Agony, as HIV positive man rapes girl, 15

From MURPHY GANAGANA, Jos

 

After passing through a traumatic experience of being raped all night by a man literarily described by the police as a beast from hell, the curtain seem to have closed for a 15-year-old girl (names withheld), as medical examination has confirmed her assailant HIV positive.

 

The teenager was said to have left her home at Mararaba, in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State at about 11.am penultimate Saturday to hawk sachet water, popularly known as pure water, when fate dealt her a fatal blow.

 

An harbinger of pain, sorrow and agony came in the form of one Abubakar Atiku, who, on accosting her, seized the money she had so far realized from the sale of water for the day, which he used as a bait to lure her to his residence.

 

It was learnt that having succeeded in luring her home, Abubakar not only raped her repeatedly, but also held her hostage till the next day when she was found naked at his residence by a search party which was raised when the girl did not return home the previous day.

 

He was promptly arrested by the police and detained at the ‘A’ Division, Mararaba, before being transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department of the Nasarawa police command in Lafia, where he presently cooling his heels.

 

Sadly, the police said Atiku was confirmed to be HIV positive after all necessary medical tests were conducted on him. This discovery, according to sources, has become a dilemma for his victim and her parents.

 

Nasarawa State police spokesman, ASP Umaru Ismaila Numan who confirmed the incident, was silent on the medical status of the girl. He simply said investigation was in progress.

ENDS

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Fulani herders kill six in Benue

 

From ROSE EJEMBI, Makurdi.

 
Six persons have been allegedly killed by some suspected Fulani herdsmen who attacked some villages in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State on Thursday.

An eyewitness who made a distress call to our correspondent around 12 midnight yesterday said the attackers started attempting to invade the communities since 2pm but met with stiff resistance.

Our source stated further that many persons were injured during the attack adding that villagers had deserted Okoklo, Ologba and other neighbouring villages following the attack.

Member representing Agatu State Constituency, Alhaji Sule Audu who lamented the incessant attacks on his people by suspected Fulani herdsmen called on the state and federal government to quickly wade into the matter with a view to finding a lasting solution to the problem.

When contacted, state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Moses Yamu disclosed that the state Police Command had already sent operatives to the area to ascertain the true situation of things so as not to just act on rumor.

“Yes, we heard something like that and we have sent some operatives to the area to see what is really happening because we don’t just want to be actin on the basis of rumor. I cannot say anything further until they come back.”

Our correspondent observed that incidence of Herders/farmers clashes is becoming rampant in the state, a development that is becoming worrisome even to the state government.

Recall that just early this week, the State Governor, Samuel Ortom at a security meeting held at the Government House directed security agencies to arrest those who are behind herders/ farmers clashes in the state.

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British Lawmakers to Question Met Chief over Claim Officers Took Bribe from Ibori

Next week, the chief of the London Metropolitan Police, Bernard Hogan-Howe, will answer questions from UK parliamentarians over claims that Scotland Yard officers investigating former Delta State Governor, James Ibori, were involved in a “deliberate cover-up”, the Daily Mail is reporting.

A UK court was told that the Met and the Crown Prosecution Service concealed documents showing that officers investigating Mr. Ibori took bribe to reveal details of the investigations that could have helped the convicted politician dodge jail.

Ibori was sentenced to a 13-year jail term by the Southwark Crown Court in 2012 after admitting to fraud and money laundering.

According to the revelation, one detective on the team investigating Mr. Ibori made several unexplained cash deposits into his account running into thousands of pounds after disclosing sensitive information.

But the police are accusing the whistle-blower, Bhadresh Gohil, a lawyer who had represented Ibori in the past, of falsifying documents.

Surprisingly, the charges against Mr. Gohil were dropped after the CPS was forced to release papers it originally said did not exist. The papers suggested that Met officers took bribe.

Mr. Gohil had served seven years in prison for admitting to helping Ibori to launder some of his loot. He later claimed he was wrongly advised to do so by his legal team.

“I uncovered serious corruption, but when I tried to expose this, I was victimised. Astonishingly, the CPS used the might of the state and all its resources to cover up what had happened, and brought trumped-up charges to persecute me. The truth has finally unravelled,” Mr Gohil told the Daily Mail on Saturday.

Mr. Gohil claimed he received an anonymous letter while he was in Wandsworth Prison suggesting police in the case had been paid by a private investigative firm, RISC Management, hired by Mr. Ibori.

Mr. Gohil had planned to use the evidence of police corruption to overturn his convictions but he was later charged with perverting the course of justice and for forgery. His appeal was thrown out by the court.
His counsel, Stephen Kamlish, stated that the police acted in bad faith by failing to investigate who had received cash payments.

The document had revealed that John McDonald, a Met detective involved in the Ibori investigation, met RISC director Clifford Knuckey on September 10, 2007.

It further revealed that Mr. Knuckey claimed £46.75 in expenses for a meal he enjoyed in a pub with a source that day.

Two days later, the document also shows that a ‘meeting with confidential source to hand over source payment for information provided… £5,000.’

Telephone records also revealed that 120 calls were made from RISC to Met officers during the Ibori investigation – including one to Mr. McDonald on the day of the pub meeting.

Another document reveals Mr McDonald made 19 unexplained cash deposits into his bank account, most of around £500, while he was working on the case in 2007.

After the pub meeting, Mr. Knuckey provided a report to Ibori’s lawyers detailing secret information he had been given about the case.

Their records stated: ‘CK [Knuckey] explained that he had met with a senior officer on 10 September 2007’ and that ‘DC McDonald (DCM) has had a serious fall out’ with other officers on the case.

A RISC list of payments reveals that between 2006 and 2007 the firm paid some £360,000 to a network of confidential sources in Ibori’s and other cases, delivered in cash by couriers to the firm’s London offices.

DFID’s Conflict of Interest
The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) who financed the Met investigation of Ibori, ironically invested huge sums in Ibori’s businesses, investigations have revealed.

The conflicting involvement of the DIFD has given rise to claims of conflict of interest which has stalled the process of seizing Mr. Ibori asset.

Last week, it was also claimed that DFID would be paid £25 million from Ibori’s asset when processes of seizing them are complete.

It was discovered that the investment arm of the DFID, Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) had invested hundreds of millions of pounds into banks, including the defunct Oceanic and Intercontinental Banks and other businesses in which Mr. Ibori had huge interests.

But the DFID has denied the allegation of conflict of interest in the matter claiming that thought it funded the investigation into Mr Ibori’s case, it did not influence it.

(Source: DAILY MAIL)

 

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Boko Haram Fighters Trained in Somalia: Somalian President

Fighters for the Nigerian Islamist militant group Boko Haram have been trained in Somalia on Africa’s eastern coast before returning to West Africa, Somalia’s president told a security conference in Germany on Sunday.

Somalia, plagued by political in-fighting, corruption and attacks by al Shabaab insurgents, has recently made limited progress towards creating a functioning political system, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said.

“Without a stable Somalia, the whole region of the Horn of Africa will remain unstable and by and large, the African continent. There are proofs and evidence that (for) some time Boko Haram has been trained in Somalia and they went back to Nigeria,” he said.

“The terrorists are so linked together, they are associated and so organised, (that) we the world we need to be so organised,” he said, speaking in English.

It was not clear from his comments whether he believed al Shabaab was still training Boko Haram fighters, who have pledged allegiance to Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq.

Somalia’s al Shabaab, which has links to al Qaeda and wants to overthrow the Somali government and impose a harsh version of Islamic law, claimed responsibility for a blast this month that punched a hole in the fuselage of a plane.

(Source: REUTERS)

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Northern Governors Under Fire for Saudi Loan

(Fred Itua, ABUJA)

Senate committee chairman on Foreign and Domestic Debts, Senator Shehu Sani, has described a recent move by 19 northern state governors‎ to obtain a loan from a Saudi-based Islamic Development Bank as a direct violation of the laws of Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Sani, who represents Kaduna Central in the Senate, said the action of the governors runs contrary to the relevant provisions of the act that clearly and unambiguously rest the exclusive right to borrow externally on the federal government.

