WORLD PEACE DAY-Chinedu Felix Opara

 By Chinedu Felix Opara PRESS RELEASE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE: "EDUCATION FOR PEACE" DATE: 21ST SEPTEMBER 2013 "Establishing lasting peace is the work of education; all that politics can do is keep us out of war". - Maria Montessori (1870 - 1952) We live in a world where selfishness, thirst for power and conflicts emerge on a daily basis and peace is a universal dream we all hope to achieve one day. Various stakeholders have come up with many possible solutions and ways to bring the world together and to establish peace among nations, and among people. United Nations in its devotion to achieve World Peace, created International Day of Peace which is celebrated on 21st September annually to commemorate and spread the ideals of peace among all nations and people. As a young man working tirelessly in support of a peaceful world for the young generation. Nedum Opara has been contributing by defending youth rights. In light with that, the theme for this year's International Day of Peace, "Education for Peace" has drawn a lot of attention from me. because I believe education is a key to a bright future and can open many doors for young people. Through education, the concepts of solidarity, mutual respect and tolerance can be embroidered in the hearts of youth and with these qualities, a ground for peace can easily be set. In addition, I also believe that instillation of peace-based values should start from an early age. It is believed that through children, peace can be attained. Albert Einstein shares these same sentiments as he once stated, "we must begin to inoculate our children against militarism by educating them...I would rather teach peace than war, love rather than hate." Chinedu Opara would like to embrace the International Day of Peace by reiterating my life's mission of implanting the peace-culture amongst our youth. I believe it is necessary to include peace-education in formal academic-curriculum; it can also be initiated as early as possible from the home front. Parents are advised to construct a sound atmosphere where children can clearly feel and learn the value of tolerance and mutual respects not only towards family-members but also to the general members of society. Parents should also be their children's role models by embracing and practicing a peace-culture in their daily lives. I am encouraging young people to show their contribution by setting examples for their peers on how to properly apply the values of tolerance and mutual respect in creating the perfect peace that our world and its population are craving for. I believe that one's single smile is capable of turning others' entire day brighter; now, imagine what respect and tolerance can do for our world! HAPPY INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE! Yours, Chinedu Felix Opara. (Heartland Blaze). -END

By Chinedu Opara **JUST IN** South East and South South Governor Pledge to Support President Jonathan. The Governors from the South East and South South Geo-Political area has pledge their support on the Presidency of Dr Goodluck Jonathan. The governors in the communique after the meeting yesterday in Asaba, Delta state, agreed for a mutual economic integration and peace in their region. The Re-Elect President Goodluck Jonathan group described the meeting and their deliberations as a welcome development in the subregion, especially now that Nigerians are searching for a lasting peaceful co-existence.

By Chinedu Felix Opara Nigeria Spent N1 Trillion Naira On NASS Members -Oby Ezekwesili Former Minister of Education Mrs Oby Ezekwesili has again stirred a hornet’s nest. She expressed yesterday concern over the N1 trillion she alleged was spent by federal legislators in the last eight years. She said: “Since 2005, National Assembly members alone have been allocated N1trillion. Besides, she stressed, a research conducted in Britain identified Nigerian legislators as being the highest paid in the world. “N699b went to banks as interest on borrowed loans in 2012 alone; also, 82 per cent of Nigeria’s budgetary cost goes for recurrent expenditure,” she said. Mrs Ezekwesili spoke in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at a one-day dialogue session on the cost of governance in Nigeria jointly organised by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) and the Federal Public Administration Reform Programme, United Kingdom (UK). She has been criticising the running of the economy, with Presidential aides challenging her to debate. The former Minister said the long military rule might have had a negative impact on governance in the country. She said one of the greatest mistakes of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in which she served, was that Nigeria delved into democracy without necessarily doing away with the military mentality. “There is a drawback to the military; one major mistake of the government under which I served was that we simply got into democracy and did not spend reasonable time of removing the militaristic ethos and principles from the minds of every citizen, every leader and every institution,” she said. Ezekwesili demanded proactive engagement of the government by Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and others and canvassed part-time legislation as a means of lowering the cost of governance. She said part-time legislature would ensure that the right people got into governance, adding: “Things will improve through part-time legislations. It will also filter the number of people who will go into the National Assembly. “You must have means of livelihood and you don’t need to depend on public funds. We need to learn more on the good and bad side of it. But we can’t rule out the possibility. “There should be effective demand by civil societies for the Steve Oronsaye report. You should demand for a mini national transparent dialogue because it touches on the heart of good governance”, she said. Mrs Ezekwesili, also advised the diversification of the economy, noting that over-dependence on oil is bound to drag the nation down in view of the alarming poverty level in the country despite its numerous natural and human resources. She said: “While other countries are moving forward, Nigeria is entrapped in something called oil, where $1.6 billion is lost to theft annually. “We must debate public policies as a nation because if we don’t debate public policies, we are going to make silly mistakes because we didn’t involve the stakeholders. So, policy debates must be encouraged. The former minister went on: “The culture of personalising policy dialogues must stop. When you have a problem, you don’t leave the problem and begin to chase other matters. I feel sorry for any person who is fairly okay in this nation and doesn’t care about the poor because there will be an implosion. “Whatever treatment that is given to the poor and vulnerable in the society must matter to everybody because except we have social inclusion in the society, we stand the danger of implosion and it has happened in other countries which ignored the vulnerabilities. “We have to arrest what will happen if we don’t address the level of poverty in Nigeria.” Executive Director of CISLAC Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani criticised what he called “the 10-plane size of the presidential fleet which allegedly gulps N9.08billion annually for maintenance”. He faulted what he called “the recent media report of our National Assembly members being the highest paid in the world and the size of the government cabinet at the executive level, including the retinue of superfluous aides and special assistants. “ ************************************ HeartlandBlaze!! To update you with & real news is our mission.

WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY “THE WORLD NEEDS MORE” DATE: 19TH AUGUST 2013 “A person who has sympathy for mankind in the lump, faith in its future progress, and desire to serve the great cause of this progress, should be called not a humanist, but a humanitarian, and his creed may be designated as humanitarianism.” Irvina Babbitt Year after year, we see doctors, nurses, psychologists, engineers, logisticians, programme officers, information managers, security advisors and the rest of the humanitarian community worldwide give up the comfort of their homes while they go out into difficult territories and put their lives on the line to help those in need. They embark on dangerous missions to countries and parts of the world characterized by catastrophic conditions such as natural disast ers, war and conflicts, droughts and poverty. They endure bad conditions with lack of good health facilities and close to none basic needs and yet they still continue to persevere in their missions. The theme for this year World Humanitarian Day “The World Needs More” draws the world into coming up with solutions to what the world needs more. It is a campaign of words in support of those who are victims of the humanitarian crisis. In the past and in most recent times, a lot of humanitarians have lost their lives and have been victims of rape, torture, kidnapping, while they were working on missions in various parts of the world. The numbers keep escalading and this is a cause for concern, hence most missions have been pulling out of high risk areas in order to protect humanitarians. At World Assembly of Youth (WAY) we recognize and acknowledge the struggles and achievements of all the humanitarians. Their great effort to bring aid is well appreciated. WAY is also playing its role by raising awareness on issues such as eradicating hunger and poverty, gender equality, environmental sustainability and many more. We also encourage volunteer programs that are involved in counteracting these issues. The World Needs more people of Mother Theresa, Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela caliber, people who cherish peace, are selfless, humble and brave. Only then can there be peace, and can the efforts of our humanitarians be highly appreciated and their safety be intact. Youth around the world should look up to such figures and work on making the world a better place by taking part in humanitarian activities.The World Needs LOVE. Chinedu Felix Opara Follow @Nedumblaze

My Condolence to Dame Patience Jonathan

I SYMPATHISE with the wife of our President, Dame Patience Jonathan and her family, whose mother, Madam Charity Iwari-Oba, met her untimely death recently. Death is an opportunity to share the grief of our neighbours, rather than display mischief and play unsavoury politics. All will die, and none will escape bereavement here on earth. I urge her and family to be strong and depend on God, the Ultimate Consoler. He makes everything all right in the end. ‪#‎Chinedu‬ Felix Opara For Heartland Blaze

Privatisation: Peterside explains use of ATC & C for bidders - See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/privatisation-peterside-explains-use-of-atc-c-for-bidders

