BBTitans: Drama as Nelisa, Blue Aiva and Olivia fight dirty
Beyond calls for Bawa’s head
Interim govt: Dangerous dimension by those not sure to win elections –Presidency
‘Nigerian Railway Corporation due for unbundling’
Meningitis outbreak kills 38 in Jigawa
CBN denies asking banks to accept old N500, N1000 notes
U-20 AFCON: Flying Eagles hit Egypt, vow to conquer Africa again
Naira redesign: Ondo residents swap old notes for foodstuffs
Is Feb 25 presidential poll still a three-horse race?
The presidency has dismissed insinuations that President Muhammadu Buhari is working towards installing an interim government, calling the suggestion a blatant falsehood.
In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the presidency asserted that the untruths are being orchestrated by those who are afraid that they may lose their elections.
The statement titled: "Stop the joke about interim government, elections will hold, " said while nobody can deny the pressure put on everyone by the current cashless policy, the solution does not like with creating confusion and panic.
It emphasized that elections will hold in about a week's time and Nigerians will vote their choice, urging leaders to work together to solve any existing problems.
The statement read: "Joseph Goebbels, the propaganda Chief of Adolf Hitler said ‘‘Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth’’. This was in the 1930s, before the internet was birthed.
"Let us clearly, specifically and emphatically state that there is absolutely no truth to the claim that President Muhammadu Buhari is working towards an interim government or even worse, the truncation of democracy- democracy that he has helped to keep alive not only here at home, in West Africa but throughout the continent.
"The talk of interim government and truncation of democracy is way off the mark. Those who peddle it stand to gain nothing- nothing at all -but the creation of panic and the
incitement of the public against the federal government.
"It is another dangerous dimension by people who are afraid that they may lose their elections.
"Everybody is aware that there is a lot of pressure on everyone-all of us- the party, its elected officials, its candidates and law enforcement agencies following the way the currency swap has gone but the way to go is not to panic.
"There is indeed a problem and nobody will pretend that it doesn’t exist.
"It is precisely because the President is concerned with this problem that he opened several
avenues for consultation with leaders and groups across the country, culminating in his broadcast to the nation on Thursday morning.
"In line with the speech, his clear and unequivocal directive is that the problem of cash supply must be addressed without delay.
"While this is being done, there is no need to panic. We need to work together as leaders; as a people and as one nation. When panic hits, people go into overdrive. Shouting helps no one because no one can listen.
"The solution to the problem is not in sending Nigerians into confusion. Elections, just a week ahead, will hold and Nigerians will vote for the All
Progressives Congress, APC, (and any others if they so wish) on the basis of their choice.
"Our people want progress, good governance, law and order and will not be swayed by the negative energy that is being expended against a wellmeaning currency change.
"Finally, to state that: the President clearly has a favoured successor in Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is not in doubt.
"The fact that Tinubu has been opposed to the speed and timing of the Naira swap timetable does not mean he is against the idea of Nigeria becoming a cashless society. Of course, Tinubu does support a
cashless society: for he is a man of the future.
"What should be made crystal clear to the doubters and the speculators and the untruth-tellers is that in no way was the naira swap “engineered” to keep the President in office beyond May 29. Nothing could be further from the truth.
"The President looks forward to handing over the reins of power to his elected successor. This will happen on May 29, 2023 as the Constitution requires it.
"The days of unelected Nigerian leaders, and those who outstay their welcome by unconstitutionally extending it, have gone."
The Supreme Court has affirmed Lawal Adamu Usman as the Senatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for Kaduna Central Senatorial District of Kaduna State.
The 5-man panel of the court, by the judgement, dismissed the Court of Appeal, Abuja, which had earlier voided and set aside the decision of a Federal High Court in Kaduna.
Delivering judgment in an appeal filed by an aggrieved
Senatorial aspirant, Mr. Ibrahim Usman, the Supreme Court held that courts have no jurisdiction to dabble into the internal and domestic affairs of political parties.
Justice Emmanuel Akomaye Agim, dismissed the appeal for want of merit.
The panel held that the decision of the PDP National Working Committee on the May 23, 2022 primary election was correct and cannot be faulted.
The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, had on December 19, 2022, reinstated Lawal Adamu Usman
as the candidate of the PDP after his removal by a Federal High Court sitting in Kaduna, which had nullified the primary election for Kaduna Central Senatorial District.
After nullifying the primary election, the trial court ordered a re-run, which Usman again won and his name subsequently published by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, as the PDP candidate.
But Lawal Adamu’s victory was challenged in Federal High Court by Usman Ibrahim who came second in the primary
election held on the 23rd of May 2022.
According to the High Court judge, Justice Mohammed Umar, the claims of the plaintiff (Ibrahim) were substantial and consequently declared the primary election null and void.
But, the Court of Appeal in its judgment delivered by Justice Peter Affen held that the High Court lacked the jurisdiction to inquire into the internal affairs of the PDP.
Consequently, the appeal was upheld and judgment of the high court was set aside.
The National Council of State meeting which held at the Aso Rock Presidential Village last week came amid high expectations from the citizenry. Not a few Nigerians believed that the August body would knock the presidency and order it to open the vault of the Central Bank of Nigeria [CBN] and cause a deluge of the scarce new naira notes of 1,000, 500 and 200 denominations across the country.
Nigerians had been generally frustrated by the new CBN policy which aims to achieve a cashless society due to their inability to access the new notes for any transactions. Aside from the timing and the seeming poor implementation, however, analysts have unanimously agreed that the policy which seeks to reduce excess cash in circulation is desirable. But if the pain caused the populace is weighed against the expected merits of the policy, the verdict is likely to be different, if not entirely harsh.
Constitutionally, the council is the highest advisory body to the federal government which ought to meet once in every quarter subject to the desire of the president, especially when contentious matters of state policy or governance are at stake. But it has become a tradition that the council would meet and be briefed before every general elections as has been seen in the past. Accordingly, it can be suggested that last Friday meeting of the body was essentially to take briefings from relevant government institutions on their preparedness for the all-important fast approaching general elections scheduled for February 25 and March 11. But, with the crisis and confusion in the polity over the unavailability of the new currency notes, it was practically impossible for the matter not to be brought to the table of the council.
Before the council meeting, however, governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives
Congress [APC] had an audience with President Muhammadu Buhari to seek his intervention in order to douse the rising tension over the scarcity of the redesigned naira notes. The governors led to the meeting by Chairman of Progressive Governors Forum, Atiku Bagudu who is also the governor of Kebbi State, didn’t get a prompt response contrary to their expectation. The presidency after Buhari’s meeting with the governors issued a statement to the effect that a major decision on the subject matter would be taken in a week.
That one week passed, culminating in the Council of State meeting and there was seemingly no deal as the president didn’t say a word. Many have attributed the president’s silence to the action of the governors of Kaduna, Nasir el Rufai, his Zamfara and Kogi States counterpart, Bello Matawale and
Yahaya Bello respectively who had challenged the federal government’s policy and obtained a restraining order to thwart it.
The Council of State meeting ended without a clear direction on the way forward for the anxious populace. The body simply gave its backing to the CBN policy and advised that efforts should be made to make the scarce naira notes more available. A communique read at the end of the meeting by the Attorney General of the Federation and minister of Health, Abubakar Malami said: ‘relating to the naira redesign policy, the policy stands but then the council agrees that there is need for aggressive action on the part of the CBN as it relates to the implementation of the policy by way of ensuring adequate provision being made with particular regard to the supply of the naira in the system.’ Malami who had filed a
counter case against the Supreme Court order on the new naira policy quickly washed his hands off when newsmen sought to know the council’s stand on the order by the apex court, saying that the issue was already before the court for determination.
Before Malami read out the resolutions, Governor Dairus Ishaku of Taraba State and his Lagos State counterpart Babajide Sanwoolu, had spoken on the presentations by the CBN and INEC bosses as well as the IGP to the council, stating that suggestions made by council consequently were advisory.
The same palpable anxiety that had gripped Nigerian ahead of the Council of State meeting was the mood of citizens last on Wednesday, February 15 when the Supreme was supposed to open hearing into the matter. The expectation was that having
failed to enforce the order of the apex court with respect to the new policy, the court would give a marching order to the federal government to unconditionally comply with its decision. The adjournment by another one week to February 22 for the case to be heard the dashed anxiety of the populace, just like the outcome of the council meeting.
However, the nationwide broadcast by President Buhari early Thursday morning before jetting out to Addis Ababa for AU Summit was intended to douse the heightened anxiety on when the naira crisis will abate. Feelers, however, suggested that it was a mixed grill. To some Nigerians, the president has provided some relief with his approval of N200 to be brought back into circulation for sixty days. Some others,
however, felt that it should have been a holistic lifting of ban on the entire currency notes.
The surprise, if not irony, in the whole episode is the fact the opposition to the naira policy is being led by APC chieftains, while their counterparts in the opposition parties have given a nod to the policy. For instance, at the level of the governors, Edo and Bayelsa governors, who are members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have lined up behind the federal government while the rank of APC governors opposing the policy initiated by the ruling party has continued to swell. At the last count, Niger, Kano, Lagos and Ogun had joined the league of states that are up in arms against the policy.
Reports said the governors, who are clearly not happy with
the refusal of the CBN to reverse its decision had taken it upon themselves to enforce the Supreme Court order by warning indigenes and resident in their states to continue to use the banned notes as legal tender.
APC presidential candidates, Bola Tinubu was the first to raise issues with the naira redesign when at a rally in Abeokuta recently, he said the policy was meant to affect the electoral fortunes of the ruling party negatively, but swore that he was unstoppable. His spokesmen were later to rationalize that the candidate’s anger was directed at the CBN governor and not President Buhari.
Taking a cue, El Rufai who has been in the forefront of criticisms of the policy alleged during the week that some retired generals and those who failed primary
elections were the brain behind the new Nigeria policy to scuttle the general election and pave the way for an interim government. This view has resonated around the APC governors camp.
But for the PDP and the Labour parties, their spoken and body language has been that of consent and approval. Both Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi of PDP and LP respectively have lauded the policy, though to the criticism of the APC.
President Buhari in the Thursday broadcast said he was pained by the unintended outcomes of the new currency policy, explain, however that the country would be better for it in the long run. He listed the gains to include reduction of the influence money in the nation’s electoral process.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to put every measure in place to guarantee peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible 2023 general elections.
The PDP equally urged the President to assuage the pain and anguish being experienced by Nigerians over the current cash crunch in the country by demanding that leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) including its Presidential Candidate and governors immediately release the hundreds of billions of new Naira notes reportedly intercepted and hoarded by them for vote buying purposes.
The party said these in a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon Debo Ologunagba in Abuja.
The PDP said that it sympathized
with Nigerians over the pain, torture and distress brought upon the nation’s citizens by the selfish, vicious and antipeople APC leaders.
The party said saluted the resilience of Nigerians in the face of APC-induced suffering.
According to the statement, “It is instructive to note that Mr. President in his address to the nation earlier today, (yesterday) acknowledged that the Naira redesign and swap policies are programmes of the APC administration which is also completely in control of the production and circulation of the new notes. It is therefore clear that the PDP has no part in the entire process.
“Our Party had earlier alerted on how APC leaders allegedly sabotaged the system and diverted the new Naira notes so as to create widespread social unrest to justify their plan to derail the
2023 general elections and truncate our democracy.
“The PDP had also exposed how APC governors are allegedly warehousing the new Naira notes in facilities in Lagos, Kano, Kogi, Kaduna, Imo and other States of the country for the purpose of vote buying in the Presidential election.
“In the same vein, our Party raised alarm on how the Tinubu/Shettima Campaign had orchestrated the current cash crunch as a strategy to cause crisis while inciting Nigerians to insurrection with the view to truncating the electoral process having come to the reality of the fact that the APC and its Presidential Candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu have been rejected by Nigerians ahead of the polls.
“Our Party sympathizes with Nigerians over the pain, torture and
distress brought upon our citizens by the selfish, vicious and anti-people APC leaders. The PDP again salutes the resilience of Nigerians in the face of APC-induced suffering.
“The APC and its Presidential Candidate must come to terms with the fact that Nigerians are determined to vote in the PDP Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar, come February 25, 2023. The threats and incitement to violence by the Tinubu Campaign cannot deter the people.
“The PDP calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to put every measure in place to guarantee peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible 2023 general elections as Nigerians are ready to go to the polls in their determination to vote in Atiku Abubakar as the next President of our country”, it said.
From Umar Dankano,
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arraigned the former Administrator and former Accountant of the Adamawa state German Medical Centre, Hajiya Fadimatu Sani Yakubu and Ibrahim Sani Husseini before High Court Yola over alleged misappropriation of Fifty-one million, one hundred and sixty-eight thousand, three and sixty-eight Naira (N51,168,368.00).
In a suit with case no. HC/ ADST/118/C/2022 the duo were arraigned for Ten (10) count charges of criminal breach of trust by public servants contrary to section 306 of the Penal code, laws of Adamawa state.
The duo was alleged to have been using fake receipts bearing Gabbyto Pharmacy Ltd cash/credit invoices and that of one company named G & G Venture to defraud the hospital (Adamawa-German medical centre) for their personal selfish interests.
At a hearing Thursday, before the court presided over by Justice Danladi Muhammad the EFCC legal counsel,Barrister A.M Labaran told the court that the accused persons conspired and committed the alleged offences sometimes between January and December 2018 while holding sway as administrator and Accountant at the centre.
Barrister Lawan while leading the prosecution witnesses in testimony tendered four receipts where the owner of the Gabbyto Pharmacy Ltd. Mr. Gabriel Okwuma was ordered to compare the original and fake receipts and explain to the court the identity of his authentic
receipts and invoices which he did by saying his company’s receipt has only 4 digits while the fake one has 6-8 digits on it.
Also in his testimony the second witness in the case, Mr. Cosmas Anene of Cosmamaco Investment Nigeria told the court the name G & G ventures given as his company was not correct stressing that his firm
supplies car batteries and not pharmaceutical items.
Barrister Lawan asked the court to admit and mark those receipts as exhibits A to D which would be used as evidence in the future hearing (trial proceedings).
On his part the Defence counsel, Barrister Salihu Adamu also led the two witnesses docked
by clarifying relevant information about their businesses, receipts and contractual engagements with the Adamawa German Hospital in which Mr. Gabriel of Gabby to pharmacy confirmed that his company has business engagements .
The second witness, Mr. Anene denied in categorical terms Of any business
relationship between his company and the Adamawa German medical centre as tendered by the Prosecution.
After exhausting the testimonies of the witnesses by the prosecution and defence counsels, the court adjourned the case to the 1st of March 2023 for continuation of proceedings.
Former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara has commended President Muhammadu Buhari over the initiative to curb vote buying in the forthcoming general elections.
Hon. Dogara, who said he is not uninformed of nor unaffected by the hardship caused by the Naira redesign and swap policy, pleaded with Nigerians to endure it for these few weeks as sacrifice for a free, fair and credible election.
The former Speaker made the commendation, in a statement personally signed by him yesterday in Abuja.
He pointed out that just as injury has pains, so also recovery has pains, stressing however that if the nation has to get healed, the citizens have to endure the pains.
Dogara, in the statement, said, “I want to specifically commend President Buhari over the initiative to curb vote buying in the forthcoming general elections.
“I am not uninformed of nor unaffected by the hardship caused by the Naira redesign and swap policy, but I want to plead with Nigerians to endure it for these few weeks as a sacrifice for a free, fair and credible election.
“It’s a life lesson: just as injury has pains, so also recovery has pains. But if we have to get healed, we have to endure the pain.
“I urge us all to trudge on in the hope that these pains may truly be the birth pangs we may endure for a New Nigeria to be born.
“For those criticizing the President on the issue of timing, I want to remind them in the words of Dr King Jnr that ‘time is eternally neutral and the time is always ripe to do right.”
He continued: “Let me end by calling on CBN to ensure the redesigned notes are made available to our people but even if the CBN failed to do so, my plea to all Nigerians is to endure the pains for few more weeks for our votes to count and for us to elect a President we truly deserve.
“Let me emphatically say that the President has the sole constitutional powers over currency matters and all those busy running their mouths because they have been denied the opportunity to deploy the ill-gotten naira, they have stashed to buy votes, that they are committing treason.
“The President is absolutely right not to have given in to the greed of the few against the needs of the many. While the President is right to have acted on what he knows and in the best interest of the country, his traducers are petty, unpatriotic, treacherous and grossly irresponsible. Therefore, Mr. President deserves our thunderous applause.
“Whoever writes it, history will be kind to Mr. President if he doesn’t
give in or give up on his resolve to ensure a free, fair and credible democratic election, no matter the cost on the 25th February, 2023 as scheduled by INEC.
“Let me remind us that Nigeria is tottering on the precipice and for everyone who has ever wondered what the bottom looks like, this is it! No doubt these are moments of national peril!
“That is why we need a President who will hit the ground running from day one. If we love Nigeria, we cannot afford to foist a rookie on her as President. Tell me if any of the candidates comes close to Atiku Abubakar in terms of readiness to hit the ground running from day one. In case you don’t know him, let me attempt the impossible task of introducing him to you.
“Atiku Abubakar, the Wazirin Adamawa is a statesman like no other and a father in every sense of the word, Abba. He is a demonstrable source that gives life to everything around him. We need a steady hand not a hand that must always be steadied because only a steady hand can steady a volatile Nigeria. We need a hand on which nothing dies, not the hand that spills everything that is placed on it if we do not want our collective national destiny to be spilled.
“We need a grounded leader not a feckless gormless pretender, who has become a perfect gift to every level of comedy both locally and
internationally. “By our votes, let us send a strong and clear message to those who want to foist this tasteless joke on us that Nigeria is no Comedy Cellar or Viva Blackpool.
“ For national healing and recovery, let us vote for Atiku. To end terrorism, banditry, insurgency, kidnap for ransom and sundry acts of criminality, let us vote for Atiku. To rebuild shattered trust and strengthen national unity, let us vote for Atiku. To bring order to national chaos, let us vote for Atiku. To end religious divisions and engender religious harmony, let us vote Atiku, and to enthrone merit over mediocrity and nepotism, let us vote Atiku”.