He said the Debt Management Office (DMO) act of 2003, section 21 and external borrowing guidelines of 2008-2012, paragraph 2, clearly states that “Any Government or it’s agencies can only obtain external loan through the federal government and such loans must be supported by federal government Guarantee.” The act, he said is “explicitly clear that NO state,local government or federal agency shall on its own borrow externally.”

Senator Sani explained:

“Governors of the northen states cannot just jet out to Saudi Arabia to solicit or collect loans without following the due process of the law and the law further states that state governments and their agencies wishing to obtain external loans shall obtain federal government’s approval in principle from the Federal Ministry of Finance.This is the provision of paragraph 2:2 (II) of the external borrowing guidelines.
“In addition to the above, paragraph 2.2 (v) of the same guideline succinctly declares that all external borrowing proposals of the government and their agencies for the next fiscal year must be submitted not later than 90 days preceding the year to the Minister of Finance for incorporation into the public sector external borrowing program for the coming year.

“Paragraph 2:2 (vii) demands that borrowing proposal must be submitted to the Federal Ministry of Finance and the DMO for consideration. The proposal should include the purpose for which the borrowing is intended and its link to the developmental agenda of the Government.
“The cost benefit analysis showing the economic and social benefit to which the intended borrow im is to be applied must be shown. Cash flow statements of the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to ascertain their viability and sustainability must be known.

“To borrow from external sources, DMO has to ascertain if the borrower has not over borrowed and that the borrowing proposal must be incorporated into the annual budget for Federal Executive Council (FEC) approval.

“No state or group of states can borrow from external source without approval from the National Assembly and clearance from the Federal Ministry of Justice.”

Sani said whoever led the northern governors to Saudi Arabia to secure a loan is ignorant of the relevant provisions of the law or has therefore chosen to circumvent the law.

“I wish to advice the northern governors to go back and read the relevant acts. And I call on the Islamic Development Bank not to release any of their funds until the due process is followed or else they will be on their own,” he added.

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President Buhari Urges Nigerians To Emulate Murtala Muhammed

President Mohammadu Buhari, yesterday, urged Nigerians to emulate the life of the late former Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed who according to him wanted the best for  Nigeria.

He was speaking at the 40th Memorial Lecture held in honour of the late head of state

He said: “On assuming the role of Head of State in 1975, Murtala set out with a single-minded determination seldom seen in Nigerian leadership. Decisions were on fast-track. Two major developments were prominent among his legacies: the move of the capital to Abuja from Lagos; and the creations of seven new States to make 19. The shadow of his death still somewhat hangs over Nigeria.

“On the 13th of February 1976, Nigeria suffered a grievous blow with the assassination of Murtala Muhammad in a failed coup d’état. The country mourned, and rightly so, because Murtala had been on his way to putting Nigeria back to the path of order and discipline, after years of drift, corruption and near despair. It would not be over-stating the case to say that Nigeria lost its newly-found momentum with Murtala’s demise.

“His life, short though it proved to be, was marked by an extraordinary passion, energy and determination to do better, and to make Nigeria better. These are values that young and old alike should all remember – and celebrate.”

“By the time Murtala was given Command during the Civil War, the Federal side was on the defensive. The rebels had over-ran the then Mid-West, and reached as far as Ore, just 100 miles from Lagos. By dint of sheer bravery, improvisation and resourcefulness, he mustered a rag-tag group of soldiers, integrated them into an entirely new division, knocked them into fighting shape, recovered Mid-West and ventured across the Niger. Alas, there were terrible casualties on both sides.

“But Murtala’s motto was to get the job done as quickly as possible; sacrifice and loss were part of the risks of war. Relations between Murtala and some other senior officers were not always easy. But no one could doubt his inspirational qualities or call into question his love and dedication in the service of Nigeria.

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Over 1500 Niger Delta Militants to Surrender Arms to Fed Gov

(Aidoghie Paulinus)

Following the intervention of the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Dr Ibe Kachikwu, over 1500 Niger Delta militants have expressed their desire to embrace amnesty and surrender arms to the federal government.

The commanders from Arepo, Ikorodu, Abule, Fatorla, Ibafo, Magboro, Epe, Itokin, Ilepete, Okenekene, Agric, Gbokoda camps, Camp 5 and environs, in a statement made available to Daily Sun, expressed their desire to surrender arms and embrace the amnesty program as long as the federal government is sincere in its intentions.

The groups hinged their decision on the peaceful approach of Kachikwu, even as they declared that all Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) facilities and its subsidiaries must work for the betterment of Nigeria and the economic efficiency in the face of dwindling oil prices.

The statement signed by General OC Babaeere and General America Tekeiminikpoba on behalf of other commanders, said:

“We write to express our desire to surrender our arms and embrace the amnesty program as long as the federal government is sincere.

“With the timely intervention of the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, we the Commanders from Arepo Camp, Ikorodu Camp, Abule Camp, Fatorla Camp, Camp 5, Ibafo Camp, Magboro Camp, Epe Camp, Itokin Camp, Ilepete Camp, Okenekene Camp, Agric Camp, Gbokoda Camp and their environs, have made up our minds to accept amnesty because of the peaceful approach of the Minister of State for Petroleum.

“We also agree that all NNPC facilities and its subsidiaries must work for the betterment of Nigeria and the economic efficiency in the face of dwindling oil prices.

“However, our willingness to surrender should not be seen as an act of cowardice, rather, as an act of patriotism.

“Also, as we accept this amnesty, it is important to state that the first amnesty was not holistic and was characterized with fraud and fraudulent selections. We were not included in that amnesty program. Even as we tried all avenues to join the program, we were ignored completely,” the commanders said.

While wondering why the Kingsley Kuku-led administration of the Amnesty program had not been probed, the group drummed-up support for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

The statement further read:

“We are using this opportunity to call on all Nigerians to work with Mr. President to enable Nigeria move ahead.

“So, as we have agreed to come out, we state that we should be properly co-opted into the amnesty program. This is very important because we have skills and very vast knowledge and experience in the region. We have farmers, ship captains, ship engineers, divers, technicians, welders et cetera, and we have lived all our life in the region. Therefore, we understand every inch of the region.

“Suffice to say that we have integrity. We believe in the peaceful dialogue and peace initiative by the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, and we will wait patiently for the response of the federal government so that we all can move Nigeria forward,” the statement read.

 

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EFCC releases wife of Ex-Airforce Chief as N66 million is being returned

Former Nigerian  Air Force chief who was put under house arrest at Niger Barracks has returned N66 million out of N90 million to the Economic and  Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) he was alleged to have taken out of the $2.1 billion arms deal.

However, a source from the EFCC told our correspondent that another Air Commodore who also benefitted from the arms deal has since been arrested and is being detained alongside others who did not cooperate with the EFCC interrogation team.

There has since been a tidal change at the NAF  High Command, which saw the removal of some Air Officers Commanding and Principal Staff officers alleged to have been involved in the arms deal with  new Air Officers Commanding appointed.

It was also gathered that the wife of a former Chief of the Air Staff, Mrs. Lara Amosu, has since been set free by the EFCC after been detained overnight.

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Nigerian Man Attacks Ugandan Woman with Knife in India

The Hennur police are on the lookout for a Nigerian national who allegedly assaulted a 30 year old woman of Ugandan origin.

The victim, Shakira Nsonko (30) a garments businesswoman and resident of Kukkenahalli (North East Bengaluru) alleged that she was pushed and attacked with a knife by Onsas on Wednesday night (Feb 10).
She was admitted to hospital for her injuries where she initially said that she had met with an accident according to which a medico legal case was registered.

However, on Saturday, she changed her statement with the police and alleged that Onsas attacked her. The Hennur police registered a case under section 323 (Punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and section 324 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt using a dangerous weapon).

According to Shakira’s complaint, on Wednesday night, she along with her friend Gifletin had gone to African Kitchen, a mess serving African food, in Banjara layout in Kukkenhalli. Onsas came to the mess a few minutes after Shakira and asked her if she would buy him drinks. Irritiated, Shakira refused, asking him why she should do anything for him. According to Shakira, Onsas got angry and pushed and slapped her.

With the mess owner Joy’s assistance, Shakira protected herself by locking herself up in one of the rooms in the mess. Meanwhile, she called her boyfriend Tony who rushed to the spot.

