Thursday, May 25, 2023 Edition

President Buhari in a group photo with ministers after the valedictory FEC meeting. Also he bidded farewell to the state house staffers, at the State House, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: State House

Crude oil theft: Again, Reps panel invites Malami, Zainab

By Christiana Ekpa

TheAd-hoc Committee of the House of Representatives investigating the alleged loss of over $2.4 billion in revenue from illegal sale of 48 million barrels of crude oil export in 2015 including crude oil exports from 2014 till date has again invited the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the federation, Abubakar Malami to appear before it tomorrow.

Speaking during 3 days investigative hearing organized by the Commitee yesterday, the Chairman of the panel, Hon Mark Gbillah emphasized the need for the ministers to appear before it to explained certain aspects of the allegations.

Recall that both ministers had

separately appeared before the panel few weeks ago and Malami on his part claimed the matter as raised by the whistleblowers involved is baseless.

Their invitation, this time, as read at the panel by the chairman, Hon. Gbillah may not be unconnected to the allegations so far gotten from some agencies involved in the matter after its interrogation.

Hon Gbillah lamented the inability of some Chief Executive Officer of Total Exploration and Production Co TE&P Co Ltd to honour the panel invitation as well as submit requested documents on pre-shipment inspection of crude oil.

The Chairman further explained that early appearance of companies invited by the panel could help his committee to finish up on time as well

as write down it recommendations to the Comittee of the Whole.

Consequently, the Panel’s Chairman also used the opportunity to remind critical stakeholders of the role of parliament adding that its has powers to invite any person or authority and can order investigation into any matter just as it has powers to make laws.

While citing the provisions of section 88 and 89 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999, the Chairman also emphasized the Important of legislature in democracy.

Meanwhile, the committee had grilled some companies who allegedly were involved in the export of crude oil to foreign destinations and demand that these companies submit necessary documents such as pre-shipment inspection, bank accounts details and statements.

During his appearance before the pannel, the Operational Manager of of Melinium Oil and Gas, Kingsley Etuk Akpan informed the lawmakers that 20 Square KM field was acquired.

Akpan while responding to question on whether his company have documents insupport of the ownership answered affirmatively adding that they operational document was from Shell.

He also disclosed to the Commitee that they bidded for the contract as letter of award among other documents are intact in their custody.

On whether, his company pay royalties to the federal government or not, Akpan admitted that they do, adding that over $65 Dollars has been remitted into government covers.

FG unveils gender, environmental reporting framework for extractive industries

The Federal Government on Tuesday launched Gender and Environmental Reporting Frameworks in Extractive Industries to meet Nigeria’s reporting obligation to the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI).

The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zainab Ahmed unveiled the frameworks in Abuja during her visit to the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) permanent office.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the frameworks were developed by NEITI in line with global EITI requirements and standards to resolve lingering issues and enhance reporting in areas of gender and environment in the oil, gas and mining sectors.

She said the frameworks would help in resolving lingering negative impact of oil, gas and mineral exploration in host communities, and reduce widening gender

disparity in extractive industries.

The minister, who served as NEITI’s Executive Secretary before being appointed in 2015 as a member of the cabinet, lauded NEITI’s management’s achievements, adding that the frameworks represented another milestone recorded by NEITI.

She commended President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment towards strengthening Nigeria’s EITI as evident in the government’s prioritisation of NEITI in allocating resources to enable the agency execute its role in the industry.

“From its initial mandate to disclose extractive output and revenue, to data mainstreaming, contracts and beneficial ownership disclosure and currently, gender and environmental reporting and energy transition, I have been part of the process,” she said.

Ahmed appealed to the incoming administration to

strengthen anti-corruption agencies and reform-minded institutions like NEITI in its economic policy agenda considering the agency’s unique national and international mandates.

“Through its regular oil, gas and mining audits, publications of timely policy papers, NEITI is well-positioned to guide and shape government policies in the energy sector and contribute to robust economic and public finance management in Nigeria,’..

Earlier, Mr Olusegun Adeyemi, Chairman, National Stakeholders’ Working Group (The Board) of NEITI), said the frameworks would guide stakeholders to disclose data and information on environment payments in extractive industry.

He said it would guide stakeholders on impacts, monitoring and management as well as information disclosure on gender parity, participation and

employment in the industry.

“I assure our stakeholders and all Nigerians that NEITI’s board under my leadership is strongly committed to the issues of environmental and gender justice in our oil, gas and mining sector. And will continue to provide strategic direction to NEITI’s secretariat,” he said.

IDr Orji Ogbonnaya Orji, Executive Secretary, NEITI, said the frameworks were direct responses to its readiness to move into issues of Gender and the environment in view of the strong linkage to the EITI desired impact in the lives of citizens.

“Host communities in the country currently face complex challenges of environmental degradation. In these host communities, the girl child, women and children suffer the most environmental degradation in terms of deprivation of their livelihood, access to farming and petty trading.

From left: Permanent Secretary, State House, Mr Tijjani Umar; Head of Civil Service, Mrs Folashade Yemi-Esan and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha during a Valedictory Federal Executive meeting at the Presidential Villa, yesterday in Abuja

Yobe State Assembly confirms new Auditor General, others

From Mohammed Maitela, Damaturu

Yobe state House of Assembly on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Alhaji Umar Mai Aliyu Gulani as the new Yobe state Auditor General.

This is after receiving a recommendation from the house standing committee on public service and government house having critically studied the curriculum vitae as well as information obtained during the interactive session with the nominee.

The Committee recommended that, the nominee in person of Mai Aliyu Umar Gulani was a career civil servant with versed working experience particularly in the field of financial management who met the requirement of the law and found him fit and capable of this appointment to serve as Auditor-General of the State in accordance with section 5 of the Yobe State Public Sector Audit Law 2021.

Meanwhile, the house confirmed the appointment of Aisha Haruna Godowoli as permanent member Local government Service Commission as well as Ballama Abdullahi Budu as Permanent Member Teaching Service Board.

Speaking at the plenary, the chairman house committee on public service and government house, Hon. Hassan Muhammed said, the Committee recommended that, Aisha Haruna Godowoli who was a career civil servant with versed working experience particularly in the field of legal profession.

He adds that, until her retirement as Permanent Secretary, Aisha having met the requirement of the law for appointment as Permanent Member based on the Yobe State Local Government Service Commission to complete the tenure of late Alhaji Baba Abare having satisfied the provision of Yobe State local government Law 2001.

The house also recommended and Satisfied with the nomination of Ballama Abdullahi Budu who was a career civil servant with versed working experience in administration and served in different capacities until his retirement as Permanent Secretary having met the requirement of the law of the Yobe State Teaching Service Board (amendment) law 2010.

In presiding over the plenary, the deputy speaker of the House Hon. Isa Bello Danchuwa while confirming the nominees appointment also called on them to work hard to justify the confidence reposed in them towards the development of the state.

FG inaugurates Legal Aid Council governing board

By Ochiaka Ugwu

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar

Malami SAN has inaugurated the Governing Board of the Legal Aid Council.

Malami who conducted the inauguration Wednesday in Abuja urged members of the Governing Board to show exemplary leadership while performing their statutory responsibilities which involved providing policy direction and making Regulations for the Council as stipulated in Sections 2, 3 and 23 of the Legal Aid Act 2011.

The members were: Siraj Sae’eda (SAN), (Chairman), Mrs. Roseline Tasha, Barr. C.U. Ogar, DCP Solomon Lough (SAN), Barr. Audu Karimu, Oluseun Mobolaji Abimbola (SAN), Sammie Abiye Somiari (SAN), Hussain Zakariya (SAN). others are: Adeshina Adegbite FICMC, Comrade M. Adamu, Ms. Rhoda P. Tyoden (FIDA Ex-Officio), Sulaiman Usman (SAN), Oluwole Iyamu (SAN), Haj. Amina Hanga and Mr. Idumu O. Idumu. Continuing, Malami enumerated some of the achievement of the Council to include: Effective implementation and expansion of the Police Duty Solicitors Scheme

(PDSS) by adding some new States like Niger and Bauchi to the earlier pilot states, Special visits to Correctional Centres nationwide which only recently has resulted to the release of 101 inmates from the Kirikiri Maximum Correctional Centre who had been awaiting trial in the past 10 years.

He noted that is important to know that about 2000 inmates nationwide have benefited from the Council’s Jail delivery intervention. He also listed the Certification of Curriculum for Paralegal Studies in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria as empowered by the enabling Act of the Council as one of the Council’s

achievement.

While congratulating members of the Board, he also urged them to acquaint themselves with the Council’s enabling Act for effective performance.

It is important to note that new Governing Board has a Three-YearTenure as stipulated in the Legal Aid Act 2011.

The Solicitor-General of the Federation and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Justice, Mrs. Beatrice Jeddy-Egba congratulated the members and assured them of cooperation and support of the Ministry as the Supervisory Ministry of the Council.

As part of his strategic engagements ahead of the inauguration of the incoming administration, former British Prime Minister and Founder of the Tony Blair Institute, Mr Tony Blair (right), and his team paid a courtesy visit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila (left), yesterday in Abuja.

Buhari thanks ministers, State House staff for 8 years of support

By Egena Sunday Ode

President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday in Abuja participated in a valedictory session of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and met with staff of the State House, as part of a countdown on his eight years of administration, with appreciation for all the support and loyalty.

In his remarks at the valedictory session held at the State House Council Chamber, the President thanked all the ministers for their steadfastness in pursuing the goals of the administration, urging support for the incoming President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, even from outside government.

President Buhari appreciated

the ministers for working closely together, despite many odds and challenges, and sustaining the synergy that translated into many achievements.

“I am proud to say we gave our best,’’ he added.

The President directed the ministers to tidy up their work and avoid last-minute rush that could compromise the good deeds they had done over the years.

“In the cause of our years together, ranging from our newest addition to the oldest members of the team for the past seven and half years, we have differed on many issues. I urge that we understand that those positions were for the collective good, and no one should keep grievances, or carry

these differences forward.

“For those of us that will not directly be in government, I know that I am one of such, I ask that we continue to provide our support, in whatever way we can, if called upon by our great party, All Progressives Congress (APC) that gave us the platform to stand and we must continue to support it in every way we can,’’ he said.

The President attributed all the good work and goodwill received by the administration to God’s intervention, adding, “I also thank God for the strength and for keeping us together.’’

“I look forward to a great many of you, disproving that Daura has not become too distant because I am no longer Mr President.

“I will also be happy to do the

many things that I have not been able to since May 29th, 2015, one of such is my favorite pastime of taking care of my cattle.

“I wish all of us the best and hope to hear good news whenever any of our names are mentioned. Thank you and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria,’’ he stated.

President Buhari also met with members of Staff of the State House, lauding both the senior and junior workers for supporting his administration for eight years.

He noted that the administration had stretched to accommodate the views of workers and to meet some of their needs, within the available resources.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

From Mika’il Tsoho, Dutse

No fewer than 155 rice, wheat and maize farmers were trained on climate resilient practices in rice, wheat and maize production in Jigawa state.

The training was conducted by Jigawa state Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (JARDA) in collaboration with Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD).

The Managing Director Jigawa state Agricultural and Rural Development (JARDA) Alhaji Imam Muhammad disclosed this while speaking to news men in Dutse the state capital.

He explained that, out of the total number of participants about eighty farmers including extension workers received emergency training and demonstration of climate resilient practices on rice production.

The MD added that, the remaining 75 participants including male and female farmers received emergency training and demonstration of climate resilient practices on wheat and maize production.

He said, after the training, starter packs of inputs including Fertilizer, agro chemicals and seed were distributed to the participants whom were selected across zones in the state.

According to him, after the training, the participants are expected to stepdown the training to others farmers in their communities.

He then urged farmers in the state to apply the new techniques and inputs for better and bumper havest in Jigawa.

The Managing Director also urged new administration in the state to support and give more cooperation to JARDA for more food production youth employment through farming.

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Benue

State Governor Samuel Ortom said he does not have any plans or intention to join the All Progressives Congress, APC, even if lured with a ministerial position.

The Governor stated this on Wednesday during an interview on ARISETV monitored by our correspondent.

Ortom said it is not on his table to defect to APC insisting that he will remain in the PDP.

“I worked for a Southern

President because I believe in justice, equity and fairness. Tinubu is part of it, Obi is part of it. I chose to work with Obi and I said that the Presidency should go to that side. Other of my colleagues worked for Tinubu which was what we agreed. That was okay. My other candidates I worked for them in PDP. Those who lost, lost and those who won, won I can be in PDP and still work for the interest of this country to ensure fairness, justice and equity.

“What am telling you is that

if tommorow Tinubu is sworn-in, I will continue to pray for him. I will continue to support him to succeed as President of this country. Litigation is going on, let it take it course, it is part of the democratic process. Whatever is the outcome, we will accept it. Whoever is the President, am going to support him. But I remain the leader of PDP in Benue State. Am PDP and will remain there but it does stop me for fighting for justice, fairness and equity”, Ortom said.

On his strained relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari,

Ortom maintained that he never hated the President recalling he was the first Governor he travelled with to South Africa on assumption of office in 2015.

He however, decried that the President was surrounded by sycophants who continually lied and decieved him that all was well.

I worked for a Southern President but I remain in PDP —Ortom JARDA trains 155 farmers on climate resilient practices

“I do not hate the President all I sought for was justice, fairness and equity for my people. He took Nigeria from top to bottom but I forgive him. He failed in the area of security and the exonomy”, he lamented.

L-R: Director Press, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA) Mrs Patricia Deworithse, Representative of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr. Emem Wills and the Representative of the Director General , National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr Demian Egwu, during the official flag-off the distribution of the Presidential Palliative to the flood victims of 2022 in Akwa Ibom State, by the MNDA held recently in Uyo.

OSSAP-SDGs unveils 100-bed Mother-Child Centre, other projects at NAUTH

By Egena Sunday Ode

The Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, OSSAP-SDGs at the has unveiled a series of interventions at the permanent site of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Anambra State. The interventions were inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari who was represented at the event by the Minister of State for Health, Joseph Ekumankama.

The interventions, which were unveiled by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire include a 100-bed Mother and Child Centre, a new Accident as well as new Accident and Emergency Building, the Renal Building, new ward complex in Block A and Block B, as well as a new Accident and Emergency Unit.

Speaking during the commissioning of the projects attended by top officials of Anambra State Government, NAUTH, lawmakers and other stakeholders, Princess Orelope-Adefulire said the

interventions were aimed at tackling the problems of shortage of the required infrastructure at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi which has affected the quality of healthcare services being delivered to patients over the years. She added that with the complete provision of the facilities at the hospital through the interventions of OSSAP-SDGs, the Teaching Hospital has been turned into a state-of-theart healthcare facility that everyone can be proud of.

“The intervention at this teaching hospital will not only significantly enhance the educational experience and skill development of students for their professional careers, but it will also contribute to the achievement of SDG 3 and a positive spill-over impact on several SDGs,” said the Presidential Adviser.

Princess Orelope-Adefulire noted that apart from the critical intervention at the Nnamdi Azikwe University Teaching Hospital, the Office has also carried out several interventions across the entire state.

She listed the interventions to include the construction of 4 units of 2-Bedroom staff quarters and a 500-capacity mortuary at

Ifitedunu Primary Healthcare Centre to improve the healthcare infrastructure and widen access to quality healthcare services for the people.

“In the same vein, and to enhance a conducive learning environment for students in schools, we have also provided hostels and security house, a 40Kva hybrid solar inverter, solar powered borehole, 50 solar streetlights, and football pitch with artificial turf at St. Mary’s High School and Nnaemeka Secondary School, Ifitedunu, Dunukofia LGA.

She added that the interventions include construction of a new garri processing centre, provision of 239 Nos of 2.5Kva generators to the Anambra South Senatorial District as well as the construction of access roads with drainages and asphalts across nine streets in Dunukofia LGA of the State.

“Together these interventions will enhance transportation, stimulate trade, and improve overall connectivity, leading to increased economic activity, improved access to healthcare and education, and a greater sense of community cohesion and development, and have the potential to uplift the quality of life for the people of Anambra State.

“Certainly, I am confident that these interventions will accelerate our progress towards the SDGs by the year 2030.

Also speaking at the event, the Minister of State for Health urged residents, staff, and management of the health institution to ensure that the facilities were protected against vandalism.

“What we see here today represents lots of sacrifices. Many projects sought the attention of the national budget, but the Federal Government decided to invest heavily in this particular project because of its importance to the wellbeing of the people.

The Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, who represented Governor, Charles Soludo at the event expressed appreciation to the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for the interventions at the hospital.

The Chief Medical Director of the Hospital Dr Joseph Ugboaja and the Chairman, Management Board of the NAUTH, Chief Ezekiel Afukonyo also said the interventions will help the facility meets it desire to provide quality healthcare services to the people at its new permanent site

Niger NDE disburses N2.2m to 22 beneficiaries of AES under REP

From Yakubu Mustapha Minna

National Directorate of Employment (NDE)

Niger state has disbursed the sum of N22.2 million to 22 beneficiaries of Agribusiness Enhancement Scheme (AES) loan to commence their choice

trained skills to be self employed and reliant.

The Managing Director of NDE, Malam Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo made this known during the flag off ceremony of the 2nd batch of programme disbursement held at the Labour House in Minna.

He called for attitudinal

change from demand for white collar job to self employment.

Fikpo explained that 276 participants the total of N36,600, to get N100,000 each from the 12 selected states of the federation under Sustainable Agricultural Development Scheme (SADS).

Represented by the Niger State Coordinator, Abubakar

Mohammed Dantsoho noted that the scheme is embarked upon by the President Muhammadu Buhari’s led administration aimed at curbing rate of unemployment especially among the youth in the country.

The director, Rural Employment Promotion (REP) department at the headquarters,

Edem Duke represented by Mrs Shade Uche said that this will boost the nation economy, noting that it’s a loan repayable after 6 months moritorium.

State REP, Head of Department, Celestine Ignatius urged the beneficiaries to ensure the repayment of the loan so as to enabled others to benefit.

Speakership Tussle: Gbajabiamila, Wase in open confrontation over “light Order Papper” announcement

By Christiana Ekpa

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila and his Deputy openly confronted each other during Wednesday plenary over the announcement by the Speaker that the Order Paper for Thursday be made lighter to allow members attend the official Commissioning of the permanent site of the National Institute for Legislative abd Democratic Studies.

Before adjourning the House, the Speaker had announced that the NILDS permanent site along

Airport Road will be commissioned by 3.00pm on Thursday by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He asked the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business to ensure that the order paper was not clouded with the day’s business so that the House can adjourn early enough for the event.

But Deputy Speaker, Ahmed Idris Wase said the primary business of the House was lawmaking and other official business, adding that tye commissioning of NILDS headquarters was not enough to

adjourn the House.

Wase said members willing to attend the commission could do so while the business of the House is not disrupted.

But the Speaker said “DS, may be the importance of NILDS is not clear to you like it is to some of us. We are not adjourning the House for members to attend the commissioning. I said the order paper should be made lighter because I will attend the commissioning.

But Wase fired back saying “Mr. Speaker, the House is not about I, but us”.

Gbajabiamila first ignored his Deputy, made another announcement before returning to address him stressing that

“Mr Deputy Speaker, this is one time in history I been in this House for many years, perhaps even longer than anybody here, this is the first time in history that the deputy Speaker will be challenging what the Speaker is saying, let raise for one minute”

Turning to the Chairman of the Committee on Rules and Business, Gbajabiamila said “make the order paper light for tomorrow. This House will adjourn at 2.00pm”

while members present at plenary chorused Carried

The endorsement of Hon. Tajudeen Abbas for the position of Speaker of the House has created a sharp division between the Speaker and his Deputy.

Wase was said to have avoided attending the usual leadership meeting held before plenary everyday, while also shunning the Speaker’s procession to the Chamber.

He had openly accused the Speaker of backing Tajudeen for the Speakership position.

Shettima: PDP tasks Buhari, FG to speak out on Public Holiday allegation

…Cautions APC to respect the Independence of the Judiciary

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) calls on the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari to speak out on the alarming reports in the public space of moves to declare Friday, May 26, 2023 a public holiday as a ploy to stop the Supreme Court from sitting to deliver judgment on the disqualification case against the APC Vice Presidential candidate, Sen. Kashim Shettima, over double nomination, already scheduled for that date.

The PDP also calls on the

Federal Government to come clean on a further allegation, which is also in the public domain that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is mounting pressure on the Department of State Services (DSS) to advice

President Buhari to declare the public holiday.

The ominous silence by the Federal Government in the face of such grave allegations is heightening tension across the country and has the capacity to trigger wide-spread crisis if not immediately addressed.

Such reported sinister plot by the APC against the Supreme Court is consistent with the insensitivity, manipulation, abuse of power and process promoted by the APC as an act of governance in the last eight years.

The PDP therefore calls on President Buhari to immediately douse the palpable tension in the country by making a categorical statement with regard to the reported plots by the APC to stop the sitting of the Supreme Court through the declaration of

a public holiday.