From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The scarcity of Naira notes and petrol is part of a plot to disrupt the elections, in order to ensure an interim government takes over, the Governor of Kaduna state, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, has alleged.
Making this assertion, in a state broadcast, el-Rufai maintained that the current cash scarcity is part of efforts to ensure that Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), loses the election.
In his words “It is important for the people of Kaduna State, and indeed Nigeria, to know that, contrary to the public pronouncements and apparent good intentions, this policy was conceived and sold to the President by officials who completely lost out in the Gubernatorial and Presidential Primaries of the APC in June 2022.
“Once Asiwaju Bola Tinubu emerged as the candidate in June 2022, and subsequently did not pick one of them as his running mate, this currency redesign policy was conceived to ensure that the APC presidential candidate is deprived of what they alleged is a humongous war chest.
“They also sought to achieve any one or more of the following objectives: Create a nationwide shortage of cash so that citizens are incited to vote against APC candidates across the board resulting in massive losses for the Party in all the elections.
“Ensure that the cash crunch is so serious, along with the contrived and enduring fuel shortage existing since September 2022, that the 2023 Elections do not hold at all, leading to an Interim National Government to be led by a retired Army General.
“Sustain the climate of shortage of fuel, food and other necessities, leading to mass protests, violence and breakdown of law and order that would provide a fertile foundation for a military takeover.”
The House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on new naira re-design and naira swap policy on met with President Muhammadu Buhari, insisting a lot must be done to mitigate the suffering of Nigerians, following the naira crisis.
The committee, chaired by the House Majority Leader, Hon. Alhassan Ado Doguwa (APC, Kano) met with the President at the State House, Abuja.
The lawmakers met with the president hours after his nationwide broadcast, where he declared that N200 banknotes circulate as legal tender with the new N200, N500, and N1000 banknotes for 60 days from
February 10, 2023, to April 10 2023 when the old N200 notes cease to be legal tender.
The panel, in a statement, issued last night, by Doguwa, appreciated some of the good decisions by the President as contained in his national broadcast.
However, the panel insisted that a lot must be done to mitigate the suffering of the masses.
“ The steps taken so far by Mr. President leave much to be desired. The policy is at this time very unpopular and is capable of creating a crisis in the country that could jeopardize the upcoming general elections.
“ Mr. President may of course had good intentions in using the policy to tackle insecurity, reduce corruption
and engender the global best practice in fiscal policy management but unfortunately due to wrong timing, and the work of some criminal elements in both the CBN and the commercial banks, Nigerians are left suffering,” the panel said.
Urging Nigerians to be calm and maintain law and order, he said the parliament would continue to side with the masses and resist any policy that aggravates their sufferings.
“ We also urge Nigerians to continue to be calm and pursue their lawful businesses within the ambit of the law as we will continue to explore available opportunities to make sure that government does only what is right and in the overall interest of our people,” he said.
ANew York based Nigerian, Mr. Sam Enudi, his book “Work in Progress” provided a multidimensional approach to solving everyday life struggles.
Enudi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in an interview in Yenagoa, that his interest in seeking a way out of troubles and life challenges culminated into writing the book.
He said the intention was to offer solution to the numerous challenges faced by humanity
in the quest for survival across multiple health scenarios especially the COVID-19 pandemic.
Enudi, a Social Crusader from Delta, holds a degree in Psychology and Business Administration.
He said that the book was available on Amazon’s book platform ‘Kindle’ on Feb. 15. According to him, it covers different aspects of human struggles such as mental health, social expectations, and
financial disparity.
“This book extensively discusses self-growth and development in the context of physical, emotional, financial, and mental struggles and provides a viable panacea to overcoming them.
“Work in Progress is a thought-provoking lone hope in the struggle for peaceful human existence, guiding the reader towards a fulfilled lifestyle through minor attitude adjustments.
“I witnessed the massive loss of human lives and its attendant challenges during the pandemic.
“As one of the survivors, I was motivated to come up with an encouraging and healing outlook on life to enable the society to find strength in life challenges.
“The book will help people work on their self-development and self-growth for a selfhealing journey,” Enudi said. (NAN)
From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
In defense of his open endorsement of the Presidential candidate of Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, the Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom expressed regret that all the leading political parties in Nigeria have failed, hence the need to vote for competent individuals to lead the nation.
Ortom who spoke in Makurdi, Benue State capital during a town hall meeting for stakeholders across the 276 councils wards of the state, organized by the Inter - Party Advisory Council, (IPAC), in support of Obi - Datti presidential ambition, noted that the time has come to look beyond party lines for those with capacity to deliver.
Ortom, a member of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Integrity group and Senatorial candidate of the
party for Benue North West District said, it’s a time where we must live out sentiments and save Nigeria by looking at individuals who can lead with the fear of God and provide gainful employment for the Youth.
“We must, in this 2023, fashion a new Nigeria that will give the people equity, fairness, and justice.
“The PDP has failed Nigerians, APC has failed Nigerians, political parties have failed Nigerians, even the Labour Party has failed Nigerians. So, we must look at individuals, those people who can deliver.
“So, this is not about the party, I’m not in the Labour Party but I’m working for Peter Obi. Peter Obi will make sure that we sleep with our two eyes closed. These unnecessary killings that are going on in our country will stop.
“ I have chosen to support
him. I appreciate you all for choosing Peter Obi. Of the three presidential candidates, Peter Obi has the character, competence to lead Nigeria, “ Ortom said.
Ortom who noted that Obi has credentials, character, competence, educational backgrounds and the mettle to rescue and revamp the socioeconomic fortunes of the country, said he has confidence in him to unite the country.
He urged the people to shun all partisan sentiment and vote for Peter Obi who according to him surpasses all other candidates saying he will do the right things for the country.
Our correspondent reports that when Governor Ortom openly declared his support for Peter Obi ,the entire hall erupted in chants of Obi. It took sometime before the MC could calm the crowd.
In a three minutes virtual speech to the stakeholders, the
Labour Party candidate, Mr Peter Obi who could not make it to the State due to climatic conditions, thanked the Benue people, particularly, Governor Samuel Ortom, for queuing behind him.
Obi assured that the effort of the Benue people will not be in vain, pledging that he will ensure that Benue do not remain the same once he assumes office.
No fewer than 38 persons have died of suspected Cerebrospinal Meningitis (CSM) in Jigawa, an official confirmed.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Salisu Muazu, told newsmen in Dutse, that the state recorded a total of 398 suspected cases between October 2022 to date.
Muazu said the disease was detected in 56 political wards across seven local government areas of the state that border Niger Republic.
He said the outbreak was initially from the neighbouring Niger Republic, and later spread to the border communities in the state, through trans border activities.
The permanent secretary listed the affected areas to include Babura, Maigatari, Suletankarkar, Birniwa, Gumel, Gwiwa and Yankwashi.
“This is in spite of the fact that last year, we conducted immunisation against this disease across the state.
“But after getting the report of the outbreak, we took the samples for test in the laboratory, and we discovered it was a strange disease.
“It is not a normal CSM disease that we commonly know which is the type A, this one, we discovered that it is bacteria, known as type B.
“And immediately after results were obtained, the state government, through the ministry, swung into action, by offering free treatment, control and prevention measures in the affected areas,” he said Muazu further stated that the ministry had established an isolation centre at Gumel
General Hospital, to which affected persons are being referred to for treatment and observation.
He, however, stressed that the situation had been brought under control, as cases are being sporadically recorded.
“As of now, we record only one to two cases per day. In fact,
there are some days that passed without recording a single case, as the last was recorded on Saturday,” he said.
The permanent secretary commended UNICEF, WHO and NCDC for their support to the ministry in tackling the outbreak.
(NAN)
From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi
The Governorship Candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Benue State, Rev Fr. Hyacinth Iormem Alia has promised to provide incentives and grants to farmers to boost rice production in the state if he emerges Governor.
Fr. Alia made the promise during APC Governorship campaign tour to Obagaji and Ogbokpo in Agatu and Apa local government areas of Benue State.
He acknowledged the fact that the Agatu and Apa People are largely economically dependent on farming, but insecurity has halted farming activities in many areas.
The clergy man however, promised to end insecurity and give priority attention to timely supply of subsidized farm inputs especially fertilizer and quality seeds to farmers to boost their farm produce.
He also assured the people of his willingness to provide the basic social amenities critical to human existence and social growth such as good roads, housing, water, power and job creation.
The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu
Jaji Sambo has called for the unbundling of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), in line with the vision and objectives of Government's current reforms in the transportation sector.
Sambo noted that as it is presently constituted, the Nigerian railway Corporation (NRC) cannot operate optimally, thus necessary reforms and unbundling have become imperative.
The Minister who was addressing the management team of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), led on a visit to him by the CEO, Dr. Armstrong Takang, charged MOFI to drive the unbundling of the NRC to make it more
economically viable while offering world class services to Nigerians.
"One of the things I will like to see as the Minister of Transportation, through MOFI is the unbundling of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC). There is a Committee set up to unbundle NRC and I will urge you to work with the existing Committee”, he said.
The Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) was incorporated under the provisions of Sections 2 and 3 of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) Act of 1959 as an asset holding company under the Federal Ministry of Finance. MOFI is the sole manager of all Federal Government investment interests, estates, easement and rights.
The Minister, who made reference to the reforms implemented in the ports and the benefits these have brought, noted that such should be carried out in railway sector.
Sambo pointed out that the issue of encroachment on railway property will soon be a thing of the past as "MOFI was berthed for a specific reason and that reason is for the Federal Government to take control of its assets and create optimum value for these assets".
In his contribution, the Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, extolled the capabilities of the Managing Director, MOFI, Dr. Armstrong, saying he has full confidence that the MOFI team will deliver on the job.
Also speaking, the Permanent
Secretary, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, noted that the MOFI team being made up of young and intelligent people has satisfied the yearning of Nigerians to have young people in positions of responsibility. She assured the MOFI team of the cooperation of the Ministry in their assignment.
Speaking earlier, the Chief Executive Officer, MOFI, Dr. Armstrong Takang, stated that the visit was to discuss how to create a more effective and efficient partnership between MOFI and the Ministry of Transportation.
Takang said the areas that have been identified for collaboration with the Ministry of Transportation included enumerating and valuing the Nigerian Railway Corporation to ensure that its value is captured in line with the current realities.
The Commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Major General Ibrahim Manu Yusuf has said that the Reuters report of allegations of gross human rights infractions by the Military in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East adding that the Nigerian Military deserves commendation and not condemnation or distraction.
Testifying before the Hon. Justice Abdu Aboki led Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter Insurgency Operations in the North East (SIIP-NE), Yusuf, who is the former General Officer Commanding (GOC) 7 Division Maiduguri, said those allegations contained in the news report are weighty, arguing that the military operates in a community where it interacts with different categories of stakeholders including personnel of United Nation Agencies who could have noticed and reported any human rights violations from the onset.
Continuing, the Commandant of the NDA said the people in the communities will also not keep quiet and watch such atrocities happen without hinting the appropriate authorities. “We have had to answer questions simply because we closed down markets following intelligence information we got on planned
attacks by insurgents, if this can happen, do you think such alleged crimes reported by Reuters will go unnoticed without any questioning before now?” he asked.
He noted that the Military is a regimented institution that pays particular attention to every detail in relating with people “when you throw away the rule of law, you have lost it, you cannot win the hearts and minds of the people you are protecting, they will also not trust you, and it will be difficult for you to operate in their territory”.
Expressing disappointment in the Reuters report, the army officer, said it is unimaginable for anyone to think that the military can kill rescued children for any reason, even as he pointed out that the military has celebrated the naming ceremony of children fathered by Boko Haram
According to him, “We have on our own provided rams and bought clothes for the celebration of naming ceremonies of children of Boko Haram born in our custody, and some of these children were named after us as a way of expressing excitement over our
From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
Acounter terrorism and security expert, Ahmed Saleh has declared that with a political will, the seemingly perennial nation's security challenges can be put to an end within two weeks.
Saleh, who asserted this in Kaduna during an investiture of the 16th Branch Chairman of the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria, also noted that international conspiracy is also a factor fuels the lingering insecurity in the country.
He, however, said that the nation is blessed with abundant resources that if properly channeled would solve the insecurity challenges confronting the nation within a period of a fortnight.
Saleh, who is also a Forensic Scientist and Public Security Analyst said: " With the amount of intelligence we have, and resources at our disposal; both intelligence and the uniform security services, I can assure you that if there is a political will to solve the problem of
goodwill.
“If we want to exterminate them, we would have done so by killing the pregnant women even before they gave birth, we won’t have gone through the headache of conducting the said abortions”.
Describing the allegations as painful and irrational, the Commandant said no military formation keeps women and children when they are rescued; they are immediately handed over to the camps, if you keep them, they become a threat and distraction to you.
On his part, the Solicitor General and Permanent Secretary Borno State Ministry of Justice Barr. Garba Musa Chibok, who earlier appeared before the 7-man panel, said it is very unreasonable for anyone to fabricate stories that are baseless.
He challenged Justice Abdu Aboki (rtd) led panel to invite Reuters for questioning, saying Borno State as at 2013 (the period referred to in the Reuters report) was in turmoil, people were busy running for their lives and seeking hiding places from the insurgents while the military was bothered about neutralizing
the terrorists.
On the issue of the massacre of children, the Solicitor General also debunked the allegation saying: “I am from Chibok and I am seriously affected by this problem, all the children rescued from the frontline are alive, I know them some of them are my relations, you can call
insecurity bedeviling this country, two weeks is too much to end insecurity in the country.
" Sincerely, we have men and women from these security services that are patriotic and ready to lay down their lives in the service of their father's land, just to ensure that their fellow citizens can sleep with their two eyes closed confidently and conveniently."
While speaking, he further explained that conspiracy of silence and political conspiracy are also key players the insecurity in the country, adding that these conspiracies are aimed at making the country ungovernable.
He therefore urged the government to strengthen intelligence agencies in the country on their mandates of foreign and counterintelligence operations.
According to him, the Intelligence Agency is an equivalent of CIA in Nigeria, which he opined that the agency and other sister agencies should be properly utilised, especially in the area of intelligence gathering.
them to come here and talk to you.
“None of them was killed; some of the girls released at that time came with one baby or more. Where did Reuters see those ones that they claim have been killed? Please invite them, let them come here and tell us”, he appealed.
From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, has, hailed the signing of a bilateral agreement between Nigeria and United States of America, USA, for the repatriation of $954,807.40 assets recovered from the late Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, to the people of Bayelsa State. The commendation was contained in a statement signed by the Executive Director, Rev David Ugolor, and made available to the media in Kaduna yesterday.
ANEEJ while lauding the agreement as a welcomed development disclosed that ANEEJ will work with the Bayelsa State NGOs Forum, BANGOF, on how the recovered loot will be utilized and in what areas that the people in the State would benefit.
According to ANEEJ, Alamieyeseigha and various companies related to him were
convicted in Nigeria for related criminal conduct, and based on the judgment of the US court, and the current assets were forfeited because of corruption, abuse of public office, money laundering and other illegal acts in violation of Nigerian and US law. Both the Nigerian government and the government of Bayelsa State on 16th February 2023 held a public engagement to formally announce the repatriation of the asset.
The statement reads in part, “The statement reads in part “ Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, has welcomed the signing of bilateral agreement between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the United States of America for the repatriation of $954,807.40 assets recovered from the former governor of Bayelsa State, Mr. Diepreye Solomon Peter Alamieyeseigha, for the benefit of Bayelsa people.
“ANEEJ will work closely with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Bayelsa State government, and
the United States Government to monitor the use of the recovered loot to ensure that the poor who are the victims of corruption, get the desired benefit.
“We have worked with the Bayelsa State NGOs Forum (BANGOF) to organize stakeholders’ meetings in the past where it was decided that the money should be channeled to improving primary health care facilities in the state as enshrined in the UNCAC and Global Forum on Asset Recovery (GFAR) principles. This is against the initial proposal for the building of Judges quarters initially proposed by the previous administration in the State. We are glad that the effort has yielded the expected result.
“We commend the Nigerian government through the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice for the effort to bring this recovery to reality following many years of court action and negation between the Nigerian government and the US government.”
With the Supreme Court order on new naira policy and President Buhari's approval of recirculation of only N200 notes, the to rule of law may have suffered casualty, Ojekeme Vivian writes.
The enormous pains the new naira swap policy of the federal government have subjected Nigerians to was gradually degenerating into major crisis across the country, just before President Muhammadu Buhari's Thursday nationwide broadcast when he gave approval for the return of the N200 notes as legal tender.
Analysts had warned of impending anarchy in the country, if the federal government fails to act swiftly in the direction of assuaging the hardships facing citizens.
It has been unanimously agreed by analysts that the motive behind the policy may be in the best interest of majority of Nigerian but they have placed a question mark on challenges citizens have been made to go through as the policy has had adverse effects on their businesses and other means of livelihood.
Last week, three states, Kaduna, Zamfara and Kogi approached the Supreme Court to halt the policy, insisting that it had brought untold hardship on the people.
When the case came up before the apex court on February 8, 2023, the court made an order halting the policy but the federal government, which is the sole defendant in the matter, failed to obey the order to resort to the use of the old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, that is implementing the policy hid under the fact that it was not joined as a party in the suit before the apex court and went ahead with the implementation.
Also, the federal government justified its refusal to obey the order when it filed a preliminary objection against the suit on the ground that the states that approached the court lacked the legal rights to do so.
The argument canvassed is that the policy is not an issue of disputes between the federal government and the states bothering on constitutional interpretation, therefore the governors lack the locus standi to drag the nation's government to court on the matter.
Consequently, the question on the lips of many Nigerians is; has the highest Court of the land becomes a lame dog that could bark but can't bite?
One would have expected that the apex court would come down heavily on the FG for failure to obey it's order but the reverse was the case when the case came up again on February 15.
Many Nigerians were hoping that the Supreme Court would help end the state of confusion that have characterised the new naira regime but their hope was dashed, when on 14, Feb, the CBN, announced that there was no extension
of the February 10 deadline of the naira swap policy and declared that the notes have ceased to be legal tender.
Analysts have posited that looking at Section 14 (2) (b) of the Constitution, which tasks the government with the security and welfare of the people, the policy has to be reconsidered.