“After a few minutes, Shakira left the hotel and headed to the parking area. However, Onsas was waiting for her and once again pushed her and cut her with a knife,” senior police officials said.

While Onsas escaped from the place, Tony and Gifletin first took Shakira to a local clinic in Kammanahalli and early the next morning went to Ramaiah hospital.

According to Shakira’s statements to the Hennur police officials, Onsas is known to the victim and convinced her not to file a police complaint, saying he was sorry and promising to pay the medical bills.

However, when he failed to show up at the hospital, Shakira decided to go ahead with filing a police complaint.

The Hennur police are now on the lookout for Onsas and are investigating the case.

(Source: TIMES OF INDIA)

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LUCI KWAME 07066146965 luciano@hotmail.com

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2016 budget: Errors galore

 

By Omoniyi Salaudeen

THE much awaited 2016 appropriation bill before the National Assembly may take a little longer than expected to be passed into law in view of the latest development arising from the debate of the document by the lawmak­ers. This time around, the issue is about the discrepancies in the figures contained in the draft bill. On Wednesday, the two arms of the National Assembly declared that they needed more time to do a thorough job on the docu­ment to correct the errors so far discovered.

At a press conference jointly addressed by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Ap­propriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, and his House of Representatives counterpart, Jibrin Abdulmumin, the lawmakers disclosed that the budget was fraught with too many errors, which had made its passage into law impos­sible.

Senator Goje said: “We are here in connec­tion with the ongoing processing of the 2016 Budget because these two committees are the ones saddled with the production of the final copies of the budget that would be passed by the National Assembly for onward submission to Mr President for his assent and subsequent implementation.”

“We want to remove all ambiguities; we want to remove all paddings. We want to produce a budget that is in line with the constitutional provision. During the budget defence, a lot of issues based on the pad­ding of the budget, arising from over-bloated overheads and in some instances cases of over-bloated personnel cost. The appropriation committee would look at these issues after the whole budget defence and do a very thorough work aimed at doing a proper clean-up of the budget.”

“So in summary, the time-table for passage of the budget is no longer realistic because as appropriation committees of both chambers of the National Assembly, we need addi­tional time to do a thorough job for the 2016 budget.”

The latest development is coming barely a few weeks after the dusts raised by the contro­versy generated by the alleged submission of different versions of the proposed appropria­tion bill by the executive and its subsequent amendment had settled. While the presidency has admitted responsibility for the errors, it blamed top civil servants for smuggling frivo­lous allocations into the budget.

This is the first time the Federal Govern­ment is introducing a new concept of zero-based budgeting system which requires Min­istries, Departments and Agencies to justify all expenses captured in the budget as against the old pattern which assigns maximum amount of capital and recurrent needs for the fiscal year to each department.

The Ministry of Budget and National Plan­ning, whose responsibility it is to formulate the budget, however, described the defects in the document as part of the learning process. Director of Information in the ministry, Mr. Charles Dafe, said: “The members of staff in the Ministry of Budget and National Planning as well as those handling budget issues in all ministries and extra-ministerial agencies are grappling to master the technicalities in the ZBB template. As such, some errors are not unexpected in the change­over to the new ZBB approach. This was the reason the ministry arranged for the proposals to be placed on the website of the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to expose them to public scrutiny.”

Many stakeholders who spoke with Sunday Sun criticized the administration for the embarrassment it has caused to the country. A presidential candidate of the United Progres­sive Party (UPP) in the March 2015 general elections, Chief Checkwas Okorie, express­ing concern over the issue, said the ministers who supervised the formulation of the budget were not thorough enough in their supervi­sion. His words: “The Presidency said the civil servants should be held responsible for the mix up, including the padding of figures. But all the same, the bulk stops on his table. If the ministers who are supervising these civil servants were thorough enough to go through the figures before presenting it to the National Assembly, this would not have happened. It is a big embarrassment to the country.”

He urged the National Assembly to meticu­lously scrutinize the document to ensure that no hole is left in the approved appropriation bill. “I commend the National Assembly for its eagle eye to quickly identify the discrepancies. My advice is that they should not be vindic­tive about it. Some people out there believe the National Assembly is trying to give it back to the executive because of the travails of the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki. I hope that is not the case. But if they are just doing their job, and they are as meticulous as they are, they should be commended for that,” he added.

While admitting the errors as part of the learning process, Okorie advised the Buhari administration not to allow a repeat of the present experience. “It is all part of the learn­ing process because this government is new. The presidency should ensure that this will be the last time that this type of embarrassing situation occurs. If the mischievous part can be traced to the civil servants, they should be properly sanctioned and the public should know about it so that others can learn,” he further posited.

The Second Republic governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, on his own part, insisted that there was no realistic budget before the National Assembly. He said: “As far as I am concerned, there is no realistic budget before the National Assembly.

The time lag between when the budget was recovered and corrected and now is too short for a good work to be done to have a realistic budget. Before the government can think of withdrawing the budget and represented it, it must have realized that there was something fundamentally wrong about it. I do not see how proper correction could be made within this short period of time. So, for me, there is no realistic budget before the National Assem­bly. There are too many contradictions in the versions before the National Assembly.”

Even though the Ministry of Budget and National Planning claimed that the draft ap­propriation budget is available on its website for Nigerians to scrutinize, Balarabe said “The President has not taken the nation into confidence with regards to what he discovered which called for the recall of the budget.”

He dismissed the argument by the presiden­cy blaming the civil servant for the irregulari­ties that characterized the budget, saying “It is not impossible that those who prepared the budget betrayed the president. I do not think that the civil service can be held responsible for the defects in the budget because the civil serve is under the control of the political leadership. Whatever the civil servants have prepared has to be scrutinized and approved by the political leadership. I don’t think it is proper to blame the civil servants.”

In spite of the obvious lapses discovered with the document, Balarabe cautioned the National Assembly against rewriting the budget, adding that it is exclusive preroga­tive of the executive to do so. “The National Assembly should not attempt to rewrite the budget because that is the responsibility of the president. What they need to do is to approve the budget and make one or two amendments which do not involve rewriting it. It is not their constitutional responsibility to rewrite the budget for the president. Their responsibility is to scrutinize the budget, make it better and approve it, he added.

According to him, “The way out now is to do what was being done before the military coup of 1966. Until then, the budget was al­ways done in a way that Nigerians were made to be aware of what was happening. Since the military came in 19966, the budget had always been a secret affair. Before that time, copies of proposed budget were always made avail­able to Nigerians by the government’s printer. Everybody could get a copy of the budget at a very low cost and read it.

That is not the case now. Now it is a secret affair. Government should make subsequent budget proposal open to all Nigerians. The public should be carried along to know what is contained in the budget.

Apparently, this is one error too many. Nigerians will have to wait a little longer for the new fiscal appropriation to be passed into law. How soon this is done depends on the speed with which the two arms of government are ready to work together to resolve all the grey areas.

 

 

 

 

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Why Lassa fever persists in Nigeria –Prof. Agbonlahor

 

From Tony Osauzo, Benin

A Professor of Microbiology and former Vice-Chan­cellor of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Prof. Den­nis Agbonlahor, has expressed displeasure with the country’s approach to fighting the deadly Lassa fever, describing the method adopted as “annual recurrent budget of death for the poor people in Nigeria.”

Delivering the Distinguished Lecture of the Uni­versity of Benin (UNIBEN), with the title, “Com­bating Lassa Fever: a National Health Challenge”, Prof.Agbonlahor said it was sad that for the past 47 years, Nigeria had hitherto made noise in the name of creating awareness during outbreaks but goes to sleep at the end of each episode and only wakes up when the next outbreak occurs.

Quoting from a statement he credited to Prof. Oyewole Tomori, he said: “We are not aware of any report on cases of Lassa fever and its endemicity in other continents of the world. This perhaps ex­plains why governments in the developed countries show little or no interest or financial commitment to Lassa fever eradication. They look at the disease as a regional problem, which is mainly endemic in West Africa.

“Despite the thousands of deaths from the fever, Nigeria is still unprepared to contain the disease, waking up every year an outbreak is reported, run­ning like a decapitated chicken in any direction and forgetting about the disease till another year of an­other outbreak.”

