Tottenham appoint Mourinho as new head coach

Jose Mourinho is set for a fresh spell in the English Premier League following the confirmation by Tottenham that the Portuguese will be their head coach until the end of the 2023 season.

The former Manchester United and Chelsea boss replaces Mauricio Pochettino, who was sacked on Tuesday.

Reacting to his latest appointment, Mourinho said he was delighted at the new opportunity to handle another London club in Spurs.

Mourinho said: “I am excited to be joining a club with such a great heritage and such passionate supporters. The quality in both the squad and the academy excites me. Working with these players is what has attracted me.”

His first game will be at the London Stadium on Saturday as Tottenham travel to take on West Ham in the Premier League.

Chairman Daniel Levy said he was “reluctant” to sack Pochettino, whose Spurs side lost to Liverpool in last season’s Champions League final, but explained the decision had to be made in the “club’s best interests”.

Mourinho won three Premier League titles with Chelsea, and is one of only three managers to have won the UEFA Champions League twice with two clubs, FC Porto in 2004 and Inter Milan in 2010.

“In Jose we have one of the most successful managers in football,” Levy said on Wednesday.

“He has a wealth of experience, can inspire teams and is a great tactician. He has won honours at every club he has coached. We believe he will bring energy and belief to the dressing room.”

Mourinho, who lives in London, inherits Tottenham with the club 14th in the Premier League and having won just five matches all season.

It is understood that the flamboyant Portuguese turned down job offers in China, Spain and Portugal since leaving United.

Way out of expensive legislative houses

It is now 20 years that we bolted out of military rule to adopt democracy.

Amid calls for the scrapping of the Senate led by the Ekiti State Governor Dr. Kayode Fayemi and the reduction of the 109 senators to one senator per state mooted by Senator Rochas Okorocha of Imo state, Nigerians seem to agree that our democracy isn’t working as it should be. And the root of all these is the high cost of running the government. Some people believe that unless the cost of governance is drastically reduced our dream of a prosperous nation will be a mirage.

Moreover, it is sad to note that Nigeria has been borrowing to finance her budget for many years now. And much of this money goes to financing a recurrent expenditure, 71 percent of which goes to debt servicing and related services. Sadly, the acrimony about the National Assembly being a drain on our resources is born out of ignorance of the role of the legislature in a pluralist democracy.

When we opted for the Presidential form of government, we had to imitate the American system in mind. There is nothing wrong with that. Certain things we were oblivious of are that Nigeria is a conglomeration of 180 ethnic groups, the interest of which must be guarded. This was done amicably by the British who bequeathed to us a Federal system of government like that of the United States. What the politicians didn’t notice was that the military had bastardized our federation through the creation of unequal and unviable states. Thus, making the states the federating units was untenable.

Unfortunately, the politicians didn’t notice out of their unconscionable greed for power. The way out of the rubble is to make geopolitical zones the federating units. Each zone is a viable entity. Part of the errors can be seen with the North western zone having 21 senators while the South eastern zone has only 15 senators. The four remaining zones have 18 senators each.

As the federating unit, each zone should have an equal number of senators, say 21 senators each. The advantage of large numbers is that they cannot easily be bought. In the USA, the state is the federating unit which is why each state has an equal number of senators, two each. California whose economy is larger than that of Nigeria has two senators while sparsely inhabited Alaska, almost the size of Lagos state of Nigeria, has two senators. Where the federal system is best pronounced is in the electoral system.

The American President is actually elected through the electoral college whereby the candidate who wins the majority of the electoral votes wins the Presidency. The electoral college is composed of the total number of senators, representing equality of states and the members of the House of Representatives which is based on population. About five Presidents have won the Presidency through the electoral college without winning the popular majority. That is federalism at work. The formulators of the Nigerian Constitution since 1979 are too ignorant to take cognizance of the federal character of Nigeria.

The first measure the President can do to reduce the cost of governance in Nigeria is to issue an Order in Council: also known as Executive Order, turning membership of the National Assembly to part-time. However, he should make the principal officers of either house full time. That means the senate president and his deputy, the senate leader, the minority leader, the majority whips and the minority whips constitute the principal officers of the senate and are to be paid full time.

For the House of Representatives, the principal officers should be the Speaker and his deputy; the majority leader, the minority leader, the majority whips and the minority whips. Only the principal officers should be paid in full. Other members of the National Assembly should be paid part-time. The second leg of the austerity measures should be the annulment of constituency projects. Nowhere in the world do legislators have constituency projects executed and paid for by the government. President Olusegun Obasanjo introduced the novel constituency project as a bribe to legislators for his third term ambition. The legislature has no business doing the work of the executive.

