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Toe Part Of Honour, OBJ Tells Yar’Adua President Out Of Hospital – PDP
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to toe the line of honour following his protracted illness and absence in the country.
The former president who barred his mind at the annual Trust Dialogue organised by the editor of the Daily Trust remarked that since he can no longer deliver quality leadership to the people then there is a path of honour based on moral principles.
Chief Obasanjo, who absolved himself from the choice of President Yar’Adua to succeed him said at the time of the campaign and elections, Yar’Adua health had shown serious improvement and stability.
He admitted that he was aware that the president had an ailment but said medical report presented to him indicated that he had successful kidney transplant.
He said: I was aware that he had a kidney transplant. In short when he was governor he was away for about six months”.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s ruling party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), says President Umaru Yar’Adua has been discharged from a Saudi hospital, though it did not say when he will return to Nigeria.
Reports earlier this month said President Yar’Adua had left the King Faisal Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was staying in VIP quarters attached to the facility.
In a statement, Tuesday the PDP confirmed the president has been discharged from the hospital and said he expressed hope of returning home as soon as possible.
Yar’Adua has made no appearances and has given only one brief radio interview since being flown to Saudi Arabia, November 23, 2009.
Vice President Goodluck Jonathan has assumed effective control of the government in his absence.
Officials have said Yar’Adua is suffering from a heart condition, acute peridcarditis. The president is also known to have a chronic kidney ailment and has travelled abroad several times in the past for medical treatment.
A federal court ruled last week that Jonathan can carry out presidential duties while Yar’Adua is away without a formal transfer of power.
However, federal judges are still considering three lawsuits seeking to have Jonathan sworn in as acting president.
Opposition groups have expressed fears of a power vacuum in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation and a major oil producer.
Officials have said repeatedly that the president is improving and talking to aides on the phone.
Also based on the awareness of the growing discontent within the polity, Senators who spoke on the issue on the condition of anonymity, noted that it was the legislature that was on trial.
One of them said, “There is nothing personal about this. We all wish the President well but we have a country to build. And we can no longer watch our country go down the hill.
The senators are seeking to be allowed to openly deliberate on the provisions of Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.
Section 145 reads: “Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.”
However, the three senators from Katsina State namely Ibrahim Ida, Mahmoud Kanti-Bello and Garba Lado were said to be organising a counter-force. None of them was reachable on the telephone as at the time of filing this report.
The three legislators had tried unsuccessfully to dissuade their colleagues from debating the issue when it came up last Tuesday. They, however, succeeded in “watering down the outcome.”
Mark had, as reported in the media on Monday, declared that President Yar’Adua was yet to breach any provision of the constitution even when civil society groups insisted that section 145 of the constitution was not complied with.
He was quoted as telling reporters in Lagos on Monday that “there is none (constitutional crisis) yet on his absence from office.
“The civil service rules are quite different from the constitution and so far, the President has not breached any constitution with his absence.”
Meanwhile, former Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida has congratulated the Senate for the matured manner in which it was handling the matters of state.
He said this when the Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba led Senate delegation to paid a condolence visit to him over the death of his wife Mariam, in Minna, Niger State.
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Our Legacy’ll Leave Lasting Impression On Rivers People -Fubara
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has assured that his administration will collaborate and continue to consult widely in delivering a liberated State experiencing enduring peace.
Fubara said, in doing so, he would not operate as a dictator but as a member of a team that has the best interest of the State at heart and determined to leave a lasting legacy that can be celebrated.
The governor spoke during the formal presentation of Certificate of Recognition and Staff of Office to the Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, King Ateke Michael Tom, as first class tradition ruler, at Government House in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Fubara stated that, during the Sixth State Executive Council meeting, N80.8billion was approved with 50 percent contract value paid already as the Government awarded the construction of the Elele-Egbeda-Omoku Road.
He said the project will be funded from the savings from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to underscore his administration’s prudence without also borrowing to complete the project.
“We are at a crossroad in our State where we all need to stand for what is right. It happens once in a life time. So, for now, be one of those people that will be in the course to liberate and free our dear State.
“And I know strongly that having the support of a peace-loving Amanyanabo of Okochiri Kingdom, having the support of the wonderful Council of Chiefs, having the support of the great people of Rivers State, we will bring peace in our State. We will do those things that are right to develop our State.
“We will continue to consult. We will not act as dictators. We will act as people who know that one day, we will leave, and when we leave, the way we have acted will speak for us. We will not force people to talk good about us. Our legacy will be a signature for how we led”, the governor said.
Fubara explained that he acted within the ambit of the law to upgrade the traditional stool upon which King Ateke Tom sits in recognition of his efforts in promoting peace in Okrika, and indeed, the State, and urged him to continue to do justice to everyone.