He therefore, advocated accurate epidemiologi­cal data on the distribution, rodent typing and ro­dents’ Lassa viral carriage according to geopolitical zones and states in Nigeria in order for the disease to be effectively tackled.

Professor Agbonlahor lauded President Muham­madu Buhari for inaugurating the national commit­tee on the control and prevention of haemorrhagic fever and other infectious disease outbreaks in Ni­geria, which is chaired by Prof. Oyewole Tomori.

“This is a step in the right direction as the gov­ernment now appears serious and willing to listen and provide the necessary logistic support aimed at controlling the scourge of Lassa fever in Nigeria,” he said.

In his opening remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the UNIBEN, Prof. Faraday Orumwense, said the institution has taken the challenge to join the fight against Lassa fever.

He disclosed that the authorities of the institution had set up a committee to sensitize the university community on ways to prevent the disease and to collaborate with the government and the NGOs on ways to eradicate it.

 

 

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APC not jittery over Supreme Court judgments, says Oyegun

…As Ndoma Egba, Ebri, Jeddy, others dump PDP

From Judex Okoro, Calabar

NATIONAL Chairman of the All Pro­gressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, has debunked al­legations making the rounds that the leadership of the party is jittery over the Supreme Court’s ruling in favour of PDP governorship candidates in Akwa Ibom and Rivers States.

Oyegun made the remark while field­ing questions from journalists shortly after his arrival at the Margaret Ekpo International Airport in Calabar, enroute government secondary school, Atu, venue of the reception organized by the APC to welcome all newly-registered members into its fold in Cross River.

He said the outcry over the ruling so far has been that of his party’s individual members and does not in any way rep­resent the party’s position.

His words: “The APC is not finding it difficult to accept the verdict of the Su­preme Court. All we are after is to know the reason behind the ruling in the first place. No one can question the decision of the apex court.”

Welcoming the over 1,000 new mem­bers, he said the defection of prominent citizens from various parties into APC is a statement that the Cross Riverians have really embraced the progressives and the reform agenda of President Mu­hammadu Buhari’s administration.

“We are not the Ghana-must-go party, neither do we share dollars. We have started moving but we need men of good will to help us clear this country. Few years from now, we are going to have a progressive government in Cross River considering the high caliber of people who have moved into the party. Their presence would indeed usher in the desired change in the politics of Cross River State, nay Nigeria,” Oyegun said.

Prominent citizens of the state who were received into APC included for­mer senate leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, immediate past commissioner in Ni­ger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Hon Paul Adah, former gover­nor of Cross River, Chief Clement Ebri, former chairman of PDP, Ambassador Soni Abang, former Cross River SSG, Johnson Ebokpo and the wife, Sen. Bassey Out and former PDP governor­ship, Mr Goddy Agba as well as Fidelis Ugbo, former LP governorship candi­date.

In his remarks at the event, Ndoma- Egba said, “Democracy is about choices and alternatives. Today we join the APC, which is the viable alternative platform. Cross River as a one-party state is no longer tenable. Change has come.”

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Govt is not serious about policing –Ona Ekhomu, security expert

 

By Sijibomi Oyedepo-Fatayo

AS crimes continue to surge and in the wake of various cases of extra-judicial killing by policemen, Dr. Ona Ekhomu, is expectedly disturbed. At a his office, in Lagos, he bared his mind on the state of the Police in this interview.

Excerpts…

Last year, President Muhammadu Buhari said 10,000 people will be recruited into the police force. In recent times, we have had several cases of extra-judicial killings by low rank policemen. What does this say about the police recruitment process?

It says that like all human beings, the police are fallible; they can make mistakes. It means that we don’t have a perfect system. It says that there are problems within the police agency, urgent problems, internal problems, what we call endogenous problems within the police agency, which need to be looked into. Recruitment is just the process of bringing in new service members into the organization! That has nothing to do with vetting, training, supervision and discipline, continuous training, psychological profiling, and behavioural analysis. There are other things that need to happen within the Police Agency for us to have a more perfect force. We are not serious about policing; we are not serious about security in this country. When I say ‘we’ I mean the government of the day. We are assuming that the government represents us. So, the government that should be taking care of us is not serious. Police service members are far fewer than they should be and police commanders are having a hard time providing men for show of force, deterring of crime, crime prevention patrols and other things. You must have people in uniform who are able bodied, able to carry themselves and move around so that when people see they say “Oh, that is a symbol of the law.” because the police agency remember is the most visible government agency. In fact, if you don’t have police in a place, you don’t have law and order.

What it says is that the Nigerian Government and its citizens are not serious because we are not holding the feet of people in government to the fire and asking them why we don’t have a competent police agency that can really do the things that need to be done. I am talking about a police agency that would not have a rogue cop that shot people and killed himself. Now, we don’t know why he did whatever he did. We presume him drunk. Who declared him drunk? I did not see any toxicology report that said he was drunk. But we have seen drunk policemen on the beat, officers under the influence of cannabis, and they are a risk to the society because when somebody comes up and he is not willing to part with Nairamicin, they are ready to shoot. However, all those things can be corrected.

Come to think of it, how many people do we really have in the police? We are talking of 330,000 officers, which right now is far below the 450,000 or 470,000 we have been aiming to reach for a long time. What I was made to understand by a commander recently is that since the last Obasanjo recruitment, they have not recruited. So all the wastages – officers who died, those that resigned, those sacked, those shot by armed robbers, officers that are very sick, those got admission to study on leave of absence, they are not being replaced. The same fewer diminishing manpower is being moved around, trying to do ‘the more you look, the less you see.’ In Lagos, you see our Rapid Response Squad patrol vehicles on the road, but nobody inside because there is no policeman to put there. The manpower stock isn’t there. You cannot have manpower stock until there is approval for recruitment for the agency and money to back the process up. At present, recruitment is done on ‘Man know man’ basis. A primary reason for that is because there are no jobs and people are desperate; so it is only the fittest that can survive but we have to look at people’s motivation. You must have a system which comprises of educated and able-bodied men who are willing to do the job. Find out why they want to join the police force so that we do not recruit armed robbers in the police agency. We have psychological tools, for instance, the MM3 Test and so many things you can use to find out what is inside a guy’s mind. We have tools in my company here that we can use to find out who is a potential kidnapper.

What kind of training are the officers receiving?

Are they still using the old colonial calendar by R.V Jones? That is the man who used to train them back then and I bet you, that is what they are still using. When the officers are there, they give them shorts, they dehumanize them instead of treating them as responsible adults, and they first dehumanize them because they want to task them. I believe you remember Channels TV documentary on Ikeja Police College and all other police schools across Nigeria. It’s a stink. It’s that bad. How do you expect a good product to come out of a place where the physical facilities are not there? Where three people are using one naira to feed in a day? Is that possible? How far can you stretch one naira? These are the things that contribute to the kind of policing we get.

What dangers are posed to society by the recruitment of arms-bearing policemen?

The arm is a tool of the trade. It is part of the dress uniform for a policeman because a policeman in the old days used to carry a thick stick. Look at the officer who supposedly fired a warning shot in the air but he was executed by gun bearing people. Those were not policemen who shot him. Those were criminals, armed robbers or kidnappers. Maybe they recognized him as a SARS officer and decided to execute him. In other countries, the police will hunt them until they put them in their graves. In our country, we say maybe he looked for their trouble. The arm is the part of the tool kit and does not present any danger to the society. The arm is a necessity because you must have what is called deadly force. It is a necessity in carrying out policing duties. Where there is a problem is at the training segment. What kind of training do you give to people who are bearing arms? What sort of psychological evaluations are we giving to them? Like the man who was gunned down at Agege, you alone in a street level operation cannot cover everything. When you are alone, you are isolated because the police works on the principle of massing many officers that converge on one offender/perpetrator. If you have only one officer and one perpetrator, perpetrator might be strong enough to overcome the officer. And then it becomes the dead body of the officer that we will be carrying rather than that of the offender. The police officer must have a radio set, you must have your men who are backing you up and you cannot enter a high risk environment without adequate backup. In fact, the standard procedure is you must have two men minimum entering with you and you must have more back-up. If there is a projectile encounter, you the police are the good guy. You are supposed to prevail by all means. Assume that they are trained in the art of managing violence, you know when to use deadly force and when not to use it. A very dear friend of mine who we went to high school over 30 years ago was a top police officer. He was bursting armed robbers here and there. He trailed an armed robbery gang to where they were sharing money alone on a motorcycle and he was gunned down, lost his life needlessly. Why would he do that? He should have known that he needed back-up to take that kind of high risk, going to a band of thieves. Imagine one person alone, with one pistol. I think that is too risky no matter how gallant or brave you are. The only time a person should do that is if they attack you and you are alone then you defend yourself or give up. Policing is done on force orders such that it will save their lives and save the lives of the members of the public.

