I’m happy you’ve raised the question because every Nigerian is entitled to fair hearing. Nigerians must learn to ensure that we do not convict people before they get to court. The whole scenario was such that people wanted the ICPC to step in and stamp a shield of authority to the conviction without trial, thereby jeopardizing investigations. We don’t work that way. Even when you arrest a journalist, the first thing he says is ‘fair hearing’. When you run persons or agencies down, the corrective measures are never commensurate to the initial damage done.

The first thing I did upon my appointment as Minister of Aviation on July 2, 2011, was to take a comprehensive assessment tour of all airports, all agencies and parastatals as well as their facilities and installations across the country. I found that safety and security-critical equipment and installations were obsolete, unserviceable or unavailable. Infrastructure all round-airport terminals were dilapidated and derelict.

During his inauguration for a second term of office on February 24, 2013, the Ondo State governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, promised to take governance closer to the people by posting greater achievements on all fronts. in his inaugural speech titled: ‘The Work Continues’, delivered extempore, Mimiko said: “Our major focus shall be on an aggressive drive at job creation for our teeming youths through innovative and durable programmes that will engender sustainable livelihood.

Matthew Iduoriyekemwen is the former Edo state representative in the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Iduoriyekemwen who also is a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Edo state spoke to Saturday Vanguard last Monday, regretting that the efforts of President Goodluck Jonathan in moving the nation forward is not being recognised. The Benin- born politician who was one of the governorship aspirants of the PDP in Edo state in 2012, described the seeming opposition against the 2015 presidential ambition of Jonathan as unfair and declared that the President’s achievements will guarantee him second term in office. Excerpts:

Politicians will do anything to get into power. I’m not surprised and I’m not going to lose any sleep over what any politician says or does in order to win over people. I’m not saying I support what they do. I’m just saying I’m not going to lose any sleep because it doesn’t surprise me.

Senator Emmanuel Bwacha, is a Nigerian politician who was elected to the Senate for the Taraba South constituency of Taraba State, Nigeria in the April 2011 Federal elections. He was elected on the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) platform.

We had poor senators during my time
There were some senators who were poor depending on the area they came from but we were working as brothers. We did not struggle for individual wealth, we didn’t fight in the Senate because of money, we didn’t accuse the executive of stealing because we were very meticulous in looking at what they were doing, so we could correct them.

Anything that is bottled in will either implode or explode. But when you are able to say it, you are relieved. In the process of saying it, you’ll really know what is on my mind and I’ll know what’s in your mind and we can agree or disagree. I think we have reached the point where just a group of people should not determine the destiny of the nation; I think Nigerians should decide what they want and how they want it

In this concluding part of the interview by LEKAN BILESANMI, former police commissioner, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Babankowa, recounts how the police raided Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s Kalakuta Republic. He also speaks on issues concerning the National Conference, among others.

It was a Peugeot 505 they gave me and I had another Peugeot 505. I now said ‘why should I have two when my brother doesn’t have any?’ We were not in the Senate for contracts

Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Babankowa, in his late ‘70s, was a police commissioner. In this interview, Babankowa recounts how he led an operation during the January 1966 coup to discover the bodies of the Prime Minister, Sir Tafawa Balewa, his Finance Minister, Chief Okotie Eboh, and other members of the federal cabinet who the coup makers had taken to the outskirts of Sango-Otta, then in Western Region but now in Ogun State, and shot dead. He also shares his thoughts on some national issues.

Following the nagging issues in the polity, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, a former governor of Lagos State, also known as LKJ, bares his mind on the demise of Madiba, corruption, the education sector and leadership.
For Jakande, whose emergence as an upright leader was the product of his service delivery and the simple life he led in a country where vanity was beginning to creep in and where folly had taken the place of virtuous living, it is indeed fitting that he should speak truth to power on the issue of corruption.
In fact, Jakande pooh-poohed the situation where leaders pay lip service to the developmental needs of the people. He gave examples of how his administration in Lagos State was able to turn the tide.

’I lost my retirement benefits to market crash’ By Sam Eyoboka Born on  April 24, 1940, Apostle Hayford Alile  briefly attended  University of Ibadan as a scholar in physics and thereafter proceeded to Howard University, Washington DC, where he earned his B.A. degree in economics and mathematics. He later attended Rutgers Graduate School of Management, […]

Brigadier General Idada Don Ikponmwen is a former Provost Marshal of the Nigerian Army. He is also the leader a non- partisan group called the Edo Think Group, which membership is drawn from the three senatorial districts of Edo State. In this interview, he says the proposed National Conference will be a waste of time if the delegates fail to come up with a new Constitution for the nation. While admonishing the Advisory Committee on the confab to adhere to its assurance that there would be no, no- go areas, Ikponmwen stresses the need to find lasting solution to the problems bedeviling the country even if it means disintegration.

The octogenarian threw his weight behind on-going efforts to hold a national dialogue. He also opposed moves to stop President Goodluck Jonathan from seeking re-election and challenged those saying that Jonathan signed an agreement to do one term to produce or publish the agreement.
He pleaded with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to end the debilitating industrial action in public universities by disclosing whether or not the Federal Government has deposited N200 billion with it as requested by university teachers and claimed by the government.