AkWA IBOM CHAIRMEN AND COUNCILLORS: SELF-IMPOSED MENTAL COLONIZATION: A PLAQUE OF PARTY LINES .

By ~ METI M. UKPEH ESQ. 

There is no doubt that PDP had a history with Akwa Ibom since 1999, but It's an abysmal shame,  a pharaoh-hearted trait and a disgusting sight that grassroot governance has been shattered by the cold-hearted hands of its pilots .

Today,  these grassroot leaders blame the government at the Centre and State for lack of AUTONOMY,  and these beg the questions:

* What happens to the "little " they have been given?  *How judicious have they used same? 

* How many Local markets have they built other than tasking the poor masses with taxes and rates? 

*  How many motor parks are established and maintained without wreaking the treasury in penury? 

* How many local borehole Waters? 

* How many of them have real local relevance but not for imposition and party idiosyncrasies? 

* How many of them sleep in their localities than burying legs on their people while their heads lie in Uyo?. 

* Should l mention more? 

 That these offices are,  whether imposed or given out as settlements to clans,  families or villages,  is the worst nightmare for the state. 

That these grassroot leaders plough only within the bounds of party-lines is a mirage and a camouflage to the eyes of enlightenment that they should have beyond PDP. 

Akwa Ibom chairmen and councillors should live up to expectations rather than becoming an irredeemable appendage to their parties. This irreversible self-mental colonization is ruining our polity. The people rejoice when the good is in power! 

Because,  a time shall come when the Falconer can no longer hear the Falconer,  and things shall fall apart.!

AkWA IBOM CHAIRMEN AND COUNCILLORS: SELF-IMPOSED MENTAL COLONIZATION: A PLAQUE OF PARTY LINES .

By ~ METI M. UKPEH ESQ. 

There is no doubt that PDP had a history with Akwa Ibom since 1999, but It's an abysmal shame,  a pharaoh-hearted trait and a disgusting sight that grassroot governance has been shattered by the cold-hearted hands of its pilots .

Today,  these grassroot leaders blame the government at the Centre and State for lack of AUTONOMY,  and these beg the questions:

* What happens to the "little " they have been given?  *How judicious have they used same? 

* How many Local markets have they built other than tasking the poor masses with taxes and rates? 

*  How many motor parks are established and maintained without wreaking the treasury in penury? 

* How many local borehole Waters? 

* How many of them have real local relevance but not for imposition and party idiosyncrasies? 

* How many of them sleep in their localities than burying legs on their people while their heads lie in Uyo?. 

* Should l mention more? 

 That these offices are,  whether imposed or given out as settlements to clans,  families or villages,  is the worst nightmare for the state. 

That these grassroot leaders plough only within the bounds of party-lines is a mirage and a camouflage to the eyes of enlightenment that they should have beyond PDP. 

Akwa Ibom chairmen and councillors should live up to expectations rather than becoming an irredeemable appendage to their parties. This irreversible self-mental colonization is ruining our polity. The people rejoice when the good is in power! 

Because,  a time shall come when the Falconer can no longer hear the Falconer,  and things shall fall apart.!

AKWA IBOM STATE UNIVERSITY(AKSU) EATEN BY ADMINISTRATIVE TERMITES : STATE GOVERNMENT SILENCE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!*

*AKWA IBOM STATE UNIVERSITY(AKSU) EATEN BY ADMINISTRATIVE TERMITES : STATE GOVERNMENT SILENCE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!*  

 It is pathetic that the state owned university,  AKSU,  has plunged itself into a cat and dog brawl between Management of the varsity and its staff,  likewise the strained relationship between Academic Staff Union of the varsity against the Akwa lbom state government for the Union's entitlements. 

The silence of the state government over the cries of the University staff not getting their full Salary but only 75% since February,  2020, is a cause for concern,  hence the need for state government to immediately intervene in the issue. 

The Allowances benefited by the staff,  when compared to other varsities,  are poor. Even Leave Grants not paid yet to the staff of the University,  is a dent on the image of a state like Akwa Ibom that takes education as a priority .

