The Lumine News

Category: Opinion

Lagos Based Lawyer Emphasises Need For Human Capital Development, As A Way To Move Cross River State Forward

A Lagos based lawyer Barr. William Ballantyne has stressed on the importance to encourage human capital development in the state as a way of moving the state forward.

In a telephone interview with journalists in Calabar, he said “We do not have people with critical minds who can think critically. That is why we have to introduce a different Educational system which will entail basically critical thinking for future development that will lead to the advancement of our State”

He said there was need for government and political leaders in the state to concentrate on human capital development as a way of economic and socio-political development of the state.

Barr. Ballantyne who is also a senior member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, also described as unfortunate the suffering faced by the displaced Bakassi people said ” it was their choice to agree to come and settle at a Primary School in Akpabuyo, leaving their ancenstral land behind”

The legal luminary who faulted the decision of the international court to cede the oil rich penisulayto the Cameroon however accused the political elites in the state of being too selfish at the detriment of the people.

Barr. Ballantyne who has contested to represent Bakassi, Akpabuyo and Calabar south federal constituency at the federal house of representatives has spent the last 16 years lending his voice to several serious issues in the state, especially as it concerns the displaced people of Bakassi.

December 26, 2020
Dealing With #FakeNews From Government. By Agba Jalingo

Government has been accusing citizens and the press of peddling “Fake News” and pushing multi-pronged efforts to suffocate channels of information dissemination.

I agree,

It is true that there is #FakeNews.

It is true that individuals are peddling #FakeNews.

It is true that the media is peddling #FakeNews

It is also true that #FakeNews is doing incalculable damage not just to society but also to public trust in the media profession.

It is also true that the media space needs to self-regulate to weed out #FakeNews.

But there is one truth also that is missing from this whole gamut.

That is, Government is the biggest peddler of #FakeNews.

What effort is been made to ensure that #FakeNews from government is curbed?

Who should be the fall guy or fall babe when government peddles #FakeNews?

In the various #SocialMediaBills pushed around, what are the prescribed punishments for #FakeNews from government?

Why does GOVERNMENT, who is arguably the biggest dispenser of #FakeNews, feel that it has a duty to control something it is as guilty of, as those it accuses?

Let me give you some examples of what I am talking about.

1. Every home in Nigeria got COVID 19 palliative – Humanitarian Affairs Minister. #FakeNews

2. Only 10 Kankara school boys were abducted – Shehu Garba #FakeNews

3. Boko Haram has been technically defeated – Buhari #FakeNews

4. I have created 20,000 new jobs in Cross River civil service – Ayade #FakeNews

5. Our government is doing everything to fight corruption – Buhari #FakeNews

6. Fashola finds camera a #LekkiTollGate – #FakeNews

7. Nobody died at #LekkiTollGate – FG
#FakeNews

8. Government is not fixing fuel prices, the sector has been deregulated – FG #FakeNews

When all these offensive lies are dished out to the public by a government, who should be held accountable and with what legal instrument?

Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo

December 20, 2020
If You Want To Win God’s Favour, Do Not Depend Too Much On Human Approval – Peter Abue

FAVOUR
Somewhere in the Bible, it says, “…God shows no partiality. Rather, in every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him” (Acts 10:34). Mary was humble, upright, and did what was acceptable in the sight of God. Hence, she was favoured by God through the angel, Gabriel (Luke 1:26-28). Through this divine favour to Mary came the incarnation or Christmas as we know it today and since then the world has not been the same again.

David was another recipient of God’s favour; but because he failed to live a humble and upright life, God did not want David to build a house for him. Rather, God sent the Prophet, Nathan, to tell David that his son Solomon would be the one to build the temple and that his posterity will reign forever (2 Sam 7:1-16). The book of Chronicles gives the reason for the change in plans: You have shed much blood and you have waged great wars; you may not build a house in my honour, because you have shed too much blood upon the earth in my sight” (1 Chr. 22:8-10). Eventually, Nathan’s prophecy was fulfilled and a descendant of David who would reign forever; Jesus, the son of Mary, was born.

