Wednesday 14 August 2013
centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiatives: KUDOS TO LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT FOR HEARKENING TO ...
centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiatives: KUDOS TO LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT FOR HEARKENING TO ...: CENTRE FOR RIGHTS AND GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE (CRGI) 1a Fadeyi Street, Ikeja, Lagos. Email: centreforrightsgi@gmail.com ...
KUDOS TO LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT FOR HEARKENING TO THE CLARION CALL IN APPEALING AGAINST MAJOR HAMZA AL MUSTAPHA AND LATEEF SHOFOLOHAN ACQUITAL IN THE MURDER OF ALHAJA KUDIRAT ABIOLA
CENTRE FOR RIGHTS AND
GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE (CRGI)
1a Fadeyi
Street, Ikeja, Lagos.
Email: centreforrightsgi@gmail.com
Telephone:
08078012999, 07033853232
14/08/2013
PRESS STATEMENT
KUDOS TO LAGOS STATE GOVERNMENT FOR
HEARKENING TO THE CLARION CALL IN APPEALING AGAINST MAJOR HAMZA AL MUSTAPHA AND LATEEF
SHOFOLOHAN ACQUITAL IN THE MURDER OF ALHAJA KUDIRAT ABIOLA
 |
| Al Mustapha, not yet uhuru. |
The
Centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiative (CRGI) wish to use this medium to
commend and congratulate wholeheartedly the Lagos State government for its pro
people action in hearkening to the clarion call by the suffering masses of
Nigeria by appealing to the Supreme court against the acquittal of Major Hamza
Al Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan in the murder of late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola.
Once
again, the Fashola administration has proved its responsiveness and
responsibility as a government of the people, by the people and for the people
by this dogged pursuit for justice not only in memory of this Amazon but for
the generality of Nigerians who bore the brunt of late dictator Sani Abacha
terror machine oiled by Major Hamza Al Mustapha.
We
cannot but commend the Fashola administration as we recollect how it ensured
justice for Miss Uzoma Okere who was brutalized and assaulted by a Naval
Admiral, Harry Arogundade and his ratings on a Lagos road only too recently. We
also remember how the Lagos state government is pursuing justice for some (4)
innocent Nigerians whose fundamental rights were assaulted by the police during
the Fuel hike demonstrations of January 9 2012 in Lagos by the DPO Pen Cinema
Police station Mr. Segun Fabunmi who is currently standing trial for murdering
Mr. Ademola Aderinde and causing grievous body harm to three (3) others in Ogba
area of Lagos.
However,
we must once again, express our disappointment with the judgement of the court
of Appeal which is nothing but a travesty of justice in acquitting Major Al
Mustapha and Lateef Shofolahan of complicity in the murder of Alhaja Kudirat
Abiola in the face of overwhelming evidence and logic. Can we ever forget with
sadness, the agony and pains that Nigerians were subjected to by the military junta
of the dark goggle general in which lives were lost, limbs amputated and
persons disappeared without any trace courtesy of the Gestapo on rampage then?
As
we look forward to ensuring justice for the society through this appeal, it is
our fervent hope that the Justices of the Supreme Court will act in obeisance
to their conscience and oath in dispensing justice in this matter in order to
consolidate our democracy and build a better society.
Monday 12 August 2013
centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiatives: RESETTLEMENT OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND ...
centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiatives: RESETTLEMENT OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND ...: RESETTLEMENT OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND FASHOLA'S ADMINISTRATION IN THE EYES OF HISTORY Ever since ...
RESETTLEMENT OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND FASHOLA'S ADMINISTRATION IN THE EYES OF HISTORY
 |
RESETTLEMENT
OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND FASHOLA'S ADMINISTRATION IN THE EYES OF
HISTORY
Ever since the news broke in the media of the resettlement
of destitutes to Anambra state by the Lagos state government, there have been
allegations and counter allegations from various quarters. However a dangerous
dimension to the whole saga was the attempt to ethnicize and politicize it
which was very unfortunate and stands condemned. That the Lagos state
government and its people have no equal among the 36 states and the federal
capital territory authority in Nigeria in terms of promoting peaceful
coexistence between persons and nationalities whether doing business or
residing in the state is stating the obvious and we are very proud of it.
Also when the politicization and propaganda machinery of the
Anambra state government ran into a cul de sac as a result of the information supplied
by the Lagos state government that the destitutes in question were 14 and not
70 or 72 as erroneously churned out just to confuse and draw unnecessary
sympathy from a bewilded public, it quickly resorted to mouthing the
misinformation that the destitutes were dumped at the upper Niger bridge in an
unhealthy state at a particular time of the day. The reality is that the
Anambra state government shirked its responsibility to its people on this
matter and is only interested in playing politics with the vulnerable situation
of these poor people which is unfortunate.
