Saturday, April 22, 2023 Weekend Edition

L-R; President Muhammadu Buhari receives FCT Giant Card from the Minister Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello during the Sallah Homage to mark the 2023 EID El-Fitr held at the State House yesterday in Abuja.

PHOTO; State House

NASS MGT ready for induction of Senators, Reps members in June

By Christiana Ekpa

The National Assembly Management on Thursday evening disclosed that it’s fully prepared for the induction of the Members- Elect of the 10th Assembly ahead of the inauguration in June, 2023.

The NASS Secretary of Research & Information, and Chairman, SubCommittee on Media and Publicity, Ali Barde Umoru, disclosed this in a statement he made available to NASS reporters in Abuja.

He said the Induction/ Inauguration exercise is to expose Members-Elect to the functions of the National Assembly, its Practices and Procedures as well as the services available to them.

According to him:,”Following the conclusion of the Presidential and National Assembly elections, and the

formal release of the authentic list of Senators and Honourable Memberselect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Management of the National Assembly, in conjunction with the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic studies (NILDS) is now fully prepared for the induction of the Members- Elect of the 10th Assembly ahead of the inauguration in June 2023.

“The Induction programme, which will be held in two batches, is scheduled to commence from the 7th to 13th of May 2023 with Batch A, while Batch ‘’B’’ will hold from May 14th to May 20th, 2023.

“The objectives of the As part of the efforts to ensure a very successful Induction/ Inauguration exercise, the Management led by the Clerk to the National Assembly (CNA), Alh.Sani Magaji Tambawal

has constituted a Central Planning Committee (CPC) made up of all the Secretaries in the National Assembly Service. Membership was also drawn from the National Assembly Service Commission (NASC) and the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).

“The CPC, which is at the helm of the planning and implementation of the induction programme as well as the formal inauguration of the 10th Assembly, has the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly (DCNA), Barrister Kamoru Ogunlana as Chairman. The CPC is divided into eleven (11) specialized sub-committees to enhance effectiveness, efficiency, monitoring and coordination.

“The Sub-committees include Programme Planning, Finance, Protocol and Ceremonials, Records and Documentation, Media and

Publicity, Transport and Logistics, as well as Venue and Accommodation.

“Security and Accreditation, Health and Medical Services, Civil Society Organisations/Development Partners and the Rapporteurs Team.

“The Sub-committees, which report at weekly intervals to the CPC have since swung into action, holding strategy sessions and perfecting plans for a successful induction exercise. In fact, the Subcommittees are presently crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s and rearing to go.

“It would be recalled that during the Inauguration of the CPC, the CNA Alhaji Tambawal who promised to deliver seamless Induction and Inauguration programmes, charged the members to put in their best and work as a united team towards the achievement of the desired objectives”.

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A commercial Motorcycle operator transports fresh corn, along Sambisa road Masaka Karu Local Government Nasarawa State.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

Kaduna: How bandits killed 1,266, kidnapped

4,973

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Kaduna State Government in the reviewed 2022 Annual and First Quarter 2023 Security Report has revealed that within 15 months period, a total of 1,266 persons were killed while 4,973 persons kidnapped respectively in the state.

The report was presented by the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, to the State Executive Council on the 19th April, 2023.

Aruwan, while analysing the security challenges, said they include; terrorism, banditry, and the unfortunate toll in killings, kidnappings, injuries and threats to the livelihoods of the people.

He regretted the pain and losses, and prayed for the repose of the souls of those killed, paid tribute to the victims of various crimes and reiterated solidarity with them.

According to him, the security reports were published in fulfilment of the obligation of transparency that the government owes the residents of Kaduna State.

He opined that just as the residents have a right to update on the progress in investments, revenue generation and other happy events, they equally have legitimate expectations to be provided with consistently accurate accounts of what is going on and on the measures being taken to address security challenges.

While receiving the report, the State Governor, Nasir ElRufai, called for an escalation of security operations over the 39 days remaining till the end of the current administration.

He particularly called for intensified and sustained simultaneous ground and air kinetic actions across the seven frontline states of the Northwest region and Niger which have continuous and contiguous forest ranges and are most heavily impacted by the security challenge.

El-Rufai said the reports on the security situation in the State present detailed data on the persistence of the security challenges in the state.

He explained that: “The two reports just presented by Samuel Aruwan, our Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, indicates the persistence of security challenges, including terrorism, banditry, and the unfortunate toll in killings, kidnappings, injuries and threats to the livelihoods of our people.

“We regret the pain and losses, pray for the repose of the souls of those killed, pay tribute to the victims of various crimes and reiterate our solidarity with

in

months - Official report

them.

“As the statistics presented show, there has been some slight year-on-year improvement in fatalities and other incidences of criminality across the State between 2021 and 2022.

“We hope that with your combined efforts, this downward trend will continue towards zero in the shortest possible time.

“The Kaduna State Government does its level best to prevent these sad events through

livelihoods.

“We note with gratitude that the military initiated offensive security operations against the bandits in the last half of 2022.

“As observed earlier, this helped to improve the security situation in many of our communities, but these operations must obviously be widened and sustained as the most effective way to protect our people and uphold law and order.

region, this vital mission requires a comprehensive and consistent sweep, across the Northwest and Niger states for sustained success”.

He continued: “We appeal for an escalation of security operations over the 39 days remaining till the end of the tenure of this administration and beyond so that the change of baton at the federal level does not result in a dangerous lull that criminal outlaws can exploit.

“On our part, the Kaduna State Government will continue to do everything within the powers of a state to enhance security.

“We have invested considerable resources and energy in managing security to the extent that the Constitution of our nation permits a subnational.

“Our interventions since 2015 include supporting the federal security agencies deployed in our state with vehicles and other logistics, collaborating with other frontline states to fund military operations in the 20152016 period and investments in security infrastructure and technology.

“But the extent of interventions in security by the State Government can do is constitutionally limited.

“The Federal Government has to more vigorously exercise its constitutional powers and urgently spearhead a national effort to strengthen our security forces.

“The Federal Government has to sustain the effort to promptly address the needs of the the SSS, military and police for modern technology, advanced armaments, equipment and more boots on the ground”.

institutional measures and pragmatic actions on the ground.

“These measures include persistent pressures on the Federal Government to launch comprehensive and sustained military operations against the terrorists and criminal elements that are menacing our people and their lives, liberty and

“We thank the Federal Government for finally authorising the launch of these combined military and police offensives.

“We commend the military and security forces for their efforts and sacrifices as they work to uproot the criminals.

“I wish to stress that in this

“There is every reason to intensify and sustain simultaneous ground and air kinetic actions across the seven frontline states of the Northwest region and Niger which have continuous and contiguous forest ranges and are most heavily impacted by this security challenge.

Governor El-Rufai however expressed gratitude to the security agencies, particularly the Army, Air Force, Navy, Police, Civil Defence, SSS and others for constant collaboration with the state’s Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs in the hard work of securing the state.

15

“

El-Rufai said the reports on the security situation in the State present detailed data on the persistence of the security challenges in the state

Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan with security operatives

Nigeria Customs Service obtains N3.4 billion approval dor new aircraft

By Egena Sunday Ode

The Federal Executive Council (FEC), during the week, approved the sum of N3.4 billion for the procurement of an aircraft by the nation’s Customs Service.

Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clement Agba, revealed this while briefing correspondents at the end of the week’s cabinet meeting chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

“The Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning presented a couple of memos for which approvals were obtained. The first one was for the award of contract for the procurement of a Cessna Caravan aircraft by the Nigerian Customs in the sum of N3,447,442,710 inclusive of 7.5 percent VAT with a delivery period of 12 months,” he said.

He said the aircraft will help a lot in carrying out air surveillance as well as curb the activities of smugglers.

“This aircraft is an addition to the current fleet in the Customs Service and it is aimed towards combating smuggling activities and enhancing intelligence gathering. It is also to provide aerial surveillance and reconnaissance for the customs across our borders,” Agba added.

He further disclosed that the sum of N45.9 billion was approved as augmentation for the cost of contracts for the construction of the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (NDIC) Head office Building in Abuja and Lagos, including its training institute in Lagos.

“The augmentation amount is a total of N45, 937, 319, 279.44. There are three different projects here; the first one is the NDIC Head Office Annex project in Abuja, the Lagos Office project and the Lagos Training Centre project in Lekki-Lagos,” he said.

Agba also disclosed that the Council further gave approval for the implementation of the Nigerian Customs Service Modernization Project.

He said the concessionaire is Bergman Securities Consultant

and Suppliers Limited as the project sponsor, Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) as lead financier while Huawei Technologies will be trained as lead technical service provider.

He said the concessionaire has furnished the government with $9 million security from the satisfactory performance of the project. They have also executed the depth facility tensions in the some of $300 million to finance the first phase of the project.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, told journalists that the FEC approved the phase two of the electronic Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, e-NSITF, which will enable concessionaire to upgrade the infrastructure for N15 billion.

Ngige also said the the Council granted approval for the amendment of obsolete laws in line with the International Labour Organisation, ILO, standard.

He said, “The second memo is the memo or what we call the electronic NSITF, Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund. Nigeria now operates the old workmen Compensation

Act, which is now Employee Compensation Act 2010.

“Therefore, what we are trying to do is to align the contributions of NSITF to make it fraud-free. People should be able to make the contributions of workers with ease even from the comfort of their office and generate certificates.

“You know that the ECA makes it mandatory for all employers to insure through a token contribution of percent of emolument of their workers to the fund called social trust fund of the NSITF. And that is the fund with which if you have an accident or disease condition or debt or disability in the course of work, you can make claim, like an insurance claim.

“So, we now want to refine it, because there are cases of enforcement officers going to companies to tell the company ‘well, you have 1000 workers, but you can pay for only 100.’

“That is shortcutting the organization. There are losses of revenue from that. So, this e-NSITF has a phase one and the phase two. The phase two is what the council approved today, they had earlier approved phase one

which is minimal infrastructure and cloud activity.

“Now is for a concessionaire to come and do infrastructure and upgrade in the neigbourhood of N15 billion and then after that, it will take some percentage on incremental revenue that accrued. It will make the form to be more liquid now and we’ll be able to do our functions appropriately.

“So the Council gave the go ahead today and approved it and directed ICRC who is the body that is authorized by law to enter into such concession to continue the process and go ahead and liaise with the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation.”

Continuing, the Minister said, “The first memorandum was to seek Council’s approval for us to amend the labour laws of the country.

“The labour laws of the country, as presently being operated are really obsolete laws. And the ILO have pointed that out that we needed to bring our laws to be concurrent with international labour standards and conventions and principles at work.

“So, we had to do this. It is the long journey, we started in 2001 by a previous administration, and at a point, the bills were sent to the National Assembly for enactment into law in 2007/2008 only one came out after the five bills.

“Among the five bills then was labour standards bill will make for Labour Standard and replace the the Trade Union Act 2004.

“The second was what we call the collective labour relations bill which will encompass a portion of the trade union act, trade disputes act 2004, trade dispute essential services act and of course, the trade unions International affiliations act. So, the four were to be now melted into one law.

“We also had another bill for Occupational Safety and Health, which was supposed to replace the old Factories act with which Nigeria operates Operational Safety and Health System.

“We also have the fourth bill, which is called Labour Insititutional Bills. All the institutions under labor relations and activities, like industrial arbitration panel, which you know, is there now, but is not really there as a recognised agency and entity. It answers the name panel, so this new bill wants to make it a commission.

“And, really, the structure for that is there. They’re operating with the Chairman, a registrar and arbitrators, who will now assume roles of commissioners.

“As you know, it is a quasi courts in industrial relations in the middle of the road, caught between the ministry and trade dispute department and the National Industrial court of Nigeria.

“So, the essence was to make it now a commission. Also the Registrar of Trade Unions, whose function is like the registrar of federal governmental institution. So that registrar of trade union were to be excised again, and made autonomous. So that it is a little bit independent of the ministry as an institution”.

Nigerians will defend democracy against threats, says Buhari

By Egena Sunday Ode

President Muhammadu

Buhari has declared that the future of democracy as a system of government is bright, as he feels satisfied and duly assured that Nigerians will defend the system against all threats, even as he prepares to leave office in a little

over a month.

Speaking to reporters shortly after observing the Eid prayer, marking the end of the 30-day Ramadan fasting by Muslims, President Buhari said: “Nigerians appreciate the stability of democracy. The outcome of the elections, in which more than ten governors failed to make it to the

senate sent a clear message that ordinary Nigerians know the power of their votes and how to use it.

“Nigerians cherish democracy. They have shown their love for it and will defend it against real or perceived threats. They will continue to vote one way or the other depending on their preferences".

Also, Buhari assured that the May 29th hand over date remains sacrosanct, adding that “God willing, nothing will stop it".

On his plans after leaving office, the President said he feels fulfilled that God had made it possible to serve two terms of four years each and looks forward to an orderly handover.

“I thank God for what He has done for me personally and for what He has enabled us to achieve.

“I am looking forward to returning to my town, to be as far away as I can from Abuja, so that the in -coming President will have the time and the space to take decisions without me distracting him”.

Prince Clem Agba, Minister of State, Budget and National Planning

Eid-el-Fitr: Buhari begs Nigerians to forgive him if...

• Says he’s already homesick

• Urges politicians to have faith

By Egena Sunday Ode

President Muhammadu Buhari has pleaded with Nigerians to pardon him if he had offended them in the last seven years and eleven months he had been on the saddle.

This was even as the President said he couldn’t wait to return home after eight years of presiding over the affairs of the country.

Buhari spoke when he hosted the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Bello Mohammed, who led Abuja residents to the 9th and final Sallah homage held Friday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

He described himself as being lucky, to have led Nigeria in various capacities - governor, minister, head of state, and President.

He thanked the residents of Abuja for tolerating him in the last seven and half years.

“Having been a Governor, Minister, and President twice, I think God has given us an incredible opportunity to serve as your president. And I thank God for that.

“So, please whoever feels I have done wrong too, we are all humans. There is no doubt I hurt some people and I wish you will pardon me. And those that think that I have hurt them so much,

please pardon me.”

“I think this is a very good coincidence for me to say goodbye to you and to thank you for tolerating me for more than seven and half years now.

“I assure you, I have deliberately arranged to be as far away from you as possible not because I don’t appreciate the love you’ve shown to me, but because I think I’ve gotten what I have asked and I would rather quietly retire to my hometown,” the president said.

The President took a swipe at those who said they cannot get justice at the court, recalling that all Supreme Court Justices in all the election cases he took to court were from the north and Muslims and yet he lost.

He attributed his eventual victory in the 2015 election, after about three failed attempts to clinch the presidential seat, to technology and the permanent voter card (PVC) introduced by the Prof Attahiru Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

“I think this is a very good coincidence for me to say goodbye to you and to thank you for tolerating me for more than seven and half years now.

Earlier, the Minister of FCT, Muhammad

in judiciary

Musa Bello, noted that in a few weeks the President would conclude a very successful tenure, adding that under the Buhari administration, the FCT had witnessed tremendous transformation infrastructure-wise.

He thanked the president for appointing him as a minister, saying it was one position he would cherish forever.

He described Senator Philip Aduda as a bridge builder despite being in the opposition party; and appealed to the senator to join the ruling APC since he was defeated by the Labour Party candidate in the just concluded election.

The highlight of the event was the presentation of the giant Sallah greetings card to the president.

Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria, FCT chapter, Rev. Timothy Amakon, thanked God for using Buhari to transform the nation as well as to maintain peace and development of the country.

He prayed that God will continue to strengthen him even after he had officially left office to continue to play the role of an elder statesman.

The cleric also prayed that God would help the incoming administration to continue the great work of the Buhari administration.

He commended the Minister of FCT for the good job he had done and prayed that Christians and Muslims would continue to co-exist peacefully.

In his remarks, the Executive Director, AlHalbbiya Foundation, Adeyemi Faud, said that Christians and Muslims had lived peacefully in the FCT and commended the existing cordial relationship between the different religious groups and residents of the FCT.

He also commended the state of security in the city. Sen. Aduda on his part congratulated Buhari for a successful tenure and thanked God for granting him wisdom to lead the nation.

The senator commended Buhari for tolerating everyone including the opposition, praying for good health, wisdom, and long life for the President so that he will always be available to provide wise counsel.

Some notable personalities present at the homage visit were Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, President of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, service chiefs, cabinet members, presidential aides, traditional rulers, business communities among others.

CAN felicitates with Muslims, preaches love, peace

By Albert Akota

The Christian Association of Nigeria has joined Muslim brothers and sisters in Nigeria and around the world to celebrate the Eid-el-Fitr festival, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

CAN said everyone must take the occasion to reflect on the lessons of Ramadan and the

values that it teaches, which are love for one another and mutual understanding for a peaceful society.

This was contained in a statement signed by the President of CAN, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, on Friday.

Okoh said Ramadan was a time of self-reflection and a renewed commitment to living a life of piety and peace, adding

that Islam and Christianity share a lot of good virtues in common.

The statement read in part “We extend our warmest greetings and felicitations to the President-General of the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs and Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the entire Muslim Ummah in Nigeria.

“We rejoice with them and

pray that the blessings of God will be with them now and always.

“Ramadan teaches us the importance of sacrifice, compassion, and generosity towards others, especially the less privileged in our society.

“As we mark this important occasion, we must take the opportunity to reflect on the lessons of Ramadan and the

values that it teaches us, which are love for one another and mutual understanding for a peaceful society.

“Islam and Christianity share a lot of good virtues in common and we must use our understanding of the Holy books to promote inclusivity, and work towards building a more tolerant and egalitarian society for us all.

