Warehouse guts Sway warehouse. This is what happened

Searching for the new INEC chairman

The new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, was among the most searched names on the World Wide Web on Wednesday, the day he emerged the organisation’s Ombudsman.

Interest in Yakubu rose sharply at 1pm, according to Google Trends, making him one of the most-researched names by Nigerians as of Wednesday evening.

The new INEC boss, according to Topsy.com, a social media analytics, also received considerably number of mentions on social media. He diverted attention from the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, whose trial at the Code of Conduct Tribunal had stolen the day earlier.

President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Yakubu, a former Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund as the INEC helmsman on Wednesday.

But those searching for the former TETFUND executive secretary on popular social media platforms may be in for a fruitless exercise. Reason: Yakubu does not have a page on Twitter – a platform where the commission the professor now oversees commands a huge following.

Besides, as of Wednesday, there was no other social media account one could trace to the former lecturer. Even with his high status in education and political circle, the academic does not have even a parody page linking to him on the Facebook.

On LinkedIn, a site where one finds professionals who may not be comfortable with other social media tools, the historian is also visibly missing in action.

Perhaps, one could safely say that Yakubu has gone the way of Amina Zakari, who was in charge of INEC until Wednesday, and the former helmsman, Prof. Attahiru Jega.

Jega, throughout his tenure, resisted the temptation to join the social media. The same thing applied to Zakari, who is back to her position as an INEC commissioner.

With former heads of INEC who witnessed the social media revolution successfully shunning the temptation to get involved, it looks like there is already an unwritten tradition at the electoral umpire preventing their bosses from keying into the . Well, for Yakubu is up to him to respect the ‘tradition’ or not.

What, however, is beyond Yakubu is how social media will be used to analyse and assess his decisions in coming years.

Meanwhile, his appointment is beginning to attract attention and comments. In fact, online activists have started scrutinising his credential, digging into past media reports on his activities at the TETFUND.

Online reports say Yakubu, the earliest first-class graduate of History from the North, had lectured at the Nigeria Defence Academy before joining the Federal Ministry of Education.

Ezekwesili to Saraki: Don’t privatise the…

 

 

 A former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, on Wednesday, engaged the Senate President in Twitter war for allegedly adjourning the Senate proceedings to enable his colleagues to join him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal hearing.

Saraki is standing trial at the tribunal for alleged inconsistency in his asset declaration when he was the governor of  Kwara State.

Ezekwesili, who accused Saraki of trying to privatise the National Assembly, said what the Senate President did was not exemplary enough.

“Honestly, you should have dissuaded your colleagues from doing such damage to the democratic institution of the National Assembly.

“I speak for citizens who, like me, just simply wish for a transparent judicial due process on your case with the CCT,” she tweeted at @BukolaSaraki.

According to her, the action of the Senate undermines Nigerians’ desire for sustainable institutions.

Responding, Saraki said institutions could only be sustainable if laws were devoid of external interference.

He said it would not augur well for the country to have weak institutions.    

He tweeted, “The sustainability of our institutions is also dependent on the law being devoid of external interference. It will be harmful for our nation if institutions are weakened for personal causes.”

He also told Ezekwesili that due process, which he stood for, was important for the sustainability of the country’s democracy.

Ground collision: Arik grounds two aircraft

Two Boeing 737-800NG aircraft, operated by Arik Air, were grounded by today afternoon after a round collision at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos.

There was no casualty in the incident that took place the General Aviation Terminal of the airport in the afternoon.

Ogunshola: I never interfered in PUNCH’s editorial content

 The former chairman of Punch Nigeria Limited, Chief Ajibola Ogunsola, on Tuesday, attributed his success at the newspaper to his firm resolve to detach himself from its editorial contents.

He spoke during the 27th edition of the Centre for Values in Leadership’s Leadership Tribute Colloquium held in his honour.

The event was in honour of the Ogunshola’s contributions to the growth of the Nigerian media industry. The team of the colloquium was: The Media as the Fourth Estate of the Realm.

