Thursday, April 30, 2015
Above is a graph drawn by researchers to show countries with highest number of female entrepreneurs in the world.
Nigeria top list of female entrepreneurs in the world
Above is a graph drawn by researchers to show countries with highest number of female entrepreneurs in the world.
293 rescued women, girls are indigenes of Bumisiri village
State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Mohammed Bulama, told journalists that the profiling of the 200 girls and 93 women, rescued by the military on Tuesday, showed that they were abducted from Bumsiri village.
Bulama commended the Nigerian Army for rescuing the 293 women and girls from captivityadding that the government has started making plans to put in place all the necessary structures to rehabilitate and integrate the freed 293 females back into the society. PUNCH reports that he said:
“These girls and women rescued are still our daughters as much as the Chibok girls and we have to commend the military for liberating them, hoping that the rest will equally be liberated.
Though everyone had thought they were the Chibok girls because of the hype surrounding the abduction of the girls, but we should not lose sight of the fact that they are as important as the Chibok girls and those that are still in captivity, which we hope would be liberated soon.
But at the moment, we are looking up to the time the 293 women and girls would be handed to us so that we can begin the process of rehabilitating and reintegrating them back into the society.”The Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Mallam Isa Gusau, said the military’s operation that led to the liberation was “gratifying regardless of whether or not the rescued women were part of the over 200 schoolgirls stolen by insurgents at Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14, 2014.”
Boko Haram allegedly heading to South Africa to bomb them for killing Nigerians
According to the Zimbabwean news website, the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) issued an intelligence report warning that the Islamist militant group is in Zimbabwe en route to neighbouring South Africa.
ZimEye added that the South African intelligence service has alerted police officers in Zimbabwe’s Matebeleland region about Boko Haram’s intentions to infiltrate South Africa.
Other Zimbabwean media outlets have picked up the story. One outlet, Harare24, claims, “Officers were yesterday called for duty at around 9pm and are now temporarily stationed at selected police stations where they camp.”
iHarare reports that police spokespersons have not responded to a request for clarification on the original ZimEye report, and official statements from the government of Zimbabwe regarding Boko Haram’s potential presence in Zimbabwe do not appear to exist.
The Matebeleland region borders South Africa, where the jihadist group may seek to “carry out revenge attacks for the ill-treatment of several Nigerian nationals in the ongoing xenophobic attacks” that have left seven people dead and displaced thousands more from their homes, notes the news website.
Boko Haram released a propaganda this month threatening to kill South Africans in retribution for the wave of xenophobic violence affecting Nigerians and others in that nation, though it was believed that Boko Haram members would find and kill South Africans in the areas where they operate: Northeast Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon.
Boko Haram reportedly released a video nearly two weeks ago urging South Africa to end the xenophobic attacks taking place within its borders.
Zimbabwe’s online news outlet iHarare reports that in the video, which has not yet been verified as authentic, Boko Haram warned that it would execute all South Africans in Nigeria, Chad, Niger, and other surrounding countries if the government of South Africa failed to contain the situation.
President Jonathan sacks MD, Nigerian Ports Authority
A statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, in Abuja on Wednesday, said Alhaji Sanusi, a lawyer, from Kano State takes over from Mallam Habib Abdullahi who has been relieved of his appointment as Managing Director of the NPA.
The appointment of the new NPA Managing Director takes effect from Thursday, April 30 2015.
President Jonathan thanked the outgoing Managing Director for his services and wishes him well in his future endeavours.
Ex-military governor of Anambra pleads with Igbo parents to reduce bride price
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Speaking at the industrial city of Nnewi, Anambra State during the traditional wedding ceremony of the daughter of a business mogul, Chief Louis Onwugbenu, Onyinye and her husband, Bosah
Chukwuogo, weekend, Col. Akonobi said:
‘’To me, this topic (bride price) has been dealt with in the past by Ndigbo, who came out with a reduced bride price, to enable our young boys marry our young girls.”Akonobi also cautioned that men should study their proposed wives closely and longer before engaging into marriage because “once you marry, no one else can put it asunder.”