Specifically, Section 287 of the constitution which the president, governors, ministers and legislators swore to uphold has imposed a binding duty on all authorities and persons to obey the judgments of the courts as flagrant disobedience to court orders constitutes the greatest threat to the rule of law.
When government decides to disobey the court, they are not only disobeying the constitution but also disrupting the balance of a constitutional democracy, some analysts have argued.
The CBN governor’s ‘no extension of deadline’ position has raised a lot of dust and questions on the place of rule of law in the nation's democracy and governance.system..
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana, said the Supreme Court order must be obeyed.
According to the SAN, the apex bank has a responsibility to direct banks to comply with the injunction, adding that the government was not really ready to comply with the order.
“In a country where the rule of law operates, once the Supreme Court has determined a matter or given an order, it is expected that all and sundry everybody will comply with the order."
Another senior lawyer, Maxwell Gorge, opined that the CBN action constituted a contempt of court and supposed to be in jail.
He maintained that CBN's position of not being a party to the suit holds no water, adding that one is bound by the injunction until the order is set aside.
" The action of the CBN is contemptuous. When a certain decision of a court irks you, the law permits you to go back and ask the court to set it aside, not to discountenance it entirely."
Also speaking is Almed Raji, SAN. In his opinion, he maintained that Apex bank should present it's self as lawless agency. It is bound to respect the supremacy of the Supreme court and abide by its order untill vacated.
“The Supreme Court is the highest court of the land. Central Bank should not give a negative impression of being a lawless body."
A lawyer and activist, Benson Brown, berated the present administration, describing it as increasingly being notorious in disregarding court orders.
He was particularly concerned on its implications and the sustainability of the nascent democracy.
"Nothing can justify the current situation where the federal government would wilfully disregard court orders, and thus setting bad examples for the states to follow. It has dire implications for the sustenance of our democracy," he said.
Also weighing in on the issue, a lawyer and public affairs analyst, Agbasiere Iheatu, stated that the country is drifting towards dictatorship and to curtail this, someone has to be held responsible.
He suggested judicial activism to curb the growing disturbing trend.
“There is a need for judicial activism such as punishing heads of agencies that flout court orders. The disrespect for courts does not naturally portray the country well, and does not also portray them as a respecter of human rights, we are fast drifting to the era of authoritarianism, should things continue like that” he noted.
Legal experts have insisted that the judiciary must rise up to the occasion by
ensuring that there are punishments for disobeying court orders to help serve as a deterrent to others.
If the law and judgement of the courts are continually disobeyed, it means that the essence of the rule of law has been defeated, they said.
At the last adjourned date, the Supreme Court said its February 8 order stopping the federal government and its agencies from enforcing the February 10 deadline for the use of old 200, 500 and 1000 naira notes still stands.
The apex court re-iterated its order following complaint by lawyer to Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara states, Abdulhakeem Mustapha (SAN) that the Fed Govt and its agencies have failed to comply with the order and have allegedly directed the rejection of the old notes.
During the proceedings, the court joined nine more states as parties in the suit challenging legality of the naira swap policy of the federal government.
In its ruling, a seven-member panel, led by Justice John Okoro, the apex court joined the attorneys-general of Katsina, Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, Ekiti, Cross River and Sokoto States as co-plaintiffs, while the attorneys-general of Edo and Bayelsa states were joined as co-respondents.
The court has however, fixed hearing of the case to February 22.
The court ordered the original plaintiffs and the respondent, the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice to amend the processes already filed to reflect the new parties.
Meantime, the court has adjourned till Feb 22, to consolidate all the cases and probably hear and determine it, as other parties joined in the matter.
However, it warned the parties, that having submitted the matter for adjudication, they are not to take any action that would affect the subject matter of the litigation.
Fighting against corruption globally is not an easy task. History has shown that those charged with the responsibility are faced with several mountains of troubles, writes
Tobias Lengnan DapamRecently, two separate courts have called for the arrest of the Chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, for allegedly disobeying court orders.
The courts also directed the InspectorGeneral of Police, Usman Baba, to effect Bawa’s arrest and remand him in Kuje prison until he purges himself of the contempt.
Justice R.O. Ayoola of the Kogi State High Court, in his judgment, granted the application for committal to prison of the EFCC chairman for disobeying a court ruling delivered on November 30, 2022, wherein the EFCC chairman was directed to produce the applicant in the case, Ali Bello.
Bello had dragged Bawa to court for arresting and detaining him illegally, with the court ruling in his favour, only for the EFCC to arraign him for alleged money laundering three days after the ruling.
The EFCC’s applications for setting aside and stay of execution of the ruling were refused for want of merit.
The court had, in Form 49, Order IX, Rule 13, marked, ‘HCL/697M/2022’ and titled, ‘Notice to Show Cause Why Order of Committal Should not be Made,’ asked the EFCC chairman to appear before it on January 18, 2022 to explain why he should not be jailed for flouting the order given on December 12, 2022 in a case filed by Ali Bello against the EFCC and Bawa, as the 1st and 2nd respondents, respectively.
The court ordered that the EFCC and Bawa be served the motion of notice together with Form 49 by substituted means.
Similarly, Bawa, was again sentenced by Justice Chizoba Oji of the Federal High Court, Maitama, Abuja, over the failure of the Commission to obey a court order issued on November 21, 2018, to return a Range Rover and the sum of N40, 000,000.00 belonging to a defendant in a case.
The defendant is a former Director of Operations at the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), Air Vice Marshal (AVM) Rufus Adeniyi Ojuawo.
Ojuawo was arraigned on a two-count charge before Justice Muawiyah Baba Idris of the High Court of the FCT in Nyanya in 2016.
He had allegedly received N40 million and a Range Rover Sport (Supercharged) from one Hima Aboubakar of Societe D’Equipment Internationaux Nigeria Limited.
Ojuawo’s Counsel , Mr. R.N. Ojabo, had drawn the attention of the court to the fact that the EFCC had not complied with the order to return both the vehicle and the said amount.
The judgment read by Justice Chizoba reads: ” The Chairman Economic and Financial Crimes Commission is in contempt of the orders of this honourable court made on November 21st 2018 directing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Abuja to return to the applicant his Range Rover (Super charge) and the sum of N40, 000,000.00 (Forty Million Naira).
“Having continued wilfully in disobedience to the order of this court, he
should be committed to prison
“We are waiting for them. We don’t
of the state assembly.
Another activist, Mrs Funmilayo Ajayi of the Community Women Initiative, added: “All we are telling him is obey our courts, let us preserve the integrity of our
“If the head of a frontline anticorruption agency is being controlled by a few people in the political space, and he is breaking the law with impunity, it portends danger for our democratic system and the wellbeing of the society at large.”
But Abdulrasheed Bawa, chairman, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), said on Tuesday that those under probe by the commission were orchestrating the call for his sack.
Bawa said at a news conference in Abuja in reaction to what he termed “sponsored campaign of calumny against him by a civil society
Bawa, who spoke through Wilson Uwujaren, the EFCC’s image maker, said he would not be distracted by the antics of
submitted a petition to the Lagos State House of Assembly, as their protest for removal of the EFCC Chairman, Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa entered day four.
The coalition of CSOs, which began a weeklong protest in Ikeja on Sunday, on Tuesday took the protest to the assembly and submitted a petition against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) boss.
They alleged that the EFCC under Bawa had politicised operations and had perchant for disobeying lawful court orders and infringement on human rights.
The coalition, comprising scores of anti corruption CSOs on Sunday started daily protests at Ikeja, calling for the sack of the EFCC chairman.
The activists, who marched through the streets of Ikeja on Tuesday and converged on the Lagos state house of assembly, Alausa, noted that the majority of Nigerians were intelligent people, who could easily differentiate between a genuine cause by the EFCC and sponsored ones.
Vowing not to be intimidated, the protesters added that there was no going back on the call for Bawa’s removal.
A leader of the coalition and Director, Activists for Good Governance, Mr Declan Ihekaire, alleged that the activists had uncovered plans by some supposed CSOs to discredit the coalition’s genuine cause.
Transparency and Accountability Group, Mr Ayodeji Ologun, who spoke shortly after protesters arrived at the assembly, said that EFCCshould be seen to respect court orders, respect the rule of law and believe in fair hearing.
Ologun said: “What we are agitating against is his disobedience of the courts and the brazen politicisation of the EFCC.
“The IGP should immediately effect his arrest in line with the court ruling.
“Before Bawa can appeal against a court order sending him to prison, he must obey the order first. This is settled in law.
“Recently, the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, directed ASUU to first comply with an order of the National Industrial Court ( NIC) directing them to suspend their strike before their appeal could be heard.
“Also, just last week, the EFCC itself arrested a senator for refusing to go to prison after he was sent there by the Federal High Court. This is despite his appeal against his sentence.”
“Appeal or no appeal, Bawa must report to Kuje prison. His appeal can’t be heard until he complies with the valid court ruling sending him to prison.”
He disclosed that the CSO leaders were at the assembly to submit a petition on Bawa’s disobedience of court orders and the politicisation of the EFCC to the National Assembly through the Speaker
According to him, the group has through press conferences and street protests called for his sack over alleged disobedience of court orders.
He said that the campaign of calumny would fail and urged the public to disregard the group.
“Contrary to these claims, the EFCC wishes to alert the public that this group has no interest in the fight against corruption. Their allusion to disobedience of court orders by the EFCC chairman is an alibi to manipulate facts around judicial pronouncements and processes to pitch the public against the commission.
“Information available to the commission indicates that the group is sponsored by persons under investigation by the commission.
“And have been mobilised and mandated by their paymaster to embarrass the person of the chairman through choreographed street protests across the country, until he is removed from office,” he said.
Bawa explained that the group found its voice after the EFCC launched an investigation into the mindless looting of the treasury of one of the states in the country.
The EFCC boss said the same group had shouted that the commission lacked the power to investigate the theft of the state’s resources.
“EFCC appeals to the public to disregard the campaign by this group as they do not represent the genuine interest of millions of Nigerians who are desirous of seeing progress in the fight against corruption.
“We want to assure Nigerians that the EFCC will not be distracted by this campaign of calumny as we believe that this agenda will fail.
“It is also important to reassure Nigerians and all stakeholders that the commission has never, and will not take any step to undermine the judiciary.
“
“We are waiting for them. We don’t expect them to fold their arms. But no amount of falsehood can cover the truth. “We have been on this struggle for close to a week now.
No fewer than 18 presidential candidates would be listed on the ballot paper next Saturday when Nigerians of voting age are expected to throng out in their numbers and cast their votes for the nation’s fifth president since the return of civilian rule in1999.
But many Nigerians are of the belief that the entry on the ballot papers not withstanding, the presidential contest remains a three-horse race among the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar; the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Bola Tinubu and Labour Party’s (LP) Peter Obi.
Yet, others have insisted that it’s a fourhorse race with the inclusion of New Nigeria Peoples Party’s (NNPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso as one of the frontliners in the contest. With exactly one week to the Presidential and National Assembly elections slated for February 25, those claims and counter claims on the popularity of the individual candidates have not abated.
The stage, however, seems set for the successful conduct of the elections, barring any last meeting change in plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Although eighteen registered political parties are fielding candidates for the elections, not more than four or five of the parties are well known to the electorate who would be making a choice on the D-Day.
For example, in the case of the presidential election, during which the successor of President Muhammadu Buhari will be elected, only about four of the parties’ presidential candidates are believed to be on ground. Others are seen more or less like pretenders in the race.
By the time the names of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Peter Gregory Obi of the Labour Party, LP, and Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party, NNPP are mentioned, a lot of people will find it difficult to name the remaining fourteen presidential candidates and their parties.
Some analysts are of view that the Saturday, February 25 presidential election is actually a race between Tinubu, Atiku, Obi and possibly Kwankwaso, while other presidential candidates are perceived to be contesting the nation’s number political office for the fun of it.
The trio of Tinubu, Atiku, Obi and Kwankwaso have been engaged in rigourous campaigns , which have taken them round most all the states of the federation, while not much is heard about the campaign activities of the other candidates.
The candidates of APC, PDP, LP and NNPP have also made their ambitions felt loudly in the media, particularly in the electronic media as well as the social media.
The APC, PDP and LP have particularly made their impact felt in the media, both
in the cities, towns, villages and hamlets. Their billboards, flyers and hand bills are found everywhere.
They have actually demonstrated their readiness for the election, according to some politics watchers.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, which is, constitutionally saddled with the task of conducting the elections, has repeatedly told Nigerians and others that they are ready for the polls.
The Prof Mahmood Yakubu -led Commission has severally assured that it is not contemplating any form of postponement of the elections.
The INEC Chairman recently declared that it is neither contemplating any adjustment to the timetable of the forthcoming general election nor the postponement of the election.
The Commission specifically assured that the Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday 25th February 2023 while Governorship and State Assembly elections will hold two weeks later on Saturday 11th March 2023.
The Chairman of INEC, Prof Yakubu gave the assurance during the
We will continue to take every step to protect the sanctity of the votes cast by citizens and to deal with infractions, including the arrest and prosecution of persons that attempt to perpetuate illegality at Polling Units on Election Day, be they underaged voters or vote buyers
presentation of national register of voters to the political parties in Abuja.
Yakubu pointed out that the repeated assurance by the security agencies for the adequate protection of INEC personnel, materials and processes also reinforced the commission’s determination to proceed with the elections.
The 2023 General Election, he vowed, will hold as scheduled, stating that any report to the contrary is not the official position of the Commission.
According to the INEC Chairman, “In short, at no time in the recent history of the Commission has so much of the forward planning and implementation been accomplished days ahead of a General Election.
“Therefore, the Commission is not contemplating any adjustment to the election timetable, let alone the postponement of the General Election. “For the avoidance of doubt, the Presidential and National Assembly elections will hold on Saturday 25th February 2023 while Governorship and State Assembly elections will hold two weeks later on Saturday 11th March 2023.
“The repeated assurance by the security agencies for the adequate protection of our personnel, materials and processes also reinforces our determination to proceed.
“The 2023 General Election will hold as scheduled. Any report to the contrary is not the official position of the Commission”, he declared.
Continuing, Prof Yakubu said, “As a further affirmation of the Commission’s readiness to conduct the 2023 General Election as scheduled, the final register of voters has been compiled.
Prof Yakubu thus reiterated INEC’s commitment to transparent, credible and inclusive 2023 General Election.
“We will continue to take every step to protect the sanctity of the votes cast by citizens and to deal with infractions, including the arrest and prosecution of persons that attempt to perpetuate
illegality at Polling Units on Election Day, be they underaged voters or vote buyers”, he assured concretely.
The Commission, the Chairman revealed, was mobilising about 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats for the deployment of personnel and materials to 176,846 polling units spread across 8,809 Registration Areas (or electoral Wards) in 774 Local Government Areas nationwide.
Similarly, the Chairman, Board of Electoral Institute (BEI) of INEC, Prof Abdullahi Abdu Zuru equally assured that assurance the Commission is fully ready for the 2023 general election, assuring that every valid vote will count. Prof Abdu Zuru, who gave the assurance in Abuja at the training of party agents by the commission, reiterated that the will of the people will prevail in the forthcoming general elections.
According to Prof Zuru, “The Commission is determined to ensure that every valid vote will count, the will of the people will prevail, and the 2023 General Election will be free, fair, credible, inclusive, transparent and verifiable.
“Therefore, be reassured that we are indeed very ready for the 2023 General Election”, he said.
Continuing, the Chairman of BEI added, “May I at this juncture, reiterate that the Commission is committed to the deployment of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voter verification, authentication and accreditation.
Analysts say with all the steps so far taken and arrangements made by the political parties and their candidates on one hand as well as INEC and the security agencies on the other hand, it is expected that Nigeria will hold a peaceful, credible and transparent elections that will be generally acceptable to all come February 25 and March 11.
The outcome of the February 25 polls will answer the question whether the race is a four-horse or three-horse race.
POLITICS
Tinubu towers head, shoulder above other candidates -Arewa group
Speaking in Abuja during a media parley to discuss issues around the 2023 presidential election, National Convener of Arewa New Agenda, Senator Ahmad Abubakar MoAllahyidi, challenged other contestants in the election to show what they have done rather than telling what they will do if elected into office.
He said with regards to infrastructural development, on assumption of office, Tinubu took on the gory sight of Lagos environment occasion by pollution from different sectors, by setting up the 40year development plan which has been followed diligently
over the years culminating in the on-going transformation of Lagos.
rewa New Agenda (ANA) has said the Presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu towers heads and shoulders above all other presidential candidates in other political parties, given his remarkable accomplishment as both Lagos governor and political mentor.According to him, "He set up the mechanism for revenue generation that has moved Lagos from a 600 million Naira economy to over 50 billion and counting. He engineered the Inner-city metro line project that is currently moving commuters within the metropolis.
"He frontally set to combat the situation by creating The Ministry of physical planning to combat flooding and coordinate waste management disposal. He floated the free medical policy for children below 18 and adults over 65 years with heavily subsidized drugs for others".
Speaking further, the ANA Convener said Tinubu's administration provided the Lekki corridor as a fastgrowing real estate, making it one of the wonders of urban renewal that has become a model in Nigeria by producing 500 units of houses yearly.
"Under him, as Governor of
Lagos State he pioneered the development of modern water transportation and BRT. The independent power project was a trail blazing endeavor that contributed 270 megawatts into the national grid Economic development.
"Internal revenue generation is the strongest base for sustainability of any State; as Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; *Set up the mechanism for revenue generation that has moved Lagos from a 600 million Naira economy to over 50 billion Naira and counting", he added.
Speaking against other aspirants whom he accused of swinging from one party to the other, MoAllahyidi said his opponents swing with the tide; drifting as the current takes them. "If it is rosy today in one party you find them there, as soon as it becomes hot, they leave and nest in the next area of comfort", he said.
He said though ANA is an apolitical association, it chose to support the APC candidate
because of its conviction that Tinubu is on record as a person who sees service as a call to duty, by delegating to and trusting persons around him with responsibilities that enables them grow, strengthen internal capacities to become assets to the nation.
The Joint Front of Civil Society Organization of Nigeria (JFCSON) has frowned at the continued support by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the cashless and naira redesign policy brought by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which it said is causing pain and widespread anger among Nigerians.
In a statement signed by its National President, Barnabas Bala Yock, JFCSON questioned the rationale for the open support for the unpopular policy by elements of the PDP, including its Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar.