At the opening of Financial Bids for Kaduna Distribution Company (DISCO) and Afam Generation Company (Genco) which held on July 31, 2013 in Abuja, Northwest Power Ltd had the highest Aggregate Technical Commercial and Collection Loss reduction (AT&C) of 29.26 % with respect to Kaduna Disco while Taleveras Group emerged the preferred bidder for Afam Genco with an offer price of $260,050,000. The Reserved Bidder for Afam plant is TES Power which had an offer price of $222,900,000. The ATC & C Loss Reduction proposal by the other bidders for Kaduna Disco are LEDA Consortium (26.71%), NAHCO Consortium (22.83%), Incar Consortium (22.73%), Copper belt Consortium (21.07%) and Axis Power Distribution Ltd (17.40%). Chairman of the Technical Committee (TC) of the National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Mr. Atedo N.A. Peterside who presided over the bids opening said the results are subject to NCP’s final approval. The Chairman noted that: “For Kaduna Disco we are seeking to establish which bidder is offering the highest aggregate technical commercial and collection loss reduction figure (ATC &C). He added that the use of ATC&C method is a clear departure from NCP’s usual practice of awarding companies to the bidder who makes the highest financial offer after being technically qualified. Peterside noted that the NCP had done its very best to ensure that the level of transparency that heralded the previous sale of 15 companies was maintained in the sale of Afam Power Plc and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company Plc. “Accordingly the NCP is confident that this process will produce the most appropriate core investors and fulfil the government objectives of rapid transformation of the electric power sector”, he added. Earlier, the Director General of the BPE, Mr. Benjamin Ezra Dikki said that the event was another testimony of the success of the Reforms of the Power Sector that began with the constitution of the Electric Power Sector Implementation Committee (EPIC) by the NCP to undertake a comprehensive study of the electricity power industry. “The reform initiatives resulted in the preparation of a power policy blueprint that defined government’s new direction for the electric power sector that culminated in the production of the National Electric Power Policy (NEPP) in March 2001 and approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in September 2001. The reforms of the power sector were however stalled until it was reinvigorated by the Transformation Agenda of the Goodluck/Sambo administration”, he said. The BPE boss noted that with the over one hundred submissions received for the NIPP plants less than two weeks ago and the quality of the bidders, “we can beat our chests and say the Power Sector reforms have succeeded. Our dream to introduce a better operating environment that is efficient, effective and well-regulated and enticing to private sector participation has become a reality. The participation of the private sector should bring about higher generation capacities through the provision of more efficient and cost-effective power stations and improvements in the distribution sector in the areas of billing and collection, distribution networks”. He recalled the imperatives that fuelled the need for the reforms in the telecoms and power sectors among others and stated that they were more compelling today than before. “The revenue profile of government when matched with the ever increasing demands on these resources should compel us to vigorously pursue the reforms in the other critical sectors of the economy like the transport and oil and gas sectors, seeing that we have made a huge success of the reforms in telecoms, power and pension. The Bureau should be commended for driving these reforms that have so clearly impacted on the economic fortunes of this country. The Bureau also solicits the support of all as it collaborates with Ministries and Agencies to undertake other reform initiatives in Housing, Transport and Agricultural Sectors among others.’ He added that with the bids opening, the preferred bidders will be given a timeline to pay and takeover the enterprises. It would be recalled that the Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc (Kaduna Disco) and Afam Power Generation Plc (Afam Genco) were among the 17 PHCN successor companies that were advertised for sale in December 2010. Both companies along with fifteen others went through a full competitive tender process which culminated in the submission of technical and financial proposal in July 2012. However, following the rigorous technical evaluation of all the bids, none of the bids received for Afam Power Plc and Kaduna Electricity Distribution Plc scored the minimum 75% required to progress to the financial bid stage. This development compelled the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) to order a re-run of the entire transaction as it was not prepared to settle for a sub- optimal outcome However, in order to fast track the process, NCP directed that no fresh adverts would be put out but instead all prequalified bidders who had earlier expressed interest in the power privatization and paid the US$ 20, 000 data room fees would be allowed to participate in the exercise. Following NCP’s directive, letters were sent to all the 163 bidders asking them to indicate their interest by submitting fresh bids for Kaduna Disco and Afam Genco. By January 31st, 2013 which was the deadline for interested bidders to indicate their interest, 29 bidders indicated interest in Afam Genco while 19 bidders indicated interest in Kaduna Disco. Requests for proposals (RFP) were subsequently forwarded to all the bidders and they were given up to April 16, 2013 to conclude their due diligence and submit Technical and Financial proposals.

35 killed as Boko Haram, JTF clash

AFP – Clashes between Nigeria’s military and Islamist extremist group Boko Haram in two northeastern towns have left at least 35 people dead, most of them insurgents, the army said Monday. The clashes broke out after attacks on soldiers and a police station, according to the military, and occurred as security forces wage an offensive in the region aimed at ending a four-year Islamist insurgency. A clash in the town of Bama sparked by an attack on a police base “led to the death of one policeman and 17 Boko Haram terrorists,” a military statement said. Fighting in the town of Malam Fatori after an attack on troops “led to the death of two soldiers and 15 Boko Haram terrorists,” it said. Both clashes occurred on Sunday. According to the military, the insurgents were armed with “sophisticated weapons” and explosives during the attacks. Both Bama and Malam Fatori are located in Nigeria’s Borno state, Boko Haram’s home base. The statement said soldiers had recovered weapons including 10 AK-47 rifles, bombs and three RPG tubes, among others, after the clash in Bama. “The situations in both places have returned to normal,” the statement said. Borno, badly hit by insurgent attacks as well as heavy-handed military raids, is one of three states currently under a state of emergency while security forces pursue the offensive. The military has claimed major successes, saying troops have pushed out the insurgents. The number of attacks has appeared to have dropped since the offensive began, but violence has nevertheless continued. The military’s version of events has been difficult to verify since the security forces cut phone networks in the northeast, and access to remote areas is increasingly limited. The military says it has restored phone connections to a number of areas, but service remains spotty. Violence in recent weeks in the northeast has included three deadly school attacks as well as a clash between insurgents and a vigilante group that recently formed with the encouragement of the military. There have also been recent attacks outside the areas covered by the state of emergency. Bomb blasts ripped through a mainly Christian area of Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria, a week ago, killing at least 24 people and shattering a recent lull in insurgent attacks there. The insurgency is estimated to have claimed more than 3,600 lives since 2009, including killings by the security forces. Boko Haram has claimed to be fighting for the creation of an Islamic state in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, though the group is believed to have a number of factions with varying aims. Nigeria’s 160 million population is roughly divided between a mainly Christian south and mostly Muslim north.