Nnewi was agog as dignitaries from all works of life trooped to the residence of Chief Onwugbenu for the memorable event. The dignitaries who were from both the military, political and manufacturing circles, including Col Akonobi, Hon. Clement Nwankwu, former member of the House of Representatives; Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of Gabros International Limited and Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Limited, Chief Gabriel and Innocent Chukwuma respectively, among others.
The issue of high bride price was discussed extensively at the occasion. Hon. Nwankwu, in his own speech, prayed that Chief Onwugbenu and his wife would live long to enjoy the fruits of their children, especially those who married from outside their areas.
Also, speaking, Mrs. Onwugbenu expressed gratitude that her daughter’s hand was given out in marriage and prayed that her in-laws who came all the way from Awka to marry her daughter, would go back home safely. Father of the bride, Onwugbenu, in his own speech, said he had already blessed his daughter and her husband to go and make a good home.
On the bride price controversy in Igbo land, Onwugbenu declared:
“We do not charge money as bride price for someone to marry my daughter. To me, what is important is that my daughter should live in peace with her husband. Let her husband’s family members accept her as part and parcel of their family.”
"My wife does not have vaginal opening," man tells court
Olayiwole told the court that his wife deceived him to marry her knowing that she could not bear him a child.
He accused his wife, who had failed to appear in court after being summoned several times, of living a false life, frequent fighting and threatening his life, Vanguard reports.
“My wife had been deceiving me since we got married I have never seen her pass through menstruation. My wife does not have any vagina opening.He pleaded with the court’s president to dissolve his three-year-old marriage which has nothing to show for both now and in future.
Anytime I ask her for sex, she would give an excuse to back up her refusal. Meanwhile, we have been praying to God to give us children.
My wife did not tell me anything about her condition before we got married, until February this year that she confessed to me that she had never experienced menstruation in her life.
I thought she was lying, so I went to see her parents who told me it was true, and that they thought their daughter explained to me before we got married,” Olayiwole told the court.
Nigerian military says girls rescued from Boko Haram camp not from Chibok
Nigerian troops yesterday rescued 200 girls and 93 women in the Sambisa Forest which is a stronghold for the militant Boko Haram group and is not far from Chibok. However, one official did not rule out that captives from other Boko Haram camps that were raided might include some of the 200 girls abducted in April 2014 from a school in Chibok.
In recent weeks, Nigerian troops and vigilantes moved into the Sambisa Forest. Last Wednesday the troops had to retreat because of explosive devices Boko Haram planted in the forest, according to
military sources and a vigilante who was with the troops.
On Monday, troops re-entered the forest and on Tuesday afternoon they raided Boko Haram camps and rescued scores of girls and women. CNN reports that Usman said:
"We stumbled on the girls and may find more."
The Tokumbere, Sassa and Tlafa terror camps were raided and destroyed, said a source close to the military. The Tokumbere camp is the most notorious, where the training of small children by Boko Haram is said to have occurred. Boko Haram terrorists were killed in the operation, but the military did not say how many.
Military spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade said the rescued girls and women are still being screened and none has spoken to their families yet.
VIDEO: Now dead Nigerian drug trafficker singing heartfelt gospel song
This YouTube video shows what seems to be a typical Sunday religious service at a small church.
A young African man, accompanied by an Asian guitarist, sings a heartfelt gospel song as the audience sings along.
But the camera does not show the security guards, iron bars and barbed wire fences that would have indicated this was no ordinary place. The singer, 41-year-old Okwudili Oyatanze who was executed today in Indonesia, was giving his regular performance at a penitentiary outside the Indonesian capital, Jakarta.
Known in Indonesia’s penal system as “The Death Row Gospel Singer,” Mr. Oyatanze was arrested in 2001 while trying to smuggle 5.5 pounds of heroin through Jakarta’s international airport, in his
stomach, after arriving on a flight from Pakistan. He was convicted the following year and sentenced to death.