Nigerians across board are eager for the delivery of the judgement on the set date, Friday, May 26, 2023, in the disqualification case against Sen. Kashim Shettima, for double nomination as APC Senatorial and Vice-Presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections in violation of the provision of Section 35 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The APC must respect the independence of the Judiciary and the Supreme Court in

the administration of justice as guaranteed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and the Principle of Separation of Powers as enshrined in the Constitution.

Nigeria is already strained and any attempt to impose a public holiday on Friday, May 26, 2023 as a ploy to stop the Supreme Court from delivering its reserved judgment is capable of increasing the tension with possible dire consequences to the polity.

President Buhari Attends Regimental Dinner Night Hosted By The Nigeria Army At The Army Headquarters Officers Mess On Tuesday In Abuja.

Photo: State House

...Mr. Speaker, the House is not about I, but us - Wase ...This is the first time in history that the deputy Speaker will challenge what the Speaker is saying - Gbajabiamila

Group trains students on waste to wealth

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

TheKaduna State World Banksupported Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project says it is teaching secondary school students how to convert waste to wealth.

The Project Coordinator, Hajiya Maryam Dangaji, stated this in Kaduna at the Climate Change Action Exhibition and Competition on Waste to Wealth and distribution of Eco Clubs activity toolkit.

The exhibition and competition are among 42 established ECO Clubs in Secondary Schools across the three Senatorial Districts of the state.

Dangaji said that the measure was part of AGILE’s “catch them young” strategy, to make the students environmental conservation advocates to mitigate climate change.

According to her, the ECO Clubs are established to inculcate the culture of tree planning, love, protection, and care for the environment among students, particularly schoolgirls.

“They can do this profitably, by turning waste to wealth.”

Dr Yahaya Ibrahim, an Associate Professor with the Kaduna State University and Technical Assistant to AGILE project in Kaduna State, said that catching school children young would significantly mitigate climate change.

Ibrahim said that the students were trained on how to value trees, stressing that cutting down a single tree would jeopardize the lives of 400 living organisms.

He added that other areas covered recycling of waste products for wealth creation, segregation of waste and how to maintain a balance between environmental exploitation and conservation.

“The competition was organised to encourage the students on the need to practice and sustain what they have learned and also to reward good performance,” he said.

On her part, the AGILE Environmental Safeguard Officer, AGILE, Maurine Oyedoja, said that 42 schools participated in the competition designed to strengthen the interest of students on environmental conservation.

According to her, it is very important for the students to know that they can produce something from the abundant waste in the environment through recycling.

“It is equally important to catch the children, young by teaching them how to convert waste to wealth with a view to change their attitude from throwing away wealth in the name of waste.”

In her remarks, the National Project Coordinator, AGILE, Hajiya Amina Buba, commanded Kaduna AGILE Project Implementing Unit for inculcating environmental protection and preservation among students.

Buba, who was represented by Mrs Nkechi Nkemefuna, Environmental Safeguard Officer, National Project Coordinating Unit, said that the achievements recorded so far were laudable.

She called on the state government to ensure sustainability of the project goals and objective not only in improving girls’ access to secondary education, but also in mobilizing students to take action to protect the environment.

Government Girls Secondary School Maimuna Gwarzo emerged winner of the competition, while Government Secondary School Kabala Costain and Technical College Malali emerged second and third best respectively.

The AGILE project is the initiative of the Federal Government with funding support from the World Bank.

Direct entry registration to close by May 30 - JAMB

By Maryam Abeeb

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), says the 2023 Direct Entry (DE) e-PIN sales would close on May 26, while registration of candidates who obtained the e-PIN would end on May 30.

This is disclosed in a statement by the board’s Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin in Abuja.

According to him, the 2023 DE registration, which commenced in February, 2023, was extended for all desiring candidates to register and was, at a point, suspended to facilitate the incorporation of certain safeguards designed to enhance the sanctity of the exercise.

He stated that the 2023 DE registration is unique among many others as it came with some features meant to enhance the Board’s capacity to permanently address those loopholes hitherto being exploited by some vested interests.

“It was, therefore, not at all surprising to witness the surge in the number of candidates in one or two of our offices. The new regime which has exposed the quantum of cases of falsifications and other infractions in the DE value chain as reported is one of the many gains of the regulated DE registration exercise.

“One good thing about the exercise is that the Board has been able to capture only deserving candidates with only pockets of outstanding candidates

remaining in a couple of Board’s offices particularly in Lagos. Even here, the Board has adopted a scheduling system whereby candidates are allocated to specific days for their DE registration to preclude any further incidence of overcrowding.

“The Board has grant some registration access points to ETC/ JKK to ensure that all desiring candidates in Lagos are registered.

As such, all eligible candidates for the DE in Lagos can either visit our Ikoyi office to be registered or proceed to ETC/JKK Ikorodo road Anthony to registered before the closing date,” he noted.

“The attention of the Board has also been drawn to the unwholesome actions of some tutorial centres and some desperate parents, who are

conniving with some A’ level tutorial centres to perpetrate acts prejudicial to the education sector and national interests.

He said the Board is restating its determination to always innovate means and ways of checkmating all acts of infractions and at the same time would not hesitate to impose appropriate sanctions on any A’level awarding institutions found wanting.

“All A’level institutions are enjoined to be vigilant as there are deliberate intention by desperate candidates to compromise their operations.

“All genuine aspiring DE candidates, who are yet to register for the exercise are, therefore, urged to come out now to register as the Board would not entertain any further extension.

Group says negative social norms promotes sexual harassment

The Hope for Community and Children Initiative, (H4CC), has said some negative social norms practiced in some communities encourages sexual harassment, and corporal punishment of students both in public and private schools in Kaduna State.

The Executive Director of H4CC, Hadiza Umar, asserted this during a one day validation exercise of research findings on the effects of Social Norms on sexual harassment and corporal punishment in public and private schools held in Kaduna yesterday.

According to her, some negative social norms include; the

notion that teachers and parents must beat the children as a sign of authority, whether the child does wrong or not; reporting rape cases are viewed as shameful to the family of the victim, so the matter is swept under the carpet.

Others include, blaming the girl-child for gender-based violence against her because she did not respect the man, and when raped society quickly pointed fingers on her mode of dressing.

Hadiza who described social norms as the perceived informal, mostly unwritten, rules that define acceptable and appropriate actions within a given group or community, guides human behaviour, which sometimes result in negativity

She further explained that norms increased the risk of sexual violence and shape beliefs, attitudes, behaviours, and influence sense of what’s acceptable and not acceptable within a community or society at large.

“When we understand norms as a key factor that shapes the likelihood of sexual violence and harassment, we can see more clearly what needs to change and which strategies will be effective,” she said.

Hadiza stressed that H4CC started conducting the research in 2021 as a result of monitoring sexual harassment in the society. “What we did was that we selected five Local government

Areas - Makarfi, Kaduna North, Kaduna South Kajuru and Kauru.”

Speaking about the research, an Activist, Mallam Isa Suleiman, said the main objectives of study was to examine the nature, magnitude of how social normal norms impact on sexual harassment and corporal punishment in selected schools in the state.

He observed that the study provides evidence on the effect of social norms on School Related Gender-Based Violence, (SRGBV), and to understand the social norms that drive the heightened cases of sexual harassment and corporal punishment in schools, community, homes and its effect on education outcome.

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

L-R...Chief Judge of Oyo State Justice Iyabo Yerima,Deouty National Chairman Southwest PDP, Hon Taofeek Arapaja, wife of rhe Deputy Governor Oyo State Mrs Ajibola Lawal, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Governor Seyi Makinde and hus wife Tamunominini Makinde during the Official Commissioning Oyo State Governor’s lodge yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-owo

Winners emerge at NSE talent hunt competition

By Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

The government Secondary Schools Bwari (GSS) has emerged the winner of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) 2023 Talent Hunt Competition for the Federal Capital Territory Secondary Schools.

The Government Secondary Schools Hajji camp came second position while Government secondary school Wuse 2 Abuja came third position respectively.

The 1st Position got N250,000 scholarship plus Plaque and Trophy (to the School) while 2nd Position,N150,000 Scholarship plus Plaque and Trophy (to the School) 3rd Position, N100,000 scholarship plus plaque plus trophy (to the School).

In his welcome address, the FCT chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Engr. Ben Osy Okoh disclosed that the Prizes shall be presented on the 6th of July, 2023 during the Charles Mbanefo memorial lecture.

Okoh explained that the NSE Abuja branch has organized this competition for FCT to offer the students an opportunity to discover their limitless potential and improve their capability and increases their team collaboration, develop their communication skills, improve their critical thinking skills, and boost their curiosity, utilizing the power of STEM.

He urged the students not to mind the outcome of this competition. It should not deter any of you but should be a springboard to discovering your potential.

While citing references from the notable leaders,he said “When Thomas Edison was reminded of the number of attempts he made before he discovered electricity, he responded-”I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Mark Zuckerberg, Jan Koum and others didn’t make it on their first attempts. The end is what always matters”.

He said the main objectives of the NSE is to promote the advancement of engineering education, research, and practice in all its ramifications with a view to maintaining and enhancing the professional capabilities of its members.

“In order to promote,protect,encourage, and maintain a high standard of engineering study and practice and to encourage greater efficiency therein”,Okoh said.

On his part,The president of NSE , Engineer Tasia S. GidariWudil said what we are doing today might look small but the reality is very big .

According to him, “When I was in Primary School, I put my hand in many things just to have enough skills and my teachers always call me white engineers,and today,I am the president of the Nigerian Society of engineers.

He, however, charged students to make use of this competition to discover their intellectual ability through invention, technical in order to promote the engineering sector that would enable them to compete with international best practice.

FG to launch National Cybercrime Centre

By Vivian Okejeme, Abuja

The war against cybercrime in Nigeria has taken a center stage as the Federal Government disclosed readiness to launch the National Cybercrime Center to curb the increasing wave of cyber-related crimes in the country.

1st National Consultation on the Cybercrimes Legal Framework jointly sponsored by the GLACY+ and OCWAR-C (both EU funded projects) projects in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The Cyber security centre which will be supervised by the Nigeria Police Force would among others synergise with both National and international security communities for robust legislation, and strategies to protect Nigeria’s cyberspace.

This was made known by the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Usman Alkali Baba, at the first Consultation forum on the national legal framework on Cybercrime held on Wednesday in Abuja.

In a remark, National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno pointed out that Nigeria’s cyberspace is currently threatened by money laundering, child pornography, and fishing among other cyber-related crimes.

Monguno said to reverse the

growing trends of cybercrimes and to properly harness the revolution’s benefits from the potential of cyberspace, there is a need for collaborative efforts by agencies to cope with the threats.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the African Union Cybersecurity Group of experts, Abdul-Hakeem Ajijola, also stressed the need to improve legislation along with the cyber security architecture in the country.

Ajijola said, “I urge Nigeria to ratify and accede to the Malabo convention as Africa has started moving forward on it without us.

“However, legislation alone is not enough. We need to fortify our digital frontiers with advanced cybersecurity technologies.”

In the same vern, the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Ali Isa Pantami also called for collaborative efforts by Ministries and agencies of government to tackle the menace of cybercrime.

The Digital and communication minister also stressed the need for an improved legislative framework that will combat the complexity of the crimes.

Pantami said, “Let us remember the profound importance of our collective efforts. Cybercrime knows no borders, and its impact transcends individual nations.

“We must work together as stakeholders from various sectors - government, law enforcement agencies, industry, civil society, and academia - to address the multifaceted challenges.

“We must seize this opportunity to develop a robust national legal framework that encompasses the complexities of cybercrimes and electronic evidence gathering.

“Our legislation should empower law enforcement agencies, enable effective investigation and prosecution of cybercriminals, and safeguard the rights and privacy of our citizens. It should promote international cooperation and information sharing to combat cyber threats effectively.”

Also the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi stressed the need for an improved legal framework to combat rising threats to Nigeria’s cyberspace.

He said, “ A cybercrime legislative framework Is one of those critical areas that needs to be addressed in order to promote a healthy digital economy. “

He added, “As we embark on this collaborative journey, let us embrace the principles of inclusivity, innovation, and resilience. Let us seize this opportunity to devise legal

frameworks that strike a delicate balance between security and privacy, empower law enforcement agencies, protect our citizens and critical infrastructure, and foster trust in our digital ecosystem.”

Earlier, the solicitor General of the Federation, Beatrice JedyAgba in a welcome address, urged the participants at the forum to harness the opportunities provided by the three-day consultative forum to improve modalities towards curbing cybercrime in Nigeria.

The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho on his part, pledged the commitment of the courts towards achieving the aims of Act, -2015 cybercrime Act.

Represented by Justice D.U. Okorowo, the CJ stressed that the Federal High Court is not just a critical stakeholder, but a decisive partner in the achievement of the aims of the Act.

Justice Tsoho said, “The Federal High Court as an institution is committed to providing adequate support to all relevant stakeholders to achieve the aims of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Preventions) Act, 2015.

“Section 50 of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Preventions) Act, 2015 conferred on the Federal High Court exclusive jurisdiction over offences committed under the Act.”

Minister commends NSCDC boss over welfare of staff —Minister

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

The Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola has identified welfare as a necessary ingredient for motivation.

He stated this on Tuesday at the commissioning of a newly reconstructed parade ground and staff quarters at the corps National Headquarters, Sauka and Mabushi.

Specifically, the minister said the CG stood out in his strategy of motivating staff.

He commended the CG for transforming the corps to a reasonable standard.

He said welfare packages have a way of encouraging the staff to perform their best.

“The staff quarters will help the officers to be comfortable and to focus on their duty.

“I would like to commend the CG for motivating his staff. This also shows the commitment of the govt in ensuring welfare of officers and to encourage them in their

duties.

Speaking on the project, the Commandant General of NSCDC, Ahmed Audi, said the project gives him great pleasure to welcome the minister to the commissioning of yet another set of landmark projects at the National Headquarters of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.

“The projects include the remodelled Parade Ground and Staff Quarters.

Honourable Minster, Distinguished Guests, without sounding immodest, part of my vision for the Corps is not only to improve on existing facilities, but to develop new ones that would add value in our quest for better performance.

“This informed our decision to reconstruct the old parade ground and build new staff residential quarters being commissioned today.

“It is worthy of note that the remodelled parade ground was

in a state of disrepair unbefitting of the standard the Corps has carved for itself. To correct this, I undertook an inspection of the parade ground to get first-hand knowledge of the exact situation and what needed to be done to put it in good shape to enable it measure up to the desired standard befitting of the Corps we are envisioning.

“You will recall that the old parade ground was not as spacious as it is now while there was no provision for VIP Stand and the fact that the initial ground was a bit difficult for effective training, drills, parade etc. However, today the remodelled parade ground has been further expanded with a secured VIP Stand, a Standard Saluting Dais and a classy ground among other facilities befitting of a standard parade ground.

“You will agree with me that this parade ground is multipurpose but is specially developed to serve the purpose of drills, parade and other training

needs of the Corps as we continue to take additional measures aimed at strengthening the capacity of the Corps.

He said “the Staff Residential Quarters on the other hand is in furtherance of our staff welfare programme aimed at ensuring the provision of shelter towards ameliorating the housing needs of our personnel and capable of further boosting the morale of personnel in an effort to enhance productivity and better performance.

“Honourable Minister, Distinguished Guests, we are determined and remain resolute in our resolve to pursue our vision of developing policies, projects and programmes aimed at motivating our personnel for operational efficiency/better performance especially at this challenging moment where we need to do everything humanly possible to tackle the emerging security threat in the Country.”

L-R: Book reviewer, Bishop Matthew Kukah, wife of the author, Fadeke, the author, Sam Omatseye, Borno state Governor, Prof Umara Babangana Zulum, Kwara governor, AbdulRahman Abdulrasaq, Niger state Governor, Sani Bello Abubakar, Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, Plataeu state Governor, Simon Bako Lalong, his wife Regina, Reps of President Elect, Bayo Onanuga, Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and Reps of the launcher, Dr idi Hong, during a book lunch in honour of Simon Lalong’s struggle and triumph in Nigeria debacles, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

commission’s Kajola locomotive, rolling stock assembly plant in Ogun state

By Albert Akota

The Federal Government in demonstration of its commitment to revitalize and ensure sustainability of the ongoing railway modernization project has commissioned the Kajola Wagon Assembly Plant in Ogun State.

President Muhammadu Buhari who performed the commissioning of the project, coordinated by the Federal Ministry of Transportation expressed immense pleasure over project which was conceived and flagged off in 2019, by the Vice President Prof. Yemi Osibanjo.

President further said it will not only generate the needed employment but will boost economic opportunities for the citizenry as it will promote and develop local capacity in Assembling and Manufacturing of Rolling Stock.

The President who was represented by the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, said the project is in compliance with the Presidential Executive Order No. 5 that stipulates “companies’ involvement in infrastructure development within the country.

According to the President, the Locomotive and Rolling Depot has the capacity to produce 500 Wagons per year of Open Wagons, Container Flat Wagons and Box Wagons, adding that the first set of Wagons assembled in Nigeria are being rolled out for freight services.

Also speaking at the occasion, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, said: “there is no gainsaying that this is one of the landmark legacies of the Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, designed to ensure the sustainability of railway development in the country”.

In his remarks, the Managing Director, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), Fidet Okhiria, who was obviously overjoyed said the plant was a dream come true, adding that it would serve as a source for replacement of faulty wagons instead of sourcing them overseas.

Okhiria, said some wagons had been delivered to NRC for trials, and have been tested and confirmed as meeting international standards.

Zone 12 AIG cautions officers against violation of human right

From David Hassan, Gombe

The Assistant Inspector General of police in-charge of Zone 12 comprises of Bauchi and Gombe states

Mr.Slyvester Afolabi Abiodun has said its imperative for officers and men of the police force not to violate human right in their course of duty.

Mr Abiodun who was on a familiarisation visit to Gombe state police command on Wednesday also assured them that everyone

is mandated to discharge his human right. According to him, professionalism in the police force is to work closely to the people where a synegy can build relationship between the two parties to strive.

He said its the synegy that required that will bring lasting solutions through consolidation and dialogues interm of any differences. The police boss who did not shy his words said police alone cannot fight crime without the help of the people, noting

that there is urgent need for stakeholders in communities to que in by assisting the police with useful information in their areas. He advised that the collaboration between the police and the sisters agencies in fight against crime is paramount which according to him, have yielded positive result. While commending the effort of the police both Bauchi and Gombe states the AIG said the two states have set a good record of one of the peaceful states in the north

eastern region.

He said they can’t win a war without applying intelligence gathering which is a cardinal point in community policing. Commissioner of police Gombe state Police command Mr. Etim Oqua was optimistic with the visit said they will not relevant the good work they have been doing but will continue to do their best to ensure that the command set a pace.

Group takes technovation to girl child in grassroots

By Maryam Abeeb

As part of efforts to boost girl child education, a group known as Odyssey Education Foundation has organized a pitch event in technovation for girl in rural schools in Nasarawa state.

The pitch event is to be organised among 92 schools in FCT-Abuja, Nasarawa, Kano, and Bayelsa states.

While speaking to journalists at the event, in Nasarawa , the Founder of Odyssey Educational Foundation and Chapter Ambassador of “Technovation Girls” Abuja-FCT, Stella Uzochukwu-Denis , disclosed that the foundation is created to increase the number of females

studying and applying for STEM jobs among young people in Nigeria.

According to her, the Technovation challenge is an excellent initiative that encourages young women to use technology to make the world a better place.

“we’re here to ensure that we’re not just in Abuja Metropolis alone , that even rural areas and all other places we have young girls to get to know about technology .

“Most of them said they could discourage because you they told them that they cannot, people saying you are too small to be able to think of a whole building. That’s our own story for us today. So it’s so much fulfillment.

One of the of the participants, a 12 years old Stephen Hephzibah

said that the event has really helped her to know that girls can be better than boys.

“My advice for the girls is that they should just know that they can do anything and they can also create something that can make a difference in Nigeria,” she stated.

Also, another girl at the event, Comfort Godwin, that the program has made her know more information about technology and innovation.

Speaking further, a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics , STEM educator, Jacqueline Peter said that there is need for the society to encourage girl child to be involved in technology.

She noted “if teachers are involved, parents are involved

and students are also interested in getting involved you know, look at almost every school, we participated in television, and then we see young girls doing amazing things in tech.

“So if there’s a way we can involve the society go through the society or not just through the school so that the parents understand what’s coming. That way they can also encourage the students and you know, that can be hindered because a lot of girls that were not able to portray their status or they didn’t complete the discouragements came from their families and just surrounding people that don’t understand what’s going on. So yeah, that’s about it.

L-R: Assistant director, Upstream, Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission, (NUPRC) Mr Emmanuel Jaja; Chief Chemical Engineer, NUPRC, Isah Sulaiman and Director, Head Upstream Division, Mr. Enorense Amadasu during an investigative Hearing of the committee with the stakeholders in the Oil Industry at the National Assembly, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Group tasks Tinubu not to meddle in NASS leadership affairs

By Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

Asocio-political group under the aegis of Democracy Watch Initiative has urged President elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to allow national assembly to choose their presiding officers without interference.

It also calls for the President elect to reclaim the people’s confidence in your untainted democratic credentials and commitment to entrenching

sustainable democracy, restoring the glory of governance and the sanctity of constitutionalism in Nigeria.