Chief Imam of Jiwa, Alhaji Isa Jubrin Yaro (left) leading other Muslim faithfuls in prayers during the Eid-el-fitr Sallah celebration to mark the end of Ramadan fast at the Jiwa prayer ground, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

Gbajabiamila congratulates Muslims, calls for unity

By Christiana Ekpa

The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rep.

Femi Gbajabiamila has rejoiced with Muslims across the country on the occasion of this year’s Eid-el-Fitr, marking the end of this year’s Ramadan.

Gbajabiamila also congratulated the Muslim faithful for the successful completion of the 1444/2023 Ramadan, in which he said lessons must have been learnt.

Reflecting on the significance of the just concluded Ramadan fasting, the Speaker said Muslims should internalize the lessons and good habits that usually come with the religious practice.

He called on Muslims across the country to use the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr to pray for the country.

Gbajabiamila noted that periods like this call for sober reflection and unity from all citizens irrespective of their religious beliefs.

The speaker said, “Nigeria is the only country we can call ours, hence the citizens, especially Muslims at this time, must work together and pray assiduously for continuous peaceful coexistence among the people.”

He noted that one of the lessons learnt during the holy month of Ramadan was that of compassion and care for the needy, urging Muslims to continue to be their brother’s keepers as enjoined by the Almighty Allah through the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Eid el-Fitr: Kebbi gov. elect felicitates with Muslims, vows to serve with dignity

From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi

The Kebbi State Governor -elect, Dr. Nasir Idris has again promised to serve the people of the Kebbi State with honour and dignity, right from his inauguration on May 29. Idris who vowed not to fail the people of Kebbi declared that he would “walk” with all the citizens for the development of the state.

The governor-elect said this through his Special Adviser on Media while delivering his Eidel-Fitr message to Muslims and

the entire people of the state.

He then appeal to the people of the Kebbi State and Nigerians at large to love one another, enjoined the citizens to constantly seek to become a better version of themselves in patriotism, dedication to duty, and honesty.

“let us continue the good work we did during this month of Ramadan and pray for our leaders and the country” he added.

He said: “Beyond the selfabnegation and pious living that the fasting period imposed on us, the spiritual excercise we just concluded has also helped us to

improve on our moral character, refine our minds in pursuit of higher ideals for which there should be no turning

“The heart of our faith and a major demand on all faithful is the requirement to commit ourselves to wholesome living. This entails love for one another, love for fellow humans regardless of creed, region and ethnicity, love for our communities and love for country.

“To love one another, have compassion, empathy and love our beloved country means we must become better citizens in line with the teachings of

Prophet Muhammed.

“We must constantly seek to become a better version of ourselves in patriotism, dedication to duty and honesty. We must also never be weary of doing what is right, fair, and just to all.

“We are at the dawn of a Renewed Hope for a better, greater and a more prosperous of the state and I stand ready to walk with all the people, young and old, male and female, with this opportunity to serve you in honour and dignity. This is a commitment that I have made and one in which we cannot afford to fail”.

Kano deputy gov. tasks Muslims on prayers for peace, unity

From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

Kano State Deputy Governor Dr.Nasiru Yusuf Gawuna has called on people of the state to continue to be steadfast in prayers for the unity, peace and

progress of Kano and Nigeria in general.

Gawuna, who gave the charge while felicitating with Muslims on the occasion of Eid-el-fitr and the successful completion of the Ramadan fasting, also pray that all their good deeds as well

as supplications made to Almighty Allah (S.W.T) would be answered.

He urged them to maintain the lessons taught by the Holy Month of Ramadan of acts of charity,piety and peacefulcoexistence and replicate it in their daily living.

“Ramadan was a month of unlimited blessings,offerings and rewards for muslims to avail;

it was also a time to devote oneself in prayer and establish connection with Allah (S.W.T).

“While we appreciate your continued support to the State

Government, may this joyful occasion of the Eid-el-fitr brings good health,happiness and prosperity to you,” Gawuna was quoted as saying in a statement by Hassan Musa Fagge, his Chief Press Secretary in Kano yesterday.

L-R; President Muhammadu Buhari Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo SAN and President of the Senate Dr Ahmed Lawan during the Sallah Homage to mark the 2023 EID El-Fitr held at the State House yesterday IN ABUJA. PHOTO; State House

Sallah: Kano governor-elect urges residents to shun reckless celebration

From Mustapha Adamu, Kano

Kano State Governor-elect, Abba Yusuf felicitated with Muslims and people of Kano on the successful completion of Ramadan fasting and celebration of Eid-el-Fitr.

In a statement by his spokesman, Sanusi Dawakin-Tofa on Friday, Mr Yusuf also enjoined the residents

of the state to sustain the lessons and moral training learnt during Ramadan.

He said Ramadan has come to an end with the sighting of the crescent for Shawwal, lessons of compassion, generosity, discipline, patriotism and peaceful co-existence it taught should be sustained by the citizens for a better society we all crave. While congratulating Muslims

for witnessing yet another Eid -Fitr, Mr Yusuf admonished people of Kano to pray for Allah’s guidance for the leadership at all levels especially as the new government takes over on 29 May, 2023.

He assured that better days are ahead of Kano people as the incoming government under his watch will create enabling policy environment for everyone to live in

peace and harmony.

“He urged citizens to remain patriotic, peace-loving while praying for tranquility and prosperity of Kano and Nigeria at large.

“H.E. Abba Kabir Yusuf also cautioned against reckless driving and other unguarded salah celebrations with a view to ensure safety of all Kano residents”, the statement reads in parts.

Sustain spirit of Ramadan, pray for incoming gov’ts - AA Chairman

The National Chairman of the Action Alliance (AA), Dr Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, has enjoined Muslims to sustain the lessons of Ramadan till the end of their lives, pray for God’s intervention and wisdom for the incoming administration at all levels.

He expressed this in a statement he personally signed and made available to newsmen

in Kaduna to felicitate with the Muslim faithful on the Eid el-Fitr celebration.

He enjoined Muslims to sustain the spirit of sacrifice, perseverance, commitment to God’s activities and enhancement of prayers among other good deeds associated with the month of Ramadan.

Hon. Omoaje called on Muslims and other Nigerians to have faith and trust in God as well as believe in Nigeria greatness.

The AA Chairman further called on the people to continue to pray and strive for the nation’s unity, peace, progress and development as well as insecurity and other challenges. He tasked wealthy individuals in the society to extend hands of love to the less privileged ones in order to improve on their standard of living and to give them a sense of belonging in the society. He enjoined political, religion,

traditional and community leaders to continue to preach peace and love among their followers.

According to him, Nigerians should unite, embrace peace, tolerate one another irrespective of their differences and remain committed to constituted authorities for development to thrive and have a fair society.

He noted that Ramadan taught Muslims to imbibe the spirit of patience, tolerance

and love, which should be incorporated into the life of every believer.

“Throughout Ramadan, empathy, sympathy and love exist and prevail; now that Ramadan is coming to an end, we should not let it die. Ramadan is going, leaving fasting, mercy and love in our midst. Let us hold it and most importantly, lesson of devotion to the Almighty and humanity,” he added.

Uba Sani harps on prioritising welfare, security of citizens

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

The Kaduna State Governor-elect

Senator Uba Sani has said leaders in the Country must prioritise the welfare and security of the citizens.

He stated this in his sallah massage, to felicitate with Nigerians on the important occasion.

According to him, if leaders fail to rise up to their responsibilities, democracy will cease to make meaning to the people. Saying It is by making people happy and secure that leaders can sustain and deepen this democracy.

“ We must put in place and effectively implement policies and programmes that will raise the quality of life of our people and make them secure in their communities.

“If we fail to rise up to our responsibilities, democracy will cease to make meaning to our people. It is by making our people happy and secure that we can sustain and deepen this democracy”, he said.

The Governor-Elect expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah for the successful completion of the Ramadan fast and the celebration of Eid el-Fitr.

He stressed that the he and his team have been spiritually and physically renewed, adding that they are now adequately prepared to face new challenges and avail themselves of fresh opportunities for personal and collective

advancement.

“ As we look to the future with hope, we pray for Allah’s guidance. May He give us the courage to face whatever may come our way.

“ May He bring our people together to work for the common good. May forgiveness, love, patience, goodness,

kindness, compassion and mercy are our watchwords.

“I look forward to my inauguration as the democratically elected Governor of Kaduna State on May 29th, 2023.

“We are assembling a formidable team of technocrats and politicians that will hit the ground running.

“We are keen to build on the good foundation laid by my leader and mentor, Governor Nasir Ahmad ElRufai.

“ We shall further raise the bar of governance and make Kaduna State the model of development and peaceful coexistence in Nigeria”, he added.

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

CRIME NEWS

Horror! Man hacks ex-lover to death in Kaduna

William Shakespeare, in his book ‘Romeo and Juliet’, said “ Love is sweet but when it turns sour it’s dangerous”. This is exactly what happened in Kaduna on 14th April, 2023, when a lover simply identified as Kenneth decided to machete his exlover Ebenezer Agada to death, for allegedly ditching him.

Investigation revealed that Kenneth arrived Kaduna from Makurdi and later checked in into one of the hotels on WAFF road, just a stone throw from where his estranged lover, Ebenezer works.

It was gathered that after several calls to the lady, without a response, Kenneth hatched a plan on how to take the pond of flesh from her for not picking

his calls.

However, Kenneth, who was remanded in custody on 20 April, 2023 by a Kaduna Chief Magistrate Court while speaking to the media, disclosed that when he could not get across to Ebenezer he went to Kaduna central market where he purchased a machete for N2000 and got it sharpened and returned back to his base waiting for the right time to strike.

The suspect said he is a tailor by profession and he had invested so much money and time on the dead estranged lover, whom he claimed have been in a relationship with him for 6 years.

According to Kenneth, he decided in order to win her back, he decided to travel all the way from Makurdi to Kaduna because he had

not communicated with his estranged lover for months, because they had a covenant to marry each other, and never leave each other, but was shocked when he got to Kaduna that she was not picking his calls, prompting him to map out a plan on how to get to her.

He added discovered that she works in a pharmacy along WAFF road, and resides in one of the schools with her Aunty on the same waff road, from where he proceeded with his evil plans.

While reacting to the incident, Kaduna state police Command said on the 14/04/2023 at about 21:30hrs, information was received that a crowd had gathered at NEPA Round About Kaduna and they were beating and about to lynch a suspect.

The Police Public Relations

Officer of the Command, DSP Muhammad Jaeger, explained that operatives were mobilized to the scene where they met the suspect in the midst of the crowd lying unconscious.

“Information gathered revealed that the suspect by name whose second name not yet known, attacked his ex girlfriend, named Ebenezer Agada aged 27 yrs old of Command Secondary and Nursery Sokoto Road, with a machete and inflicted multiple injuries on her face and hands.

“In the process, he cut off her left hand completely, alleging that he spent a lot with her and she want to dump him for another man.

“The victim was rushed to Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital for treatment where a medical doctor on call confirmed her dead”, the Police said.

Speaking to our correspondent on the sad incident, a Clergy, Pastor Francis Musa of House of Purpose Ministry U/Sunday In Chikun Local Government Area warned ladies never to derail from the Gospel of Christ and believed that God makes everything beautiful in his own time including marriage. Similarly, Mallam Abubakar Ladan of WAFF road Mosque said going into any form of covenant is unislamic and Muslims must desist from it.

Not left out, a lady (name not given), who works along WAFF who claimed to know the late Ebenezer Agada, advised others ladies to watch the people that date and stopped playing smart on men, because some of them are dangerously unpredictable.

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

We’re doing a lot to prevent flooding - NIWA boss

Managung Director of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Chief George Moghalu, was a guest of President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Preaidential Villa on Thursday as the government prepares to wind down.

In this interview with newsmen after a closed-door meeting with Mr. President, the NIWA MD asserted that his agency is doing everything possible to prevent flooding during this year’s raining season; or to mitigate the the damage that usually come with flooding where total prevention becomes impossible. Our Correspondent was there.

What challenges do you face as an agency in trying to execute your mandate?

Yes, there may be challenges, but challenges are there for man to overcome and we’re doing our best with the support we’ve been receiving from Mr. President and from our ministers and our ministry, leaders in our ministry, Permanent Secretary, everybody. We have been achieving reasonable successes and we intend to sustain it until we actualize our desired ambition, which is to ensure that our waterways are all year round navigable to ensure that the potentials that abound in that sector of the economy, the maritime sector, is kind of explored and exploited for the benefit of our people.

The rains are already here, what are you going to do to ensure flooding does not occur this year?

Yes, I agree with you that challenge is there. Proactively, what we are doing is to first of all sensitize the people, identify the critical areas and get people to know what will happen with time. With regards to clearing, yes, water hyacinths are being cleared on a regular basis, wrecks are removed, channels that are blocked, we do everything we can, within the limits of our resources to open up those channels so that we can have easy flow of water during this period.

What about the wrecks?

Yes, I said earlier that wrecks, even floating debris are all being removed at various locations across the entire country, as we identify them, we do the basic survey and once we identify them, we set the process in motion to

remove them. We’re doing some now as we keep identifying them, and you know these things like water hyacinth, like wrecks, like floating debris, are not fixed items that you will say ‘I will remove now and it won’t be there

again. You can remove a wreck tomorrow and by next tomorrow, another wreck will come. What are these wrecks? Broken down vessels that are condemned, logs and what have you. So as we identify them, using survey, identify the coordinates, the next thing we do is to set in motion the process of removing them.

As we speak, procurement processes have been concluded and some are being removed while as we identify, we set in motion the process of removing. We see them as a challenge and we are attacking them.

There are concerns over the National Water Ways Bill as the 9th NASS will be winding up soon.

National Assembly winding up does not mean that the country is winding up, it’s a continuum. If they are not able to finish whatever they have to do this time around, the next Assembly will continue and complete it. The important thing is that bills that are meant for the benefit of our people will be looked at from that perspective and addressed. If this Assembly can’t finish it, the next Assembly will continue, that’s why government is a continuum.

Annual flooding, what are you doing to ensure we don’t have the kind of humanitarian crisis we had last year?

Yes, it’s of a great concern. Like you talked about what happened last year, it was of great concern to us as an agency of government that has something to do with water and flood. So what we started doing proactively was first of all to start aspects of sensitization, getting people to understand because we have a department in our office that monitors flood flow, looking at the floodplain and giving us report on a monthly basis or bi-weekly basis, to my office and then the department that is responsible will now develop the data, which we’ll now use to sensitize the people, keep them informed of the possible floodprone areas so that people will have to leave those locations.

While at the same time also,

“

I said earlier that wrecks, even floating debris are all being removed at various locations across the entire country, as we identify them...

MD of NIWA, Dr George Moghalu

We’re doing a lot to prevent flooding - NIWA boss

like you may be aware, we have 23 area offices across the country. So what we are doing, in terms of opening of blocked channels, is using the area offices across the country, identifying those areas where we have blocked channels and then within the limits of our own resources and capabilities, we start opening them up so that they have free flow of water.

Do you have yhe resources to do capital dredging?

Like I did say the last time I spoke to the media and it was here the question was asked, the resources available for you to do massive capital dredging is not there. What we’re doing is to use the resources we have to do what we call maintenance dredging, that is opening up channels, deepening channels where we have information, based on the statistical report from our department where we have such blockages and then we keep doing what we can do to ensure that these channels are open all year round.

When I started I said one of our primary responsibilities is

to make sure that our channels are all year round navigable and that means opening them up to the extent that vessels can move around across the country.

Talking of resources, how much do you have on ground for this year?

All the resources, all the money available for NIWA this year is not all dedicated to dredging or to opening up of channels. There are other issues that take up resources; human capital development, development of infrastructure, building new jetties, building new ramps across the country and then getting vessels also and putting them to effective use.

So what we’re doing is as much as we have, we try to prioritize, but the important thing is that the key aspect of it is the human, the Nigerian, what affects them more, of what gives us opportunity for more benefit. So we look at that primarily, the Nigerian is the key here. So we addressed that primarily and the interest of the average Nigerian comes before every other interest, as far as it has to do with our own planning and our operations.

When you are doing these prioritizing, do you consider River Niger and River Benue, especially about the sand blocking the waterways?

If you will take note, not too long ago, about two, three weeks ago, the river chart for Benue, down to bifurcation, the first phase of it was launched, a few weeks ago. That’s an arrangement we have, it’s a collaboration between National Inland Waterways Authority, the Navy, being supported by NEXIM Bank, on the instrumentality of Sea Link Project.

When we talk about inland waterways in Nigeria, you will not lose sight of the fact of the positioning of River Benue and River Niger, these two are the major rivers in our country and that whatever we’re doing is around these two rivers, even the jetties we’re building or the ports we’re building, like you have a port in Onitsha completed, you have a port in Baro completed, the one in Lokoja is ongoing, not yet completed, the one in Oguta is not yet completed. We just started the Environmental Impact Assessment for the one in Makurdi.

So you find out that all these jetties and all these ports are all in line with the issue with River Benue and River Niger. We’re very concerned about that, we’re very conscious of that and whatever we’re doing, we have that at the back of our minds.

Nigerians have expressed concerns about the National Waterways Bill. Should Nigerians be really concerned, is anything wrong with the bill?

The position of NIWA, as it has to do with the bill, has been transmitted in writing to the ministry, but the point here is that the National Assembly are made up of Nigerians and they are representing various communities and constituencies in the country. So for me, there is no issue that cannot be discussed. If there are concerns raised by various groups, certainly it has to be addressed for us to come up with a bill that is universally acceptable by everybody. So if there are concerns, I’m sure that National Assembly will look at it and then address the issues as they arise.