The lesson here is that God uses upright and peaceful people to bless the world. Although David was favoured, he let himself be misused by men and so he lost his favoured position.
God’s word is irrevocable. Sometimes, we wrongly think that we can buy favour from God or misuse God’s favour; we think that things will always remain the same. God’s favour is earned not negotiated. The greater lesson here is that God blesses human beings abundantly and can use us for divine things, but sometimes we mess up big time. Don’t be deceived by the way men run around you, to think you are favoured, so anything goes. No. Indeed, it’s not so. At the end of the day, the verdict of human beings may not necessarily be that of God.

Mary earned God’s favour through her cooperation with the grace of God, which she fought to preserve. David, on the other hand, abused this favour through over-indulgence in his humanity. If you want to win God’s favour, do not depend too much on human approval, but always seek to know and do God’s will. Through you, God might choose to bless your family, your community, or the larger world like he did through Mary at the first Christmas. Remember, nothing is impossible with God, so gear yourself up and be ready for God’s favour this coming year. “Do not be afraid…You have found favour with God” (Luke 1:30).

Rev. Fr. Dr. Peter Obele Abue

Is the Vicar General of the Of the Catholic Diocese of Ogoja, and Parish Priest of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish, Igoli.

December 20, 2020
In Nigeria, Count The Cost Before You Ask For Power To Your Region – Agba Jalingo

In Nigeria, Count The Cost Before You Ask For Power To Your Region

Under OBJ:

While former President Olusegun Obasanjo, from the South West region was in power, Human Rights Watch said in a report released in February 28, 2003 that, “the O’odua People’s Congress (OPC), an organization based in the south west, has killed or injured thousands of people over the last few years.” The 58-page report, “The O’odua People’s Congress: Fighting Violence with Violence,” provides detailed accounts of killings and other abuses by the OPC from when the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo took power in 1999.

According to the report, “testimonies gathered by Human Rights Watch, confirmed that the OPC had played a central role in the violence in Ajegunle. In other cases, OPC members publicly killed and mutilated alleged criminals in the course of their vigilante work in the south west. They also attacked and killed policemen.” Obasanjo, a Yoruba man, got so frustrated and angry that in 1999, he declared a ban on the OPC, which I doubt has been lifted.

Under Yar’adua:

Upon his death, the Time Magazine of Thursday, May 06, 2010 said Obasanjo’s successor, former President Umaru Musa Yar’adua “did not look like the most promising of leaders.” He died and left behind a ceasefire and amnesty deal with militants in the oil rich Niger Delta and a Taliban style Islamic terrorist group in his northern part of the country. In fact, it was President Yar’Adua, a northerner, who first ordered a military crackdown on Boko Haram in 2009 following the group’s daring attacks on sensitive locations in his own northern Nigeria.

Under GEJ:

When former President Goodluck Jonathan took over, though violent agitations and militancy had been preponderant in the Niger Delta region where Jonathan comes from, his rise to power also saw the rise of violence again to the peak in the Niger Delta region with thousands of deaths and economic sabotage that nearly crippled the oil producing communities. His own region became one of the most violent in the world with near daily records of kidnapping for ransom, deaths and pipeline sabotage. By the time he left, thousands had been killed in the Niger Delta.

Under GMB:

Until General Buhari took power, Katsina was very scanty in the news, even with religious extremism. But since Buhari took over, not just northern Nigeria, but even his own home state, Katsina has become inhabitable as it were. Even after signing peace deals with the criminals, the State and the federal government are overwhelmed by the audacity of militia leaders who incessantly abduct, rape, raid, maim, kill and enslave thousands in Katsina and neighbouring states. These are things that hitherto, couldn’t be imagined in Katsina until their son became President and chief security officer of the country.
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With this trend, it is possible to extrapolate that the next region that will produce the next President should also include in their plan, how they will deal with violent insurgency from their own people especially. Their governors should also start preparing to count bodies and include insurgency appeasement bills and amnesty plans in their budgets.

This way, the country can consolidate and boast of her “enviable achievement” from rotational presidency and cement her place as one of the most flourishing AK47 economies in the world.

Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo.