Also, the government has no business building houses for legislators to buy. All government-owned landed property anywhere should be on leasehold. Politicians and civil servants are using government money to build houses in order to corruptly enrich themselves. The government cannot build houses for every Nigerian so they should not embark on it. And Abuja land cannot go round to every Nigerian so government properties can only be for let or lease. 

In order to check fraud and election rigging, we should adopt the electoral college system of the United States. Like in the USA, he who wins the majority of votes in a zone carries the entire electoral vote of that zone. With 360 House members and 21 senators per zone; we will have 486 members Parliament. He who gets 246 electoral votes becomes the President. In the event of a tie, the presiding president of the senate would have two votes. In the United States, equality of states is superior to the largeness of population; it should be so in Nigeria too. But for ignorance and malfeasance, most of these problems could be rectified by Presidential orders.

Arthur Eze Presents, Fayemi Chairs The Sun MD’s Book Launch

Business mogul and Chairman of Atlas Oronto Petroleum, Prince Arthur Eze and Ekiti State Governor and Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, will serve as chief presenter and chairman of the occasion respectively at the formal public presentation of The Powers That Be (Thoughts and Reflections on People, Power & Politics), a book written by Onuoha Ukeh, MD/Editor-in-Chief, The Sun Publishing Limited, in Abuja.

The book launch holding next Monday, November 25, 2019, at Niger/Plateau Hall, Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, will also have Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, delivering the keynote address.

According to a statement by the organising committee of the book presentation, Senate Chief Whip, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, is chief host of the event, while those expected in attendance are movers and shakers in the society, including governors, National Assembly members, ministers, government officials, members of the diplomatic community, politicians, captains of industry, boardroom gurus, business persons and others.

Divided into sections and chapters, The Powers That Be (Thoughts And Reflections on People, Power & Politics), offers insightful analysis of developments in the public sphere in Nigeria and across the world.

While reflecting on the people, power and politics that define the country and elsewhere, the author expresses his opinions on critical issues, from the fringe of the Sahara to the Atlantic coastline.

The book has such chapters, such as: Theatre of the Absurd, People who can’t be ignored, Economic Equilibrium, The Obasanjo Years, From Yar’Adua to Jonathan, Unforgettable Experiences and The 2015 Election. Others are, APC and the Buhari Government; The 2019 Election, Security Challenges, The Igbo and Biafra and Hitting the Bull’s Eye.

Speaking on the book, the author, Ukeh, said it was his views on socio-political and economic development.

“The book is simply the story of Nigeria and the world written over the years as they happened. It is the view of a critical journalists/columnist who is both disappointed and satisfied with the conducts of people in government and corridors of power.”

Senate decries sale of medical reports by public hospitals

She urged the Senate to recognize the “dire importance of the medical report as a document which is accorded great weight and importance in the ordinary course of our day to day business, including courts of law.”

She noted that medical reports contain individual’s personal medical records and details which are used to ascertain a “person’s medical condition, obtain health benefits, certify one’s mental state, investigate addictions, diagnose treatments, and most importantly, ascertain and form medical opinions.”

She lamented that the integrity of medical reports issued by hospitals in the country are being compromised and “eroded by the realization that it may not contain the true and accurate medical details of the person named in the report.”

She said that the Senate is aware that the Code of Ethics of the medical profession abhors the illegal issuance of medical certificates and records to patients without conducting all the relevant tests.

She urged her colleagues to be further aware that even though guidelines exist in the medical profession which proscribe these conducts, there is no “effective implementation of these regulations.”

She said that the Red Chamber should be desirous in curbing what appears to be a trend of commercialization of medical reports in some public hospitals where ‘authentic’ medical reports “are obtained for a fee, and without undergoing any tests whatsoever.”

Senators in their contributions supported the motion.

The two prayers of the motion were approved by Senators when they were put to voice vote by Senate President Ahmad Lawan.

Kolade Johnson: dismissed cop arraigned, remanded at Ikoyi prison

A dismissed police inspector, Ogunyemi Olalekan, was on Tuesday at an Ikeja High Court remanded at the Ikoyi Prisons after his arraignment for the alleged murder of Kolade Johnson, a 35-year-old man at a viewing center in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Olalekan, 45, during his arraignment pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder.