According to him, "We find it quite suspicious that at a time when even governors of states controlled by the All Progressives Congress are joining the public outcry against the pains and confusion caused by the CBN’s cashless policy, PDP, supposedly the main opposition party, is
totally and openly in support of the policy.
"We recall that the PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar was the first to declare support for the policy and other PDP big names including state governors have now joined him
"The PDP support for the anti-people policy that is wreaking families and communities across the country and potentially leading to greater unrest, was bursted with the application by the Governors of Bayelsa and Edo, all PDP states, to be joined as defendants against the suit filed by mainly APC governors challenging it at the Supreme Court.
"This, we understand, was the main reason hearing in the case was adjourned to allow time to comply with proper procedure.
"It becomes even more suspicious that most of the PDP governments that are backing the policy are currently battling the consequences of the anger
caused by the same policy.
"It therefore appears that the PDP is in some way connected to the alleged sinister device to use the already escalating cash crisis to create an environment that would hinder the conduct of elections in the country.
"It is becoming clearer that CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele who is a product of the PDP inherited by the current APC government is in a grand plot with his colleagues in the PDP and some privileged forces in the administration to scuttle the elections and smooth handover for their personal dubious interests.
"While we restate our commitment to challenge, resist and reject any such move under whatever pretext, we alert the nation and the global community as to where blame would ultimately lie in the event of a rapture in the system."
call to account all elements of treachery seeking elections to whatever office.
Chairman of the party, Yusuf Mamman Dantalle, said after evaluating the democratic credentials of Atiku Abubakar and Ifeanyi Okowa, APM considers it appropriate in national interest to adopt them for president and vice president in the forthcoming election.
According to him, "AtikuOkowe ticket is the best and the only presidential ticket to rescue the nation that has been drifting to anarchy.
"Nigeria needs a competent, experienced, visionary, resourceful and dynamic leader to resolve its multifarious challenges and chart a new course for the nation in next four years.
"APM has confidence in the leadership of Atiku-Okowa and will collapse its structures nationwide to campaign for their presidential ticket."
Speaking further, Dantalle said the party will however, contest other elective positions, including Senate, House of Representatives, Governorship and State House of Assembly seats.
He said APM presented credible candidates for these positions and is sure of victory in governorship and legislative seats.
"National interest supersedes partisan politics. We must join hands to rebuild our beloved nation and make Nigeria great again.
The party urges Nigerians to come out en masse and vote for PDP's presidential candidate and his running mate, Atiku and Okowa. The umbrella symbol of the party is big enough to accommodate fellow compatriots and turnaround the destiny of the nation", he said.
“To be the market place of ideas and the leading player in the industry by putting the people first, upholding the truth, maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards while delivering value to our stakeholders”
Chief Operating Officer Hameed M. Bello, PhD Manager, administration Hassan Hammanyaji Editor (A g) Egena Sunday Ode“To be a reputable, profitable, innovative and technologically reliant media company offering world class services and products”
atrick UGAMA
The noun phrase, ‘status quo,’ has become a major bone of contention among political gladiators in Nigeria of late, especially in the wake of the February 8 ruling of the Supreme Court which asked both parties in the dispute over the new Naira denominations introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, with the backing of President Muhammadu Buhari, to return to the status quo, pending determination of the substantive suit on February 15. Ever since then, there has been intense public debate as to what the status quo mentioned by the Supreme Court actually refers to.
Three states of Kaduna, Kogi and Zamfara had on February 6, approached the Supreme Court to halt the implementation of the newly introduced N1, 000, N500, and N200 denominations of the currency by the CBN. On February 15 when the apex Court was to give a verdict, more states had filed to be joined in the suit either as plaintiffs or as defendants, which prompted the Supreme Court to defer judgment till February 22, just three days before commencement of the general election on February 25.
The Latin stātus quō ante (“the way things were before”), derived possibly from stātus quō ante bellum (“the way things were before the war) is usually cited by the law courts to order parties in a dispute seeking court’s adjudication to return to the state of things as they were before the emergence of the disputed matter, or to return to a preexisting state of affairs. Status quo ante, also literally means “the status before”, referring to the state of affairs that existed previously.
In the sociological sense, the status quo refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. With regard to policy debate, it means how conditions are, contrasted with a possible change. For example: “The countries are now trying to maintain the status quo with regard to their
nuclear arsenals.” To maintain the status quo could also mean to keep things the way they presently are.
Following the confusion in respect of the correct position on the phrase, our newsroom, just as in many political circles out there, have been abuzz with hot debates in trying to deconstruct what the status quo in this context really means. Some argued that status quo is the pre existing state of affairs before the CBN introduced the new Naira, while others insisted it was the way things were after the introduction of the new Naira by the CBN. The positions canvassed by some states like Kaduna and Jigawa, who have ordered citizens to continue to use the old Naira notes as legal tender, were buoyed by their conviction that the status quo referred to by the Supreme Court meant to return to the state of affairs before the advent of the new Naira policy. Conversely, the insistence of the CBN and the FG to stand by the new notes is not unconnected to their belief in the status quo as the state of affairs before the litigation by the governors at the Supreme Court. In other words, their status quo means a return to the new notes. This has been the bone of contention which has continuously pitched the FG against some states and their governors.
At our own end, we have been curious in locating the correct position of status quo in this context. We believe that the subject is not just tangential, but is inextricably interwoven, and integral to the core of the Supreme Court order. The opinions of legal experts can also be instrumental in locating the contextual status quo.
We believe that if all parties in the dispute can come to a common understanding, and indeed agreement as to the correct position of the status quo, it will help to douse the tension, and address the growing confusion as to what the status quo in this matter truly is.
The APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, remarked in one of his campaign tours, that, “we are in a revolution.” All others, including the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi, also hold the same view. No doubt, Peter Obi’s slogan of “Take Back Nigeria”, is totally an inclination towards a departure from the old ways to one of hope and prosperity for the citizens, which itself is revolutionary.
The word ‘revolution’ always seems anathema, especially in government cycles. It is often viewed with negative cynicism by the proponents. Yet, in history, it has always taken revolutionary actions for nations to become repositioned, redeemed, and set on progressive and enviable paths. Why then does the word attract such reservations, resentments and fear of prepositions? Perhaps, it remains unclear to many that revolutions have gone past what it was decades back, when upheavals, fights, wars, bloodshed and other negativities characterized it. The changed and ever changing times makes it very inauspicious to prescribe nor adopt measures that are becoming confined to the dustbin of history. Today’s digital age presupposes that more subtle measures be applied towards getting desired results. And, this is the standpoint upon which it has become absolutely necessary to revolutionize Nigeria, knowing too well that the citizens’ mindsets remain the fulcrum upon which such revolutionary acts revolve.
Generally, revolution means a turn around. In the fields of history and political science, a revolution is a radical change in the established order, usually the established government and social institutions. Jack A. Goldstone, an American sociologist, political scientist and historian, stated in his book, Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction, that, ‘Revolutions have both structural and transient causes. Structural causes are long-term and large-scale trends that undermine existing social institutions and relationships, and Transient causes are contingent events, or actions by particular individuals or groups, that reveal the impact of longer-term trends and often galvanize revolutionary oppositions to take further action.’
No doubts, the above clearly depicts the fact that Nigeria had long been overdue for ‘radical changes in its order’. Narrations of the Nigerian state of affairs since independence is heart wrenching. The empirical visualizations that gave tulip to the possibility of her becoming the giant of Africa signals from the abundance of human and natural resources. However, mismanagement took an unprecedented toll, to the extent of not only declining in expected growth and development, but now being taunted as the world capital of poverty, crime and insecurity. Nigeria’s dip is so deep that one can only concur to Chinua Achebe of blessed memory, that, “there was a country.” How we remained in the precarious situation we found ourselves to the extent of becoming a mockery and shame in the comity of nations is unimaginable. Even now, rather than abating, it appears heading to an all time worst situation, with the political class failing to realize the necessity for leadership recalibrations as revealed in their usual empowering of moneybags in the general elections, especially at the presidential level.
Since revolution in its simplest form means a turn around, everything needs to be turned around for the sleeping giant inside Nigeria to be awakened and the stage for her greatness set. To start with, our value system needs urgent redirections. The value system of a group of people is the set of beliefs and attitudes that they all share. Over the years, we have lost the core elements in our blood streams that made us unique as Africans. We degenerated to a society where anything goes, because we yielded to acculturations that neither defined nor fit our well-being as people of black race and cultures. Rather, we tolerated value systems that are inconsistent, incoherent and unbefitting. How do we explain the fact that honour and respect, which used to be ‘common’ with the black race, is now almost a hard find?
The call for revolution is far from being orthodox. It is simply a call to look inwards rather than outwards. It’s a call to understand that a country’s greatness is tied to the perceptions and inputs of her citizens themselves. It’s a call to know the truth, that nothing works except people make them work. It’s a call to remind everyone that, what is now needed more than ever before, is a situation where the Together Everyone Achieves More (TEAM) mentality must take deep root. Call for the revolution of Nigeria is one that seeks to get everyone to be on their toes for the right things at the right times, without waiting to be pushed, reminded or even told. The call for revolution is a call to react appropriately to ensure the tilting of the political leadership of the country away from the usual self-services to one of servitude, where the people remain the focal point. It is a call to reject the blackmail that
becoming the country’s leader is on the basis of ambitions that do not align with the cravings of the majority of Nigerians. How do we contend with people who see the highest political office or anyone for that matter as a birthright, to the extent of declaring it as being their turn or claiming to have paid their dues?
Knowingly or unknowingly, the recognition of revolutionary tendencies have been very rife. Even the front runners in the current political context acknowledge that we are in a revolution. The APC presidential candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, remarked in one of his campaign tours, that, “we are in a revolution.” All others, including the Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Gregory Obi, also hold the same view. No doubt, Peter Obi’s slogan of “Take Back Nigeria”, is totally an inclination towards a departure from the old ways to one of hope and prosperity for the citizens, which itself is revolutionary. Today’s clear handwriting and signals from the majority of the citizens evokes their determination to embrace a new order. No doubts, the desires have been and remain the urgent need to ensure leadership recalibrations wherein fresh breath would reign in our polity. The type of leadership that would build powerful institutions as against powerful persons. Leadership that should be a clear departure from all forms of rascality, thievery and unworthy dispositions.
Importantly, we must come to the knowledge and realization that leadership choices have, perhaps, the most significant effects on any nation’s development. On this basis, the most critical aspect to ensure and assure the expected revolution is the need for people to use the ballot box as the foremost means to retire the unfit politicians lined up for various political positions under the various parties. The understanding here must be that parties are mere platforms for people to ascend positions and not itself the driver of good leadership. Only people of capacity, competence and compassion towards national development must be entrusted with power across the various levels. The search for good leadership must not be limited to the presidency alone. And, this should be without such wrong sentiments that caged us previously. Seeking to empower someone because of region, religion, tribe or party affiliations is highly indicative of someone living in the past. It is expected that people must have learnt from the past, that sentiments and ultimate misdirection of votes, is what has kept us in the present deplorable state we are in, as our chosen leaders have continuously failed to make meaningful impacts over the years.
In the history of Nigeria, let it be on record, that Nigerians took their destinies in their own hands by deliberately and decisively rejigging their political consciousness and seeking and ensuring leadership recalibrations towards the institution of a new order. No doubt, there may be no one that could pass for a saint, and there’s no saint anywhere in the world. But, looking at the list of those parading themselves, it is obvious that one particular candidate, in the person of Peter Obi of the Labour Party, catches the fancy of the majority of the masses. Interestingly, his credentials are eloquent testimonies that a paradigm shift is possible with him. His antecedents are heartwarming enough to conceive to his absolute qualification, having excelled in both private and public office domains. His records as the former Governor of Anambra state was highly impeccable. He stands out as the only former Governor in Nigeria’s history with a unique trait. Over 9 months, in the course of this political mileage, he challenged anyone to produce a single proof of financial misappropriation against him, even stating that he would drop his ambition. Till date, nothing has been brought forth against him. His accomplishments leave no doubts that he is at the current moment the aspirant who the cap fits.
The acknowledgments for the desirability of Nigeria’s revolution have been overwhelming, but with unclear picture and description of what it entails. Obviously, it is now lucid that there’s been a resounding need to picture our future by featuring in the very hearts of matters that guarantees the employment or empowering of those to anchor the new order. And, this is where February 25th becomes a date to be reckoned with in Nigeria’s political lexicon thereafter. With the way things are going, it may pass as the unofficial day of Nigeria’s independence, because it is one looking historical as the day the people awoke to choose a leader and not wait to be given one by the antics of the political class whose belief is that of ‘turn by turn’ in their usual self-serving arrangements, not minding the nation’s deep dip in retrogressions. With one voice, Nigerians should institute a new leadership order, and that is the first step in the revolutionary acts. I come in peace!!!
By Fredrick AbdullahiToday we experience strange anomalies within our boundaries;- youth bulge and unproductivity, skyrocketing conurbations, deepen poverty and mass alienation, these alone should give you a wanton desire to vote for credibility and not otherwise.
As we vouch for the most unpredictable elections in the history of this nation, I send a kind opinion that our decision collectively is crucial to the rebirth of Nigeria – which is long trodden by political goons, and monsters of corruption.
We need a competent leader much like Nelson Mandela, dogged enough to salvage this nation from its gory jumble. Yet this time again, the aspirants are out with their firearms – a political gimmick set to sway you from thinking right let alone deciding the right candidate to steer us off this preponderant malevolence.
They’ll tell you I’m Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa|Fulani; I’m from the North or South hence compelling you to vote for him on these divides. It’s a gainsay, be shrewd, some don’t even care for their tribesmen prior to the election, this fact is accessible through their blueprints.
Nigeria is in dire need of a competent, and erudite leader that can revive and grow our economy, ensure justice and gap between our religious and ethnicity discrepancy. Today we experience strange anomalies within our boundaries;youth bulge and unproductivity, skyrocketing conurbations, deepening poverty and mass alienation, these alone should give you a wanton desire to vote for credibility and not otherwise.
Remember that this country was built on the cadre of faithfulness, loyalty and honesty. And we must allow this to take course henceforth.
I truly care for what will be said of us – our gross negligence in doing the needful during our time – by the unborn generation.
In all honesty, our decaying bodies will lie down in shame if we don’t take full responsibility for rewriting the democratic process of this nation.
FredrickAbdullahi is a Public Policy Analyst.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has refuted a news report (not PeoplesDaily) quoting a source in the bank as saying that the apex bank has ordered commercial banks to start accepting the old N500 and N1000 banknotes.
The central Bank in a statement on
Friday evening said the report was fake and unauthorized.
CBN spokesman, Osita Nwanisobi, said the apex bank strictly stands by the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari that only allows the old N200 note to circulate with the new one for a period of 60 days.
“The attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria has been drawn to some fake
and unauthorized messages quoting the CBN as having authorized the Deposit Money Banks to collect the old N500 and N1,000 Banknotes.
“For the avoidance of doubt, and in line with Mr. President’s broadcast of February 16, 2023, the CBN has been directed to ONLY re-issue and recirculate the old N200 banknotes and this is expected to circulate as legal
tender for 60 days up to April 10, 2023.
“Members of the public should therefore disregard any message and/ or information not formally released by the Central Bank of Nigeria on this subject.
“Media practitioners are advised to please verify any information from the correct sources before publication,” Nwanisobi stated.
There were reports of violence and fighting around the Ojota/ Mile 12 axis in Lagos on Friday morning over the scarcity of the newly redesigned naira notes across the country and the hardship it has caused Nigerians.
According to some social media reports, gunshots were reportedly heard around that axis with many scampering for safety as it was gathered that some suspected touts in Mile 12, Ketu, and Ojota areas on the expressway, took to the road attacking commuters in the process and creating chaos.
Some suspected louts in the area –Mile 12, Ojota, and Ketu – took over the Lagos-Ikorodu Expressway, attacking some commuters in the process.
Lagos Police Command confirms the unrest
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, had earlier in a tweet post on his official Twitter account confirmed the unrest happening in the Mile 12 area of Lagos State.
While responding to a tweet asking him to confirm the incident, Hundeyin replied, “ It is true. Our men are there. Reinforcement units have been deployed. Stay safe out there as we closely monitor and manage the situation.”
Normalcy restored
However, Hundeyin in a followup statement on his official Twitter account confirmed that normalcy has
been restored following the incident.
He said, “Free movement of vehicles and people fully restored. Our officers and men are still on the ground to prevent any breakdown of law and order,” he tweeted on his handle. “If you see something, say something.”
There were also unconfirmed earlier reports of violence over the new naira scarcity in some parts of Agege, although it was reported that normalcy is gradually returning to that axis.
PEOPLES DAILY Weekend gathered that this new protest is coming a day after President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationwide broadcast, said while the old N1,000 and N500 are no longer legal tenders, the N200 banknotes will still be in use until April 10, 2023.
There has been growing anger and frustration by Nigerians across the country over the naira scarcity caused by the CBN’s naira redesign policy with protests and violence spreading across some states leading to the destruction of properties including some bank ATMs, POS shops, and even reported the loss of lives.
The violence, which paralyzed social and economic activities in the Edo and Delta states, also claimed 3 lives while many others were injured during the riot.
The protests equally spread to Oyo, Ondo, Benue, and Kwara states as residents vented their anger over the scarcity of cash which had made life unbearable for many Nigerians.
From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna
The Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL) a United Kingdom (UK) supported governance programme, has mobilized Accountability mechanisms and other stakeholders to track the implementation of the 2023 Kaduna state budget.
Speaking at the opening of a technical session with civil society groups, The State Lead Facilitator, PERL, Mr. Adejor Abel, noted that the goal was to ensure that Kaduna state budget benefits Citizens.
He explained the technical session has objectives to access citizens 's influence in the 2023 approved Budget uses analysis harmonized and presented to accountability Mechanisms in the sectors, as well as to enhance Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and Media capacity to effectively engage government with evidence from the budget.
He adds: “it is to generate need steps and strategies for tracking 2023 budget
"
implementation as well as advocacy to improve and sustain releases for sectors.
Abel also explained that the Accountability mechanisms from Agriculture, JONAPWD, Health Education and Social Protection were selected because of their critical contributions to human capacity development.