Addressing journalists during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday,the group national coordinator,Sunusi Umar stated no one expects however that you will give to the North what it does not deserve.

He said Tinubu should recall the incredible promises he made to the North during electioneering at the Arewa

House talk show organized by the Northern leaders and elders.

“ What we are demanding is a free environment for the exercise of franchise as the only solution to the pervasive communal distrust that is more accentuated in the North.

“We believe a free election of leaders of the National Assembly by its own members would put to end the already brewing concerns of marginalization and fear of domination of other geopolitical zones in the North by others.

Speaking further,he said everyone must be aware by now that those pursuing this undemocratic, unconstitutional and unrealistic agenda are not your friends; they are people who did not vote for you.

“What they are doing about the National Assembly leadership is to test the ground for a wider political agenda that aims to diminish your personal populist tendencies and those anticipated in your government,” he said.

“While we repose an enduring

faith in your ability and will to change the situation in the country for the better, we pray to the Almighty God to increase you in wisdom to be able to accomplish your good intentions for the country”.

He, however,is confident that Tinubu is endowed with ample experience and diplomatic wherewithal to cope with whatever NASS leadership may emerge through due democratic process.

Yobe State Assembly confirms new Auditor General, others

nominee.

Yobe state House of Assembly on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Alhaji Umar Mai Aliyu Gulani as the new Yobe state Auditor General.

This is after receiving a recommendation from the house standing committee on public service and government house having critically studied the curriculum vitae as well as information obtained during the interactive session with the

The Committee recommended that, the nominee in person of Mai Aliyu Umar Gulani was a career civil servant with versed working experience particularly in the field of financial management who met the requirement of the law and found him fit and capable of this appointment to serve as AuditorGeneral of the State in accordance with section 5 of the Yobe State Public Sector Audit Law 2021. Meanwhile, the house confirmed the appointment of Aisha Haruna Godowoli

as permanent member Local government Service Commission as well as Ballama Abdullahi Budu as Permanent Member Teaching Service Board.

Speaking at the plenary, the chairman house committee on public service and government house, Hon. Hassan Muhammed said, the Committee recommended that, Aisha Haruna Godowoli who was a career civil servant with versed working experience particularly in the field of legal profession.

He adds that, until her

retirement as Permanent Secretary, Aisha having met the requirement of the law for appointment as Permanent Member based on the Yobe State Local Government Service Commission to complete the tenure of late Alhaji Baba Abare having satisfied the provision of Yobe State local government Law 2001.

The house also recommended and Satisfied with the nomination of Ballama Abdullahi Budu who was a career civil servant with versed working experience

in administration and served in different capacities until his retirement as Permanent Secretary having met the requirement of the law of the Yobe State Teaching Service Board (amendment) law 2010.

In presiding over the plenary, the deputy speaker of the House Hon. Isa Bello Danchuwa while confirming the nominees appointment also called on them to work hard to justify the confidence reposed in them towards the development of the state.

From Mohammed Maitela, Damaturu

L-R. Alhaji Zubairu Ibrahim Bayi, Director of Administration of Julius Berger, Hon. Umar Ibrahim El-Yakub, Minister of State Works and Housing, Dr. Abdulahi Umar Ganduje. OFR, Governor of Kano State, Tijani Abubakar Bayaro, Hakimin Kura, Kano State and Engr Taiwo Adetayo, Director North West, FMWH during the official Commissioning and Handover of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Section 11 & 111.

NHRC boss decries rise in violence each election circle

By Joy Baba-Yesufu

The Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission, (NHRC) Mr. Anthony Ojukwu has said election violence has become a recurring problem in Nigeria with incidence of violence increasing during each election circles.

He said this violence create fears and instability, undermines democracy and good governance adding that it also leads to broader society unrest.

Ojukwu stated this in Abuja at a mass atrocity summit organized by Global Rights, (a Non-Governmental Organisation, NGO) with the theme “Remembering to prevent: Enhancing accountability for

Expert charge FG on more collaboration with education Stakeholders

By Maryam Abeeb

TheConvener of Annual School Needs Expo, ASNE, Emem Opashi has charged the Federal Government to collaborate more with relevant stakeholders in order to bring about unique innovations that will develop the Education sector.

The education expert made this call while briefing newsmen during the 2023 ASNE event sponsored by WOWbii interactive in Abuja.

Emem while speaking about the theme of the event which is “Towards Education Agility – The Beginning of Change is CONVERSATION” she explained that its goal to foster a culture of conversation in education to promote agility, collaboration, and knowledge sharing. She concluded on this note.

She explained that there is urgent need for Stakeholders in the Education sector to design policies and program that will bring about development in the sector.

“I am apparently the founder of the annual school needs expo. So at the moment, we’re having a discourse on education, leadership development. And our focus is to have these conversations with the different stakeholders in education.

“We have the top level school owners and we are coming here to also learn how we can collaborate even with the government, other businesses, and then amongst ourselves to make sure that we are able to actually see the results.

“So we wanted to have all this selected people to an extent in the room and we have a range from the highest range of private schools, to the grassroot schools all represented here. We have businesses that are just doing little things to the really big ones, and there’s so much to learn from there. At the end of this one to be able to have a communique that we can even present to even the incoming government, for example.

According to her, this is an opportunity for public and private schools to synergize, noting that it can also help school proprietors to upgrade their schools and make it a better one.”

She noted that the expo has become a global platform that continues to gather key players in the public and private education space hosting hundreds of guests converging from all over the country and world at large.

mass atrocities through effective documentation.

The Mass Atrocities Summit is held annually by Global Rights and its partners to enhance knowledge and understanding of the various forms of mass atrocities contextualized within violent conflicts across Nigeria, and to explore how the deficit of memory, and the lack of institutional capacity to employ memory perpetuate these atrocities.

The executive secretary who was represented by the director, monitoring department of the commission, Benedict Agu said this year’s election was no different with at least 137 persons killed and over 60 persons abducted between December 2022 and march 2023 as a result of politically motivated

violence.

”We are here to discuss ways to prevent election violence. True prevention is not waiting for bad things to happen, it is preventing them from happening at all”, he said.

Earlier in her welcome address, Executive Director, Global Rights, Ms Abiodun Baiyewu said mass atrocity can be attributed to Boko Haram, banditry ISWAP, community clashes, extra judicial killing, herdsmen attacks, isolated attacks, mob attacks, political violence, ritual killings and secessionist movement.

She said insecurity is the major reason out of school children keep increasing by the day as parents refused to release their kids even with the safe school’s initiative.

“Even when schools are opened, parents were no longer releasing their children to go to school. The Safe School’s Initiative never took off. Nigeria year after year continue to increase undisputedly in the number of out of school children in the world with insecurity as one of our major factors” she said. According to her, ”data shows that in 2022 at least 5792 were killed across Nigeria due to mass atrocity in that year. 5270 were civilians, the rest of them were active service personnel, men and women who laid down their lives for our country. We are losing our security men and women, our greatest asset when it comes to security. Abduction has skyrocketed over the years. 5149 people were kidnapped in 2022.

“It is a matter of great concern. There are fears that one could be kidnapped in a school, at home or on the street. It doesn’t matter whether you are in the city or you are in the rural area. You may be rich, you may be poor; it doesn’t make you less vulnerable even almajiri children get kidnapped.

She expressed hope that, the situation will get better in the near future.

“We will keep documenting, we will keep looking for a way out, till our change comes. There will be an end to this long dark horrific tunnel and there will be light in our country again, we will make one if there is none. We are hopeful that we will find solution to this madness that this crime is inflicting on us as a people”.

Stakeholders applaud UNICEF intervention on personal hygiene to schoolgirls in Adamawa

From Umar Dankano,Yola

Critical stakeholders in education sector have expressed gratitude with the continued support and interventions being rendered by UNICEF in Adamawa state.

Teachers and schoolchildren registered their appreciation during a field visitation by team of UNICEF officials and journalists to some schools in Jada and Guyuk local government areas to observe the impact of the training to curb the incidences of stigmatization, non attendance of school, non adherance to hygiene during menstrual periods and other harmful practices.

The training for the stakeholders was funded by the Netherlands Directorate-General for International CooperationAccelerated Sanitation and Water for All programme ll (DGIS-ASWA

II) in conjunction with UNICEF.

Teachers, male and female schoolchildren were trained on the need to adhere to best practices in Adamawa State especially on personal hygiene of female schoolchildren relating to menstruation during school hours and even at home.

Perceptions on the primitive and negative beliefs on menstruation by female in our societies have been changed with these training as it’s discussion is done in the open not as it used to be in the past.

“But with the UNICEF intervention, stakeholders are now on the same page and discussing the issue freely without any “strings attached”. The outcome according to the stakeholders has become a winwin situation for the growth of education in the area.

“Now, young girls are making

money as a result of the training from the new entrepreneurship opportunity owning to their abilities to manufacture reusable menstrual pads locally which is cheaper and can be reused for up to six months”.Opined by a stakeholder.

During a one day field visit to Tsohon Tikke Primary school, one of the schools which benefitted from the trainings by UNICEF, stakeholders regaled the visiting team of reporters how the intervention changed their world views about menstruation completely.

Musa Umar,head teacher of the school noted that the contributions of the partners especially UNICEF can never be over emphasised explaining that what used to be in the dark has been brought to the daylight courtesy of the training as issues surrounding menstruation are

freely table in the open.

“In a conservative society such as ours, it was hitherto seen as moral bankruptcy to talk about issues like that. In fact, when the issue was first muted to me I shrank with excitement and fear because I could not see myself, a Fulani man discussing such issue with my students.

“But as it is now the training has led to a seamless relationship between the parents, teachers and the students and whenever any friction arises as a result of misconception, we usually address that amicably in a family way,” he said.

He noted that most of the issues around menstruation especially concerning new starters have been nipped in the bud because of the massive awareness as both students, teachers and parents have built mutual trust on the subject.

L-R: NYSC Director, General Services, Alhaji Baba Ahmed, Director, Special Duties, Alhaji Musa Abubakar, Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Zubairu Gambo, NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Yusha’u Dogara Ahmed, Director, Community Development Service and Special Duties, Hajiya Zainab Isah and Director, Press and Public Relations, Mr Eddy Megwa during NYSC Director General’s visit to the Naval Headquarters, yesterday in Abuja . Photo: Justin Imo-owo

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Saint Obi: Zulu’s essay added salt to injury of Widowhood

By Isaac Asabor

Infact, the family’s rebuttal could not have been issued at a better time than now as the commentaries it has generated and left to be trending in the media space since the death of the actor have not been palatable.

It is not an exaggeration to say that in Nigeria that after a woman loses her spouse to the cold hands of death, and then becomes a widow, she would thereafter become a victim of accusation, criticism, and actual blame for being responsible for the death of her spouse.

Whether the death of her spouse was due to a spiritual attack orchestrated by either relatives, friends, or acquaintances, even in some cases where the death was naturally caused or self-imposed, the widow; even being bereaved and under emotional pain as a result of the death of her spouse is usually pointed accusing fingers at, or suspected for having a hand in the death of her spouse.

For the sake of clarity, it is expedient to say that “To add salt to an injury’ or “To rub salt in a wound”, simply means to deliberately make someone’s misfortune or unhappiness worse. Given the defamatory tone of Zulu Okafor’s article which he wrote and published in the media ostensibly in honour of his late friend, Mr. Obinna Nwafor, alias Saint Obi, it is not a misnomer to say that he has added salt to the injury of widowhood by casting Obi’s wife in a bad light as he through the article made her seem to be a bad person.

Besides being cast in a bad light or being scapegoated, not a few widows are known to pass through the experiences of grief, loss, or trauma, and also face economic insecurity, discrimination, stigmatization, and harmful traditional practices on the basis of their marital status, soon after the demise of their spouses.

To buttress the foregoing view, in most Nigerian communities, widows do not have equal inheritance rights, and some of them are known to have been deprived of the lands they acquired together with their late husbands, even as some of them were upon the death of their husbands evicted from their homes, or even separated from their children. As if the foregoing sad narratives are not enough, some of them were denied access to inheritance, bank accounts, and credit, which can have significant financial impacts on them, their children, and future generations.

Against the foregoing backdrop, not a few readers of this piece at the moment may conjecture that the widely held notion that widows are been scapegoated upon the demise of their husbands is a result of a deliberate and sustained effort of the mass media to exaggerate the issue in order to get audience attention or to make them behave in certain ways. It is not true! Widows, particularly in Nigeria, and

generally in Africa, are often scapegoated after losing their husbands to the cold hands of death.

For instance, Zulu Okafor, in his article poignantly made an account of how actor Saint Obi’s marriage caused a rift between him and his friends as well as negatively impacted his acting career. Being a close friend of the late actor, not a few Nigerians who read the revealing article swallowed his narratives hook, line, and sinker.

According to Okafor, Saint Obi’s union with a financially successful woman drastically altered the trajectory of his life. He alleged that the woman held a prominent position in a telecommunications company and that her siblings always perceived Obi as someone solely interested in her wealth.

As if the damning allegations were not enough, Okafor went on to reveal that Saint Obi endured constant harassment from his wife’s siblings, which eventually led to the dissolution of their marriage.

Furthermore, Okafor disclosed that the actor’s health began to decline in the middle of the previous year, culminating in his untimely demise.

He wrote, “Their marriage was at best a dramatization of love. It was quick. He barely told us that he found a wife. Then, the marriage happened. It was something of a mystique, only those involved understood the histrionics that played out. None of us who were his closest pals, who walked with him through the crucible to the crest of his career in Nollywood, was invited. The distance between us and the guy I admirably called Saint of the Storm had begun. This gulf would widen with each year. We saw him perhaps once a year after this marriage.

“And life actually seemed to have given him a fair shake of the dice. He dressed well, drove big cars, and even his skin, in literal lingo, spelled wellness.

Fairly enough for Obi’s wife, it was not alleged in the article that she on a particular day chased away Zulu Okafor or any of her husband’s friends during a visit to their residence. Though he wrote that he once visited him in his office. What manner of a friend is that that they only talk on the phone and by happenstance meet on the street? Again, it is foolhardy to be looking up to meet a friend that is battling with his health to always be around social hangouts.

Unarguably not being comfortable with the allegations spewed by Zik Zulu Okafor in the scathing article, the family of the late Nollywood actor has put a statement following the article that was adjudged to have cast Obi’s wife and extended family in a negative light.

As gathered, the two elder sisters of the actor who issued a press release on behalf of the family stated that

the allegations made in the article are untrue. Speaking for the Nwafor Family, Ugoeze Edith Chinyere Obichuku, and Freda Nwachukwu wrote, “Our attention has been drawn to the publication by one Mr. Zik Zulu Okafor concerning the death of our son, Mr. Obinna Nwafor, popularly known as Saint Obi, and the accompanying negative commentary in social and other media portraying his widow in an unfair and most defamatory manner. This is in no way, shape or form an accurate portrayal of the Lynda that we know and relate with.”

They added that the insensitive and false allegations were made without any input from the family. In their words, “The Nwafor family also views the said article by Mr. Okafor as sad and most unfortunate. It was neither written in consultation with any member of the family nor authored with our consent or authority. We totally disassociate ourselves from it. The views and allegations contained therein are entirely the opinion of the writer. They are false, malicious, and insensitive to the wife, children, and entire family he left behind.”

The sisters ended their statement by encouraging the public to respect the family’s privacy during this trying time, adding that the funeral rites will be communicated soon.

“This is a mourning period for the family, and while we appreciate the condolences of friends, fans, and wellwishers, we ask that the family’s privacy be respected at this time. The funeral rites will be communicated to the public in due course,” they added that slew of commentaries have dominated the media space since the death of the Nollywood actor. Unfortunately, the comments have not been palatable.

In fact, the family’s rebuttal could not have been issued at a better time than now as the commentaries it has generated and left to be trending in the media space since the death of the actor have not been palatable.

Given the pain which widows in this part of the world go through, it is expedient to pontificate by saying that death is part of everyone’s life and coping with grief is one of the most uncomfortable and difficult experiences anyone will ever face. When you are a friend or family member of someone who is mourning the loss of their beloved spouse, you may find yourself unsure about how to share your feelings, fearful of saying the wrong thing, and uncomfortable about what you should do. In my view, Zulu Okafor ought not to have written the article not to talk of going ahead to publish it as virtually everyone that knows Saint Obi is in a mourning mood, and more so, his article has added salt to the injury of widowhood.

Isaac Asabor

is a

Public Policy Analyst.

10th National Assembly: Setting agenda for the presiding officers

By Mon-Charles Egbo

Alsoof paramount importance, nothing meaningful can be achieved if the 10th national assembly is not in harmony with its internal and external environments. As such, there shall be a deliberate policy towards institutional rebranding or repositioning aimed at repairing and or, improving the image and reputation of the national assembly.

From every perspective, what shaped the events and activities leading to the 2023 general elections was a massive agitation for a regenerated Nigeria where everything is working for the good of all. The political parties, candidates and the electorate were unanimous that Nigeria must work “now or never”. The level of the expressed desperation, justifiably borne out of deep-rooted frustrations, suggested that Nigeria’s predicament must be addressed, especially now that it has mattered the most. By all standards today, Nigeria manifests substantially, every index of a failing state.

Though sharply divided along ethnic, partisan and religious lines, the Nigerian masses today are closely united by humongous hardship and suffering. No one is spared because insecurity and hunger as descendants of poverty do not recognize tribe, race, status and faith. Yes, in Nigeria today, “the rich also cry”.

But, as the only organ of government endowed with the mandate of ensuring that good governance is sustainably delivered to the people, a legislature that is alive to its obligations to the people is what Nigeria desperately needs now.

This explains why every attention is today on the quality of leadership as well as the policy direction of the legislative agenda of the 10th National Assembly. Equally, there is a growing consciousness that tends to take away from the lawmakers-elect, their exclusive rights and priviledges about electing their presiding officers without external influence. Most Nigerians now want to have a say in the process just to achieve an expected outcome.

Similarly, political parties and lawmakers-elect have since been strategizing on how to have their ways, the same manner the number of those aspiring to lead is increasing by the day. The campaigns and horse trading have since shifted away from the conventional precincts of the national assembly to sundry places for critical decisions. The media expectedly is awash with reports and editorials, even advertorials, on who is

who and who gets what relative to the 10th assembly.

Yet in all these, the big question is: what is in it for the country, especially the already impoverished masses?

There is a need for truthful and direct answers because the country is bleeding. Nigeria is in dire need of a legislature that truly embodies the ideals and aspirations of the people. There is a conscious yearning for a national assembly that indeed reflects the desires and wishes of the Nigerian masses for a government that protects and supports its citizens. The expectation of every well-meaning Nigerian is a country where poverty, hunger, insecurity and all divisive tendencies would be remembered only when our history is written.

Of course, this might sound utopian but it is as realizable as it is achievable. All that is required are strategic thinking, leadership creativity and sincerity of purpose. And herein lies the greatest challenge for the 10th national assembly.

If it truly wishes to offer itself as a legislature that Nigerians can proudly embrace and own, then it is no longer about the traditional detailed and appealing legislative agenda that prove too vague and ambiguous to implement in the long run. Rather, the occasion calls for a pragmatic and concise blueprint that has the inert capacity to frontally tackle the issues of poverty and hunger in the land. It is no longer about political expediency but about patriotism and nationalism. It is about making a positive difference for the benefit of posterity.

Thankfully, the incoming government won on the party’s manifesto which highlights these issues, albeit elaborately. So it will not be difficult to secure the buy-in of the executive arm and other stakeholders. Again, the Ahmad Lawan-led 9th national assembly has graciously provided a veritable platform for the attainment of a Nigeria that works for the good of the people.

Hence, the 10th national assembly already has its job cut out for them. The leadership already has the direction and focus. The legislators-elect already have all the necessary resources for excellence in delivering good governance to the people. Once again, it requires the right mix of strategic thinking, leadership creativity and sincerity of purpose.

To begin with and by way of consolidating on some of the successes of the 9th Senate, it becomes imperative to focus primarily on sets of legislation that directly address the growing hunger, poverty and insecurity in the land, rather than seeking to churn out numerous bills that in the end make

little or no difference on the daunting challenges on ground. Succinctly put, any motion or bill that is not speaking directly to the prevailing hunger, poverty and insecurity in the land should not be entertained except in peculiar circumstances. Even the all-important 1999 constitution alteration should be driven by the desires for national economic revitalization.

In the same vein and using the archives, there is a need to identify and isolate relevant reports of past legislative interventions that have direct bearings on the economy, for outright implementations. Some of them border on the power sector, NDDC, education, national social investments programme, insecurity, institutional reforms, etc.

And then towards plugging every form of economic leakage, all the revenue-generating bodies should be brought under intensive and extensive legislative spotlight until sustainable transparency and accountability are attained, possibly in collaboration with technocrats and experts as consultants.