Cont. from previous page

President Muhammadu Buhari (right) and MD of NIWA, Dr George Moghalu

Disqualification suit: ADC’s Idoko drags Enugu PDP candidates to Supreme Court

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The senatorial candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2023 general election, Comrade Chika Idoko, has taken his case, seeking to disqualify all the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to the Supreme Court.

This follows judgments from both the Federal High Court, Enugu, and the Court of Appeal, also sitting in Enugu, which had, in their judgments, ruled that Comrade Idoko has no locus standi to initiate the cases against the PDP candidates.

Idoko’s case against PDP began in the middle of the year 2022 when he went to court to seek the disqualification of all the PDP candidates in the election, for alleged violation of the Electoral Act in the conduct of the party’s primary elections.

Idoko, who dragged the PDP and its candidates, alongside the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to court, claimed that the PDP primary elections were in contravention of Section 77 of the Electoral Act, 2022, and should thus be voided, adding that the party should

be punished in line with extant provisions of Section 84 of the same Act.

His argument was that the party submitted its membership register to INEC on May 6, 2022, less than 30 days before its primary elections, contrary to the provisions of the Act.

Both the high court and the appellate Court ruled against him on the grounds that he has no locus standi, because he was not a member of the PDP.

In its own case, the Court of Appeal delivered what looked like a punitive judgment when it slammed a N37 million fine against the petitioner.

But in the Notice of Appeal to the Supreme Court, Idoko, through his attorneys, C.I. Odo & Co, laid out three grounds of appeal, averring that the Court of Appeal erred in Law when it held that there was no breach of Section 285(8) and Section 36(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended).

He contended that the trial Court failed to deliver Judgement in the substantive suit pending before it after a full hearing.

Arguing on further grounds

Labour Party celebrates with muslims on sallah, urges leaders to allow Allah prevail

By Christiana Ekpa

The Labour Party has congratulated muslim brothers and sisters on the successful completion of the Ramadan fast.

In a statement issued yesterday by the Ag. National Publicity Secretary of the party, Obiora Ifoh, LP urged God to reward them for their sacrifices, saying “May you be rewarded and may Allah grant you answers to all your prayers. We urge you to use this period to lift the nation before the Allah and pray that he forgives the shortcoming of this nation particularly our leaders.

“Ramadan affords the nation the good opportunity to sit and reflect on the goodness of Allah upon this nation, particularly how we have remained as one in spite of so many challenges that have threatened the unity of this country. It is only by the mercies of the Supreme One that this nation is still not balkanized.

“Allah had through recent developments in the nation, particularly, the 2023 general election offered us the opportunity to rewrite our history and enthrone a leadership where

truth, equity and justice should reigned supreme.

“He offered us an opportunity of a new beginning where all our lost opportunities; an opportunity of refocusing our national priorities and policies which presently support consumption rather than production; where millions of Nigerians workers are without wages or underwaged; where increasing flight of doctors and other skilled workers are daily witnessed; where mortality rate due to government negligence and terrorist infliction are unparalleled.

“And for some state actors who see nothing evil in obstructing the will of Allah for his people, all in the name of politics, we pray that the Almighty Allah will arise,l put fears in their minds and prove to them that whatever He ordains will surely come to pass, no matter the obstructive tendencies of men.

“Labour Party is optimistic that Nigeria will rise again and take its place both in the comity of nations and in the place of pride. But this can only come through the fervent prayers of the faithful.”

for the appeal, the lawyers stated that the lower courts failed to discharge the case expeditiously, being as it is, a pre-election matter.

“Pre-election cases are time-

bound and all issues (Preliminary issues and the main issue) must be heard and determined once and for all at the Judgement stage. The trial Court breached the provisions of Section 285 (8)

of 1999,” Idoko’s counsels stated in the notice of appeal.

They also reminded the Supreme Court that the lower courts also erred in law by affirming that the Appellant being an aspirant of another political party, lacked the locus standi to challenge the violation and breach of section 84(13) of the Electoral Act 2022 by the 1 Respondent (INEC).

On the third ground of appeal, the lawyers averred that the Court of Appeal erred in law when they awarded an excessive and punitive cost of N37,000,000.00 in favour of the 2nd – 38th Respondents against the Appellant, arguing that the judgment was in breach of Comrade Idoko’s “constitutional right of appeal and all known Laws.”

They, therefore, prayed the Supreme Court to allow the appeal and set aside the concurring Judgement of the two lower Courts on the issue of lack of locus standi of the Appellant, while also setting aside the order of the Appeal Court for the cost of N37,000,000.00 against the appellant.

Eid-el-Fitr: Lawan tells muslims to pray for peaceful transition

By Musa Baba Adamu

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has urged muslims to pray for a peaceful transition of power from President Muhammadu Buhari to the new Government of Ahmed Bola Tinubu on May 29.

In his felicitations to Muslims in Nigeria on the occasion of this year Eid-el-Fitr, issued yesterday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ola Awoniyi, Lawan urged muslims to have faith that Allah has accepted their prayers and supplications made before and during this period.

He urges them not to cease praying for wisdom for Nigeria’s leaders and for security, prosperity and peaceful transition for the country.

He said “I congratulate fellow Nigerian Muslims on the glorious end of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

“We thank Allah, the most merciful, for sparing our lives to partake in the fasting and now in the feasting afterwards.

“Having faithfully fasted and prayed throughout the holy month of Ramadan, we believe that Allah has answered our prayers and supplications.

“But the end of the Holy Month

of Ramadan is not the end of prayers and supplications. Therefore, we should continue to pray for wisdom for our leaders and for security, prosperity and peaceful transition for Nigeria.

“The government needs our continued cooperation, support and understanding for effective and efficient service delivery to the great Nigerian people.

“On our part as your elected representatives in Parliament, we will continue to provide legislative interventions to enhance the efforts of the Executive arm of government towards making Nigeria a better place.

Virtues of Ramadan crucial to stronger, happier Nigeria - APC

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday rejoiced with the Muslim Ummah, and all Nigerians, as they celebrate this year's Eid El-Fitr, marking the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

A statement issued yesterday by the National Publicity Secretary of APC, Felix Morka, the party said "for Muslims all over the world, Ramadan, one of the five

major pillars of Islam, is a sacred spiritual obligation, requiring abstinence, self-purification, discipline, reflection, gratitude and rededication to the will of the Almighty Allah.

"It is hoped, fervently, that the lessons of this holy season will strengthen our resolve to pursue and attain higher and transcendental ideals, and help us rededicate to more wholesome and patriotic living.

"As we celebrate, may we show more love, respect, compassion, empathy and tolerance towards our fellow citizens irrespective of religion, ethnicity, and social circumstance and to demonstrate greater faith and hope in our country's future of assured greatness, especially with the Renewed Hope agenda of the incoming administration of our President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu."

POLITICS

Minority members-elect move to produce 10th Assembly Speaker

By Christiana Ekpa

Buoyed by it’s numerical superiority in the soon to be inaugurated 10th House of Representatives, the emergent minority caucus has resolved to gun for the Speakership position.

This is following the outcome of last Saturday’s supplementary elections which saw the membership of the Minority caucus swollen to 182, one vote more than the statutory benchmark (181 votes) required to elect a Speaker — with prospects of gaining more members.

Already, there are permutations to promote a Speakership candidate from the South-South geo-political zone, and a Deputy Speaker from the North West.

Rising from an emergency meeting of the Minority caucus leadership held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja last night, the caucus which now refers to itself as “Greater Majority,” and made up of seven political parties, stated emphatically that it was primed to contest the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 10th National Assembly.

Speaking with journalists

on the position of the Caucus, a Member-Elect from Anambra, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, stated that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria imbues every elected member with the statutory right to gun for any leadership position, subject to the standing orders of the House.

Hon. Ogene: “Besides the issue of ranking, every member is entitled to run for the office of Speaker, regardless of political party affiliation.

“The All Progressives Congress, APC, or indeed, any political party for that matter, reserves the right to regale itself with talks about microzoning leadership positions in the National Assembly. But the overriding question remains, are such fanciful engagements binding on the generality of Members-Elect? The answer today, tomorrow — and until our current constitution is altered to reflect that desire — is a big No.

“Issues surrounding this all-important question is easily resolved, in the case of the House of Representatives, by Section 50(1)(b), to wit:” There shall be a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker

of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.

“While zoning is permitted, as an intra-party solution to the sharing of political offices, seeking to enforce such on the generality of members would be tantamount to affronting Section 50 of the Nigerian constitution.

“Besides, political parties must not always use the National Assembly as guinea pigs for their zoning fancies. Why didn’t these governors summon the same courage, which they currently seek to flaunt, during the presidential primaries, by micro-zoning the presidency to a particular zone?

If it was okay to say that the presidential ticket should go to the South, then I think they ought to follow through with that same template, and propose, for instance, that the Speakership should go to the North.

Buoyed by it’s numerical superiority in the soon to be inaugurated 10th House of Representatives, the emergent minority caucus has resolved to gun for the Speakership position.

This is following the outcome of last Saturday’s supplementary

elections which saw the membership of the Minority caucus swollen to 182, one vote more than the statutory benchmark (181 votes) required to elect a Speaker — with prospects of gaining more members.

Already, there are permutations to promote a Speakership candidate from the South-South geo-political zone, and a Deputy Speaker from the North West.

Rising from an emergency meeting of the Minority caucus leadership held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja last night, the caucus which now refers to itself as “Greater Majority,” and made up of seven political parties, stated emphatically that it was primed to contest the positions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 10th National Assembly.

Speaking with journalists on the position of the Caucus, a Member-Elect from Anambra, Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, stated that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria imbues every elected member with the statutory right to gun for any leadership position, subject to the standing orders of the House.

Binani vs Fintri: INEC raises alarm over whereabouts of suspended REC, Ari

By Musa Baba Adamu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, revealed that it is unaware of the whereabouts of its suspended Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Adamawa State, Yunusa Hudu Ari.

Last Saturday, Ari caused a major controversy when he declared Aisha Binani of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winner of the Adamawa supplementary governorship election.

Ari had declared Binani the winner of the supplementary

Eid elfitri: APGA chairman, Oye asks muslims to deploy lessons for progress

By Musa Baba Adamu

The national chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Victor Ike Oye, has felicitated Muslims on the celebrations of Eid-el-Fitri.

In a Sallah message signed by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Barrister Tex Okechukwu, the APGA leader, expressed joy at the successful completion of Ramadan.

spokesman, Festus Okoye, said Ari had not picked up his call since the infamous action.

Speaking during a television programme, Okoye said: “We don’t know where he is because, after this particular incident, the Commission wrote to him and also called him on the phone.

“He never returned any of the calls; he never answered any of the calls.

He urged Muslims to adhere to the lessons learned during the long period of fasting and deploy them in the development of our nation.

He observed that Nigerians had experienced inexplicable suffering, especially in recent times, but urged restraint and tolerance as “we pray God to give us the uncommon strength and courage to continue to trudge along”.

Fintri Binani

election while INEC was yet to conclude the collation of results.

But, INEC countered Ari’s declaration and announced

Ahmadu Fintri winner of the election after counting of results.

However, INEC’s

“We asked him to report to the Commission on Sunday, we didn’t see him, we asked him to report on Monday, we didn’t see him. So up till this moment, he has not reported and we don’t know his whereabouts.”

AA presidential election petition: Yoruba chieftain calls for out-of-court settlement

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Achieftain of the Yoruba Elders’ Union (YEU), Joshua Foluso Oguntuase, has cited the petition of the Action Alliance (AA) in the Court of Appeal (Presidential Election Petition Tribunal) as one that can have adverse effects on Nigeria’s democracy.

He urged all parties involved to settle out of court for better

understanding and peaceful coexistence.

In a statement he issued in Kaduna on Friday, Oguntuase explained that the petition is series-wound of court cases involving the Action Alliance (AA) and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in particular and the court, saying that the court has ruled, judged and ordered INEC severally and consistently to do certain needfuls

hence, the cause for the petition.

He stressed that if the court is again to rule over its earlier several judgments, it could be very challenging to the court and Nigeria’s democracy, lamenting that it would not be prejudicial or subjudice for a volunteer to come into the matter at any stage for out of court settlement.

Oguntuase opined that one of the primary objectives of the YEU is to defend the interest of the

Yoruba race as their leaders, saying the current National Chairman of Action Alliance (AA) is Chief (Dr.) Adekunle Rufai Omo-Aje, as recognized by the court, and the current President-elect of Nigeria, as announced by INEC, is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He explained, “Therefore, an average Yoruba leader should seek a proposition of Dispute Resolution Approach (DRA) between Omo-Aje and Tinubu.”

The APGA boss called on political leaders to show some empathy with the suffering masses of our dear country by making the needed sacrifices for the peace, development, and security of Nigeria.

“As we celebrate, we must remember the poor and needy and extend some love to them,” Oye advised.

He called on APGA members across the country to remain steadfast in their support for the party while assuring them that the forthcoming Congresses and National Convention would be well organised to produce the desired results.

He thanked God for keeping Nigeria united and urged all Nigerians to pray fervently for sustainable peace, security, and growth of our dear fatherland.

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EDITORIAL

OUR VISION

They’re back again

Thepast one and a half decades or so have placed Nigerians in some misery.

It heralded pain, fear and uncertainty. Security of lives and property has been at its lowest ebb. And citizens and leaders alike have been seemingly gropping in the dark as solutions have been slow to come.

But the buildup to the just concluded general election had brought some relief - the odious activities of terrorist groups and other criminal elements seemed to have been curtailed. The terrorists’ bombs were silent and bandits were seemingly on holidays from their kidnapping-for-ransom business that had held the nation by the jugular. That respite, coming on the eve of the elections, was received as the beginning of restoration of sanity that would herald a new dawn which the elections were meant to usher in. After a long period of psychological torment and trauma of citizens by Boko Haram insurgensts and their banditry associates, it is reasonable to expect that citizens cannot wait for a breather which had been promised them by political leaders but never realised.

Arguably, Nigeria has seen the worst of terrorism, whether perpetrated by Boko Haram or bandits, and it cannot be any worse than what citizens have already been experiencing in almost two decades: insurgency in the Northeast, banditry in the Northwest, herder-farmer crisis in the North-Central, IPOB coordinated attacks in the Southeast and so on.

However, for those who are under the direct heat of the inhuman activities of these anti social groups, the long night is getting longer everyday as the booming sound of their guns are thundering every now and then, and refusing to go away.

Zamfara, Kaduna, Katsina, Borno and Benue states epitomise the theatres of operation of these deadly groups, and they do not seem to be in a hurry to shift their battle ground. Neither are these terrorist groups seemingly contemplating to give up their nefarious and despicable trade, despite remarkable efforts by the security agencies to send them out of business. Just last week, one of the most wanted kingpins of the bandits terrorising Kaduna, Isiya Danwasa, was neutralised by the military. Ditto to countless members and leaders of the devious groups. But we are yet to see the desired outcome.

So, they are back again, in the forests and bushes causing nightmares to law abiding citizens. Without exaggerations, the days have become unpredictable for citizens of the affected areas where these men who live by the gun have chosen to dwell.

Just last week alone, the bandits struck in Zamfara about three times, leaving behind a gory tale as usual. Three villages in Bakura Local Government Area were targetted in one of the attacks, and no fewer than 56 persons were killed, according to reports. Barely 24 hours after, another seven people were killed by gunmen in Maradun Local Government Area of the state. Maradun

and Bakura local government areas share boundaries. Two villages of Faru and Kauyen Minane were the targets in Maradun last Saturday afternoon. Reports said dozens of children were also kidnapped in Tsafe Local Government last weekend.

Like Zamfara, Kaduna has been living under the yoke of banditry for too long. This newspaper can recall that Governor Nasir el Rufai had last year advocated what he called carpet-bombing of all the forests in the northwest region, and indeed, other parts of the country to eliminate the terrorists. That was how bad the situation was. Desperate! And the tale of woes and anguish scripted by the attackers is still reverberating.

On Wednesday, an attack by bandits on Atak’Njei community in Zango Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State reportedly claimed eight lives. The gunmen were said to have invaded the community from a nearby bush at about 9pm and randomly opened fire on residents. Just recently, Langson community in the same local government area suffered an attack that claimed the lives of 10 people, reportts said. Cases of bandit attacks in Kaduna are too numerous to be counted with Kajuru, Chikun and Birnin Gwari among others as the theatre of war.

The story from Benue is also worrisome. The State Police Command last week confirmed another attack by gunmen on one of the Internally Displaced Person (IDP) camps at Agan in Makurdi Local Government Area with scores of fatality.

This attack followed the killing of a traditional ruler in Apa Local Government Area of Benue earlier in the week along with many others before the attackers were said to have moved to Otukpo Local Government Area on Wednesday, killing 46 persons including a 33-year-old son of the local government chairman. These horrendous occurrences should be a source of worry for anyone and everyone. They are indicators of a major setback to civilization. They’re despicable and condemenable!

We acknowledge the spirited commitment of the Buhari-led administration to tackle this menace which, no doubt, predated his emergence on the saddle. It’s, however, unfortunate that at the twilight of his eight-year reign, bandits and insurgents are still raising their ugly heads and baring their fangs on the citizens.

That Nigerians cannot endure anymore pains from these elements is not a subject of arguments. The incoming adminstratin should have it at the back of its mind that security remains one plank upon which its successes would be measured.