He equally emphasised that tracking the implementation of the budget across the sectors in Kaduna State would ensure the needed transparency, accountability, and value for money.
While commending the effort of the civil society groups in the state that are working with the government to deliver quality services that impact the lives of the residents, he, however, called for media space to ensure that legislators actually bring development projects to their constituency.
In his remarks, the Co-Chair Open Government Partnership Technical
Working Group on Social Protection, Philip Yatai, noted that the engagement is very important because this is an electioneering year and there is need for position paper by the Civil society organizations on previous engagement and how to move forward with the new administration for the betterment of the citizenry.
Similarly, Mrs. Hadiza Umar, Citizens’ Co-chair, Open Government Partnership, commended PERL for organising the meeting, which she described as “very critical” to effective tracking of the implementation of federal government budget in Kaduna State.
“This is very important so that citizens will understand what was provided in the budget, the purpose, locations, implementing agencies and the expected benefits for the citizens,” she stressed.
On his part, Yusuf Goje, of the Coalition of Association for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment and Development, described the budget as a “fiscal policy
apparatus used by the government to channel resources into its commitment and obligations to the citizens”.
According to him, key component of improving budget expenditure management had been the need of the government to improve transparency in its planning and implementation.
He disclosed that the 2023 Appropriation Bill has a total size of N370.33bilion, a 21.82 percent increase from the 2022 revised appropriation of N303.99bilion.
Goje, however, expressed dismay that N25.8B is for foreign loan interest and N5.6 for domestic loan repayment.
He added that the realism of the budgeting, over exaggerated revenue target for MDAs, Debt servicing, Low prioritization of the key sectors, Sectors implementation plan review reporting by the Department of Monitoring and evaluation planning and Budget Commission should form advocacy issues for the CSOs.
The Federal Government has urged the AntiCorruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN), to ensure proper maintenance and sustainability of the erosion control project by the Ecological Project Office (EPO). ACAN is the anti-graft academy of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The Permanent Secretary, Ecological Project Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Shehu Ibrahim, gave the charge during the inspection of EPO’s project in Keffi, Nasarawa State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that other projects sites inspected by Ibrahim included Erosion Control and Road Improvement Work at Solutionist Estate, off Orozo-Karshi road, and the River Channelisation and Slope Protection Work within the Maitama District, both in Abuja. The permanent secretary, who expressed satisfaction over the beneficiaries’ testimonies of government’s intervention projects, reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to safeguarding lives and properties of Nigerians, and enhancing their wellbeing.
According to him, “the interventions will mitigate the ecological challenges in ACAN and environs, the FCT and surrounding areas, as well as bring government’s presence and succour to the people.
“I advise you to maintain this project very well so that it can be able to last as long as possible. “The government is always ready to assist within available finances, and one area of our concentration is the institution
because it provides services to the general public, therefore such places need a lot of mileage.”
The provost of the academy, Prof. Olatunde Babawale, commended EPO for its prompt response to ACAN’s request which will ameliorate the plight of the academy, as well as the host communities.
“The academy has always been hit by incessant floods, and our fences have always been pulled down, especially when there is heavy rainfall.
“We have a structure which has been stalled, because anytime there is rainfall, the
entire building is always flooded. So, we got information that we can approach the ecological project office for assistance.
“Erosion which has been mitigated through this government intervention, not only in ACAN, but even in surrounding farms and resident communities, so it is a big relief for us and others faced with the challenge.
“Initially, the whole of the area was flooded, it was virtually like a wasted land in view of flooding and other related environmental issues, but with the intervention of the office, we
have been relieved,” Babawale said.
Muhammad Babashehu, Chairman, Keffi Local Government Area, on behalf of the entire community, commended the Federal Government and EPO for the laudable project, adding that the project would attract development to the area.
Babashehu, who described the project as ultra-modern, said it was the first gigantic erosion control project in Keffi.
“Myself and people of Keffi community are very grateful, happy and overwhelmed seeing
this ultra-modern project. We did not expect this project in Keffi.
“I commend the efforts of the Federal Government, EPO and the provost of the ICPC ACAN, for bringing this project to the community,” he said.
The chairman appealed to the government to extend same intervention to the entire Keffi communities bedeviled by flood. NAN reports that the projects at the Solutionist Estate in Karshi, included the construction of Trapezoidal drain, culverts, concrete slabs, pavement and surfacing. (NAN)
The immediate past President, Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Federal Neuro-psychiatric Hospital Yaba, Dr. Samuel Aladejare, has called for massive awareness campaigns on mental health issues.
Aladejare, also a psychiatrist, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
The psychiatrist, who decried what he called the low awareness of mental health in Nigeria, noted that more attention needed to be given to mental health to enable the populace to have better knowledge and understanding about it.
According to him, people with mental health conditions suffer humiliation, stigmatisation, discrimination and denials; attributing the development to the lack of right information about the condition.
He said, “In fact, there is no health without mental health; every health condition has a mental health perspective. Everyone needs to understand that mental illness, like
every other sickness, is curable.
“Unfortunately, people with mental illness are being isolated or locked up, taken to spiritual houses or subjected to some inhuman maltreatments.
“Therefore, there is a need for massive education campaigns on mental health, particularly in rural communities and at the governance levels to enable people to understand its importance.”
He said that although mental health is an integral part of health and well-being, it has, however, been neglected in this part of the world.
According to Aladejare, a survey by the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that worldwide, 450 million people have mental disorders and 25 per cent of the population will suffer from mental illness at some times in their lives.
He said that 90 percent of Nigerians with mental disorders did not visit their healthcare providers for attention and care.
He linked such an attitude to lack of right information,
misinformation and stigmatisation.
Aladejare said such an attitude was detrimental on both the individual and the society at large.
“Most people who have mental illnesses carry them about; it is like they are working wounded. So, they go to work and live their lives with it.
“They might not be disturbing other people, but they are underperforming at their tasks or they are making wrong decisions as a result of the illness.
“Untreated mental illness, whether major or minor, carries a cost both for the individual and the society, hence, the need for increased
public education campaigns on mental health,” he said.
According to him, most of the mental illnesses in people are not psychotic such as hallucinations and schizophrenia, but are anxiety, stress and depression.
He urged the practitioners in the mental health subsector, including the non-governmental organisations, to take it upon themselves to create wider awareness on the health condition.
“More education campaigns need to be directed to mental health because it is as important as physical health,” Aladejare said. (NAN)
The Big Brother Titans house was filled with many dramatic moments this week as three housemates, Nelisa, Blue Aiva, and Olivia broke one of Biggie’s rules after engaging in a physical combat specifically Thursday night.
The fight started when Nelisa overheard Blue Aiva and Olivia talking about her It all started after the housemates won their wager task. They proceeded to have some fun at the organized Thursday night party.
Nelisa, after the short break, was seen confronting Blue Aiva and Olivia. According to Nelisa, she overheard the duo talking about her. Nelisa, who was angry at what she heard, asked Blue to repeat what she said about her in her presence, which led to their fight.
The timely intervention of other housemates prevented the fight from escalating.
Nigerian-UK based pastor, Tobi Adegboyega recently got people praying for him after donating N3 million to ailing Nollywood veteran actor, Fadeyi Oloro. The movie star with the real name Ojo Arowosafe was a guest on media personality, Daddy Freeze’s Instagram Live where he pleaded with well-meaning Nigerians to help him financially.
During the IG live session, the old and ailing Oloro pleaded for quick help now that he is alive and not that he will get sympathetic messages after his death. He begged Nigerians not to make that his situation.
After a few minutes on the IG Live, Daddy Freeze brought on
his friend and UK-based Nigerian preacher, Pastor Tobi.
The pastor was asked how much he could contribute to the N3 million target for the ailing actor, and he decided to pay the full amount.
According to him, Fadeyi Oloro is one of the Nollywood legends he grew up watching.
We all watched Baba Fadeyi Oloro growing up. He is one of our greatest legends in Africa and baba we want to thank you for the great works you’ve done.” The preacher also added a prayer for Nigeria to treat her legends better. In his words: “I pray that we will have a country that celebrates our people, that celebrates our legends and that keeps them good. It’s sad to see how Nigeria treats its legends.”
Nollywood actress Tonto Dikeh’s son with her ex-husband Olakunle Churchill, King Andrea clocked 7 on February 17. The happy mother of one showed off the seven cakes she got for her son’s special day Dikeh took to her Instagram page to show off the seven cakes she got for her son’s big day.
The actress welcomed her baby boy in 2016 in the United States, and broke the good news on her Instagram page.
Dikeh has since then seized all opportunities to shower the boy with love every now and then, she takes to her social media page to show him off to the world and let her love for him be known.
Her short birthday message to King Andrea reads;
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LIFE IN A 7 YEARS OLD!!!
MY OWN SON!!
TONTO DIKEHS SON!!
I LOVE YOU DANGEROUSLY JUICY MAN!!!
MY ACE!!
Churchil, in his emotional birthday message to his son expressed how much he misses his son and wishes to see him.
He said, “happy birthday my son, my prince, my flesh and blood Omodayo King Oladunni. You are one of life’s most precious gift to me and I love you dearly.
Just going down memory lane in thought of your birth gives me joy. You are such a blessing to me and am forever to the Almighty god for your life.
Today I pray immensely that you grow to be the person God has predestined you to be and nothing in this world ever change your destiny.
My not so little man! I want you to know that I miss you greatly and long to see you soon.
You’re a shinning star and your light can never be dimmed.
Happy birthday to my dearest son. Daddy loves you.
An Upper Shari’a Court, sitting at Filin Hockey has remanded famous TikTok skit maker, Murja Kunya, and three others in prison custody.
Ms Kunya had been in prison custody for two weeks on charges that border on defamation of character, vulgarity, public nuisance and breach of public peace.
When the case is called upon again on Thursday, three other TikTok stars Aminu Ibrahim, aka BBC, Ashiru Idris, aka Maiwushirya, and Sadiq Sharif, as well as Ms Kunya as 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants respectively.
The prosecution counsel, Lamido Sorondinki read the charge against Mr. Ibrahim, who is the 1st defendant that he was charged with obscene and indecent acts on TikTok, contrary to section 365 of Kano State Shari’a Penal Code.
Sorondinki also read charges against the 3rd defendant, accused of composing obscene and indecent act by composing obscene lyrics, which propagate fornication, contrary to section 358 of Kano State Shari’a Penal Code
The lawyer then turned to Mr. Idris, who was also charged with continuous nuisance by criminally conspiring with the 4th defendant to record obscene conversation and shared it on TikTok, contrary to 358 of Kano State Shari’a Penal Code.
Sorondinki told the court the actions of the defendants are capable of polluting the morale of the younger generation of Kano State.
When the charges were read against them, 1st and 2nd defendants pleaded guilty while 3rd and 4th accused pleaded not guilty.
Sorondinki then prayed the court to adjourn the matter to March 15 to allow him tender exhibits against 3rd and 4th defendants.
However, lawyers of 3rd and 4th defendants objected to the application.
The judge, Abdullahi Halliru, adjourned the matter to February 23 for hearing of bail application and tendering of exhibits, thereby ordering the remand of all the defendants in the correctional centre.
Along-running public inquiry into what has been called the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS has heard its final evidence.
It is thought tens of thousands were infected with HIV and hepatitis between 1970 and 1991 after being given a contaminated drug or blood transfusion.
The inquiry, which started in 2018, has reviewed thousands of documents and heard testimony from 370 witnesses.
It now plans to publish its formal conclusions and recommendations in the autumn.
Here are five important things that have been revealed by the inquiry over the past five years.
concentrate, so it was often imported from the United States - where prisoners and other atrisk groups were paid to donate.
Another 30,000 NHS patients probably contracted a different virus - hepatitis Cthrough the same contaminated treatment, or a blood transfusion after surgery or childbirth.
It is thought about 2,050 of that group later died of liver failure or cancer caused by hepatitis C, before an effective treatment became widely available.
pupil who was infected with HIV as a young boy in 1978.
“It’s just the guilt of losing all those friends. I can name 10 that I know who are just gone. It’s horrific.”
3. Who knew what and when?
One of the key questions the inquiry will now have to answer is whether more could and should have been done to prevent those infections and deaths.
he had - he “would have pressed the panic button”.
4. A ‘failure of democracy’ There was detailed questioning of ministers and civil servants about the internal workings of government.
had to give up jobs and live on benefits because of a series of health problems.
In July 2022, inquiry chairman Sir Brian Langstaff made his first formal recommendation - an unusual move in the middle of a public inquiry.
He said there was a “compelling case” to quickly make some interim compensation payments of £100,000 each.
How many children were infected
Researchers found that 380 of those infected with HIV - about one in three - were children, including some very young toddlers.
Former Prime Minister Sir John Major drew more gasps from families watching his testimony when he described the scandal as “bad luck”.
He later apologised for his choice of language.
Former Conservative health secretary Jeremy Hunt - now chancellor - was asked about official briefings he received as recently as 2012 suggesting the scandal had been an “unavoidable problem”.
He described how state institutions can “close ranks around a lie” and said it was a “huge failure of democracy” that it has taken so long to get to the truth.
The government agreed and - in October 2022 - the first payments were made to about 4,000 surviving victims and widows.
But many children, siblings and parents of those who had died have missed out.
big
A group of academics hired by the inquiry produced detailed estimates of the numbers infected in the 1970s and 80s.
A total of 1,250 people with haemophilia and other bleeding disorders contracted HIV after being given a protein made from blood plasma known as Factor VIII or, less commonly, Factor IX.
About half of that group later died of an Aids-related illness.
At the time, the UK was not self-sufficient in factor
When that figure was read out at the public inquiry, there was an audible gasp from survivors and relatives in the room.
At Treloar’s College, a state-run boarding school in Hampshire, 72 pupils - all haemophiliacs - later died after being given the contaminated treatment.
The inquiry heard devastating testimony from survivors in a week of special hearings about the school.
“I often just think, why me? Why am I still here?” said Richard Warwick, a former
The inquiry was shown a letter written in May 1983 by Dr Spence Galbraith, then director of the UK’s Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, to the Department of Health.
It warned that haemophiliacs were being infected with an ‘Aids agent’, as HIV was then called, and concluded that “all products made from blood donated in the USA... should be withdrawn”.
There was no evidence the letter was acted on at the time.
In his testimony, Lord John Patten, a junior health minister from 1983 to 1985, said he “unequivocally” believed ministers should have been told about the warning and said - if
Another ex-health secretary Andy Burnham, now the Labour mayor of Manchester, said successive governments had “comprehensively failed” the victims over five decades and suggested there may be a case for charges of corporate manslaughter in the future.
That included Laura Palmer, 39, who lost both her parents to HIV/Aids in August 1993, when she was nine years old.
“There are still a lot of bereaved families excluded, so there is more work for us to do,” she told the BBC.
How
Hundreds of victims of the scandal have received annual support payments butbefore this inquiry - no formal compensation had ever been awarded for loss of earnings, care costs and other lifetime losses.
Many of those infected had
In his final comments to the inquiry, Sir Brian said he plans to publish a second interim report dealing with the question of compensation “before Easter”.
The inquiry team is then expected to produce a final report into the scandal, with a list of recommendations, at some point in the autumn.
Source: BBC
“Obi, obi, obi” chants the bouncing crowd, fists in the air, as Peter Obi strides into a campaign rally after having unexpectedly taken a lead in the race to become the next president of Nigeria. The outcome of the election, scheduled for February 25th, will reverberate far beyond Nigeria’s borders. A free and fair vote in the continent’s biggest democracy would send a telling signal across Africa, where freedom is in retreat in a number of countries after a spate of coups, rigged votes and the abandonment of presidential term limits.
The stakes in this race are especially high for Nigeria, too. Africa’s biggest economy—and home to roughly one in six Africans—is in a deep malaise, with incomes stagnant and poverty, especially in the rural north, at shockingly high levels. And the country risks sliding into ungovernability. Although not yet a failed state, large parts of Nigeria are failing, sending instability spilling over its borders and dragging down the region’s economy. Last year about 10,000 people were killed in violent conflicts. Some of the country’s biggest problems stem from at least four overlapping security crises.
Religion
The country encompasses well over 250 ethnic groups, and is divided between a largely Christian south and Muslim north.
Nigerian politicians have long won power by stoking divisions along the lines of religion, ethnicity and regional affiliation. But increasingly such splits are turning deadly.
In large parts of the north-east jihadists from Islamic State West Africa Province (iswap) and Boko Haram roam with alarming freedom, killing and taxing civilians. To evade air strikes their attacks have become smaller but more numerous.
In the north-west heavily-armed criminal gangs, known by locals as bandits, sweep into villages, killing and kidnapping for ransom.
In the south-east increasingly violent Igbo ethnic separatists are trying to reignite the dream of an independent Biafra.
And across much of the country clashes between nomadic mostly Fulani herders and sedentary farmers regularly spiral into bloodshed.
Perhaps most horrifying for ordinary Nigerians is an explosion of kidnappings for ransom, targeting everyone from commuters to classes of schoolchildren.
This instability is worsened by Nigeria’s rotten government. Nigeria has been misruled by the inept and sometimes venally corrupt administrations of the two parties that have alternated power for more than two decades: the All Progressives Congress (apc); and the People’s Democratic Party (pdp). Now, with the surprising rise of Mr Obi, a third-party candidate has emerged with a chance at taking the top job for the first time since the restoration of civilian rule in 1999.
That Mr Obi has been able so rapidly to challenge a two-party system is largely because he offers a very different sort of politics in Nigeria, where for decades the electoral calculus was largely based on politicians stoking up divisions along the lines of religion, ethnicity and regional affiliation. The candidates of the two main parties, Bola Tinubu of the ruling apc and Atiku Abubakar of the pdp, seem to still be campaigning with the aim of turning out the vote among their ethnic and religious bases. Mr Obi, by contrast, has reached across the country’s main divides, holding rallies in his opponents’ strongholds (focusing on Lagos, the commercial capital and Mr Tinubu’s stronghold, in particular) and urging voters to base their choice on character and track record.
His own record as a two-term governor of Anambra state is encouraging, though not entirely unblemished. When he took office in 2006 the state was running fiscal deficits and
services were deteriorating as measured by the Human Development Index (hdi), which looks at indicators including income, education and life expectancy. At the conclusion of his second term he left the state with a fiscal surplus and it was ranked third in Nigeria by hdi.