Furthermore, there should be a forensic sectoral review of the federal bureaucracy to determine certain ministerial departments and agencies that actually deserve zero budgetary allocations beyond personnel costs. This is to eliminate the perennial complacency in governance which has become the bane of national development. Also, there should be periodic legislative roundtables on employment generation and wealth creation. Again and without being confrontational or compromising the relative independence of the legislature, the 10th national assembly will indeed become a reference point in legislative excellence if it gets the president to demonstrate profound political will in inaugurating the public procurement council and also resolving the petroleum subsidy debacle in a dispassionate manner that the masses are not further impoverished. These two thorny subjects are both critical and strategic to Nigeria’s quest for a vibrant economy. Among others, they constitute the two major channels for the propagation of economic sabotage, of which the Lawan-led 9th assembly in all fairness slated them for attention which unfortunately could not materialize.

Egbo is a public relations practitioner and can be reached at moncharles@yahoo.com

Transition rather than transaction: Embracing a sustainable progress

By Abraham Adonor

Tonavigate the complexities of the modern world and secure a prosperous future, the Federal Government must prioritize transition over transaction. By embracing political, economic, social, and environmental transitions, Nigeria can unlock its true potential and become a model for sustainable progress.

In an era of rapid global change, nations are compelled to adapt and evolve to stay relevant and progress. Nigeria, as a populous and resource-rich nation, is no exception. The country’s Government plays a pivotal role in shaping its destiny and steering the country’s progress and development. However, it is crucial for the government to shift its focus from short-term transactions to long-term transition strategies. By prioritizing transition over transaction, Nigeria can pave the way for sustainable development, social cohesion, and economic prosperity.

Under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria has experienced various challenges and achievements. Evaluating the current reality under the Buhari-led administration provides insights into the areas where transition is necessary for sustainable progress.

Transition, in the context of governance, refers to a comprehensive and holistic approach to transforming the nation’s systems, policies, and practices. It involves a proactive shift from outdated methods towards innovative, futureoriented solutions. Transition encompasses various aspects, including political, economic, social, and environmental spheres. It requires a forward-thinking mindset and the willingness to embrace change for the betterment of the nation.

Transactional approaches, although necessary in certain situations, tend to prioritize short-term gains over longterm benefits. They often involve reactive decision-making, focusing on immediate results without considering the broader consequences. Relying solely on transactions can lead to a lack of vision, unsustainable practices, and missed opportunities for progress. To foster true development, Nigeria’s Government must adopt a transition-based mindset.

Nigeria’s political landscape is in dire need of transition. The government should prioritize electoral reforms, promoting transparency, fairness, and accountability. By strengthening democratic institutions, fostering inclusive governance, and empowering citizens, Nigeria can enhance political stability and ensure a smooth transition of power. This will instill trust in the system and bolster the country’s

reputation on the global stage.

Since assuming office in 2015, President Buhari has focused on addressing corruption, improving security, and revitalizing the economy. Efforts have been made to enhance transparency and accountability through initiatives like the Treasury Single Account and the Whistleblower Policy. However, challenges remain in ensuring a smooth political transition, strengthening democratic institutions, and promoting inclusivity. Electoral reforms and the need for increased citizen participation are vital considerations for Nigeria’s political landscape.

Transitioning Nigeria’s economy is crucial for sustained growth. The government should focus on diversifying revenue streams, reducing dependence on oil exports, and promoting sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and technology. By investing in infrastructure, improving ease of doing business, and fostering entrepreneurship, Nigeria can create a conducive environment for economic transition. This will lead to job creation, poverty reduction, and enhanced competitiveness in the global market.

The Buhari administration faced economic challenges, particularly with the decline in oil prices during its early years. Efforts were made to diversify the economy, with initiatives like the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the promotion of agriculture.

However, progress has been mixed, and Nigeria still faces issues such as high unemployment rates, inadequate infrastructure, and limited foreign direct investment. A continued focus on economic transition is crucial to address these challenges and create sustainable economic growth.

Addressing social challenges is paramount for Nigeria’s progress. The government should prioritize investments in education, healthcare, and social welfare programs. By promoting inclusivity, gender equality, and youth empowerment, Nigeria can harness its demographic dividend and foster social cohesion. Transitioning towards a more equitable society will reduce inequality, promote social mobility, and strengthen the nation’s human capital.

The government has taken steps to address social issues, including investing in education, healthcare, and social welfare programs.

Initiatives like the National Social Investment Program (NSIP) and the School Feeding Program have aimed to alleviate poverty and enhance social mobility. However, challenges such as inadequate access to quality education, healthcare disparities, and persistent inequality persist. More targeted interventions and comprehensive social transition

strategies are needed to achieve long-term progress.

Nigeria’s environmental challenges, such as deforestation, pollution, and climate change, require urgent attention. The government should prioritize sustainable practices, renewable energy sources, and conservation efforts. By transitioning to a green economy, Nigeria can mitigate environmental risks, preserve its natural resources, and contribute to global efforts for a sustainable future.

The Buhari administration has faced significant security challenges, particularly in combating Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast and addressing other forms of insecurity such as banditry and kidnapping. Efforts have been made to improve security through military operations, regional collaborations, and community-based approaches. However, the persistence of these security threats highlights the need for comprehensive transition strategies to address the root causes of conflicts and promote peace and stability.

Infrastructure development has been a key focus of the Buhari-led administration. Initiatives such as the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) and ongoing projects in transportation, power, and housing have aimed to improve the country’s infrastructure deficit. However, the pace of infrastructure development remains a challenge, and there is a need for sustained investments, efficient project execution, and effective maintenance to fully transition Nigeria’s infrastructure for progress.

Transitioning Nigeria for Progress: Assessing the Current Reality under the President Buhari-led Administration.

The current reality under the President Buhari-led administration reflects a mix of achievements and challenges. While efforts have been made in areas such as anticorruption, economic diversification, social development, and infrastructure, there is still a need for a more comprehensive transition approach. Prioritizing long-term transition strategies in politics, economics, social development, security, and infrastructure will be vital for Nigeria’s sustainable progress, ensuring a better future for all citizens.

Nigeria stands at a critical juncture in its development journey. To navigate the complexities of the modern world and secure a prosperous future, the Federal Government must prioritize transition over transaction. By embracing political, economic, social, and environmental transitions, Nigeria can unlock its true potential and become a model for sustainable progress

Abraham Adonor is a Public Affairs Analyst.

Obstetric Fistula: Living with incontinence and shame

By Hauwa Muhammad Aminu

Being diagnosed with fistula is quite scary and depressing at the beginning, because I had to take pills to be able to sleep, despite all the support from my family, especially my husband who has been very supportive and tolerable, as I have never for once, experienced any form of insecurities.

I am 30 years old, Hauwa Muhammad Aminu, a Bauchi based. I’m a survivor of Vesico Vaginal Fistula for 4 years.

It happened when I was involved in an accident 26 years ago, which led to an injury in my bladder, though it was repaired at that time.

Fast forward to 2019, when I gave birth to my second child, I started experiencing severe pain in my stomach, difficulty sleeping and breathing properly.

Several investigations were conducted, which showed bladder diverticulum, mild right side obstructive uropathy, stenosis, and many more .

I underwent a successful surgery, and 2 days post operative while I was eating, I felt a sudden pain in the abdomen, which before the end of the day, I started leaking urine pericatheter. I was taken back to the operating room for urethrocystoscopy, which stenosis was noted and reexplode, and so many more.

12 days post-operative, I started leaking urine again. Thereafter, an assessment of Vesico Vaginal Fistula was made, and I was placed for conservatives of 6 weeks. To tell you the level of devastation I went through, hoping it gets healed or a miracle to happen is an understatement.

I was later referred to National Obstetric Fistula Center (NOFIC) Ningi, Bauchi state, where I met other women with similar cases.

Being diagnosed with fistula is quite scary and depressing at the beginning, because I had to take pills to be able to sleep, despite all

the support from my family, especially my husband who has been very supportive and tolerable, as I have never for once, experienced any form of insecurities.

Even though, it has affected my social relationship in terms of visitations or social gatherings, where I started thinking of how to survive and socialize just like everyone else, especially in providing myself diapers, perfumes, clothing and detergents that will take away the foul smell, a development that got me thinking about all the other women that are shunned or divorced by their husbands or community on how do they survive mentally, emotionally and financially as one may undergo multiple surgeries and still come out unsuccessful.

How do they cope and who do they go for help as 80% of them are divorced? All we want is to feel among and be treated with kindness.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), over 2 million women worldwide live with obstetric fistula, with the majority of such cases occurring in resource-poor countries like Nigeria. Afflicted tend to be both old and young primiparous mothers, impoverished to interact with society as a result of our foul smell and inability to bear more children.

This results in us being ostracized and shunned by our

community.

Most Obstetric fistulas are surgically correctible, although surgical outcomes have been poorly studied as a patient may undergo so many surgeries and still be unsuccessful.

As we mark this year’s International Day To End Obstetric Fistula, it is worth noting that treatment is now free in Nigerian Fistula Centres. It is a huge relief, which people find much easier and less stressful mentally and financially.

Though the free treatment brings relief to the VVF patients, it is sad that a woman with a fistula who is perpetually leaking urine and sometimes feces is often rejected by her husband, divorced or shunned, and discriminated by the people around her. This result in so much shame, worries, fear, and depression but due to frequent visits to the hospital and interaction with other victim, they are relieved of such predicaments.

The government of Nigeria and other international bodies have made the surgery-free and sometimes distribute machines to those whose surgeries are successful to start afresh but what happens to us that are still struggling with the injury for decades or a few years?

There’s a need for more intervention in so many ways, especially on how we should keep personal hygiene by providing us with perfumes, washing detergent, and pampers so as to move freely, as only 4% of the population can afford.

I urge the government, NGOs, and wealthy individuals to assist by enrolling us in schools and providing us with jobs or capital to start businesses; this will enable us to cater for our daily needs in this high cost of upkeep and God will undoubtedly reward all that help.

Apart from the financial impact, such a gesture will also keep us engaged, thereby making us feel relevant in the society.

I celebrate all fistula mothers in Nigeria and all over the world. Happy International Day To End Obstetric Fistula.

Hauwa Muhammad Aminu writes from Bauchi, can be reached on email: savewomenwithfistula@gmail.com

Though the free treatment brings relief to the VVF patients, it is sad that a woman with a fistula who is perpetually leaking urine and sometimes feces is often rejected by her husband

“

Yobe State Assembly confirms new Auditor General, others

From Mohammed Maitela, Damaturu

Yobe state House of Assembly on Tuesday confirmed the appointment of Alhaji Umar Mai Aliyu Gulani as the new Yobe state Auditor General.

This is after receiving a recommendation from the house standing committee on public service and government house having critically studied the curriculum vitae as well as information obtained during the interactive session with the nominee.

The Committee recommended that, the nominee in person of Mai Aliyu Umar Gulani was a career civil servant with versed working experience particularly in the field of financial management who met the requirement of the law and found him fit and capable of this appointment to serve as AuditorGeneral of the State in accordance with section 5 of the Yobe State Public Sector Audit Law 2021.

Meanwhile, the house confirmed the appointment of Aisha Haruna Godowoli as permanent member Local government Service Commission as well as Ballama Abdullahi Budu as Permanent Member Teaching Service Board.

Speaking at the plenary, the chairman house committee on public service and government house, Hon. Hassan Muhammed said, the Committee recommended that, Aisha Haruna Godowoli who was a career civil servant with versed working experience particularly in the field of legal profession.

He adds that, until her retirement as Permanent Secretary, Aisha having met the requirement of the law for appointment as Permanent Member based on the Yobe State Local Government Service Commission to complete the tenure of late Alhaji Baba Abare having satisfied the provision of Yobe State local government Law 2001.

The house also recommended and Satisfied with the nomination of Ballama Abdullahi Budu who was a career civil servant with versed working experience in administration and served in different capacities until his retirement as Permanent Secretary having met the requirement of the law of the Yobe State Teaching Service Board (amendment) law 2010.

In presiding over the plenary, the deputy speaker of the House Hon. Isa Bello Danchuwa while confirming the nominees appointment also called on them to work hard to justify the confidence reposed in them towards the development of the state.

NARCDO advocates official appointment for outstanding retired officers

Nigeria Association of Retired Civil Defence Officers (NARCDO) has called on the Federal Government to appoint outstanding retired officers into strategic positions of government.

NARCDO President, Dr Ewurum Chidi, mni, Deputy Commandant General (rtd), said this on Tuesday during the inauguration of the Association and its National Secretariat by the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in Abuja.

The Minister, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Shuaibu Belgore, also inaugurated the newly reconstructed NSCDC parade ground, two units of two bedrooms, one unit of one bedroom flats at the Corps Headquarters where he commended the NSCDC CG for his transformation efforts in the agency towards having a motivated workforce to tackle

emerging security challenges in the country.

Ewurum said that that the nonimplementation of the proposed conditions of service, gratuity and pensions to retired Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC) officers had been a challenge.

He said that some of the problems were not peculiar to NARDCO alone but to the generality of the Corps.

He said that proffering solutions to these challenges will bring an end to the difficulties experienced by most retirees.

He however acknowledged that the Federal Government through the Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and the NSCDC Commandant General, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, mni, OFR, had improved the working conditions of personnel.

“We sincerely appreciate the milestone and laudable

achievements in the areas of recruitment, promotion, training and retraining of personnel, infrastructural development and other policy reforms,” he said.

The pioneer National President said that the association was ready to package and roll-out action plans that will help alleviate the sufferings of its members and the Corps in general.

He said that some of the proposed priority plans of the Association was to set up a cooperative society with future hopes of expanding into a MicroFinance bank.

DCG Ewurum (rtd) said that there are plans to collaborate with government at all levels including public and private sectors, financial institutions, real estate agencies among others.

The Minister of Interior said that the establishment of the association was of great disposition

which will help the affairs of the Corps.

Aregbesola said that the Federal Government will continuously support the growth of Corps, adding that it had recently inaugurated new NSCDC Commands in Jos, Keffi and Sokoto.

NSCDC CG said that what brought about the establishment of NARDCO and its office complex was the plight of NSCDC retirees.

“Having this association is a way of encouraging them just like other organisations because we have noticed that some of them live in agony and want, while others have been neglected, which shouldn’t be the case,” he said.

Audi said that the operations of the Association will give room for collaborations with financial institutions which will help bring it to a level of competition with other associations.

From left: Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Sen Umana Umana; Minister of Agriculture, Mohammed Abubakar; Minister of Aviation, Sen Hadi Sirika; Minister of FCT, Mohammed Bello; Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu; Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo and Minister of Defence, retired Maj-Gen Bashir Magashi during a Valedictory Federal Executive meeting at the Presidential Villa, yesterday in Abuja

Uba Sani bags best Nigerian Senator award

From: Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

Less than two years after emerging as the overall best in the Senate’s Top Ten Bills Productivity Index, Senator Uba Sani has just been named “overall best Senator” by Order Paper in Abuja.

The lawmaker, who is now the APC Governor-elect of Kaduna State was first declared among the “Top Performers on Bills Sponsorship for North-West Geopolitical Zone” under “Most Valuable Parliamentarians Hall of Fame Awards organised by Order Paper Nigeria” in July 2022.

It would be recalled that OrderPaper Nigeria, an independent organisation, is focused on monitoring the legislative activities of the National Assembly for effective service delivery to citizens.

Reacting to the award, days before his exit as Senator of the Federal Republic and now Governor-elect of Kaduna State, Uba said he was quite delighted and “deeply humbled by the fact

that my efforts in the 9th Senate have been closely monitored and assessed by not just my discerning constituents and colleagues but perhaps, Nigeria’s most credible legislative watchdog, Orderpaper Nigeria.”

He expressed excitement over his recognition as the “Most Valuable Parliamentarian (MVP) Of The 9th Senate” describing it as “purely as a result of my toil and sleepless nights in the Senate, which culminated in several bills, including those of them that have since been signed into law by the President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.”

The outgoing lawmaker explained that he felt fulfilled by the Order Paper organisation’s “credible assessment of my efforts in the 9th Senate and I say a big thank you. This recognition clearly shows that our impactful legislative interventions have not gone unnoticed.”

Going further to identify the premise of his award, Senator Uba said: This recognition is bestowed on me purely on merit. The facts

used by Orderpaper to assess me and indeed other lawmakers in the 9th National Assembly are easily verifiable. They are, in fact, public knowledge.”

He also emphasized that he did not and “could not have lobbied for this recognition, “ adding that “For this, I am extremely glad to accept and own this honour done me by the very profound team at Orderpaper Nigeria.”

He hailed the “pioneering efforts and painstaking approach by Orderpaper Nigeria,” adding that “it attests to the fact that hard work pays and that Nigerians actually notice good and selfless leadership”.

“I am confounded by the professionalism and thoroughness of the team at Orderpaper led by the very cerebral Mr. Oke Epia. I have since learnt that the selection process the organisation followed was extremely methodical and spanned over three years of painstaking data-driven research and routine monitoring of the activities of all the members of the 9th National Assembly.

The process of assessment and selection, I have found out, received input from some of the best minds in academia, civil society, international partners, and other critical stakeholders. This is truly commendable.

“I am humbled by the fact that of the 469 lawmakers, I emerged as the overall best performer. This is both gladdening and most encouraging.

“It is even more so because as I assume office as the Governor of Kaduna State on May 29, by the grace of God, I am going to be very conscious of the fact that well-meaning and credible organizations like Orderpaper Nigeria are watching and assessing me very closely. This is the kind of check or monitoring our leaders need in every tier of governance. Please keep up the good work.

“It is my hope that this induction of my humble self and other deserving legislators into the Hall of Fame will spur other legislators to strive for excellence. It is all about making an impact,” the lawmaker said.

Group tells Tinubu not to meddle in NASS leadership affairs

By Abubakar Yunusa

Asocio-political group under the aegis of Democracy Watch Initiative has urged President elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to allow national assembly to choose their presiding officers without interference.

It also calls for the President elect to reclaim the people’s confidence in your untainted democratic credentials and commitment to entrenching sustainable democracy, restoring

the glory of governance and the sanctity of constitutionalism in Nigeria.

Addressing journalists during a press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday,the group national coordinator,Sunusi Umar stated no one expects however that you will give to the North what it does not deserve.

He said Tinubu should recall the incredible promises he made to the North during electioneering at the Arewa House talk show organized by the Northern leaders

and elders.

“What we are demanding is a free environment for the exercise of franchise as the only solution to the pervasive communal distrust that is more accentuated in the North.

“We believe a free election of leaders of the National Assembly by its own members would put to end the already brewing concerns of marginalization and fear of domination of other geopolitical zones in the North by others.

Speaking further,he said

everyone must be aware by now that those pursuing this undemocratic, unconstitutional and unrealistic agenda are not your friends; they are people who did not vote for you.

“What they are doing about the National Assembly leadership is to test the ground for a wider political agenda that aims to diminish your personal populist tendencies and those anticipated in your government,” he said.

“While we repose an enduring faith in your ability and will

to change the situation in the country for the better, we pray to the Almighty God to increase you in wisdom to be able to accomplish your good intentions for the country”.

He, however,is confident that Tinubu is endowed with ample experience and diplomatic wherewithal to cope with whatever NASS leadership may emerge through due democratic process.

Lawan commissions NILDS Democracy Radio, Security Analysis Centre

By Musa Baba Adamu

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on Wednesday inaugurated Democracy Raido 104.9 FM which is a baby of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).

NILDS is one of the agencies of the National Assembly.

Lawan also commissioned a Legislative Centre for Security Analysis which is domiciled in NILDS. The NILDS Democracy Radio and Legislative Centre for Security Analysis share the same building at Asokoro Extension in Abuja.

The Senate President inspected the Centre and the Radio Station with state-ofthe-art equipment and granted the inaugural interview by the Radio.

Lawan described the Center and the Radio outfit as one of the laudable achievements of the Ninth National Assembly through its think tank institution, the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies, NILDS.

“Today’s commissioning of the Legislative Centre for Security Analysis and NILDS Democracy Radio is a testament of the unwavering commitment of the leadership of the Ninth National Assembly, comprising of the Federal House of Representatives and the Senate whom we have enjoyed harmonious working relationship with and we both acknowledge that our collective mandate flows from the great people of Nigeria with whom we have a social contract,” Lawan said.

The Senate President said the Centre would be saddled with the specific objective of providing, on a sustained basis, information to the National Assembly in the area of security and conflict analysis.

He said It would also monitor and track the dynamics of conflict and insecurity and advise the National Assembly on legislative measures and oversight.

Lawan said the radio is geared towards bridging the gap between the electorates and

their elected representatives and also “an avenue for we the parliament to tell our stories to the wider audience, so as to change the misperception and misinformation in the public domain.

“No doubt, the legislature which is the fulcrum of Democracy worldwide has been misunderstood, some for mischievous purpose and at times as owing to its underdeveloped stature historically.

“It is expected that “Democracy Radio” will draw listeners from 77.4% of domestic population as well as the International Community.

“This is in view to sensitize the Nigerian public to imbibe, support and defend democratic and legislative ethics as part of the mandate establishing NILDS.

“Accordingly, the radio station has the potentials to propagate and entrench civic political culture such as tolerance, respect for the rule of law, observance of fundamental human rights and strengthen

public Institutions with far reaching implications for democratic consolidation.”

The Senate President said the radio programming would be targeted at both the citizens and policy makers in Nigeria, the West African sub-region, Africa and the rest of the world with the main aim of promoting and defending the ideals of democracy, open inclusive and transparent societies.