In his speech, Commissioner for Chieftaincy and Community Affairs, Hon Charles Amadi, congratulated King Ateke Tom for being formally presented with the Certificate of Recognition and Staff of Office as first class traditional ruler.
Also speaking, former Transport Minister, Chief Abiye Sekibo, thanked the governor for fulfilling his promise of upgrading the traditional stool of Okochiri Kingdom, and pledged the support of Kirike Se people to his administration.
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We’re Determined To Leave Legacy Of Quality Education -Fubara
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has promised to give the best attention to the education sector so that standard and quality learning will never be compromised in the State.
The governor emphasised that in achieving such legacy, schools in the State will be driven with a curriculum that will equip school-aged children to become competitive, innovative and self-reliant.
Governor Fubara made the assertion while inaugurating the Governing Council of Rivers State University at Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
He said: “There is a lot of noise everywhere: people asking what we are doing; that we are not focused, and that we don’t have direction.
”But I want to tell the world that we are focused and aware that we cannot grow if our energies are not channeled to education. Not just education, but purposeful education.
”Education that is creative. Education that gives you independence. We have left the era in the world when you speak too much grammar. We are in such times when it is what you can do with your hands.
”Our purpose for education is that we should bring back our academic programmes to where, at the end of your studies, you don’t need a job but you create jobs. When one creates a job, you automatically employ others. That is what I want this council to see as their task.”
Governor Fubara noted the non-existence of public secondary schools for the male child in the Diobu axis of Port Harcourt.
He said such negligence leaves children in that area who have completed primary education, and whose parents cannot afford sending them to far away secondary schools, to roam the streets, and therefore becoming willing tools for criminality.
Governor Fubara assured that such fundamental problem will be addressed by his administration as a measure to curb the negative impression associated with Diobu axis of Port Harcourt.
The governor said he trusts in the capacity of the members of the Governing Council of Rivers State University to bring about positive change in the institution while also contributing their quota to improving the general education standard in the State.
”I charge you, not just in terms of administering the affairs of the university, but let us add something different from the normal things that we already have to see new things.”
In her response, on behalf of the other members, the Pro-Chancellor of the Governing Council of Rivers State University, Justice Mary Odili (rtd), thanked the governor for finding them worthy to serve in such capacity.
Justice Odili assured they will work assiduously as a team to solve the problems that agitate the mind of the governor and ensure their contributions form part of the legacy that will be bequeathed by his administration.
The members included Justice Mary Odili (rtd) as the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council with Barrister Mela Oforibika and Chukwuma Chinwo, Esq.
Others were Adata Bio-Briggs, Esq., Dr. Jonathan Nimi Hart, Ngo Martins-Yellowe, Dr. Nancy Nwankwo, Dr. Igoni William-Park, and Mr. Ogbugbu Barisua.
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Fubara, Others Eulogise Rivers First Lady’s Mother
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, his Deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, and key stakeholders of the State on Wednesday paid glowing tributes at the Service of Songs held in honour of late Mrs Adeline Jaja, mother of the wife of the Governor, Lady Valerie Fubara, at St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, Mile 1, Diobu, Port Harcourt.
Speaking at the event, Governor Fubara described his late mother-in-law as a great and visionary woman who lived on truth and conviction in what she believes.
“Mama was a great woman. She wasn’t a materialistic person. When she believes in you, she’ll be all out for you. She stood for me. I feel pained that, like my own mother, she left at this moment.
”Mama believed so much in God, and the wonders of God. I thank everyone, particularly the Church. On behalf of the bereaved family, we will support the Church to immortalise her name,” the Governor said.
In his homily, Vicar of the Church, Ven. A. A. Ijon-Ama, who spoke on the gains of death, said physical departure from earth was not an ultimate end but an opening for higher and permanent gain and perfection.
He pointed out that when a man has a good relationship with God, he stands to gain more in death.
Ven. Ijon-Ama described late Mrs. Adeline Jaja as a devout Christian, who exuded deep sense of hospitality, and endowed with accommodating spirit, noting that she will be greatly missed by all.
The Vicar, who prayed for the repose of the soul of Mrs Adeline Jaja, also solicited for Divine fortitude for the family to bear the great loss, and called for the immortalisation of the deceased to keep her good legacies alive.
Some family members, who spoke at the Service of Songs, extolled the virtues of the deceased, describing her as “a great community leader, counsellor, peace maker, and caring mother, who provided for the needy, and participated actively in Church activities.
Highlights of the event were special prayers for the bereaved family, conducted by the Anglican Bishop of Evo Diocese, Rt. Rev. Innocent Ordu; remarks by key family members, choir ministration, among others.
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