On policy, his economic instincts lean towards liberalism, perhaps because he was born into a family of retailers and he made his own money through an importing business, as well as investments in banks. He promises to ease trade restrictions, liberalise, at least in part, a convoluted system of exchange-rate controls and restore the independence of the central bank, which was eroded during the two terms of the outgoing president, Muhammadu Buhari. Critics point out that Mr Obi’s name came up in the Pandora Papers, a large leak of data on offshore accounts held by politicians around the world, among others. He concedes that he erred in failing to declare his ownership of an offshore company, but says that he made his money legitimately and before he entered politics. He brings up the allegations unprompted and offers statements from his bank to try to prove the money’s origin.
Mr Obi’s admission and offers of transparency into his affairs are in stark contrast with his two main rivals, who have both refused to offer more than pointed denials of wrongdoing when presented with questions over their own probity. Mr Abubakar is a tycoon who started his career as a customs official. In 2010 a Senate committee in America said he was implicated in the transfer of $40m in “suspect funds” to that country. (He denies wrongdoing.) Mr Tinubu had his assets frozen in the 1990s by the American government, which said it had probable cause to believe the money was linked to drugs. Mr Tinubu, who has also denied wrongdoing, reached a settlement with the American authorities whereby he agreed to forfeit $460,000.
A young man’s game
Mr Obi stands apart from the two mainparty candidates in other ways, too. He is an energetic 61-year-old, who comes across as intellectually open. His campaign events, for instance, include town-hall meetings where he encourages voters to ask tough questions. By contrast Mr Tinubu, a frail 70-year-old who has skipped several big campaign events, recently caused ructions at Chatham House, a thinktank in London, when he declined to answer any questions at all, deflecting them to people on his campaign. His campaign manifesto consists largely of meaningless platitudes (“our cities and towns will witness a level of industrial activity unprecedented in our nation’s history”) spiced up by senseless policy proposals. It argues, for instance, against gathering more taxes even though collection is lamentably low. Between 2015 and 2020 the government-revenue-to-gdp ratio was consistently in the bottom five in the world.
Mr Abubakar (76), for his part, is indelibly linked with the failures of the past two decades. He was vice president for two terms from 1999 and has since flip-flopped in his allegiance between the ruling and opposition parties of the day, depending on which might offer him a run at the top job. On economic policy his campaign proposals seem plausible. Instead of bromides, he recognises that Nigeria will have to take some bitter medicine. His manifesto pledges that the tax-to-gdp ratio will need to rise from about 8% today to 20% by 2030. He also promises some business-friendly reforms including privatising state-owned companies, though critics fear the process could lead to the enrichment of wellconnected cronies. Sometimes he is ambivalent about markets: his plans to stimulate local manufacturing, for instance, include taxing imports and giving bungs to exporters.
Whoever wins the election will inherit a splitting economic headache bequeathed by
the outgoing president, Mr Buhari. Growth has been anaemic, annual inflation rose to 21% in December and Nigerians are poorer, on average, than they were when he took office in 2015. “A rational human being would not want power at this time in this country,” says Jibrin Ibrahim, of the Centre for Democracy and Development, a think-tank in Abuja, the capital.
Last year the government, in effect, burnt almost $10bn (2.2% of gdp) subsidising the retail price of petrol. This money could have been far more productively invested in improving education, health or infrastructure. At a fixed price of 185 naira per litre ($0.40), subsidised petrol sells for so much less in Nigeria than the region that criminal syndicates routinely smuggle it across borders to get higher prices, producing shortages and days-long fuel queues at home. Crude oil itself is also stolen on an industrial scale, especially when prices are high. As energy prices boomed last year, so did the cost of the subsidy. After paying it, the government did not receive a single dollar in oil revenues.
Another avoidable blunder has been mismanagement of the naira, Nigeria’s currency. Mr Buhari has steadfastly refused to let markets decide its value, so the central bank maintains multiple rates (not to mention the black market) and limits imports in an effort to support it. That hobbles manufacturers who struggle to bring in what their factories need, fuelling inflation, and invites corruption in the allocation of scarce dollars. The central bank’s latest gaffe was a chaotic attempt to replace all existing bank notes with new ones in just a few months. The plan was suspended by the Supreme Court on February 8th, just days before the deadline, after banks and atms ran dry, leaving millions of people unable to change their money.
All three candidates promise to scrap the ruinous petrol subsidy and reform the exchangerate system (though none seems willing to let the naira float). Yet any new president will struggle to take on the vested interests that profit from the current system. “If it were easy to get rid of the subsidy somebody would have done it by now,” observes Mary Beth Leonard, the American ambassador.
Nor will it be easy to increase the amount of revenue the state raises. “Nigerians got told and believed the lie that we are a very rich country,” says Ben Akabueze, the head of the budget office. And because corruption is so rife, “people generally don’t feel any moral obligation to pay taxes,” Mr Akabueze concedes.
Without an urgent change of direction, the government will soon run out of fiscal road. Mr Buhari’s government has run up such vast debts that servicing them devours about 80% of government revenues. Many bright young Nigerians have had enough. “Nigeria’s biggest export these days is human talent,” quips Eric Idiahi, a venture capitalist.
This makes it harder to deal with many of the deeper problems afflicting the country. Even before the impact of covid-19, at least 60m Nigerians were living on less than the equivalent of $2.15 per day, many of them in the north.
The pandemic and food-price inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have added to the misery. In November the government released results of a survey showing that 133m people (63% of the population) are “multidimensionally poor” on an index that considers not just income but also measures including housing, health care and education. This, too, showed much greater poverty in the north (reaching 91% in Sokoto state) than the south (27% in Ondo, near Lagos).
Poor schooling in the north is particularly worrying. First, it threatens to further entrench poverty by leaving youngsters unprepared to move into more productive jobs than herding cattle or tilling the soil, as many of their parents do. Second, it contributes to violence and instability. A report this month by the un
Development Programme found that people joining jihadist groups in Africa are more likely to be poorly educated than those who do not. “All else being equal, an additional year of schooling reduces the likelihood of voluntary recruitment by 13%,” it found.
It is not just state services, but also economic infrastructure that is lacking, particularly in the north. All three presidential candidates casually promise to promote industrialisation. Yet it is impossible to run factories in the dark. The whole of Nigeria consumes only about as much electricity as San Antonio, a midsized Texan city. Almost half of Nigerians—most of them in the north—do not have access to any electricity at all. Even where there are power lines in the south, blackouts are so frequent that many factories have to run expensive diesel generators. Bad policies play a role. Electricity tariffs are kept artificially low by the government, so utilities lose money and investors in private power plants are put off.
Poverty, unemployment, poor services and a failing education system all stoke the security crises. Jihadists and bandits terrorise and exploit civilians, while nomadic Fulani herders and sedentary farmers fight over access to land. Not even those running the country are shielded from the threat of kidnapping. One senior apc staffer was seized in Abuja, the capital. “They kept telling me we’re doing this because we cannot feed our family,” he recalls. He was lucky because he managed to loosen the ropes tying him down. “That was when I ran,” he says.
These crises will be fiendishly hard to solve, in part because they overlap: farmer-herder clashes in the south-east fuel separatist anger; links between jihadist groups and gangs of bandits appear to be growing; and those fleeing one crisis may find themselves in the middle of another. Take Abdulhai Abubakar, a father of three in a refugee settlement in the northeast. He and thousands of others fled Boko Haram in 2015 and hired land to cultivate. Yet they must also pay vigilante gangs to protect their farms from nomadic herders. If not, he says, they would “lose everything.” In fear, Mr Abubakar has now given up farming
All three presidential candidates promise to give the security forces better equipment and technology. Mr Abubakar and Mr Obi say they would devolve more police powers to the states, a sensible reform that state governors have long demanded. Mr Tinubu, meanwhile, offers vacuous proposals such as one to create new police units with special forces to “seize the strategic and tactical initiative,” even though Nigeria already has a number of special units, some of which have been accused of brutality and extortion. Some proposals seem to be unmoored from reality. Mr Abubakar, for instance, says he will hire a million extra officers (the force has about 370,000 now), but does not explain how much this expansion will cost or how the government will fund it.
Nigerians, for their part, seem to like what they see of Mr Obi. The most recent polls by Stears, a data firm in Lagos, put him on 27% with Mr Tinubu on 15% and Mr Abubakar on 12%. But some pundits dismiss these polls, arguing that they are unreliable because almost 40% of respondents decline to say who they will vote for or say they are undecided (though some other polls show fewer undecideds). Many still think the vote on the day will go to Mr Tinubu, who has deep pockets and the backing of an incumbent party to get out the vote.
Moreover, Mr Obi faces real obstacles to winning power. Despite his efforts to campaign on character and competence, religion and region will probably still play a big role. Mr Obi, a Catholic from the south-east, may struggle to win votes in the populous and mostly Muslim north. He could do worse than polls suggest, especially if turnout is lower than expected.
To secure outright victory any candidate
Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi officially decorating the newly promoted director of public relations of the Corps , Mr. Olusola Odumosu , with his new rank of a commandant , alongside the celebrant’s father, Chief Michael O. Odumosu at the Corps national headquarters in Abuja
Nigeria, Aisha Mumuni, at the MTN Best of the Streets music competition which held at the Abesan Youth Center, Alimosho, Lagos, yesterday.
Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria, Dr. Tajudeen Sanusi; President/ Vice Chancellor, Babcock University, Prof. Ademola Tayo and Medical Elder of the Day/ Global Health Leader, Dr. Folake Olayinka, during the seventh induction ceremony for newly qualified medical doctors from Benjamin S. Carson (Snr.) College of Health and Medical Sciences, Babcock University, held at the University in Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State.
Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, GCFR PC (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), usually referred to as “Zik”, was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. Considered a driving force behind the nation’s independence, he came to be known as the “father of Nigerian Nationalism”.
Born to Igbo parents from Anambra State, Eastern Nigeria in Zungeru in present-day Niger State, as a young boy he learned to speak Hausa (the main indigenous language of the Northern Region). Azikiwe was later sent to live with his aunt and grandmother in Onitsha (his parental homeland), where he learned the Igbo language. A stay in Lagos exposed him to the Yoruba language; by the time he was in college, he had been exposed to different Nigerian cultures and spoke three languages (an asset as president).
Azikiwe travelled to the United States where he was known as Ben Azikiwe and attended Storer College, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Howard University. He contacted colonial authorities with a request to represent Nigeria at the Los Angeles Olympics. He returned to Africa in 1934, where he began work as a journalist in the Gold Coast. In British West Africa, he advocated Nigerian and African nationalism as a journalist and a political leader.
Azikiwe was born on 16 November 1904 in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria. His first name means “my father is alive” in the Igbo language, as his parents were Igbo. His father, Obed-Edom Chukwuemeka Azikiwe (1879–3 March 1958), a native of Onye Onicha, was a clerk in the British Administration of Nigeria, who traveled extensively as part of his job. Azikiwe’s mother was Rachel Chinwe Ogbenyeanu (Aghadiuno) Azikiwe (1883–January 1958), who was sometimes called Nwanonaku and was the third daughter of Aghadiuno Ajie. Her family descended from a royal family in Onitsha, and her paternal great-grandfather was Obi (Ugogwu) Anazenwu. Azikiwe had one sibling, a sister, named Cecilia Eziamaka Arinze.
As a young boy, Azikiwe spoke Hausa, the regional language. His father, concerned about his son’s fluency in Hausa and not Igbo, sent him to Onitsha in 1912 to live with his paternal grandmother and aunt to learn the Igbo language and culture. In Onitsha, Azikiwe attended Holy Trinity School (a Roman Catholic mission school) and Christ Church School (an Anglican primary school). In 1914, while his father was working in Lagos, Azikiwe was bitten by a dog; this prompted his worried father to ask him to come to Lagos to heal and to attend school in the city. He then attended Wesleyan Boys’ High School, now known as Methodist Boys’ High School, Broad Street Lagos. His father was sent to Kaduna two years later, and Azikiwe briefly lived with a relative who was married to a Muslim from Sierra Leone. In 1918, he was back in Onitsha and finished his secondary education
at CMS Central School. Azikiwe then worked at the school as a student-teacher, supporting his mother with his earnings. In 1920, his father was posted back to southern Nigeria in the southeastern city of Calabar. Azikiwe joined his father in Calabar, beginning tertiary education at the Hope Waddell Training College. He was introduced to the teachings of Marcus Garvey, Garveyism, which became an important part of his nationalistic rhetoric. After attending Hope Waddell, Azikiwe was transferred to Methodist Boys’ High School in Lagos and befriended classmates from old Lagos families such as George Shyngle, Francis Cole and Ade Williams (a son of the Akarigbo of Remo). These connections were later beneficial to his political career in Lagos. Azikiwe heard a lecture by James Aggrey, an educator who believed that Africans should receive a college education abroad and return to effect change. After the lecture, Aggrey gave the young Azikiwe a list of schools accepting black students in America. After completing his secondary education, Azikiwe applied to the colonial service and was accepted as a clerk in the’ treasury department. His time in the colonial service exposed him to racial bias in the colonial government. Determined to travel abroad for further education, Azikiwe applied to universities in the U.S. He was admitted by Storer College, contingent on his finding a way to America. To reach America, he contacted a seaman and made a deal with him to become a stowaway. However, one of his friends on the ship became ill and they were advised to disembark in Sekondi. In Ghana, Azikiwe worked as a police officer; his mother visited, and asked him to return to Nigeria. He returned, and his father was willing to sponsor his trip to America.
Azikiwe attended Storer College’s two-year preparatory school in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. To fund his living expenses and tuition, he worked a number of menial jobs before enrolling in Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1927 to obtain a bachelor’s degree in political science. In 1929, he transferred from Howard University to Lincoln University to complete his undergraduate studies and graduated in 1930 with a BA in political science. Azikwe took courses with Alain Locke. Azikiwe was a member of Phi Beta Sigma. He then enrolled at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and in the University of Pennsylvania simultaneously in 1930, receiving a master’s degree in religion from Lincoln University and a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1932. Azikiwe became a graduatestudent instructor in the history and political-science departments at Lincoln University, where he created a course in African history. He was a candidate for a doctoral degree at Columbia University before returning to Nigeria in 1934. Azikiwe’s doctoral research focused on Liberia in world politics, and his research paper was published by A. H. Stockwell in 1934. During his time in America, he was a columnist for the Baltimore AfroAmerican, Philadelphia Tribune and the Associated Negro Press. Azikiwe was
influenced by the ideals of the AfricanAmerican press, Garveyism and panAfricanism.
Personally, I believe the European has a god in whom he believes and whom he is representing in his churches all over Africa. He believes in the god whose name is spelt Deceit. He believes in the god whose law is “Ye strong, you must weaken the weak”. Ye “civilised” Europeans, you must “civilise” the “barbarous” Africans with machine guns. Ye “Christian” Europeans, you must “Christianise” the “pagan” Africans with bombs, poison gases, etc.
•Excerpt from May 1936 African Morning Post article which led to sedition trial
He applied as a foreign-service official for Liberia, but was rejected because he was not a native of the country. By 1934, when Azikiwe returned to Lagos, he was well-known and viewed as a public figure by some members of the Lagos and Igbo community. He was welcomed home by a number of people, as his writings in America evidently reached Nigeria. In Nigeria, Azikiwe’s initial goal was to obtain a position commensurate with his education; after several unsuccessful applications (including for a teaching post at King’s College), he accepted an offer from Ghanaian businessman Alfred Ocansey to become founding editor of the African Morning Post (a new daily newspaper in Accra, Ghana). He was given a free hand to run the newspaper, and recruited many of its original staff. Azikiwe wrote “The Inside Stuff by Zik”, a column in which he preached radical nationalism and black pride which raised some alarm in colonial circles. As editor, he promoted a pro-African nationalist agenda. Yuri Smertin described his writing there: “In his passionately denunciatory articles and public statements he censured the existing colonial order: the restrictions on the
African’s right to express their opinions, and racial discrimination.
He also criticized those Africans who belonged to the ‘elite’ of colonial society and. favoured retaining the existing order, as they regarded it as the basis of their well-being.” During Azikiwe’s stay in Accra he advanced his New Africa philosophy later explored in his book, Renascent Africa. The philosophic ideal is a state where Africans would be divorced from ethnic affiliations and traditional authorities and transformed by five philosophical pillars: spiritual balance, social regeneration, economic determinism, mental emancipation and risorgimento nationalism. Azikiwe did not shy away from Gold Coast politics, and the paper supported the local Mambii party.
The Post published a 15 May 1936 article, “Has the African a God?” by I. T. A. Wallace-Johnson, and Azikiwe (as editor) was tried for sedition. He was originally found guilty and sentenced to six months in prison, but his conviction was overturned on appeal. Azikiwe returned to Lagos in 1937 and founded the West African Pilot, a newspaper which he used to promote nationalism in Nigeria. In addition to the Pilot, his Zik Group established newspapers in politically- and economically important cities throughout the country. The group’s flagship newspaper was the West African Pilot, which used Dante Alighieri’s “Show the light and the people will find the way” as its motto. Other publications were the Southern Nigeria Defender from Warri (later Ibadan), the Eastern Guardian (founded in 1940 and published in Port Harcourt), and the Nigerian Spokesman in Onitsha. In 1944, the group acquired Dusé Mohamed Ali’s The Comet. Azikiwe’s newspaper venture was a business and political tool. The Pilot focused less on advertising than on circulation, largely because expatriate firms dominated the Nigerian economy. Many of Azikiwe’s newspapers emphasized sensationalism and human-interest stories; the Pilot introduced sports coverage and a women’s section, increasing coverage of Nigerian events compared with the competing Daily Times (which emphasized expatriate and foreign-news-service stories). The Pilot’s initial run was 6,000 copies daily; at its peak in 1950, it was printing over 20,000 copies. Azikiwe founded other business ventures (such as the African Continental Bank and the Penny Restaurant) at this time, and used his newspapers to advertise them.