Also speaking at the event, the Director General of NILDS, Professor Abubakar Suleiman said the idea of setting up the Radio was conceived by the leadership of NILDS two years ago.

He said “taking into cognizance the digitalization era and meeting up with the 21st Century technological wave, we have set up an audio-visual digital studio to broadcast our FM radio programming over the internet to ensure our programming reaches a broader geographical and demographic audience.

“This audio-visual studio is also equipped with high-

performance computers, audio systems and a multi-camera setup that will allow us produce informative and engaging content specifically for our podcast and YouTube channels, which will help entrench civic political culture amongst the youth.

“Similarly, history will be kind to this same Assembly for being supportive of yet another intellectual outfit under the National Assembly but domiciled in NILDS, the Legislative Centre for Security Analysis.

“It will interest you to know that this Centre is the first of its kind in the entire Africa Continent. Therefore, Nigeria is taking the lead for other countries within the continent of Africa to benefit from and emulate for the development of the continent as a whole.

“The essence of this all important Centre cannot be over-emphasized due to the rise in violent conflict, crime and insecurity in the country and other parts of the continent of Africa.”

May 29: Wike, Ikpeazu, Umahi to ensure Ohanaeze attends Tinubu’s inauguration

By Christiana Ekpa

Three governors have backed up Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s plan to honour the invitation to attend the May 29 inauguration of the President-elect, Bola Tinubu.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Secretary General, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the apex Igbo sociocultural body stated that governors Dave Umahi of Ebonyi State, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, and Nyesom Wike of

Rivers State have “seconded their decision and are actively working with them to actualize it.

The statement by Isiguzoro said: “Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide is mobilizing massively to attend the inauguration of President-Elect, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Monday, 29th May, 2023, at Eagle Square, Abuja.“Ohanaeze Ndigbo came to the pragmatic conclusion that boycotting Tinubu’s inauguration was of no strategic benefit to Ndigbo. Rather, it would lead to undue isolation of Ndigbo while giving

the impression that Ndigbo was at war with him (Tinubu).

“For the avoidance of doubt, Ohanaeze wishes the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, well in his pursuit to exercise his legal and constitutional rights over the 2023 presidential election results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

“However, Ohanaeze Ndigbo urges Ndigbo to remain lawabiding and avoid engaging the Tinubu-led Federal Government in confrontation. Ndigbo is

mindful of the future and will never play bad politics of bitterness and malice against President-Elect Tinubu.

“Indeed, the era of “nzogbu nzogbu” politics is over, and Ndigbo should learn to approach political issues in Nigeria from a holistic perspective, not disjointed sentiments.

“It will be unwise for Ndigbo to boycott the inauguration of the incoming administration of the Federal Government of Nigeria under Tinubu since it will amount to cutting off our noses to spite our faces.

“World leaders, including former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, have already congratulated Tinubu, and their countries are billed to attend his inauguration.”

The Ohanaeze chieftain further noted that the three governors are eager to not only facilitate Ohanaeze Ndigbo’s attendance at the inauguration but have also “resolved to stick out their necks to ensure that Ndigbo is not isolated and left in the cold under Tinubu.”

Kogi Assembly clears 9 members of terrorism allegation

By Christiana Ekpa

The Kogi State House of Assembly has cleared nine members of allegations bordering on terrorism and welcomed them back to the House.

Recall that on March 24 2023, the State Assembly announced the suspension of Olusola Kilani (Ijumu), Bello Hassan (Ajaokuta), Muhammed Lawi Ahmed (Okene I), Moses Akande (Ogori/ Magongo), Aderonke Aro (Yagba West), Daniyan Ranyi (Bassa), Atule Igbunu (Ibaji), Atachaji Musa (Idah) and Muktar Bajeh (Okehi).

Their suspension followed a letter read in the house from the Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, alleging that the lawmakers engaged in terrorism based on security reports.

The lawmakers were exonerated in an announcement made on the floor of the state House of Assembly during Wednesday’s plenary session.

The members are expected to resume work with immediate effect.

Speaking on the development, Kilani, a member representing Ijumu State Constituency, expressed appreciation that he has been cleared, saying his integrity remains intact, and untainted and will continue to work towards the sustained development of the state.

PDP debunks defection of 100 members to APC ahead of Kogi guber

By Musa Baba Adamu

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has debunked media reports making the rounds that over 100 party members from Igalamela Odolu Local Government Area have defected to the ruling All Progressive Congress, APC.

The PDP Chairman in Igalamela Odolu Local Government, Attai Ndanusa Salifu disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists on Wednesday morning.

Salifu said the purported members received by Kogi State Governor Alhaji Yahaya Bello at the Government House was stage-managed, adding that no

member of the party from his Local Government moved to the APC.

He urged the general public to disregard such a report, stressing that “it is the handiwork of mischief makers who are scared of the popularity of PDP ahead of the November Governorship election in Kogi State.”

According to him, PDP Ajaka ward 1 Chairman, Anthony Abu and his Ward 2 counterpart, Achema Amodu had since received an apology from one of the party members, Ndah Salifu who said they were deceived to the Government House by some desperate politicians loyal to the APC.

“Some of our party members

from Igalamela Odolu Local Government were on their way to the PDP Secretariat in Lokoja for an official political meeting.

“Just as we see ourselves as brothers, some members of the APC called them for dialogue for the interest of the Local Government and Kogi State in general.

“They listened to the clarion call irrespective of their political affiliation. Surprisingly, when they got to government house, those desperate APC politicians took them to Governor Bello, telling him that these are PDP members who defected to the APC from Igalamela Odolu Local Government. Even Ajaka one and two PDP Chairman were shocked

with this development.

“They felt betrayed as that was never their intention when they were invited by their brothers from the ruling APC to the Government House. PDP remains intact and a formidable force in IgalamelaOdolu Local Government.”

Salifu noted that the PDP remained committed to the candidature of Senator Dino Melaye and his running mate, Hajia Habiba Deen to take over Lugard House come November 11, 2022.

According to him, the PDP will win overwhelmingly in the Local Government to rescue Kogi State from the alleged maladministration of the ruling APC.

10th Senate: Beware of 2015 doublecross – Niger Delta youths warn lawmakers

By Musa Baba Adamu

Following the ongoing permutation over the Senate presidency of the 10th Assembly, the leadership of the Niger Delta Youth Movement (NDYM) has urged relevant stakeholders to be mindful of the doublecross that took place on the day of the inauguration of the National Assembly leadership in 2015. The group also urged lawmakers to abide by the resolution of the President-elect,

Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the National Working Committee of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to zone the Senate leadership to senators Godswill Akpabio and Jubrin Baraus.

The warning was contained in a statement signed by NFYM’s acting national president, Amutadi Uba Tega, and national secretary, Ediagbonya Joshua Osamuiyi.

In the statement made available to newsmen in Uyo on Wednesday, the group said it was in total support of Tinubu’s preference, noting that the South-

South legislator has not occupied that position since the late Senator Joseph Wayas more than forty years ago.

Part of the statement reads:

“We appreciate the solidarity of the majority of the senators of the 10th Senate and their solid rock resilience in supporting the choice of the President-elect in the candidature of Senator Akpabio.

“But we urge the relevant players to be mindful of the sleight of hand that took place in 2015 on the day of the inauguration of the

National Assembly leadership.

“The leadership of NDYM appreciates the President-elect, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for standing for equity, especially as it relates to the leadership of the 10th Senate.”

The group noted that while Akpabio may not be a perfect human being, he nonetheless has a strong relationship with virtually every political officeholder of note in Nigeria.

“He understands the workings of the legislature since he had

a direct relationship with it as a commissioner in the state executive council for six years, as an executive governor for eight years, as a senator of the Federal Republic for four years, and as a minister of government for about three years.

“In his time, the forensic audit was started and completed, thereby positioning the commission [NDDC] for what it is enjoying today. His time as the minister [of Niger Delta Affairs] brought peace to the hitherto volatile region,” NDYM stated.

Ogun West indigenes storm govt house to make demands from Gov Abiodun

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Indigenes of Ogun West stormed the Oke Mosan office of Governor Dapo Abiodun on Wednesday to make known their demands ahead of the inauguration of his second term in office.

The group, under the aegis of Yewa Defender Organisation, congratulated Abiodun on his

second term victory, noting that all the five local governments in Ogun West voted for him.

Abiodun won in Ipokia, AdoOdo/Ota, Yewa South, Yewa North, and Imeko-Afon local government areas during the March 18 gubernatorial election.

The Ogun Westerners said despite their total support, theirs is the only senatorial district lagging behind in developmental

projects in the state.

According to them, their visit to Gov Abiodun’s office was to inform him of the need to pay the zone the necessary attention it deserves in his second term, especially after showing him so much love during the last election.

With banners in their hands, they gathered at the Deputy Governor’s Wing of the state secretariat to make their demands.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Mr Akeem Ayeteru said Yewaland had been underdeveloped to the detriment of its socio-economic development.

Ogun West is the only senatorial district that has yet to produce a governor of the state.

Ayeteru, a retired immigration officer, said Ogun West, despite being the industrial hub and the government’s cash cow, has

been denied basic amenities like roads, hospitals, and educational institutions from time immemorial.

He called on Gov Abiodun to correct the age-long imbalance.

He also expressed concern over erratic power supply and incessant clashes between Fulani herders and communities in the area, which have claimed many lives in the region.

President Buhari Attends Regimental Dinner Night Hosted By The Nigeria Army At The Army Headquarters Officers Mess On Tuesday In Abuja. Photo: State House

CBN revokes licences of 139 microfinance, primary mortgage banks

From Abubakar Yunusa

Abuja

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it has revoked the operating licences of 132 microfinance banks, three finance companies, and four primary mortgage banks.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, revoked the licences of the institutions an official gazette of the federal government said.

Emefiele revoked the licences in exercise of the powers conferred on CBN under section 12 of the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA), 2020, Act No. 5.

The gazette noted that the revocation list was published in accordance with the BOFIA 2020, Act No 5.

The respective firms have ceased to carry on, in Nigeria, the type of business for which their licences were issued for a continuous period of 6 months,” the document reads.

“The firms have failed to fulfil or comply with the conditions subject to which their licences were granted; or failed to comply with the obligations imposed upon them by the Central Bank of Nigeria in accordance with the provisions of Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020, Act No. 5.”

CBN raises interest rate to 18.5% ‘to tame inflation’

From Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

The policy-setting committee of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has raised the monetary policy rate (MPR), which measures interest rate, from 18 percent to 18.5 percent.

Last week, Nigeria’s inflation rate rose to 22.22 percent amid the surge in food prices.

The monetary policy rate

(MPR) is the baseline interest rate in an economy, every other interest rate used within an economy is built on it.

Godwin Emefiele, governor of the apex bank, announced the development to journalists on Wednesday after the committee’s meeting at the CBN headquarters in Abuja.

The development is the third consecutive time the apex bank

will be raising the benchmark rate this year.

Emefiele said the committee members voted to hike the rate by 50 basis points to 18.5 percent, retain the asymmetric corridor at +100 and -700 basis points around the MPR, retain the cash reserve ratio (CRR) at 32.5 percent and liquidity ratio at 30 percent.

“The current trend in price

development would continue to be monitored by the bank with greater collaboration with fiscal authority to address the drivers of inflation,” Emefiele said.

The CBN boss said although the continued rise in headline inflation remained a significant problem confronting the economy, other macroeconomic variables are moving in the right direction despite observed headwinds.

Buhari swears in seven RMAFC commissioners

From Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

President Muhammed Buhari has sworn in seven federal commissioners of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation

and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

The president performed the brief ceremony before the commencement of the valedictory federal executive council (FEC) meeting at the State House, Abuja.

The federal commissioners

include Ayogu Eze (Enugu state), Peter Opara (Imo state), Hawa Aliyu (Jigawa state), and Rekiya Haruna (Kebbi state).

Others are Ismaila Agaka (Kwara state), Kolawole Abimbola (Oyo state) and Ayuba Ngako

(federal capital territory).

At the meeting, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo also presented the report on the health reform committee to the president.

The committee, chaired by Osinbajo, was put in place to

develop a roadmap to achieving universal health coverage in the country.

Its recommendations include improving funding of the health sector above 10 percent.

FEC approves Women Economic Empowerment policy

By Egena Sunday Ode

The extraordinary meeting the Federal Executive Council, FEC, has approved the Women Economic Empowerment policy proposed by the Ministry of Women Affairs.

Disclosing this yesterday after the Valedictory FEC to wind down activities of the President Muhammadu Buhariled cabinet, Minister of Women

Affairs. Dame Pauline Tallen expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for the feat.

According to the minister who briefed newsmen after the valedictory session, they had been working on the policy for the past one year, tarvessing the length and breadth of the country to collect inputs from women on how best they can be empowered.

Describing the policy approval a a major legacy of

President Buhari, Tallen noted that the development of the country would remain a mirage of women who constituted over 50 percent of its population were not carried along. She said: “Yesterday Thursday) Federal Executive Council approved the WEE Policy. The WEE Policy is Women Economic Empowerment. It is policy dialogue that we’ve been working for over one year. We’ve traversed all around the country,

to the 36 states, having dialogues with the private sector, rural dwellers, to find the best way to empower women and get them into the mainstream of nation building.

“You’ll agree with me that women constitute over 50% of the population and the surest way to national development is to involve the total population of the country. If 50% of the population is neglected, it means the country cannot develop

optimally, it’s like a country walking with one leg.

“This has been a dream we’ve been pursuing and finally yesterday (Thursday), Mr. President gave the stamp, it is a legacy that Mr. President is leaving behind by approving this Woman Economic Empowerment to help get women into the mainstream of financial plans to ensure that women are carried along in nation building.”

President Muhammadu Buhari receives in audience EFCC Chairman Mr AbdulRasheed Bawa at the State House, yesterday in Abuja PHOTO; State House

Why Ibom Air won’t fail after I leave office– says Emmanuel

Udom Emmanuel, governor of Akwa

Ibom, says Ibom Air will not fall apart after his tenure as chief executive officer of the state.

In the first year of his second term in office, the governor established Ibom Air, the first state-owned airline in Nigeria.

He is expected to complete his eight-year tenure on May 29 as Umo Eno, his former commissioner of lands and water resources, takes the reign of power.

Speaking in an interview with Channels Television on Wednesday, Udom said Ibom Air is built on the shared value of the Akwa Ibom people.

He said the business would not fail after his time in office, adding that the incoming governor will “think hard” before making a contrary decision.

“Shared value, the culture. The day you break that culture, it means many people will resist it. And once people oppose it, you won’t want to carry the consequence as a politician,” he said.

“We have built that culture so well that even the man himself will think hard before he tries to break it.

“As a governor and promoter of the airline, if I’m flying and I’m late by one minute, they can never wait for me. There are simple things that matter that people must cue to. We call it simple but these are things that keep the organisation running.

“Even if I close my eyes and leave, we only need capital. It is a business I know that with the shared value that we have, it is sustainable.”

Agora Policy proffers solutions to power sector challenges

From Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

Agora Policy, an Abujabased think tank, has recommended ways the incoming administration can resolve issues affecting the Nigerian power sector.

In its policy memo titled ‘Addressing Nigeria’s Lingering Power Challenge’, Agora Policy said the centrality of adequate and reliable electricity supply to individual welfare, economic growth and overall national development cannot be overemphasized.

The organisation said various initiatives and reforms aimed at creating an optimal power sector for the country have fallen short.

Quoting World Bank data, Agora Policy said Nigeria has the largest energy access deficit in the world.

The organisation said 85 million Nigerians, representing 43 percent of the country’s population, do not have access to

grid electricity.

While acknowledging the efforts that the government has made so far, Agora Policy, however, said the “little progress that has been made in the power sector since 1999 is neither at par with our population growth nor adequate for the energy needs necessary to achieve our economic potential”.

Recommending policies for the incoming government, the organisation said there is a need for the government to stop thinking of installed generation capacity and start to think in terms of the amount of electricity delivered.

“This is an important paradigm shift with positive impact for government, as having such policy mindset changes the prioritisation and allocation of public and private resources to projects, interventions and initiatives across the electricity value chain that will increase the energy output, availability, reliability and quality of electricity

delivered to end-users,” Agora Policy said.

Other policy suggestions include continuing with the implementation of the Buhari administration’s power sector programme; developing a new national electricity policy framework and amending the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA); and establishing a standing high-level interministerial energy committee.

Agora Policy also advised the incoming administration to empower states to develop subnational electricity markets; improve the energy mix and address energy transition issues; resolve privatisation issues; and improve gas supply to the power sector.

“The incoming administration also needs to look at re-privatising some of the DisCos that have been taken over by lenders due to default by core investors in meeting the acquisition loan repayment terms to the lenders, or under some form of

administration by the NERC and the CBN,” Agora Policy said.

“The failed DisCos in administration should be broken into smaller franchise areas preferably along state boundaries, and privatised as new entities.

“Lastly, there is the “unspoken” issue of the payment of the huge market debts in the sector. For instance, GenCos claim that they are owed over $1 billion by the NBET. It is unclear how the new government would address the payment of these debts.

“There is a temptation to delve into more tactical issues and challenges in the power sector such as resolving the metering gap, estimated billing, resolution of financial distress in the power sector and other operational issues affecting the electricity industry.

“Putting together the tactical plan to resolve the issues should be left with the power sector team to be assembled by the incoming administration.”

Federal Mortgage bank delivers #3billion housing estates in Jigawa

Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria has delivered three low coast housing estates constructed at the coast of over #3 billion in Jigawa state.

Speaking at the occasion for the commissioning of 100 housing constructed by the Mortgage Bank I’m Dutse capital , Governor Muhammad Badaru Abubakar Sa’id, the effort will complement the state government effort in provision

of affordable accessible accomodations for all in the state.

The governor who was represented by the state Commissioner of Land, Regional and Urban development Hon Sagir Musa Ahmad said, his government has allocated thousands of plot to private and organization for the construction of residential houses.

He however revealed

that,the plan is under way for the commencement of massive housing easy ate across the 27 local government of the state for the benefits of workers and other interested people.

In his speech the Managing Director Federal Mortgage Bank Mr Madu Hamman said the one hundred housing estate was constructed in collaboration with Nigeria Labor Congress, NLC, TUC and NACA

He said the houses are equipped with access road, electricity,water and other basic amenities required, it also consist one bedroom 20 units, two and three bedrooms 40 units each.

“This housing estate constructed in 744 area, Dutse Capital is one of the three estate we constructed in the state at the coast of over #3 billion”.

He maintained that, the effort is aimed at easing the housing

deficit in the country and also help workers to own their hous.

“Equally these projects we embarked all over the nation will provide jobs opportunity, reduce corruption and enhance social and economic development of the nation” he declared.

The MD also commended Jigawa state government for it’s support in actualizing the project including allocation of land and other logistics.

From left: Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; President Muhammadu Buhari and Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire presenting the Health Care Reform Committee Report during a Valedictory Federal Executive meeting at the Presidential Villa, yesterday in Abuja

CBN’s Palm Oil Intervention, Proactive, Commendable

Palm oil is an important vegetable oil that is used as a raw material for both food and non-food industries. Being a vegetable oil, palm oil is cholesterol-free. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel.

According to reports, palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from oil crops in 2014. On average globally, humans consumed 7.7 kg (17 lb) of palm oil per person in 2015. Since then, demand has also increased for other uses, such as cosmetics and biofuels.

Between 1950s and 1960s, Nigeria was the leader in the world oil palm market. Unfortunately, from that enviable height of controlling about 40 percent of the world market, Nigeria slipped to fifth position, barely producing 3 percent of the global supply of oil palm.

What Went Wrong?

Over the past couple of decades, Nigeria has performed abysmally in this market, becoming a net importer of oil palm to meet up with the demand gap in the country.

Obviously, there are a myriad of production challenges confronting oil palm production in Nigeria and the consequent low or inadequate yield.

These range from the age of palm trees which can affect the overall output, inadequate capital for innovation, limited access to land due to the land tenure system, continuous destruction of wild groves from which the fresh oil palm fruits are harvested and difficulty in accessing high value seedlings.

Others include: lack of proper scaling of milling technology which result in sub-optimal output, inefficient synergy between stakeholders in the value chain, inability of the small millers to meet industrial quality, quantity and timeliness of delivery, constrained access to fertilizer, high cost of transportation and labour, poor or inadequate management of plantations and undercapacity utilization.

Importation of palm oil into Nigeria

Of course, with the aforementioned challenges, the domestic demand for palm oil increased above the production, therefore, Nigeria resulted to importation of the product from China and Malaysia.

In 2018, 350,000 metric tons of palm oil were reportedly imported into Nigeria. While this was a higher volume compared to the preceding year, it represented an overall decrease in imports of the product. For instance, in both 2013 and 2014, the country imported over 500,000 metric tons of palm oil.

In 2021, the production of palm oil in Nigeria reached 1.4 million metric tons. Between 2009 and 2021, the production quantity generally increased, registering the highest growth in 2010, when it grew by roughly 14 percent. From 2014

onwards, the output from palm oil production followed a rising trend.