Nevertheless, we believe that the outgoing adminstration can still do a lot in its remaining 42 days in office to reasonably push back these elements before it hands over the baton. An extraordinary approach can do the magic.

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OPINION

Greediness of ladies drives them astray

By Hajara Zakariya Saleh

Marriage and relationship will only be successful if both of you understand that it’s all about come together to build each other, help each other grow, help each other to move closer to Allah. Support each other to become the better version of himself/herself.

Ladies are some form of humans that always like enjoyment they like everything flashy and looking good, ladies choose flashy material things and always suggest them they love to enjoy them desiredly, material things that blow off their minds things like expensive phones, expensive outfit , expensive cars just everything luxury which requires more effort and hard work to acquire.

A lot of ladies when they reach a certain stage of growth and their star shines at that time, which is what makes alots of guys to rush to them, some for marriage, some for fun and also some sex too. At that time, when she notice guys are making que on her, then she takes big ambitions and sets herself, she feel like she is not a type of wife that Tailor, Keke napep or taxi driver etc acquire.

Ladies always choose a lover when they find someone who is reacher than the present one, they change their mind on the one their eyes find, and they will keep changing until they lose the one they will choose.

According to some ladies, dating a one guy is too harsh, they should separate their legs until God makes it right, but unfortunately, you will see some responsible men who intend to marry a lady. with one heart, but she refused to accept him love even if he did not have any negative behavior on him and followed guys who had no intention of getting married at this time, that is, men who offered to chat to confuse her and withdraw her heart and other things that she will not know about that until the day when she is wise or the time when I know her comes. I am calling on my lovers, especially women, since I am speaking to you today, to stop being proud and be careful in choosing a good husband, so that you will not regret one day.

Marriage and relationship will only be successful if both of you understand that it’s all about come together to build each other, help each other grow, help each other to move closer to Allah. Support each other to become the better version of himself/herself.

Hajara Zakariya Saleh is a student of Mass Communication, Abubakar Tatari Ali polytechnic Bauchi, Bauchi State.

The subversive politics of “Gangs of Lagos”

By Abimbola Adelakun

In the chapter of Things Fall Apart that featured masquerades, Chinua Achebe noted that the masked spirits that were summoned to litigate in public trials represented the spirits of the community’s ancestors. As his narration mentioned, the people of Umuofia knew that those under the masks were the living elders of the community, but they still treated the egwugwu as their dead fathers who have returned. The Nigerian Video and Film Censors Board Executive Director Adedayo Thomas said their agency is not taking any censorious action against Gangs of Lagos, a film directed by Jade Osiberu and streaming on Amazon Prime, because the law does not empower them to regulate online content. When I read that, I could not help but be grateful for Web 2.0. Thank God for streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon! These platforms have expanded the options of artists in Nigeria beyond the reach of bowdlerizers of imagination like the “censors board”! Imagine we still live in the age where agencies like NVFCB, comprising civil servants who have probably not read a single book on artistic interpretation to the end, still have the power to proscribe creative expression. Only God knows how many artistic initiatives died in their offices!

Adedayo also noted a pending bill before the National Assembly that will empower them to “regulate” films released online. This desperate will to “regulate,” a hangover from the military era, is perhaps the biggest problem of contemporary Nigeria. From energy to the national currency, films, news (media), and social media, we are obsessed with hammering the nail of bureaucracy into every sphere of life. Our regulate-or-die mentality frequently subjects worthy initiatives to the whims of witless politicians and their enforcers—humourless bureaucrats in stuffy offices—who bring down their headmaster’s red pen on everything. I have said it before and will repeat it for free: agencies like NFVCB (and even the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission) need to rethink their relevance in an age of liberalised and globalised media.

Since its release, Gangs of Lagos has generated some controversy. Lagos Island indigenes where the story is domiciled see the representation of their society as uncomplimentary. Apart from the numbing violence in several scenes, they also took umbrage at the association of their Èyò masquerade with vice. The pushback by the communities is understandable. Minority religion practitioners are typically sensitive to portrayals of their sacred symbols in popular art. If they stay silent, misrepresentation can become definitive. These Lagos Island indigenes reserve the right to criticise any art that depicts their culture in unflattering ways. The artist can take the feedback in good faith and incorporate such sensibility into future productions. Such organic exchange is far more productive for culture than a situation where a government-appointed administrator censors the output based on a prosaic idea of how art ought to function.

For those uncomfortable with the association of Lagos with violence, I think we need to remind ourselves that there are films and television dramas similarly titled Gangs of New York, Gangs of London, Gangs of Wassyepur, etc., out there in the world. Nobody died because their contents associated cities with vice, so trust that Lagos will survive this. When the same Nollywood made films depicting the lives of the Lagos one percent class (e.g., Bling Lagosians), nobody complained about their misrepresentation of the reality of poverty that characterises Lagos. As for those who insist that the Èyò masquerade should not have been associated with criminality, are there not real-life instances of people seizing the opportunity of masquerade festivals to strike at antagonists? I once witnessed an Èyò festival parade, and all kinds of frivolities—typical of festivals worldwide—went on by the side. The idea is not far-fetched.

Overall, the controversy about the portrayal of Èyò is not where the film’s irreverence even lies. Its impudence is its brazen politics.

First, the filmmakers did not seem ignorant of the significance of the mask and the ritual play of Adámú Òrìsà they appropriated. The whole idea of wearing a mask is to be able to do things while assuming another persona, and countless films have demonstrated this in various ways. What differentiates this instance is the sacredness of the symbols. While masking is not unique to Africans, the masquerade traditions in this part of the world revolve around mythical beliefs about death and life. Masquerade plays are borne of the belief that death is not the end of a person, and those who have gone ahead of us can still be summoned back to the earth to commune with the living. As such, ritual plays like masquerade festivals are generally employed to mediate the passage of the dead back into the world of the living.

In the chapter of Things Fall Apart that featured masquerades, Chinua Achebe noted that the masked spirits that were summoned to litigate in public trials represented the spirits of the community’s ancestors. As his narration mentioned, the people of Umuofia knew that those under the masks were the living elders of the community, but they still treated the egwugwu as their dead fathers who have returned.

To its credit, Gangs of Lagos also stated the original purposes to which the Adámú Òrìsà is employed: to mark the end of a king’s reign and usher in a new era. The ritual play links the rhythms of the cycles of life and death with the political traditions of the body politic. When the dead are summoned like that, it is not only to give a sense of closure to an era on which the sun has set but also to use the practices of visceral pleasures that typify the festival celebrations to herald a new beginning. Summoning the spirit of the ancestors, as a marker of both death and life, uses myths and rituals to burnish the essence that binds a community and which must subsist despite the changes that will inevitably occur when the death of a king brings an end to an era.

Not to give away the story for those yet to watch it, but this end that leads to fortuitous and productive genesis is the underlying—and subversive message—of the film. Those who have watched the film will note that the story revolved around a “king” whose interminable reign since 1999 had become oppressive. This king had been sucking the life out of the “Obalolas.” The potential of youths like Obalola, whose name promises a future where they too can aspire and eventually ascend to kingship, was serially quenched by this brutal leader (and his butchering henchmen) who jointly feed on and feed off their flesh.

So, how do you end the reign of this “king” who has all the mechanisms of power generation at his behest? You bring out the sacred symbol of Èyò to trigger the end of his era overdue for death. Yes, a king dies for the Adámú Òrìsà ritual play to be staged, but the Gangs of Lagos’ subversion of realistic details to generate new meanings is precisely what makes art powerful. I understand the grouse of Lagos Island indigenes who insist that Adámú Òrìsà could not have been staged for a commoner, but art need not stalk reality.

This is not the first time in recent times that a television drama will link the crime underworld of Lagos with its political establishment. We saw it in King of Boys. Although Shanty Town did not expressly indicate “Lagos,” cinema action spoke louder than words. The association was so strong that some observers conflated the infinity symbol on Bola Tinubu’s caps with the inscription on a similar cap worn by Chief Dacosta Fernandez, a drug lord and crime kingpin (played by Richard Mofe-Damijo). For some members of Lagos political establishment to throw a fit on this, Gangs of Lagos’ undisguised politics must have cut very close to the bone. If the film had been released before the 2023 elections.

Abimbola Adelakun is a Public Affairs Analyst.

FG approves N1.5trn for construction, rehabilitation of over 700km roads

From Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

The federal executive council (FEC) has approved the sum of N1.535 trillion for the construction and rehabilitation of eleven roads across the country.

The construction would be enabled under the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) tax credit scheme.

Speaking after the council meeting, Babatunde Fashola, the minister of works and housing, said over N1.5 trillion would be spent on some major roads in Nigeria, totalling over 700 kilometres linking 11 states.

The states include Edo, Delta, Kano, Kaduna, Borno and Adamawa among others.

“The council gave approval for the construction and rehabilitation of 11 roads totalling 737.242 kilometres in the sum of N1, 535, 154, 247, 234.48 under phase II of the NNPC tax credit scheme,” Fashola said.

“Recall that in January this year, the council approved a memo for the NNPC to invest N1.9 trillion on our roads. That amount was then about 44 roads that had been awarded and the balance of those roads that had to go through procurement between then and now are the 11 that have now been approved by the council.”

In a report by TheCable, Fashola said in November 2022 that NNPC Limited has released N196 billion for roads under the tax credit scheme out of the N662 billion approved by the FEC.

He added that the ministry needed N1.2 trillion for the execution of highway projects, but only N198.9 billion has been allocated under the budget envelope in 2023 for the roads.

ISB Provides More Investment Opportunities - SEC

From Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

The Securities and Exchange Commission has said that the Investments and Securities Bill 2023, recently passed by the National Assembly is geared to improve the capital market to make it improved for investors, to provide more opportunities for investors.

Chief Economist, SEC Dr. Okey Umeano stated this in an interview in Abuja Thursday.

Dr. Umeano said the ISB 2023 has updated the powers of the SEC as well as made provisions to encourage new products in the capital market as well as encourage development of the commodities ecosystem among others.

According to him, “The ISB became necessary because the 2007 Investments and Securities Act became outdated. This is a dynamic market; the market changes every day. It got to a point the Act was no longer sufficient to cover some of the new things happening in the market. For

instance, we have new products that were not there when that Act was put in place. We have new actors in the market; you can see how Fintech is permeating the market. These things were not there in 2007 when that Act was passed.

“This ISB is supposed to accommodate these new operators, these new instruments and new happenings in the market. The Act is now more up to date and in line with present happenings in Nigeria and the global level. This Act also protects the investors more because we have made certain provisions in that Act that strengthens the SEC to ensure that they are better able to carry out their investor protection activities.

Umeano disclosed that the new Bill has amended some of the provisions around Ponzi schemes, illegal fund managers, and certain unwholesome practice in the market to ensure that these practices no longer happen.

“This bill is for everyone, not just investors. It is also to

encourage issuers to be more active in the market. It also provides better opportunities for operators, it is a bill that works for everyone. Yes, this bill has a lot of differences, there are many things we have updated for instance we have updated the powers of the SEC to cover the new product and new areas.

He emphasized that the ISB also has provisions that encourages the commodity ecosystem which is a viable means of diversifying the nation’s economy away from crude oil especially given the various commodities available in the country.

“Nigeria is a commodity driven economy, we have oil, we have coal, and we have other minerals. We are blessed with agricultural production; we are able to make agricultural products in very large quantities. In fact, Agriculture employs the larger number of working population of the country. Yet before now, we did not have organized commodity market, to aid this Agriculture.

“Successive government

especially this present government have spent a lot of money to support Agriculture but then we a market. When you have a commodity market, it helps price discovery, it helps financing for things like agriculture and that is what we have done in this bill. The ISB has strengthened the capital market to be able to drive the commodities trading ecosystem. We have things around ware house receipts, collateral management, setting up commodities exchanges, other players in the commodity market among others” he stated.

Dr. Umeano disclosed that the Bill also tries to align the capital market with the pension industry by providing that the DG of the Pensions Commission will become a board member of the SEC.

This he said will ensure close relationship and will also help to attract more of the pensioner’s assets into the cattle market, which will also help in capital formation and aid economic development.

FAAC Shares N714bn March revenue to FG, States, LGAs

From Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has shared a total of N714.629 billion as March 2023 federation revenue to the federal, state, and local government councils and other relevant agencies in the country.

This was disclosed in a communiqué issued at the end of the FAAC meeting for April 2023.

The amount includes gross statutory revenue, value-added tax, exchange gain, and electronic

money transfer levies.

A breakdown of the figure showed that the federal government received N276.141 billion, the states received N232.129 billion, the local government councils got N95.243 billion, while the oil-producing states received N35.102 billion as derivation (13 per cent of Mineral Revenue).

“The N714.629 billion total distributable revenue comprised distributable statutory revenue of N497.448 billion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N202.693 billion

and Electronic Money Transfer Levy(EMTL) of N14.488 billion,” the communique said.

In March 2023, it said the total deductions for the cost of collection was N31.355 billion and total deductions for transfers, refunds, and consultancy fees were N126.567 billion.

The balance in the Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $473,754.57.

The communiqué added that the gross statutory revenue of N638.673 billion was received for March 2023. This was higher than the sum of N487.106 billion

received in the previous month by N151.567 billion.

For March 2023, it said the gross revenue available from the Value Added Tax (VAT) was N218.786 billion, a figure lower than the N240.799 billion available in February 2023 by N22.013 billion.

The federal government received N30.404 billion, the state governments received N101.347 billion and the local government councils received N70.943 billion from the N202.693 billion distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue.

Of the N14.488 billion Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), the federal government received N2.173 billion, the state governments received N7.244 billion and the local government councils received N5.071 billion. According to the communiqué, in March 2023, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT), Companies Income Tax (CIT), Oil and Gas Royalties, Import and Excise Duties, Electronic Money Transfer Levy(EMTL) increased remarkably while Value Added Tax (VAT) decreased considerably.

Delegation of Kogi State Government led by Executive Officer, Kogi State Investment Promotion and Public Private Partnership Agency, Abdulkareem Siyaka and Members of the CCECC team led by Its Deputy Managing Director Guo Wenjun (middle) in a group photograph.

Nigerian fined £26,835 for smuggling cigarettes into London

AUnited Kingdom tribunal has held that a Nigerian be fined the sum of £26,835 (over N15 million) after being charged in relation to 61,800 cigarettes found in his bag without appropriate disclosure to relevant revenue authorities. The cigarettes were seized at Heathrow Airport, London, in February 2020.

Details of the judgement are contained in an appeal filed by the Nigerian, Oladipupo Fagbewesa, against the civil evasion penalty issued on 21 June 2021.

In court documents seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the tribunal judge, Abigail Mcgregor, held that Mr Fagbewesa owned the cigarettes that were seized from his bags and subsequently upheld the penalty.

According to the court document dated 12 April, the Notice of Appeal was submitted to the tribunal just over a month late and was received on 23 September 2021. An explanation for the lateness was given in the Notice of Appeal, the document said.

The reasons for the lateness include, among others, the fact that the conclusion letter, dated 14 July 2021, was not received by Mr Fagbewesa until 14 August 2021 because he had been away in Nigeria caring for his sick mother for a 3-week period from 25 July 2021. Similarly, the document said Mr Fagbewesa works at night and therefore has limited time in the day to seek legal advice; he found affordable legal advice on 27 August 2021; English is not his first language and he had trouble understanding the procedure.

Based on the reasons given and the absence of objection from the HM Revenue and Customs, a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes, the court decided to admit the appeal late.

But after hearing arguments from the parties, the tribunal ruled that the seized cigarettes belonged to Mr Fagbewesa and upheld the £26,835 penalty against him.

Union Bank’s annual profit doubles as trading income hits N24bn

From Abubakar Yunusa, Abuja

Nigeria’s second oldest lender Union Bank built a more than two-fold surge in net profit substantially from a strong net trading income in 2022, it’s audited financial report has shown.

Standing at N23.6 billion, net trading income – the money earned from transactions in financial instruments –accelerated by 173.3 per cent compared to interest income, typically the biggest contributor to banks’ revenues, which only grew by 29.5 per cent.

Within the period, many other banks boosted profit through

hikes in lending rates that enabled them to charge more for loans.

Gross earnings were up by 18 per cent at N209.1 billion, noninterest income contributing twofifths of that, according to the audited financial report published on Wednesday.

The bank’s impairment charge, which accounts for the cash it provisioned for defaults by borrowers, totalled N3.2 billion in contrast to a net impairment reversal of N34 million a year earlier.

Net fees and commission marginally declined by 6.6 per cent, following a drop in creditrelated fees and commission.

“In 2023, we will remain

focused on executing our strategic initiatives, which are centred on pursuing additional opportunities to diversify our revenue sources while strengthening our core business,” said Mudassir Amray, Union Bank’s managing director, in a separate document.

“We also look forward to completing the merger of Union Bank of Nigeria and Titan Trust Bank, which began in 2022,” he added.

The business combination involving the two lenders is to be delivered this year, well over a year after the deal of relatively new Titan Trust acquiring Union Bank was announced.

Last year, a board member of

Union Bank who does not want his name in print, told Nigerian online newspaper that the corporate name “Union Bank” will be retained after the merger.

Titan Trust Bank, a subsidiary of the conglomerate TGI Group, backed by Dutch-Nigerian magnate Cornelius G. Vink, has 94.1 per cent ownership in Union Bank.

After-tax profit for the period climbed 131.6 per cent to N39.2 billion from N16.9 billion a year earlier.

The bank is not paying dividend for 2022 the same way it did not announce cash rewards for shareholders for 2021, according to its annual report.