The truth of the matter is that Anambra state government has
made a mess of the whole show by attempting to pull wool over our eyes just
because of political expediency and whatever information they give out on this
matter is subject to doubt because they have displayed insincerity which is not
the hallmark of a responsible government. As they say, birds of the same
feather, flock together, therefore, one is not surprised that the Akwa Ibom
state government which like its Anambra state counterpart has demonstrated its
ignorance of figures by being accomplices in the 16 is greater than 19 NGF saga
can shamelessly come out to publicly refute the position of the Lagos state
government despite the fact that there was an exchange of two destitutes of
Lagos origin between them and the correspondences was done officially.
One also notes with amusement that some expired politicians,
persons and groups have cashed in on this issue just to announce to the whole
world, that they are still alive. To resort to hurling abusive languages and
name calling just because someone else holds a differing position on an issue
speaks volume of the integrity of some of these characters because there is a
Yoruba proverb which says, "Gbogbo wa ko le sun, ki a ko ri si ibi
kan" "We all cannot view the same issue same way because like they
say, variety is the spice of life. These persons and groups just want to be
counted among those who have spoken on this issue without recourse to facts and
the reality of the type of federalism that we are practicing.
To resort to name calling against an administration that is
trying its best within its limits to bequeath a better legacy to generations
unborn is uncharitable. In as much as one wouldn’t want to posture as the
mouthpiece of this government, the truth is that good things cannot hide or as
they say, gold fish has no hiding place. We are all living witness(es) to the
massive infrastructural development in Lagos state since the advent of the
Fashola administration which we owe to posterity to project and correct the erroneous
picture that some misguided and disgruntled elements are trying to convey to
the outside world. The Fashola administration has touched the lives of Lagosians
positively in all spheres. The massive ongoing construction and rehabilitation
of roads in the 20 LG and 37 LCDA's in the state by the Fashola administration
is unparralled and has won it accolades both locally and internationally. Its
massive construction of drainage channels across the state to prevent flooding
and protect lives, properties and the environment is quite commendable. In the
area of education, it has given infrastructures in public schools a facelift
and even computerized them to world standards. Yearly, the state government
underwrites the WAEC fees of students of public secondary schools as well as
awarding scholarships and bursaries to deserving students in tertiary
institutions. In the areas of health, it has upgraded health institutions in
the state to a level whereby citizens can access health services in their
locality unlike what obtained in the past where people travel thousands of
kilometers in search of such public facilities. The high quality and cost of
accessing medical services in these general hospitals scattered all over the
state is a big relief to its teeming citizens. In the area of sports and recreation,
the government has built and commissioned world standard sporting facilities
all over the state like the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Agege Stadium,
Campos Playing ground, Ajele, Lagos Island, Badagry, Epe, etc that have been
hosting local and international sporting events and are being accessed by our
youths in order to keep their minds away from social vices. In the area of
security, the Fashola administration set up the Lagos state security trust fund
to bolster up the security situation of the state because of its cosmopolitan
status. In the area of environment, we are all living witness to a greener
Lagos. In the area of transportation, the state's ministry of transportation is
working tirelessly to ensure that Lagos has a transportation system befitting
of her status as a mega city. The Lagos state government also established job
creation centers across the state to train its teeming youths in vocational
skills so that they can become responsible adults and contribute meaningfully
to societal development. One can go on and on, but this little will suffice
because to whom much is given, much is expected.
It is also ridiculous and ironical when one hears of some
persons and groups accusing the government for being sensitive to its
constitutional and societal obligations of ensuring the welfare of its citizens
by legislating against suicide and security breach through means of
transportation that dehumanizes us in the comity of civilized people. Some of
these elements also cite the constitutional provisions that guarantee Nigerians
the right to live in any part of the country, but fail to cite which section of
the same constitution gives Nigerians the right to constitute societal and
economic nuisance. Today, they are talking about citizens of Nigerians as
though they are unaware that what we have and which is playing out is the issue
of identity crisis. Maybe they are ignorant of the fact that the constitutional
provisions are being flagrantly violated because of the faulty federation we
are running? Or are we all going to pretend that we are unaware that states in
Nigeria employ discriminatory school fees between indigenes and non indigenes
in public schools? What about the discriminatory cut off marks for admission
into public schools? Whether we like it or not, it is to our collective shame
that a very large percentage of our people have become destitutes today and our
country a failed state as a consequence of the unitarist system of government
in operation in which nobody is accountable to anybody because the modus
operandi is the blame game like we are all doing in this matter.