According to reports, around 1.8 million metric tons of palm oil were expected to be consumed in Nigeria as of the 2021/2022 crop year. This represented a peak in consumption compared to the ten preceding years, indicating that the farm product is one of the major crops in the country with a growing domestic need.

Indonesia’s Palm Oil Exportation Ban

The current war in Ukraine and the last year ban on palm oil export in Indonesia have however, widened the global demand gap for the product.

Surpassing Malaysia in 2008, Indonesia has experienced a rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in recent decades, and the country was responsible for almost 50% of global palm oil production in 2017; Indonesia is now the world’s largest producer.

In 2021, its production of this commodity amounted to around 46.2 million metric tons. Indonesia was estimated to produce 46.9 million metric tons of crude palm oil this year, while domestic demand is only expected to reach 16.9 million metric tons. This would leave a supply glut of more than 30 million metric tons that can’t be exported.

Indonesia ordered a ban on the export of the commodity on April 28, 2022 to address shortage of cooking oil in the country.

President Joko Widodo announced the ban on April 22, 2022 to ensure the country has enough cooking oil amid

a general surge in food prices both domestically and abroad.

Why CBN Intervention?

Few years ago, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele envisioned an oil palm market that is dominated by Nigeria; overtaking Thailand and Columbia to become the third largest producer through increased production from 1,250,000 metric tones to 2,500,000 metric tones by the year 2028.

Currently in Nigeria, oil palm production per annum is 1,250,000MT and the current demand is 2,500,000MT per annum. To meet this demand, the value of imports accounts for about N60 billion annually and unhealthy for the nation’s economy.

However, to achieve 50 percent import substitution through production upgrade within the next ten (10) years, there was need to bridge the demand deficits for domestic production of fresh fruit bunches from 8.5 million MT recorded in 2010 to about 10 million MT in 2020.

The additional 1.25 MT of fresh fruit bunches was estimated to produce 150,000 MT of palm oil using an average of 12 percent extraction rate.

To change the narrative, the CBN engaged the stakeholders, including State Governors and other top government functionaries from the oil palm producing states, to have their buyin and partnership in order to stimulate investments in the palm oil plantations.

After the engagement, CBN was able to woo thirteen (13) state governors who pledged to make available a total of

904,624 hectares of land for development under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.

Emefiele had stated that the ultimate goal was to become the third largest producer of palm oil through the cultivation of approximately 350,000H by 2025.

According to him, the core objectives of the intervention was to: meet local demand of palm oil, improve local processing quality and standards, conserve foreign exchange reserves, create jobs and enhance the skills of Nigerian people along the oil palm value chain, facilitate easier access to funding for oil majors, SMEs and smallholders, improve and grow the economy.

In line with these objectives, the CBN has facilitated land allocation to investors through states governments. So far, 170,000Ha has been allocated to investors across 11 states.

As at January 2020, the bank said, a total of N30 billion was disbursed to seven oil palm companies to support their expansion programmes, with the CBN expecting 40 applications from investors across the country.

The apex bank is working closely with the Nigerian Institute for Oil Palm Research (NIFOR) to enhance their seeding production capacity and standard.

CBN’s Oil Palm Targets

To cultivate 350,000 Ha by 2028, the CBN has as its target to: fund more oil palm majors and SMEs that meet funding criteria, towards plantation development and mill construction.

To develop framework for inclusion of smallholder farmers, given their potentials.

Facilitate stakeholder engagement towards supporting oil palm industry. The intervention is expected to increase oil palm production and support the economic diversification drive of the country.

“ In line with these objectives, the CBN has facilitated land allocation to investors through states governments. So far, 170,000Ha has been allocated to investors across 11 states

METRO

Administrative bottlenecks: FCTA Permanent Sec seeks review of Order 1, 2004

By Stanley Onyekwere

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), Mr. Olusade Adesola, has advocated for the immediate review of Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory Dissolution Order No.1, 2004 otherwise known as “Order 1, 2004″, in order to effectively address burning issues in the administration of the Territory.

Recall that FCTA was birthed by the proclamation of the Federal Capital Territory (Establishment of Functionaries and Departments) on the 31st December, 2004.

However, Adesola noted that even as desirable and expedient as Order 1 2004 is, it did not cater for the career of the civil servants element, who should be the largest beneficiaries of it.

He spoke yesterday, at a suprise gettogether in honour of Senior Special Assistant, Media and Strategic Communication to

the FCT Minister, Abubakar Sani, Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to the FCT Minister, Attah Ikharo, and Special Adviser, Media to the FCT Minister of State, Austine Elemue.

According to him, the Order 1, 2004 made the secretary of the FCTA Secretariat a legal adviser between level 10 and 12, and this means that the Directors in the offices will now be reporting to the mandate secretary who is the chief accounting officer, which is a disservice to them.

He said: “The order 1, 2004, that withdrew us from the mainstream service and benched us in this system did not do anything to look at what will be the future career of civil servants in the FCT.

“What this speaks to is that the conversion on Order 1 2004 is just begining. We need to sit down and to review this order particularly as it concerns the civil servants”.

Futhermore, the Permanent Secretary opined that the establishment of the FCT

Civil Service Commission has not cured the gap, because a commission has its own function as inscribed in the constitution. The function of the commission is appointment, promotion and discipline.

He added that the Civil Service Commission has not cured the gap, because a commission has its own function as inscribed in the constitution, while noting that any attempt to stretch the function of the commission beyond these three is contrary to the provision of constitution, which will amount to nullity.

On the way forward, he said :”There are a lot of way forward, a lot of proposals and initiatives are in the offing, and I believe when the new administration comes, this will be a very major issue that will have to be reviewed, in order to address issues affecting the career of the civil servants.

“I believe going forward that the media will join hands with us from the position of information rather than position of

misinformation, this is because media had been used to propagate the demand for civil service commission for FCT, without which, there will be no peace in the FCT.

“Today, can civil service commission declare vacancy? Can Civil service commission do promotion without vacancy been declared? Who will declare the vacancy? It is still the office of the Permanent Secretary through the Director of Human Resources. Civil Service Commission cannot recruit unless you give it the vacancy to recruit into, otherwise the civil service commission will come in as a lame dog, as it would have only added additional layer of administrative bottlenecks in the career.

“I believe the incoming administration, which I will have the opportunity to brief alongside with you, will be able to look passionately into the career of the civil servants and address the bottlenecks that we currently have”, he stressed.

Abdullahi, Abaji council boss emerges new ALGON chairman

By Stanley Onyekwere

The chairman, Abaji Area Council in the nation’s capital, Abuja, Alhaji Abubakar Abdullahi has emerged as the new chairman Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON).

In a letter signed by the secretary, National Executive Council management Committee, Mohammed Abubakar, said the emergency of the Abaji chairman was approved by the committee in its last meeting.

He noted that the chairman is expected to run a smooth administration that will become pedestal for effective service

delivery across the 774 local government areas in the country.

It reads in part: “National Executive Council of the interim management committee of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) has approved the appointment of Alhaji Abubakar Umar Abdullahi, the Chairman Abaji area council as it’s national chairman upon the resolution of the meeting held on the 17th day of May 2023.

Reacting to his emergency, the Abaji chairman promised to take steps that will reposition the association.

He said the union which has been hijacked by the Kolade Alabi’s led faction,

through impersonation amongst others will be redefined to meet up with the expectations of its mandate.

Abubakar disclosed that those who abused the system face full wrath of the law.

He said; “I am thrilled to have been appointed as Chairman of the association, and i accept it in good faith. I will fulfill my duties with utmost dedication and efficiency while maintaining the standards set by the Association.”

The chairman further pledged that the association will be repositioned to fasttrack local government development and change whatever bad narrative the previous leaders have made.

President Muhammadu Buhari receives in audience EFCC Chairman Mr AbdulRasheed Bawa at the State House, yesterday in Abuja PHOTO; State House

Brain implants help paralysed man to walk again

Aparalysedman has been able to walk simply by thinking about it thanks to electronic brain implants, a medical first he says has changed his life.

Gert-Jan Oskam, a 40-yearold Dutch man, was paralysed in a cycling accident 12 years ago. The electronic implants wirelessly transmit his thoughts to his legs and feet via a second implant on his spine.

The system is still at an experimental stage but a leading UK spinal charity called it “very encouraging”.

“I feel like a toddler, learning to walk again,” Mr Oskam told the BBC. He can also now stand and climb stairs.

“It has been a long journey, but now I can stand up and have a beer with my friend. It’s a pleasure that many people don’t realise.”

The development, published in the journal Nature, was led by Swiss researchers. Prof Jocelyne Bloch, of Lausanne University, who is the neurosurgeon who carried out the delicate surgery to insert the implants, stressed that the system was still at a basic research stage and was many years away from being available to paralysed patients.

But she told BBC News that it was the team’s aim to get it out of the lab and into the clinic as soon as possible.

“The important thing for us is not just to have a scientific trial, but eventually to give more access to more people with spinal cord injuries who are used to hearing from doctors that they have to get used to the fact that they will never move again.”

Harvey Sihota is chief executive of the UK charity

Spinal Research, which was not involved in the research. He said that although there was a long way to go before the technology would be generally available, he described the development as “very encouraging”.

“While there is still much to improve with these technologies this is another exciting step on the roadmap for neurotechnology and its role in restoring function and independence to our spinal cord injury community”.

The operation to restore Gert-Jan’s movement was carried out in July 2021. Prof Bloch cut two circular holes on each side of his skull, 5cm in diameter, above the regions of the brain involved

in controlling movement. She then inserted two disc-shaped implants which wirelessly transmit brain signals - GertJan’s intentions - to two sensors attached to a helmet on his head.

The Swiss team developed an algorithm which translates these signals into instructions to move leg and foot muscles via a second implant inserted around Gert-Jan’s spinal cord - which Prof Bloch intricately attached to the nerve endings related to walking.

The researchers found that after a few weeks of training he could stand and walk with the aid of a walker. His movement is slow but smooth, according to Prof Grégoire Courtine of the École Polytechnique Fédérale

Tina Turner: Music legend dies at 83

Singer Tina Turner, whose soul classics and pop hits like The Best and What’s Love Got to Do With It made her a superstar, has died at the age of 83.

Turner had suffered a number of health issues in recent years including cancer, a stroke and kidney failure.

She rose to fame alongside husband Ike in the 1960s with songs including Proud Mary and River Deep, Mountain High.

She divorced the abusive Ike in 1978, and went on to find even greater success as a solo artist in the 1980s.

Dubbed the Queen of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Tina Turner was famed for her raunchy and energetic stage performances and husky, powerful vocals.

She won eight Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2021 as a solo artist, having first been inducted alongside Ike in 1991.

Upon her solo induction, the Hall of Fame noted how she had “expanded the oncelimited idea of how a Black woman could conquer a stage

and be both a powerhouse and a multidimensional being”.

Younger stars who have felt her influence include Beyonce, Janet Jackson, Janelle Monae and Rihanna.

Turner was also a style icon - here she’s performing in New York’s Central Park in 1969 wearing a red leather outfit

Born in Tennessee into a sharecropping family, she first found prominence as one of the backing singers for her husband’s band The Kings of Rhythm.

She soon went to to front the band, and the couple tasted commercial success with Fool in Love and It’s Gonna Work Out Fine, which made the US charts in the early 60s.

Their other hits included 1973’s Nutbush City Limits, about the small town where Tina was born. But Ike’s physical and emotional abuse was taking its toll.

It was he who changed her name from her birth name, Anna Mae Bullock, to Tina Turnera decision he took without her knowledge, one example of his controlling behaviour.

She recalled the trauma she suffered throughout their relationship in her 2018 memoir, My Love Story, in which she compared sex with the late musician to “a kind of rape”.

“He used my nose as a punching bag so many times that I could taste blood running down my throat when I sang,” she wrote.

After escaping her abuser, she went on to rebuild her career and become one of the biggest pop and rock stars of the 80s and 90s, with hits including Let’s Stay Together, Steamy Windows, Private Dancer,

possible previously.

And last year we reported how as the result of the same technology, Michel Roccati became the first man with a completely severed spine to walk again.

Both have benefitted tremendously but their walking motion is pre-programmed and looks robotic. They also have to keep their intended movements in step with the computer and have to stop and reset if they get out of sync.

Gert-Jan had only the spinal implant before he had the brain implants. He says that he now has much greater control.

“I felt before that the system was controlling me, but now I am controlling it”.Neither the previous or new systems can be used constantly. They are bulky and still at an experimental stage.

in Lausanne (EPFL), who led the project. “Seeing him walk so naturally is so moving,” he said. “It is a paradigm shift in what was available before”.

The brain implants build on Prof Courtine’s earlier work, when only the spinal implant was used to restore movement. The spinal implant amplified weak signals from the brain to the damaged part of the spinal column and was boosted further by pre-programmed signals from a computer.

BBC News reported how in 2018, David M’Zee became the first patient to be successfully treated with a spinal implant, so much so that he was able to have a baby with his wife, something that had not been

Instead, patients use them for an hour or so for a few times a week as part of their recuperation. The act of walking trains their muscles and has restored a degree of movement when the system is turned off, suggesting that damaged nerves may be regrowing.

The eventual aim is to miniaturise the technology. Prof Courtine’s spin out company Onward Medical, is making improvements to commercialise the technology so it can be used in people’s day-to-day lives.

“It’s coming,” says Prof Courtine,. “Gert-Jan received the implant 10 years after his accident. Imagine when we apply our brain-spine interface a few weeks after the injury. The potential for recovery is tremendous”.

citizenship. He donated one of his kidneys to her in 2017 after it was discovered she was suffering from kidney failure.

She also suffered tragedy with the loss of her eldest son Craig to suicide in 2018. His father was Turner’s former bandmate, Raymond Hill.

Another son, Ronnie, whose father was Ike Turner, died in 2022. She also had two adopted sons, Ike Jr and Michael, Ike’s children from a previous relationship.

James Bond theme GoldenEye, I Don’t Wanna Fight and It Takes Two, a duet with Rod Stewart.

She also starred in 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome - which featured another of her smashes, We Don’t Need Another Hero - and The Who’s 1975 rock opera Tommy as the Acid Queen.

She found happiness with her second husband, German music executive Erwin Bac. They began dating in the mid-80s, and got married in 2013.

The pair lived in Switzerland, with Turner taking Swiss

Tina’s life story spawned a 1993 biopic titled What’s Love Got To Do With It, which earned Angela Bassett an Oscar nomination for playing the star; and a hit stage musical - aptly titled Tina: The Musical. She was also the subject of HBO documentary Tina in 2021.

In an interview with Marie Claire South Africa in 2018, Turner said: “People think my life has been tough, but I think it’s been a wonderful journey. The older you get, the more you realise it’s not what happened, it’s how you deal with it.”

Sensors on Gert-Jan’s head transmit his brain signals from an implant to a computer

South Africa load-shedding: The roots of Eskom’s power problem

Lateone Thursday afternoon, last November, a maintenance contractor reached his hand under a huge rotating shaft at an ageing power station in South Africa. It took the man just a few seconds to unscrew a steel plug, smaller than a coffee mug.

As he moved away from the scene, precious lubrication oil quickly began seeping from the innards of the shaft. The steel bearings inside overheated and before long the coal mill, and with it one of the station’s eight turbines, ground to a sudden, and expensive, halt.

If you are looking to understand South Africa’s current struggles - its soaring crime and unemployment rates, its stubborn inequality and stagnant economy, its relentless corruption and crippling power cuts, and its broader drift towards what some fear could become “gangster state” or even “failed state” territory - then this one act of industrial sabotage, at a coal-fired power station on the high plains east of Johannesburg, is a good place to start.

The alleged saboteur, Simon Shongwe, 43, was working as a subcontractor at Camden - a plant that was built back in the 1960s, bombed by anti-apartheid activists in the 1980s, mothballed in the 1990s, and more recently brought out of retirement to help a country now battling to keep the lights on.

There are several theories about the alleged sabotage.

It could have been designed to break the coal mill in order to enable a corrupt repair company to come and fix it at an inflated cost.

It might have been done as a way of threatening Camden’s management in to accepting some other corrupt contract.

Or it may have been part of a broader political conspiracy to damage South Africa’s energy infrastructure and undermine an ANC government increasingly seen as floundering after nearly three decades in power.

What is certain is that the sabotage at Unit 4 was not an isolated event.

Instead, it was one relatively small act in a vast, ongoing, and highly successful criminal enterprise that involves murders, poisoning, fires, cable theft, ruthless cartels and powerful politicians.

It is an enterprise that risks derailing international attempts to nudge South Africa away from its dependence on coal and towards renewable energy sources.

Over the past decade it has brought South Africa’s once-world-class public power utility, Eskom, to the brink of collapse and left most homes around the country in darkness for many hours each day.

One month after the incident at Camden, on a secure floor of a large grey office block on the northern outskirts of Johannesburg, a much smaller machine was causing problems.

The coffee dispenser for the executive management team at Eskom was faulty. Or so it seemed.

When the CEO’s assistant came over to fill her boss’s personalised mug, there was a delay.

She left the mug unattended for a few minutes, and then, once the machine had been serviced, she returned to the CEO’s office with his coffee.

“I detected nothing. The foam consistency was a bit different to normal, but I thought nothing of it,” Andre de Ruyter reflected later, in an explosive interview he gave to the South African broadcaster, eNCA.

But 15 minutes later, the man in charge of South Africa’s power utility suddenly felt off-balance. Before long he was shaking violently, gasping for air, and “extremely nauseous”.

His security guards rushed him to a nearby clinic.

His doctors later confirmed that Mr De Ruyter had been poisoned with cyanide, possibly mixed with rat poison in order to mask the presence of the cyanide in any blood tests.

He was lucky to survive.

“So, this is where the executives serve themselves with coffee,” said Eskom’s head of security, Karen Pillay, showing us around the office one recent afternoon.

“I consider it a dangerous space. I’m still scared for my life, every day. Absolutely.”

So why would anyone go to such dramatic lengths to try to kill a man performing what, in most countries, would be considered an important, but hardly controversial job?

“There is a long list of those who want me dead,” said Mr De Ruyter, a tall man who recovered from the poisoning, quit his job at Eskom and left the country. He told me, via text, that he was “going to lie low for the moment”.

Mr De Ruyter made it clear he believed he had been targeted by powerful criminal cartels who were busy stealing “a billion rand ($52m; £42m) every month” from Eskom and its coal-fired power stations.

In his eNCA interview and in excerpts from a new book, he painted a vivid picture of sophisticated “mafia” gangs with dozens of well-trained “soldiers”, who were willing to kill anyone who threatened to clean up the coal industry, or to move towards renewable energy.

It is a picture that is immediately recognisable to many here.

“There’s a lot of killing around. They put a gun to my head. They came to my house and threatened my family. The whole system is rotten, corrupted,” said a local businessman who told us he had tried to supply parts to Eskom for years, but that the local cartels made it impossible to work honestly.

“These cartels are politically connected. They’re above the law, basically,” said the man, who asked us not to use his name for fear of being killed, and only agreed to speak to us at a secure location far from his hometown.

That request for anonymity is common in the province of Mpumalanga - the heart of South Africa’s coal industry and a province that has earned a reputation for extreme lawlessness.

‘Treasonous behaviour’

“Life is cheap here. You can hire a hitman for $400. People are just looting as much as they can,” said an investigative journalist working with us and South Africa’s Daily Maverick news website, who confirmed the businessman’s account.

“This is a brutal province for anyone trying to expose the truth. It’s sabotage

at almost every stage of the process. And it’s not just about criminality. The money… gets passed on to politicians to keep them in power, to keep them running elections, to keep palms greased,” said the journalist, who also asked not to be named.

The ANC has been the governing party in Mpumulanga and nationwide since the country’s first democratic elections in 1994 after it successfully led the struggle against white-minority rule.

“This is treasonous behaviour. The ANC is involved at every level. The villains are members of the ANC or associates of the ANC. It is involved so deeply that it doesn’t know how to extricate itself. They are tipping us over towards that terrible situation of a ‘failed state,’” said political commentator Justice Malala, noting there was a direct link between the looting and the near-constant power cuts now crippling South Africa.

“It’s very depressing. It’s very concerning. Our country is in a serious, dark place,” said Paul Pretorius, a lawyer who played a key role at a recent public inquiry into the state corruption that flourished under former President Jacob Zuma.

As an indication of the seriousness of the crisis, soldiers have recently been brought in to guard some power stations, and to accompany convoys of trucks carrying coal, after the railway network was looted and sabotaged so comprehensively that many companies were obliged to switch to using South Africa’s roads.

Eskom security chief Ms Pillay said company investigators had recently identified more than 60 “black sites” where quality coal was still being stolen or swapped for rocky, poor-quality coal, by criminals.

In some places, the stealing is done in plain sight.

On the edge of the town of Emalahleni - which means “place of coal” - an allegedly illegal coal mine is in operation, around the clock, in a small valley just yards from a residential area. Over the course of one hour, we watched more than a dozen trucks load up with coal.

“At night we hear gunshots,” said a local activist who asked us not to use his name but described rival gangs fighting over access to the open-pit mine.

“It’s a dangerous business. You don’t know whether a mine is illegal or legal,” said one of the truck drivers, who said his name was Kamo.