December 13, 2020
Sandy Onor Walking His Talk In Ikom Main Market, By Ori Owan

The book of Proverbs chapter 29:2 clearly posits: “When the righteous is on the throne, the people rejoice.”

The Ikom main market is agog with excitement and jubilation, following the Distinguished Senator Professor Sandy Onor’s historic intervention in addressing the gross infrastructure deficit in the market. It’s now visible to the blind and audible to the deaf that Senator Onor is a shinning example of effective representation in the Central Cross River State. As a strategic driver of the economy of the Central Senatorial District, the Ikom main market holds a special place in the scheme of things. This reality inspired this visionary legislator to step in with to ameliorate the seemingly intractable challenges faced by buyers and sellers at the market.

Those who have long memories would remember that in the preceding years of electioneering campaigns, Senator Professor Sandy Onor had told his constituents in Ikom Local Government Area that the main market would receive a special boost in the event of his emergence. In his characteristic manner, this economic maestro and legislator of distinction has not reneged on that social contract with the people.

This could be manifestly gleaned from the laudable achievements and giant strides of his representation. In fulfilling his campaign promises for instance, the “errunandu” and people’s Senator as he is fondly called, has done quite a lot for the ordinary traders of the main market in his short stay in office. Just like his recent response to the fire inferno in the market, Sandy Onor has again intervened to better the lot of both traders and residents of the Ikom Main Market by awarding for construction, two sophisticated boreholes in the market.

It is evidently clear, that Senator Sandy Onor is fulfilling his campaign promises to the people at the grassroots. This, he has done through several projects executed in the Senatorial District in recent times to ameliorate the pains and suffering of his people could state as a matter of fact, that his “Messianic” emergence in 2019 as a Senator representing Cross River Central, has laid to rest, the false narrative of the past. He emerged and reset the political clock of the district in the early life of his administration. And within a short time, the “balance sheet” has convincingly shown an impressive accomplishment of the dividends of democracy.

The contract as facilitated by Senator Sandy Onor, for the construction of two boreholes, when completed, has the capacity of feeding the entire Ikom main market and neighbouring streets. Thus, the hitherto ordeal of the market women and the entire traders who had to trek long distances to draw water from “Mankono”,”Atim Aka”,as well as “Akpara water”in Calabar road has been addressed to the admiration of all and sundry.

The construction of these boreholes, therefore, has ended this long suffering of traders and business men in the market. This, perfectly explains why some overjoyed and excited traders were moved to tears of joy, as they bowed in prayers, with appreciation to God for bringing Sandy Onor into the stream of leadership, noting that past administrations have come and gone without accomplishing any tangible thing and that, Senator Sandy Onor’s visible achievements have placed him far greater than the false claims of his traducers.

Sandy Onor is not a greenhorn in politics. Hence, as an iconic character imbued with the art and business of politics, the traders and people of Ikom local government will continue to feel the national presence as a result of Senator Sandy Onor’s golden voice at the precincts of the Senate.
I do not want to interrogate history in this short piece. Since history is “the ocean of past social facts”. Doing so would amount to writing another compendium which the doubting Thomases may not be able to read and exhaust in the entire century.

However, it is pertinent to remark that his excellent tract records and rich pedigree affirms the notion that indeed, he will do more and exceed the expectations of the good people of Cross River Central in the next few years.

November 22, 2020
Freedom, Like Most Things In Life, Doesn’t Come By One-off Actions, It’s A Product Of Cumulative Consistency – Agba Jalingo

By Agba Jalingo

Whatever you want to be free from will never want to let go. I am sure you know.

Be it poverty, slavery, ignorance, pestilence, or bad governance. Their claws evoke identical pinch. You have to be consistent, cumulatively, over a period of time that isn’t in your control to ensure incremental progress. It’s a journey, not a destination. A baton a generation must hand to another and another.

See our black brethren in the US, over two hundred years, they have been marching and protesting against police brutality. They have become free yet still in chains. But they are still marching. Their old and young. Marching for more than 200years now. Just to have the police treat them right.