The Cold war between Dr. Okop J. and Prof. OtoAbasi Akpan for the branch chairmanship of ASUU,  is badly managed by the varsity. Whereas Dr Okop tends to enjoy the recognition of the ASUU,  nationally,  Prof. OtoAbasi continues to enjoy his romance and recognition of the management of the varsity, AKSU. 

Thus,  the silence of the state government is no longer enough,  hence a need for intervention on the entitlements of the Staff of the varsity, and the proper management of the internal crisis of the varsity as the varsity has failed in that regard. 

 *By ~ METI MONDAY UKPEH. ESQ.*

*NBA PRESIDENT, AKPATA's NOV. & DEC. SCORECARD:SUCCESSES ON PAPER OR MORE OF A NEW MANIFESTO THAN PRACTICALITY?? A NEED TO BRACE UP.*

*NBA PRESIDENT, AKPATA's NOV. & DEC. SCORECARD:SUCCESSES ON PAPER OR MORE OF A NEW MANIFESTO THAN PRACTICALITY?? A NEED TO BRACE UP.* 

Verily,  it will be sympathetic for us to still tie ourselves to the cleaves of Cliché,  that it is "TOO EARLY TO RAISE CONCERNS" about the leadership styles of our "leaders", NBA President inclusive. 

In a nation where leaders sleep in taverns of comfort, with their protruded bellies stick to the Western world and their anuses farting to the already fainted masses,  our NBA should stand out! 

In our country  where the executive is self-bedeviled with barons and baronesses of incompetence,  sleeping over the cries of security and people-oriented programmes,  our NBA should stand out! 

In a same nation where our Judiciary is wrapped in a life-draining executive imposition and dependence,  hence churning out godforsaken lapses in Orders,  Rulings and decisions; yet again, our NBA should stand out! 

But comfort is not on my side upon a careful and objective perusal of the November and December scorecard of our NBA President,  Mr.  Akpata.,  as therein contained more of "would-be projects", heard but inconclusive projects, hence more of a campaign manifestoes than practicality. 

Our NBA President,  Mr. Akpata should brace up,  be pro-active and live up to the expectations. Let posterity beckon on this administration with right-hand. 

 *HAPPY NEW YEAR TO NIGERIAN BAR ASSOCIATION.* 

 *By ~ METI MONDAY UKPEH*

STATE CREATION: 

ITAI STATE—A DELAYED CAUSE, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN: THE CLARION CALL FOR THE LEGISLATORS TO DO THE NEEDFUL

BY: METI. M. UKPEH ESQ.

[AMA-MME ANANA-OWO]

Gladly, I would love to spare every reader of this piece the stress of reminding ourselves of the love that went rogue in the military dispensation that led to the creation of Akwa Abasi Ibom state in 1987. However, an adage in our local parlance goes thus: “ndisme akodo afere akpong usung ku ubok”—only a fool, while eating, licks to waste his soup leaving behind the balls of garri.

Similarly, posterity will certainly not beckon on me with right-hand if I fail to give a deserved credence to our heroes past who toiled and moiled to see us match to the promised land [Akwa Ibom State] in 1987.

Some of these notable torch-bearers, forerunners, and the Moses to the birth of Akwa Ibom, in no particular order, include:

Prof. Eyo Ita

Obong Nyong Essien

Obong Sampson Udo Etuk

Chief Robert Udoaka Umoinyang

Brigadier General Wellington Bassey

Hon. Justice Sir Egbert Udo Udoma

Dr. Ibanga Udo Akpabio

Obong Effiong Okon Eyo (Eyo Uyo)

Obong General Philip Effiong

Brigadier General Udoaka Jacob Esuene,

among host of others.

Notwithstanding the new darling state created in 1987, it has been the conscious conscience of our forbears for the creation of a new state to be called, ITAI STATE, as this will bring even developments to its people, curb minority fears and vices, fulfill the democratic nature of our country and its constitution, balance the culture of the would-be state, among others.

