Monthly Archives: March 2020

Catholic Church Shuts Down Awka, Protests Killings

March 13, 2020 Comments Off on Catholic Church Shuts Down Awka, Protests Killings

By Abuchi Onwumelu Awka Diocesan faithful, priests and religious, Sunday, 8 March, shut down Awka, the capital city of the state, in a peaceful protest against what they called extreme insecurity, abductions and killing of innocent and hapless Nigerians. The faithful, dressed in black, and led by the Catholic bishop of Awka Diocese, His Lordship, Most Rev. Paulinus Ezeokafor, condemned ...

Other Denominations Hail Creation of Ekwulobia Diocese

March 13, 2020 Comments Off on Other Denominations Hail Creation of Ekwulobia Diocese

By Ikeugonna Eleke Christians of other denominations have expressed happiness over the recent creation of the Ekwulobia Catholic Diocese in Anambra State. While some said their happiness stemmed from the fact that it signified a leap in Christianity in Nigeria, others said their happiness was that the first bishop of the diocese, Bishop Okpalaeke, who was last year rejected by ...

IPAC Wants FG to Withhold Anambra’s LG Funds

March 13, 2020 Comments Off on IPAC Wants FG to Withhold Anambra’s LG Funds

. . . Those behind this are Enemies of State – Anambra Govt By Jude Atupulazi The Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, Anambra State, wants President Muhammed Buhari to stop monthly local government allocations to Anambra State pending the conduct of local government elections in the state At a press briefing in Awka, Tuesday, the IPAC Media Director in the state, ...

My New Appointment, Manifestation of God’s Plan for Me – Bishop Okpaleke

March 13, 2020 Comments Off on My New Appointment, Manifestation of God’s Plan for Me – Bishop Okpaleke

By Martin Anusi, Uche Amunike and Michael-Jude Nwolisa It was wild and wide celebrations in the entire old Awka Diocese and beyond, March 5, 2020, as the news of the creation of Ekwulobia Diocese spread round like wild fire. The clergy, religious and lay faithful, all united in jubilation over the news of the new diocese. What even made the ...

From Thorns to Crown of Glory

March 13, 2020 Comments Off on From Thorns to Crown of Glory

. . . Bishop Okpaleke Comes Home for New Ekwulobia Diocese . . . Reactions Flow By Ifeoma Ezenyilimba On December 7, 2012, the Catholic Supreme Pontiff, His Holiness Pope Francis, appointed Most Rev Peter Okpaleke (formerly Msgr Peter Okpaleke), as the Catholic Bishop of Ahiara Diocese. It was an appointment that was greeted with joy from the bishop’s people ...

Day Abuja Stood Still

March 12, 2020 Comments Off on Day Abuja Stood Still

. . . Catholic Bishops Lead Protest March against Killings . . . Demand Prosecution of Perpetrators By Ifeoma Ezenyilimba Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, came to a standstill, Sunday, March 1, as Catholic Bishops under the aegis of Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), marched round the city in protest against the incessant killings in the country, reports Ifeoma Ezenyilimba. The ...

Bishop Isizoh Tasks Faithful on Devout Life of Prayer, Penance, Charity in Lenten Season

March 12, 2020 Comments Off on Bishop Isizoh Tasks Faithful on Devout Life of Prayer, Penance, Charity in Lenten Season

By Ifeoma Ezenyilimba The Auxiliary Bishop of Catholic Archdiocese of Onitsha, Most Rev Denis Chidi Isizoh, has tasked the faithful on a life of devoted prayer, penance and charity throughout the 40 Days of the Lenten Season. Bishop Isizoh, who stated this in his remarks at the concelebrated burial Mass for the late Mrs Angelina Obiageli Nweke at St Peter’s ...

