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Current Constitution Can’t Address Nigeria’s Challenges – Anyaoku

Published

2 years ago

March 2, 2024

A former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Emeka Anyaoku, has said that the current constitution and governance system of Nigeria cannot address the economic situation and other challenges facing the country.

Anyaoku listed poverty, insecurity, infrastructural breakdown, among others as some of the “serious challenges” in the country that the constitution has failed to tackle.

He stated this while speaking with journalists at his country home in Obosi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State on Saturday.

The diplomat spoke to journalists shortly after attending the ‘Ito Ogbo’ ceremony, an event and initiation for those who have attained the age of 80.

He expressed displeasure over the rising insecurity in the South East and the assassination of some president-generals by hoodlums.

Anyaoku said the current constitution was a departure from the constitution that the nation’s founding fathers negotiated and agreed.

He said, “These challenges cannot be effectively addressed under the current constitution and governance system we have at the moment.

“We cannot effectively address these challenges – the challenges are nationwide, insecurity is nationwide. There is greater insecurity in the northern parts of the country than in the southern parts.

“The constitution for a pluralistic state as Nigeria, we have to return to the principles of those, of the constitution agreed by our founding fathers.

“Until we do that, I am afraid that we can not effectively deal with the challenges that face the nation.”

Speaking about the Monday sit-at-home in the southeast region, the diplomat said that the exercise was doing great damage to the region’s economy.

He added, “The sit-at-home is doing great damage to the economy of the south-east, I do not support the idea, I think it is doing great damage to the economy. We have to deal with the root cause of the sit-at-home which is the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu.

“Notwithstanding the fact that the court of law had ordered his release, that word gives those who advocate and participate in sit-at-home the reason for doing so.

“I think that the cause of the sit-at-home should be addressed, I do not think that the sit-at-home should be maintained, it should be stopped.”

Earlier, the Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, while delivering his speech at the event, expressed his delight.

Soludo said, “This is my first time coming to Ito-Ogbo ceremony of Obosi. We want to celebrate, thank the Obosi people for giving Anambra, Nigeria and the world a celebration of longevity.

“Let the world learn how to celebrate with the living and not the dead, Obosi is one ward that is more than a local government. It deserves to be a local government.

“The celebration is part of the burial law in Anambra. It is better to slaughter a cow for the living than the dead. I urge the youths to decide to be 80 years and above, but killers, touts, among others will not live up to 80 years. Live a decent, responsible lifestyle to be able to live up to 80 years.”

Earlier, the traditional ruler of Obosi, Chidubem Iweka, commended the governor for being present at the function.

Iweka described the festival as an age-long cultural heritage of the people, adding that about 200 octogenarians were initiated into the Ogbuefi society.

“Those initiated have been exempted from all manners of taxations/levies and my prayer is that all who attended this ceremony will attain 80 years and above,” he prayed.

One of the inductees into Ogbueshi, Paul Uwakwe, thanked God for having attained 80 years and prayed for more years.

The highlight of the event was honouring of some people who have distinguished themselves in serious fields of human endeavour that including the Commander, Special Anti-Cultism Squad, Obosi, Mr. Isaac Nuhu.

Related Topics:#Nigeria Anyaoku Constitution

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UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

23 hours ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

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Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP

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Trump Signs Order For TikTok’s Sale, Valued At $14bn

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order declaring that his plan is to sell TikTok’s US operations to American and global investors.

As reported by Reuters on Friday, the order requires companies bidding for TikTok to meet the national-security requirements of the 2024 law that otherwise would ban the app unless its Chinese owners divest.

Speaking to reporters at an Oval Office briefing on Thursday, Vice President James Vance said the newly created US entity would be “valued around $14 billion.

“We actually think this is a good deal for investors, but they will make a determination about what they want to invest and what they think is the proper value,” he said.

The White House on Thursday pushed back the law’s enforcement date to January 20 to allow time for the transaction, investor commitments, and negotiations with Chinese authorities.

The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s US assets.

However, details remain to be worked out, including how the U.S. company would handle TikTok’s most valuable asset: its recommendation algorithm.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.

According to Reuters, Trump’s order says the algorithm will be retrained and monitored by the U.S. company’s security partners, and operation of the algorithm will be under the control of the new joint venture.

Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping had indicated approval of the plans. “I spoke with President Xi,” Trump said. “We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. TikTok did not immediately comment on Trump’s action.

Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million U.S. users, with helping him win reelection last year. Trump has 15 million followers on his personal TikTok account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.

“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.

He said that Michael Dell, the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies; Rupert Murdoch, the chairman emeritus of Fox News owner Fox Corp, and newspaper publisher News Corp, and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.