The Mid-Western and South-Eastern parts of the country have, very recently, made the legendry move for creation of more states in their regions; it is about time, the South-South keyed in, through its legislators—both state and federal, to give its people the pride of place in democracy, recorded tablets and scrolls of history.

THE CONSTITUTION OF NIGERIA, among other extant laws, has expressly enumerated steps to creation of a new state. See. S. 8 CFRN, 2011, as amended.

Thus, I call on members of Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, and our legislators in the National Assembly, not to sell or mortgage their conscience, nor bury the heritage of its people, but to move to the epochal fulfillment of the journeys of our forebears, hence call for the creation of ITAI STATE from AKWA IBOM STATE.

Owo isidipke idip—no one hides a pregnancy! For there shall come a state! No! a new state! ITAI STATE.

Eyen isimanake ke udua, ete yak eka afud ukot—you can’t warn a woman in labour to close her legs when a child is born at the market square!

Even in the mist of destructive criticisms that will follow this piece, I would rather urge us all to see the bigger picture of inevitable positivity.

By: M. M. UKPEH ESQ.

[AMA-MME ANANA-OWO]

THE MANTRA Dailies~~ FAST FACTS ON MRS. JOYCE ODUAH [ DIGITAL SECRETARIAT]

*FAST FACTS ON JOYCE ODUAH, FICMC* 

 *LEADERSHIP ROLES CAME EARLY*

Very early in life, Joyce was appointed School Prefect in Primary School and Senior School Prefect in Secondary School because of her brilliance and evident leadership attributes. Those attributes have evolved significantly and shaped a life of outstanding leadership and service within and outside the NBA.

*NBA RESPONSIBILITIES CAME EARLY TOO*

At a time when many of her fellow new wigs were taking the first tentative steps into NBA activities, Joyce was handed rapporteur responsibilities as a Youth Corp member at NBA NEC Meeting in Akure, Ondo State in 1992. Her performance was so commendable that she was handed a similar role at the Annual General Conference of NBA which held later that year in Port Harcourt. The record of impactful service has kept growing since.

*SHE GETS THE CHALLENGES OF LAWYERS IN PAID EMPLOYMENT*

Because Joyce was once a lawyer in paid employment and once served as a Corp member  with Law Officers at Ministry of Justice, Ondo State, she follows with interest and understands the challenges that lawyers in paid employment face today, especially law officers in Government employ. She believes that advancement in the welfare of lawyers in paid employment is in the best interest of NBA.

*SHE IS PASSIONATE ABOUT LEGAL PRACTICE AND CONTINUING LEGAL EDUCATION*

Joyce, a Notary Public, joined the private law firm, Steve Nwagbo & Co. driven by a passion for proficiency in litigation and corporate law practice, before setting up her law firm, Joyce Oduah& Co. Because of her belief that we stop excelling and growing when we stop learning, her record of participation in seminars, conferences, and courses in Nigeria and around the world reads like a litany.

*SHE UNDERSTUDIED INTERNATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION SECRETARIAT FOR NBA*

Joyce is a reservoir of valuable knowledge and experience gained from observing closely the workings of the IBA and its conference planning model and processes at the instance of the NBA.

*TRACK RECORD OF COMMITMENT, COMPETENCE AND SMART SOLUTIONS*

Joyce delivers all the time. Her legacy of service to the NBA at Lagos Branch and at the National level in numerous Exco and Committee capacities is defined by her ability to find effective and smart solutions to problems. As the Publicity Secretary in NBA Lagos Branch, she initiated personal text messages to members prior to meetings from a comprehensive Register of names and phones contacts she painstakingly developed. 

She made a proposal for meals during monthly meetings and the celebration of members’ birthdays by cake cutting. The result? Improvement in attendance at Bar meetings and other events, as well as more revenue from improved response to payment of Branch dues. As National Treasurer of NBA (2012-2014), she introduced the Branch Bar codes which eased the BPF payment process for individual members and revolutionized the remittances of 10% of BPF to branches nationwide leading to dramatic increase in revenues. NBA Lagos Branch has been one of biggest beneficiaries.