Following the Ketu, Lagos incident where a policeman killed three men and then shot himself, the Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase, said rank and file policemen will undergo psychiatric evaluation. Will such evaluation improve the conduct of policemen generally?

What the IGP said is music to my ears. It is very nice. It means we really do have an IGP for the first time in a long while who knows what policing is about, who understands the complex nature of this job. These people (policemen) deal with the worst people every day, people at the lowest points of their lives. They deal with human misery and extreme circumstances. When the heads have been cut off and the legs are flying, that is when they come on the scene and these things do violence to the human psychic. It rips it apart. They keep taking and taking it. After a while, you become immune to violence. You have to restore their humanity. That is why the IGP is saying you must do psychic evaluation to restore their humanity. You must get them to empathize, feel like human beings and feel sorry and feel bad. But how do you do that? How do you know who to restore and who needs to go to the hospital or who is okay for duty? It is by doing a psychic evaluation. In other countries, when a police man has been in a shooting which is a projectile encounter, the next day, you don’t go to duty. You first go to see the psychologist and they debrief you, walk you out of it, they help you to relate to it. You might have killed a man, woman or a child. It will hang on your conscience. But when they work with you and explain it to you and take you through the psychological somersault, the stress would go away, if not, anytime you see someone make a move, you think that they are trying to kill you and you point your own gun. You have to get off the edge of the building that you are trying to jump off. All that violence and low situation that we meet people in life, it keeps pushing you to the edge, to the prison. What the evaluation does is to bring you back from the prison; moves you from the edge and takes back to the general area and you can relate with human beings; you go home and not shoot your wife or beat your kids or start taking alcohol. What if the officer at Ketu was drunk because he had killed so many people and that was a coping mechanism? Maybe he was hearing things in his head. Who cared? Who asked him? Who gave him a psychic evaluation? Nobody! He had people who worked with him. He had a station he was attached to. Go and check. How many incidents was he involved in? He should have a file. Even if they can’t find his family, where is his police file? Where is the history of his transfers? You might find out that this guy has been involved in a lot of high risk environment. Maybe he just came back from Borno State, where people are being blown to bits. So with the least provocation, he would erupt like a time bomb. We need to help our police to understand their own issues. They have issues. It is not enough to say the police are bad, the police are shooting innocents. Why are they shooting innocents? Are they mad people? No they are not. Are they devoid of human feelings or don’t they know that there are laws anymore?

For me, what I see is that the trajectory of the narrative of the police is downhill. What the IGP has said is very useful and important.

Should the psychic evaluation be a one-off thing or a regular check-up?

Regular check-up should be regular. Psychic evaluation is very important because policemen deal with violence on a daily basis. Whether we like it or not, Nigeria has become a very violent society. If two people quarrel right now, you don’t know what will be the outcome. Someone will just go to the extreme and in a short while, someone might be dead. This psychic evaluation is to create a whole man of the policeman, a well-adjusted man. Even though he has seen a lot of violence, he has to deal with it. That is his job, what he signed up for. He is still a human being so it helps him to cope, rationalize and to move on and still provide optimum service to the public that he is serving. In the absence of that, you have a damaged man. Anything can set him off on the wrong path. He will become a danger to society rather than be a help. First it starts with verbalization, then it goes to threats, gesticulation and then you have overt violence. We all as citizens need psychic evaluation because we are exposed to so much violence!

 

 

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I love football –Eunice Efole

 

By Christy Anyanwu

CALL her a fashion buff and you’ll not be wrong because she’s trendy but Eunice Efole is a property developer. She designs , builds and sells houses and she’s been in the business for almost 12 years now. She’s also into interior decoration. Eunice spoke with Sunday Sun recently about her favourites:

What’s your favourite colour?

My favourite colour is white. I like white, because it depicts purity, clarity, neatness and peace.

Favourite dish?

Beans with grilled fish garnished with extra virgin olive oil and steamed spinach.

Favourite holiday spot?

Israel and Monaco. I love Israel, because it’s the birthplace of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior. I have been to and slept in all the cities in Israel. Tel Aviv, Nazareth, Jerusalem, Hafai, Elat, Bethlehem, Ceasaria, Maseda etc. Monaco is breathtakingly beautiful. There are lots of good food and yachting there too.

Favourite leader?

My favourite leader is General Yakubu Gowon (retd). I said this, because he’s my late father’s look alike, hook line and sinker. He constantly reminds me of my late dad, a feeling I’m gratefully connected to.

Favourite weather?

I love tropical weather.

Favourite car?

I love Bently. It’s prestigious and beautiful.

Favourite author?

Deepak Chopra. His many books are holistic, practical and inspirational.

Favourite make-up accessory?

Mac mineral powder. It’s well made in the US and durable.

Favourite sport?

I love football because it allows me to be in-the-moment with the physically fit and charged players.

Favourite attire?

I love the palazzo pant with a fitted crop top. It’s because it’s comfortable on my beautiful body.

Favourite book?

I love 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene, because it’s intriguing and replete with stories. It’s a maabetes

 

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Love versus hate, the big battle

 

EVERY moment there are always big issues requiring one comment or the other. Last week many revela­tions on some national questions became available to me as a result of two books I read. The one on classical development showed me that from the beginning we missed our way and that explains the movement round a vicious circle that has become our style since independence; our strategies for national developments do not tally with our cultural experiences so there are conflicts of philosophy and that accounts for the atmosphere of instability that always hovers above the nation.

Our political parties lack souls and it was from this thesis I came to understand why a component of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in my local government, Ukwa West Local Government Area in Abia State struggled strenuously to domesticate demo­cratic principles with their demand for cows, assorted cartons of wine, kola-nuts and specified sum of money running into hundreds of thousands from aspirants, who desired to run for public office. So when we talk of ineffective leader­ship and stagnated development, we can see how we began to mix it through poor leadership recruit­ment and non-definition on what should be clear national ideals and goals.

On the economic front, a good friend of mine and one time economic correspondent who later rose to become the Managing Director of Champion Newspa­per Limited, Ugo Onuoha, just last week asked me a very vital question. He said: “Ralph, you are so much concerned about the immediate transformation of our nation, but have you stopped to ask the fundamental question whether our nation has ever had an economy? You have big name and money men, but what actually do they produce?”

His questions were food for thought indeed. These and more are serious issues that should de­mand all our attention, yet there is something I have learnt about life, to solve the big things, one must have an eye for what the bible calls little foxes. Little oil stain has power to destroy the beauty of a new, sparkling white garment. If our nation for instance has its manufacturing sector doing well and the traffic situation in many of our cities and highways remain as chaotic as they have always been, the atmosphere would be hostile to both habitation and investment especially for the class with money to spend, the same would be the case if we have political stability and good political programmes but the civil servants in one obscure of­fice deliberately elongate the time and process for business registra­tion.

Such little acts can be repulsive and repugnant to massive flow of economic activities. Societies that must make progress their leaders must have an ideal for those things they call small issues.

Love is one of them; it is one of the intangible factors vital for the proper development of any society. It has been underrated in our hemi­sphere because we are unthinking people, who have elected to work by sight. So, for us, any other thing outside the realm of the physical does not exist. This is the point where we miss the important is­sues. I recall that in a recent article on this page, I did a discourse enti­tled “Bad spirit, terrific people.”

The intention then was to show that historical lessons have proved that every society would need majority of her members to carry good spirit if congenial kind of progress is to be made; if the at­mosphere is that of corrupted spir­ituality, kidnapping, rape, fierce political struggles, assassinations and stealing of public funds would become like a culture and accept­able norm among the people.