After 34 Years in Sickbed, Fr Innocent Nweke’s Mother Goes Home at 78

March 12, 2020 Comments Off on After 34 Years in Sickbed, Fr Innocent Nweke’s Mother Goes Home at 78

. . . Family, Priests, Others, Attest to Matriarch’s Exemplary Life By Ifeoma Ezenyilimba After 34 years in sickbed, the Matriarch of Nweke Family, Irudede Village, Umudioka Awkuzu, Oyi LGA, Anambra State, Mrs Angelina Obiageri Nweke, finally goes home for eternal rest at the age of 78 years. The late Mrs. Nweke, who died on December 20, 2019, was the ...

By Nwabueze Akabogu The 9th Senate of the National Assembly recently constituted fifty-six members Senate Committee to carry out further review or amendments of the military imposed 1999 constitution. The members of the Senate Committee drawn from the six geo-political zones and headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo Agege as its chairman was inaugurated by the Senate President Ahmed Lawan with the mandate to immediately carry out extensive amendments of the 1999 constitution that will reflect the wishes and aspirations of the Nigerian people. It will be recalled however, that previous attempts to amend the military contrived constitution had always ended in fiasco or monumental disaster due to political intrigues and glaring insincerity on the part of the political class. The first attempt to amend the anti-people constitution was carried out during the former President Obasanjo Administration when the 5th Senate under the leadership of the former Senate President Ken Nnamani outrightly rejected the lofty amendments based on the alleged 3rd term ambition of former President Obasanjo, thereby “throwing out the bath water with the baby”. There was yet another attempt to amend the constitution during the 8th Senate when the immediate past Senate President Olusola Saraki constituted Senate committee on constitution review headed by the then Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu. Although that committee carried out extensive work on the constitution amendments including conducting public hearings, and yet the exercise was later aborted as its recommendations never saw the light of the day. Again in 2014 former President Jonathan constituted a high powered constitutional conference tagged “2014 confab” which was made up of eminent Nigerians headed by the erudite jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Late Justice Lutigi of blessed memory as its chairman with the renowned Professor and former Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister Bolaji Akinyemi as the Vice Chairman. That noble committee was mandated to fashion out a brand new constitution for the country that will satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of the Nigeria people. After about three months of intensive debates and political horse trading, these eminent men and women finally produced what could be described as generally acceptable document as the country’s new constitution which was later submitted to former President Jonathan for immediate implementation. It is a matter of deep regret and national calamity that the envisaged new constitution which would have offered Nigeria a new lease of life and by extension the consolidation of her unity did not see the light of the day but had since been gathering dust at the Presidency without being implemented for the common good of the Nigerian people. There was again another committee set up by the Buhari administration on restructuring during his first tenure. The report of that committee which was headed by the Governor of Kaduna State El-Rufia is yet to be made public up till this moment. One could go on and on ad inifinitum on the previous attempts by successive administrations in the country to further amend the 1999 anti-people constitution. However, there had been persistent clamour for a brand new constitution that would satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of the Nigerian people and which would truly be called the