Politics

Expert Rates High African-American Women Voters

Published

4 years ago

November 20, 2020

The Director of the Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy, University of Notre Dame Prof. Christina Wolbrecht, says the commitment of African-American women voters to electoral participation in the United States is “very high.’’

Wolbrecht, a professor of Political Science rated the commitment of black women voters high while briefing selected journalists at a webinar organised by the U.S. Department of State – Bureau of Global Public Affairs on Wednesday.

Wolbrecht said that since 1980, women as a group have participated in elections at a higher rate than men do.

“There are simply more women of voting age in the United States, due mostly to the fact that women have longer lifespans, at least in the U.S.

“One of the themes, or one of the takeaways I am hoping that you will get from my presentation, is that we have to be extremely careful when we talk about women as a group.

“Because it turns out women are just as diverse in their identities and their interests as men are. We see important differences, and I will be talking more about those among different groups of women.

“The first thing I want to point out is that every racial group, women are more likely to turn out than men, that is a consistent finding.

“On the other hand, there are, of course, important differences between different groups of women and men; different racial groups, I should say.

“What I want to point out, however, is that the highest turnout that we see, by dividing up the population this way, is among white women and black women.

“Black women’s turnout has become especially high in recent elections; one of the reasons you are hearing a lot; there are many reasons why you should; about black women voters is their commitment to electoral participation is particularly high,’’ she said.

In her remarks, Ms Tierra Stewart, the National Fellowship Programme Director of IGNITE, a nonpartisan organisation, stressed the need to provide opportunity for young people to participate in government.

The Tide source reports that lGNITE leads a movement of young women interested to become political leaders and provides them with networks to position them for electoral candidacy

“And knowing that if we do not provide opportunities for our youth, they will fall into something.

“And if we really wanted to support our youth in our growth, we should give them ideas about their way of life and allocate resources that is going to be conducive to growth, not destruction.

“That is when I turned into working directly and trying to get people in positions of power, in order to impact policy that can change the way of life,’’ she said.

Politics

NASS Sets Date For 2025 Budget Passage

Published

32 mins ago

January 10, 2025

The Tide

The National Assembly has set Jan. 31 as the tentative date for passage of the N49.7 trillion 2025 appropriation bill presented to its joint session by President Bola Tinubu on Dec. 18, 2024.

Chairman, Senate committee on appropriations, Sen. Solomon Adeola, stated this on Monday in Abuja at a meeting with the chairmen of standing committees in the Senate.

According to him, Jan. 31 is the date for laying of reports on the appropriation bill before the Senate and the House of Representatives.

He said upon resumption from Christmas and New Year break on Jan. 14, both chambers of the national assembly would suspend plenary for two weeks for budget defence by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

Sen. Adeola also said that NASS had fixed Jan. 9 for an open day on the budget to enable various stakeholders, aside heads of MDAs, to make inputs on the budget.

“A tentative time table has been drawn for consideration of the budget at committee level.

“Budget defence sessions begin from Jan. 7, while reports from various committees are expected to be submitted from 15th to 18th of this month.

“Afterwards, collation and tidying up of the various reports will be done by the appropriation committee, with the hope of laying final report on the budget at the Senate on 31st of this month.

“However, the 31st of January fixed for laying of the budget is tentative, as it is just given to guide our work,” he said.

The principal officers of the Senate who attended the meeting included: the Deputy Leader, Sen. Lola Ashiru and Senate Whip, Sen. Tahir Monguno.

They said that the timeframe for consideration and passage of the 2025 budget by the national assembly was short.

They, however, expressed hope on the timely passage of the budget.

The committee, thereafter, went into a closed door session with chairmen of the various standing committees in the Senate.

Politics

NGO Passes Confidence Vote On Fubara Over Dev Strides

Published

4 weeks ago

December 13, 2024

The Tide

A grassroots organisation known as Sir Siminalayi Fubara Peace Initiative, Friends For Good Governance, has passed a confidence vote on the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara over his development strides in the state within a short time in office.
Apart from the numerous development projects embarked upon by the governor in the state, the body expressed delight over the recent payment of N85,000.00 minimum wage to civil servants in the State to reduce the economic burden of workers and their dependants.
Spokesperson of the organisation, Chief Felix Ologara, who addressed newsmen in Bori, headquarters of Khana Local Government Area described Governor Fubara’s administration as the most compassionate, peace-loving and labour-friendly in Nigeria.
Coordinator of the NGO, Comrade Felix Nnaa, also lauded the governor of Rivers State for staying focused on the development of the state despite the challenges by detractors of his administration.
The NGO also commended the newly elected local government chairmen in the state, particularly the chairman of Khana LGA, Hon Martin Nwigbo and his Tai counterpart, Hon Mathew Dike for modelling their leadership style after Governor Fubara’s in providing essential services to the people.
On his part, the Chairman of Khana Local Government Area, Hon. Martins Nwigbo, who also spoke with the press assured that his administration will give priority attention to the development of Khana, particularly in providing security, economic empowerment, human capital development and restoration of power in the area.

Politics

Ex-Inc President Harps On People-Centred Governance

Published

4 weeks ago

December 13, 2024

The Tide

Former President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Professor Atuboyedia Obianime, has called for a people centred governance in Nigeria.
Prof. Obianime said this at the Rivers Liberation Summit and Awards organised by the Ijaw Wari Initiative Worldwide in Port Harcourt.
He said projects execution are good but government must come up with policies that will create employment opportunities for the people.
The former INC president particularly urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, to revive all moribund industries with the view to creating jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in the state and stressed the need for the revamping of the agricultural sector in the state.
Also speaking, a former chairman of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), Dr Sam Sam Jaja, said the Ijaws will never surrender their rights for any reason.
“We know where we come from and we know where we are now; we know the battle we fought and we know the battle we are still fighting and one thing is very important among us, we will never surrender our rights for any reason”, he said.
Dr Jaja said the Ijaws have been known to fight against oppression and marginalisation and commended the Ijaw Wari Initiative for complementing the INC.
“What we are doing today is to honour Ijaw sons and daughters who deserve to be honoured and of course we have one of our elderly sons to tell us what we have done in terms of pursuing leadership”, he added.
He also described the Ijaws as symbols of leadership, adding: “it starts from us and it will continue to remain with us for a long time”
Dr Jaja also declared that with an Ijaw man at the saddle of leadership in the State, the people will see a new phase of governance, adding that areas neglected will be touched, while expressing optimism that the event would equip the participants to face the challenges ahead.
In his welcome address, the president of Ijaw Wari Initiative Worldwide, Somina Wokoma, said the event was to “commemorate the October 30th, 2023, failed attempt to impeach our dear Governor which marked a turning point in our democratic journey”.
“As we converge on this epoch making occasion, we celebrate the triumph of democracy, people oriented leadership and the resilience of Rivers people”, he said.

John Bibor