Before World War II, the West African Pilot was seen as a paper trying to build a circulation base rather than overtly radical. The paper’s editorials and political coverage focused on injustice to Africans, criticism of the colonial administration and support for the ideas of the educated elites in Lagos.However, by 1940 a gradual change occurred. As he did in the African Morning Post, Azikiwe began writing a column (“Inside Stuff”) in which he sometimes tried to raise political consciousness. Pilot editorials called for African independence, particularly after the rise of the Indian independence movement. Although, the paper supported
Great Britain during the war, it criticized austerity measures such as price controls and wage ceilings. In 1943 the British Council sponsored eight West African editors (including Azikiwe), and he and six other editors used the opportunity to raise awareness of possible political independence. The journalists signed a memorandum calling for gradual sociopolitical reforms, including abrogation of the crown colony system, regional representation and independence for British West African colonies by 1958 or 1960. The memorandum was ignored by the colonial office, increasing Azikiwe’s militancy.
He had a controlling interest in over 12 daily, African-run newspapers. Azikiwe’s articles on African nationalism, black pride and empowerment dismayed many colonialist politicians and benefited many marginalized Africans. East African newspapers generally published in Swahili, with the exception of newsletters such as the East African Standard. Azikiwe revolutionized the West African newspaper industry, demonstrating that English-language journalism could be successful. By 1950, the five leading African-run newspapers in the Eastern Region (including the Nigerian Daily Times) were outsold by the Pilot. On 8 July 1945, the Nigerian government banned Azikiwe’s West African Pilot and Daily Comet for misrepresenting information about a general strike. Although Azikiwe acknowledged this, he continued publishing articles about the strike in the Guardian (his Port Harcourt newsletter). He led a 1945 general strike, and was the premier of East Nigeria from 1954 to 1959. By the 1960s, after Nigerian independence, the national West African Pilot was particularly influential in the east. Azikiwe took particular aim at political groups which advocated exclusion. He was criticized by a Yoruba faction for using his newspaper to suppress opposition to his views. At Azikiwe’s death, The New York Times said that he “towered over the affairs of Africa’s most populous nation, attaining the rare status of a truly national hero who came to be admired across the regional and ethnic lines dividing his country.”
Political career
Azikiwe became active in the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM), the country’s first nationalist organization. Although he supported Samuel Akisanya as the NYM candidate for a vacant seat in the Legislative Council in 1941, the NYM executive council selected Ernest Ikoli. Azikiwe resigned from the NYM, accusing the majority Yoruba leadership of discriminating against the Ijebu-Yoruba members and Igbos. Some Ijebu members followed him, splitting the movement along ethnic lines. He entered politics, cofounding the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) with Herbert Macaulay in 1944. Azikiwe became the council’s secretary-general in 1946.
As a result of Azikiwe’s support for a
general strike in June 1945 and his attacks on the colonial government, publication of the West African Pilot was suspended on 8 July of that year. He praised the striking workers and their leader, Michael Imoudu, accusing the colonial government of exploiting the working class. In August, the newspaper was allowed to resume publication. During the strike, Azikiwe raised the alarm about an assassination plot by unknown individuals working on behalf of the colonial government. His basis for the allegation was a wireless message intercepted by a Pilot reporter. After receiving the intercepted message, Azikiwe went into hiding in Onitsha. The Pilot published sympathetic editorials during his absence, and many Nigerians believed the assassination story. Azikiwe’s popularity, and his newspaper circulation, increased during this period. The allegations were doubted by some Nigerians, who believed that he made them up to raise his profile. The skeptics were primarily Yoruba politicians from the Nigerian Youth Movement, creating a rift between the factions and a press war between Azikiwe’s Pilot and the NYM’s Daily Service.
A militant youth movement, led by Osita Agwuna, Raji Abdalla, Kolawole Balogun, M. C. K. Ajuluchukwu and Abiodun Aloba, was established in 1946 to defend Azikiwe’s life and his ideals of self-government. Inspired by his writings and Nwafor Orizu’s Zikism philosophy, members of the movement soon began advocating positive, militant action to bring about self-government. Calls for action included strikes, study of military science by Nigerian students overseas, and a boycott of foreign products. Azikiwe did not publicly defend the movement, which was banned in 1951 after a failed attempt to kill a colonial secretary.
In 1945, British governor Arthur Richards presented proposals for a revision of the Clifford constitution of 1922. Included in the proposal was an increase in the number of nominated African members to the Legislative Council. However, the changes were opposed by nationalists such as Azikiwe. NCNC politicians opposed unilateral decisions made by Arthur Richards and a constitutional provision allowing only four elected African members; the rest would be nominated candidates. The nominated African candidates were loyal to the colonial government, and would not aggressively seek self-government. Another basis of opposition was little input for the advancement of Africans to senior civil-service positions. The NCNC prepared to argue its case to the new Labour government of Clement Attlee in Britain. A tour of the country was begun to raise awareness of the party’s concerns and to raise money for the UK protest. NCNC president Herbert Macaulay died during the tour, and Azikiwe assumed leadership of the party. He led the delegation to London and, in preparation for the trip, traveled to the US to seek sympathy for the party’s case. Azikiwe met Eleanor
Roosevelt at Hyde Park, and spoke about the “emancipation of Nigeria from political thralldom, economic insecurity and social disabilities”. The UK delegation included Azikiwe, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Zanna Dipcharima, Abubakar Olorunimbe, P. M. Kale, Adeleke Adedoyin and Nyong Essien. They visited the Fabian Society’s Colonial Bureau, the Labor Imperial Committee and the West African Students’ Union to raise awareness of its proposals for amendments to the 1922 constitution. Included in the NCNC proposals was consultation with Africans about changes to the Nigerian constitution, more power to the regional House of Assemblies and limiting the powers of the central Legislative Council to defense, currency and foreign affairs. The delegation submitted its proposals to the colonial secretary, but little was done to change to Richards’ proposals. The Richards constitution took effect in 1947, and Azikiwe contested one of the Lagos seats to delay its implementation.
1950–1953
Under the Richards constitution, Azikiwe was elected to the Legislative Council in a Lagos municipal election from the National Democratic Party (an NCNC subsidiary). He and the party representative did not attend the first session of the council, and agitation for changes to the Richards constitution led to the Macpherson constitution. The Macpherson constitution took effect in 1951 and, like the Richards constitution, called for elections to the regional House of Assembly. Azikiwe opposed the changes, and contested for the chance to change the new constitution. Staggered elections were held from August to December 1951. In the Western Region (where Azikiwe stood), two parties were dominant: Azikiwe’s NCNC and the Action Group. Elections for the Western Regional Assembly were held in September and December 1951 because the constitution allowed an electoral college to choose members of the national legislature; an Action Group majority in the house might prevent Azikiwe from going to the House of Representatives. He won a regional assembly seat from Lagos, but the opposition party claimed a majority in the House of Assembly and Azikiwe did not represent Lagos in the federal House of Representatives. In 1951, he became leader of the Opposition to the government of Obafemi Awolowo in the Western Region’s House of Assembly. Azikiwe’s non-selection to the national assembly caused chaos in the west. An agreement by elected NCNC members from Lagos to step down for Azikiwe if he was not nominated broke down. Azikiwe blamed the constitution, and wanted changes made. The NCNC (which dominated the Eastern Region) agreed, and committed to amending the constitution.
Azikiwe moved to the Eastern Region in 1952, and the NCNC-dominated regional assembly made proposals to accommodate him. Although the party’s regional and central ministers were asked to resign in a cabinet reshuffle, most ignored the request.The regional assembly then passed a vote of no confidence on the ministers, and appropriation bills sent to
the ministry were rejected. This created an impasse in the region, and the lieutenant governor dissolved the regional house. A new election returned Azikiwe as a member of the Eastern Assembly. He was selected as Chief Minister, and became premier of Nigeria’s Eastern Region in 1954 when it became a federating unit.
Presidency and later life
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2018)
Azikiwe became governor-general on 16 November 1960, with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as prime minister, and became the first Nigerian named to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. When Nigeria became a republic in 1963, he was its first president. In both posts, Azikiwe’s role was largely ceremonial.
He and his civilian colleagues were removed from office in the 15 January 1966 military coup, and he was the most prominent politician to avoid assassination after the coup. Azikiwe was a spokesman for Biafra and advised its leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, during the Biafran War (1967–1970). He switched his allegiance back to Nigeria during the war, and appealed to Ojukwu to end the war in pamphlets and interviews. The New York Times said about his politics, “Throughout his life, Dr. Azikiwe’s alliance with northerners put him at odds with Obafemi Awolowo, a socialist-inclined leader of the Yoruba, the country’s other important southern group.”
After the war, Azikiwe was chancellor of the University of Lagos from 1972 to 1976. He joined the Nigerian People’s Party in 1978, making unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 1979 and 1983. He left politics involuntarily after the 31 December 1983 military coup.
Azikiwe died aged 91 on 11 May 1996 at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu after a long illness, and is buried in his native Onitsha.
Culled from wikipedia.org
Indian police and social workers rescued a battered and bruised 14-year-old last week from the home in a Delhi suburb where she worked as a domestic helper. Experts say such workers are vulnerable to exploitation because of a lack of will and legal safeguards to protect them.
The girl, who was brought to hospital with multiple injuries, told police that she had been tortured by her employers over five months.
“She was in an extremely pathetic condition,” said journalist and documentary filmmaker Deepika Narayan Bharadwaj, who tipped off the child rescue services after hearing about the girl from a friend.
“A friend called and told me that while visiting his relatives in Gurgaon [a Delhi suburb], he’d seen this girl when she was taking out trash. He said her face was bloodied and covered in bruises,” Ms Bharadwaj told me.
When Ms Bharadwaj met the teenager in hospital, she heard first-hand her account of the
horrific treatment she is said to have endured.
“She told me that she was beaten every day, in fact several times a day, for not completing work on time,” she said.
Police have arrested the girl’s employers, Manish Khattar and his wife Kamaljeet Kaur, and charged them under various sections of the law. Police claim the girl’s injuries are consistent with torture.
A police official told The Indian Express that “the couple allegedly used to beat her mercilessly for not working properly. She has several cut and burn injuries, suspected to have been inflicted with a blade or hot tongs”.
“The girl had injuries on several parts of her body - face, arms, hands and feet. On one of her arms, her skin had been burnt,” he said, adding that “a medical examination has been conducted and legal action will be taken.”
The photos the BBC has seen of the injuries sustained by the girl show cuts and burns to her face and body. They are too distressing to include in this article.
In her statement to the police, the girl has also alleged that her employers forced her to “take off her clothes while doing laundry and other chores and she was made to sleep on the floor… without clothes”.
This appears to have prompted them to charge the couple with sexual harassment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The couple are in police custody and have not commented on the allegations yet. The BBC has attempted to get in touch with the couple’s legal representatives but has been unable to get a response.
Police said Mr Khattar worked as a deputy manager with a prominent life insurance company and his wife was working with a public relations firm. Since the allegations surfaced, the couple have been sacked by their companies.
“They were treating her like a slave,” comments Nishi Kant, executive director of antitrafficking NGO Shakti Vahini that is working with the girl now. “She was not given enough food and was compelled to eat from the dustbin.
“We are also trying to find out who is the uncle who brought her to Gurgaon, which is the placement agency which got her the job and what happened to her remuneration because she never got paid,” he said.
The brutality the girl was made to suffer has shocked India and made headlines but campaigners point out that claims of abuse and exploitation of domestic helpers are not infrequent in a country where millions of women and children, both boys and girls, from poor families work as servants in affluent and middle class homes.
In 2013, police in Delhi arrested a 50-year-old woman for assaulting and torturing her 15-year-old maid. The girl had a severe head injury and bite marks on her body.
The previous year, a doctor
couple from the city were arrested for locking up their 13-year-old domestic servant and going on holiday to Thailand. Neighbours alerted police and activists after they heard the girl crying and screaming for help from the balcony.
One thing that was common in all three cases is that the victims were from Jharkhand, one of the poorest states in India.
“Because of extreme poverty, girls drop out of school on hitting puberty. They’re then lured with promises of jobs to Delhi and other cities by dodgy employment agencies that are not registered,” says Rishi Kant, spokesman for Shakti Vahini.
“In the city, they are placed in homes of people where they are often in exploitative situations. Many are assaulted, they have few freedoms.”
According to official statistics, India has 4.75 million domestic workers, including three million women. But the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates the true numbers to be between 20 and 80 million.
That’s because in India, housework involves a lot of heavy lifting. Since few homes are equipped with dishwashers, vacuum cleaners or washing machines, nearly all middle class and affluent families hire workers for sweeping, cleaning dishes, laundry, cooking and childcare. The law says children above 14 can also be employed as housework is not considered hazardous.
The arrangement is an important livelihood source for those with little or no education - but Meenakshi Gupta Jain, who runs Helper4U, an online portal that connects workers with employers, says it also opens them to all sorts of exploitation.
“What makes domestic helpers so vulnerable to exploitation is that they have no legal contract, there are no minimum guaranteed wages, the prevention of sexual
harassment act which protects women in workspaces does not apply to them, and far away from their homes, many have no support system.
“Even if they are hit, they have no one to turn to for help,” she says, adding that “such instances will keep happening until and unless we bring in strict legislation with strict penalties, act against agencies and employers”.
Ms Jain says that children are especially vulnerable and although “the government says that children can work at home because home is not hazardous, behind closed doors a home can be the most hazardous workplace in the world”.
But the plight of domestic workers is rarely talked about in India, unless a particularly brutal case makes headlines.
Ms Jain says there must be public messaging to tell Indians that it’s important to treat domestic staff well.
“We are creating hype about all sorts of things, so why not create hype about how we should be treating the domestic help?”
Mr Kant says that an antitrafficking bill that’s been pending in parliament for years now must be passed if the issue is to be addressed.
“Those bringing vulnerable girls and placing them in exploitative situations need to be targeted and punished.”
Under the current laws, Mr Kant says it’s not going to be easy to punish the couple accused of assaulting their maid.
“We have a tough battle ahead. Plenty of similar cases happen, but most end in nothing. Quite often, the family of the victim take the money and settle out of court.”
In the 2013 case, he points out that the 50-year-old woman was bailed after a month. It took the court four years to convict her, and in the end she was let go with a fine of just 1,000 rupees ($12; £10).
Source: BBC
As Nigeria prepares for the 25 February general election, its commercial hub Lagos offers a snapshot of the opposing forces seeking to shape the country’s future - those seemingly content with the status quo and those who aspire for more.
With the largest number of registered voters - seven million - the state has emerged as a key battleground in a contest where each side is backed by an army of young people, mostly drawn from the third of Nigerians who can’t find a job or are performing roles below their qualification.
“He’s created jobs before and he will do it again,” says Jimoh Adesina, 40, a driver with the public bus scheme in Lagos, who is backing Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
While driving a public bus is a decent job, it is not what you might expect someone with a degree from a polytechnic to be doing, but Mr Adesina is happy just to be in work.
Unemployment and the economy are key concerns for voters in the elections. Despite being Africa’s largest economy and oil producer, four out of 10 Nigerians live below the poverty line, according to the World Bank.
Mr Tinubu has based his presidential campaign on his record as governor of Lagos state, and the achievements of the party he helped bring to power in 2015. These are best seen through the windows of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) he introduced that eased the city’s notorious traffic jams.
A modern bus terminal has replaced chaotic scenes at the popular Oshodi interchange, while test runs are under way for a new electric light railway which runs past a refurbished National Theatre.
On the other side of the lagoon is a new national rail line connecting Lagos with the city of Ibadan via a stop in Abeokuta, and a landmark bridge now leads to the upmarket Lekki Peninsula, where upwardly mobile young Nigerians in the tech sector live in swanky apartments.
Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, is building an oil refinery in a free trade zone partly owned by the government, nearby a new port built by the Chinese is now operational and there is talk of a fourth bridge to link the working-class mainland to the business districts on Lagos Island.
All these have transformed Lagos from the chaotic city it was before 1999.
Most of modern Lagos is Mr Tinubu’s creation or has been implemented by his proteges who have succeeded him since 2007, including a new city of luxury apartments on the Atlantic coast, where he boasts that he tamed the ocean.
“He is my father,” says Mr Adesina, whose life is intertwined with the man he said paid his exam fees and those of others in public schools in 2001, and also gave him this job as a driver.
He is one of many across Nigeria whose lives have been touched by
Mr Tinubu’s benevolence, either through state resources or his personal wealth. The list includes football stars, musicians, politicians whose campaigns he sponsored and businesses he bailed out during tough times.
That is why his slogan for the election, Emi Lokan, which loosely translates to It Is My Turn, is basically a rallying call for favours to be repaid in support of his presidential bid.
The kingmaker now wants to be king.
Although his party has lost some support after eight years in power, its nationwide machinery is also an advantage and Mr Tinubu plans to visit all of the states in Nigeria.
“Those he meets never remain the same, he impacts people’s live either directly or indirectly,” says Adekanye Adetutu, an ardent supporter whose fees were also paid as a secondary school student.
But opponents say Mr Tinubu has used such benevolence to entrench a patronage system to create a support base of loyal followers, build a political empire and keep hold of state resources.
“Tinubu should get his foot off our necks,” says Daniella BrodieMends, a 25-year-old first-time voter with dyed blonde hair at an old colonial square in Lagos where thousands gathered for the final rally of Labour Party candidate Peter Obi.
The crowd at the Tafawa Balewa Square was similar to those that gathered at the Lekki tollgate during the 2020 EndSars protests, which campaigned against police brutality and then morphed into demands for better governance in Africa’s most populous nation.
They are young, confident and many are well-off, sporting the latest iPhones and Yeezy boots alongside nose piercings, dreadlocks and tattoos, although his support is not confined to the middle-classes.
Many were not born when Mr Tinubu and others fought the military government of Sani Abacha in the 1990s, or were still babies when he was governor between 1999-2007.
But they have little time for his democratic credentials and in many ways, represent the audacity of a new generation of young Nigerians who feel that the old politicians who run the country have vastly limited their potential and want them out of their way.
They are loyal to no-one, don’t want hand-outs from the state or the jobs of street sweepers, traffic regulators and park attendants through which Mr Tinubu has employed thousands in Lagos.
They are friends with the city’s successful young tech entrepreneurs and know of the immense opportunities that Lagos can offer, but they are also likely to have experienced police brutality, have seen their university education interrupted by strikes and are feeling the pinch of record levels of inflation.