people’s constitution. It is needless to emphasize the point that for Nigeria as a nation to record any meaningful progress in her socio-economic cum political development, the country urgently needs a brand new constitution through a Constituent Assembly whereby the people of Nigeria from all shades of opinion and diversity would participate in fashioning out a new constitution to be truly called the people’s constitution. The current military imposed 1999 constitution has obviously outlived its usefulness and must therefore be jettisoned to make way for the people oriented constitution that will satisfy the wishes and aspirations of the over two hundred million Nigerians who had been subjugated by the anti-people constitution for many decades. If Nigeria must join the comity of advanced democracies in the world and stop her current retrogression, our present crop of leaders must rise to the occasion and quickly create the conducive political environment for the enthronement of true and genuine democratic principles and norms within the frame work of the people’s constitution. In fashioning out a new constitution, the current unitary system of government being operated under the guise of Federalism must be totally abrogated to make way for true fiscal Federalism as obtainable in advanced democracies such as the U.S from where Nigeria borrowed her federal system of government. The country must therefore be restructured in such a manner that regions and not the present states would constitute the federating units while the states or provinces as the case may be would operate under the regions and those regions would also determine the number of states or provinces as well as their statutory functions. The envisaged constitutional arrangement would obviously engender healthy competitions among the regions and they must be allowed to develop at their own pace based on their individual peculiarities and natural endowments. The Central or National Government would only be assigned with such functions namely: National Defence, National Currency, Foreign Affairs among other functions as may be prescribed in the new constitution. Again in order to further strengthen national unity, cohesion and integration, Nigerian citizenship must be based on place or state of residence rather than the current archaic and primordial policy of state of origin which had greatly impeded the orderly growth and transformation of the nation as a modern state. The above patriotic recommendations for a brand new constitution are the only panacea for the survival and continued existence of Nigeria as one united country. The only alternative to the envisaged new constitution is the disintegration of the country which now seems inevitable given the prevailing extremely dangerous and precarious situation in the country. In the circumstances therefore, Nigeria could be allowed to disintegrate peacefully by giving effect to the formal abrogation of the infamous amalgamation treaty of 1914 by the erstwhile British colonial powers. The diverse ethnic nationalities that were forcibly lumped together in an unholy union by the British Imperialists could now go their separate ways as was the case in the former powerful Soviet Union or USSR where the fifteen Republics that were originally forcibly brought together by the former Soviet dictator Stalin in 1922 and the union was later dissolved by the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1992. Consequently, every constituent Soviet Republic declared its independence from the defunct Soviet Union following the end of the cold war in 1991. Nigeria could as well take a cue from the experience of the former Soviet Union and peacefully dissolve the rather unwieldy and unworkable union and later work out the modality for economic co-operation between or among the various independent nations that might eventually emerge after the dissolution of the Nigerian union. Nze Nwabueze Akabogu (JP) is a Regular Public Affairs Commentator and Analyst.