But we just started our own in the real sense. Our own oppressors will not give up. They will come back at us. Brutalize us more. Intimidate us. Instill fear. Try to break our ranks and will. But we must stand strong and determined.

We must keep our eyes on the long haul and train our will for a tortuous trek. I am referring to all of us. Not just the youth now. Every suffering peoples of Nigeria. Wherever we are.

Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo.

November 22, 2020
He never listened —by Chief Ray Morphy

He never listened

1. I told him to concentrate on citizen-enhancing projects spread across the LGAs, he ignored, he never listened.

2. I told him to forget his MoUs and concentrate on skill acquisition for our youth. I told him to use the Togolese model and the Indian model where they trained their youth and then export them as skilled-trained labor who will in turn repatriate Dollars and help boost the economy. He never listened.

3. I told him to forget those grandiose impossible projects such as super highway and concentrate on fixing and improving the rural road networks. He ignored, he never listened.

4. I told him that our school standards were low! I told him to embark on a massive teacher recruitment and education upgrade program. He ignored, he never listened.

5. I told him to appoint experienced hands who would look him in the face and correct him. He didn’t want that, he knew all things. He never listened.

6. I told him to reduce the greed and the playing around. I told him that government was a serious business that requires thinking and thinkers, not just a food-on-the table approach. He ignored he never listened.

7. I told him that he will regret his approach to governance. I told him that the thing will rotten and smell in his hands and he will be cited as the worst governor ever. He ignored the sane free advice, he never listened.

8. I told him to concentrate on projects such as roads and finish them before embarking on other ones. I told him it was wrong to scrape off existing roads and destroy people’s roadside shops when he had no intention of speedily doing the roads, of course he ignored. He never listened.

9. I told him that our people needed rural hospitals and rural roads, boreholes and enhanced markets. I told him our people needed to be empowered through cooperatives. I told him to stop his obvious family-based nepotism since the entire state voted for him, the entire state should benefit from government. He ignored, he never listened.

10. I told him not to abandon the nearly completed roads of the previous Liyel Imoke’s administration, he ignored, he never listened!

Now he knows that I was right. And I am still right. What a wise gifted thinker sits down to see, a comic on a tall tree can never see it.

Now you you know WHY I RESIGNED THAT APPOINTMENT! Today, I stand tall because I am vindicated! But I am saddened by the wasted years!

I am Chief Ray Morphy
Mgba Ntol, Njoram Mfan, Ovar Okan, Nkpume Utonkor! Shaman!
Former Special Adviser to Gov Ben Ayade on Strategy and National Contact

Disclaimer: The opinion expressed in this article are strictly that of Chief Ray Morphy and does not represent The Lumine News or its staff.

November 4, 2020
#EndSARS Protest Is Not Just An Indictment On The Nigerian Police Force, It Is A Call For Change In National Polity – Fr. Peter Abue

By Admin

As the demand by the Nigerian youth to end all forms of harassment, intimidation and brutality against the citizenry through the instrumentality of the Special Anti Robbery Squad SARS, by the government that whose role is to protect lives and properties, a revered teacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Ogoja and Parish Priest of St. Thomas Aquinas parish, Igoli-Ogoja, Cross River State Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Peter Obele Abue has stated that the #EndSARS protest is not just an indictment on the Nigerian Police Force, but a call for a change in national polity.

Fr. Obele took to his verified Facebook account to share his thought tagged: “GIVE BACK”

“Give back to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God (Matt. 22:21). A lot of interpretations have been given to this statement of Jesus and sometimes, without reference to the source. Politicians have used it to say that Christians should not meddle with Politics. Christians have used it to argue that the state should not interfere in religious concerns. The actual words that Jesus Himself used were “give back” and although He was speaking in a particular context of the society in which he lived, His words are still relevant to us today. His words were an answer to the basic economic, political, and religious questions that bothered the people of his day against the backdrop of the oppression of the Romans authority over the Jewish people. And Jesus replies to them using the phrasal verb, “give back.”