A local community organisation - Vukani Environmental Movement (VEM) - has repeatedly taken South Africa’s government to court in a bid to force them to close down mining activity taking place close to residential

change can be found in a small, gloomy bar in Alexandra, a poor township in the country’s commercial hub, Johannesburg.

“I’m so stressed. Very, very stressed,” said the bar owner, Suzeke Mousa, 50, explaining that her business was about to go under after 25 years.

“I don’t think we’ll survive. All because of Eskom,” she frowned, looking out across a dark and empty bar.

South African businesses, already hit by the pandemic, are now being forced to endure power cuts, sometimes for 10 or more hours a day, nationwide.

At major road junctions across the nation, unemployed and homeless men now earn a few rand from drivers in exchange for directing cars when the traffic lights are off.

The image of people in luxury vehicles tossing coins to beggars for helping them navigate the country’s failing infrastructure seems like a fitting metaphor for the current struggles facing this deeply unequal society.

areas.

“Nothing changes,” said Promise Mabilo, 48, a VEM coordinator, before bursting into tears.

“Emalahleni is not a safe place to be. The coal… is killing people. You can smell it and taste it in the air. It’s painful,” she said.

Crime and blackouts may dominate the headlines in South Africa, but pollution, particularly in Mpumalanga, is an equally dangerous by-product of the country’s addiction to coal.

The government has acknowledged pollution “hot spots” in the province but has declined to publish more detailed information and has refused to force old power stations to comply with emissions limits. Environmental groups say data shows the pollution is killing thousands of people every year.

“She struggles to breathe. I have to blame the coal mines. They must cancel the coal because it is killing us,” said Mbali Matsebula, 27, as she helped her eight-year-old daughter, Princess, adjust a respirator on her face in the single-room shack they live in close to the illegal mine.

Today, more than 80% of South Africa’s electricity is generated by coalfired power stations - an astonishing figure. As a result, the country is ranked as the world’s 14th largest emitter of carbon dioxide, despite having only the 33rd biggest economy.

“Our electricity system is almost entirely based on digging coal out of the ground and burning it,” acknowledged Crispian Olver, chair of the Presidential Climate Commission.

But that could be about to change. Perhaps dramatically.

A group of Western nations has agreed to an $8.5bn package of grants and loans known as the Just Energy Transition (JET) partnership, designed to help guide South Africa away from coal and towards renewables.

Under the terms of JET, the country could, in theory, achieve “net zero” carbon emissions by 2050, offering a blueprint for other developing nations looking to go green.

“Our wind and solar resources are amongst the best anywhere in the world,” said Mr Olver, enthusiastically.

South Africa has many reasons to embrace a speedy transition.

If it drags its feet, the country could soon find itself locked out of the global trading system, with at least half its exports blocked by new rules in Europe and elsewhere that will seek to ensure that goods are made using only, or mostly, green energy.

“If we don’t decarbonise, we’re going to be shut out… and we’re going to lose massive amounts of jobs,” warned Mr Olver.

An even more urgent argument for

“Some people can afford generators, but we can’t. We can’t function without power,” said Thelma Mokoena, working at a money-transfer bureau in Alexandra.

The “load shedding” - as it is known, euphemistically, here - is set to get worse over the winter months. There are warnings that the entire grid might even collapse - a scenario that could mean weeks of unremitting darkness and perhaps social unrest.

It is the inevitable result of the chaos inside Eskom, as its fleet of mostly aging power stations is hit by maintenance problems, sabotage, and corruption.

To many in the private sector here, South Africa’s abundant wind and solar potential offers an almost immediate solution for the crisis gripping Eskom. The former CEO, Mr De Ruyter, said it could “solve energy security in the shortest time”.

But there are many obstacles facing that transition. For a start, workers and unions here are concerned that there will be significant job losses.

“South Africa is going to lose jobs in the coal sector but not gain them in renewables. We are not going to be dictated to. You [in the West] are wasting your time. We are a country that must do things at our own pace,” said William Mabapa, secretary general of the powerful National Union of Mineworkers.

He condemned Western nations as “hypocrites” for pushing his country to embrace JET while still importing vast amounts of South African coal.

Eskom says it is working to address concerns about future job losses in local communities. But opposition to JET does not only come from within the coal industry.

In his eNCA interview, soon after his poisoning, Mr De Ruyter accused the ANC of deliberately blocking the move towards renewables.

He said the ANC used Eskom like “a feeding trough” and that powerful politicians were blocking his attempts to tackle corruption.

Mr De Ruyter cited a private intelligence dossier - shared with the BBC by investigative journalists from the Daily Maverick - that named two senior ANC politicians as the heads of two of Mpumalanga’s criminal cartels. And he said the government had brushed aside his concerns.

In an interview, South Africa’s Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan acknowledged that Mr De Ruyter had told him about the contents of the dossier.

Mr Gordhan also admitted that Mpumalanga was “a crime scene”. But he said Mr De Ruyter himself was no “angel” and criticised him for spreading rumours without producing hard evidence.

Source: BBC

South Africa is heading into the southern hemisphere winter with the prospect of the country’s worst-ever power cuts - up to 16 hours a day. The roots of the problem lie in poor management, corruption and sabotage.

Belgorod: Russia’s Shoigu vows ‘harsh response’ after incursion into Russia

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has promised a “harsh response” to cross-border incursions from Ukraine.

His comments came after Moscow said it had defeated an attack in the Belgorod region.

However, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said there had been a “large number” of drone attacks overnight.

Ukraine denies involvement in the raid - and two Russian paramilitary groups opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin say they were behind it.

Attackers entered Russian territory from Ukraine on Monday.

Reporting to defence ministry officials on the incursion, Mr Shoigu said “more than 70 Ukrainian nationalists” had been killed and the rest pushed back into Ukraine.

“We will continue to respond to such actions by Ukrainian militants promptly and extremely harshly,” he said.

The two Russian paramilitary groups - the Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) and Liberty of Russia Legion (LSR) denied that they had sustained any casualties, and said a Russian motorised rifle company had been destroyed.

The casualty claims by the warring sides have not been independently verified.

Russia also says that Western military vehicles were used in the incursion.

It posted pictures of destroyed US vehicles apparently at the scene of the fighting but some Ukrainian military experts and bloggers have suggested they could have been staged.

The US said it was sceptical that reports of US-supplied weapons being used in the incursion were true and did not “encourage or enable strikes inside of Russia”.

But Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the vehicles were evidence of growing Western military involvement in Ukraine.

“It is no secret for us that more and more equipment is being delivered to Ukraine’s armed forces. It is no secret that this equipment is being used against our own military,” he

95-year-old woman Tasered by police in Australia dies

Clare Nowland was critically injured after police responded to reports she was wandering around the home with a steak knife at about 04:00 last Wednesday.

New South Wales Police (NSW) said she died “surrounded by family and loved ones”.

The officer who Tasered Mrs Nowland has been charged with assault.

The 33-year-old senior constable will face court in early July on charges of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault.

He remains suspended from duty with pay while investigations continue.

Mrs Nowland lived in a care home in the town of Cooma about 114km (71 miles) south of Canberra, Australia’s capital city.

NSW Police said their thoughts and condolences “remain with those who were lucky enough to know, love, and be loved by Mrs Nowland during a life she led hallmarked by family, kindness and community.”

Last week, police said she was “armed” with a steak knife. On Friday, they confirmed that she required a walking frame to move and the officer discharged his Taser after she began approaching “at a slow pace”.

Mrs Nowland is believed to have suffered a fractured skull and a serious brain bleed after falling and hitting her head during the incident.

It has prompted calls for a

state parliamentary inquiry and the release of police bodycam vision of the confrontation.

In a statement, Mrs Nowland’s family said she was a “well respected, much loved and a giving member of her local community” and the “loving and gentle-natured matriarch of the Nowland family.”

They have asked for privacy following her death.

said.

“We are drawing the appropriate conclusions.”

Meanwhile attacks in the region appear to be continuing.

Mr Gladkov said overnight attacks by drones were mostly dealt with by air defences, but some damage was caused to cars, private houses and administrative buildings in and around Belgorod city, as well as in the border district of Borisovka.

No-one was injured in the attacks, he added.

A “small fire” began after a gas pipeline was damaged in Grayvoron district.

Low-level attacks in Russian border regions such as Belgorod and Bryansk have become frequent in recent weeks.

Mr Gladkov said that agricultural workers were going out into the fields wearing helmets and bulletproof vests because of the threat of attacks.

Villages in Belgorod near the border were evacuated on Monday after coming under fire.

Monday’s raid led Moscow to declare a counter-terrorism operation, giving the authorities special powers to clamp down on communications and people’s movements.

The measures were only lifted the following afternoon, and even then, one of the paramilitary groups was claiming it still controlled a small piece of Russian territory.

Modi in Australia: Albanese announces migration deal with India

Indiaand Australia have announced a migration deal as they aim to strengthen their economic cooperation.

The announcement came after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met his counterpart Anthony Albanese in Sydney on Wednesday.

The deal aims to “promote the twoway mobility of students, graduates, academic researchers and business people”.

They also discussed regional security amid rising tensions in the region.

India and Australia are part of the four-member Quad group, which also includes Japan and the US.

A scheduled meeting of the group in Sydney was cancelled last week after US President Joe Biden had to return to Washington for debt ceiling talks.

Mr Modi, however, continued his planned visit to Sydney after attending the G7 summit in Japan and travelling to Papua New Guinea.

This is Mr Modi’s first visit to Australia since 2014, and comes two months after Mr Albanese visited India in March.

Negotiations for the migration agreement had been going on for a couple of years. Australia already has a significant number of people who

have migrated from India - census data shows that of more than a million people who moved to Australia since 2016, almost a quarter were from India.

According to a statement, the finalised migration agreement will also lead to the creation of a new scheme called MATES (Mobility Arrangement for Talented Early Professionals Scheme), which has been “specifically created for India”.

On Tuesday, the Indian prime minister said the two countries had also discussed increasing cooperation on mining and critical minerals and made progress in establishing an Australia-India Green Hydrogen Taskforce.

India and Australia are also working towards a comprehensive economic cooperation deal for which negotiations began more than a decade ago.

On Tuesday, thousands of people from the country’s Indian diaspora had turned up at one of Sydney’s biggest indoor stadiums, where Mr Modi was speaking at a rally.

“The last time I saw someone on this stage was Bruce Springsteen and he did not get the welcome that Prime Minister Modi has got,” Mr Albanese said at the event.

Handout from Belgorod governor purports to show damage caused to buildings during incursion

The Russian defence ministry released photos of abandoned or damaged Western military vehicles, but some have claimed the images are staged

A 95-year-old woman who was Tasered by police at an Australian care home, sparking a public outcry, has died.

Keyamo, Tijjani Aliyu call for scrapping of Minister of State portfolio

By Egena Sunday Ode

Two Ministers of State in the outing President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet have raised issues on the desirability of their portfolio, describing it as an aberation and calling for its outright scrap.

For the outgoing Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, appointing a Minister of State is an aberration.

Keyamo stated this in his speech at the valedictory session presided over by President Buhari to mark the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), under his (Buhari) administration, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

But for his Federal Capital Territory, FCT, counterpart, Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, who spoke to newsmen at the forecourt of the Presidential Villa after the valedictory FEC session, the incoming adminstration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu should consider scrapping of the portfolio in order to avoid under representation.

Keyamo who thanked President Buhari for enriching his Curriculum Vitae, through the appointment, noted that some other Ministers of State, have been grumbling and unable to be bold and speak out.

He said it would it was difficult to assess the individual performances of the Ministers of State since their discretion was shackled under the discretion of the Ministers as any original ideas developed by a Minister of State are subject to clearance by another colleague in Cabinet before they can sail through for consideration by Council.

The prepared text read: “Mr. President, you first appointed me as Minister of State in the Ministry Niger Delta Affairs in August, 2019 and you later redeployed me as Minister of State in the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

“Today, I cannot find the words to express the depth of my gratitude to you for finding me worthy, out of over two hundred million Nigerians, to be nominated and subsequently appointed to serve as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. My curriculum vitae has been greatly enhanced – forever.

“From my very humble beginnings in a small dusty town in Delta State where I was born and raised by my struggling parents, all the way to the Council Chambers at the Presidential Villa where I had the honour and privilege to participate weekly in decisionmaking for my country in the last four years, it has been like a fairy tale. I give God all the glory.

“What I am about to say, therefore, is not and should not be construed as an indication of ingratitude. Far from it. What I am about to say is just my own little contribution to our constitutional development as a relatively young democracy and to aid future governments to optimize the performance of those they appoint as Ministers.

“Mr. President, the concept or designation of “Minister of State” is a constitutional aberration and is practically not working for many so appointed. Successive governments have come and gone and many who were appointed as Ministers of State have not spoken out at a forum such as this because of the risk of sounding ungrateful to the Presidents who appointed them.

However, like I said earlier, this is not ingratitude.

“As a private citizen, I am on record to have gone to court a number of times to challenge unconstitutional acts of governments for the sake of advancing our constitutional democracy, so it will be out of character for me to have gone through government and be carried away by the pomp of public office and forget my role as a member of the Inner Bar and my self-imposed role over the years as a crusader for democracy and constitutionalism.”

Supporting his position with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), Keyamo said, “Mr. President, I crave your indulgence to explain this constitutional conundrum of “Minister of State”.

Sections 147 and 148 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), deal with the appointments and responsibilities of Ministers of the Federation. The said sections state as follows:

Section 147

“(1) There shall be such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation as may be established by the President.

(2) Any appointment to the office of Minister of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination of any person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President.

(3) Any appointment under subsection (2) of this section by the President shall be in conformity with the provisions of section 14(3) of this Constitution:- provided that in giving effect to the provisions aforesaid the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State.”

Section 148 “(1) The President may, in his discretion, assign to the VicePresident or any Minister of the Government of the Federation responsibility for any business of the Government of the Federation, including the administration of any department of government.”

“Furthermore, the 7th Schedule to the 1999 Constitution provides for the Oath of Office to which each Minister must subscribe. There are no different Oaths for “Minister” and “Ministers of State”. They all take the same Oath of Office.

“In addition to the above, the Ministers-designate appear before the Senate and are grilled and cleared AS MINISTERS, not as Ministers in some instances and Ministers of State in some other instances. It is at the point of assignment of portfolios that successive Presidents then reclassified some as “Ministers of State.”

He contended that though the President has the constitutional powers to assign portfolio to his appointees, he said that such appointment must be in line with

for consideration by Council. The drafters of our Constitution obviously did not intend this.”

He argued that the unconstitutional development has led to having ministers that are idle or redundant.

then be fully under the Minister of Employment, without any double loyalty to the Minister of Labour and Productivity.

the constitutional provision.

He said, “Some may want to justify this by saying the President is given the discretion by the Constitution to assign whatever responsibility(ies) he likes to Ministers. Yes, I concede Mr. President can do that, but not by a designation different from that prescribed by the Constitution.

“Simply put, it is akin to the President assigning responsibilities to the office of the Vice-President and re-designating that office as “Deputy President” under our present Constitution. That is clearly impossible. Why then should that of the Ministers be different?

“What is more, Ministers are appointed pursuant to Section 147(3) of the 1999 Constitution to represent each State of the Federation. Therefore, Ministers sit in Cabinet as the eye of Mr. President in each State of the Federation. It is therefore against the intendment of the drafters of our Constitution for a representative of a State to be reclassified as against another representative of another State.

“The Schedules of Duties of Ministers and Ministers of State that intend to cure some of these anomalies hardly help the issues. Firstly, the Schedules of Duties are observed more in breach by the Permanent Secretaries and Directors who really cannot be expected to serve two masters.

“And in any case, many of the roles of both Ministers are so ambiguous that the bureaucrats would always interpret them to satisfy the ones they see as the “Senior Ministers” or “main Ministers” for fear of being persecuted by them.

“Secondly, parts of the Schedules of Duties seem to suggest that the Ministers can delegate functions to the Ministers of State. This is a constitutional impossibility. It is only Mr. President that can delegate Presidential powers as one cannot delegate what he does not have (delegatus non potest delegare). In any case, how can someone who took the same Oath of Office with another delegate functions to that other?

“Thirdly, the Schedules of Duties leave so many gaping holes that bring conflicts between the Ministers and Ministers of State. In addition, the provision that “Ministers of State” cannot present Memos in Council, except with the permission of the Minister, is another anomaly. It means the discretion of the Minister of State is subsumed in the discretion of the Minister, yet both of them represent different States in Cabinet.

“It also follows that it would be difficult to assess the individual performances of the Ministers of State since their discretion is shackled under the discretion of the Ministers. Original ideas developed by a Minister of State are subject to clearance by another colleague in Cabinet before they can sail through

“As a result, many Ministers of State are largely redundant, with many going to the office for symbolic purpose and just to while away the time. Files are passed to them to treat only at the discretion of the other Minister and the Permanent Secretary. Yet, the Ministers of State will receive either praise or condemnation for the successes or failures of such Ministries.

“I understand that when this practice first surfaced in the First Republic, it was used as a contraption to give a semblance of “Government of National Unity”, when in actual fact no “real power” was ceded to the opposition members co-opted into government who were mostly designated as the Ministers of State, so as to keep them in check under the leadership of the ruling Party’s Ministers.

“But, over time the custom has come to stay and now it has been established as a norm, even regarding Ministers from the same ruling Party. In fact, one political absurdity that has emerged from this is that some Ministers of State won more votes from their States for the party in power than the “main Minister”.

On the way forward, he said, “Many Ministerial Retreats have been held to try and resolve the issues between Ministers and Ministers of State. President Obasanjo held four of such Retreats, with the last one holding at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos, from 23rd to 25th February, 2001. Yet, the problems persisted.

“Mr. President, unknown to many successive Presidents and the general public, these conflicts gravely affect the optimal performance of Governments. What is the way forward?

“Obviously, the argument that two Ministers are cramped into some Ministries in order not to unnecessarily proliferate Ministries and therefore save Government’s money is no longer tenable. This is because Government does not need any extra infrastructure or more money to maintain all Senior 36 Ministers or even a bit more appointed as is now the custom.

“This is because the present Ministers and Ministers of State have their separate offices, cars, security personnel and personal aides. So, what is the point?

“There are enough Permanent Secretaries within the system to be assigned to each Minister, or in the least, one Permanent Secretary can serve two Ministers. Since the Schedules of Duties of both Ministers already reflect the broad Mandates of the Ministries, the Ministers can be named in line with those Schedules of Duties, instead of continuing with this unconstitutional arrangement. For instance, there is no reason why we cannot have a Minister of Labour and another Minister of Employment.

“In my case, whilst the Schedule of my colleague had to do more with Labour and Productivity, mine had to do more with Employment. The Directorates in my Ministry that were under my office would

“We can also have a Minister of Trade and another Minister of Investment. We can have a Minister of Education (Tertiary) and another Minister of Education (Primary and Secondary); we can have a Minister of Mines and another Minister of Steel; we can have a Minister of Works and another Minister of Housing and so on and so forth.

“In all of these, no extra infrastructure is needed to sustain this suggested arrangement. The present infrastructure and present personnel in the Ministries can very well sustain it. It will be at no extra cost to government. This is preferable than successive governments continuing with this present unconstitutional arrangement.

“Finally, I want to place it on record again that Mr. Present gave me maximum support as his Minister to function optimally. So, this treatise is not a personal complaint. This is just a respectful recommendation for record purposes and for the sake of posterity. It is also intended to correct an anomaly that has existed for ages.”

Also speaking during an interview with newsmen Minister of State for FCT, Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu urged the incoming Tinubu administration to scrap the office of the minister of state so as to avoid under representation in the cabinet.

In her own experience, she said “If you are appointed, if you serve your state, if you underwent the same training, you attend the same FEC representing your people. Why then is your voice hinged upon another minister’s voice? Why is lack of planning on another minister’s part an emergency on yours? Why is the label ineptitude now the label you will carry if he should fail?

“All this should be looked into by the next administration to put the country in the good part of trajectory. Let me tell you this, if and only if, and that is the little minus I saw in this administration, all ministers were allowed to perform.

“The performances of the government and the achievement of President Muhammadu Buhari administration, I’ll beat my chest they cannot be equaled.

“But if one plus one becomes one, then there is an issue. Why then have a minister of state whose capacity no matter what is brought forth will be weighed and will be debated upon will be decided to go or not go to FEC by a colleague.

“So, that does not do justice to the appointment, it doesn’t do justice to the people he is representing, it does not even do justice to the person presenting themselves.

“But by and large, it was fantastic is worth an experience, because you know what that did to me? It also built my thick skin.

“It built my endurance level, it built my capacity to understand what is not and what does not. And it has built me largely to operate within the level availed to me, and hopefully there will be another opportunity, sometimes somewhere God’s grace to be able to unleash the potential of so many untapped representing ministers.”

Reechoing footprints: Buhari’s biographies detail his strides in transforming Nigeria

By Egena Sunday Ode

One year into his presidency, President Muhammadu Buhari was showcased to the world in a biography written by an American Professor, John Paden. Titled “Muhammadu Buhari: The Challenges of Leadership in Nigeria,” the book provides an up-close look at the life of a major ally of the West in the fight against terrorism, poverty, and corruption. It covers Buhari’s early life and education, his military career, and his brief stint as military head of state before he was deposed in a coup. A beacon for democracy in Africa, Buhari is the only Nigerian opposition candidate to be elected to the presidency.

