Governor Wike entangled by restrainment of officials from arresting judges.

PORT HARCOURT—Rivers State governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, has come under attack as a coalition of civil society organisations in the state, yesterday, condemned his alleged interference in the arrest of the undisclosed judge of a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt.

The groups, Alliance for Transparency and Good Governance, ATGG, Vanguard for Justice, Equity and Strategy, VJES, and Rivers Pathfinders, said the show of strength climaxing in the attack of Department of State Services, DSS, operatives by Governor Wike was an act of political rascality.

Speaking to the press in Port Harcourt, the coordinator of ATGG, Erasmus Nwankpa, expressed dismay that the governor of a state would brazenly obstruct the constitutional powers of the DSS, to arrest an accused person.

Reacting to the allegation, the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr. Austin Tam-George, described the comments by the three groups as a sad irony.

Tam-George wandered why a group would contest the position of the governor, adding that the civil society groups were members of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

He said: “The protesting groups are APC members in disguise. It is a sad irony. How could any group protest against Governor Wike’s principled insistence on the supremacy of the law?

“Throughout this debate, every reasonable individual or organization, including the NBA, the African Bar Association, senior advocates of Nigeria, all agree that the only sustainable way to fight corruption is through institutional reforms, and respect for due process.
“You can’t fight corruption with a cowboy mentality, using midnight melodrama and lawlessness.”

Also, coordinator of VJES, Jerome Green, who regretted the attitude of Wike in trying to stop the arrest of a judge of a Federal High Court in the state, said: “I still could not believe that Wike who is a lawyer and should know the law relating to who has the power to arrest, left his abode at late night, about1a.m precisely, as reported, just to protect a judge from being arrested.

“What then will be the interest of Governor Wike to secure and frustrate the lawful duty of the state security service,” Jarome queried.

Also, Mr. Abiye Sokari-George of Rivers Pathfinders, described what happened in the state as a show of gangsterism.
  What is your humble opinion on the matter.? 

The rate of Unemployment will soon swallow NIGERIA;FMR PRESIDENT OBASANJO

Obasanjo have taken a rather overt step to speak on the realities confronting Nigeria as a nation. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, speaking with newsmen on Saturday after a lecture organised by the Youth Fellowship of the Owu Baptist Church, Totoro in Abeokuta, Ogun State, to mark the nation’s 56th Independence Day anniversary, Obasanjo asked God to bless the souls of those who lost their lives while fighting to keep the nation as one.

In his lecture titled, ‘Nigeria: Development for Nigerians by Nigerians,’ the former president stated that though the country was not where it ought to be after 56 years of independence, he was optimistic it would surmount its challenges. He said, “Our development is impaired; it is not what it ought to be, but we must get it right.”

According to Obasanjo, in order to move the country forward, “we must all accept responsibility; we must stop passing the buck.” He noted that the development of the country must be by Nigerians, foreign investors and all friends of Nigeria. According to Obasanjo, the areas of priority for development include peace, security, education, food and nutrition, water and sanitation, shelter and transportation.

The ex-president said, “Unemployment is a major problem in the country today and if we don’t take care, it will consume all of us. In fact, the rising unemployment is a time bomb.”

Obasanjo noted that the high rate of unemployment was responsible for youth restiveness in the country, warning that the situation should be properly tackled. The ex-president had called for the urgent reform of the business operations model of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
He said the urgent reform was needed to lift the economy out of recession and create wealth for Nigerians.