“The ordinary man on the street of Nigeria is using Jesus words to argue that they must be given what they hav a right to and that brings us to the ugly situation prevalent in our country today. The youth of Nigeria are demanding that what has been taken away from them be given back. The question is: what has been taken away from the youth and citizens of this country? Nigerians are saying that their freedoms, their right to live and move about in peace has been trampled upon by the Nigerian police under the auspices of the so called Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and so calling for its abrogation #EndSARS.

“#EndSARS in Nigeria is not just an indictment on the Nigerian Police Force, it is a call for change in our national polity. As the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) have said today “The Nigerian government must realize that what the youths on behalf of Nigerians clamour for under the code name #EndSARS is a total reform of the entire Police Force and not a change of name. They call for a reform of our government institutions and a reform of our entire nation. They are asking for a system that will be hard on crimes and criminals in the society within the ambience of the law. While at the same time treating every human being, citizens and visitors alike with respect and dignity”.

“For us in Nigeria today, the first lesson is clear; it was Caesar’s image on the coin, so “give back to Caesar” implies a moral and civic duty first for the State to give back to its citizens what belongs to them. The state does not give back by sustaining a delapidated system; failing to care for its law enforcement department, encouraging the brutalization of citizens and denying them their rights. Citizens also give back to Ceaser (the State) by looking out for the common good, paying taxes (the same coin) and contributing their best as civic workers. Citizens do not give back by breaking the civil system and arguing all the time that the system is corrupt.

“More importantly still, Jesus says Give back to God what belongs to God. This means nobody has the right to dominate or oppress others, for we are all created in God’s image. The brutalization of human beings by the police including exploitation of youth, women and children, are ways of stealing the human person from God. We must give back to God what belongs to him by treating others with dignity. Its time we begin to review our ways as a nation, making amends and ending all forms of inhumanity especially that pepertrated by the State on innocent citizens. Just as the coin must be returned to its owner, the emperor, because it bears its image, so we must return to God the creature that bears its image (read Gen. 1:27). #EndSARS”.

October 17, 2020
Senator Imoke Constructed Interlocking Kerbs To Safeguard Other People’s Lives, God Used His Good Work To Save His Life – Eko Atu

God rewards good works.

I need to tell this story especially for those of us who find ourselves in position of authority, or hold one office or the other in trust for the people.

I recall when Imoke came onboard as governor, he awarded the contract for the interlocking kerbs from the bottom hill to the summit of the Obudu ranch resort.

This was to further secure the lives of visitors to the ranch who use their cars up the ranch. It could be recalled that so many lives have been lost on the Obudu ranch mountain road either due to break failures or other mechanical faults.

So it became necessary to assure visitors of their safety while commuting up and down the ranch.

H E, then Senator Ben Ayade had lost the Mum and as usual with Imoke, went to Obudu to first attend the vigil night and the church service the next day.

We left Calabar a little late for Obudu. I drove with H E, the Deputy Governor in his car; while Senator Ndoma Egba drove with H E Imoke.

We had a good time out with H E, then Senator Ayade who given his sociable nature ensured everybody on the convoy was well taken care of.

We departed Obudu a little late that night to sleep over in the ranch so we could come for the church service the next day.

For some of us who have visited the ranch especially going up the ranch at night will attest to the fact that the ranch at night becomes foggy. Midway on our journey up the ranch, H E, the deputy governor looked back in the foggy weather and said to me that he can’t sight the headlights of H E cars.

He then asked his driver to make a U turn, but it was dangerous given that the whole place had become so foggy. We got down and started trekking back to see if we could sight the headlights of H E’s convoy.

We had trekked for some 30min down the hill, when we sighted the headlights of the convoy. When we reached where the cars were, we realized there had been an accident involving H E. Apparently, the driver had slept off and the car was going into the ditch. The CSO who was Infront manuvoured the steering and the car came crashing on the kerbs.

H E had a fracture on his right hand which kept him away from work for several weeks because he needed an operation.

I just remembered that incident and I ask myself, if those kerbs were not in place; the obvious may have happened.

So when you are in office or position of authority, build that health centre, because you may never know if the first aid you need to survive in an emergency would be provided by that facility. Build that school because the child who goes to that school, might become a medical doctor tomorrow who might save your life.