March 12, 2020 Comments Off on By Nwabueze Akabogu The 9th Senate of the National Assembly recently constituted fifty-six members Senate Committee to carry out further review or amendments of the military imposed 1999 constitution. The members of the Senate Committee drawn from the six geo-political zones and headed by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo Agege as its chairman was inaugurated by the Senate President Ahmed Lawan with the mandate to immediately carry out extensive amendments of the 1999 constitution that will reflect the wishes and aspirations of the Nigerian people. It will be recalled however, that previous attempts to amend the military contrived constitution had always ended in fiasco or monumental disaster due to political intrigues and glaring insincerity on the part of the political class. The first attempt to amend the anti-people constitution was carried out during the former President Obasanjo Administration when the 5th Senate under the leadership of the former Senate President Ken Nnamani outrightly rejected the lofty amendments based on the alleged 3rd term ambition of former President Obasanjo, thereby “throwing out the bath water with the baby”. There was yet another attempt to amend the constitution during the 8th Senate when the immediate past Senate President Olusola Saraki constituted Senate committee on constitution review headed by the then Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu. Although that committee carried out extensive work on the constitution amendments including conducting public hearings, and yet the exercise was later aborted as its recommendations never saw the light of the day. Again in 2014 former President Jonathan constituted a high powered constitutional conference tagged “2014 confab” which was made up of eminent Nigerians headed by the erudite jurist and former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Late Justice Lutigi of blessed memory as its chairman with the renowned Professor and former Nigeria Foreign Affairs Minister Bolaji Akinyemi as the Vice Chairman. That noble committee was mandated to fashion out a brand new constitution for the country that will satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of the Nigeria people. After about three months of intensive debates and political horse trading, these eminent men and women finally produced what could be described as generally acceptable document as the country’s new constitution which was later submitted to former President Jonathan for immediate implementation. It is a matter of deep regret and national calamity that the envisaged new constitution which would have offered Nigeria a new lease of life and by extension the consolidation of her unity did not see the light of the day but had since been gathering dust at the Presidency without being implemented for the common good of the Nigerian people. There was again another committee set up by the Buhari administration on restructuring during his first tenure. The report of that committee which was headed by the Governor of Kaduna State El-Rufia is yet to be made public up till this moment. One could go on and on ad inifinitum on the previous attempts by successive administrations in the country to further amend the 1999 anti-people constitution. However, there had been persistent clamour for a brand new constitution that would satisfy the yearnings and aspirations of the Nigerian people and which would truly be called the people’s constitution. It is needless to emphasize the point that for Nigeria as a nation to record any meaningful progress in her socio-economic cum political development, the country urgently needs a brand new constitution through a Constituent Assembly whereby the people of Nigeria from all shades of opinion and diversity would participate in fashioning out a new constitution to be truly called the people’s constitution. The current military imposed 1999 constitution has obviously outlived its usefulness and must therefore be jettisoned to make way for the people oriented constitution that will satisfy the wishes and aspirations of the over two hundred million Nigerians who had been subjugated by the anti-people constitution for many decades. If Nigeria must join the comity of advanced democracies in the world and stop her current retrogression, our present crop of leaders must rise to the occasion and quickly create the conducive political environment for the enthronement of true and genuine democratic principles and norms within the frame work of the people’s constitution. In fashioning out a new constitution, the current unitary system of government being operated under the guise of Federalism must be totally abrogated to make way for true fiscal Federalism as obtainable in advanced democracies such as the U.S from where Nigeria borrowed her federal system of government. The country must therefore be restructured in such a manner that regions and not the present states would constitute the federating units while the states or provinces as the case may be would operate under the regions and those regions would also determine the number of states or provinces as well as their statutory functions. The envisaged constitutional arrangement would obviously engender healthy competitions among the regions and they must be allowed to develop at their own pace based on their individual peculiarities and natural endowments. The Central or National Government would only be assigned with such functions namely: National Defence, National Currency, Foreign Affairs among other functions as may be prescribed in the new constitution. Again in order to further strengthen national unity, cohesion and integration, Nigerian citizenship must be based on place or state of residence rather than the current archaic and primordial policy of state of origin which had greatly impeded the orderly growth and transformation of the nation as a modern state. The above patriotic recommendations for a brand new constitution are the only panacea for the survival and continued existence of Nigeria as one united country. The only alternative to the envisaged new constitution is the disintegration of the country which now seems inevitable given the prevailing extremely dangerous and precarious situation in the country. In the circumstances therefore, Nigeria could be allowed to disintegrate peacefully by giving effect to the formal abrogation of the infamous amalgamation treaty of 1914 by the erstwhile British colonial powers. The diverse ethnic nationalities that were forcibly lumped together in an unholy union by the British Imperialists could now go their separate ways as was the case in the former powerful Soviet Union or USSR where the fifteen Republics that were originally forcibly brought together by the former Soviet dictator Stalin in 1922 and the union was later dissolved by the former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1992. Consequently, every constituent Soviet Republic declared its independence from the defunct Soviet Union following the end of the cold war in 1991. Nigeria could as well take a cue from the experience of the former Soviet Union and peacefully dissolve the rather unwieldy and unworkable union and later work out the modality for economic co-operation between or among the various independent nations that might eventually emerge after the dissolution of the Nigerian union. Nze Nwabueze Akabogu (JP) is a Regular Public Affairs Commentator and Analyst.

