Perhaps one regrettable outcome of the recent public protests by Nigerians on the removal of the fuel subsidy by the federal government is how it has revealed the wide polarisation of the country and how government can use that division for selfish purposes. It is clear from the outset of the crisis that Nigerians, irrespective of their ethnic background, were unanimous in their dislike to the government’s policy. It is also clear that protesters across the country expressed their dislike to that controversial policy of government from every length and breadth of this country.
Author: Odeworitshe Okafor
The Convener of the Save Nigeria Group and Serving Overseer, Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, on Tuesday said the mass action embarked upon by Nigerians to protest the sudden increase in the cost of the price of petrol succeeded in humbling the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.
The Lagos state House of Assembly has described as provocative and undemocratic the decision of the Federal Government to deploy soldiers on the streets of the state in a bid to prevent protests over the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol. The House took the position on Tuesday at a press conference.
The leadership of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) has adopted austerity measure following the delay in securing the League title money weeks after the commencement of the new season. Impeccable source hinted The Eagle Online that the winner of the NPL Title Right, Total Promotion, is yet to pay the agreed fee into the coffers of the League Board.
The Executive Director of Ondo State Football Agency (OSFA), Mike Idoko, has explained why the management of the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) side, Sunshine Stars of Akure contracted ex-Barcelona midfielder, Gbenga Okunowo. Speaking with The Eagle Online, Idoko said that unknown to many soccer pundits, Okonowo still has a lot to offer.
Two former heads of Nigeria, General Yakubu Gowon and Alhaji Shehu Shagari, have endorsed the manner in which the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, resolved the crisis over the withdrawal of subsidy on petrol correctly. Gowon, who spoke on behalf of Shagari, said that there could not have been a better way to resolve the issue.
Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, today paid petrol stations in Ado Ekiti, the state capital, unexpected visits aimed at ensuring that they complied with the new pump price of N97 per litre. Fayemi had earlier on Monday directed the Petroleum Task Force to monitor the filling stations in the state and ensure that petroleum products were available and prevent the citizens from being shortchanged. The governor, who drove himself in a private Toyota Avensis, started the monitoring at about 11am. The monitoing took him to nearly all the filling stations in the state capital. At a filling station in…
A former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Prof. Tam David-West, has said that Nigerians are subsidizing corruption and fraud with the present regime of prices for petroleum products. David-West, who spoke shortly after organized labour called off the strike to protest the increase in the price of petrol, disagreed with labour on the step taken.
Following the suspension of the nationwide strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, action will resume in the Nigeria Premier League (NPL) this weekend. The acting Executive Secretary of the NPL, Tunji Babalola, said that the forced break was necessitated by the nationwide strike.
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has condemned a published statement credited to President Goodluck Jonathan in which he seemed to lend credence to the meaningless propaganda that the bulk of the so-called government subsidy on fuel is being consumed by Lagosians.
The Lord Bishop of the Diocese of Lagos West, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, The Rt. Revd. Dr. Peter Awelewa Adebiyi, has taken a swipe at the military invasion of Lagos State following the collapsed discussions between the Federal Government and the organised labour on Sunday before its eventual resolution on Monday.
Suspected members of Boko Haram on Monday shot dead five person in Maiduguri, Borno State and Damaturu in Yobe State. While two persons were killed in Maiduguri, three, who were Chadians, were killed in Damaturu. According to a report by Reuters on Monday, the Victor Ebheleme of the military task force in the North-East states confirmed the Maiduguri killing.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Monday raided the offices of the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency and that of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation as part of the mandate given to it by President Goodluck Jonathan to uncover the truth behind the disbursement of subsidy funds.
In the past, journalist Chris Hedges has worked for NPR, The New York Times and the Christian Science Monitor. In his latest endeavor, however, he is teaming up with an unlikely pair: a couple of attorneys that will help him take on the president.
Indications emerged at the weekend that the Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, that administers the fuel import regime with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, gave some influential people, including a United States-based jeweller known for designing expensive wristwatches for ministers, allocations to import fuel as gifts from the Federal Government to compensate for their political support.
In the past eight days through strikes, mass rallies, shutdown, debates and street protests, Nigerians demonstrated clearly that they cannot be taken for granted and that sovereignty belongs to them.
The Nigeria Labour Congress, Kano State chapter, has defied the order of the national body to suspend the strike over the increase in the pump price of petrol
The President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has vowed to ensure the country remains one. Jonathan, who spoke at the 2011 President’s National Youth Service Corps Award today in Abuja, said that he would not allow anything that would lead to the disintegration of the country.
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has hailed the reduction in the price of petrol announced by the Federal Government and the suspension of the weeklong strike by organized labour.
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and a host of prominent Nigerians have condemned the deployment of the military for the stoppage of protests in Lagos State. The ACN described it as one of the most egregious and anti-democratic actions taken by President Goodluck Jonathan since assuming office. In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the President even outdid the brutal military dictators of the past by using the military as an instrument to suppress a peaceful protest by unarmed citizens.