Panelists included the Chairman, Punch Nigeria Limited, Mr. Wale Aboderin; the Publisher, Manufacturing Today Newspaper, Mr. Stanley Egbochuku; the General Manager, Vanguard Media Limited, Mr. Gbenga Adefaye and the former Managing Director, Concord Newspapers, Dr. Doyin Abiola.

Ogunshola, who spoke after he was presented with a plaque of honour, said the PUNCH Newspapers excelled professionally because he distanced himself from its editorial contents and “allowed professionals to do their jobs.”

The celebrant recalled three instances when the newspaper carried reports that affected his close friends, including the ex-governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba, when he was chairman. As painful as he felt, he said he could not intervene to stop the reports, as he had chosen not to dictate to the editors on professional issues.

He said, “To members of the general public, the belief was that the chairman of the newspaper reads the stories before printing. Hence, he should be held responsible for any story against them. Unknown to them, I read Punch Newspapers in the morning like other readers without any prior knowledge of the stories that were published.”

Since he was not involved in the editorial process, according to Ogunsola, he also refrained from apologising on behalf of the newspaper. He stressed that he never tendered any personal apology to any aggrieved party as that would imply taking personal responsibility for the contents of the newspapers.

“I took a firm decision not to personally apologise for stories carried by The PUNCH. My advice to complainants was to get their media officers to write the company. For those whose voices were not very strong, I asked them to write the company and copied me,” he said.

He, however, said that he insisted on high ethical practice at all cadres of the editorial section, noting that correspondents and their bosses were fired on several occasions for carrying false and unethical reports.

He also pointed out proper financial management as another factor that assisted him to build an enduring institution during his time.

He said, “I retained a firm handle on the company. One of the first things I did was insisting that all money belonging to the company be paid into the company’s account after which cheques were issued for expenses incurred.

“I was concerned in promoting high quality style in terms of and language style, my policy of non-interference in the editorial contents suited journalists. It also suited me well because I did not have to devote time to aspect.”

Amaechi is the lion of Africa, says Dele Momodu

 

Momodu

Dele Momodu, the publisher of The Ovation, has taken to social media to galvanise support for the former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, describing him as the lion of Africa. 

Momodu’s social media campaign intensified on Monday and Tuesday morning as concern over the fate of the ex-governor’s ministerial slot continue to grow.

Momodu had earlier urged President Mohammadu Buhari to disregard Amaechi’s critics; protect him with his last strength and ensure that whatever offence he had committed was forgiven.

Amaechi

He said, “If I were Buhari, I would protect and promote Amaechi with my last strength; whatever sin he committed is nullified.”

Soon after posting the remark, social media users lashed at him, saying he was taking the cause for Amaechi’s minister too far.

Many of critics said Momodu was putting unnecessary pressure on the lawmakers and over Amaechi’s nomination, saying Nigeria was bigger than an individual.

Attack on Momodu by other Internet users (who described him as a praise singer) has not stopped his massive social media campaign.

He resumed the campaign on Instagram and Twitter on Tuesday morning, declaring his readiness to stay with Ameachi till end.

“We are watching; even if postponed, we are waiting with him,” he said. The tweet came before the Internet was awash of reports that the ex-Rivers governor’s screening was, indeed, postponed.

Responding to caution warning from his fans who observed that the social media show he had put up was fast eroding his integrity, the ex-presidential candidate said, “Even husband and wife do disagree; on this issue please forgive me, on Ameachi I stand. We can still be friends later.

“He was a star in the Peoples Democratic Party who taught us 16 can never be greater than 19 despite attempts to change simple mathematics.” 

Also describing Ameachi as “lion heart”, he said those who attempted to cage the ex-governor had more to lose in the battle.

“Even guards in the zoo are more endangered that the lions they try to cage,” he posted.

Momodu said he threw his support behind politician as he was convinced that he deserved a place in the current administration.

Momodu said his support was as a result of his personal choice, adding that he extended similar support to former President Goodluck Jonathan when he faced injustice.

He said his support for the nominee would not lose relevance except “if the dictionary meaning of credibility changes.”