Examining the first year of his presidency, the book which was presented to the public on October 3, 2016 looks at the immense security, economic, and political challenges he faces and the bold moves he is making to tackle them with support at home and abroad.

And by coincidence of some sort, Buhari on whose two-term presidency the curtain would be drawn in another few days was brought back on stage last week with two captivating biographies that ostensibly measured how well he has tackled the multifarious leadership challenges encountered in the course of his presidency as projected by Paden.

The two books; “State of Repair: How Muhammadu Buhari Tried to Change Nigeria for Good”, written by Antony Goldman and “The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari”, written by Senator Abu Ibrahim, as reviewed by the former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr Kayode Fayemi and Professor Abubakar Sadeeque Abba respectively did not leave the audience in doubt that the President, despite the odds, has justified the eight-year mandate excitedly given to him by the Nigerian electorate.

The first biography, “State of Repair: How Muhammadu Buhari Tried to Change Nigeria for Good,” authored by Goldman, a seasoned political risk specialist with deep roots in Africa, offers a candid and critical examination of Buhari’s ambitious attempts at reform. With a wealth of experience in advising the private sector across Africa, Goldman’s incisive analysis unveils the challenges faced by Buhari’s administration and the concerted efforts made to combat terrorism, poverty, and corruption.

Senator Abu Ibrahim, a trusted confidant and long-time ally of President Buhari, contributed the second biography, aptly titled “The Legacy of Muhammadu Buhari.” Ibrahim, whose journey intertwines with Buhari’s through various political landscapes, provides a unique perspective on the President’s leadership style and his resolute commitment to Nigeria’s progress. Ibrahim’s account paints a vivid picture of a man who weathered storms and surmounted obstacles to leave an indelible mark on the nation’s history.

Accordingly, the excitement that President Buhari has matched his words with action in terms of his pledge to leave the country better than he met it triggered a deluge of encomius in a grand ceremony where the two books were unveiled last

Friday at the Conference Centre in the State House, Abuja.

The event, graced by dignitaries from around the world, showcased the impact of Buhari’s tenure on Nigeria and elicited widespread admiration for his unwavering commitment to transforming the nation.

Speaking as Chairman of the Occasion at the Public Presentation and Launch of two biographies with emphasis on the unrivaled leadership experience of President Buhari, President Akufo-Addo, opened the floodgate of eulogies when he assured his Nigerian counterpart that history will be kind to him.

The Ghanaian President took time in his opening ralemarks to highlight some of the achievements of Buhari, whom he noted shared a similar experience with him in the journey to the presidency, noting that Africa and indeed, the world will miss Buhari’s leadership when he exits office in a few days.

Akufo-Addo, while eulogizing President Buhari for providing model leadership for Nigeria and other regional and international organizations that he had been tasked to lead, particularly noted how he tamed the Boko Haram menace in the subregion.

“Likewise, through the launch of today’s biographies, the story of President Muhammadu Buhari, a man who made such a great effort to change Nigeria for good, is being told by those who’ve had the opportunity to see for themselves at firsthand, from the beginning of his mandate as a democratically elected president, to his last days in office, the highs and lows of his tenure thus far. From what I have read and know, the life of Muhammadu Buhari has been truly an amazing story.

“The work President Buhari has done in helping to diversify Nigeria’s agriculture and thereby enhancing significantly agricultural productivity, reviving the economy and ensuring consistently fast rates of growth.

These developments, for me, have vindicated the choice of Nigerians, which I believe enabled continuity in office for the APC, through President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“You can imagine the excitement in the ranks of the NPP with the victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, about the prospects of a third term agenda for the NPP, what we in NPP call ‘breaking the eight’.

“By the same token, the efforts President Buhari has made to defeat the scourge of Boko Haram, a process which is still ongoing are also testimonies of his determination to establish full normalcy and security in Nigeria.

“His tentacles extended beyond Nigeria; Chairperson of the Authority of Heads of States and Government of ECOWAS; Chairperson of the Gulf of Guinea Commission; ECOWAS Chairman in the coordination of the fight against COVID-19, amongst several others, and in all of these, he has spared no effort to ensure the successful execution of the objectives of his office.

“As leaders, we all have our high and low moments, but I have no doubt that posterity will be kind to Muhammadu Buhari.

“President Buhari, we will miss you. West Africa, Africa, and indeed, the world will miss your leadership, the leadership of a military ruler, turned consummate democrat, who’s extremely solicitous of Nigerian and African interests and who sought for principles in all decisions which he took.

“I’m yet to have a book written about me, let alone author one myself. I have some 19 months to leave office and I guess I have to take a cue from my senior and hope the books will give about me”, he said.

Speaker after speaker at the ceremonial lauch followed the footsteps of President Akufo-Addo with kind words for Nigeria’s

departing President for his enormous transformative work.

Then came the naira rain which highlighted the grand event, with over N500 million raised. Notably, Alhaji Abdulsamad Rabiu, Chairman of BUA Group, donated N200 million, while Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group, contributed N100 mimillion.

Similarly, Philanthropist Muhammed Idimi displayed his support by purchasing copies of the books for a whopping N100 million. The President-elect, Bola Tinubu, and Vice President-elect, Kashim Shettima, demonstrated their deep appreciation for President Buhari’s transformative leadership by collectively acquiring copies of the biographies for N40 million.

Besides the philanthropists, the array of dignitaries who graced the occasion in express support and admiration of President Buhari included the Vice-President-elect, Senator Shettima, President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan; Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abdullahi Adamu; Governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu and many others.

President Buhari’s administration can be assessed on three major criteria: the impacts he has made in tackling the Boko Haram menace, the fight against corruption and redeeming the nation’s economy, the tripod of his electioneering promises.

The authors of his two rrecentinaightful biographies all agreed that the President has, indeed, surpassed the expectations of his opposers, even though they would not publicly admit that. That is, however, not to say that there’s no room for improvement in some of the areas of his accomplishments. Nevertheless, many citizens will join the Ghanaian President to tell Buhari next week that history would not forget him, as he finally bows out of power.

Nigerians will also agree with the authors of Buhari’s biographies that he has substantially tamed insecurity signposted by the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast, Herder-farmer clashes in North-Central and the various level of criminalities such as kidnapping and killings bedeviling other parts of the country.

There’s also no arguments that President Buhari in his eight years in power has taken the war against corruption to an enviable level, caughting the admiration of his peers across the globe. Though corrupt practices have not been completely eradicated in the country, perpetrators of corruption, especially in public offices do know that a new Sheriff had come to town, as many of them were ran out of town in the past eight years.

And perhaps, the President’s most impactful achievement is in agriculture. This is one sector that has experienced a total revolution engendered by the diversification policy of the Buhari aadministration.The biographies captured all these exciting moments that characterised the “Change Agenda” and the “Next Level” slogan of the Buhari administration.

The question, however, is what next after Buhari. Will the revolution in infrastructure and agriculture among others continue?

President Muhammadu Buhari

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THE TRUSTEES

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LANDLORD OLOUNLOGBON ALABI FOUNDATION

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2023

Olympics Qualifier: NWF President, Dr Ibrahim Abdul Lauds Weightlifters After Tunisia Medal Haul

By Amaechi Agbo

The President, Nigeria Weightlifting Federation, NWF, Dr Ibrahim Abdul, FCISM, OCP, CMC; has commended Nigeria weightlifters who won 12 medals at the just concluded 2023 Senior Africa Weightlifting Championship in Tunisia.

Five Nigeria athletes, Lawal Rufiatu, Olarinoye Adijat, Eze Joy Ogbonne, Edidiong Umoafia and Akano Desmond represented Nigeria at the championship which also served as the 2024 Olympic Games qualifier.

They competed in 59kg and 71kg women’s categories as well as 73kg and 89kg men’s categories.

They won a total of 12 medals made up of three gold, seven silver and two bronze medals to put Nigeria’s quest for the 2024 Olympic Games qualification on sound track

In a release signed by the Media Officer, Nigeria Weightlifting Federation, Mr Amaechi Agbo, the President charged the weightlifters to buckle up ahead of more qualifiers.

“First and foremost, I want to commend the athletes for doing their best, considering the circumstances.

“As the president and someone who aim for the best, I wanted all of them to win gold medals in Tunisia. Nevertheless, I am proud of what they achieved.

“However, I urge them to buckle up. We have just started the race to Olympic Games qualification and there is a long way to go. They should remain active, sustain their training schedules and strictly follow them.

“As a federation, we will continue to provide, within our powers, all that are necessary for them to excel. We cannot afford to miss out on Olympics again after what happened in Tokyo Olympics qualifiers.

“I have no doubts in their abilities and

I believe that once they remain focused, we will get there,” he said

Meanwhile, Nigeria ambassador to Tunisia, Amb. Asari Edem Allotey has charged the weightlifters to remain focused in their quest for 2024 Olympics tickets. Amb. Allotey stated this on Thursday while hosting the Nigeria Weightlifting contingent in her house.

The Ambassador who expressed delight with the performances of the lifters, also

cautioned them to make improvements if they must become Olympic medalists in Paris next year.

Nigeria weightlifters are expected to participate in five other weightlifting qualifying championships as they seek a return to Olympic Games medal podium in Paris next year.

The championships/Olympics qualifiers are:

1. IWF Grand Prix Havana, Cuba June 2-12, 2023

2. IWF World Championships Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -September 2-17, 2023

3. IWF Grand Prix Doha, Qatar December 1-17, 2023

4. African Championships February 25 March 02, 2024 (host to be confirmed)

5. IWF World Cup Phuket, Thailand April, 2024

U-20 World Cup: How Flying Eagles came from behind to beat Dominican Republic

By Amaechi Agbo

Nigeria’s Flying Eagles earned the first three points of Group D of the ongoing FIFA U20 World Cup in Argentina after an own goal by Guillermo De Rena and a smart finish by Samson Lawal steered them beyond Dominican Republic in Mendoza.

Ibrahim Muhammad’s shot had been firmly held by goalkeeper Xavier Valdez and Jude Sunday and Tochukwu Nnadi had threatened in the fore

within the first quarter-hour, before Japanese referee Yusuke Araki opted to consult the Video Assistant Referee and then award a penalty to Dominican Republic in the 20th minute, after a tackle by Daniel Daga. The resultant penalty was brilliantly converted by Edison Azcona.

Sunday, Nnadi, Fago Lawal, Samson Lawal and Muhammad all doubled their efforts with onslaughts launched towards the opposition, but goalkeeper Valdez was brilliant on the day, especially

in tipping over Sunday’s dipping shot from outside the box in the 37th minute.

Defender Solomon Agbalaka, who headed the goal that sank hosts Egypt at the Africa U20 Cup of Nations in January, attempted a similar effort in the 58th minute but found Valdez capable. From a dashing run in the 61st minute, substitute Emmanuel Umeh should have done more than place the ball in the keeper’s waiting hands.

Daga, Sunday and substitute Haliru Sarki all tested the keeper

in a second half dominated by Nigeria, but Samson Lawal was very alert to smell blood and capitalize on a defensive lapse by the boys from Dominican Republic to score Nigeria’s winner in the 68th minute. This was a minute after Jude Sunday had the ball in the net from a flowing team move, but it was ruled offside.

“We are happy with the three points though we wanted the boys to win by a higher margin as goals advantage do matter along the line in a competition such as this. The next two matches will be much

tougher and I expect the Flying Eagles to also show sterner stuff,” said NFF General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi who watched the encounter at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in Mendoza. Next up for the two-time runners-up of the FIFA U20 World Cup is a clash with Italy at the same venue on Wednesday evening. A draw will most certainly guarantee a place in the knockout rounds for the Flying Eagles, ahead of their final group phase encounter with Brazil in La Plata on Saturday.

Nigeria Weightlifting contingent with the Ambassador during the latter’s visit in Tunisia on Thursday

•Ambassador charges lifters to remain focused

S P R T

Côte d’Ivoire to host 2023 CAF Women’s Champions League

Côte d’Ivoire will host the third edition of the CAF Women’s Champions League, the Executive Committee has announced. The prestigious inter-club competition for women was first hosted by Egypt in 2021 with Morocco hosting last year’s edition.

The dates for the tournament will be announced soon, but the eight-team tournament will help the Ivorians test their systems ahead of the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which kicks off in January 2023.

The format will remain unchanged with the eight teams drawn into two groups. The top two in each will progress to the semi-finals.

The champion of the host country will be joined by seven other teams from the zonal qualifiers which will be held in due course as well.

Morocco’s AS Far are the defending champions, having clinched the crown on home soil, beating holders Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies. The format will remain unchanged with the eight teams drawn into two groups. The top two in each will progress to the semifinals.

The champion of the host country will be joined by seven other teams from the zonal qualifiers which will be held in due course as well.

Morocco’s AS Far are the defending chamhed the crown on home soil, beating holders Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies.

WAFU U-20: Five-star Falconets Wallop Niger 7-0 In Group B Opener

Nigeria’s U-20 girls celebrating none of their goals on Sunday

In a jaw-dropping showcase of attacking prowess, Nigeria’s U-20 women’s team kicked off their campaign at the WAFU B U-20 Girls Cup of Nations in Ghana with an emphatic 7-0 victory over Niger on Sunday.

The Group B match, held at Kumasi’s Baba Yara Stadium, witnessed a masterclass performance by the Nigerian side, leaving their opponents in awe.

From the opening whistle, Nigeria displayed their intent to dominate the game. Wave after wave of relentless attacks bombarded the Niger defence, setting the tone for the rest of the match.

In just the fourth minute, Esther Opeyemi Akajaye announced her presence with a clinical finish, marking the beginning of a remarkable individual performance.

Akajaye continued her assault on the Niger defence, netting two more goals in the 13th and 54th minutes to complete a sensational hat-trick.

Her exquisite finishing left Niger reeling, struggling to find answers to Nigeria’s relentless onslaught.

The Nigerian team’s dominance extended beyond Akajaye’s heroics. In the 30th minute, Mercy Kalu added to the growing tally, further extending

Nigeria’s lead.

The fluidity and cohesion displayed by the Nigerian players were a sight to behold, as skillful dribbling, incisive passing, and deadly finishing overwhelmed their opponents.

As the second half commenced, there was no respite for Niger. In the 49th minute, Adoabi Okah confidently converted a penalty kick, compounding the woes of the Niger team and solidifying Nigeria’s supremacy on the field.

Victoria Alani joined the goal-scoring spree in the 64th minute with a sensational strike that shattered the Niger defence.

Nigeria’s relentless pursuit

of goals found its culmination in stoppage time. In the 91st minute, Chioma Olise added the finishing touches to the victory with a clinical finish, leaving no doubt about Nigeria’s superiority in the match.

This resounding victory serves as a statement of intent from Nigeria’s U-20 women’s team.

Meanwhile in the group’s other game Burkina Faso defeated Togo 2-0 thanks to goals by Mounifatou Helbi and Alimata Belem.

The competition continues on Tuesday when Benin take on Cote d’Ivoire in the three-team Group A.

“Arsenal Don’t Want To Win Titles” - Gift Orban

Nigeria player, Gift Orban has disclosed that his ambition remains to play in the English Premier League, EPL stressing that joining Manchester United, Liverpool or Manchester City is ideal prospect for him.

But the 20-year-old striker took a swipe at Arsenal’s lack of trophy in the league to state that he would not want to join the North London side because they don’t have ambition to win titles.

“The Premier League is my ultimate

dream. Man United, Liverpool or Man City,” he told hlnsport

“I don’t really like Arsenal that much – it’s like they don’t want to win titles”.

“I want to go somewhere where they win titles.”

Chelsea are reportedly preparing a bid to bring the striker to Stamford Bridge, but the Blues are considering sending him out on loan if they successfully complete the transfer.

Gift Orban emerged into the global football following his eye-catching

performances with his Belgian club, Gent.

He joined the Belgian Pro League side in January and scored 14 goals in 13 appearances in the domestic league as well as 5 goals in the Europa Conference League

On 15 March, he scored a firsthalf hat-trick in 4–1 away win over İstanbul Başakşehir in the UEFA Europa Conference League round 16. The hattrick was scored within three minutes and 25 seconds, setting a new record for the fastest hat-trick in UEFA club

competitions, breaking the previous record of six minutes and 12 seconds held by Mohammed Salah in the Champions League.

Orban’s comment might not go down well with some Arsenal faithfuls who saw their title ambition in the current season dealt a huge blow following their recent poor performances.

Their “unexpected” 3-0 bashing by Brighton on Sunday at the Emirates Stadium appeared to be the final nail that sealed their coffin away from the title.

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AYUBA ABDUL, ESQ 08036373769 SOLICITOR

THE ETERNAL CHURCH OF GOD MISSION

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SPACE FOR SALE

Vinicius Jr: Valencia fined and sanctioned with partial stadium closure for five matches

The President-Elect And Those With The ‘Gift Of The Garb’

Three of the people who had a meeting with you before the primary election of the (APC) that made you the President-Elect, are your sworn enemies. Ask Oshiomhole.

They thought that the former Chairman of the Alll Progressives Party (APC), Adam Oshiomhole, was your ‘boy’, and therefore must be done away with, so as to ‘deal’ with you for good, which is synonymous with banishing you and your ambition for ever.

Well, they got their wish by getting Oshiomhole out of the way which however, did not stop you from winning your party’s primary election, and later, the country’s Presidential election.

By Abdu Labaran Malumfashi

Progressives Party’ (APC), some people are just along for the ride.

Such people deserve what they get, not what their seemingly persuasive’ argument wants them to have. The President- elect must not allow them to have their way, because their way is almost always very much at far with the interest of

Valencia have been sanctioned with a partial stadium closure for five matches following the racist abuse of Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr.

Spanish police have detained three people in connection with the abuse directed at the Brazilian at Mestalla Stadium on Sunday.

Valencia have also been fined 45,000 euros (£39,000).

Vinicius’ late red card has been rescinded, meaning he will not have to serve a suspension.

Valencia called the decision to partially close their stadium “disproportionate, unjust and unprecedented” and said they intend to appeal against that part of the sanction.

“Valencia have collaborated from the first minute with the police and all relevant authorities to clarify the events that occurred,” a statement from the club read.

“In addition, we have applied the maximum possible sanction with the ban for life from our stadium for racist behaviour of the fans identified by police.”

Speaking at a press conference, Valencia head coach Ruben Baraja added: “I am not going to allow the Valencia CF fans and Mestalla to be smeared with labels that do not represent us.

“Just as a player rightly fights back against insults and I support that with all my might, we as a club and a fanbase rebel against those who, during the days since the game, have accused us of being what we are not.”

The closure will apply to the Mestalla Stadium’s south stand, an area a clearly angry and emotional Vinicius was seen pointing to during Sunday’s second half before reporting the issue to the referee.

Source: bbc sports

But people like the present Governor of Katsina State, Rt. Honourable Aminu Bello Masari had campaigned for power shift to the South, with you as the Presidential candidate of the ruling party, APC, if you like.

Your support and assurances made President Buhari recant his decision not to contest the Presidency again. This much they can’t claim to be ignorant of.

Still, they went ahead with their futile scheming against you, but God Had the final say in the matter.

Therefore, do not allow yourself to be stampeded into doing what is politically incorrect because they did not do what they did in the interest of the people.

That much most people are aware of, because one of them had his interest elsewhere. We therefore must thank God for having His way, not what they sought for.

In 2015, one of them had told the world that he did not have the money to buy his party’s expression of interest and the Governatorial election forms. His brothers and friends had the money for him, according to him.

But about four years ago, in its lead story of the ten richest Nigerian politicians, the Economist of London put him as one of them. According to the magazine, Tinubu headed the heap with Six Billion US Dollars. The last person in the group is

Governor Wike of Rivers State with Seven Hundred Million Dollars. People like Atiku Abubakar and the subject of this write up have about $2.5 Billion US Dollars, according to the magazine.

But according to the subject of this article, his gang had a meeting with the president-elect recently, where an agreement was said to have been reached between you and them to get ‘a big office’ in your government, when it comes on stream.

Having the ‘gift of the garb’

does not mean having your way all the time. God, in His infinite mercy, gave some people the ‘gift of the garb’ so as to serve the people well, not themselves all the time.

But in the case of the subject of this write up, whatever endowment given to him by God, it is to be flaunted not used in the people’s service, which is why the person is almost all the time in the news for the wrong reasons.

While some people were building the party, ‘All

the people.

Can the person explain the ownership and of $2 billion, which eight years ago he did not have as his legitimately earned money.

The President-elect must not listen to the ‘small’ voices that are telling him to do what posterity will always accuse him of not properly using the time God has given to him.

Malumfashi wrote from Malumfashi town in Katstina State.

DAN GAYE DANGAYE

Court slams life imprisonment on 3 kidnappers of female journalist in Yola

That’s right!

Labaran

“

Having the ‘gift of the garb’ does not mean having your way all the time. God, in His infinite mercy, gave some people the ‘gift of the garb’ so as to serve the people well, not themselves all the time

Tinubu Oshiomhole Masari