Nigerian Breweries laments dollar scarcity amid hike in cost of raw material

From Abubakar Yunusa Abuja

Nigeria’s prolonged foreign exchange squeeze is forcing its biggest beermaker to source raw materials at phenomenally high costs, Nigerian Breweries CEO Hans Essaadi told journalists in Lagos Wednesday.

Cost of sales spiked by 21.8 per cent or N60.4 billion in 2022, driving margin low and hurting gross profit, as the company now deploys tough measures to keep operations going,

“We’ve been faced and we are not going to stop being faced with a very significant storm,” Mr Essaadi said on Wednesday at a media briefing preceding its annual general meeting.

He remarked that Nigeria’s

foreign exchange crisis in 2022 caused a shortage of dollars and euros for a business where “roughly 50 per cent of our input costs is imported.”

The condition reflects the ordeal of many manufacturers in Africa’s largest economy who turn to the parallel market, where the dollar sold for N740.6 at 11:05 WAT, according to @naira_rates, compared to N462.5 on the official market because the latter did not have enough to meet demand.

This month, the World Bank stated in its publication Africa Pulse the naira shed 10.2 per cent against the dollar in 2022.

But that could be way higher considering that the exchange rate used by such organisations in their reviews belongs to the autonomous forex market, a window closely controlled by the

government, unlike the parallel market rate, which is driven by the forces of demand and supply and is more widely used.

The dilemma has sharply shot the brewer’s outstanding payable for business-critical imports upward, with overdue debt to Ibecor, its overseas buying agent, now as high as €110 million.

To settle the debt, Nigerian Breweries is looking unto Heineken NV, its parent company, to convert the credit to an intercompany loan, a lifeline the consumer goods giant hopes to get around May.

Heineken majority-owns the company, holding about 54 per cent of the issued shares. According to a presentation slide, that urgency needs to be quickly addressed to avert a partial or total shutdown of operations.

Meanwhile, the company is partnering with New York-based Africa-focused renewable energy developer CrossBoundary Energy for two solar power projects, eight and a half times the size of a football field, said Martin Kochl, the supply chain director.

“CrossBoundary Energy will fully finance the development and construction of the Ibadan and Ama renewable energy facilities, and will operate both facilities as part of a 15-year solar services agreement with NB,” the company stated on its website.

The sustainability move is targeting 10-gigawatt hours of electricity for both plants.

Through the solar and battery storage hybrid system, Nigerian Breweries expects to pare down carbon emissions by 100,000 tonnes as long as the plants exist

in a push to dilute its energy mix further and boost its climate credentials.

But the energy ambition is much larger with a power purchase pact with Konexa that will fully convert the energy source for operations at the two breweries in Kaduna to hydropower already in place.

That is being extended to its distribution chain where a good number of trucks are set for conversion to gas from diesel, whose price jumped by almost threefold in 2022 alone.

The brewer, which grew property, plant and equipment by about 40 per cent or N101.8 billion last year, committed a huge investment to the extension of Ama plant, the biggest of its nine factories.

L-R,. Director General National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, Director Special Duties, Office of Director General, Mr Gerald Adewole and the President Society of Nigerian Artists , Mr Muhammed Sulaiman during the Press Briefing on the official Re- opening of the NCAC Cultural Village , held yesterday in Abuja

. Photo: Justin Imo-owo

Weekend MagazineEntertainment

Adekunle Gold celebrates 10 years of ‘magic’ with Simi as she clocks 35

Nigerian musician Adekunle Gold penned a heartfelt message to his wife, Simi, as she celebrated her 35th birthday.

Taking to his Instagram page, he expressed gratitude to God for the past decade they had spent together and lovingly referred to her as his enchantment, his magic.

In his touching message, Adekunle Gold went on to shower Simi with praise, acknowledging her numerous contributions and dubbing her as the “girl of his youth.” His words were filled

with admiration and appreciation for the woman who had captured his heart and been by his side throughout the years.

He wrote, “God bless the day I met you at Bogobiri 10 years ago. 10 years of being my magic. I’m grateful for you, for everything you do.

“Been through it all with you so as we start to dey chop life now, we go live it up to the fullest Orente mi, Ati lowo, Ati nile lori, Ati bimo, Alafia njoba ninu ile’wa, Aye wa dun bi oyin. Happy birthday Girl of my youth.”

Nigerian music producer, Don Jazzy has disclosed that he recorded two songs with artist Wizkid but it was never released.

This disclosure from Don Jazzy when he started a question and answer session with his fans on his Instagram page.

A follower asked Don Jazzy when he would collaborate with the Grammy-winning singer, Wizkid.

“When will you have a song with Wizkid? What has been delaying the Grammy award song?” the follower asked.

In response, Don Jazzy disclosed that they worked on two songs together that were unreleased because they weren’t up to standard.

Adekunle Gold’s heartfelt message resonated with fans, showcasing the deep love and admiration he holds for his wife. Their enduring relationship and bond, spanning a decade, is a testament to their enduring love.

As fans and well-wishers joined in celebrating Simi’s special day, Adekunle Gold’s sentimental words served as a beautiful tribute to his beloved wife, encapsulating the depth of their love and the cherished memories they have created together.

“We actually did like two songs a while back but we never released it. I don’t know, I think it wasn’t good enough,” he said.

“Sometimes we have those days when you do some songs and people are not feeling it like that.

“But then we had ‘Surulere’ remix. I think that’s the only time that we have worked other than those other two songs that I said we did but didn’t put out.”

“One day. I don’t know, you know how those things go. You know I’m upcoming. One day we will be in the studio together. It will happen.”

Wizkid and I record two songs some time back but it wasn’t released –Don Jazzy

Weekend Magazine Mercy Chinwo jubilates as she hits 100 million streams on Boomplay

Popular gospel singer, Mercy Chinwo is overjoyed as her songs hit 100 million streams on the streaming platform, Boomplay. The songstress who couldn’t contain her excitement took to her Instagram page to share the news of her latest achievement on her Instagram page.

Sharing an image of her holding a plaque she had received from the platform, Mercy expressed her deepest gratitude to fans for their love and support.

She wrote:

“The Kingdom of God is forcefully advancing, all Glory to God. Thanks to everyone yes You for always streaming and sharing the good news about Christ.

It’s an honor to celebrate this milestone 100m BoomplayGoldenclub plaque.

A special shout out to @boomplaynigeria for all the love and support shown to us and our music

Keep on streaming out new EP-ELEVATED on Boomplay.”

Ghanaian musician Obrafour sues Drake over copyright infringement

Ghanaian musician Obrafour is dragging Canadian rapper Drake to court over the unauthorised use of his song.

In music, sampling is a common concept as artists borrow from the works of others to uplift their art. To legitimately borrow, one must take permission and the absence of such permission amounts to a copyright breach.

Ghanaian musician Obrafour is suing megastar rapper Drake for the rapper’s decision to sample his song without his permission. Drake sampled Obrafour’s ‘Oye Ohene’ remix in the ‘Calling My Name’ off Drake’s ‘Honestly, Nevermind’ album released in 2022.

According to the Ghanaian legend, Drake had earlier sought permission which was denied but the rapper nevertheless went forward with the sampling.

Copyright infringement is becoming a more common phenomenon in music as digitalization is making it easier for artists to flag similarities.

Recently, Puff Diddy clarified that he pays Sting $2,000 a day for illegally sampling his record ‘Every Breath You Take’ on his hit tribute to Notorious BIG ‘Missing You.’

Robin Thicke and Pharell William were asked by the court to

pay Marvin Gaye’s estate up to $5 million dollars as the penalty for sampling the deceased’s ‘Got to Give It Up’ on their hit single ‘Blurred Lines.’

In Nigeria, we have also seen cases of copyright infringement with Danny Young taking Tiwa Savage for sampling his song ‘Oju Ti Ti Won’.

Recently Tempoe also took Asa

and P.Prime to court for copyright infringement while the single also filed a separate suit against Tempoe and Joeboy for copyright breach. With the mouth-watering settlement that accrues from copyright breach, Obrafour might be in for a big payday should he convince the court.

Speaking on the case, Obrafour’s Lawyer Imran Ansari stated that

the Ghanaian musician is the lawful owner of the copyright both in Ghana and in the United States, and Drake’s use of the song was unlawful.

“In 2003, Obrafour, an acclaimed music artist from Ghana, released a popular song called “Oye Ohene (Remix).” Not only is he proud of the creative work that went into his song, but he is also

the lawful owner of the copyright behind it, both in Ghana, and here in the United States. Unfortunately, this ownership was not respected by the internationally known music artist Drake, who sampled it directly in one of his recent hits, “Calling My Name.” Drake did so without getting permission from Obrafour to use the song, without giving any credit to Obrafour, and without compensating Obrafour for its use. In fact, mere days before Drake released “Calling My Name,” he tried to secure the rights to use the sample. But rather than waiting to make sure Obrafour gave permission, which Obrafour did not, Drake released the song regardless. Obrafour now seeks the respect, recognition, and compensation he deserves for use of his creative work. He also hopes to send a message to mainstream international artists that you cannot simply take from an artist who may be lesser known, or in another country, without giving credit where credit is due.”

In the case that was instituted in the Souther district of New York, Obrafour presented the court with 4 exhibits to prove his lawful ownership of song. The Ghanaian asked the court for a number of prayers including a payment of damages not less than $10,000,000.

“I can never live in Europe again” – Jason Njoku shares experience with immigration officer in Venice

“I can never live in Europe again” – Jason Njoku shares experience with immigration officer in Venice

Business mogul, Jason Njoku recounts an experience he and his wife, Remmy, had with an immigration officer in Venice, Italy.

Jason revealed that he and wife had gone to Venice for a short stay. At the airport, the immigration officer asked to see their returning ticket, and not how long they intend to stay, as they usually ask other people.

He said that he and his wife burst out laughing at the question which irritated the immigration officer.

According to him, he had given the man their first class tickets and asked the man if he and his wife look like people who came to the country to hustle.

He wrote:

“@MrsMaryNjoku & I flew to Venice in March. Immigration asked for our return tix. Not how long are we staying o? But can they see our return tix? We burst out laughing����. Immigration was��. Said it’s a ‘normal question’. Gave them our 1st class boarding tix, and asked them do we look like people here to hustle? We’re staying at St Regis &are here for 3 nights. They let us through. No need for showing any tix again. Walahi I personally can NEVER live in Europe again. ��. We just need a strong ����. But we all know it’s increasingly getting worst.”

He shared this in reaction to a Tweep who revealed that he had recently experienced racial profiling for the first time in his life.

ICT/INNOVATION

Trends transforming IT industry in 2023

The Information Technology (IT) industry is experiencing a boom like never before, and more and more brands are looking to expand in this area because of the immense amount of potential. Information technology has various applications, which is also why it has proven to be a beneficial key component in the entire structure that industries now have. With this growing importance, it becomes essential to understand the critical aspects of this industry and the key features that make it the revolutionary tool it is.

Information Technology

Trends

New trends arise within this industry every year, and it becomes essential for professionals to be familiar with these different trends and all that they entail. No matter what profession one is working in, being familiar with these can improve your professional standing and help you understand the potential upgrades for the industry you are already working in.

1. Cloud Computing

One of the biggest trends that have emerged during the past year is cloud computing. More and more industries realize that it is essential for a company to have a designated place for all of its digital information and resources. Having a well-protected place that can take care of everything and keep the information safe has almost become a necessity. Cloud computing is the go-to solution for brands who want to improve their work and make it more efficient digitally.

2. Mobile Apps

Mobile applications have only grown in popularity over the past few years, and this year, they are surfacing in bigger and better ways. Brands and industries worldwide are trying to improve their work by using mobile apps and implementing new resources that can make working on the go more efficient.

3. Big Data Analytics

Big data analytics is a trend that has grown over the past few years. This is implemented in almost every industry using large-scale production processes, manufacturing, and supply. Big data analytics allows brands to process their information better and reach a much better understanding of the areas they need to develop.

4. Automation

Automation is one trend that has primarily hit the manufacturing and production units and is estimated to only grow more in the coming years. Automation has also enabled processes to work faster and

would allow companies to reach their goals much more efficiently.

5. Artificial Intelligence

While automation is growing, artificial intelligence is now seeing the light of day. The past year saw the introduction of several new mediums of artificial intelligence. This year, industries are looking at ways in which they can grow these resources and implement the work they do. Artificial intelligence is now starting to see implementation on a larger scale which is only set to grow more over the coming years.

6. Smart Technology

Intelligent machines that use artificial intelligence or automation are on the rise, even in small-scale units and smaller implementations. Homes are becoming more innovative due to intelligent technology being used and opted for in homes. Simple tools such as Alexa have become an essential part of homes and are only estimated to increase over the next year.

7. Virtual Reality

The gaming industry has always been one that has experienced growth alongside the field of information technology, and virtual reality has taken this one step further, giving customers the epitome of digital experience. Virtual reality gaming has already started to become popular due to new technology, which improves how the industry can grow.

8. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is another approach to ‘artificial experiences’ that individuals are now being given access to. This has improved how the field has been able to develop. Augmented reality is seeing a lot more applicability outside

the gaming industry as well and is something that is seeing more implementation as compared to virtual reality.

9. Blockchain Data

Cryptocurrency might have been at an all-time high in 2017 and 2018, but the fact remains that this is yet to see significant development. Blockchain technology is only starting to grow in popularity and is being implemented by industries worldwide for all it offers.

10. Cyber Security

With the growth of digital mediums and technology, the potential threats that people can face are only rising. Because of this, cybersecurity has had to grow extensively over the past few years to stay in touch with the growth experienced. Industries all over the world also realize the importance of investing in cybersecurity, which is why the field is experiencing growth at such a rapid pace.

11. Growth of IoT Networks

The Internet of Things is a concept that all digital devices are connected by a single medium through which one can control everything within their home. More and more brands realize that this is indeed the way of the future and is within technological reach. More brands are beginning to incorporate this concept, and the statistics showcasing this are prevalent enough to attest to positive growth.

12. Predictive Analytics Implementations

Predictive Analytics is analyzing large volumes of data to conclude the possible outcomes that a situation might have. Market analysts see this as a special tool for brands to

note whether they should move in a particular direction. This has proven to be a very efficient analysis method and saves the industry an incredible amount of money.

13. Cloud Migration

Cloud migration has proven incredibly beneficial for businesses that want to move in a digital direction and maintain better digital data records. Cloud migration has grown over the past few years, and these statistics show positive results. More than 74% of CFOs state that cloud migration was one of the most beneficial things for the growth of their businesses.

14. Rise of Data Officers

With the growing importance of information technology and data analytics, data officers have become even more critical in institutions and industries worldwide. The number of positions opens within this is plenty and is growing as more and more businesses require someone proficient in this.

15. Quantum Computing Applications

Quantum Computing is a process of conducting complex equations and functions to perform several complex tasks or process large volumes of information with absolute ease. This has proven incredibly beneficial for various industries, which is why it is seeing massive growth.

16. Smart Technology

Homes are now becoming more intelligent thanks to the numerous integrated devices that work to make our lives easier. Things like Alexa and other supplementary resources have proven incredibly beneficial and make homes significantly more

efficient and safer.

17. Open source solutions

Open source programs give users access to some of the main files and frameworks in a particular program, enabling them to modify it easily. As more and more users become technologically proficient, allowing them to work with applications themselves is incredibly beneficial.

18. Edge Computing

Edge computing is one phenomenon that has grown over the past few years and is currently seeing a wide scale of implementation. In edge computing, large volumes of data are processed near the network’s edge rather than where the data is mainly generated. This is meant to make this processing more efficient and optimized. More development mediums are choosing to go in for this form of computing over traditional types because of its efficiency. This also attests to the rising number of computing and program generation methods.

19. Rise of Chatbots

While most tech advancements help us move toward the greater good, some aren’t as beneficial as we might think. Chatbots aren’t always bad because, in some situations, they have improved the customer service that we have access to. Chatbots are a program to respond to specific queries in specific ways and are designed to help customers with some of the more basic functions they would need. These are, of course, still not in a position wherein they are a complete substitute for absolute live customer service, which has helped them stay in development.

Source: linchpinseo.com

HEALTHY Living

Cause of grey hair may be ‘stuck’ cells, say scientists

US scientists believe they may have uncovered why hair turns grey as we age, citing pigment-making cells which lose the ability to mature.

The arrested development impacts immature cells which would otherwise have developed into melanocytes which give hair its natural colour or shade.

The team from New York University (NYU) studied the process in mice, which have identical cells for fur colour.

They say the work could provide a basis for reversing the greying process.

According to the British Association of Dermatologists (BAD), work on melanocytes might also help our understanding and treatment of certain cancers and other medical conditions too.

How does hair turn grey?

We grow and shed hair all the time - it’s a normal cycle that happens throughout life.

New hair grows from hair follicles, found in the skin, where the pigmentproducing melanocytes also reside.

Melanocytes continuously decay and renew too. New ones are

made from stem cells and it’s these cells that the researchers believe become “stuck” in limbo in people whose hair has turned grey.

NYU Langone Health team used special scans and lab techniques to study the cell-ageing process.

As hair ages, sheds and then repeatedly grows back, increasing numbers of the melanocyte stem cells become sluggish at their job.

The stem cells stop roaming around the follicle and become fixed, thereby failing to mature into fully-fledged melanocytes. With no pigment being produced, the hair turns grey, white or silver.

“Our study adds to our basic understanding of how melanocyte stem cells work to colour hair,” study lead investigator Dr Qi Sun, a post-doctoral fellow at NYU Langone Health, told Nature journal.