*SHE CARES DEEPLY ABOUT YOUNG LAWYERS*

Call it a mother’s finest instincts; call it passion for mentoring and supporting young lawyers, Joyce, mother to a young lawyer, truly cares about the welfare and progress of young lawyers. Her reputation precedes her in the consistent support, over the years, for their participation at conferences and payment of BPF. 

*SHE CARES FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND FOR HUMANITY*

As a committed member of FIDA – currently, the Chairperson, FIDA Lagos Property Development Committee and Member, FIDA Lagos Litigation Committee – Joyce is not only passionate about the rights of women and children but also wider human rights issues. A woman of deep faith in God, she has a great _heartitude_ towards humanity and has engaged in extensive humanitarian work through her Fountain of Life for the Needy Foundation. 

*SHE IS A CONSUMMATE PROFESSIONAL*

Because she believes in adding value to her professional career, Joyce is a Fellow Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators. She is also an Associate Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

*SHE HAS PUBLIC SERVICE EXPERIENCE*

Outside, the NBA, Joyce has gained valuable public service experience from State and Federal appointments, all of which add to a solid administrative acumen built on leadership experience in a broad spectrum of professional and extra professional endeavours.

*SHE HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED BY NBA FOR SELFLESS SERVICE*

Among numerous awards to her name within and outside the NBA, Joyce’s outstanding commitment and impactful service to the NBA was etched in gold with a Selfless Service Award by NBA in 2014.

The NBA is at a defining moment.

It’s time for value added membership, smart solutions and a smart Bar Secretariat.

 *Mrs Joyce Oduah, FICMC will deliver* 

#WE STAND WITH JOYCE ODUAH

I am Ama Ukpeh Esq. 

Member of Birnin Kebbi Branch

I endorse this message

THE MANTRA DAILIES--SEVEN(7) REASONS HISTORY WILL NOT FORGET MRS. JOYCE ODUAH, FICMC.

SEVEN (7) REASONS HISTORY WILL NOT FORGET JOYCE ODUAH, FICMC VIZ-A-VIZ THE NEED FOR SUSTAINED DIGITAL SECRETARIAT!

It is a truism that the race to elect qualified candidates to man the service oriented offices of the Nigerian Bar Association had long begun even before official lifting of the ban on campaigns in days, let alone the set-piece in July, 2020.

Today, there are so many thought-provoking questions lingering in the minds of many concerned lawyers, viz:

Who should we vote for?

Does he/she have the requisite capacity?

Can he/she effectively handle the challenges of the NBA Secretariat?

Is he/she accommodating and accessible among other  puzzles in the minds of countless concerned lawyers.

 

After an exhaustively careful analysis, below are the seven (7) major reasons the NBA SECRETARIAT needs JOYCE ODUAH, FICMC:

1) DIGITAL SECRETARIAT: Verily, history will not forget Mrs. Oduah in 2012-2014, while still serving as a National Treasurer of the NBA, she introduced the Branch Bar Code system which is a legacy she left for the NBA. Record has it that, the old model for payment of Bar Practising Fees was burdensome for the individuals, the Branches and the National Body.

  Initially, when one pays the BPF in the Bank, the teller was usually presented to the Branches who in turn sent the tellers submitted to the National Secretariat, Abuja in bulk or batches. The National Body then had to sort the receipts and allocate 10% of the total sum to the Branches based on the number of tellers submitted by the Branches. The problem was that not all lawyers submitted their tellers to the Branches, and so the Branches could not claim the exact amount they were entitled to. This was cumbersome and ineffective for all stakeholders concerned. 

Before taking up the position as National  Treasurer, Joyce Oduah had noted this as a problem and began to think of a creative, strategic and innovative means of solving it. This was implemented whilst in office. Now, with the software for NBA Barcode and customized teller, members can pay their Bar Practising Fees from anywhere in the world.

2) QUALITY AND CAPACITY: She is quality & capacity personified. Record has it that in 1991, she was promoted from a regular Legal Officer to Legal Coordinator of General Oil Ltd, because of her undying love and commitment to service, little wonder she attended Board Meetings and proffering solutions to difficult issues confronting the Company. 

