STAR NEWS: Jega named as INEC Chair

[Mobolaji ALUKO]

 

http://www.saharareporters.com/real-news/newsflash/6235-jonathan-nominates-attahiru-jega-as-inec-chair.html

 

Jega named as INEC Chair
Tuesday, 08 June 2010 12:08

Professor Attahiru Jega has now been officially announced as the new Chairman of the Nigerian Independent National  Electoral Commission (INEC). His appointment was approved at today's meeting of the Council of State, a body largely composed of former Heads of State. Sources told Saharareporters that Jega's name and of all those nominated to fill vacant commissioner slots in the Commission will be sent to the National Assembly for ratification.

_____________________________________________

 

 

ALUKO COMMENTARY

 

Another piece falls in place.....still skirting the Uwais recommendation, but Jega has integrity,and the position offers him an opportunity to maka life-long name for himself, if he can pull it off successfully.

 

Anyway, now the work begins.....more INEC commissioners.......then it must start with REGISTRATION, REGISTRATION, VOTERS REGISTER........

 

We shall see.....

 

 

 

Bolaji Aluko

[olaka...@aol.com]

 

 

Hi Ken:

 

Thanks for sharing this pic of Professor Attahiru Jega (OFR), nominee for Chairman, INEC

and who is currently VC of Bayero University, Kano.

 

At the risk of over stretching a connection, I believe NIDO A leaders could take a minor

credit here. The credit is definetely not for helping to nominate Prof. Jega to a position

which I consider him well qualfiied, but rather for something tangential but still very

important.:)

 

When the organizers of the 1st NIDO World Conference held in Toronto, Ontario Canada

in January, 2008 were looking for keynote speakers for the Education Segment of the

conference--the Co-Chairmen of the Education Sub-committee--Prof. Bolaj Aluko,

Prof. Abba Gumel and Prof Dennis Balogu settled on three speakers:

 

Dr Oby Ezekwesili--then Federal Minister of Education

 

Prof Okojie --Chairman, Nigeria University Commission (NUC) and no other than

 

Prof. Attahiru Jega--Vice Chancellor, Bayero University

 

All three speakers made excellent contributions to the success of the conference.

 

If not for anything else, NIDO leaders should pat themselves on the back for

their uncanny ability to identify future leaders of Nigeria!

 

If not for NIDO A I, Ola Kassim would not have had the opportunity

to meet, dine with and listen to Prof. Jega over a period of 3 days

in both formal and informal settings!

 

Congrats to Profs. Bolaji Aluko, Abba Gumel and Dennis Balogu.

 

You guys made a good pick! You read the tea leaves well.

 

Now let us hope and pray that Prof. Jega's delivers at his new job, which

is undoubtedly probably next to being the President the most difficult job

in Nigeria!

 

Bye,

 

Ola

 

NB: Now waiting to be kicked and wacked by the likes of Dr Val Ojo, IBK and their

ilk for making a tenuous connection:) A connection, nonetheless it is and

a good one for that matter!

 

"If You're not in NIDO A, You're Missing the Future of Nigeria"

 

--a credo the current leaders of NIDO A might wish to add to

 

Ms Jumoke Taylor's

 

"I am Nigeria; the Changes Begin with Me."

---- Original Message ----
From: Ken Okorie <oko...@usafricaonline.com>
To: Mobolaji ALUKO <alu...@gmail.com>
Cc: USAAfrica Dialogue <USAAfric...@googlegroups.com>; NaijaPolitics e-Group <NaijaP...@yahoogroups.com>; NIDOA Diaspora <NI...@yahoogroups.com>; ekiti ekitigroups <ekiti...@yahoogroups.com>; OmoOdua <Omo...@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijain...@googlegroups.com>; Naija Elections <naijael...@yahoogroups.com>; IGBO EVENTS <IgboE...@yahoogroups.com>; Indi Igbo <Igbo...@yahoo.com>
Sent: Wed, Jun 9, 2010 4:19 am
Subject: NIDOA | HAIL THE NEW INEC Chair

 

Professor Attahiru Jega (OFR)

Ken Okorie

[Every business decision has legal implications]