“The newfound mechanisms raise the possibility that the same fixed-positioning of melanocyte stem cells may exist in humans. If so, it presents a potential pathway for reversing or preventing the greying.”

The women choosing to love their natural grey hair

Why stress turns hair white

It is not the first-time scientists have suggested that greying hair might be a partially reversible process.

Poor nutrition is one possible, treatable cause of premature greying.

Some researchers claim stress might contribute to human hair turning white, and have suggested removing anxiety might restore the pigmentation process - at least for a while.

Other research suggests genetics, or our DNA, partly determines when we go grey.

While some prefer to hide grey hair with dye, others embrace it. Some even choose to get ahead of nature, and prematurely colour hair silver, white or grey.

According to Glamour Magazine, silver hair is “the spring hair colour trend that the coolgirls are rocking”.

“We’ve spotted one shade, in particular, taking off. Oyster grey is the fresh, breezy, pearlescent colour trend that’s cropping up all over Instagram,” the article says.

One hairstylist, Luke Hersheson, recently told British Vogue: “At one point it was a big no-no to have grey hair, but now we don’t equate grey hair with

being ‘old’ - so many people are doing it.

“Post-lockdown, there is a feeling of libertymany got into a grey hair rut because they couldn’t see their colourists, but came out of the other side and actually enjoyed the change.”

Experts advise against plucking out ‘rogue’ grey hairs. It won’t stop the next one that grows from the same follicle from being grey. If you damage the hair follicle, it may be hard for new hair to grow, meaning you could be left with less hair or even bald patches.

Dr Leila Asfour from the British Association of Dermatologists told the BBC work on hair colour was big business: “The global hair colour market is projected to attain a value of $33.7bn by 2030. Clearly there’s a demand.

“The obvious implication of this research, when it comes to the general public, is that it means being one step closer to finding a way to reverse our grey hairs.

“But this study’s results help the medical field understand better other conditions where these stem cells may have a role - for example, understand the underlying nature of the deadliest skin cancer

we treat called melanoma.”

It might help with a medical condition called alopecia areata too, where the immune system attacks the hair and causes it to fall out. Sometimes the hair grows back white in these patients, she explained.

And it could give more clues about vitiligo - a skin condition where patients develop white skin patches. Scientists have tried surgically placing hair follicles in the affected areas to help regenerate the colour from the pigment found in the hair follicle.

“More research is needed,” Dr Asfour says.

Dr Yusur Al-Nuaimi from the British Hair and Nail Society said scalp health was important for supporting good head hair growth, especially as we age.

“The recent study in mice adds to our understanding of the hair follicle and how the pigment-producing cells function. We are already discovering more about the potential of stem cell therapies for conditions including hair loss and studies such as this one, with new findings about the colour-producing cells, may lead to an array of future treatment options for our patients.”

Source: bbc.com

NEW EXTRA

LP leadership tussle: Abure, others know fate, May 12

By Vivian Okejeme

AFederal Capital Territory High Court, will on May 12, rule on the preliminary objection by Julius Abure, the embattled National Chairman of the Labour Party, in respect of a suit challenging his continued stay in office.

Justice Hamza Muazu fixed the date after listening arguments canvassed by the parties in the matter.

The court had upon an ex parte application on April 5, restrained Abure, Alhaji Farouk Ibrahim (National Secretary); Oluchi Opara (National Treasurer); and Clement Ojukwu (National Organising Secretary), from further parading themselves as party officials.

Similarly, on Monday April 17, Justice Muazu declined a request to vacate the interim order restraining Abure, Ibrahim, Opara and Ojukwu from further parading themselves as national officers of Labour Party.

The party officials were restrained by the court on grounds of alleged fraud, forgery and criminal conspiracy.

The order followed a suit challenging Abure and his co defendants’ continued stay in office.

However, at a resumed hearing on the suit in respect of the embattled officers’ suspension on Thursday, Abure and his co defendants in their preliminary objections maintained that the lawsuit borders on leadership crisis, which they argued, is an internal affairs of the party.

Arguing through their counsel, Ben Nwosu, the defendants insisted that the issue being an internal affairs of the party, renders it non justiceable.

It was the argument of the defendants that the suit was incompetent and that the court lacks the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

On their part, the eight claimants represented by George Ibrahim asked the court to dismiss the defendants’ preliminary objection and grant their reliefs accordingly for being meritorious.

Ibrahim told the court that the Claimants have also filed contempt proceedings against Abure, his codefendants and the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress for allegedly acting in breach of an existing order of court.

Ibrahim informed the court that in spite of a subsisting interim order, the defendants went ahead and held an executive council meeting.

“My lord, the defendants should all note that the order restraining them from parading themselves as national officers of Labour Party still subsists”, Ibrahim stressed.

Justice Muazu fixed May 12 to rule on the preliminary objections.

Nobody can travel on pilgrimage without NCPC clearance - says Pam

By Albert Akota

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission (NCPC), Rev Dr. Yakubu Pam has declared that nobody travels on pilgrimage without clearance from the Commission.

The NCPC boss made this disclosure in Lagos during a recent p strategic meeting with the executives and members of the Christian Tourism Practitioners Association of Nigeria (CTPAN).

He explained that the NCPC enabling

Act of 2007 empowers it to superintend and coordinates all Christian pilgrimage activities to the Holy Sites around the world.

He affirmed that the Commission works closely with the various state Christian pilgrims welfare Boards in the mobilization of intending Pilgrims.

The NCPC helmsman averred that screening of intending Pilgrims is critical not because of abscondment, but to also ensure and certify the medical fitness of every intending Pilgrim.

He decried the situation whereby some

desperate intending Pilgrims go through the Association so that they could use such platform to abscond while on pilgrimage.

To this effect, he affirmed that the Commission’s policy on abscondment is stringent, and it will would stop at nothing to punish erring culprit, irrespective of status in the society.

Earlier, the President of the Christian Tourism Practitioners Association of Nigeria (CTPAN), Rev Dr. Israel Kristilere thanked the Executive Secretary for convening the meeting.

Police arrest 7 suspected kidnappers, recover Arms in Kaduna

From Femi Oyelola, Kaduna

In what seems as a renewed vigour to ensuring the safety of lives and property in Kaduna State, in the wake of the recent marching order handed down by the acting Commissioner of Police, DCP Mamman B. Giwa to Divisional Police Officers and Tactical Commanders to go on the offensive, personnel of the Command have nabbed som3 suspected kidnappers.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Mohammed Jalige, made available to journalists in Kaduna yesterday.

It read: “At about 1320hrs, a patrol team attached to Saminaka Area Command

in conjunction with hunters group in Lere LGA apprehended one Yusuf Idi ‘M’ aged 25 yrs along with six (6) others at Mariri village in Lere LGA.

“Upon Interrogation, the suspects confessed to have carried out a series of kidnappings, culpable homicide and armed robberies in the said area”.

According to the statement, when an immediate search was conducted on the suspects, an AK 47 Rifle with 14 rounds of 7.62 X 39mm live ammunition, one locally fabricated long range double-barrel gun used to expending 12-guage live cartridges and one locally made pistol that uses. 9mm live ammunition were recovered.

“Preliminary investigation is ongoing and efforts being intensified to recover

more arms and ammunition.

“Meanwhile, the general area is presently calm and peaceful, while rigorous patrols and surveillance continues”.

He noted that DCP Mamman B. Giwa while commending the Officers and men for the arrest and recoveries, warned that any person with the thought of committing any form of crime should have a rethink or risk being neutralized or arrested by the well motivated operatives of the Command.

Also, he used the medium to assure all law abiding citizens in the state to go about their lawful businesses, as a heavy deployment of Police personnel was made to all nooks and crannies of the state ahead of the Sallah celebration.

L-R; President Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Senate Dr Ahmed Lawan, Senator Philip Aduda and FCT Mallam Mohammed Musa Bello during the Sallah Homage to mark the 2023 EID El-Fitr held at the State House yesterday IN ABUJA. PHOTO; State House

Biography

Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna: A true hero!

Sir Ahmadu Bello, popularly known as the Sardauna of Sokoto is arguably one if not the most politically powerful man to have walked the northern Hemisphere of Nigeria. The Sardauna of Sokoto was a reputable statesman, a focused politician, and a well-admired and loved diplomat. He is a descendant of the famous Islamic Cleric and Jihadist, Usman Dan Fodio who founded the Sokoto Caliphate.

Early Life of The Sardauna

Ahmadu Ibrahim Bello was born in the city of Rabah, on June 12 1910 to the family of Mallam Ibrahim Bello. His father held the title of Sarkin (king of) Rabah. He was from the early age of four Islamically educated at home, where he learned the Qur’an, Islamic jurisprudence, and the Prophetic traditions which were expected as a descendant of the great Sheikh Muhammad Bello, son of Dan Fodio.

Education

After his homeschooling, at the age of eleven, he then attended Sokoto Provincial School and afterward the then Katsina Teacher’s Training College (now Barewa College, Zaria). During his school days, he was popularly known as Ahmadu Rabah. He graduated in 1931 and subsequently became (appointed by the sultan) the English teacher in Sokoto Middle School. Like the majority of other northern royals, he is an accomplished horseman.

Early political Activities

In 1934, the Sardauna was made the District Head of Rabah by the then Sultan, Hassan dan Mu’azu, who succeeded his brother. In 1938, Ahmadu Bello was promoted to the position of the Divisional Head of Gusau (present Zamfara State capital), thus making him a well-standing member of the Sultan’s council.

At a very young age of 28, in the year 1938, After the demise of Sultan Hassan dan Mu’azu, he attempted to become the Sultan of Sokoto but was not successful, losing to Sir Siddiq Abubakar III (his first cousin) who reigned till his death in 1988.

As Sir Siddiq Abubakar III, the new Sultan assumed the seat of power, he immediately made Sir Ahmadu Bello the Sardauna (Crown Prince) of Sokoto, a chieftaincy title, and promoted him to the Sokoto Native Authority Council, noticing he commanded a high morality and intellectuality. These titles by default made him the Chief Political Adviser of the Sultan.

The Sardauna of Sokoto was eventually put in charge of the Sokoto Province to oversee its 47 districts and by the year 1944, he had returned to the Sultan’s Palace to work as the Chief Secretary of the State Native Administration, which meant he held the traditional Islamic title of Sardauna as well as a British Colonial Office. This appointment was in line with the British Policy of indirect rule.

Involvement with The Northern People’s Congress

In the 1940s, sir Ahmadu Bello joined the

Jam’iyya Mutanen Arewa party, which later became the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) in 1951. After his appointment as the Chief Secretary of Native Administration, he traveled to England on a government scholarship to study Local Government Administration, which broadened his understanding and knowledge of the western form of governance.

After Sardaunan Sokoto’s returned to Nigeria in 1952, in the first-ever held elections held in Northern Nigeria he secured a seat in the House of Assembly of the Northern region of the country, and when there was a new constitution that came into being, he was appointed as an Executive minister of Survey and Works. He was also minister of Works, Local Government, and Community.

As a member of the house of assembly, he became a prominent voice for northern interests and adopted a style of consulting and consenting with the major representatives of the then northern emirates; Kano, Borno, and Sokoto. He was also selected to be a part of the committee that redrafted the Richards Constitution and he attended the general conference in Ibadan.

His participation in the assembly and the constitution drafting committee brought him much appreciation and

admiration in the north and was asked to take on leadership positions within Jamiyya Mutanen Arewa.”

Two years after his appointment as minister, the Sardauna of Sokoto became the first and sadly the only Premier of the North, being the leader of the Northern People’s Congress, the ruling party at the time.

In 1959, during the independence elections, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Ahmadu Bello led the NPC to win the majority of the parliamentary seats. The NPC allied with the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) led by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, forming Nigeria’s first indigenous government which led to Nigeria gaining its independence from Britain.

During the formation of the 1960 independence government, Ahmadu Bello, the president of the NPC, was by default supposed to be the Prime minister of the newly formed government. But the Sardauna had other plans than leading the newly formed independent government, he chose to remain Premier of Northern Nigeria and redirected the position of Prime Minister of the Federation to his deputy of the NPC, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.

Achievements of Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna

“ During the formation of the 1960 independence government, Ahmadu Bello, the president of the NPC, was by default supposed to be the Prime minister of the newly formed government. But the Sardauna had other plans than leading the newly formed independent government, he chose to remain Premier of Northern Nigeria and redirected the position of Prime Minister of the Federation to his deputy of the NPC, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa

Ahmadu Bello’s many political accomplishments include; establishing the Northern Regional Development Corporation (NRDC), which subsequently became the Northern Nigeria Development Corporation (NNDC), the Bank of the North, the Broadcasting Company of Northern Nigeria (BCNN), and the Nigeria Citizen Newspapers.

The Sardauna saw the North as far less developed; structurally as well as economically than the South, and he argued that the North needed to catch up and a matchup with the South for the sake of national harmony hence his policy of Northernization.

His leadership characteristics were a mishmash of religious, traditional, and modern values and his obligation in colonial and post-independence Nigeria was performing these different roles in the northern region.

He made it a major priority of his that the North would be at par politically and economically with the Western and Eastern regions.

Sardauna’s Death and Assassination

On the 15th of January 1966, Sir Ahmadu Bello was assassinated by Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu a Nigerian Army officer in a coup that toppled Nigeria’s post-independence government. Before the coup d’etat, he had received warnings from the Premier of the Western Region Samuel Akintola, and Brigadier Samuel Ademulegun.

He was still the premier of Northern Nigeria at the time.

This was the first coup in the history of Nigeria, which catapulted the rise of a series of military reigns and coups in the country’s politics. Also assassinated in the coup was his long-time friend and deputy, Alhaji Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa alongside many other notable political elites in the north and western region of the country.

Ahmadu Bello’s Legacy, Honours, and Awards

During his lifetime, he had received a lot of honours and awards, including honorary doctorate of Law from UNN (University of Nigeria Nsukka) in December 1961 and an honorary degree from the University of Al-Azhar in Cairo in 1962. He was made a Knight of the British Empire (KBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 1959 just before the colonial rule came to an end.

He established the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1962, the second largest University in Africa, which was named after him. He was the University’s first Chancellor. The 200 Nigerian naira carries his portrait.

Sir Ahmadu Bello also has several roads named after him in almost all states in northern Nigeria. The stadium in Kaduna is also named after him. His residence in Kaduna where he lived, is now a center of Research and Historical Documentations under Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.

Source: northpad.ng

Sir Ahmadu Bello Sardauna

President Buhari observes Eid el-fitr prayers at the Mambilla barracks prayer ground in Abuja. Photo: State House

International

Toronto airport gold heist: Police says C$20m of valuables stolen

Canadian officials say more than C$20m ($15m, £12m) of gold and valuables were stolen on Monday 17 April.

An aircraft container carrying the goods arrived at the airport in the evening and was transported to a cargo holding facility.

Police believe that is where the heist took place.

The theft could mark one of the bigger heists in Canadian history, a list that includes the 2011 and 2012 Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist when 3,000 tonnes of syrup valued at $18.7m were stolen from a storage facility in Quebec.

Peel Regional Police inspector Stephen Duivesteyn said their team is investigating “all avenues” and described Monday’s incident as isolated and rare.

At a press conference on Thursday at the airport, Mr Duivesteyn said the missing aircraft container was about 5 sq ft (.46 sq m) in size, and “contained other items of monetary value” in addition to the gold.

Officials have refused to say what airline shipped the cargo, where the load had come from, or its intended destination.

“Our goal is to solve this theft,” Mr Duivesteyn said. “We want to solve it. I cannot provide exact details.”

But travellers are not in danger, he continued. “We do not consider this a public safety matter.”

The Toronto Sun reported earlier on Thursday that police thought organised crime groups were involved. Mr Duivesteyn said it was too early to tell.

“We’re three days in, so our investigators have their eyes open to all avenues,” he said. “We’re kind of keeping a broad outlook on it, so we’re looking on all angles on how this item was stolen.”

In a statement, the airport said that thieves did not gain access to the airport itself but “accessed the public side of a warehouse that is leased to a third party, outside of our primary security line”.

The BBC has contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for comment.

Ukraine war: Russian warplane accidentally bombs own city

ARussian Sukhoi-34 fighter-jet has accidentally bombed the Russian city of Belgorod, around 40km (25 miles) from the border with Ukraine.

The bomb left a 20m (60ft) crater and caused an explosion so large it blew a car on to the roof of a nearby shop.

Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said authorities had ordered the evacuation of a damaged nine-storey block of flats as a precaution.

Three people were injured and several buildings were damaged, he said.

Video posted on social media showed the impact of the blast, lifting a vehicle on to the roof of a supermarket as traffic streamed along Prospekt Vatutina, close to the centre of the city.

In a brief statement, the Russian defence ministry admitted that one of its Su-34 fighter bombers had “accidentally discharged aircraft ordnance” at 22:15 local time (19:15 GMT) on Thursday.

It was a bureaucratic way of saying that the jet had mistakenly fired a weapon. It didn’t specify which one.

The bomb landed at an intersection of two roads not far from the city centre and next to residential buildings.

Two women were taken to hospital for treatment, according to the governor. But with

a Russian bomber hitting a busy residential district the consequences could have been far worse.

“Thank God no one was killed,” he said on social media.

CCTV footage of the incident suggests that local residents did, indeed, have a lucky escape.

The video shows a series of cars passing a crossroads, before an object lands on the ground nearby.

There is no immediate explosion. The ordnance detonates approximately 18 seconds later, blowing up a section of the road, catching one of the cars as it passes and sending a parked car flying into the air before it lands on the supermarket roof.