There is no doubt why she was chosen on many occasions to be a Member/Head of Committees in NBA; to serve in one office or the other within the time range of 20....  and 2011, at Branch level in Lagos State; 2012 and 2015, at the National level.

3) TOUCHING LIVES OF PEOPLE (INCLUDING YOUNG LAWYERS):

"Show me a successful man, and I will show you lives touched”…….M. M. JIMMY.

Rhetorically, I would ask: what then is success if one cannot touch the life of another?

In her continuous passion for the development of Young Lawyers, she sponsored, at least, five Young Lawyers to participate in the SPIDEL Conference. She has also sponsored Young Lawyers to attend NBA Conferences and Seminars.

Thus, we have seen over the years, a woman who has spent her life positively imparting the lives of the downtrodden in the society. She established Foundation of Life, a Non-Governmental, Non-Profit and Charity Organization aimed at providing for the needs of indigent women, children and youths in the society.

 Thanks to God, this Foundation celebrated its 10th Anniversary in 2018.

4) A LADY WITH BRAIN: Indeed, man’s quest for knowledge is unending, and Mrs. Oduah has never found herself wanting in knowledge acquisition. After her call to Bar, she still went on to pursue and completed her Master of Law Degree Program in the University of Lagos in 1997. In order to continuously garner more knowledge, she has attended State, National and International Conferences from 1992, 2002—2019. 

She has won so many academic awards, partook in several Professional courses, and trainings within and outside Nigeria. The most recent participation was in 2019, when she partook in Fellowship Programme of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators. She is a member of the ICMC African Mediation Conference Planning Committee, 2020. She is a fellow of the Institute.

5) NATIONAL AND STATE APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS: It is never shocking, because history has already beckoned on her with the right-hand and adjudged her as a woman of capacity and quality.  Hence, her appointments as Board Member of Gurara Water Management Authority 2009; Law Reform and Administration of Justice Reform Committee, Akwa Ibom State 2007—2009; Lagos State Blueprint Committee on the Administration of Justice 2017, etc., were not by chance, but recognition of her immeasurable capacity and quality.

 

Very few of her numerous awards include: National Association of Students of English & Literary Studies (NASELS), Grammar School (Board of Governors) Award,2017;  Award of Selfless Service by the NBA 2014, Section on Public Interest and Development Law(SPIDEL) 2019; etc.

6) NO FEMALE GENERAL SECRETARY OF NBA SINCE 1980s

“… he who refuses to recall history is bound to repeat the mistakes of history” by…..George Santayana.

 With NBA and Nigeria poised to give women their voice back in the Economic, Social, Cultural and Political spheres, I have a settled mind that, with the immense capacity and quality of Mrs. Joyce Oduah, she is fit to take the NBA Secretariat to greater heights; hence, the jinx and negative history of 1980s will be broken.

Mrs. Oduah is happily married to her heartthrob, Mr. Okechukwu Oduah, who was her classmate in Law School in 1991. Such a divine arrangement.

7) UNMONETIZED INTEGRITY, CONSCIENCE AND HIGHLY DETRIBALIZED WOMAN.

“… a man that sells, liens, charges, mortgages or pledges his/her integrity, has lost the essence of life” by… M M Jimmy.

 Mrs. Oduah has proven herself to be an epitome of unfettered, transparent and inimitable integrity even in the midst of monetization of conscience, which has eaten deep like a cankerworm, into the fabrics of society. This gesture has truly endeared her to many; hence this is what we need in NBA and Nigeria at large.

Apparently, Mrs. Oduah possesses many immutable and limitless qualities besides the aforementioned ones.

Election will come and go, but integrity, quality, capacity,  etc.,  live on!

May these extraordinary and ageless society defining fundamental characteristics never get extinct in our profession.

 Mrs.Joyce Oduah is a woman with capacity and quality!

 Our NBA SECRETARIAT is safe with her!

Long live NBA!

Long live Nigeria!

By: AMA UKPEH ESQ.