Daily Times Nigeria Tuesday, September 29, 2015
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Politics Page Three Æ s Editorial Monitoring the bailout funds
I
f rumours now circulating are anything to go by, it looks like the recent lifeline extended by the Federal Government to some states as bailout funds may not serve the purpose. There have been loud accusations by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and state government employees that some governors are now diverting them to serve other unintended purposes. As the money starts making its way to the various state coffers, it stands the risk of being hijacked. For instance, some banks have reportedly seized some of the money because some of the states have been defaulting on huge loans they collected, even as some of the indebted state governors have been erecting frivolous billboards and embarking on massive contract awards to gain applause and legitimacy among the populace. For this, the NLC has directed the leadership of its state councils to be on the lookout and immediately report any attempt by some state governors to divert their share of the N338 billion bailout funds. We are in support of the NLC in this regard and caution that any attempt to delay the payment of state government employees and pensioners would be stoutly resisted. It is not only absurd but also the height of insensitivity for any state chief executive to deny the famished workers of their dues and other financial entitlements no matter the reason. It would be recalled that the Federal Government decided to extend the emergency lifeline to the 27 affected states for the sole purpose of meeting the financial obligations to their workers and pensioners. It is fact that many of these states owe salaries and pensions of up to eight months in some cases. Curiously, these states governors are not only indifferent to the plights of their starving workers but are behaving in a manner that reeks of callous insensitivity. We reiterate that the bailout funds be spent
specifically for the purpose they are meant, which is the payment of salary arrears of public sector workers. In this regard, we welcome the move by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to monitor the funds and how they are dispensed in all the states that benefitted. Definitely, Nigerians are alarmed at the wanton ways of some state governments and officials who still engage in frivolous projects while their workers go unpaid for months. There is no gainsaying the fact that the bulk of the debts were accumulated during the last general elections when many state chief executives spent outlandish sums of money on campaigns and other non people related objectives. In the end, they accumulated huge debts which pose a threat to the financial health of their respective states. It is even more reprehensible that most of the funds were diverted to personal businesses and other private projects in and outside the country. So, while the state government workers are waiting for their salaries, the governors are busy gallivanting across the globe in search of choice properties in Europe, America and Asia. Ironically, while the states are heaving under the burden of impecuniosities, the affected governors are busy stashing away their loots and laundering monies on exotic projects. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari to monitor the governors to ensure that the bailout funds are not put to wrong use. Also, the various State Houses of Assembly must wake up to their oversight functions and ensure that governors who fritter away the funds are brought to account according to the law. All Nigerians must come on board to ensure that the bailouts are not diverted under any guise. The interest of starving workers must not be sacrificed at the altar of financial recklessness and political expediency.
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Sam Nzeh
ÎÎÎThe campaign against
early marriage in Nigeria appears not to be making the needed progress going by recent events. This, at least, is what the marrying of an 18-year-old secondary school leaver at the weekend by the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has proven. The 18-year-old girl, Sa’adatu Barkindo-Musdafa, is the daughter of the Lamido of Adamawa, Muhammadu Barkindo-Musdafa, and the third wife of the Kano monarch. Justifying the action, a top Kano State government official who travelled
to Yola, the Adamawa State capital, for the wedding, said Emir Sanusi’s “decision to take a new wife is in line with Islamic injunction,” adding that “Islam allows having a maximum of four wives for those who can treat all of them equally and provide for a large family’’. Before Emir Sanusi, several other persons particularly from the north, had taken teenagers as wives. One of such persons who made headlines within and without Nigeria is former Zamfara State governor, Ahmed Yerima. Yerima, a Senator, had in 2013 caused a stir when he divorced the 17-year-old Egyptian bride he married three years before to marry a new 14-yearold girl. Granted that Emir Sanusi’s action and others before
Words On Marble :
him who married teenage girls are sanctioned by Islam, still it is doubtful if marrying a teenager is a virtue recommended in Islam. The question is why is it that these Nigerians who marry new wives often go for teenage girls? Are there no other older ladies aside teenagers that they can marry? This practice only goes to show how bleak the future of the girl-child is in Nigeria but particularly in the north. It also shows that those who are not in support of the campaign against early marriage are not about to give up. Fact is that no nation which takes the development of all sections of its populace seriously will look the other way when its teenage girls are married off early. So, can our teenage be allowed to grow up to proper adults?
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Ayuba Wabba
“Ninety per cent of politicians declare assets falsely, so the law should go after all the people that are guilty of such false declaration of assets, try them and bring them to justice’’.
“We have heard a lot of noise being made about attacking corruption. What has Buhari done about attacking corruption four months after he was sworn in?
“By our laws, the mere allegation that somebody has committed an offense, we don’t judge the person as guilty until it is pronounced by a court of law”.