Following his plea, Mr Yhaqub Oshoala, Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution, requested that Olalekan who has been incarcerated at the Ikoyi Prison since his arrest, continue to be remanded at the facility.

“We ask that the defendant continue to be detained in prison custody before the trial date. Our witnesses are available and we are ready to commence,” Oshoala told the court.

Before adjourning the case, the presiding judge, Justice A. J Coker told Mr Ike Ezekwen, the defence counsel to explain to Olalekan the option of a bargain agreement before the trial commences.

“This case is adjourned to Jan. 15, 2020 for trial. The defendant is further remanded at the Ikoyi Correctional Facility.

“The prosecution team is enjoined to bring their witnesses to court,” Justice Coker said.

According to the prosecution, Olalekan, a dismissed police inspector working with Special Anti-Cultism Squad, committed the offence at 5.10pm on Mar. 31 at Onipetesi Estate, Mangoro area of Lagos.

“The former police inspector unlawfully killed Johnson by shooting him with a AK47 rifle in the lower abdomen.

“The offence contravenes Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015,” Oshoala said.

NAN reports that Section 223 prescribes death sentence for anyone convicted of the offence of murder.

Stop intimidating road users – FRSC warns special marshals

The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has reiterated its commitment towards collaborating with traditional rulers to intensify efforts aimed at reducing auto crashes

The commitment was made by the Zonal Commanding officer, Bauchi Zone Rs. 12, ACM, Imoh J. Etuk during the 2019 Special Marshals sectoral workshop held yesterday at the Development Exchange Centre (DEC), Bauchi.

The zonal commandant explained that the Corps will collaborate with traditional rulers to always advise their subjects to remain alive on the major highways by respecting traffic rules.

He further warned regular road safety officials and Special Marshals to desist from intimidating road users but rather ensure traffic rules are obeyed.

Imoh Etuk commended the contribution of Special Marshals on reducing roads accident but advised them to improve their performance by organising enlightenment campaign programs and projecting the activities of FRSC.

Also speaking the Chairman of the occasion, Galadiman Bauchi, Surveyor Ibrahim Sa’idu Jahun commended the Special Marshals, Bauchi sector command for the good initiative.

He, however, noted with concern the high rate of accidents recorded on highways across the country, stressing that such workshops will definitely checkmate the unnecessary road crashes.

“The rate of death through road accident is very alarming, this workshop will bring out solutions towards avoiding unnecessary road crashes due to overspeeding, overtaking”, he said.

In his speech the State Coordinator of Special Marshals, SM Tumba Kwaghe

thanked the stakeholders that attended the occasion and urged them to continue their support of the Command.

Represented by the State Deputy Coordinator, SM Kunle Gbadamosi the State Coordinator assured that members of the Special Marshals will continue rendering selfless service to the commission and the nation in general.

Female Muslim students have constitutional right to use Hijab – Sultan

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, on Sunday in Ibadan, Oyo State, said female Muslim students across the country have the constitutional right to use Hijab in schools. He, therefore, enjoined parents to always demand for their rights, whenever they are being denied within the ambit of the law.  The Sultan said this while speaking at the 4th General Assembly of the Muslim Ummah of South-West Nigeria (MUSWEN), themed, “Muslim Unity and Contemporary Political Challenges in Nigeria”, held at the University of Ibadan.

Muslim leaders present at the event included the Executive Secretary MUSWEN, Professor Daud Noibi, Chairman, Board of Trustee, MUSWEN, Prince Bola Ajibola, whose speech was read by Chairman, Muslim Community in Oyo State, Alhaji Kunle Sanni, former Minister of Communications, Barrister Adebayo Shittu, former INEC National Commissioner, Professor Lai Olurode among others.

The Sultan however cautioned those advocating for the use of Hijab and various organisations championing the welfare of Muslims in the country to seek redress in a peaceful manner instead of open confrontations.

“Muslims must be law abiding, the moment we are attacking each other, then there will be no peace. So we need peace. And we have been doing our own in silence. I urge all of you to be law abiding. The issue is at the court and since it is in the court, we can’t make further statement, so that we don’t commit contempt of the court. “Demand for your rights within the ambit of the law. I urge all of you to be patient because Almighty Allah loves patient people. On the issue of Hijab at the university, there are some organizations that are advocating for it, let them continue advocating, but at our own level we have been doing ours silently.

“In the constitution, we have freedom of religion. If my religion allows me to wear Hijab, nobody should stop me. So our politicians and leaders must know that’’.