The truth of the matter is that there are whole lots of
issues bedeviling the Nigerian state and which is a time bomb for its corporate
existence since it is a conglomeration of nations without an input into how
they came into a forced marriage that has and will never work. The only way out
of these self inflicted quagmire that we have boxed ourselves is to join the
advocacy and insist on the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC)
to discuss the basis of our unity now.
centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiatives: RESETTLEMENT OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND ...
centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiatives: RESETTLEMENT OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND ...: 12/08/2013 RESETTLEMENT OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND FASHOLA'S ADMINISTRATION IN THE EYES OF HISTORY Nigeria, ...
RESETTLEMENT OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND FASHOLA'S ADMINISTRATION IN THE EYES OF HISTORY
12/08/2013
RESETTLEMENT OF DESTITUTES, NATIONAL QUESTION AND FASHOLA'S ADMINISTRATION IN THE EYES OF HISTORY
|
| Nigeria, Sovereign National Conference now (SNC)! |
Ever since the news broke in
the media of the resettlement of destitutes to Anambra state by the
Lagos state government, there have been allegations and counter
allegations from various quarters. However a dangerous dimension to the
whole saga was the attempt to ethnicize and politicize it which was very
unfortunate and stands condemned. That the Lagos state government and
its people have no equal among the 36 states and the federal capital
territory authority in Nigeria in terms of promoting peaceful
coexistence between persons and nationalities whether doing business or
residing in the state is stating the obvious and we are very proud of
it.
Also when the politicization
and propanganda machinery of the Anambra state government ran into a cul
de sac as a result of the information supplied by the Lagos state
government that the destitutes in question were 14 and not 70 or 72 as
errorneously churned out just to confuse and draw unneccessary sympathy
from a bewilrded public, it quickly resorted to mouthing the
misinformation that the destitutes were dumped at the upper Niger bridge
in an unhealthy state at a particular time of the day. The reality is
that the Anambra state government shirked its responsibility to its
people on this matter and is only interested in playing politics with
the vulnerable situation of these poor people which is unfortunate.
The truth of the matter is that
Anambra state government has made a mess of the whole show by
attempting to pull wool over our eyes just because of political
expediency and whatever information they give out on this matter is
subject to doubt because they have displayed insincerity which is not
the hallmark of a responsible government. As they say, birds of the same
feather, flock together, therefore, one is not surprised that the Akwa
Ibom state government which like its Anambra state counterpart has demonstrated its ignorance of figures by being accomplices in the 16 is
greater than 19 NGF saga can shamelessly come out to publicly refute the
position of the Lagos state government despite the fact that there was
an exchange of two destitutes of Lagos origin between them and the
correspondences was done officially.
One also notes with amusement that some expired politicians,
persons and groups have cashed in on this issue just to announce to the
whole world, that they are still alive. To resort to hurling abusive
languages and name calling just because someone else holds a differing
position on an issue speaks volume of the integrity of some of these
characters because there is a Yoruba proverb which says, "Gbogbo wa ko
le sun, ki a ko ri si ibi kan" "We all cannot view the same issue same
way because like they say, variety is the spice of life.These persons
and groups just want to be counted among those who have spoken on this
issue without recourse to facts and the reality of the type of
federalism that we are practicing.
To resort to name calling
against an administration that is trying its best within its limits to
bequeath a better legacy to generations unborn is uncharitable. In as
much as one wouldnt want to posture as the mouthpiece of this
government, the truth is that good things cannot hide or as they say,
gold fish has no hiding place. We are all living witness(es) to the
massive infrastructural development in Lagos state since the advent of
the Fashola administration which we owe to posterity to project and
correct the errorneous picture that some misguided and disgruntled
elements are trying to convey to the outside world. The Fashola
administration has touched the lives of Lagosians positively in all
spheres. The massive ongoing construction and rehabilitation of roads in
the 20 LG and 37 LCDA's in the state by the Fashola administration is
unparralled and has won it accolades both locally and internationally.