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[Tony Agbali]

Chief Ola Kassim, Now that you dined and wined, and was tutored by Professor Attahiru Jega, NIDO-A takes credit for his nomination? Na waoh for you! Ah, wetin concern me with NIDO-A sef, wey na Pronto and Bonvita and Lactogen na im me like!   Please spare us this kind of cheap politics.   Professor Jega has been at the fore-front of a just Nigeria for a very long time. He was a high profile ASUU official during the Babangida era, and together with the Nigerian lecturers (professors) and others suffered enormous indignities in the hands of these bestial cabal. He seemed to have shown enormous nerves and a dexterity at confronting the issues facing Nigerian higher education (tertiary education) and had the daunting integrity to stand upon principles.    That you did not know Professor Jega until the NIDO-Canada 2008 does not mean that you discovered him and sold him to Jonathan for this position. You see, that has always been my problem with you NIDO guys who continue to enjoy the diaspora and seek outlets to enjoy Miliki lifestyle out-of-Abuja's courtesy. Well, this your prodigious lobbying for Jega na wire!   True, we wish Jega and his team well. However, one thing that we must remember is that often the issue of the election body is not always about who is at the head. Michael Ani, the late Justice Victor, Ovie-Whiskey, Eme Awa, Professor Okon Uya, Humphrey Nwosu, Dagogo Jack, Ephraim Akpata, Abel Guobadia, and others (except of course Maurice Iwu) were men of great integrity and distinct character, but the issues always towered above them and were mainly always compromised by systemic factors.   Yes, responsible and accountable national leadership of the electoral body can always make a difference, but there must be a system where what is transparent and responsible principles and policies at the helm must percolate through the entire INEC body.  Where the electoral officers may come from unpaid high school or elementary school teachers, at the local level, and whom politicians are able to sway with money they have not seen for a long time, may induce such an official to give in.   Many of us, knows how these things occur. You know, when Obasanjo said in his euphemistic manner, that even Jesus would find it hard to conduct a free and fair election in Nigeria, many took offence at his irreverent use of religion, to the detriment of a national debate on the underlying truth of that statement. We quickly acting on sentimentality threw away the baby and the bath water- clouding the message over the elemental channel or medium of expression.    Having been elected twice as president, conducted one election as military president and presided over another election that ushered in a democratic president, it was my wish that folks- especially the media would have quizzed him more regarding what he meant. But the issue got swept under the rug.   However, I feel that Obasanjo knows what he was talking about given the issue of corruption (which he presided over at times in collaboration with various NIDO groups and officials), but we muted him too early because Nigerians are often afraid of germane truths, while welcoming of convenient truths.   It is my hope that Jega would try his best, but unless the entire electoral reform issue is totally implemented, we are looking at an electoral sham in 2011.  More so, if Jonathan runs, with the current mindset of the north and the Niger Delta militancy, if take is not taken Nigeria would be retracing another route to the impasse of June 12th, 1993.   Rather, than paying ephemereal lip service to the Nigerian electoral issues, NIDO should come out boldly to support full and unrelenting implementation of the electoral reforms as recommended by the instituted panel. --- On Wed, 6/9/10, olaka...@aol.com <olaka...@aol.com> wrote:

-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin. For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html To post to this group, send an email to USAAfric...@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue- unsub...@googlegroups.com

[olaka...@aol.com]

"That you did not know Professor Jega until the NIDO-Canada 2008 does not mean that you discovered him and sold him to Jonathan for this position.

You see, that has always been my problem with you NIDO guys who continue to enjoy the diaspora and seek outlets to enjoy Miliki lifestyle out-of-Abuja's courtesy.

Well, this your prodigious lobbying for Jega na wire!--Tony Agbali

At the risk of over stretching a connection, I believe NIDO A leaders could take a minor

credit here. The credit is definetely not for helping to nominate Prof. Jega to a position

which I consider him well qualfiied, but rather for something tangential but still very

important.:)---Ola Kassim

Chief Agbali:

I think you are very hard to please. If I were a university student, I'll be avoiding taking your courses--not necessarily
because you are not a good and competent professor or a professor who teaches a boring or difficult subject.