“I was holidaying in Europe every summer before this APC came into power,” says one man who came
to the rally with dozens of face caps he had personally branded for the Labour Party.
Despite his past association with the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Obi is considered an outsider compared to the politicians his supporters accuse of holding Nigeria back.
The 61-year-old has promised to wean the Nigerian economy off its dependence on imports by creating an environment where exports will drive growth, and has built his campaign on the prudent management of public funds when he served two terms as governor of eastern Anambra state.
He has run a nimble campaign, visiting poor villagers in remote areas where he is popular, and his entrance into Lagos, when he rode in an open-roof car from one part of the city to another, felt like a victory parade.
Some people going to the Peter Obi rally were attacked by thugs
But in a worrying sign ahead of election day, dozens of his supporters were attacked and injured en route to the venue.
It is a pattern that has been seen in the past, especially in the
2019 general elections where voting in opposition strongholds was disrupted in Lagos and many voters prevented from casting their ballots.
Such attacks are usually carried out by Lagos’ powerful gangs of street thugs who are mostly found at motor parks and markets.
They are a menace many in Lagos would rather not encounter but they perform essential tax-collection duties for local authorities, especially from those in the informal sector of the economy, such as tricycle riders and street traders.
Lagos has always followed Mr
Tinubu since 1999 and whichever party he has chosen has swept the polls at both state and federal elections. However the margins have been diminishing, with the PDP, represented by Atiku Abubakar at this election, and now the Labour Party, making inroads.
This city has seen many changes over the years, but now it feels like a showdown between the old and the new is imminent. And in many ways, its outcome will dictate Nigeria’s future direction.
Source: BBC
Ahead of November governorship election in Bayelsa, All Progressive Congress (APC) stakeholders in the State has charged the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to ensure that equal and level playing field is provided for the aspirants, failure of which they will not accept the outcome of the process.
Pioneer Secretary of APC in the State, Merlin Daniel,
By Ikechukwu OkaforadiThe vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Datti BabaAhmed, yesterday cautioned Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai to stop toying with treasonable felony over his recent order countering President Muhammadu Buhari on the validity of old naira notes and Federal Government cashless policy.
Recall that on Thursday morning, Buhari had said he had directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to extend the validity of only old N200 notes till April 10, just as he said the old N500, N1000 notes remain invalid and not legal tender anywhere in Nigeria.
However, in a broadcast to counter the President, el-Rufai said the old N500 and N1000 notes remain valid in the state pending the Supreme Court’s decision.
who led the stakeholders to the party secretariat in Abuja, presented this demand before the NWC members shortly after picking the party’s Nomination and Expression of Interest forms for David Lyon to run for governor of the state from the party’s headquarters in Abuja.
Daniel said the only way APC can win the governorship race in the state is if David Lyon is made the APC Candidate.
“I am taking this message to the national executive and
whoever is concerned, that if they want APC to produce the next Governor of Bayelsa State, there is no doubt that it is picking Chief David Lyon as a candidate for the party.
“I want to urge the national Secretariat to ensure that there is a level playing ground for everybody if there is going to be anybody that will contest.
“It should be a level playing ground. You can see what is happening in the States, the Congresses, the state Congress in local government, because
things are not done right.
“If there is any giant let him go down and let the APC members decide. And I’m telling you I’m assuring you that a David Lyon will win that Goliath”, Daniel said.
Also speaking, former Minority Leader of Bayelsa House of Assembly, Indutimi Komonibo said the stakeholders are open to consensus.
“What we want to tell the National is that as far as we are concerned, the consensus is
permitted in our constitution. We are therefore asking for consensus,” he said.
David Lyon is the first aspirant who is getting the forms for governorship in APC.
According to the timetable released by the APC for the Bayelsa Governorship, sale of nomination forms began on 15th February and ends 22nd February.
The primary election is scheduled to hold on April 10th, 2023
But speaking at a press conference on Friday, the LP Vice Presidential candidate said the states who are at the forefront of the fight against the naira redesign policy were those that contributed the highest number of votes to Buhari’s victory in the 2019 elections.
He said “Why would you as the commander-in-chief give an executive order and it is clearly constitutional and a state governor would say you should continue exchanging those currencies,” Baba-Ahmed said.
“This is to say there are two authorities. Why President Buhari is silent about this is best known to him. Immunity does not mean that the offense has not been committed.
“These are the states (kicking against the naira swap policy) that contributed about the largest votes for Buhari –Kano, Kaduna – but these are states in the forefront of fighting Buhari’s government because of currency.
“These are state governments who have not fought over failure to secure Nigerians. Their states have become so insecure.
“They didn’t challenge Buhari when the naira fell from N200 to N750.
“It is with this drama in the election that they are challenging him to the extent of giving counter orders… You know, treason. It is close to treason, lawyers will tell you that better.”
By Christiana Ekpa
Coalition of civil society groups and sociopolitical organisations in Enugu North Senatorial District of Enugu State, under the auspices of Nsukka Democratic Movement (NDM), on Thursday unveiled the list of their preferred candidates for the forthcoming presidential and National Assembly elections.
The coalition announced the endorsement of the candidacy of Mr. Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) for President and Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Enugu North Senatorial seat.
Other preferred candidates named by the Coalition include Engr. Vita Abba for Nsukka/ Igbo-Eze South Federal Constituency of the House
of Representatives; Hon. Dr. Martins Oke of the PDP for Igbo-Etiti/Uzo-Uwani Federal Constituency; and Hon. Engr. Simon Chukwuemeka of the PDP for Igbe-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives.
Speaking at the colourful event at Ugwu Oye area of the ancient city of Nsukka in Nsukka Local Government Area, the National Convener of the umbrella association, Chief Willy Ezugwu, said that the coalition opted to take a decision on who should represent the zone at the federal level with the aim of “taking our destinies in our hands as Ndi Enugu North.”
He said, “It is pertinent to note without mincing words that until recently, the entire Enugu North Senatorial District, popularly known as Nsukka Zone seemed completely
abandoned by political leaders at both state and federal levels. Before now, the worst of us have been our representatives at the state and federal levels.
“This must stop as the result is the infrastructural decay and evident bad leadership across Nsukka Zone since the creation of Enugu State nearly 32 years ago until the coming of the peoples Governor who tried his best in cleaning our tears.
“Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi may not have done for us all he may have intended to do but there is a difference in Nsukka and the entire Enugu State. Let us also remember that our amiable governor will remain in office until May 29, 2023, and within the next three months, our able Governor can still surprise us in many ways.
“While we continue to ask for more like Oliver Twist, we
must ensure that we participate actively in the ongoing campaign and vote for all our preferred candidates as we are here today to make them known. This is in order for all of us to hold them accountable when they are elected to represent us at the federal level.
“We, therefore, enjoin all member-organisations that constitute the Nsukka Democratic Movement as well as the residents of Enugu North to ensure that we come out and massively vote to deliver all the candidates we are adopting today because we shall closely monitor their performance and the quality of their representation throughout their tenure.
“Be assured that it will not be business as usual because it is the civic responsibility of the people to hold their leaders
accountable and this will all do.
“We urge every registered voter with Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) to ensure that they come out and vote. Gone are the days our votes don’t count.
“Today, with the new Electoral Act 2022, which legalized electronic transmission of results, our vote will count.
“At this juncture, the Nsukka Democratic Movement wishes to inform you all that the choice of candidates for the State governorship and legislative elections will be communicated in due course.
“They will be chosen irrespective of political party affiliation in our drive to ensure that the interests of the good people of Enugu North Senatorial District are taken care of by the next administration”, Chief Ezugwu said.
Football loving fans at the NFF/FIFA Goal Project pitch at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja witnessed massive onslaught, as the Golden Eaglets massacred Young Strikers of Ilesha 11-1.
The visitors from Osun state went ahead early in the first half against the run of play as a result of defensive error from the Eaglets, but their joy was short-lived when the five-time world champions equalised almost immediately.
The rampaging Eaglets took complete control of the game, scoring two more goals to go into the break at 3-1 advantage.
On resumption, Young Strikers were completely overwhelmed by the enterprising Eaglets as their defence crumbled to eight more goals scored by the most successful National U -17 team in the world to the cheering of the fans.
Golden Eaglets had earlier subdued P-Sports Academy of Uyo 2-0 in the first friendly game played earlier in the day.
It was indeed a great feat as the Eaglets scored 13 goals in two games, conceding just one.
On Tuesday, Kano Pillars, former NPFL champions, fell like a pack of cards 3-1 before the Golden Eaglets.
In the thrilling encounter, Pillars paraded most players that featured for the team in last season before getting relegated to the second tier Nigeria National League, but they could not withstand the ferocious Eaglets, despite scoring first.
Shockingly, Tripple O Academy of Kaduna defeated Golden Eaglets 2-1, while the team also recorded a 6-4 loss to Derby Football Academy of Abuja.
Golden Eaglets have played 10 friendly games since they resumed camping last month. The team has won eight and lost two, scored 47 goals and conceded 13 goals in the process.
The 2022/23 Nigeria Professional Football League, NPFL, will proceed on a three-week break at the halfway mark of the abridged league format season after this weekend’s match day nine matches.
The break will enable the clubs to refresh and enable players and officials to participate in the General Election 2023 scheduled for Saturday, February 25 and March 11 2023.
“Yes, I can confirm that the NPFL will go on break for three weeks after the match day nine games.
We’ll resume after the Nigerian elections for the final stage of the abridged league, ” Davidson Owumi, Head of operations of the Interim Management Committee IMC, said .
“We are putting every effort to ensure that the league drives itself. It’s been hectic, but I think we have done well and if we get more sponsors and partners, the clubs and other stakeholders will benefit from it and the league will progress to the level we envisage
“The IMC is discussing with DStv to return NPFL on cable TV, Supersport channels.
I can confirm to you that we are making and very soon Nigerians and the world will be able to view more matches and attract more interest in the league, ” Owumi, a onetime Nigerian league top goal scorer stated.
On clubs getting a balance of N250 million from the IMC, Owumi said: “I cannot say with all certainty how much and when money will be paid to the clubs.
It depends greatly on the extent of investment brought in by sponsors. It could even be double that, but it depends on what comes in.”
That objective criticism will spur the clubs, players, match officials and league managers to perform better.
He advised that critics should not personalise issues, noting that even the best leagues in the world are not perfect
By Albert Akota
The Flying Eagles of Nigeria arrived Cairo, Egypt ahead of the 2023 Africa
U-20 Cup of Nations.
20 players and their officials touched down at the Cairo International Airport around 5:30pm local time after 5hrs 30 minutes journey.
The team is lodged at Jewel Sports City &
Aqua Resorts. Ladan Bosso’s side will have their first training session in Egypt this morning.
The Flying Eagles will take on the Young Terangha Lions of Senegal in their first game at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday.
Before that, hosts Egypt and Mozambique will slug it out in the opening fixture of the competition.
English Premiership: Week 24 of 38
Saturday 18th February
Aston Villa vs Arsenal
12:30
Brentford vs Crystal Palace
15:00
Brighton and Hove Albion vs Fulham
15:00
Chelsea vs Southampton
15:00
Everton vs Leeds United
15:00
The competition will run from February 19 to March 11.
The Flying Eagles will take on the Young Terangha Lions of Senegal in their first game at the Cairo International Stadium on Sunday.
Before that, hosts Egypt and Mozambique will slug it out in the opening fixture of the competition.
The competition will run from February 19 to March 11.
Nottingham Forest vs Manchester City
15:00
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs Bournemouth
15:00
Newcastle United vs Liverpool
17:30
Sunday 19th February
Manchester United vs Leicester City
14:00
Tottenham Hotspur vs West Ham United
16:30
Spanish La liga matchday 22 of 38
Saturday 18th February
Real Sociedad vs Celta Vigo
13:00
Real Betis vs Real Valladolid
15:15
Real Mallorca vs Villarreal
17:30
Osasuna vs Real Madrid
20:00
Sunday 19th February
Elche vs Espanyol
13:00
Rayo Vallecano vs Sevilla
15:15
Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao
17:30
Barcelona vs Cadiz
20:00
Monday 20th February
Getafe vs Valencia
20:00
Seri A matchday 23 of 38
Saturday 18th February
Sampdoria vs Bologna
14:00
Monza vs AC Milan
17:00
Inter Milan vs Udinese
19:45
Sunday 19th February
Atalanta vs Lecce
11:30
Fiorentina vs Empoli
14:00
Salernitana vs Lazio
14:00
Spezia vs Juventus
17:00
Roma vs Verona
19:45
Monday 20th February
Torino vs Cremonese
19:45
Culled from skysports.com
At long last President Buhari condescended to address his fellow Nigerians on his controversial monetary policy – the so-called redesign of three denominations of the national currency, on February 16. He did what he should have done from the beginning to inform and educate the public on why he chose to do it and what the economy, the people and the country stand to gain from it. But given his famous penchant towards rulership instead of leadership, he tends to treat his policies as divine imperatives beyond question by mere mortals. The air has gone out of his know-it-all balloon.
And then this one blew up in his face and he was forced to do what he hates to do – talk to his fellow Nigerians – in an effort to do the ultimate damage control himself. The damage to our national economy and his own image is by now extensive. Protests over naira scarcity has led to avoidable deaths and destruction. Angry fellow Nigerians denied the right to get their money from the banks after waiting in line for hours, took it out on some branches of the banks and torched them in various parts of the country. There is anger and there is hunger and there is poverty imposed on the people.
A flurry of litigations against the federal government flooded the Supreme Court as parts of efforts to legally force the president and his alter ego, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, to appreciate the telling fact that their policy had become a clear and obvious danger to the people and the country. They refused to listen to anyone and stuck to their collective self-righteous wisdom when leadership rather than rulership recommended itself for their due consideration.
None of this should have happened, at least not at this time and in the manner the policy was rammed down our throats. The policy is a pile on on our distress as a nation. Our misery index has naturally risen towards the stratosphere. We are spending hours at fuel stations daily. That in itself is a huge challenge and one that has been with us for as long as anyone can remember.
Five, the current change in stance with the old N200 naira notes remaining legal tender until the end of April has solved no problems and might have) come too late to be effective in that the banks have already mopped up the old notes or b) undermined the policy itself. If the old notes are no longer available, what would the extension achieve but more frustrations for the people who can get neither the old nor the new notes?
Our country, whatever the president’s spin doctors might say, is confronted with a multitude of challenges that cannot be
tackled with a policy decision that aggravates them. This country is the least ready of nations for a cashless economy. There are no infrastructures for its implementation in the urban and rural areas. What has taken other developed nations years of a gradual process to address must be made to bend to our kia-kia mentality. A cashless economy cannot reflate our national economy, let alone respond to the many challenges it faces.
The president might have meant well, as he tried to educate us in his broadcast yesterday but still, the following stick out. One, it has aggravated our national poverty. Buhari does not need this in the twilight zone of his presidency. He is leaving us with the legacy of a poorly managed economy. That is bad enough. It was unconscionable to pile it on because he aims to reign in the use of money as a tool for elections. Elections everywhere in the world cost lots of money. In only rare cases do those with deep pockets fail to win the trophy. Money fought for his election in 2015 and his reelection in 2019.
Two, I can think of nothing that made the redesign of the national currency an urgent imperative in the management of our national economy. An economy in the doldrums does not rise up with the repainting of the national currency. The
scarcity of the redesigned naira is punitive in conception, intent, and implementation. The redesign has not turned the naira into gold and therefore so scarce it is out of the rich of the struggling masses.
Three, whatever good intentions the president has must have been ruined by the conspiracy theories that have virtually spurned out of control. The presidential candidate of the president’s party, APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, believes he is the target of the policy. Not a few people agree with him. That is bad. Neither the president nor his spin doctors have offered convincing proof that this is not so.
Four, from the totality of public opinions, the policy was conceived by the president and the CBN governor in secrecy and, therefore, cannot escape the charge that it was ignoble in conception, ignoble in intentions and profoundly ignoble in its harsh implementation. It was not and could not have been intended to help improve the economy. For the first time in recent memory, a monetary policy is being used as a dangerous tool in the primitive political struggles to achieve certain political objectives as many knowledgeable people have pointed out. As usual, the elephants are fighting, and the people are being trampled under their feet.
Five, the current change in stance with the old naira notes remaining legal tender until the end of April might have a) come too late to be effective in that the banks have already mopped up the old notes or b) undermined the policy itself. If the old notes are no longer available, what would the extension achieve but more frustrations for the people who can get neither the old nor the new notes?
Six, what is the wisdom in making the new notes scarce as a legal tender? Why should a man be restricted to N20,000 of his own money daily? The endless queues in banks by people who wish to withdraw their own legitimate money cannot be a plus for the president and his administration. These are the consequences of a policy shot through with ill-will. If the policy was meant to deny some criminal elements a lifeline and the politicians the right to let the people eat some crumbs from their polished dining tables, then the people have become collateral damages. A monetary policy conceived with noble intentions should
take this possibility and the unintended consequences into due consideration in its implementation to at least ensure that the people are not damaged victims.
Many of us wonder why Buhari chose to conceive of and implement a monetary policy that anyone could see has the potential to damage whatever legacies he intends to leave for his fellow Nigerians. The man came into office in 2015 with the best goodwill in the world. The people responded to him in a manner that none of his predecessors in office enjoyed. They believed in his promise of change to clean up the governance system, chain insecurity, kill corruption and set the nation on the path of a steady economic and social growth.
He has managed, quite remarkably, to squander the public goodwill. He is unable to find the icing on the cake of his eight years in power as president. There is chaos everywhere; criminals have the best times of it; the corrupt have the best times of it. Everything that did not need to go wrong went wrong. What needed to be fixed were not fixed because he has not provided the kind of leadership the nation needs to heal its many gaping wounds and unite the people for a common cause, the cause of a nation with the commonality of interests, opportunities, ambitions, and aspirations. We are more divided than ever before. We are divided along ethnic and religious lines and our fault lines have widened. That Buhari would ignore all these and push ahead with a monetary policy this damaging to the national economy, the country, and its hapless citizens, is not just unfortunate, it is tragic. Whoever succeeds him in May this year, will have more than he bargained for on his plate.DA
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Many of us wonder why Buhari chose to conceive of and implement a monetary policy that anyone could see has the potential to damage whatever legacies he intends to leave for his fellow Nigerians.