Its massive construction of drainage
channels across the state to prevent flooding and protect lives,
properties and the environment is quite commendable. In the area of
education, it has given infrastructures in public schools a facelift and
even computerized them to world standards. Yearly, the state government
underwrites the WAEC fees of students of public secondary schools as
well as awarding scholarships and bursaries to deserving students in
tertiary institutions. In the areas of health, it has upgraded health
institutions in the state to a level whereby citizens can access health
services in their locality unlike what obtanied in the past where people
travel thousands of kilometers in search of such public facilities. The
high quality and cost of accessing medical services in these general
hospitals scattered all over the state is a big relief to its teeming
citizens. In the area of sports and recreration, the government has
built and commissioned world standard sporting facilities
all over the state like the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Agege
Stadium, Campos Playing ground, Ajele, Lagos Island, Badagry, Epe, etc
that have been hosting local and international sporting events and are
being accessed by our youths in order to keep their minds away from
social vices. In the area of security, the Fashola administration set up
the Lagos state security trust fund to bolster up the security
situation of the state because of its cosmopolitan status. In the area
of environment, we are all living witness a to greener Lagos. In the
area of transportation, the state's ministry of transportation is
working tirelessly to ensure that Lagos has a transportation system
befitting of her status as a mega city. The Lagos state government also
established job creation centres across the state to train its teeming
youths in vocational skills so that they can become responsible adults
and contribute meaningfully to societal development.One can go on
and on, but these little will suffice because to whom much is given,
much is expected.
It is also ridiculous and
ironical when one hears of some persons and groups accusing the
government for being sensitive to its constitutional and societal
obligations of ensuring the welfare of its citizens by legislating
against suicide and security breach through means of transportation that
dehumanizes us in the comity of civilized people. Some of these
elements also cites the constitutional provisions that guarantees
Nigerians the right to live in any part of the the country, but fail to
cite which section of the same constitution gives Nigerians the right to
constitute societal and economic nuisance. Today, they are talking
about citizens of Nigerians as though they are unaware that what we have
and which is palying out is the issue of identity crisis. Maybe they are ignorant of the fact that the constitutional provisions are
being flagrantly violated because of the faulty federation we are
running? Or are we all going to pretend that
we are unaware that states in Nigeria employ discriminatory school fees
between indigenes and non indigenes in public schools? What about the
discriminatory cut off marks for admission into public schools? Whether
we like it or not, it is to our collective shame that a very large percentage
of our people have become destitutes today and our country a failed
state as a consequence of the unitarist system of government in
operation in which nobody is accountable to anybody because the modus
operandi is the blame game like we are all doing in this matter.
The truth of the matter is that
there are whole lots of issues bedeviling the Nigerian state and which
are a time bomb for its corporate existence since it is a conglomeration of
nations without an input into how they came into a forced marriage that
has and will never work. The only way out of these self inflicted
quagmire that we have boxed ourselves is to join the advocacy and insist
on the convocation of a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) to discuss
the basis of our unity now.
Tuesday 6 August 2013
centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiatives: HEARTFELT CONDOLENCE TO NIGERIA MEDIA ON THE DEATH...
centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiatives: HEARTFELT CONDOLENCE TO NIGERIA MEDIA ON THE DEATH...: CENTRE FOR RIGHTS AND GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE (CRGI) 1a Fadeyi Street, Ikej...
HEARTFELT CONDOLENCE TO NIGERIA MEDIA ON THE DEATH OF THREE MEMBERS AND INJURIES TO OTHERS
CENTRE FOR RIGHTS AND
GRASSROOTS INITIATIVE (CRGI)
1a Fadeyi Street, Ikeja, Lagos.
Email: centreforrightsgi@gmail.com
Telephone:
08078012999, 07033853232
06/08/2013
PRESS STATEMENT
HEARTFELT CONDOLENCE TO NIGERIA MEDIA ON THE DEATH OF
THREE MEMBERS AND INJURIES TO OTHERS IN A GHASTLY AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENT
 |
| An accident vehicle |
The
Centre for Rights and Grassroots Initiative (CRGI) wish to use this medium to
express our heartfelt condolences to the Nigeria media in general and the
families of its members in particular who lost their loved ones as well as
those who sustained injuries in the ghastly motor accident on Ife Ilesha express
road on their way back from official assignment in Abuja.
We are
saddened by the fact that these patriots died in the prime of their lives in the
course of national duty. However, we take consolation in the fact that God
gives and takes, in which case no one can question his authority.
It is
our fervent prayer that God in his infinite mercy will grant the dead eternal
rest, console their families and grant them the fortitude to bear the
irreparable loss and as well grant the injured speedy recovery.
We also
want to use this medium to enjoin the indefatigable Nigeria Media not to allow
this unfortunate incident to dampen their resolve in our collective march to
building a Nigeria of our dreams.
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