Showing posts with label parts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parts. Show all posts

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Flood: 25% of Nigerians displaced, says Jonathan as Dangote committee targets N100bn



President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday regretted that no fewer than 25 per cent Nigerians had been displaced by the flood ravaging most parts of the country.

He said since those saddled with the responsibility of compiling data on the victims were still working, there was possibility that the figure might be more than that.

He said his major concern was therefore how to resettle the displaced persons immediately after the flood receded.

Jonathan spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja while inaugurating the National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation which he set up to raise fund to augment government’s efforts at mitigating the pains of the flood.

The committee has businessman, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; and a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association as its co-chairmen. Chairman of Globacom, Dr. Mike Adenuga Jnr., who was absent at the inauguration is the Chief Fund Mobiliser.

The President regretted that some states of the federation, including
his home state Bayelsa, are currently about 80 per cent submerged.
He said his government was sad that Nigeria was facing what he called its unfair share of the global phenomenon.

He tasked members of the committee to ascertain the impact of the flood on the people, raise fund to complement or augment government’s efforts to mitigate the pains and advise government on other things incidental.
He said he expected the job to be completed in 12 months.

He said, “When people face this kind of flood devastation, it is no longer a national issue, it is an international issue because of the magnitude of refugees.

“This is a country of 167 million as at November last year’s projection. It’s almost a year since that figure was released though the Commission is yet to release fresh figures, we are definitely more than that now.

“And when you consider the fact that about 25 per cent or so of these communities are impacted by that, though the actual figure of the land and area affected is yet to get to us, have been affected by the flood.

“I spoke to my governor yesterday, he was so desperate because he said people do not even have food because all the channels of communications to Bayelsa State has been blocked by water.
“So you have enormous responsibility but we believe you are equal to the task.”

The President said members of the committee were carefully selected because the assignment needed people with empathy and human kindness.
Jonathan assured stakeholders that his government is up to the task as it will do everything possible to ameliorate the pains.

“Let me also use this opportunity to assure Nigerians again that the present administration will do everything possible to ameliorate the impact of this devasting flood on our people.

“We will do everything to cushion their pains, and we have put up a strong team made up of credible men and women who will also help government to achieve this,” he added.

Dangote, in his remarks, said he and other members of the committee saw their selection as a call to service.

He regretted that the floods came at a time the nations was battling with other challenges.

He, however, commended the President for responding swiftly to the situation by allocating funds and materials and materials for the relief and rehabilitation of the victims and also the setting up of presidential technical committee and the fund-raising one.
He said the committee would reach out to relevant organisations and individuals nationally and internationally to join them in mobilising resources and ideas to complement government’s efforts.

He also promised that the committee would be accountable and transparent in carrying out the assignment in such a way that both donors and beneficiaries are given account of the judicious application of funds and materials donated for the purpose.

“Be rest assured that we will not only rise to your expectations, but indeed, we will exceed them,” he said.

Dangote later told State House correspondents that there was no limit to how much the committee intends to raise.

He, however, added that a minimum of N100bn would be raised.
He said, “Our target is as much as we can think of and I am sure lot of Nigerians will donate something including yourselves.
“We are targeting N100 billion minimum, we do not want to look at it as a government issue.

“For some of us, when there were disasters in other countries we helped and so we expect people to help us.”
Members of the committee inaugurated by the President include Alhaji Karami Isiaku Rabiu, Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, Ngo Hannatu Cholum, Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija, Prof. Dora Akunyili and Mr. Tony Elumelu.

Others are the Secretary-General, Nigerian Red Cross, representatives of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, UNDP, European Union, DFID and USAID.
Permanent secretaries of the Ministries of Environment, Water Resources, Works, Agriculture, Health, Finance, National Planning and the Ecological Funds Office are also members.

Other members are the Director-General, NEMA; acting Commissioner, National Commission for Refugees, Chairman, Senate Committee on Special Duties,  Chairman, House Committee on Environment , representatives of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, National Council of Women’s Societies, Mr. Tunde Lemo, (representing the Central Bank of Nigeria), Ms. Fatima Wali, Mr. Frank Nweke Jnr., and Senator Florence Ita-Giwa.

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Saturday, September 29, 2012

I travelled by road from London to Nigeria — Newton Jibunoh



Newton Jibunoh

Dr. Newton Jibunoh is a man of many parts. An arts enthusiast and environmental activist, the 74-year-old founder of Didi Museum and Fight Against Desert Encroachment, a Non Governmental Organisation, wears his passion like a badge.

Surrounded by art in different forms at Didi Museum, venue for the hour-long chat, the former chairman of Costain West Africa, speaks animatedly about his interests that have since become his identity.

On the museum, he says, it is an educational institution which he traces its genesis to a small room in Apapa.