Mr. Oyatanze made the most of his incarceration, writing more than 70 songs and recording multiple albums behind bars. He has performed with prison guards as well as fellow inmates.
In the Youtube video, shot in 2008, Mr. Oyatanze sang his song “God You Know,” which was also the name of an album he released that year.
“He has turned his life around in jail,” said the Rev. Charles Burrows, a Catholic priest from Ireland who now lives in Indonesia and offered religious counseling to Mr. Oyatanze before his execution today.
Raised in Biafra, a strifetorn region in southeastern Nigeria, Mr. Oyatanze started a garment business in 1999, traveling to Indonesia to buy clothing and resell it in Nigeria. The business collapsed, and Mr. Oyatanze, heavily in debt, traveled to Pakistan to try to revive it, at the suggestion of a fellow Nigerian living there.
The plan involved swallowing capsules of heroin before boarding a flight to Jakarta. “There was a chance to earn some easy money, so he became a courier,” Mr. Burrows said.
Indonesia executes four Nigerians condemned for drug trafficking
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Indonesian television is also reporting that the Filipina woman, Mary Jane Veloso, who was among them was spared at the last minute, after a woman accused of tricking her into carrying drugs turned herself into police in the Philippines on Tuesday. Reports tonight say Veloso’s death sentence has been postponed so that she can act as a witness in any trial of the woman named Maria Kristina Sergio,
There are reports that the executions took place at around 00.25 local time. Pictures continue below...
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| Brother, mother and sister of Myuran Sukumaran, Chintu, Rajiv and Brintha, after saying their last goodbyes on Nusa Kambangan |
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| Condemned Andrew Chan's brother |
Troops rescue 200 girls, 93 women from Sambisa forest
In a daring and precise operation, the Nigerian troops have reportedly stormed the Sambisa Forest and rescued about 300 women and girls.
Three major terrorists camps have been destroyed in the well-coordinated attacks that included the destruction of the notorious Tokumbere camp in the Sambisa Forest.
While confirming the operation, the Director Defence Information, Major General Chris Olukolade said he could not confirm the identity of the freed victims and their origins and he could not state if any of them was from Chibok until after thorough screening and proper investigations.
He said:
“I can only confirm the rescued this afternoon of 200 girls and 93 women in different camps in the forest. We are yet to determine their origin as all the freed persons are now being screened and profiled. Please don’t misquote me on their origin. We will provide more details later.”
Re-enactment of how the four Nigerians condemned in Indonesia will be killed
A local television station in Indonesia has broadcasted a re-enactment of how executions are carried out in Indonesia. It was broadcasted to millions of viewers yesterday and is set to become a brutal reality for the four Nigerians involved.
On Wednesday, April 29th, Nigerians - Martin Anderson, 50, Okwudili Oyatanze, 41, Jamiu Owolabi Abashin, 50, and Silvester Obiekwe Nwolise, 47, will be executed in Indonesia just after the stroke of midnight. They were found guilty of drug trafficking and will be shot to death by a firing squad.
According to DailyMail, the men are expected to be led from their isolated cells in Death Island through a wildly dense tropical forest to a place called Nirbaya - or more appropriately known as Death Valley.
The condemned pair will be given white clothing to wear, which symbolises the afterlife, before beginning their fatal trek and are given the option to be blindfolded with a piece of fabric before facing the firing squad who will be lined up anywhere from five to 10 metres in front of them.
The confronting decisions continue for the death row inmates with the opportunity to choose whether to stand, sit or kneel before a cross is placed over their hearts acting as a target for the 12 riflemen - of which nine will have blanks and only three will have live rounds.
Each prisoner is offered 3 minutes to calm down but if necessary their hands or feet will be tied to a 3m high pole or worse still - a wooden execution chair.
12 marksmen are then ordered to fire at them. And after the shooting, if doctors confirm that there are still sign of life in them, the commander will shoot the inmates in the head.