According to him, Amaechi’s nomination is not a do-or-die issue but the campaign is a response to the action of the opposition camp.

“There trick is very devious obvious – demonise Amaechi brutally and hope Nigerians would be fooled. We stand with you (Amaechi),” he noted. 

Momodu had replaced his Twitter profile photograph with that of Ameachi while he went into history to unveil photographs of the making of Amaechi’s political career, highlighting the battles he fought to attain his current status.

#IStandWithAmaechi, an hashtag promoted by Momodu, has since on Monday gone viral on social media.

The Amaechi cause is, perhaps, the biggest online battle the publisher would fight. His critics said he has thrown caution to the wind in bid to defend the indefensible.

Tweeting on @enobong, Rebecca Roberts, said, “Come on, man you ran for presidency one time; support your bad friend privately.”

Responding to Momodu’s Instagram post, one Eny Eniola wondered why Momodu, with his status, had suddenly become Amaechi’s social media campaign manager.

Imo, Kebbi, Sokoto in endless website reconstruction...

 Sokoto, Kebbi and Imo state governments have yet to unveil their new websites months after they commenced upgrading work on them.

Findings on Monday showed that websites of the three state governments were still suspended just as their operators said they were undergoing an upgrading process.

Information Edge had reported that the Katsina, Sokoto, Imo and Kebbi state governments suspended their official portals to have them rebuilt to meet modern interactive communication needs of the public.

When our correspondent visited sokotostate.gov.ng, the official site of the Sokoto State Government, on Monday, it was left frozen with a message – “We are working hard to improve our website and we will be ready to launch in one week and three days’ time.” 

In early September, the same message was found on the blank digital space. Back then, the state government said the reconstruction, which was still in progress on Monday, would take a week and two days. 

The Kebbi State Government also announced on its suspended site that it would launch its site soon as what it had were sampled pages of what the developer was working on. As of  Monday, the notice was still displayed on the almost-blurred portal. 

“Kebbistate.com is dedicated to the development of Kebbi State. We will, work as a team, make Kebbi State greater. Please check back regularly for updates. We hope to help in raising political awareness concerning what it means to be a Kebbian. After all, we are all in this together. 

“Together, we can ensure better life for future generations of Kebbians. Equally, you can inform your computer-literate friends and associates to check the website regularly and email us their names and phone numbers, as we embark on a project to compile names, phone numbers and email addresses of all our indigenes, who are passionately and actively working for Kebbi State's development,” the government noted. 

Katsina State Government was among states in the North-West that put up their sites for reconstruction earlier. As of Monday, its katsina.gov.ng could not be traced on the cyberspace much less viewing its current status. The site may have been taken down after a report on its dormant state. 

In the South-East, the Imo State Government, in August, also suspended its domain – imostate.gov.ng – to have it upgraded.

As of Monday evening, a message displayed on the immobile site said it would be unveiled in seven hours’ time.

The state government said it was carrying out some maintenance to improve on the performance of the site. It called on interested visitors to drop a message via a dialogue box provided on the demobilised site. 

There have not been improvements on the performances of state government-operated digital platforms. From South-West to North-West and South-East to North-East, the story is almost the same. State governments’ platforms are either abandoned completely or not regularly updated.  

A few states are, in worse cases, not linked to functional websites. For instance, Kaduna and Zamfara state governments have no functional web presence. 

The digital status of the Kaduna State Government, especially, contradicts Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s soaring social media profile.

With 670,000 Twitter followers, el-Rufai is currently the most-followed Nigerian politician on Twitter. The governor surpasses, for instance, President Muhammadu Buhari’s combined followers on @NGRPresident and @MBuhri.

On Facebook as well, el-Rufai’s verified account is active and highly-rated in terms of visibility. His Facebook followers are over 500, 000. His just-unveiled official Twitter page – @GovKaduna – is also gaining relevance by the day; it has over 8,000 users to its credit already.

In the South-South, Edo State Government also operates an obscure website. Just like Governor Adams Oshiomhole, the state government does not have a page on any social media site. Its website, apart from the historical facts it contains, is rarely updated.