“As a child, missionaries referred to these artifacts as taboos and tried to get my people to get rid of them,” he recalls. “What shocked me was that the missionaries were taking away some of those things. When I got to London in the early 60s and visited the British museum, I found most of these works there. So, I decided to start a campaign to keep our history. When I returned to Nigeria in 1966, I started collecting works. Moreover, because I was also finding myself in the midst of artists like Segun Olusola, Akin Yuba, Wole Soyinka, Dr Ekpeyong, I learnt a lot from them.

“Dr Ekpeyong, who was the director-general of the National Museum, would come to my house and see the works. He always commended them and urged me to show it to the public. That was how I started from a parlour exhibition to a room exhibition and to what it is now.”

Famous for his trips across the desert, Jibunoh rhapsodises on his first trip which he made when he was in his 20s. “When you are in your 20s, that is what I will regard as your formative era, when you decide who you are and where you are headed. One of such examples was the arrest and trial of Nelson Mandela. He said on the day he was sentenced, ‘this is my cause, this is what I believe in, and I will continue to do so even if I die in the process.’ The other statement was that of John .F. Kennedy, who was challenged for trying to explore the space and the moon because of the huge amount of money America, was investing in it. He told his opponents that it was only by doing hard things that good things come out. That also stayed with me and that inspiration started in earnest. I decided that I was going to be part of my era and the only way to do that was to try the impossible. It took me six months to get to Nigeria from London.”

You wonder why he still takes the risk of going on expeditions at his age. In a fit of amusement, he enumerates the reasons for his sustained interest.

“It is like going to the moon and what they have achieved by going to the moon. To go on an expedition like this, you have to put your life on the line and be ready to die. You do not do things like this for nothing; you have to have a course because many times people have asked what this whole thing is about. It is about the air we breathe, it is about the water we drink, the food we eat and it is about the land we came out from and will go back to when we die. How much are we doing to protect and preserve the land that is so important for life?”

Recounting his several near-death experiences, he tells without mincing words that he is undeterred. “If you are stuck in the sand and you cannot get your car out of the sand and you do everything (maybe for four or five hours) and you are 600 miles from help, what do you do? You just stay there and die. Alternatively, when you are attacked by bandits, they wonder why you are there, and they want to kill you, what do you do? You either surrender or try to talk them out of it.

“I have gone through so many near-death situations but somehow, I think it is the fact that once you are ready to die for anything, death stays away from you. It is when you are scared of dying and you are faced with death that you panic.”

In spite of all these, he still finds time to relax. “I do relax but maybe when I go to that six feet beneath, I will relax. I do many things and I cycle around a lot. When I am in London, I use my bicycle to go everywhere because there are bicycle tracks. In my village in Delta, I ride my bicycle. The same applied in Amsterdam, wherever I go to visit my daughter and grandchildren. In Lagos, I don’t ride often and when I have to, I take my bicycle to some island or one of these estates where it’s a lot safer.”

Bu his childhood was not as pleasant. Hear him: “I did not know I was an orphan until I was seven years old. What my sister and I were told was that our parents travelled. Family and friends offered to put us up here and because of that, I went to so many schools.”

His educational sojourn brought him to Lagos. “After secondary school, I came to Lagos, where I did a number of courses at the emergency science school now known as YABATECH. First, I got a job with the Federal Ministry of Works and I found out that I could sit for scholarship examinations. I failed the first time and passed the second time. That was how I travelled out of Nigeria to study building engineering in 1961 and I graduated in 1965. I then came back to Nigeria in 1967 and went back to the Ministry of Works where I worked for a little over a year. I found that I was not sufficiently challenged and I left there for a private sector organisation, which was like a subsidiary of Costain. From there, I moved on to Costain and whilst there, for 36 years, I worked there — I was CEO for 16 years.”

Married to Elizabeth, he remembers their meeting many years back. “It was a Christmas day. I did not have what you would call a family, so, I liked moving around during Christmas. That Christmas morning, I saw two young women and it turned out that the other lady had spent the night at my wife’s place. So, she escorted her to her parents’ place to explain why she spent the night.

“On my way back, I saw my wife alone and I greeted. She ignored me but I repeated my greeting and I followed her. She continued to ignore me and I followed her to the house where she just walked in. At night, I went back to that same house and met her mother, who was pleased with my honesty. Today, we have five children and nine grandchildren.”

Ask him what he would like to be remembered for and he stares back at you in amazement and says, “Anytime I am asked that question, I am at a loss. When I am gone, I am gone. I think it is my legacy that will determine. I do not think I want to predict. First, I do not know when I am going and I do not know how I am going to go. When I hear people talk about what they would like to be remembered for, I am not impressed.”

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