With barely few hours left till they are killed, in harrowing scenes yesterday, some families of the nine condemned drug smugglers arrived Death Island to pay what's expected to be a final visit to their loved ones. One of the convicted, Myuran Sukumaran's sister, Brintha, could not stifle her wails as she made her way through the crowds of people outside the port gates. At one point, DailyMail reports that she collapsed and had to be supported by other family members, including her mother.
Moments later, another convicted, Andrew Chan's mother Helen arrived outwardly sobbing and had to be carried away from the media scrum as police officers led the family through the crowd.
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| Sukuraman's monther (centre) |
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| Sukuraman's sister |
The families were expected to give a press conference this morning but it was cancelled after the chaotic arrival scenes which saw crowds held back by police dogs. Among those saying goodbye to the men is also the new wife of condemned Australian Andrew Chan.
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| Andrew Chan and now wife Febyanti |
Febyanti Herewila married Chan at Besi Prison on Indonesia's 'Death Island', Nusakambangan, on Monday morning surrounded by family and friends in a bittersweet occasion. The Bali Nine ringleader proposed to his girlfriend at Kerobokan Prison in February. The wedding was officiated by Salvation Army minister, David Soper.
Chan's brother Michael announced the news to reporters, describing the wedding day as tough and happy at the same time.
Chan's brother Michael announced the news to reporters, describing the wedding day as tough and happy at the same time.
'We'd just like to celebrate that with him tomorrow as well so hopefully the president will still show some compassion, some mercy so that these two young people can carry on with their lives," he said. 'It's in the president's hands.'
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| Febyanti |
Sukumaran indicated through a close friend, that he will choose not to be blindfolded when he faces the firing squad because he wants to look his killers in the eye. The sad pics continue below:
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| Andrew Chan and Sukumaran |
FCT names Abuja streets after Jonathan, Sambo, Atiku, 185 others
Monday, April 27, 2015
The Federal Capital Territory have honoured eminent Nigerians and other accomplished Africans by naming major streets in Asokoro Extension, Guzape, Wupa, Wuye and Maitama Extension districts as well as expressways and roads after them.
The Federal Capital Territory Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, who disclosed this during the FCT Executive Committee meeting held at his Life Camp, Gwarinpa official Residence, on Monday, reeled out the names of the honorees as:
- President Goodluck Jonathan,
- Vice President Namadi Sambo,
- former Vice President Atiku Abubakar,
- former Senate President, late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo,
- former Speaker of House of Representatives and Katsina State Governor-elect, Hon. Aminu Bello Masari,
- former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Dahiru Musdapha,
- Business moguls, Femi Otedola, Aliko Dangote and several others.
The soon-to-be commissioned Inner Southern Expressway which dissects Abuja city centre was named after President Jonathan while the longest Wuye district boulevard express road measuring 1,730 metres was named after Abubakar. Another major road in the same district was named after Sambo.
According to a statement issued by the Special Assistant on Media to the Minister, Nosike Ogbuenyi, other prominent personalities also honoured by naming streets after them in Asokoro extension district extension include:
- former Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Anan,
- South African anti-Apartheid activist, late Walter Sisulu,
- former President of Sudan, Gaafar al-Nimeiry,
- former Minister of State for FCT, late Prof. Miriam Ikejiani-Clark,
- former Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi and 16 others.
Those having roads and streets named after them in Guzape district include:
- former FCT Minister and Governor-elect of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir El-Rufai,
- former Inspector-General of Police, Sunday Adewusi,
- former Science and Technology Minister, Major-Gen. Sam Momah,
- former Special Duties Minister, late Alhaji Wada Nas,
- former Attorney General of the Federation, late Mr. Clement Akpamgbo,
- incumbent FCT Minister, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed and 60 others.