God rewards good works, and because Senator Imoke had constructed those interlocking kerbs to safeguard other people’s lives, God used his good work to save his life.

October 12, 2020
Ayade Industries….Before They Shut Down – By Agba Jalingo

By Admin

Even with the chequered history of the Cross River state government in managing state owned companies, governor Ayade insisted from take-off that he believes government has business doing business.

He didn’t stop there; he argued his point very explicitly, citing similar models from other parts of the world. Additionally, he has created a cluster of industries that are supposed to provide jobs for Cross Riverians and revenue to decouple the State from federal allocations, in the words of the professor governor.

In the Ayade Industrial Park, unmistakably visible from the aircraft as you touch down Margaret Ekpo international airport, along the Goodluck Jonathan by-pass in Calabar alone, we have:

1. Cross River state Garment Factory.

2. Cross River State Rice Seeds And Seedlings Factory (Rice City).

3. Cross River State Pharmaceutical Production Company (Calapharm).

4. Cross River state Chicken Processing Plant (Calachika).

5. Eastern Instant Noodles (CallyNoddles).

6. The Fabrication Academy of West Africa is also located in Calabar but not in the Ayade industrial park.

7. There is the Banana Plantation and Processing farm in Odukpani. (That one is already dead sef.)

8. Poles, Piles and Pylon factory in Akamkpa.

9. Ekori Toothpick Factory. I don’t know which market I have seen it, not even in government functions.

10. Ultra Modern Cocoa Processing Factory in Ikom.

11. Ultra Modern Rice Processing Mill in Ogoja.

12. Roof tile Manufacturing Plant in Ogoja.

13. Groundnut Processing Factory in Bekwara.

But these projects are as highfaluting as they sound. Only the garment factory and the rice city have people who still resume for work with all the bottle necks and they are still paid from government purse like civil servants, while the other companies are at various levels of construction, some barely taking off, some stalled. I am not quite sure about the present state of the Ekori toothpick factory. Even the government does not patronize its own toothpick.

The State House of Assembly has repeatedly expressed concerns about the sustainability of these companies and asked the governor to privatize them. The Speaker and the Majority Leader of the House have said in different fora that the companies were gulping more from government purse than they generate and urged the governor to privatized them. The House also passed a resolution to that effect.

Other stakeholders have also expressed worry about the ability of the Ayade government to privatize the assets of the companies transparently owing to the lack of transparency and acquisitionist tendencies of his government.

Also, besides the fact that these industries are over priced due to the different levels of corruption padded into the procurement processes, the shareholding and/or ownership of the Special Purpose Vehicles SPVs that were incorporated to run these companies are shrouded in ominous secrecy. Only governor Ayade, his younger brother and co-governor Franco Ayade, DG Due Process, Alphonsus Eba and Commissioner for Industry Peter Egba, seem to be abreast of those details and they are not willing to tell Cross Riverians the whole truth.

Then, the most excruciating challenge for these companies is that the governor does not have the money and time to see his intentions through. No matter how well meaning he may be, he has put his hands in too many pies and the reality is that, he can only get enough allocation to barely pay salaries and manage to ramp a few things together before he begins his 2023 departure/survival race.

And the possibility is that these companies will not survive after May 29, 2023, after which they will become luxury apartments for reptiles and rodents. And very painfully, the lame excuse as usual will be that “My successor failed to continue from where I stopped.”

But right now that voices of reason are calling for a rethink, the governor will not listen. It is a familiar path. $450million was spent on developing Tinapa by Donald Duke. With all the projections and good intentions, Tinapa failed and the rest is history. Ask Ayade if he continued with Imoke’s projects and why he should expect his successor to continue with his!

I really wish the story will change, that the graph will take a different curve, but the signs are clear that we are not, so yet again, we are on course to building another set of monuments that will stand as a painful reminder of the inability of our governor to blend, vision, passion, fantasy and reality.

Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo.

#968DaysToGo
#AyadeLegacy
#ShineYourEyes
#FollowOurMoney

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are strictly that of Agba Jalingo and does not represent the views of The Lumine News or its staff.

October 3, 2020