My reason for avoiding your class would have been this: You are probably too hard please and would likely be a
tough marker; where other Profs will give an A+, you will probably settle for an A or A-; where they'll give an A you'll settle
for B. For a student who never cared for anything else than an A, I'll surely avoid your classes limke plague unless
it is a compulsory subject in which case I will work twice or thrice harder to clinch my A and give up on a few of the weekend
all night campus parties:)

Why do I say this? It is because I felt, while anticipating your response that I had put enough disclaimer as noted above in the
above quote from my initial post. I was not asking the current NIDO leaders to take credit for Prof. Jega's nomination but
for recognizing a well accomplished individual (on his way to accomplishing greater things) and making sure that they
invited him to speak at the Education segment of the 2008 NIDO World Congress in Toronto.

It is like NIDO taking a little bit of finder's credit--just like scouts do when they recognize future top performing athletes
in either basket ball, soccer or football.

The wining and dining were with Prof Jega in Toronto were incidental.

Now to the real stuff--

Thanks for providing more information about Prof Jega's illustriious career in Nigeria in the educational field especially as
a union leader.

I, Ola Kassim will never claim to know Esho more than Eshos's mother (paraphrasing a Yoruba saying), considering
I was already outside of Nigeria in the decades that  Prof. Jega's and his colleagues were trail blazing in the field of
post- secondary education in Nigeria.

Those were the years-specifically -IBB years, during which I completely tuned off Nigeria, only to be rudely awakened that Nigeria
could in fact be ruled by a murderous dictator like Sanni Abacha. So forgive me if I didnot know much about Prof Jega
until we started the preparations for the 2008 conference.

When I need things done that is outside of my field, I always consult the experts. When we needed keynote speakers
for the 2008 NIDO Toronto World Conference we selected two top Nigerian educationists--Prof. Bolaji Aluko and Prof.
Abba Gumel to Chair the Education sub-committee. The sub-committee picked all the speakers. I played no role
in their choices. My only role was ensuring how we were going to raise enough funds to cover their travel and hotel expenses
which we did.

I agree with everything else that you wrote except this one:

"However, I feel that Obasanjo knows what he was talking about given the issue of corruption (which he presided
over at times in collaboration with various NIDO groups and officials), but we muted him too early because Nigerians

are often afraid of germane truths, while welcoming of convenient truths"--Tony Agbali

The above has never happened in NIDO A, especially during my tenure on the board. OBJ didnot interfere in the operations
of NIDO A; neither did he ever try to get NIDO involved in politics. OBJ facilitated the formation of NIDO and then left the
bird on its own to fly and determine its destiny. I give him a lot of credit for that.

OBJ might have many faults, (who doesn't) however interfering in NIDO's affairs or trying to get NIDO A involved in corrupt schemes
was not one of them--not when you consider the calibre of the Diaspora Nigerians that were on the board during my tenure:

Bato Amu, Joe Igietseme, Jumoke Akin Taylor, Bolaji Aluko, Nwankwo of Detroit Michigan, (I can't remember his first name) Dennis Balogu,
George Ogbonna, Lawal Garba, Salisu Abdulahi, Robert Ngwu, Emeka Ugwuonye, Richard Soyombo, Emma Okpalaogu,
Jimmy Etti-Williams, Niyi Ogunkoya, Shade Arowoselu, Femi Odere and Molly Uzoh just to mention a few names that I can recall off head.

As you can see from the above partial list non, of these men and women are either individually or collectively pushovers 
even if we do not always agree with their politics!.

I still believe the partial credit is well deserved by NIDO!

Finally, I join your prayers that the Almighty God guide Prof. Jega as he goes about  his job as Nigeria's INEC commissioner especially for the
2011 elections.

Bye,

Ola

[prof alfred zack-williams]

Can I say that this is a great appointment for Nigeria. He is a very descent patriot, who will put Nigeria's interests and stability  before any sectional interests. He is a first class political scientist who has contributed immensely to the development of  BUK. I extend my heart congratulations and wish him all the best.

 

Tunde