The Nation reports that the statement reads in part:
“Some Nigerians who had distinguished themselves in various sporting activities were also among those honoured with Abuja streets named after them. They include:
- first Nigerian single Olympic gold medalist, Chioma Ajunwa,
- first Nigerian footballer to have scored in FIFA senior World Cup, late Rashidi Yekini,
- former world wrestling champion, late Power Mike Okpala,
- first Nigerian to win World Boxing title, Dick Tiger Ihetu
They all had streets named after them in Wupa district.
- and the youngest Nigerian to play at the African Cup of Nations, Mr. Daniel Amokachi.
President Jonathan sacks NHIS boss
In a statement by Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to the President (Media & Publicity), Mr. Olufemi A. Akingbade has been appointed as Acting Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the Insurance scheme.
Mr. Akingbade who hails from Ekiti State and holds a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science as well as a Masters Degree in Business Administration was the General Manager, ICT in the NHIS until his new appointment.
President Jonathan dismisses allegations of last minute looting, orders immediate release of NNPC audit
We have noted with concern, the allegation by the spokesman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Lai Mohammed that officials of the Federal Government are engaged in “last minute looting of the nation’s resources, rushed privatization of key institutions and hurried recruitment into the public service”.
We also consider as most unfortunate and uncharitable, the suggestion by Alhaji Mohammed that the Jonathan Administration is trying to “tie the hands” of the incoming government merely by continuing to discharge its constitutional responsibilities until the end of its tenure.
The Jonathan Administration which continues to do its best to ensure a smooth and peaceful handover over of power to the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, deeply regrets the unfairness and combative frame of mind reflected in Alhaji Mohammed’s statement.
President Jonathan has done his best in the past five years to discharge his constitutional responsibilities for good governance and effective leadership of the nation.
Without any prejudice whatsoever to the freedom of the incoming administration to do as it pleases, within the confines of extant laws when it assumes office, the Jonathan Administration will continue to discharge its responsibility to govern until May 29, 2015.
In continuing to fulfil the obligations of his office however, President Jonathan has not, and will never condone any form of unscrupulous conduct on the part of state officials.
President Jonathan will also never authorise any attempt to create any problems for the incoming administration as the APC spokesperson, who ought to know that the outcome of the March 28 presidential elections does not imply a cessation of governance, unjustly alleges.
As Alhaji Mohammed threatened in his statement, the incoming administration will be perfectly within its rights to review all actions of the present government as it may deem fit.
We see nothing wrong with that. After all, the present Administration reviewed the actions of previous governments on assumption of office with resultant benefits for policy and project implementation.
President Jonathan is also deeply concerned by the continuing suggestions that his administration still has anything to hide about the unproven allegation that about $20 Billion is unaccounted for by the NNPC during his tenure.
To lay the matter to rest, President Jonathan in line with Section 7(2) of the NNPC Act, has directed that the full report of the PWC Forensic Audit of the NNPC accounts be released immediately to the public so that all Nigerians will be properly informed on the matter.
Reuben Abati
Special Adviser to the President
(Media & Publicity)
April 27, 2015.
Images show coffins for the 4 Nigerians waiting to be executed in Indonesia
They were found guilty of drug trafficking and will be shot to death by a firing squad. Photos of their coffins have been released.
DailyMail reports that a local funeral director in Cilacap, the nearest port to Nusakambangan, or Death Island where the Nigerians are currently held was instructed to inscribe their names and the date of their deaths on the coffins.
Last Saturday, the Nigerians and other death row inmates were given 72 hours notice ahead of their deaths, when prosecutors were called to the Death Island to finalise the execution papers. See more photos below.
APC accuses President Jonathan of ‘last minute dubious activities’
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The party alleged that the outgoing administration had been looting the nation’s resources, hurriedly recruiting into the public service and privatisatising key financial institutions.
The APC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Sunday, said such actions would have serious repercussions after May 29.
It said apart from media reports of such anomalies, the party had received reliable information from members of the public about some dubious actions by key officials of the outgoing Jonathan
administration.
