Friday, July 19, 2013

A peep into Ojukwu’s love life

Ojukwu with Elizabeth (left); with Bianca right.
By LINUS OBOGO

HE had a tough and oracular mien. The more you tried to understand him, the more difficult and complex he seemed. Not many, especially the men folk, could decode him easily. But beneath those deportments were his charm, élan, oratory.
While his fellow men found him a bit impenetrable, the ladies seemed to know his genetic code and could conveniently decode or deconstruct him. He was

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Why we must renegotiate the basis of our corporate existence –Sen. Ehigie Uzamere

Godwin Ehigie Uzamere is a senator of the Federal Republic. He is a two-time senator representing Edo South Senatorial Zone. Uzamere was first elected senator on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in 2007 but in 2011, he was later reelected on the ticket of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Uzamere who is the Senate Committee Chairman on Foreign and Local Debts, in this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, spoke on Nigeria’s spiraling debt profile, barely six years after it met her debt obligations to the Paris and London Clubs. He also spoke on the need for a national dialogue in the light of the raging insurgency in the North , Edo politics and sundry issues Excerpts:

Saturday, June 8, 2013

‘State of emergency timely, but not sweeping enough’

By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor




Professor Jubril Aminu was Minister of Education and Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources respectively, from 1989 to 1999. A professor of Cardiology and one-time Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, Aminu was elected, senator of the Federal Republic, representing Adamawa Central between 2003 and 2011. He was also Nigerian Ambassador to the USA from 1999 to 2003.  In this bare – knuckle interview with LINUS OBOGO, Assistant Editor, Aminu speaks on the political crisis in his home state, Adamawa, his regrets, the state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, and sundry issues.

Jonathan’s undoing is his bad advisers and tribesmen –Ex-Presidential candidate Bashir Tofa

By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor
 
Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa is a businessman and politician. He was the National Republican Convention presidential candidate in the botched June 12, 1993 presidential election. Ahead of June 12 anniversary next Wednesday, Tofa spoke with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO and reflected on the date, May 29 and October 1, and concluded that he would rather that Nigeria sticks with the Independence Day as Democracy Day. He also faulted President Goodluck Jonathan’s declaration of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States, arguing that his decision was rather hasty, among other issues.
Excerpts:

Saturday, May 4, 2013

How I’m tortured by telephone -Sen. Chris Anyanwu

By Linus Obogo, Assistant Editor


Senator Chris Anyanwu is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy. She represents Imo East Senatorial Zone of Imo State on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). An advocate of effective representation, she is of the view that no representation is worth it when the doors are shut out on those who elected you. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, in Abuja, Anyanwu spoke on APGA, politics of Imo State as well as the secrets of her youthful looks. Excerpts:

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Our battles with the virus, by Benue people living with HIV/AIDS

 
Written by Linus Obogo, assistant Editor
 
The sea of heads, with women constituting a preponderance at the vast concourse of the AIDS Preventive Initiative of Nigeria (APIN) complex, Federal Medical Centre, Makurdi, Benue State, tells a glum story, a story of a state ambushed by a debilitating scourge.
A conjectural estimate put the figure at well over 800 persons- men, women and children. On this day, April 9th, this gathering reportedly paled significantly against the previous days’ figure put at about 1,000 of People Living With HIV and AIDS (PLWHA), who daily throng the complex from Monday to Friday, for counselling and treatment.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Nothing can Stop the Merger – Senator Hanga



"In case I die, I have told my Son to give the CPC Certificate to Tinubu-Senator Hanga (CPC). “In Nigeria today, we know that the strongest opposition party is the ACN, which is why I told my son that if I die any moment, he should give the certificate to Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to surrender to INEC for the purpose of forming a merger. The merger is already a reality and nobody can stop it now, not even the PDP” – Senator Hanga
Senator Rufai Hanga was pioneer National Chairman of the Congress for Progress Change (CPC). He represented Kano Central Senatorial Zone from 2003 to 2007. A businessman and administrator with over 25 years in the corporate world, Hanga talks of the commitment and determination of his party to ensure that the proposed merger plan with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), among other parties, becomes a reality ahead of 2015. In this interview with Assistant Editor, LINUS OBOGO, he also faults President Goodluck Jonathan’s performance, describing him as ‘Baba Slumber’.