Though embarrassing for the Russian military, the admission of “an accident” suggests that officials here do not believe the incident will negatively impact Russian public opinion of what the Kremlin still calls its “special military operation”.

In times of war and conflict, accidents happen, sometimes with devastating consequences. Last October a Sukhoi fighter jet - again, an Su-34 - crashed in the Russian city of Yeysk killing at least 13 people.

The military says it has launched an investigation into the incident. Quoting a former military pilot, pro-government news

site Moskovsky Komsomolets suggested “the conclusions [of the investigation] are unlikely to be made public, but lessons will be learned”.

By morning maintenance workers had begun the work of repairing the busy intersection in Belgorod. The mayor said much of the work would take place at the weekend and the road would be resurfaced on Monday.

The regional governor said Belgorod’s residents had endured a difficult night but would get through it.

Russian jets regularly fly over Belgorod, a city of 370,000, on their way to Ukraine. It lies just north of Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, and has come under periodic Ukrainian attack since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine last year.

Shanghai Auto Show: Mini responds to Chinese ice cream racism uproar

UK-based carmaker Mini has responded to an internet uproar in China accusing it of racism at the Shanghai Auto Show.

A video from the event appeared to show Mini staff offering ice cream to foreigners while refusing to give it to Chinese visitors.

Mini China, which is owned by Germany’s BMW, said the workers were distributing the treats to company employees.

However, it also said that it was “deeply sorry for the negative mood the incident brought on everyone”.

In a statement posted on Chinese social media platform Weibo, Mini China said it had given out a total of 600 ice creams during show on 18 and 19 April.

“In addition to distributing 300 portions of ice cream per day, we also reserved a very small portion for our hardworking colleagues on-site,”

Mini China said.

“The four to five foreigners you see in the video are colleagues who are wearing employee badges,” it added.

The company also said the incident resulted from lapses in management and training, and called for consideration towards staff in the video.

In an earlier statement, Mini China said the giveaway was “intended to give sweetness to friends big and small”.

BMW did not immediately respond to a BBC request for further comment on Friday.

The topic “BMW Mini” quickly became one of the top searches on Weibo, with over 93 million views.

The comments were largely negative. “You should have specified that the initial purpose was to give ‘foreign’ big and small friends sweetness,” said a post that drew more than 165,000 likes.

“I feel ashamed as a Mini owner,” said another user.

The incident spurred one vlogger to give out ice cream in front of Mini’s auto show booth.

“I was just angry, and I only gave it to Chinese people,” he told Chinese media outlet Jimu News. However, other social media users called for calm. “Let’s treat this reasonable. No matter what type of explanation [Mini gives], there are always going to be people who disagree,” said a post that drew several negative reactions.

“We shouldn’t excessively magnify a problem to become a question of principle or an ideological issue,” wrote Hu Xijin, the former editor-in-chief of state-owned newspaper Global Times.

“Let the staff learn their lessons and let their future events return to normal as much as possible. Let’s avoid other vendors getting nervous because of this,” he added.

Internet users in China have become increasingly vocal about the depiction of Chinese people amid rising nationalist sentiment online.

Last week, French luxury label Dior was also accused of racism on Chinese social media over an advertisement showing an Asian model pulling up the corner of her eye.

The picture, promoting Dior’s new makeup collection, was swiftly taken down.

This was not the first time Dior has been caught up in controversy in China, one of its biggest markets.

In 2022, it was accused of “culturally appropriating” a Chinese traditional design for one of its skirts.

Earlier that year, a Chinese snack brand also drew criticism for using a model with narrow eyes in its advertisements.

Source: BBC

Police are investigating a massive gold heist at Toronto Pearson International Airport, a location often used to ship gold mined in the province of Ontario.

A photo shows the aftermath of the blast

Sudan fighting: Street battles dash hopes of Eid ceasefire

Residents of Sudan’s capital say parts of Khartoum feel like a ghost town, in stark contrast to the joyful mood usually seen during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

After a week of fighting between two factions of the country’s military leadership at least 400 people have been killed.

Witnesses say bombing, shelling and gunfire continue in Khartoum.

It means a three-day truce called by the UN, US and others has failed.

A Sudanese employee of the UN’s International Organization for Migration has been killed in crossfire in El Obeid, some 430km (270 miles) south-west of Khartoum, the agency says.

Witnesses tell the AFP news agency they are seeing intense street battles between the rival forces in Khartoum.

The army says it has deployed soldiers to “comb” the streets looking for members of the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).

People in Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman tell the BBC they are still feeling a mixture of shock and anger.

Two women crying at the entrance to a mosque explain they have lost several family members - including two children.

Eid is the Muslim festival marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan - and Sudanese people usually relish it as a time for visiting family

and eating together with their neighbours, while children play and enjoy sweets.

Prayer services would normally be packed on Eid, but on Friday many mosques in Khartoum and Omdurman are almost empty as people shelter at home.

Others meanwhile have fled the capital for their home regions.

But this is not an option for Mahasin Dahab and her family. She told the BBC’s Newsday programme she cares for a disabled relative who would find it “extremely uncomfortable” to

leave the city plus there was a risk that people elsewhere could be less accepting of him.

So she is staying put for the time being, despite running out of water and grieving the deaths of colleagues and neighbours.

At its heart, this is a power struggle between two powerful military men over the roadmap for returning the country to civilian rule.

As part of that plan the country’s current military government - made up of the army led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the RSF led by

Mohamed Hamdan “Hemedti”

Dagalo - were supposed to merge their forces.

But the RSF has resisted this change, and began to mobilise its troops which escalated into fullblown fighting between the two sides on Saturday.

Thousands of people have been injured in the past week but medical centres are overwhelmed and under-equipped to treat the influx of patients - as a result 70% of hospitals in conflict zones are out of service, according to the Sudan Doctors’ Trade Union.

Along with Khartoum, the

western region of Darfur, where the RSF first emerged, has also been badly affected by the fighting.

“The situation is catastrophic - the majority of the wounded are civilians who were hit by stray bullets, and many of them are children,” says a Médecins Sans Frontières worker at the only hospital still functioning in Fasher town, North Darfur state.

The UN has warned that up to 20,000 people - mostly women and children - have fled Sudan to seek safety in Chad, across the border from Darfur.

Diplomatic pressure is being stepped up to end the fighting - with numerous countries and international bodies calling for an immediate ceasefire and offering to mediate.

Two previous attempted ceasefires failed to take effect.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday appealed to the warring military leaders separately to join a ceasefire at least until Sunday - warning of the risk to civilians as well as humanitarian and diplomatic workers.

A Sudanese army statement said Gen Burhan had received calls from the Turkish, South Sudanese and Ethiopian leaders, as well as Mr Blinken and the Saudi and Qatari foreign ministers.

However, in his first national TV address since the fighting started, on Friday morning, Gen Burhan did not mention a ceasefire.

Sudan fighting: The unsung heroes keeping Khartoum residents alive

As two generals slug it out in Sudan with little thought to the devastation they are causing, there is a whole grassroots network of people tirelessly helping those caught in the crossfire.

“Anyone know a family in need of foodstuffs within the borders of Omdurman al-Thawrat?” tweets a dental student in the capital, Khartoum. The message goes on to give out a number, saying flour, rice and pasta are available.

Khartoum and its surrounds has a population of around 10 million people and for nearly a week they have had no water or electricity, most hunkering down inside - away from windows in case of incoming fire. Most of the city’s hospitals are closed and more than 300 civilians have been killed.

To get any supplies people must venture outside to find a shop that has some stock - and there are accounts of a dreadful stench now coming from the dead bodies that litter the streets.

WhatsApp groups, Facebook and Twitter are alive with offers of help for those who find themselves without food or medication or giving information about safe routes to leave the city. Most of them - and those messages with pleas for help - are accompanied by the hashtag #NoToWar.

“Currently, we have 750 food baskets available. One basket is enough for a family of six people,”

another Khartoum tweeter posts.

Others have been collating invaluable information, like a lengthy list sent out by @Jia_ Elhassan about where water can currently be found in different areas of the city.

This message accompanies an address and phone number listed as one of five places in Omdurman: “Anyone who needs water, our house is open for them 24 hours.”

Someone else puts out a tweet with a photo of insulin pens available, along with his phone number.

‘Terrified orphans at risk’

Much of this altruism is led by young volunteers operating at a local neighbourhood level by what are called “resistance committees”. There are thousands of them across the country.

They have been the backbone of a pro-democracy movement that rose up following the ousting of long-time leader Omar al-Bashir in 2019, calling for a return to full civilian rule.

Their task has mainly been to organise peaceful protests against the military junta. Last Sunday, the co-ordinating body of Khartoum’s resistance committees sent out a message to “revolutionaries in the neighbourhoods” asking them to prepare to help fellow residents.

In particular they were asked to form “medical rooms to deal with possible injuries”, to monitor

food supplies and “raise the slogan #NoToWar”.

“The only ones to lose from war are the people, so let us unite to overcome that,” the message said.

Small charities like Hadhreen, which translates from Arabic as “We are present and ready to help”, have also been instrumental in trying to co-ordinate help for those in need.

When Nazim Sirag, who heads Hadhreen, heard about more than 300 terrified children at an orphanage in Khartoum in need of food, water and medicine. He tweeted: “We can’t provide milk for new-born babies, everyone is afraid.”

In response to our query via WhatsApp if any help had been found through his network, he says: “We are trying to reach them. Till now we failed. Everyone in Sudan is scared to go out,” adding that the orphanage was in one of the “hot areas”.

“Tomorrow we have [to] try early in the morning. Wish us luck.”

Mr Sirag has been instrumental since the 2021 coup in liaising with Sudanese doctors unions in the diaspora as he sought to get medical help abroad for some of those injured in pro-democracy protests.

These diaspora medics have long been key to propping up Sudan’s precarious health system over years of economic decline.

Mohamed Hamadto, a trauma surgeon and treasurer of the Sudan

Doctors Union in the UK, told the BBC his group has tended to focus on training initiatives, but since the outbreak of violence last Saturday they had been raising funds to send to the main Sudanese Doctors Union in Khartoum and collecting supplies they hope to fly in when the situation allows.

So far they have received about £9,000 ($11,000) from donationsand this money will help the central doctors union buy supplies privately for clinics being repurposed on the outskirts of Khartoum as most of the city’s 59 hospitals are now closed because of the fighting.

“These hospitals on the periphery need to be ready for increasing numbers of civilian victims,” Dr Hamadto says, with some reports suggesting up to 600 people have now died.

As do small neighbourhood health centres.

“I was just speaking to one of my colleagues and she’s trying to get her resistance committee to set up a local health centre so they can provide basic first aid to people who are injured because the area she lives in is bombarded heavily,” he says.

This is in al-Siteen Street, not far from the airport and army headquarters where the battles are raging.

The Sudanese Doctors Union will then be able to provide bandages, fluids, antibiotics and

other basics to her health centre for trauma injuries.

‘My cousin broke my heart’ Relatives abroad are also focusing their help on the doctors.

“Everything is closed. There’s zero point in sending money [to our family],” Ahmed Abdel-Elrazig, a third-year maths and economic undergraduate at the University of Toronto, told the BBC on Thursday.

“Right now it’s the holy month of Ramadan. I was on a call to one of my cousins and they broke my heart - they told me that even after they broke their fast they still were hungry because they were rationing food.”

He is part of the Canadian university’s Sudanese Students Union, set up last year with about 100 members. A few days ago the union put up a Sudan crisis crowdfunding page.

“We’re trying to do our best to hit our goal right now to raise $10,000… so all injured civilians do have the medical attention that they do require. We’re currently partnered with the Sudanese Doctors Union,” he says.

“This is the bare minimum that we can do - I still feel extremely helpless.”

Fellow student union member Fawzia Elhad, majoring in political science and psychology, agrees as she worries about her parents and siblings in Khartoum.

Source: BBC

There is a sombre mood as people mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan

Feature

Cocaine-smuggling submarine reveals Europe’s drug crisis

I’m about to climb into the first “narco-sub” known to have brought cocaine from South America to Europe.

It’s 20 metres (65 ft) long, built out of fibreglass and - remarkablyhomemade.

After clambering on top, I lift up the wonky manhole cover and descend into the hull where three men survived for 27 long days and nights, as they voyaged across the Atlantic Ocean just under the surface of the crashing waves.

It’s cramped, claustrophobic and incredibly primitive.

The sunlight tries to creep in from faint cracks in the walls. There is a steering wheel, a couple of basic dials and a rusted key still wedged in the ignition.

You can understand why one prospective skipper took one look at the vessel and concluded it was a death trap.

The heat and noise would have been intense as the engine in the back of the sub burned through the 20,000 litres of fuel stored onboard.

The crew of two Ecuadorean cousins and a former Spanish boxer set out from the Brazilian rainforest and first travelled along the Amazon river.

They had energy bars, cans of sardines and plastic bags they used for toilet facilities.

That was about all they had. Apart, of course, from three tonnes of cocaine worth more than $150m (£121m).

But this was not a lucrative, covert mission neatly accomplished.

The sub’s journey in late 2019 had been tracked by law enforcement agencies, including the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA).

After scuttling their vessel near the coast of Galicia, having run into problems, the men were arrested and jailed.

This piece of history in the fight against international drug trafficking is now a trophy in the car park of the Spanish police academy in Ávila.

However, it’s not a rotting relic

of a bygone battle: it’s a symbol of a secretly growing phenomenon.

Just last month, another sub was discovered off the Spanish coast - again in the Galicia region.

“For more than 20 years traffickers have been using submarines to reach Africa and Europe, but these two are the first we’ve seized,” explains Antonio Martinez Duarte, Chief Commissioner of the Narco Brigade in the Spanish National Police.

“They are very hard to detect,” he admits.

In fact, it’s thought hundreds of homemade submarines have been launched towards Europe, which is the biggest cocaine market after the US, and one that’s growing rapidly after a Covid pandemic slump.

It’s even said that in the middle of the Atlantic, around the Canary Islands and the Azores, there lies a mass graveyard of cocaine submarines, deliberately sunk after their cargo had been successfully unloaded.

Each covert mission would have been a huge triumph for the teams of mechanics quietly constructing their vessels in the depths of the South American jungle, mostly in Guyana and Suriname.

Here though, in Spain today, as part of the global trafficking war, it’s the police trumpeting a big victory at their headquarters in Madrid.

“This is a very important operation,” says Chief Commissioner Duarte. “It’s the first time in Europe that we found as much as one and a half tonnes of base cocaine paste.”

In fact, officers say it was the biggest lab turning raw coca paste into cocaine that they’ve found on the continent. But it’s not just the size of the haul which is significant.

“This operation also confirms the links between Colombian and Mexican criminals that have joined Spanish gangs working in Spain,” Chief Commissioner Duarte says.

Clearly proud of their work, the police have transported the contents of the lab into a press conference room to show local journalists.

The stench of the raw coca paste - like that of vinegar - hangs in the air.

The drugs-making process has been replicated, with barrels of chemicals, a microwave, a hydraulic press and scales - reflecting the journey from paste to final product.

On a table at the far end of the room are dozens of brown parcels, each the size of a house brick, emblazoned with a Superman logo - the symbol chosen by the traffickers who no doubt felt a sense of invincibility.

An officer leans over and whispers that importers pay €2732,000 ($30-35,000; £24-28,000) for each parcel. They then at least double their money when they sell it on the streets.

The only limit on their profits is to what extent they dilute their drug with cutting agents, ranging from anaesthesia (which mimic physical sensations associated with cocaine, such as numbing of the mouth) to cheaper options like caffeine and glucose. But there are also other options, including de-worming medicine, normally used by vets.

This lab dismantled in the city of Pontevedra in the Galicia region

was capable of producing 200 kilos a day with a purity of 95%, according to the police.

Along with the submarines, the lab is a glimpse into a narco-world which is expanding rapidly.

The United Nations drug agency says cocaine production increased by a third between 2020 and 2021, which was a record high and the biggest year-to-year increase since 2016.

One place they’re witnessing first hand the surge in supply of the drug is at the port of Antwerp in Belgium.

In 2022 they seized a record 110 tonnes of cocaine - so much that they didn’t have enough incinerators to destroy it fast enough.

By some estimates, only 10% of the cocaine arriving at the port is intercepted with the rest going to the Netherlands for distribution to all corners of Europe, including the UK.

The head of customs at the port told me, with this tsunami of coke, they will never win the battle.

And this is a fight that has spilled over into murder on the streets of Antwerp. In January, an 11-year-old girl was killed in a gang shooting linked to the cocaine trade in the city.

Belgium’s Justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne has

been living in and out of a safe house for the past year after police uncovered an alleged plot by Dutch criminals to kidnap him. A car containing firearms was discovered outside his house.

For one of Belgium’s top investigative judges, Michel Claise, the cocaine industry has spiralled out of control.

“It makes an absolute fortune for those we call narco-traffickers,” he says, when we meet near the enormous Palais de Justice in the capital, Brussels.

Mr Claise says with their wealth and influence the gangs are now dwarfing those seeking to deliver justice.

“With money laundering and corruption - which is now limitless in terms of the sums that can be offered to dockers, police officers and other people - how do you want us to have any control on criminal organisations?

“It’s over,” he concludes.

Belgium’s cocaine crisis is Europe’s cocaine crisis, and the UN is now warning rival international gangs are working together like never before.