The party said while the Jonathan administration remains in charge until the midnight of May 29, it was important for the outgoing administration not to create any more problems for the incoming government than it had already done, or to tie the new government’s hands through some suspicious actions.
The APC said although the Buhari administration would not needlessly probe the Jonathan administration, it would look into all actions taken by Jonathan’s administration after the March 28 presidential election.
The statement PUNCH reports reads:
‘’For example, the National Council on Privatisation, which is headed by the Vice-President, has just approved the financial bid opening for transaction advisers for the privatisation of the three development finance institutions in the country – the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry and Nigeria Commodity Exchange.
The question is: What is the rationale for rushing this exercise with just weeks left for this administration?
“Also, there have been reports, not refuted, of a planned hurried recruitment into the Nigeria Immigration Service, after a previous attempt ended in a national tragedy and the fleecing of innocent job seekers by mindless Federal Government officials.
Apart from the fact that this last-minute recruitment is suspect, it is irregular.
The Civil Defence, Fire, Immigration and Prisons Services Board is only empowered to recruit, promote and discipline only senior officers (levels eight and above). The power to recruit, promote and discipline junior officers is vested in the different services, in this case the Nigeria Immigration Service.
Therefore, the recruitment exercise now being conducted by the federal civil service under the auspices of the Presidential Committee to Assist on Immigration Recruitment usurps the functions of the board as it relates to the recruitment of Senior Officers (level 08) and that of the immigration service as it relates to Junior Officers (levels 07 and below).”The party also called the attention of Jonathan to a published report that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, plans to use the Federal Capital Development Authority to carry out a secret employment of no fewer than 500 workers before the end of the month.
‘’We do not know if this report, as well as others, is true. But if indeed these rushed privatisation and hurried recruitment exercises – in the twilight of the Jonathan administration – are true, they raise serious questions concerning the reasons behind such actions.”The APC urged Jonathan to call his officials to order in order to save him of embarrassment.
It said it was such recklessness that led to the downfall of Jonathan’s administration and it would be unfair to bequeath such to the Buhari administration.
It added:
“We are therefore compelled to call on President Jonathan to call his officials to order, lest they engage in actions that can later embarrass his administration.
Rochas Okorocha, Okezie Ikpeazu win Imo and Abia governorship elections
Sunday, April 26, 2015
He won in 20 out of the 23 LGAs where supplementary election were held in Imo; polling 31,326 votes. His total votes tally stood at 416,996 votes out of the total 806,764 votes cast in the election.
Trailing Rochas was Ihedioha of the PDP who polled 320,705 votes and Emmanuel Ihenacho of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) who came a distant third with 28,434 votes.
In neighbouring Abia State, INEC declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Okezie Ikpeazu, the winner of the Abia State governorship election.
Mr Ikpeazu polled 264,713 to defeat the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Alex Otti, who polled 180,882 votes.
The result was declared in the early hours of Sunday after the supplementary election on Saturday.
A very big congratulations to them!
Aso Rock Exit: President Jonathan to live in Luxury Island Villa
After May 29, President Goodluck Jonathan will leave the Aso Villa. PUNCH's Simon Utebor was at the President’s Otuoke, Bayelsa State-country home where he is expected to retire.
The air around the sprawling estate, he says, is amazingly cool. Looking around, the answer to this quickly dawns on him. The estate is opposite a creek, and the rolling breeze keeps coming.
It is Otuoke, the home town of President Goodluck Jonathan. Otuoke is a small island community in the Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. And there, the estate sprawls over a large expanse of land contrasting sharply with its rustic surrounding. It is said to belong to President Jonathan.
On the long road to the gates, soldiers and members of other security agencies, apparently on sentry duty, walked on the grounds. The overall air suggested guarded and protected serenity. No one needs the gift of clairvoyance to understand they are approaching a restricted zone.
Behind the gates, shoving their heads above the walls are no fewer than eight different structures apparently for different purposes: recreation, security posts and guard quarters. A visitor to Otuoke will not be penalised for calling the place a fortress.