Today the nation is full of vices and they are threatening to swal­low us up, and it came to that point because we refused to sow the seed of love. In accordance with natural law, we are reaping what we sowed.

Today is the climax on what is now popularly known as Valentine Season, when if things were prop­erly done men and women should extend hand of love and fellowship to each other; I said if properly done but from what I see things are not being properly done in this instance. The orphanages and the dislocated are not the focus, rather we are giving emphasis to the amorous and hedonistic sides on what should be a very serious tool in the hand of man for improving his wellbeing and transforming the society. The young ones whose main occupation should be to change things for their own benefit appear to be the worst culprits. In the two weeks preceding today I have heard a number of young but unemployed girls and boys make various telephone calls to express varied weird desires.

Some of the girls wanted their boyfriends to take them to Dubai or Obudu Cattle Ranch and the boys in turn demanded a visit for the weekend. What they would do is left to the imagination. Part of the problem is that increasingly we are having a new generation that don’t know the necessity of sitting down and worrying about new develop­mental options; this could be very agonizing for the few who know how nations could be developed.

The truth is, as currently is, our nation is a hate-filled one but I must admit it was not like this before and shortly after independence. There was a time one’s car could break down in a totally strange environ­ment and the local people would be struggling among themselves to offer the best assistance and shelter, but that is not so today any longer. Today, it is a case of hate and wick­edness in every facet of our life: at the police station, on the road, in the court, the market places, homes, religious centres, government and governors, simply everywhere.

Some of us who know about the making of a nation knew we were living on borrowed time; that it was only a matter of time and the full weight of hate would descend on us just as it is now. Nigeria is not a creation, it is an imposition and when we had time to make it into a creation we turned a blind eye. This nation has no ideals to which all of us subscribe and no effort has been made to create the Nigerian we want; we must do all these before we can have a love driven nation. The mode of economic pursuit also determines the level of love. Crass capitalism promotes selfishness which has its basis on hate. The hate situation is worse when the economic space is closed and the few values available are not authoritatively allocated on the platform of merit (national hate level was increased by discrimina­tory policies by federal and state governments against citizens).

Love can be restored; we can reintroduce civics, indoctrinate the citizenry, make citizens to own Ni­geria and make them travel across ethnic lines. Many citizens know Europe better than they know their nation. We should establish a national institute where those who want to lead should go to learn the art of patriotism and Nigerian languages.

The nation must provide for its citizens, employment and social security for the idle are very important. Besides, the government should do away with discrimina­tory policies and utterances.

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The world and its generational mess

 

 

 THE history of the world and of man­kind is replete with stories of wars, famine, tragedies of humongous proportions, homicides, betrayals, human sufferings and unimaginable agonies after agonies. My late good friend, Apagun Oluwole Olumide who was murdered March 16 2012 used to quote his father as saying “we met the world in a mess and we would always leave it in a mess”. His father’s Yoruba aphorism of universal application: jugbujugbu-jagbajagba l’aba ile aye; jugbujugbu-jagbajagba na l’ama fisile sii” resonates in my ears and in my thoughts anytime I reflect on the many problems and challenges that routinely confront in­dividuals, families, towns and cities, and nations the world over.

The Jews put it succinctly in their inspired writings” As it was in the beginning, so it is now and ever shall it be, world without end.

Whenever you open the pages of any World History book, what stare you in the face are horrible stories of early homicides, the unending wars in the city states of Sparta , Athens , Rome , Carthage , Thermopylae, Ijaye, Owu, Ishamuro , Dahomey and Benin among several others. As cities evolved into countries and nations, wars and battles raged on more ferociously and brutishly. And the more mankind advanced in their technology, the more weapons of mass destruction came their way. And of course all wars leave in their wake needless destruction, misery and incurable bitterness and enmity.

The world has never been short of amputees and millions deformed, blinded and those made deaf by atrocities of warfare. Millions lose their loved ones, marriages crash, families are torn apart, and lots of personal properties and fortunes are destroyed.

Religion and religious intolerance have been a great part of the mess the world has always been. The moment mankind invented religion and came up with the most illogical notion that one religion was better than the other the world has never known peace and never lived in harmony. In the days of Yoruba Gods, Egyptian Gods, Persian Gods, Mexican Gods, Phoenician Gods, Igbo Gods, and the many Gods of the very many human societies, mankind lived in har­mony as far as religious faiths were concerned. It was the Arabs and the Jews, the two Semitic peoples, and easily the most fiercely possessive and intolerant peoples on the face of the earth who came up with the con­cept of their God not willing to share ownership of followers and adherents with another God!

The notion of ‘one way and only one way’ which had degenerated from religious faith to political arena with people of the United States of America breathing down the rest of mankind with their bogus One political World Order has also set the world on fire.

As the world moves from one crazy notion to another crazy notion, and with mankind bedevilled with the idea of SUPREMACY, wild and uncontrolled and immoderate competition has continued to put a terrible wedge between one person and another, one family and another, one society and another and one country and another country.

In human relationships, all the ills that had reared their heads since the beginning of time are still regrettably with us up to this moment. Perfidy, homicide, suicide, adultery, rape, stealing, treachery, rabid jealousy, hypocrisy, kidnapping and ritual murders, and heartless deceit are still blossoming.

The story of Sodom and Gomor­rah is a child play compared with what the world is putting up with now. Man marries man and woman marries woman with government consent, even in Churches! Im­morality has taken a centre stage in the affairs of man. And so it was when the world was not one percent as big, as diverse, and as populated as it is now.

Divorce rates in the so-called developed world is beyond human imagination and comprehension. And lamentably, the more Churches, the more Mosques, the more Syna­gogues, the more Iledis, the more Temples of the over 1000 religions in the world the more immorality and faithlessness grow.

As you are reading this piece fierce wars are raging in Syria , in some other Middle east countries, in some African countries, and also in some locations in the heart of Europe . All these wars have their attendant calamities and unspeakable human suffering.

Every generation tries to improve the standard of the world, to attend to the needs of their immediate societies and to develop the world so to say. But as every generation builds with one hand, another succeeding genera­tion pulls own what its predecessor has attained and turned full circle the hand of the clock.

Nearer home, the great Zik, the immortal Awo, the heroic Bello , and several other leaders of their genera­tion did their best to give the country Nigeria a big start. Even with that laudable resolution there were chal­lenges and obstacles. And as soon as the great leaders left the scene, Nigeria went back to square one! It has been one trouble after another ever since.

In corporations after corporations, some shinning stars would emerge only to be supplanted by imbeciles. It never ends.

There is therefore no exaggeration if it is said that we can only try our best. It is not ever likely that any one or any group can permanently end the ills of the world or stop the world from immersing itself in perennial mess.

Several visionary individuals have laid down their lives in their strong desires to change the way things are done in the world. Some brought new ideas in politics, religion, sci­ence and technology, economics, education and law. At the end of the day, all their efforts end up either be­ing misinterpreted and misapplied or being completely jettisoned.

There were hungry and homeless people thousands of years ago. There are still many more homeless and hungry people in the world today. There is labour unrest here and there as there were hundreds of thousands of labour unrest in the world from time immemorial.

Whatever circumstances you are facing today, somebody somewhere has faced the same defining circum­stance before.

We struggle day-in-day-out in the vein attempt that we can change the world and end the rot that it is plagued with only to find to our chagrin out on our dying bed that the world remains majestically in the mess in which we met it..

Jagbajagba jugbujugbu l’abaye, jagbajagba jugbujugbu na la maa fisile sii!! Because, as it was in the beginning, so it is now, and ever shall it be, world without end!

 

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You and Abubakar Shekau are not that dissimilar

By Nana Aisha Salaudeen

IIT IS no news that Nigerians are extrem­ists – and in everything too. Whether or not we choose to admit it, we are laced with (un) conscious bias. Yes, I’m saying there’s some form of sexist, racist, and religious/ethnic bias fortified within man y of us ready to prowl out anytime (provided we allow it to). – And you know what’s hysterical? We twist religion to rationalize our bigotry!