Remarks of The President Of Catholic Bishops’ Conference Of Nigeria (CBCN), His Lordship, Archbishop Augustine Obiora Akubeze, at the Peace Protest by the CBCN In Abuja, 1st March 2020 Today, we the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria and with significant support of priests, consecrated persons and our beloved lay faithful embark on a peaceful protest against the high level of insecurity ...

Radio without battery

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Radio without battery

By Pat Amobi Chukwuma Few days ago I drove down to Onitsha and entered into Onitsha Main Market, which is the biggest market in West Africa, to buy a radio operating without any battery. I went straight to the electronic sector. The traders nearly tore my prestigious garment as they were pulling me left and right to come into their ...

Police Command Commences Weekly Physical Exercise

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Police Command Commences Weekly Physical Exercise

The Anambra State Police Command is to commence a weekly physical exercise in all the Area Commands across the state for its personnel. The Commissioner of Police, Garba Umar, disclosed this when he led police officers and their wives on an early morning exercise last Monday. During the exercise organized by the Police Officers Wives Association, POWA, the men, flanked ...

Fr Nnaemeka Ezeokeke Celebrates God’s Love, Goodness at 25 Years in Priesthood

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Fr Nnaemeka Ezeokeke Celebrates God’s Love, Goodness at 25 Years in Priesthood

By Ifeoma Ezenyilimba The parish priest of St Joseph’s Catholic Parish (UNIZIK Temporary Site), Awka, Anambra State, Rev Fr (Dr) Nnaemeka Kevin Ezeokeke, has described his Priestly Silver Jubilee Anniversary as a celebration of God’s unique love and goodness. Rev Fr Ezeokeke, who stated this while leading in his concelebrated Silver Jubilee Thanksgiving Mass at St Joseph’s Parish, Awka, last ...

Ronaldinho And Brother Appear In Paraguayan Court In Handcuffs

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Ronaldinho And Brother Appear In Paraguayan Court In Handcuffs

Former soccer star Ronaldinho and his brother were taken in handcuffs to a courthouse in Paraguay on Saturday following their arrest for allegedly entering the country with falsified documents. Prosecutors are seeking to extend the detention of 39-year-old Ronaldinho and brother Roberto Assis, while defense lawyer Sérgio Queiroz says they should be freed because they are not a threat or ...

Coronavirus: Northern Italy Quarantines 16 Million People

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Coronavirus: Northern Italy Quarantines 16 Million People

Italy has placed up to 16 million people under quarantine as it battles to contain the spread of coronavirus. Anyone living in Lombardy and 14 other central and northern provinces will need special permission to travel. Milan and Venice are both affected. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte also announced the closure of schools, gyms, museums, nightclubs and other venues across the ...

Precautionary Measures against Coronavirus in Place – Orumba South LG Boss, FCE (T) Provost Assure

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Precautionary Measures against Coronavirus in Place – Orumba South LG Boss, FCE (T) Provost Assure

By Chioma Ndife Sequel to the outbreak of the deadly Coronavirus in China and its recent entrance in Nigeria through an Italian expatriate, the Orumba South LG Boss, Hon Raymond Onyegu, has assured the people of Orumba South LGA that precautionary measures are place to ensure that the people of the area are free from the deadly disease. Barr. Onyegu ...

Iran Reports 49 New Coronavirus Deaths, Highest Single-day Toll

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Iran Reports 49 New Coronavirus Deaths, Highest Single-day Toll

“ At least 194 of our compatriots who fell sick with the COVID -19 illness have passed away , ” health ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said in a televised news conference. The outbreak of the virus in Iran is one of the deadliest outside of China , where the disease originated . Jahanpour added that 743 new infections were also ...

Precautionary Measures against Coronavirus in Place – Orumba South LG Boss, FCE (T) Provost Assure

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Precautionary Measures against Coronavirus in Place – Orumba South LG Boss, FCE (T) Provost Assure

Killer of Catholic priest nabbed during traditional wedding

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Killer of Catholic priest nabbed during traditional wedding

Imo State Police Command has arrested a suspected member of a gang that abducted, Rev. Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo and subsequently killed him in 2017. The Public Relations Officer of the command, Orlando Ikeokwu, said that the suspect, Mr. Charles Nnana, from Aji in Oru East council area of the state, has been on the run since the incident occurred while ...

Christians And Maundy Thursday

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Christians And Maundy Thursday

By Emeka Arinze Many Christians are observing today as Maundy Thursday, one of the days in the Holy week when Jesus had His Last Supper with His disciples. During the supper, Jesus removed His outer garment, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin and washed the feet of His disciples. Peter was overwhelmed by the meaning ...

Those who Betrayed PDP in Anambra, Reaping their Rewards Now – Obaze

March 9, 2020 Comments Off on Those who Betrayed PDP in Anambra, Reaping their Rewards Now – Obaze

. . . Says He’s still in Guber Race By Jude Atupulazi The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Anambra State in the last guber election, Mr Oseloka Obaze, says those who might have betrayed the party for filthy lucre in that election are now regretting their action and suffering with others owing to the current situation ...

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