Activities in this place, a source within said had been at a lull until a couple of weeks ago. And it is largely believed that come May 29, after the expiration of his tenure, President Jonathan would relocate to the place.
As if the President had the premonition that he would not live in Aso Rock beyond 2015, he was reported to have begun acquiring properties adjacent his sprawling country home by late 2013.
The President, SUNDAY PUNCH gathered, acquired properties on an area which runs to about seven acres of Otuoba which were around his mansion that had been there earlier.
The place was thereafter expanded to encase the mansion while new structures were erected round it.
It was also gathered that adequate compensation was paid to the owners of these properties to enable them relocate elsewhere.
It was learnt that Jonathan after acquiring those buildings in 2013, engaged the services of a construction company, Jiito, to expand the estate to accommodate his new acquisition. Today, Jonathan’s mini – estate, which overlooks a creek that links Otuoke to other coastal communities of Bayelsa, is a cynosure of all eyes.
A visit to Otuoke on Thursday showed that Jonathan’s mansions, which had been undergoing construction and reconstruction in the last 10 years are now ready for habitation. The area they sit on is best described as an island.
It was learnt that before now, each time the President visited Otuoke, he usually slept in his wife’s (Patience) castle which is directly opposite the Federal University, Otuoke.
It was also learnt that the Jonathans own the choicest properties in Otuoke. The President was said to have built a two-storey building each for his mother and father opposite his own.
His wife, Dame Patience, asides a hotel, is also said to have numerous buildings that have been converted into hostels for FUO female students.
On the readiness of the Jonathans to return to Otuoke, one of the military personnel guarding his houses said all the mansions in the estate were ready except one.
The soldier, who declined to give his name, said the contractors were fixing air conditioners and window blinds on the last mansion.
The security operative said:
“I can tell you that the houses are ready. Everything is in order. It remains only one building where the contractors are putting window blinds, curtains and air conditioners. I overheard some of the workers saying that they had been instructed to finish the last building before the second week of May. I think it is because the President is returning home.
As of now, no domestic staff or relatives are living here. All his relatives have their homes. It is only military men and policemen that are living in some of the buildings. Even at that, many buildings are left unoccupied because the buildings are so massive and it will take a community to occupy them.”
The soldier, who said he had been living at the place for the past four years, claimed some of the President’s domestic staff were in his Kpansia, Yenagoa mansion, which he built while he was Deputy Governor of Bayelsa.
That the President will be returning to Otuoke according to the soldier, is only symbolic, stressing that apart from the mansions at Otuoke, Jonathan and his family members have numerous buildings at Okaka Estate, off Isaac Boro Expressway in Yenagoa.
Many residents of Otuoke are indeed longing to see President Jonathan, one of their illustrious sons, return home. For them, Jonathan has made Otuoke, once a relatively unknown place, known to people outside it and turning it to a city to be reckoned with.
A resident, Prere Goodthinking, said though President Jonathan lost his re-election bid, he is God-sent, not only to Bayelsa people but to the entire country.
Prere said:
“Whether people like it or not, Jonathan can best be described as an icon of Nigeria’s democracy. He is a man of peace, a gentleman and a great statesman. He has proved to the whole world that he is not a power-monger. He has shown the world that his ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian. We want other leaders to emulate him. We are going to celebrate his return and I hope Nigerians and the world will also celebrate our illustrious son.”
Another resident, who gave his name only as Ebilari, said Jonathan had made Otuoke to be on the world map for good reasons. She said:
“About 12 years ago, Otuoke was a jungle. Most houses there were decrepit. But today, you can see that the place that was once a hamlet has become a wonderful city. Buildings are springing up everywhere. Life has become more meaningful for the people. Before you mention three prominent places in Bayelsa, Otuoke must come up. Thus, we are proud of our son Jonathan. We are waiting enthusiastically to receive him after his national assignment on May 29.”