It’s why we have a prowling harebrained maniac like Abuba kar Shekau slaughtering thousands of innocent Nigerians alongside his senseless ensemble of fanatics claim­ing God asked them to do so or why Pastor Timothy Ngwu impregnated near half of his female congregation with the assertion that the Holy Spirit asked him to do so. It is also why self-pronounced Sheikhs/Imams twist the Quran and Hadith to justify the subjuga­tion of female rights and shun feminists – claiming God does not support such or why a President for four years, disregards his obli­gations and responsibility as a leader, only to emerge in numerous cathedrals weeks to re­election, calling on Reverend fathers to ‘pray’ for him and the homeland.

It is no shudder that the ‘Giant of Africa’ notwithstanding its abundant Mosques and Churches alongside millions of worshippers is enfolded by pecuniary disintegration, ab­solute and relative poverty, corrupt leaders, insecurity, among others. Why despite our conscientiousness do we have immeasur­able unease afflicting the masses? Oddly, the United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Sweden are more advanced and doing better than us despite that their leaders and people are not as ‘God fearing’ as ours. These coun­tries relentlessly ridicule us and/or the reli­gion that we so espouse, not because religion is humiliating – but because of what we have spun it to.

One of the numerous reasons for why we have been trapped in the same (unchanged) position for many years is because we al­low those in power to dupe us with religion. An average ‘religious’ Nigerian would not demand accountability from a politician be­cause he/she donated millions to the church he worships in or sponsored thousands to perform Hajj. We are so handcuffed by con­viction that we cannot even fight the system (although it is not as simple as it guises) col­lective action is much better than praying to God for a solution to a problem that is within our control. The blame is not just on our Political, religious and Business leaders. As pointed out in the preceding paragraph, we are similarly a group of virtuously de­generate pretenders passing for Muslims and Christians. We beseech the name of God only when it garbs our purpose while in actuality we live a hypocritical lifestyle – deceiving the gullible that we are a bunch of Godly individuals.

I am in no way implying that religion is bad – in fact I think it is liberating, it is what we have twisted it to that makes it corrupt. There is nothing iniquitous about being re­ligious, as long as we are not two-faced about it and do not allow it get in the way of common sense. As a spiritual country, many have the ‘God will provide’ mentality – No, God will not provide. We often pray to God for better leaders, yet when it is time to vote many do not show up to the polling centre and others trade their votes for a few bags of rice. We obey and chase after Pastors that instruct their congregation to eat grass and drink petrol because somehow God in­structed it. We sit idly at home ranting all day that there are no jobs while making no effort whatsoever to get productive employ­ment because “if it is meant to be, God will make it happen”. We chase after the boy who stole a piece of meat from the neighbours pot and burn him alive while allowing the big­ger criminals in power who have ‘stolen’ the wealth of the entire nation to thrive. We give front row seats to criminals in our various religious institutions. So are we being reli­gious or hypocritical? What makes us differ­ent from Boko Haram, ISIS and Al Shabab who all use the name of God to justify their evil acts?

The most horrendous Nigerian admits to being an devotee of a precise religion, vir­tually all establishments are foreshadowed with prayers to deceitfully commit things into the hands of God even when the after­math of such happenings have already been determined by men whose activities are no­where near godly. ‘Playing’ with religion and/or the name of God with such an ap­proach is past nauseating and rather revolt­ing. What Nigerians need is a country that actually works, one that all institutions are in place and not on the brink of collapse. To accomplish this we have to be channeled by common sense not pointless religious ro­manticisms.

Until we are truly sincere with God and religion and stop using and tolerating it as a tool to cover up evil, then we will keep going in circles. – And if you ever discover yourself extenuating any morally wrong or ‘evil’ act by twisting religion and/or ‘lying against’ God, then you’re not dissimilar from Abubakar Shekau – you don’t have to be a murderer and a raging lunatic to be a reli­gious extremist.

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Return of the Valentine governor

By Francis Ottah Agbo

ON Sunday, Valentine day, precisely February 14, all roads in Nigeria lead to Yenagoa, the state capital of Bayelsa State for the swearing–in of Gov­ernor Seriake Dickson for a second term. The Toru- Urua-born governor will be officially inaugurated to complete his good work and consolidate the gains of the restoration he started four years ago, follow­ing his inauguration on February 14, 2012. It has been a long and tortuous political journey for the police man-turned politician. Governor Dickson’s victory in the recent gubernatorial elections was a culmination of a dogged struggle against a coali­tion determined to stop his return to Creek Haven, the seat of government.

Dickson will be making history for the second time as the only governor ever sworn-in on val­entine day across the world. Expectedly, love will fill the air. There will be a thanksgiving service shortly after the inauguration at the Samson Sia­sia Stadium in Yenagoa, the venue of the event. In consonance with his person and the spirit of the season, the Talk Na Do governor has once more, extended the olive branch to the opposition.

According to a government house press state­ment, all governors elected on the platform of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), National lead­ership of the PDP, National Assembly leadership of PDP affiliation, and members as well as speak­ers and leadership of the State Houses of Assem­bly controlled by the party will grace the occa­sion. Other personalities expected at the event include eminent Nigerians, opinion leaders and former governors of Bayelsa State, Traditional rulers, Ijaw National Congress, Ijaw Youth Con­gress, organized labour, faith-based organiza­tions, and women and youth based organizations.

It will be a happy occasion, a time to celebrate the path-breaking achievements of the gover­nor’s first term and to look expectantly to his second. It will also be a time to reflect on a hard won victory. Hard won because the countryman governor faced and defeated an unusually for­midable opposition from a cast of internal and external opportunists who vowed to punish the governor for displacing them from their perch atop the state’s commonwealth where they had enjoyed unearned largesse to the detriment of the pauperized ordinary citizens of the state.

Without sounding repetitive, Dickson’s against-all-odds re-election victory was divine. It was also a well-deserved reward for years of unbroken service to the people and God. In vic­tory, the governor reaped the bounty of a long period of amassing goodwill with Bayalsans and the Ijaw nation. While the governor and his party, PDP, banked on God and the electorate for votes which they got overwhelmingly, the All Progres­sive Party (APC) and its governorship candidate, Chief Timipre Sylva in the recently concluded polls relied on their horses and chariots in the bat­tle field, and yet kissed the ground!

As Bayelsans celebrate their governor’s re-election, however let’s be clear about how this joyous event almost never happened, how the people of Bayalsa were almost prevented from exercising their free democratic franchise. Given the ruthless aggression of the adversarial forces pitted against Governor Dickson and the Ijaw na­tion, pundits who were not abreast with the popu­larity of the governor had thought that he would be crushed! The reason? Typically, candidates outside the ruling federal party in a gubernatorial election face daunting odds in Nigeria’s peculiar reality of tyrannical federal might which, in the case of the current ruling APC government, man­ifests in the desire to institute a one-party state. This reality has increased under the watch of the leviathan that President Muhammadu Buhari is fast becoming. Curiously, the president and his party, APC are still bent on achieving that sinister goal at any cost. Many politicians of convenience in the PDP have already surrendered to the ruling party’s blackmail. They have jumped ship, eager to insulate themselves from the onslaught of a rampaging ruling party, which, like all paranoid newcomers to power, is desperate to crush the opposition.

February 14 is an occasion to celebrate the defeat of this scheme in Bayelsa, the glory of all lands. Furthermore, it is the crystallization of the governor’s effort to better the lives of the com­mon man in the heartbeat of the Ijaw nation. Governor Dickson is not given to ostentatious display, elaborate celebration, or boastful self-congratulation, and we are sure that his swearing in ceremony will be a sober event, just like the low-key way he marked his re-election victory.

For the sake of posterity, however, we will depart slightly from the governor’s example in order to highlight the historical significance of this political victory, for it is by proclaiming this significance that we reaffirm the ideals for which Bayalsans who were killed while defending their votes lost their lives. The ultimate honor to these martyrs is to reiterate that they did not die in vain but that their sacrifice has written a new chapter in the story of Nigeria’s ongoing democratic evo­lution. Their blood has helped to save the coun­try from drifting into barefaced dictatorship, for if Bayelsa had fallen to the APC, it would have changed the equation in favour of the ruling party in the entire Niger Delta.

