Our man of the moment is a trained medical doctor. You may say he is one in a million. Yes, but what makes him tick is that he is unique in his service to humanity. In politics, he has humbly but impressively climbed the ladder of leadership with form responsibility. He was a councilor, a local government chairman, a commissioner in at least three government ministries, at a time the secretary to the government of his state and from there he became senator of the federal republic. Today all the experiences garnered over those years of service have become handy in management of men and resources to give Delta State an enviable facelift that peers envy.
Yet when Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa clocked 60 years last Monday he did not call his friends in the corridor of power to a serene environment in Dubai or some exotic island in the West. What he did was to give smiles to the less privileged, some of those who perhaps assumed that could only have been in a dream. He probably wanted to get a feedback on his NHIS programme which success has humbled the federal authorities.
TELL was not just part of that unique celebration, we also bring
you the governor’s candid opinion on myriad of issues that bother on
development and peaceful coexistence. The special interview: This Is Not
Nigeria of Our Dream was conducted by Dejo Oyawale, Chief Operating Officer,
COO; Adekunbi Ero, Executive Editor and Tony Manuaka, Deputy General Editor.
You will find him very engaging.
The lead story for the week is a peep into the second term of
President Muhammadu Buhari. It looks at the journey of the last four years, the
gains and missteps, as well as the slumbering activities of the present to
project forward. In doing the story, Manuaka uses his knowledge of years in
business reporting to do an analysis of the state of Nigeria’s economy and the
prevailing antidotes offered by the administration, which sticks to slow and
steady trial treatment of a cancer patient. His concern comes in form of a
question; Is Buhari Fit for the Next Level?
The Special Report is a story on the vexed issue of RUGA
settlement, the implementation of which had to be suspended following public
anger and the rumblings it created within government circle. Anayochukwu Agbo,
General Editor and head of Abuja bureau wrote the story titled RUGA: A Grave
Peril Walks The Land.
We serve you many more to enliven your week.
CONTENTS
COVER STORY:
Is Buhari Fit for the Next Level?
With an apparent reluctance to
amend his slow speed at prosecuting his job and the absence of an executive
team among other factors, there are apprehensions that President Muhammadu
Buhari may have a challenge actualizing his lofty agenda for the ‘Next Level’
Special Report
RUGA: The Virus in the Plan
The controversial RUGA programme by
the federal government became endangered because officials altered an
originally well thought out plan, designed to address the perennial
herdsmen/farmers conflict
Nation:
Legislative
Coup in Bauchi, Edo
After 20 years of democracy in Nigeria, the era of executive impunity and legislative rascality is evidently not over as minority lawmakers in Bauchi and Edo Houses of Assembly seize leadership Bisi Akande is a former governor of Osun State and the founding chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. In this encounter at his Ila Orangun country home, the elder statesman * There are concerns that despite assurances of leaders of the ninth National Assembly the legislature may be too submissive to the executive that it may shirk its traditional role of keeping the government on its toes
Business: NDDC: Oil Producing States Jostle for Board
In anticipation of the constitution of the next NDDC Board, politicians scheme for the top job
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