraction have continued their agitation that Nigeria's next President must come from their geo-political zone, while the most prominent choice, to achieve this end, spends valuable time in the diaspora.

This is obviously a source of discomfort for several Nigerians, who believe that such action is unfortunate, in the face of urgent internal issues that remain unattended to.

I want to encourage our people, South Easterners, to continue in their prayers trusting God, because I can see God's hands at work trying to use a personality from the South East to deliver and secure Nigeria.

To use a personality from the South East as a messiah like God used Moses in the Bible.

And I can see a lot of good things, positive things beginning to happen when that person gets into the position of President, and I am very happy because that person is a person of integrity, and he respects everyone from the North, everyone from the South.

I have never heard him using any foul or abusive language on any personality.
That scores him very high, gives him very high marks in my own assessment. I hail him for that.

I don't like the way, for whatever reasons, anybody is using abusive language on anybody, it is not good for our politics, it is not good for our country, Nigeria, because that is how war started in many African countries.

Throw me, I throw you.  We must not fight another war in Nigeria.

But I am appealing to everyone to stop using abusive words against anybody, just make your point that would be contributing to the peace of the country.

All the presidential candidates contesting are good materials, but so many things would have to be put into consideration.

One, conscientiously putting our conscience into use, let us ask ourselves the question as people who fear God and worship God among all the contestants, who among them can be chosen, and the question becomes balanced as we are searching for the peace and unity of the country.

If truly we are searching for not only peace and unity, but also progress. Among them, we know those of them, who come from the zone that has produced the President for several years in the past and present, and also those among them from the side where the presidency has not gotten to them for once.

That is one of the criteria I am looking at, then the age of each one of them, knowing our country Nigeria as a country that is so large and the challenges of Nigeria are numerous and needs somebody who is younger and agile.

Then, I want to plead with all Nigerians not only Igbos, to look at the whole issue critically-justice, equity and fairness because when in a family you have 3, 4, 5 or 6 children, all must benefit, others have benefited, or a particular section has benefited, then when it is supposed to be the turn of another section, everybody jumps in, including those who have benefited, it is not the best for the country.

It is like a situation where we are three in a family and in the plate of soup we are eating from, there are three pieces of meat and one person takes one, another takes the second meat and the third meat is left for the last person, but instead of allowing the third person to take it, the others scramble for it.

There is no fairness in that, there is no justice in that. But if the three pieces of meat are shared equally among the three persons, this would contribute greatly to the growth, peace and unity of the nation.

So, the last person should be allowed to take the third meat, that is the essence of been Christians, Muslims and Traditionalists, we all believe in God. Had it been in the particular family in question, one of them is not qualified, that would be a different matter entirely. Thank God, someone has sprung up in the South East, who is over qualified in all ramifications.

So, I appeal to Nigerians to look at the issue with conscience and the fear of God.

Finally, I appeal to everyone to cease from using abusive words against each other, it is not the best for the country. Let's apply the live and let's live approach and the country will enjoy, peace, unity and more progress.

Let everybody remember what I said earlier on that all the candidates are good materials, so this very one coming from the South East is a good material and younger. So to me, the law of justice and equity favors him more.

Eze( Dr.) Anozie is the Ezeigbo, Ezechukwujiegosioluebube nala,Ibadan and Oyo state and Chairman Non-indigenous Traditional Heads, Oyo state

Labor leaders have been advised not to be involved in partisan politics as the 2023 general elections draw closer.

This advice was given by the chairman of the Non-Academic Staff and Associated Institutions Union (NASU), Comrade Kehinde Abiona in a caht wiht People.

''It behoves a union leader to be very careful in discussing politics with politicians. These times of political campaigns, politicians are out looking for ways and means to woo workers and trade unions, but after elections they disappear.''

''It is not expected of any civil servant to be partisan. You must not carry the toga of any political party. However, trade unionism cannot be separated from politics. We should watch our backs.

NASU has never been in any secret meeting with any candidate. We only met the Labor party candidate on May day and he signified interest he would like to come around. We in NASU UCH branch, Ibadan have never met any candidate of any political party.

There is a tiny line between trade unions and political parties,''Comrade Abiona stated.

In another development, members of the union in UCH, Ibadan at a congress held on Wednesday resolved that general election is the way to go for the union and that  financial members should be allowed to participate in the process of electing leaders in the general election mode and not the process wherein a few elect delegates.

The congress noted that some Heads of Department were in the habit of handpicking delegates for the union, while also reaching a consensus that the present administration, as led by Comrade J.K Abiona should be allowed to continue the good work it had been embarking on beyond 2023.

In addition, the congress passed a vote of implicit confidence in the leadership of the union at the state council and national levels under the able leadership of the President,Dr. Barrister Makola Hassan and the General Secretary, Prince Peters.A. Adeyemi.