The Niger Delta contains the last contiguous protective wall against the one-party ambitions of the APC. It has emerged as the most resilient block of opposition politics in the country. It is the site where the various efforts to hold the rul­ing APC accountable and nurture a viable alterna­tive have converged. Indeed Governor Dickson’s leadership as the oldest PDP governor in the South South has been instrumental in giving the region this image and stature. It is in this politi­cal context that both Governor Dickson’s victory and the ruthless opposition he and the resilient Bayelsans defeated must be understood. It was not a personal political victory, although it was a sweet climax to a difficult personal political journey of the master strategist that Dickson is. Rather, it was a people’s victory, a victory of light over darkness! It was a triumph of popular will and the principles of democratic franchise over the conspiracy of a cabal of rapacious and para­sitic elite. Dickson’s re-election was a triumph of people’s will and aspiration over a destructive federal might! The victory has moved the state decisively towards a democratic culture woven around transparency, accountability and selfless service to the masses.

It is no exaggeration, to say that Dickson’s uncommon courage may have saved Nigeria’s fledgling democracy from a well-calculated ridi­cule. It is not for nothing that Governor Dickson is called the Afurumapepe: the great white shark that braves the ocean even when the tempest is highest. That he wriggled out of the APC’s rig­ging ocean to emerge victorious in an election the APC had code-named operation take over Bayel­sa, speaks volume of the strength and dexterity of Dickson in surviving the highest tempest in his political life!

Consequently, Governor Dickson is being pos­ited as the preeminent factor in the effort to pro­tect the Niger Delta from the political schemes of the ruling party as well as the embodiment of a political courage that was thought extinct in Ni­geria’s notoriously opportunistic political arena. Dickson, it is now widely acknowledºged by his friends and foes alike, has shown other opposi­tion governors an example of how to mount an effective challenge against the ruling APC. Final­ly, PDP’s victory in Bayelsa has exposed the APC for what it is: an incoherent political assemblage that appeals to one less as one becomes more fa­miliar with what it stands for.

Significant as Governor Dickson’s victory was, it is important to enter an important caveat, namely, that it would not have been possible without two things — the unprecedented pro­gram of holistic infrastructural and human devel­opment accomplished by the governor in the last four years, and the extensive grassroots mobiliza­tions that the governor embarked upon as part of his electoral campaign.

Dickson’s scorecard has both breadth and depth: the transformation of the Isaac Adaka Boro Road into a six-lane highway in Yenagoa, the state capital, the construction of over 450 kilometers of roads, 18 bridges and general hos­pitals across the eight local government areas of the state, the introduction and funding of free and compulsory education from primary to second­ary schools as well as scholarships for the Ijaws, a World Class Diagnostic Centre and Drug Mart, first ever flyover in Yenagoa, ultra-modern sta­dium in Nembe, five secretariat annexes, gover­nor’s office, Traditional rulers secretariat, Police Officers Mess, Culture/ language boulevard, ecumenical centre, all in the state capital, and a cargo airport in Wilberforce Island that will make Bayelsa a major player in the Gulf of Guinea. Others are the building, from scratch, of a world class tourism and hospitality sector; an unprec­edented program of youth/women empower­ment; the development of large scale agriculture and the establishment of plants for processing cassava into commercial starch, among many other achievements in several other sectors. The governing philosophy of the restoration govern­ment of Dickson is targeted at preparing the state beyond crude oil as well as rebranding Bayelsa State.

This deliberate reclamation and rebranding of the state by the restoration government has led to a major breakthrough – bringing the world to Bayelsa and taking Bayelsa to the world. Today, the heartland of the Ijaw nation has become a case study in restorative and transformative gov­ernance in Nigeria. It is this iron-clad record of selfless service of the Countryman governor that made him invincible in the war masterminded by the federal security agencies and APC during and after the hotly contested governorship elec­tion between December 5 and January 9, 2016!

It was this groundwork that propelled Dickson to victory. It was also this grassroots outreach that emboldened Bayelsans to resist the intrusions of the APC thugs and rogue elements of the mili­tary deployed in Bayelsa to capture the state. The people repaid their governor for his demonstrat­ed commitment to their communities by joining him on the streets of Yenagoa on December 6 to protest a brazen attempt to foist concocted results from Southern Ijaw on INEC. That Dickson-led act of courage sealed the compact between the governor and his people and truncated what was shaping up to be an electoral heist.

Knowing Dickson’s antecedents, it is safe to categorically state that he will use the next four years to complete the ongoing legacy projects, initiate new ones, turn around the rural commu­nities if funds permit, and coherently consolidate on peace, security, development, and the pros­perity of the proud people of Bayelsa State and the Ijaw nation. It is by so doing that the martyrs will rest in peace. It is by so doing that all the lost glory of the glory of all lands will be restored. So, let the development continue! Let the trans­formation not cease!

Agbo is a journalist/ public affairs analyst based in Yenagoa, wrote in via francisagbo38@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

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COPA DEL REY FINAL: REAL MADRID UNSETTLES BARCELONA

THE rivalry between Real Ma­drid and Barce­lona has spilled into the Copa del Rey final, a match in which Madrid isn’t even playing.

Barcelona will face Sevilla in the final in May, but the discussion in Spain is about whether Real Madrid will allow the game to be played at its Santiago Ber­nabeu Stadium or force officials to choose a different venue.

Barcelona and Sevilla want the match at the Berna­beu, which is the biggest neutral ground, and would generate greater revenue. But Real Madrid’s past decisions, and silence on the issue so far, suggest it wants nothing to do with the final, in hope of avoiding the risk of seeing its biggest rival celebrating a title on its ground.

“We want to play in the biggest stadium possible, which will be good for our fans and for our rival’s fans,” Barcelona vice president Carles Vilarrubi said. “We want to play in the stadium which has the best conditions and best logistics for a game of this mag­nitude.”

Madrid hasn’t officially made any comments about the subject, neither opposing the game at the Berna­beu nor saying it wouldn’t have a problem with it. It says there hasn’t been any official request from the Spanish soccer federation asking to play the final at its venue.

It is clear most Real Madrid fans don’t want to see Barcelona winning a trophy in their stadium again. It happened in 1997 in the Copa del Rey final against Real Betis. Barcelona support­ers filled the Bernabeu wearing their team’s colors, and players lifted the trophy with the club’s hymn being played loudly through the stadium’s speakers.

It was the last Copa del Rey final at the Bernabeu. Real Madrid lost two other Copa finals there — to Atletico Madrid in 2013 and to Deportivo La Coruna in 2002. When Real Madrid and Barcelona met in the 2014 final, that was at Mestalla Stadium in Valencia.

“Real Madrid is scared of seeing Barcelona lift the trophy,” outspoken former Barcelona president Joan Gaspart told local media. “If that’s the reason, the club needs to say it, it needs to explain itself.”

Last year, Madrid said the Bernabeu could not be used for the final between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao because renovation work was needed at the stadium.

If Madrid again denies a request to play at the Bernabeu, the final would likely happen at Atletico Madrid’s Vicente Calderon Stadium, which isn’t as modern and has a capacity of only 55,000, about 30,000 less than the Bernabeu. It could also take place at Mestalla again.

The Copa del Rey is Spain’s second-most important tournament, after the Spanish league.

“The Copa final has to be played in a very big stadium so a greater number of fans can attend it, and I hope that this year it takes place at the Bernabeu,” said Javier Tebas, president of the Spanish league. “But this is a decision that needs to be made by the clubs and I won’t criticize it.”

Meetings to discuss the final venue are expected to take place next week. The finalists will try to reach an agreement, and the Spanish federation then will make an official request to the stadium owner, which is not obligated to accept it.

Barcelona and the southern city of Seville are about the same distance from Madrid.

The date of the final also hasn’t been determined. It was originally scheduled for May 21, but it could be changed if Sevilla makes it to the Europa League final on May 18.

The final is almost always in a neutral venue, but last year it took place at the Camp Nou even though Barcelona was involved, and in 2013 it was at the Bernabeu when Madrid faced Atletico.

Sevilla wants a neutral venue.

“I would rather play in China than at the Camp Nou,” Sevilla coach Unai Emery said after his team drew with Celta Vigo on Thursday to advance to the final. “That would be like giving them another (Lio­nel) Messi. I hope it doesn’t happen.”

 

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