It says after their success on this continent, they’ll soon be branching out into Asia and Africa in their pursuit of unlimited riches

Source: BBC

The homemade submarine now sits in a car park in central Spain

The bricks of cocaine were stamped with the Superman logo

Three men and $150m worth of cocaine crossed the Atlantic in the tiny submersible

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Federation Cup: Rivers Utd battle Enyimba in round of 64 heavyweight clash

By Amaechi Agbo

Rivers United vs Enyimba International as well as Akwa United Vs Wikki Tourists are some of the heavyweights clashes in the Federation Cup Round of 64 fixtures released on Wednesday.

Nigeria’s only remaining flag-bearers in African club competitions this year, Rivers United FC will be up against twotime CAF Champions League winners Enyimba FC of Aba in what is indisputably the star match of Round of 64 of this year’s Federation Cup competition.

The ‘Pride of Rivers’ host Tanzania’s Young Africans in the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup fixture in Uyo on Sunday, and will then have the clash with Enyimba FC as vintage preparatory match for the return leg in Dar es Salaam.

At the draw held inside the NFF Secretariat on Wednesday, Akwa United FC were drawn to play Wikki Tourists of Bauchi in another big game, just as multititle winners Rangers International of Enugu will take on Adamawa United FC.

Heartland FC of Owerri have been drawn to play Jedo FC of Sokoto while Kogi United square up to Mailantarki FC of FCT.

The women’s Round of 32 fixtures were also drawn on Wednesday, with Rivers Angels of Port Harcourt up against Golden Sun of Bayelsa State and Naija Ratels of FCT to play Adamawa Queens.

All Round of 64 matches in the men’s competition and Round of 32 matches in the women’s competition will hold on Wednesday, 26 April. The Round of 32 matches in the men’s competition have been scheduled for Wednesday, 3 May, with the Round of 16 on Wednesday, 10 May. Quarter final matches are to take place on Wednesday, 17 May.

The semi-finals of both competitions will come up on Wednesday, 24 May with the men’s and women’s grand finale on Saturday, 27 May.

ALL THE ROUND OF 64 FIXTURES (MEN)

Heartland FC (Imo) vs Jedo FC (Sokoto)

Bayelsa United (Bayelsa) Vs Essien Ayi FC (Cross River)

Ahudiya FC (Abia) Vs Jigawa Golden Stars (Jigawa)

ABS FC (Kwara) Vs Bendel Insurance

FC (Edo)

Standard FC (Kaduna) Vs Ekiti United (Ekiti)

FC Basira (Nasarawa) Vs Sunshine Stars (Ondo)

EFCC FC (FCT) Vs Katukan Tsafe FC (Zamfara)

Wikki Tourists (Bauchi) Vs Akwa United FC (Akwa Ibom)

Warri Wolves (Delta) Vs Beyond Limit FC (Ogun)

3SC (Oyo) Vs Adamimogo FC (Ondo)

Mighty Jets (Plateau) Vs Niger Tornadoes Feeders (Niger)

Malumfashi FC (Katsina) Vs Gombe United (Gombe)

Osun United (Osun) Vs Katsina United (Katsina)

Bendel Insurance Feeders (Edo) Vs Maikunkele FC (Niger)

Cynosure FC (Ebonyi) Vs Kano Pillars Jnr (Kano)

Lobi Stars (Benue) Vs FC One Rocket (Akwa Ibom)

Jama United (Zamfara) Vs Plateau United (Plateau)

Rivers United (Rivers) Vs Enyimba FC (Abia)

Ingas FC (Enugu) Vs Novia FC (Adamawa)

El-Kanemi Warriors (Borno) Vs De Cardinal FC (Rivers)

Nasarawa United (Nasarawa) Vs Kebbi United (Kebbi)

DMD FC (Borno) Vs ABJ FC (Bauchi)

Ikorodu City (Lagos) Vs Crusader FC (Bayelsa)

Gateway United (Ogun) Vs Kwara United (Kwara)

FC Ebedei (Ekiti) Vs Hope of Glory FC (Cross River)

Yobe Desert Stars (Yobe) Vs Igbajo FC (Osun)

Adamawa United (Adamawa) Vs Rangers Int’l (Enugu)

Ilaji FC (Oyo) Vs Kano Pillars (Kano)

Green Berets FC (Kaduna) Vs FR Ebunuja (Imo)

Ozalla FC (Anambra) Vs Doma United (Gombe)

Kogi United Feeders (Kogi) Vs Edel FC (Anambra)

Mailantarki FC (FCT) Vs kogi United (Kogi)

All The Round of 32 Fixtures (WOMEN)

Bayelsa Queens (Bayelsa) Vs Maureen Mmadu KFC (Anambra)

Akwa Angels (Akwa Ibom) Vs Dannaz Ladies (Lagos)

Owo Itan FC (Akwa Ibom) Vs Fortress FC (Edo)

Honey Badgers (Benue) Vs Kada FC (Kaduna)

Heartland Queens (Imo) Vs Confluence Queens (Kogi)

Lakeside FC (Ogun) Vs Kwara Ladies (Kwara)

Sunshine Queens (Ondo) Vs Edo Queens (Edo)

Maureen Mmadu KFC (Abia) Vs Green Foot (Enugu)

FC Robo (Lagos) Vs Immaculate Queens (Enugu)

First Mah FC (Imo) Vs Royal Queens (Delta)

Nasarawa Amazons (Nasarawa) Vs Gallant FC (Kaduna)

Naija Ratels (FCT) Vs Adamawa Queens (Adamawa)

Rivers Angels (Rivers) Vs Golden Sun FC (Bayelsa)

Osun Babes (Osun) Vs Awka Angels (Anambra)

Ekiti Queens (Ekiti) Vs Moje Queens (Kwara)

Paul E. FC (FCT) Vs Delta Queens (Delta)

NFF to constitute boards for NNL, NWFL, NLO

The Nigeria Football Federation has reiterated that the Interim Management Committee of Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) headed by Hon. Gbenga Elegbeleye will be allowed to remain in office and conclude its mandate before any decision can be taken on a board for the NPFL.

“Let me once more commend the IMC

for the great job it is doing to reposition the elite division of our domestic League. We are enamoured by the way and manner the Board has gone about its mandate and everyone can see the transparency, probity and seriousness the members have attached to their tasks.

“The IMC will remain in office to complete their tenure as extended by the

NFF a couple of months ago. Afterwards, the NFF Executive Committee will meet to decide on the best way forward. However, new Boards of the Nigeria National League, Nigeria Women Football League and the Nigeria Nationwide League One will be constituted within the next one month,” President of NFF, Alhaji Ibrahim Musa Gusau said on Wednesday.

It can be recalled that on 21st October 2022, the IMC was inaugurated by the NFF President, with an initial mandate of three months, and a number of terms of reference aimed at engendering a new life generally for Nigeria’s elite division.

In January this year, the mandate was extended till the end of the current NPFL Season, which is 31st May 2023.

Photo: Enyimba and Rivers United players in action in a recent NPFL clash

Champions League exit: Thiago Silva slams Chelsea’s owners transfer policy ...This is not the club I know - Drogba

Chelsea defender Thiago Silva says the club need to “stop and put a strategy in place” or risk another difficult campaign next season.

Despite lavish transfer spending under new owner Todd Boehly, Chelsea are 11th in the Premier League and will end this season without a trophy after defeat by Real Madrid in the Champions League.

“The manager can only pick 11 from 30-something. That’s tough,” said Silva.

“There is always going to be someone upset because not everyone can play.”

BBC reports that American investor Boehly and private equity firm Clearlake Capital completed a £4.25bn takeover of Chelsea in May 2022.

They spent about £550m across the summer and winter transfer windows to amass a first-team squad of 30 players, but that has failed to translate into success on the pitch.

Chelsea have sacked managers Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter this season, while interim boss Frank Lampard has lost all four matches since

taking over for a second spell this month.

It means they are unlikely to qualify for Europe for only the second time in 25 seasons.

“It’s a difficult moment for the club, with a lot of indecision,” added 38-year-old Silva.

“We had to increase the size of the changing rooms because it didn’t fit the size of the team.

“A positive point is that there are amazing players within the squad, but on the other hand there is always players that are going to be unhappy.

“We need to stop and put a strategy in place, otherwise next season we could make the same mistakes.”

Chelsea have reportedly held talks with ex-Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann as part of their search for a new manager with former Spain boss Luis Enrique also in the frame.

“We keep pointing our fingers to the managers, but we need to look inside and see what we are doing wrong and try to change it,” Thiago said.

“When you’re pointing someone, you have three fingers pointing back to you.

“So firstly, we need to look to what we’ve been doing wrong and play more as a team - because we don’t need a hero, we need heroes.

“At the end of the season if we do what we’ve got to do, we’ll be able to at least finish it with dignity.”

compared with when he played at Stamford Bridge.

Drogba won 12 major honours between 2004 and 2012 under previous owner Roman

Abramovich, whose generous backing turned the Blues into serial trophy winners following his takeover in 2003.

The 56-year-old was forced to sell the club last year after he was sanctioned by the UK government over alleged links to Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“It is not the same club any more,” Drogba, 45, told Canal+. “I don’t recognise my club. There is a new owner and a new vision.

“We try to compare with what was done under the Abramovich era, where there were many acquisitions of players, but the choices were very intelligent.

“Bringing in players like Petr Cech, Andriy Shevchenko, Hernan Crespo, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, and I go on. It was to win titles and they are players who already have some experience. Here the strategy is different, they bet on young players.

“I think they certainly lack charismatic players and leaders. It needs players who take responsibility.”

40 Nigeria coaches pass FIVB Level

1 Volleyball Coaching Course

Forty (40) Nigeria coaches passed their Federation of International Volleyball, FIVB Level 1 Coaching Course held at the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Package B in Abuja.

The President of Nigeria Volleyball Federation, Engineer Musa Nimrod charged the coaches to make judicious use of the knowledge acquired at the coaching course.

Nimrod said the current board of Nigeria Volleyball Federation believe in capacity building of various coaches across the country.

Nimrod revealed that before the end of 2023, the Technical Adviser of Nigeria Volleyball Federation will conduct a FIVB Level 2 Coaching Course.

The Secretary General of Confederation of African Volleyball (CAVB) Zone 3 commended CAVB- African Volleyball Confederation and FIVB for ensuring the coaching course became a reality.

He said, “It gives me great joy to see 40 coaches become FIVB Level 1 coaches. Nigeria is

a country with over 200 million but we do not have FIVB Level 3 coaches and FIVB instructors. I want to assure you that before the end of 2023, we are going to have

a FIVB Level 2 Coaching Course in order to have better chances in Africa.

“I am appealing to all of you here to transfer the knowledge

acquired here to your various academies and club sides. The Nigeria Volleyball Federation will continue to support coaches technically for the promotion of

the game across the country. A total number of 45 coaches participated in the FIVB Level 1 Coaching Course that ran from 14th to 19th April, 2023

President Muhammadu Buhari signed 16 amendments to the 1999 constitution into law on March 18. Perhaps the most significant of these was the amendment that has removed electric power generation, transmission, and distribution from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list. States are thus permitted by this amendment to assume the power to let electric light shine on their people in the 21st century in the giant of Africa. I offer my commiserations to the village candle merchants.

The senate initiated this bill in 2022 as one more legislative effort to solve the country’s stubborn energy crises. The legislators believed that our country has much to gain from living the truth that a problem shared is a problem solved. The truth may descend on the nation with a pleasant surprise sooner than later. But take the advice of an old codger. Do not cross your fingers.

Our power sector is ailing. The energy crises have defeated all our presidents. Buhari is the latest victim. As a presidential candidate of his party in 2007, he issued a manifesto in which he bared his mind on the country’s myriads of social and economic problems and his proposed solutions to them should he receive the people’s thumbs up to become our president. Tackling the energy crises was one of them.

Under “Power supply, energy policy” he promised to take the road not yet taken to solve our energy crises. Among his policy objectives was this: To “Facilitate involvement of multiple actors in the provision of public electric power supply in the country, and the active public private sector partnership that will facilitate private capital investment in the sector on a viable commercial long-term basis.”

Manifestoes are written like that because some measure of obfuscation is necessary in public policy initiatives. On that pillar, according to him, would rest among others, “A national programme for the expansion of electricity generation, which will entail the establishment of new power installations with an initial target of additional 10MW of generated electricity within 4 years.”

In 2015, he received the thumbs up from the people and became our president. I am told he came into office suffused with the enthusiasm of a man destined to solve our energy problem. But eight years later as president, the energy crises have defeated him. At a campaign rally in Ogun State, the then presidential candidate of the president’s party, APC, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, said “they can’t even generate enough power to roast popcorn.”

The 10MW of electricity promised in his manifesto remains a mirage. Power remains at best epileptic and at worst, non-existent for millions of fellow Nigerians. A brief period of power supply is followed by a long period of power outage. Call it the Nigerian energy shuffle – one positive switch of light followed by a long negative switch of darkness.

A front-page banner headline in the Daily Trust of April 11, 2023, summed up the plight of the people reeling in the worsening energy crises: “Consumers groan over

epileptic power supply.” As Buhari leaves office in a few weeks, I am sure he must still be wondering why the energy crises humbled him as it did his predecessors in office.

The new law does but raise false hope on curing our ailing energy sector. Those who think that bringing the states as players must temper their excitement with the darkening realities that follow us like the shadow. Nigerians as individuals and corporate bodies have always provided their own electricity, thanks to generators from Asia. We are the world leading importers of generators.

One thing will not happen with the states becoming players. We will not witness a dramatic improvement in our public power supply. Most of the states are too poor to think of setting up their own independent power generation plants. I fear too that this will provide a new avenue for the corrupt enrichment of state governors and their business compradors.

But one thing will also happen. It will be business as usual. Individuals and corporate bodies must still bear the burden of providing their power supply in their homes and offices.

Given our tendency to turn every solution into a new and more complex problem, thanks to the money-smart men and women among us, I will not hasten to organise a requiem mass for the generator merchants. The facts of what we are up against in the energy sector are depressing and despairing.

Experts estimated that the country needs between 25,000 and 40,000 megawatts capacity for its over 200 million population.

Our current installed generating capacity of 12,522MW can in no way approach this important threshold. It can only generate 4,000MW. Even in a miracle-saturated nation such as ours, it will take much more than a leap of faith, if not foolishness, to believe that this could end the energy crises.

As of now, according to Ogaga Ariemu, in his paper, “Nigeria’s ailing power sector: How FG’s projections failed,” “our current power generation stands below 3,800MW, and the per capita electricity usage is 136 KW/h, one of the world’s lowest. In Libya, it is 4,270 KW/h; India, 616KW/H; China, 2,944KW/H; South Africa, 4,803KW/h and Singapore, 8,307KW/h.”

The energy crises have humbled every one of our leaders, in khaki or agbada. However, it will be unfair not to appreciate what they tried to do to solve the multidimensional problems in the sector. The fact is that every effort missed the path to the solution of the energy crises. Ours is the only country on the continent with an ailing energy sector this bad. I suppose the devil just did not give any one of them a chance to be recognised as our energy sector messiah. Pox on the horned one.

In 2005, the Obasanjo administration enacted the Electric Power Sector Reform Act. This was moved to the next level with the Roadmap Power Reform of 2010. This ambitious initiative was aimed at a comprehensive transformation of the power industry with improved public and private investments. The government expected this to raise the power generation capacity to a whopping 40,000MW five years later by the year 2020. This was what gave President Goodluck Jonathan the confidence to tell Tell magazine editors at an interview that they should be prepared to dash him their generators. The editors wisely held on to their generators.

One of the major reforms in the sector was to create independent power generation and distribution companies to improve efficiency in the system. The new companies were TCN and DisCos. The privatisation was effected in 2013 to the bells and whistles of hope from the harassed populace. DisCos soon became part of the energy shuffle. This compounded the problems and the relief the country hoped for evaporated in the heat of corruption in the system, beginning with the sale of the new companies to companies that went into the business because they saw them as the new cash cows. They could not bring in the required funds to run the business. Deprived of the oxygen of investments, the distribution companies, one after the other began to end up belly up, taking down our hopes for improved power generation, transmission, and distribution.

Ariemu pointed out that “the debt

burden, poor balance sheet and lack of investment are hallmarks of challenges facing DisCos.” He quoted the minister of power, Abubakar Aliyu, as having said that nine out of the eleven DisCos were on the verge of bankruptcy by last year. The sick cannot cure the sick, apparently.

One of the critical problems in the power sector is the national grid. The wisdom in creating the national grid lies in the peculiarity of our federalism, an unwanted face of military federalism in which centralisation is the soul of our national development. All power generated are fed into the single basket of national grid from which power is then distributed. This national distribution system relies on a dilapidated distribution system that makes it impossible for the little that is generated to be evacuated, transmitted, and distributed. Under the little weight of power generated, the national grid frequently collapses throwing the country or parts thereof into avoidable darkness. There were at least nine such collapses last year. This year has recorded at least four of such collapses so far.

Despite putting power in the concurrent legislative list, the responsibility for our energy policy is still that of the federal government. To really move forward in this troubled sector, something must give. One of these is to discontinue with the folly of a frayed wisdom of maintaining a national grid system that has become a serious problem in the energy sector.

If the national grid was a wise step in the past, it has become a sclerotic step in the present. Time to consider regionalising power generation, transmission, and distribution in the country. Its advantages are obvious, to wit, regional power generation caters to a smaller populace; it shortens the distribution line; it will be cheaper to have shorter and a more efficient transmission system in place of the current dilapidated distribution system. Centralised federalism ought to have sensible limits in our country.

“

Given our tendency to turn every solution into a new and more complex problem, thanks to the moneysmart men and women among us, I will not hasten to organise a requiem mass for the generator merchants.